Seabourne

[Jonathan Seabourne]

"I was hoping to report more progress to the board."

"These things take time."

"The surgeons regenerated his burns in a day."

"The brain is much more complex than a simple tissue graft. With all due respect to my surgical colleagues, psychiatry is a very different beast, always has been. There are no shortcuts or gizmos when it comes to rebuilding a mind, you have to take the scenic route. In this case, you're dealing with unpacking a tremendous about of PTSD on top of what was, let's be honest, not the most stable base to begin with."

"Our shareholders would not like to hear the captain described that way."

"Doctor-patient confidentiality is still a thing. The only reason I can even talk to you is because he's a bridge officer for Orbital. The corporation has access to his psych evaluations anyway. He is still a captain, even if he lacks a ship."

"How bad is it?"

"You have the physical trauma, of course. He was concussed badly in the explosion or the escape or both, so there is some physical damage. His scans don't reveal any permanent damage but his physical hardware is not at 100%. He's not in pain but is still experiencing a lot of discomfort from the grafts, think the equivalent of phantom limb but for his skin. It will go away as those nerves regenerate, but only time can deal with that. Psychologically, he was already flirting with a bona fide personality disorder were it not for the 'interferes with daily life and causes personal distress' criteria. Turns out being a starliner captain is a great fit for narcissism or borderline personality disorders. Don't look shocked, he wasn't medically diagnosable, but he checked a lot of boxes for someone entrusted with over 3,000 lives. Throw in survivor's guilt and mourning for the Breezewood and he's just north of catatonic."

"Mourning?"

"The ship was his life, and in a very real way, an extension of himself. He talks about it extensively in his previous evaluations and I can't imagine he felt differently before the attack."

"Accident"

"As you wish. To use the professional term, he's a hot mess. He's eating and drinking, but he's going through the motions, more out of habit than anything else. He perks up a bit for Orbital House Blend coffee, but that might just be an attempt to stave off caffeine withdrawal. I had hoped the odors would trigger something, but alas."

"You still think it's a bad idea for visitors? The Chairwoman is quite anxious to see him."

"Quite sure. The man has an ego, for better or worse, and I think that pride is all that's holding him together at this point. To let those he respects and cares about see him like this... it would be risky. I'd like more time to see if I can build him up without having to tear everything apart first."

"Is anything else getting a rise out of him?"

"We brought in some Gaian Service Wildlife. He seemed to enjoy stroking the avians, though again it was absent mindedly while he stared out the window. The ship had a menagerie of them. I slipped "Auld Lang Syne" into his playlist and that seemed to agitate him. I honestly don't know if that's good or bad."

"Why that song?"

"Traditional farewell sung the last night of each Breezewood journey. The pamphlets talked about saying goodbye to all the lifelong friends you made along the way that you would never see again or some such marketing nonsense. He didn't like it, but I'll keep it in my back pocket if I think he needs more of a prod."

"Fair enough, keep me posted so I can relay a report to the board."

"There was one... curiosity."

"Oh?"

"I had an attendant read some of his mail to him. Printed it out on actual paper and everything. He didn't react to any of it. But once he was left alone, he did pick up one of the letters, and I'm pretty sure he smiled."

"Which letter?"

"A thank you note from the Temporary Autonomous Zoners."

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Orbital Spa and Cruise

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