Day 56: Tasty Burger (Noon)

[human_sponge]

Peter didn't know if he and Firo had left on the best terms, if only because the younger man was still so confused about what was going on in this place. The change in time period had a lot to do with it, but it had also sounded like he'd had a lot going on in his life before ending up here. Then again, who hadn't? Peter had just exploded before

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[dual_worlds]

Although the "Tasty Burger" establishment didn't provide the sort of food Spock typically ate, he immediately recognized the benefits of speaking there as opposed to anywhere else. There were several others there, drawing less attention to themselves. Furthermore, even if he didn't give any outward indication of it, the cold weather wasn't comfortable even by human standards.

Walking in long strides, he followed after Kirk toward a table. As he took a seat, he subtly glanced around to make certain none of the staff were in close enough proximity that they could become overly aware of their conversation. He couldn't afford to underestimate the "nurses and orderlies", and what they would do with any information they happened to hear.

When he determined they were clear, he focused his entire attention on the captain, and the question he'd asked. "I was placed under observation in the medical wing, as promised," Spock promptly answered. "However, my memories of last night are completely gone, not unlike the way captives are unable to recall how they got to their quarters each morning."

He'd given himself a quick scan while dressing this morning, only to discover nothing was outwardly amiss -- no injuries, bruises, or any other indication that he'd been used for experiments. Still, with no way to account for what happened, Spock understood he was unable to know for a fact what transpired.

[doneinthree]

"Amnesia. Of course." Kirk leaned back in the booth with a huff of annoyance. "One of these days I'm going to stop being surprised by the complete lack of answers we get." Would it kill them, really, to let their guinea pigs know they intended with all of their random trials? That Aguilar's administration seemed less inclined to make cryptic taunts over the intercom meant nothing when their comments so far basically amounted to some of you were barely sufficient, some of you failed, and we're not going to bother clarifying who gets gold stars and what we even expect, because that's clearly a more efficient way of running things. Not that Kirk would've went along with their games anyway, which probably meant that he was unwittingly playing by their rules right now.

Seriously, it was enough to drive a guy crazy, assuming he hadn't already lost it. That was facetious - honestly, Kirk felt more sanely annoyed than mentally unstable, which probably was weird, considering all they'd done to toy with his head. Spock getting pulled for observation (or whatever) seemed like the same kind of temporary, harmless-after-the-fact incident. Almost everything the Institute did to them fell into this category, from that night Spock had "died," to his 24-hour brainwashing. Crazy things happened, but tended to reset after one day and with little lasting effect.

Which was why Bones' breakdown was so unsettling. The more Kirk thought about it, the more certain he was that this hadn't come out of nowhere. "Anyway... I'm glad you're alright, Mister Spock," said Kirk, smiling slightly. Frustrating, yes, but as long as Spock was alive and intact, he wasn't going chance a different outcome by harping on it. "But if anything does change, let me know. Oh, and we should probably let Uhura know too. I saw her this morning - she's fine - but she was... since you... you know." Kirk coughed. They should admire the self-control he was showing in refraining from commenting on the relationship between two of his officers.

In an ideal world, he would've been rewarded a medal for professionalism and gotten to rib Spock anyway about the comely xenolinguist, but this wasn't an ideal world, and he had at least one more member of his crew to worry about. Kirk glanced at the rest of the crowd again, and had lost his smile by the time he returned his attention to Spock. "You've spent the most time with Doctor McCoy during night missions. What have you noticed about his behaviour?"

[dual_worlds]

Spock slightly averted his gaze when he mentioned Nyota. While it was true they needed to inform her even simply from a professional standpoint, he realized it was not good to leave her uncertain about his whereabouts for longer than necessary. Regardless, it sounded as though she was in good health, and Kirk at least had enough restraint not to discuss their personal lives right now.

"I shall do what I can to minimize my chances of being taken again," he responded. Spock knew a science officer wasn't of much use if he was being confined. Of course, he also realized there was a chance that it didn't have much to do with his own behavior, but at the very least he could try to take further precautions. "If you are able to make contact with Miss Uhura and Doctor McCoy before myself, please inform them of my status."

When the captain asked about McCoy, Spock paused for a moment, recalling the time he'd spent with their CMO. It was difficult to account for personality differences between realities and determine what was unusual. McCoy had a tendency to question him in a particular manner that Spock had yet to experience from the McCoy of his own Enterprise.

"He is willing to follow orders, for the most part," Spock answered. "However, a short time before he encountered the life form that apparently triggered the hallucinations, he seemed quite tense and irritable toward me, but never elaborated why. Furthermore, he never fully divulged the details of what he saw that night, or what, exactly, drove him to turn on me in the way he did."

The Vulcan stopped speaking for a moment, though the way his eyebrows faintly furrowed hinted at something else he knew he ought to discuss, even if he didn't particularly wish to at that moment -- at least, not unless it was necessary.

"May I ask why you are inquiring after Doctor McCoy's behavior?" he said instead.

[doneinthree]

Kirk's lips twitched, threatening to smile again, when Spock made his promise. It would be nicer if they had any idea of what criteria their captors used when choosing who to terrorize each night, but he'd take the sentiment for what it was worth. There was a certain reassurance in knowing that, no matter how hellish or random things got in this place, he could rely on Spock to be... Spock. Uhura and Bones would be relieved. Kirk made a mental note to return to the bulletin board in Callahan's after this - they'd went straight from meeting Goku to this conversation, as he'd figured it would've been better to get the story from Spock before he posted any orders.

He listened without interruption, comparing each point of Spock's report to what he'd observed himself. Tense and irritable. So Kirk hadn't been reading too much into it. But... just like then, he couldn't chalk it up to a flat-out dislike of Spock. The word "amiable" might not ever show up on Bones' performance reviews, but Kirk still knew him well enough to tell the difference between how he acted and what he really meant. There had been the vehemence with which he'd chastised Jim for being careless about Spock's health, and the faint thread of worry. His determination to find Spock last night. There was more there than just professional concern.

It was weird. And that on top of Bones' uncharacteristic evasiveness pointed to a situation he should've cracked down on long before now. Kirk dropped his gaze from Spock after a silent moment, and sighed. "He was, well, 'tense and irritable' last night. I think he had a bad headache first? Ended up yelling at me about things which didn't quite make sense, before suddenly getting physically ill... and weak. He could barely stand after that outburst.

"But that isn't the strangest part. He thought I was someone else- no, that's not right. He knew it was me, but it was like he was confused over which Kirk he was talking to. Like, he said he was surprised Chekov hadn't tried to relieve me of command sooner, and he explained trying to escape after telling me off because I 'don't tolerate insubordination ever'." Kirk raked one hand through his hair in frustration. He still didn't get any of this. "Bones did seem more like himself before the night ended, but I don't think this is the last of it."

[dual_worlds]

Spock listened to Kirk give his account of what transpired between him and the doctor last night, his dark gaze unwavering as he calmly listened to every detail. Speaking incoherently, loss of strength, and other physical manifestations of his condition -- whatever it was, it sounded as though McCoy's state of mind was deteriorating. Immediately, he began to consider possibilities of why their CMO began exhibiting those sorts of symptoms in the first place.

"Confusion over which counterpart he's speaking to may be from a combination of transferring realities and the Institute's influence," he said after a moment. "However, I am uncertain as to why he would see a need to escape from you, even if you were in a position where you needed to reprimand him." As far as he knew, McCoy and Kirk were close friends in their respective realities. There was an irrational paranoia underlying what the doctor had said, which could be problematic if it led to more serious incidents in the future.

"I suspect you are correct that this was not a one-time occurrence," Spock added. His pale fingers linked together on the table's surface, his mouth faintly tightening for a moment. "The night we encountered distorted versions of ourselves, the creature mimicking McCoy implied that he did not trust me. At first I was uncertain as to whether it was simply an attempt to divide us, but it may be related to what you witnessed last night, as well as the evening when McCoy hallucinated and attacked me."

[doneinthree]

Once again proving his worth as a first officer, Spock jumped right into it, and astutely picked up on one of the things which had bothered him the most. "Right? That's what I thought too," Kirk exclaimed. "I mean, I can't be that much of a dick in the alternate reality, no matter how old I am." But Spock might've been on to something when he suggested a combination of factors. He remembered his teasing suggestion that Bones had been afflicted by paranoia - in hindsight, probably one of the many things which made Bones finally snap, but whatever. It might not have fit the pattern of Landel's experiments, insofar as these effects seemed to have been play long before now, but the other night showed their captors were capable of subtly manipulating their thoughts in this way.

After two weeks, Kirk had at least determined that the experiments fell into three categories: the Institute-wide games which tended to affect a large number of the patients with similar effects, like the shadow attacks; the times patients were taken at night and brainwashed into fighting their own, leading to apology posts on the bulletin board; and finally, CM-US. That was what Admiral ZEX had been taken for, and for which he still bore the scars and the absence of one eye. CM-US was the only experiment with such enduring effects. Even the worst of Kirk's twenty-four-hour brainwashing had faded by now into a vague outline of a parallel life, instead of the distracting, almost-real memories which would pop into his head at random.

But it couldn't be that. As far Kirk knew, Bones had been present for every night since he'd first appeared in the Institute, just three days after he, Spock and Chekov had arrived. There hadn't been time to cut open the doctor's head and tinker with his brain, or whatever it was they did during CM-US sessions. On the other hand... why was he so fixed on consistency? They'd already broken out of the box by spiriting Spock away last night for "observation", which apparently was exactly what it sounded like, judging from the commander's unaltered state.

So what then? Kirk had said before that there had to be some kind of pattern here they could follow, some way for them to divine what was happening here. From Spock's report, there had been other signs before now of something going on with McCoy. Guilt dug at him for it (should they have acted before now?), but Kirk couldn't blame Spock for not mentioning it before now. By themselves, these signs were almost nothing - feelings, intuition - and whatever it was that plagued him, Bones had appeared capable of performing his duties.

But that had changed. "You may be right. It doesn't make sense for this to be only the Institute's influence." They were missing something else. Maybe the reason why Bones kept being so evasive, and so unlike him - was purposeful or pathological? Kirk straightened up in his seat, seeming to come to a decision. "Well, whatever the cause, he can't pretend nothing's wrong anymore. Spock." He regarded his first officer seriously. "Do you think you could do a mind meld with McCoy?"

[dual_worlds]

The captain clearly agreed that there was something more troubling triggering McCoy's behavior. The pieces were slowly beginning to fit together, indicating a larger, ongoing problem that needed to be addressed. Even before Kirk spoke, Spock recognized the way he drew his shoulders back, a sign he'd decided on a course of action.

In truth, a mind meld was the logical course of action, and so it didn't surprise him when Kirk asked if he could perform one. The doctor's physical symptoms, as well as his irrational behavior, pointed toward the possibility of mental trauma that needed correction. Even if that wasn't the case, however, Spock knew he ought to be able to at least glean more information concerning McCoy's condition if he had access to his mind.

"I should be able to do that, yes," Spock quietly answered. After participating in one himself a relatively short time ago, he was sure Kirk understood the seriousness behind the request. If it was the only way to gain a clear understanding of what was plaguing McCoy, though, Spock was willing to do it. As first officer, he shared the responsibility of his subordinates' safety and health.

"Whether Doctor McCoy would consent to it is another matter entirely, however," he added as he met Kirk's gaze. "He harbors distrust toward us, even if he himself may not entirely understand why." That was what made this whole situation all the more unpredictable.

[doneinthree]

Spock didn't waste a second in nailing the key complication in his plan. "I don't suppose you'd also be up for knocking him out first," Kirk mused. He could only imagine how his Bones would react to having a Vulcan dig around in his brain; now age him by a few curmudgeony years, and throw in some natural cross-universe apprehension plus completely irrational paranoia from god knows where, you had a recipe for ugliness. Every line of McCoy's angry tirade was still fresh on his mind.

In spite of having expected that Spock would agree to conducting a mind meld on Bones, Kirk found himself wavering for just a second over the wisdom of it. Was it callous or reckless to be dumping all of this on Spock, considering he'd just had an entire night of...? Okay, nothing, apparently, but just because Spock didn't remember anything didn't mean something hadn't been done to him. But what else could they do now aside from keep an eye on him, and continue dealing with things as captain and first officer? Even Spock would probably agree that an erratic CMO was their priority concern.

If there was the possibility that the same thing could happen to Spock, that maybe this was just the prelude to more fracturing of self-identities, that one day Kirk might find himself forced to admit that he couldn't trust Spock's judgment anymore... If that was the case, and he was getting Spock to dwelve into Bones' mind when they still weren't even sure what had been done to him last night- Quit it, Kirk ordered himself. Questioning his own decisions, entertaining vaguely worrisome what-ifs - he didn't have the luxury of losing confidence right now.

"That was a joke," he added belatedly, realizing there was a chance Spock might take him seriously. (It wasn't the worst idea, but first he should probably try options which weren't practically guaranteed to aggravate crew relations. Well, more than they already were. Sigh.) "I'll talk to him. You just make sure you prepare... whatever it takes to prepare for that, and meet me tonight. If Doctor McCoy refuses to go through with it..." He had no idea. He couldn't let Bones continue on as if nothing was wrong, but he couldn't force him - or Spock, at that - do something so invasive against his will. Kirk gestured vaguely with one hand in lieu of a more coherent statement. "We'll figure something out."