The Pursuit of Knowledge, and Other Frivolities
2023
28 November
Site-43: Lambton County, Ontario, Canada
Doctor Ilse Reynders had just received her seventeenth PhD: a specialization on the Foundation's Groups of Interest.
Or at least, they had just finished the program. Seeing as she couldn't leave Grand Bend, Site-43, or Ipperwash, Ilse had been unable to attend the ceremony held at Site-55. Much like the other times they had received a PhD, it had to come to her. However, unlike any other time they had received a PhD, she was nervous.
Doctor Jay Everwood, their mentor for the most recent program, was coming to deliver the degree themselves, which, for reason unknown, was causing her distress. It wasn't like they didn't like Jay. Far from it, they had become rather close over the last few years since starting the PhD program. Hell, Jay had even been the person who had helped her come to terms with being a demi-woman and taught them about the fluidity of gender, the joys of self discovery, and ignited a passion in her about the wider anomalous world. They emailed back and forth plenty and spoke over voice calls late into the night on frequent occasion, with them trauma bonding.
She saw Jay approaching from the Inter-Sectional Subway's landing bay and into S&C. Once inside, they glanced around for a moment before spotting Reynders a few meters away. "Ilse!"
"Jay!" She smiled, approaching their former mentor. She was originally going to hold her hand out for a shake but paused upon remembering Jay lacked a right arm. However, much to their surprise, they hugged her tightly and warmly instead. Ilse instinctively returned the embrace.
"How are you, Ilse?"
Being called by her first name made her happy. Ilse smiled.
"Are you excited for your seventeenth PhD? I hear they stop being so exciting after the fifth, but I wouldn't know anything about that."
Ilse laughed and shook their head. It wasn't often people didn't address her as Doctor Reynders. "Well, I still think they are great achievements. The pursuit of knowledge is the noblest of all. At least I think so, anyway."
Jay punched her right arm playfully. "That's what I like to hear. So what, are we gonna go celebrate? I've been to 43 before, but never Grand Bend or Ipperwash Beach. I wanna see the Nexus!"
Reynders nodded and motioned for them to follow her to the tram system. "Yes. I arranged for a few friends to meet me at a bar up top in a few hours. I know you don't drink, but I checked and they have non-alcoholic drinks."
"Aww. So kind of you, Dr. Reynders." Jay grinned, following after them.
She made a face.
"Please. Call me Ilse."
Jay grinned.
The bar was a bit busy; they were screening the Maple Leafs playing against the Panthers and many of the Site's personnel and local residents had come to watch.
However, this didn't stop the group from finding a table. Drs. Lillihammer, Blank, Bradburry, Everwood, and Reynders were sat a booth. They decided against having food as well, mostly because they didn't want to have to deal with pub burgers. This of course, meant that their drinks would hit much harder, should they be drinking.
And drink they did.
Lillian had already downed three shots of vodka by the time Jay and Ilse had arrived, and was currently working on her fourth and fifth. Harry drank a Bloody Caesar out of a cold glass rimmed with celery salt as he spoke to Melissa, who, for her part, was struggling to drink a piña colada.
Ilse, who had never had much of an opportunity to drink alcohol before being stuck in ADDC for nearly a century, settled on a hoppy beer from a local brewer. Jay had a virgin Shirley Temple, complete with a maraschino cherry.
"Dit is perenzeik " Ilse made a face as they sipped away at their beer.
"What does that mean?" Jay asked, nudging her playfully.
"'This is pear piss.'"
"Why can't you just say that instead of making up words?"
"I— I'm speaking Dutch, Jay," she blinked.
"I know, I'm just teasing," they laughed.
Ilse smiled. During their years long friendship, both of them had often rattled off in their native languages while talking, and Jay had taken to teasing them over it as of late. Were it anyone else, she would not be so happy about it, but they felt it was okay for Jay to do it. They drank more of their beer.
Harry leaned forward on the table, setting his Bloody Caesar down. "So, Dr. Reynders, now that you have almost as many PhDs as you do digits, what's next?"
"You should complete the set." Melissa chimed in, glad to take a break from her drink.
Ilse shook her head and looked down at their mug. "Tempting, but I was thinking about taking a break from… well, everything."
Jay, who was seated beside her, smiled and turned to face them. "Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do during your break?"
"I can't leave the local area, so not an awful lot. If I could, I would like to see my home country again, but… I wouldn't recognize it after all this time anyway," she sighed. Everyone else at the table exchange glances.
Ilse sighed and grabbed her mug, quickly downing its entire contents and slamming the empty container on the table. "Can I get a refill, please?" she asked in the direction of a passing waiter.
"Man, fuck whatever McInnis says, Reynders." Lillian spoke up, speech slurred as she motioned for the same waiter to give her yet another few shots of vodka. "You're your own pershon, you should be able to do whatever you want, y'know?" she continued, tapping the empty shot glasses against the table.
"A good point, but there's a reason they are confined to 43. We don't know what would happen if she went too far from ADDC." Harry chimed in.
"Correct. But like I said, its okay." Ilse shrugged. "To quote one of those memes Jay sent me; 'it is what it is.'".
"You're sending her memes?" Melissa asked, looking to Jay and playing with her drink's straw.
"Yes. Not the kind that melts your brain, mind you. Just some of the kind the kids from Gamers Against Weed send each other."
The waiter returned, dropping off four more shots for Lillian and another beer for Ilse while retiring the empty glasses.
"Fucking finally. Let's go!" Lillian grabbed one of the shots and pounded it instantly. She set the shotglass down and blinked, then burped.
Ilse started drinking their beer, making a disgusted face but continuing to chug along regardless. She felt a sense of longing they couldn't quite place watching Harry and Bradburry, but pushed it down. That was a problem for future her.
"Pardon me, Melissa. I need to get out." Jay turned to their right, motioning that they needed to exit the booth. She nodded and stood up, allowing for Jay to leave. "Mind passing me my bag?" they asked as they got out. Melissa obliged, reaching down to the ground and passing them their messenger bag, which Jay slung over their left shoulder. "I'll be back, there's an errand I need to run in town before giving Ilse their diploma."
"Take care, see you soon." Ilse said with a smile as Jay walked out of the bar. Once they had left, she returned to her beer.
Harry and Melissa exchanged a knowing glance.
"So, Dr. Reynders, how do you feel about Dr. Everwood?" Harry asked, a wry smile on his face.
Ilse nearly spat their drink out but managed to hold most of it in.
"They're a good friend. They were a good mentor. Very smart and kind." She reached for a napkin and wiped their mouth down, then continued to chug their beer, apparent distaste for the taste of alcohol gone.
Melissa smiled impishly. "Oh yeah?"
Ilse set her once more empty cup down and looked at Melissa, then at Harry, then quirked an eyebrow. "Yeah? They are quite a lovely person." Her face was turning red as her hair, whether that meant they were flustered or drunk was up to interpretation.
"Oh come on, girl. They girl. Girl they?" Lillian hiccuped. "You said you wanted to live a little, so live a little, bitch! They bitch? Whatever." She gave a thumbs up and shotgunned yet another shot. She then scooted the last one over to Ilse across the table, giving them another thumbs up.
She looked to the shot of liquid death before her and sighed. "If only because I think you've had enough, Dr. Lillihammer." Ilse held up the shotglass of clear liquid up to their face, examining it closely. "Cheers." She downed the shot and made a face of disgust, but was able to keep the drink down through what seemed like a Herculean effort.
"So you send each other memes, huh?" Lillian stumbled through her words. "That seemsh pretty committed to meeee…" she laughed, then looked around for a waiter, trying to order more shots.
"I think you've had enough, Lils." Harry said.
"Fuck you, Harry."
They laughed, and Ilse shuffled about in her seat a bit. This was going to be a long interrogation. At least they were properly drunk, or were starting to feel the buzz. Another beer couldn't hurt…
Jay returned to the bar wielding a bouquet of tulips about fifty minutes after having initially left to find the hockey game had gone into shootout and Lillian was gone, leaving Harry and Melissa alone with Ilse.
None of them spotted Jay approaching the table until they were only about a meter away.
"They return!" Harry smiled, holding aloft what they presumed to be a fresh glass of Bloody Caesar.
"We were just talking about you!" Melissa motioned for Jay to sit down as Ilse shot them a drunken, pleading glance. "What's with the flowers?"
"Voor mij? Why?" Ilse asked, stumbling over their words.
Jay handed them the tulips, smile still on their face. "It's in celebration of your 17th PhD! You said you wanted to go back to your home, but… well. I know its little, but I hope you like them."
Ilse's eyes watered and she hid behind the flowers to hide it as Melissa and Harry gleefully slammed their hands on the table.
"You alright, Ilse?" Jay frowned, taking a seat beside her.
There was a moment of silence, where Ilse and Jay made prolonged eye contact, with the former staring as if begging to be relieved of this silence.
Jay slung their bag onto the table and rifled through it, producing a manila folder. They laid it out over the bag and opened it, revealing a laminated paper declaring Ilse Reynders a PhD in Anomalous External Groups Research. Jay grabbed it and held it and turned to face Ilse, presenting the paper to them.
"Doctor Reynders, congratulations on your 17th PhD! I pronounce you a Doctor of—"
Ilse lumbered forward and hugged Jay, who returned the gesture with their single arm. They stood there for what felt like an eternity.
"What's the matter, Ilse?" They asked, gently laying the diploma on top of its manila folder.
"I… well…" She continued to stumble over her words, it was evident they were drunk. "Weet je wat? I think you're great, Jay."
"I think you're great too!" The one-armed doctor tried to back out of the hug, but was stopped by Ilse.
"No… I think you're…" She hiccuped out. Jay could smell the alcohol on their breath, and could sort of guess at where she was heading with this conversation.
"Me too, Ilse," they grinned over at Harry and Melissa, who were eavesdropping in the most obvious fashion imaginable.
"B-but I… hic I didn't even get a chance to—"
"I know what you mean. And I think you're great in the same way too." Jay finally pulled back a bit and looked over the Dutch demi-woman's face, which had flushed to match their hair. Jay leaned in and pressed their forehead against Ilse's.
"I guess Nx-143 has claimed another couple, eh?" Harry smiled, taking a sip of his spiked tomato juice.
"May I be hic …a bit cheeky?" Ilse asked, face red as she and Jay separated.
Jay quirked an eyebrow but still kept their smile. "I can't imagine you ever being cheeky. But I suppose there is no harm in it." They glanced over at Harry, who seemed to know something they didn't.
Before their attention could be brought back to Ilse, she had leaned in again and placed a kiss on their right cheek. Just as she did this, Maple Leafs scored the tie-breaking goal and the bar erupted into cheering.
Harry and Melissa cheered as well, though for non-sports related reasons.
