Inbox for Watson (Pumpkin Hollow)

[lightconductor]

Here you may contact Dr. John H. Watson, MD, late of Her Majesty's Army, with any professional or personal issues. He is available by phone, message, or just by dropping in on him at his clinic or his tenement flat.

The Clinic

Watson's clinic is a small building with a couple examination rooms and some beds, kept warm with a little iron stove in the front room. Pictures to come at some point.

The Flat

A short walk away from the clinic is Watson's small but cosy flat, on the second floor in a small tenement building.

The "sitting room" end of the main room
The kitchen, where the stove is the primary source of heat
Watson's desk
Watson's bedroom, alternate view

Comments

[pineapplesalmon]

"Yes, they can interact with DNA. And yes, that's an accurate enough representation. I'm asymptomatic."

César shakes his head at the question, looking grave. "No, not unless you've got a powerful microscope. The nanites are either off or on. And once they go on, the transformation is practically instantaneous, and they don't turn off except through external means. ... you can see why I wish to share information about them rather than be a complete surprise."

[lightconductor]

"I'm... not sure what 'DNA' is," Watson admits, because that's a term that's a few decades away, still. "But yes, I can see this is something to be aware of. I'm glad you saw fit to inform people about it. Is there anything in particular we might be able to do, should the worst happen and you transform into a monster?

[pineapplesalmon]

"Oh. DNA. I can explain that, too, in a moment. With some paper." But back to the EVO thing. "... Monster is probably not the best term. I specifically avoided it since it's one of those words that is used to Other EVOs. I should really add that.... But if I fully lose my mind, I'd like to be euthanized so I have a chance of returning to normal. If I still have my mind, I'll be able to make the decision then."

César pulls out his pen and starts adding more to the document after his nanite status.

- Please euthanize if mind is lost; consult otherwise

Words to avoid
Do not use words such as 'monster' or 'freak' to describe people transformed into EVOs. It is dire enough back home that 'human' is used to be exclusionary. Therefore, I refrain from using the word human and have adopted the usage of the word 'people' to specifically include EVOs and now everyone else beyond just humans. - César

[lightconductor]

"Ah," Watson says, contritely. "I'm sorry. I was not fully aware of the context."

This is a rather complex situation, the world where César is from. He's beginning to see that. "Euthanasia is rather a extreme solution, though perhaps less so here than other places," he continues, brow furrowed. "Still, let us hope it does not come to that."

In a back room of the clinic, a window is pried open from the outside. There is a soft thump on the floor, barely audible.

cw: EVO racism

[pineapplesalmon]

"I hope it doesn't come to that, either." César puts a hand on Watson's shoulder for a moment. "You couldn't have know. I just... want to emphasize it because if an EVO like my brother comes here, I want them to be respected as a person. They have no rights or protections back home. None. Nada. Literally dehumanized."

This conversation is too important for César to notice the noises, but he'll notice they've got a visitor soon enough.

[lightconductor]

"I can imagine," Watson says soberly, momentarily distracted from the sound, "unfortunately. I suppose that is regrettably common. And, quite frankly, I'm not sure one of your EVOs will have any trouble fitting in here, given the... broad variety of people we have here. One of the best and most interesting things about Pumpkin Hollow, honestly."

It is at this point that a cat's paw, grey and with more than the usual number of toes, slides under the gap of the door, claws extended as the owner searches for something to grab onto on the other side. There is a loud and indignant wail about the injustice of being on the other side of a door they cannot open.

[pineapplesalmon]

"They wouldn't. Which is a relief. People of all sorts can fit in here." César sounds like he's counting himself among those sorts.

Then, the howl happens, and when César sees the little paw, he starts to laugh. "Someone wants in."

[lightconductor]

"Oh, for heaven's sake!"

Watson gets up, shaking his head in disbelief. He prods the paw back under the door with the tip of his cane -- gently -- and opens the door. A large, scrungly, scarred-up grey tom cat is sitting on the other side, and he promptly stands and begins to rub himself all over Watson's legs, purring audibly.

"I don't understand how you even got in," Watson says, despairing. "Diogenes, you can't be in the clinic. What am I going to do with you?"

Diogenes just purrs.

[pineapplesalmon]

César covers his mouth with the side of his fist to smother laughter, nearly falling out of his chair, managing through his chuckles. "He is a cat, sir. They do this sometimes."

Being decidedly unhelpful on purpose.

[lightconductor]

"He is, and they do, and yet I don't know that I've ever known a cat as determined to commit burglary."

Exasperated, Watson bends down to scoop up the cat, but Diogenes wriggles away and commences the very important business of inspecting César suspiciously from across the room. "I'm very sorry," Watson continues. "I'll try to put him out. I hope you're not allergic."

WOW I somehow forgot this entirely OOPS

[pineapplesalmon]

"Determined and skilled enough to back it up." César notes.

He laughs, though, and shakes his head. "No, let him stay. I love animals. I'm used to them being around constantly."

[lightconductor]

"Well, that's fortunate. Don't you get used to it, though," Watson adds as a warning to the cat, who blinks slowly at him, unconcerned.

He finds his way back to his seat, and Diogenes comes to cautiously weave around the chair legs, still keeping an arm's length from César, for the time being. Watson leans down to scratch Diogenes's ears. "I suppose that's the basics of one of your medical conditions. There was another, that you said you were being treated for?"

cw: internalized ableism due to end of the world threat??? UH yeah

[pineapplesalmon]

César chuckles and pays the cat no more mind for the moment.

"We still need to discuss DNA, but right, the next one. I'm already going to be getting stimulants for treatment, which is the most common treatment method. This is from the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth edition. Well... paraphrased. I didn't have it entirely memorized. But it's the one I used to get rediagnosed in the United States so I could get medicated."

Watson doesn't need to know that he memorized it to remind himself how to better appear not himself.

"It's a neurodevelopmental disorder. So, my brain's just... structured differently. And sometimes those structural differences can cause issues. I'm of the Predominantly Inattentive Presentation type."

César hands over the paraphrased pages he wrote for Watson to read. Trying to keep professional. One of his feet start to tap, and he stops it. Instead, he knits his fingers together and keeps them still as a reverse-fidget.

[lightconductor]

He flips through it, frowning thoughtfully.

"I've known people like this," Watson says, tapping the paper. "They are generally labelled as eccentric, or perhaps even odd. I would never have thought to label it a medical ailment of any kind."

[pineapplesalmon]

César chuckles warmly. "I've certainly been called those. And those are the more pleasant words. ... it's less an ailment than you may think. A lot of people who have this tend to be entrepreneurs and creative. We don't accept the norms as the only ways to do things."

[lightconductor]

"I have known there to be great value in seeing things from a different perspective from most of the world," Watson says, thinking hard about someone in particular. "All right. What do you need from me, as your doctor, to support you in this? Because I'm not quite clear on that point."

[pineapplesalmon]

"For the most part, it's informational. I'll update you with my medication dosage when I've got that. Sally can produce a long-acting stimulant that I'll be using." César shrugs. "... I should probably mention I also have a tendency to sometimes neglect my physical health during crunch times. I just... forget to hydrate and eat. Back home, I had technology to remind me, but I don't have that, here."

[lightconductor]

It a testament to Watson's immense professionalism and patience that he does not sigh audibly about otherwise intelligent men who forget about food and water.

"A long-acting stimulant." There's faint concern there, because he knows stimulants, but he is going to have to put some trust in his future colleagues. "Well, we shall have to do our best with what we have. Perhaps we can find a chiming clock for you that might help."

[pineapplesalmon]

He knows it's there, though.

César pulls out of his pocket a repeater pocket watch. "Already ahead of you. I've also created a small notebook of To Dos of various lists to help me keep track of things. ... Stimulants actually act differently in my brain. Sometimes people find out they have this by taking illegal stimulants like cocaine and then finding they want to nap."

hey let's do some cw: drug use

[lightconductor]

"Cocaine--"

He startles, visibly, and then passes a hand over his eyes. Aware that he's reacted noticeably, Watson is uncomfortably silent for a beat or two while he tries to work out what to say. Perhaps he should not speak ill of the dead; on the other hand, he will hurt no one by his honesty.

(On the other other hand, he is also dead.)

"I beg your pardon," he says. "I am... aware, of course, that some people do react to stimulants in that way. A very dear friend of mine, in fact, was very fond of cocaine for how restful he found it."

[pineapplesalmon]

César startles at the startle, taken aback. But he doesn't reach out to touch Watson in reassurance, as much as he wishes to. Watson seems too reserved for that.

"Restful..." Huh; César's expression knits into sympathy. "... was he the reason you didn't blink at my sometimes inability to remember my basic needs?"

[lightconductor]

"I fear so," Watson says, rather wryly. "Sherlock Holmes was a very great man I had the pleasure of befriending and working alongside for the last decade of my life, and also I could never be quite sure he was eating properly after I married. I never thought the cocaine seemed a particularly healthy habit to cultivate, admittedly, but he would never budge on that."

[pineapplesalmon]

"... You were correct about that. It's illegal for a reason. As in opium. And many other substances." César looks over to him. "I'm sorry for your loss. A decade's a long time to work with someone. You must have been fairly close."

[lightconductor]

"We were extremely close," Watson says. "We were friends, partners, colleagues. We lived together for, oh, eight years, after I came back from Afghanistan. He was best man at my wedding."

He closes his eyes for a moment, and sighs. "Illegal, was it? I didn't think it was quite that serious, but I admit that it is... validating, shall we say. There must be newer drugs to take their place, surely. What of morphine? I know it has its risks, but also it has its uses, it seems to me."

[pineapplesalmon]

"... Friends like that are entirely too hard to find. Once in a lifetime, perhaps." Like César had been with his parents.

César makes a sound of agreement. "Morphine is highly regulated because it's addictive. Opioids as well. Opium itself is illegal."