leftinbasketforfbi | 1st Genius α Video/Action for New Bark Ω

[It takes him a bit to figure out how the hell to start the feed. When he finally does, all PokéConnect is treated to the sight of a deceptively calm man dressed in purple pants and a white shirt tied with a gray obi, the traditional psychic’s outfit. An Absol keeps pacing behind him, as if expecting him to fall over at any moment and preparing itself to catch him. Honestly, that’s because it is, since its new Trainer has had a massive panic attack that caused him to pass out once already, and Absol can sense that there will be more to come. This is going to be a long partnership.]

Morgan, if this is a prank, alright. You got me. You win the war.

[The man holds up his hands in defeat, still unnaturally calm.]

I don’t know how you did it, but you can stop now. I get it. You can make the Pokémon go away. Once again, I have no idea how you did it…

[His throat gets tight. He struggles to keep his breathing even.

Please, Morgan. Please oh please make this stop.]

But you can stop it now. I have a lot of work to do, and giving me strange clothes, asking a woman to pretend to be my mother, and trying to make me doubt my own sanity is not helping.

[Please let this be a prank. Please say he’s not completely insane.]

And you can turn off the music while you're at it.

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I realize that doesn't leave you in any position to trust me, nor make this sound all that reassuring, but if you're in a psychosis right now so are the rest of us.

_{[People don't share personal realities - not like this. And maybe Reid will see what he means by that. Of course, it's just as likely he'll consider it another part of the delusion, but Coop is a patient guy and will try to help if he can.]

[There's also the issue of how to deal with Johto once he realizes that's all actually true, but hey. Baby steps.]}

If I'm psychotic, there's no guarantee that any of you are real.

[Coop's going to need to be patient about this. Reid has no clue what is real anymore.

Also, he'll need a lot of help with Johto.]

I know. But there's no guarantee for anything in life.

_{[Which, Coop, that ... probably isn't helpful ...]

[He remembers how to be, though. Neutral topics to reduce the stress and anxiety the delusions (or in this case, reality) are causing. He backtracks in his mind, then settles with what looks fairly safe.]}

You said you had work to do. What kind?

[No. That is not helpful.

But yes, neutrality. He wants it. He just starts answering the question at a little more length than he would normally, but he needs to talk to think properly and he's provided him with an opportunity to talk.]

Paperwork. We just finished a case in Ohio and I need to finish my end of the report. If I don't do it, then my boss will do it, and I don't want to give him any more work than he already has. So I need to do it soon.

_{[Yeah, sorry about that. But his backtracking seems to have worked well enough - and if Reid needs to talk, Coop will absolutely let him. In fact, it'll work both ways. Learning about the stranger is a good first step in helping him.]}

What kind of case?

A family annihilator who moved from killing his own family to killing the family of other men. There were layoffs in his company and he lost his job. He felt like he could not provide for his family, and since he saw them less as a group of separate people and more as an extension of himself, he killed them when he couldn't be the ideal provider. Then to justify what he did to himself, he went on to kill the families of other men who were laid off, thus sparing them from having a 'failure' for a father and a husband.

[...Yep. Yep, he just said that all clinically. Just another day at work.]

_{[... Reid, you are going to fit right in.]

[Needless to say, Coop is momentarily stunned. Maybe not so much the details in themselves, because Cooper's seen a lot of things (even if not quite to that extent), nor how matter-of-fact they're said, but that he hadn't expected something like them here.]

[Because, you know. Johto. And it's kind of rare for him to get colleagues, even if only by profession.]

[So given the nature of what Reid just described, he'll go ahead and take a guess.]}

Violent Crimes?

[Yep. That's actually pretty tame compared to some of the stuff Reid's seen before. It'll be really weird to be in a place where murder is technically impossible.]

Behavioral Analysis Unit. We specialize mostly in serial and spree killers. [Yeah, the kid who looks twelve is working in possibly the most intense unit in the Bureau.]

_{[Yeah, well - Coop himself started with the violent crimes task force when he was twenty-three, and he looked like eighteen at the time, so he's not going to question this guy's abilities. (Word of advice, though, Reid: slick your hair back. It actually makes a world of difference when you want people to take you seriously.)]}

That started out as the Behavioral Science Unit, right? I've been in touch with them on more than one occasion.

_{[1989 over here. Not quite the same terminology.]}

[He tried. Apparently, it made him look scrawnier. So it was either look like a praying mantis trying to not look like a praying mantis or like a praying mantis in a boy band.]

Yeah... Yeah, it used to be the BSU. It hasn't been called that in a while, though.

_{[... Praying Mantis would be an interesting band name, wouldn't it.]

[Also, if this was anyone else in any other situation, Coop might have casually asked what year they were from since there's obviously a difference, but.]}

Times change. So you're a profiler?

[All the girls would love them.

Thank you, Coop, you're very kind.]

Yeah. I usually work on serial and spree killers, but sometimes I work on serial sex offenders, kidnappers, and terrorists.

_{[There's a faint sound at that - an exhale that isn't quite a sigh, but could be. All in a day's work, huh?]

[There's a lot to be said for being in the law enforcement in terms of helping people and putting others away, but it never stops, and there's a weariness to be found in that.]}

A philosopher once said that man is the cruelest animal. It seems that evidence is stacked high in his favour.

Edited 2012-09-18 23:00 (UTC)

[Try specializing in the worst of the worst and spending your time rooting around their brains. It's a really sucky job sometimes.]

Friedrich Nietzsche. He was the one to say that.

[He grimaces and shakes his head.] It can be... It's a hard job sometimes.

_{[Yeah, seriously. Coop has different reasons to deem it very sucky indeed, but he's not much of a fan either, most days.]}

It's always a hard job. But if we're not there to do it, who will?

1st Genius α Video/Action for New Bark Ω

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