A level 3 deathworlder has to come bail their human out of jail again! The human has an arm band showing they are currently battling a mental health issue. The poor person is an addict undergoing treatment and had escaped from the care center. The havenworlder medic at the caretaker's side sighs, shaking their head as the human is dealing with a major hangover. Helping addicts clean up is so incredibly frustrating! Sure the work is rewarding, but it's no wonder the caretakers of these poor souls see their therapists so frequently. -- DaniAndShali
Every Human has their problems, and Human Mal had one of the more destructive ones. Addiction. Ordinarily, the red and purple armband should have gained a contact to security regarding which abused substances should have been monitored but... every addict knows where to get a fix, and every station has its seedy underbelly where such transactions occur.
Human Mal was in pain. They self-medicated to alleviate that pain with a substance ill-advised for the purpose. When the actual pain was gone, they faced the pain of withdrawal and therein lay the rub. Though they recognised intellectually that the chemicals involved were a very bad idea, the actual bodily consequences occasionally overwhelmed rational thought.
They just needed one little dose to take the edge off. Just enough to ease the pain. Just one little dose. Of course, they were neither desperate enough nor silly enough to try and get the stuff from legal avenues; and they were wily enough to both escape notice and seek out the seedier avenues of the station. The problem with all of this was, of course, the morning after.
Companion Throkk was there to make sure that Human Mal didn't get violent in Medik Hrut's direction. Medik Hrut was a Havenworlder and therefore slightly more fragile than she should have been. It didn't matter that she was one of the larger and potentially more menacing models of cogniscent life out there, she was still a Havenworlder and therefore a lot more fragile than Throkk.
Throkk could take a direct hit by a drugged-up Deathworlder like Human Mal if it came to that urgency. Medik Hrut could not.
The good news was that Human Mal was coming down. The bad news was that they were in even more pain than they started with. The worse news was the emotional impact.
Human Mal's arms were covered in minor contusions. Self-inflicted and Mal had been stopped from inflicting more by soft mits bio-locked to their skin. The air was rank with recent regurgitation and even in Throkk's limited capacity to know such things, it was clear to see that Mal was in a bad way.
There were shields between Mal and the two who had come to collect them, though those shields were hardly necessary. Human Mal, as they were fond of saying, had run out of oomph. They had not, apparently, run out of hyuurk.
Recriminations would only cause more recidivism. They knew this. That was why the lighting was low for Mal's comfort, and the inebriation recovery cell was soft in multiple ways. Even the low-G bio-waste disposal unit was soft and warm.
Panting and wan, Mal looked through the shielding to meet Medik Hrut's eyes. "I get it... I flakked up."
"I believe we can safely state that 'toughing it out' is not a good recovery plan," cooed Hrut.
Mal looked up to Companion Throkk, who had weathered the worst of it. "I'm sorry," they said, and they were sorry. Every single time.
"I know," sighed Throkk. "We're learning what doesn't work. Just gotta find the one that does work. You ready to try the virtual immersion?"
Another dangerous burp accompanied by white-knuckled clinging to the receptacle. "...no. Just... knock me out. Full anaesthetic. I have issues with false realities."
Mal had said that before. They never explained the why of it and weren't ready to share. Humans had a knack for doing a lot of bad things to each other. It wasn't hard to come up with theories that fit.
"It's okay," said Throkk. "I'll be waiting for you when you wake up."
"There is going to have to be therapy," added Hrut. "You are not as fine as you think you are."
"Yeah," sighed Mal. "I think I finally got the memo on that..."
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / michelangelus]
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