Pediatric Para-Psychology
Dr. Nhung Ngo sat at her desk, eyeing her schedule. Though it mostly consisted of the usual suspects, today would be the first time she was going to meet a new patient, one that was causing her usually calm demeanor to falter. She had met anomalies, she had met immortal beings, she had met children.
But she had never met a permanently 6-year-old immortal.
James Everwood-Reynders, the adopted son of Site-43's new resident GoI Specialist and Acroamatic Abatement Chair, was due for his bi-yearly checkup; his first since coming to Site-43 from Site-55 down in Boston. Ngo knew that he had been born from the D-Class Parenthood Program, one of probably the most messed up things she had ever heard the Foundation was actively doing. And that included whatever the hell was going on in 17.
She had read his file; Ngo knew that Dr. Everwood had fought to ensure he was treated like a peer after he was brought onto their team to assist in Dr. Wondertainment research, but had somehow wound up adopting him somewhere along the way. Site-55 was a weird place, but as weird as it was, Site-43 was even weirder still. Due to it's weirdness and resident immortal/James' adopted mother Dr. Ilse Reynders, this seemed like a good place to raise him. Better than 17, Ngo thought.
A knock at the door.
"Come in," she said, putting on a warm smile.
The door opened to reveal a person wearing a sweater with only one sleeve full and a little boy holding a Nintendo Switch, wearing a poofy jacket and knitted cap.
"Hello, Dr. Ngo. I hope you don't mind we're early." Jay Everwood smiled at Ngo, their hand on the boy's left shoulder. "James, como se dice?"
"Hi." James didn't look up from his Switch.
"No worries at all, Jay. How is Dr. Reynders?" She got up from her desk, picking up a clipboard.
"Ilse is well. She's still obsessed with Gushers; to the point where James here can barely sneak one packet whenever we buy a box. But high fructose corn syrup aside, they are doing okay." Everwood laughed.
"That's great to hear. Maybe not the high fructose corn syrup bit, but I'm glad she's enjoying life. Come in, come in."
Everwood and James entered the office, and his adoptive parent held out their hand to him, signaling to hand over the toy. James grumbled but obliged, putting his Switch into sleep mode and letting them take it.
"You'll get it back when you're done with Dr. Ngo, okay?"
"Okay…" He pouted.
"Come on, sit on the couch and listen to what she has to say, and make sure to answer her questions. Be good. Love you." Everwood leaned down and kissed the top of James' head. The boy hopped up onto Ngo's couch while the psychologist sat across from him in a comfy arm chair.
"See you in an hour, Jay." Ngo grinned as they waved a goodbye to her, shutting the door behind them.
The boy seemed standoffish. He was not making eye contact, instead opting to stare at his shoes. She cleared her throat and reached behind her ear for a pen to start taking notes.
"Hello, James. My name is Dr. Ngo."
No response came.
"Your parent tells me you're a very sweet kid. What do you think?"
No response once more.
"Are you shy?"
He nodded, but did not look up.
"Well, that's okay. I am a stranger, after all, but I'm a friend of your parents and I'm here to help you assimilate into Site-43."
"What does ass… assimini… assimilate mean?" James looked up but appeared to be staring through her.
"It means to make yourself at home." Ngo smiled reassuringly.
"My old home was Site-55. I used to play with Rex, May, and Chidi. They were my parent's em…employees."
"Wow, you're using big words, James. I'm sure both your parents are proud of you." Ngo said, looking down on her clipboard and taking notes.
"I don't know my real parents," he said plainly, eyes shifting back down to his shoes.
Ngo wrote this down before continuing. "Does that bother you, James?"
"Why?"
"Well, most people know their parents. Though based on your file, I know you are not exactly a normal kid."
"I'm an ess-see-pee. Ess-see-pee-8726. My mom and dad were from Site-17, but I spent a long time with Dr. Everwood in Site-55 with Rex, May, and Chidi. But now Dr. Reynders is my mom and Dr. Everwood is my parent."
"That's right." Ngo blinked. How much had they told him about his nature? Surely telling a kid this much, especially one that was also an anomaly was against some sort of ethics code. "Who told you all of this, James?"
"The people I was with before Dr. Everwood," he stated innocently. Ngo sighed and flipped through her clipboard's attached SCP-8726 file, taking note of the fact that James had indeed originally come from Site-17.
What a terrible place, she thought. "Well, James, we at Site-43 do things differently."
"I know."
"Oh?"
"Yes. We live in a house and not underground like everyone else."
"That's true. You're very smart, James." Ngo looked over at him, noticing he was biting his fingernails.
No response.
"Is something bothering you?"
He nodded.
"What is it?"
"Why is your name Dr. No?"
"I don't understand."
"Your name is Dr. No. Why aren't you Dr. Yes?"
Ngo was taken aback momentarily, but laughed at his question.
"My name is Dr. Ngo. N-G-O."
"That's a weird name."
"That's not a very nice thing to say, James."
"Sorry…" The boy shrunk away, somehow managing to avoid eye contact even harder.
"It's okay, you didn't know. But now you do. It's a Vietnamese name. My parents are from Vietnam."
"What is Vietnam?" He looked up quizzically.
"A country in east Asia. Would you like for me to show you it?"
His eyes lit up. Ngo smiled and produced her phone from within her pocket. She unlocked it and looked up information on the country, then moved to sit behind James. Maps, images of landscapes, water puppet theater, Ðông Hồ paintings, the former imperial city of Huế, Áo dài, the Hùng Kings' Festival, and images of Hanoi; time continued to creep forward, and Ngo and James only became more invested in their little exchange. Eventually, he was resting his head on her shoulder as they continued to talk.
After some time of sharing her culture with James, she decided it was time to get back on track. "Very cool, right?" she asked, locking her phone and putting it away.
"Yeah! I liked the dragons."
"Me too! But James, I wanted to talk to you about how you were feeling about being here." Ngo retreated to her armchair, leaving James behind on the couch. He seemed disappointed, but willing to accept that the cool part of meeting her was over.
"I don't know…"
"You can tell me. It's my job to listen."
James covered his face with his hands, a gesture Ngo found endearing.
"Everything you tell me is also confidential. That means I don't have to tell your parents," she said, taking note of his behavior on her clipboard.
"Really?" he asked, moving a finger out of the way of his left eye to peek out.
"Yes, really. Anything you want to tell me, I can't tell them."
"…. I miss the kids I used to play with."
"I see. Being around someone your age can be a good way to stay enriched. But James, there are difficulties in that because—"
"I don't get old." His hands left his face, which was now formed into a slight pout.
"… Yes." Ngo sighed. "But I know of a few people who also don't get old."
"Mom doesn't get old."
"Besides her. They're all grown-ups though, so I don't know how you would get along with them." Her voice trailed off a bit at the end of the sentence.
"It's okay. I know how to talk to grown-ups. Even if they like to boss me around."
"I'm not here to boss you around, James."
"You're nice to me. But I know you're just a grown-up doing a job."
Ngo paused, taken aback by the kid's bluntness. Though he hadn't strictly said as much, he had just effectively told her to take a hike for trying to psychoanalyze him.
"That's right. And right now, my job is to make sure you're doing okay. So tell me, are you doing okay, James?"
"No."
Again with the bluntness. There was a brief silence, accentuated by Ngo writing notes on her clipboard.
"Sorry to hear that. What else is bothering you?"
Silence. James fidgeted in his seat.
"Would you like some paper and colors to help you get your feelings out?"
He nodded vigorously, watching as the woman then stood to fetch some copy papers from her desk, alongside a pack of crayons she had bought in anticipation of his appointment. She handed them to James, who eagerly took them and started drawing on the floor of her office.
"What are you drawing there, James?"
"It's a secret."
"Okay. So now that you're drawing, do you want to tell me what else is on your mind?"
"Mom keeps eating the Gushers. My parent says that she's just excited to have new food after something that happened to her, but they won't tell me what."
"Your mom… she had something bad happen to her. Something to do with… actually, I don't think they want to tell you what happened to her yet."
"Why?"
"Why what?" Ngo asked.
"Why don't they want to tell me?"
"Because it's a lot for a kid like you to take in."
"But I want to know."
"We can ask your parent when they come to get you, how does that sound?"
James hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
"Okay. Good. Now, James, I want you to tell me about how you feel about your time in Site-17…"
A knock at the door. It was Everwood, holding James' Switch. James got up and ran towards them, hugging their leg.
"Hey, Dr. Ngo. How was it?" they grinned.
"As far as psychotherapy sessions go, not very fruitful, but I'm glad to report that we have established a degree of rapport. His next session will likely be much better." Ngo watched as James took back his Switch and activated it again, sounds of a Pokemon battle becoming audible.
"Well, that's good. I wanted to ask, can we bring him back again next week?"
"Oh? Sure. Any particular reason?"
"I'm worried that moving him to a new environment might be impacting him negatively. That and it's hard for him to make friends his age since, you know. Oh and, there's my inevitable mortality." Everwood's volume reduced as they spoke, but James still picked up on it.
"What does mortality mean?"
"Don't worry about it yet, kiddo." they fussed his hair, and he returned his focus to his game.
Ngo nodded. "I understand. It would be my pleasure to see him next week. What do you say, James? Are you looking forward to seeing me in a few days?"
He didn't respond; too enraptured by the Venonat he was battling. Everwood nudged him. "James."
"Yes, Dr. Ngo," he replied, looking up at her with a smile.
"Alright. We'll see you around, Nhung. Thank you." Everwood waved and turned with James in tow. Ngo followed them out into the hallway, arms folded and smiling as the two walked away. James looked up from his game to Everwood and tugged at their empty sleeve.
"What happened to mom?" he asked.
Ngo blanked, she had forgotten. Everwood turned to look back at her. They made brief eye contact, during which Everwood was able to discern that Ngo hadn't fully told him, but may have let some details slip. Everwood sighed and turned to James, who was looking up at them.
"What do you mean?" they asked, hoping it was a misunderstanding.
"Dr. Ngo said that something bad happen to mom a long time ago. What happened to her?"
"James, honey. This is a conversation we need to have with her present, okay?"
"But I want to know!"
Everwood sighed, kneeling down to have their head at the same level as James'. They put their only hand on his right shoulder and took a deep breath.
"Your mom… she had an accident in the ADDC a long time ago."
"What's ADDC?"
"Anomalous Document Disposal Chamber."
He blinked in confusion. Everwood smiled and looked down for a moment, then back to him.
"It's where they got rid of weird books and things like that."
James nodded.
"Anyway. She got stuck down there in 1943 and only got out a little less than four years ago."
He started counting on his fingers before giving up at nine.
Everwood laughed and Ngo grinned.
"Whatcha counting there, buddy?" They asked.
"The years mom was in there."
"You're gonna run out of fingers mighty quick if you try that." Everwood chuckled, fussing his hair. "But anyway, we really should talk about this with your mom. So we'll do that when we get back to Grand Bend, okay?"
"Okay."
The one-armed doctor rose to their full height and looked over to the psychologist.
"Thank you, Nhung."
"I didn't do anything. That young man is very emotionally mature for his age." She shrugged.
"I'm old for my age." James nonchalantly said, returning his attention to his game.
"Oh! Before you go, Jay. Look what James drew today." Ngo reached over to her desk and grabbed the paper the boy had been doodling on earlier. "Isn't it lovely?"
