The therapists struggled to try to get them to care about their own life, at least a little. Their self-sacrificing, working to aid others to the point of detriment to their health had become starkly noticeable to say the least. Then Jay came in to talk to them, and soon left angry, and began hunting. -- BKF
Civilisation is relative, depending entirely on those naming it such. This is doubly so in the Edge Territories, where some species view their Ship's Human as an incredibly useful pet.
Those species are new to how things really work. They'll learn better soon enough.
The baby steps start here, in Meetwell Station, where the species and polities in or beyond the Edge Territories can meet with Alliance Representatives without judgement. Well. Not a lot of judgement.
Therapist Xue had to make their to the ship, where the Colobopsian trader vessel W'giywi held the Rescue Human. Human Cenk was clearly suffering from something, but they couldn't figure it out. Nothing in the ever-available Human Manual[1] could help.
Their Human had a cyclical ailment. Once a week, Cenk would fall into a lassitudinal torpor. Sleeping for most of a Standard Day and not performing most of their usual self-maintenance routines. Of course the Colobopsians took care to help their Human. Feeding him his favourite foods and doing whatever it took to make him comfortable, including the haptic feedback he was comfortable with.
"He's a bit hissy with strangers," explained Companion Zed. "You expect that with a Rescue Human. He's very food oriented, and if you have a 'cuss-terd creem' you may gain his favour."
Sweet treats and Unsuitable Food. Typical food-bribery for Humans. The manual was helpful for making sure they weren't the only foods a random Human had access to. These residents of the Edge were doing their best with the knowledge and materials they had to hand.
Human Cenk was hard at work when Xue met him. Spending every atom of his strength on anything he could do to help. Feverishly. Compulsively.
"I have to," Cenk confessed. His hands still moving on varying tasks. "I gotta pay 'em back. They do so much to me. I gotta pay 'em back."
Xue tried to talk to him about work-life balance. How Cenk could be more helpful by taking necessary breaks for his own enjoyment. How finding joy in life was vital to Cenk's betterment. None of it stuck. Cenk was obsessed with paying for his keep.
"Why?" Xue asked in frustrated exasperation. "Why do you have to pay them back?"
"They'll throw me back if I'm too much of a burden."
It took some group therapy and heartfelt affirmations from the Colobopsians to coax Cenk into finally accepting time to rest and relax for a change. But there was one more issue that Cenk had to talk about. And one more person Cenk had to talk to.
Fortunately, there was a representative of Pax Humanis in the stellar neighbourhood.
Human Jay tool Cenk out to lunch. Sort of. A 'tasting tour' to find interesting new foodstuffs and discover new yucks and yums. All a tactic to get Cenk to open up about his former homeworld.
It worked. Of course it worked. Human Jay had taken several Therapist courses to unriddle their own brain, and did great work unlocking others. As an interrogator, they were so good that nobody knew Jay was interrogating them.
Cenk returned to his keepers with a lighter step and a freer heart.
Jay walked slightly behind with an aura of murderous intent.
"Bad news," said Jay. "There's yet another Deregger world. Good news..." A smile like a knife in the dark, "I have a new job."
[1] Not a book, more of a "Help Me With This" chat forum with a superb search engine.
[Photo by Graphic Wanderings on Unsplash]
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