[Begin Log]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] —Recording. Thank you for joining me here today, Lily. I hope your followup MRI was pleasant enough?

Lily: It was… fine?

Dr. Stoica: Still an MRI?

Lily: Y-yeah, and I mean, uh…

[Lily giggles nervously]

Lily: …Last week’s was better.

Dr. Stoica: I must imagine it at least passed more quickly. Do let me know if you experience any unusual nausea or faintness, of course… we can get someone in here fairly quickly.

Lily: N-no, I’m okay. I, uh… thank you for being alone, also. I don’t know if I can deal with talking about this around men…

Dr. Stoica: It’s… no problem. My colleagues will still be reviewing this tape for irregularities, but I suppose my tenure must have earned some degree of trust. Feel… free…

[Dr. Stoica takes a deep breath]

Dr. Stoica: Feel free to use the silver you were provided, too, of course.

[Lily giggles]

Lily: Did they really think I would need something like this?

Dr. Stoica: I did, yes. It was my idea.

Lily: …huh.

Dr. Stoica: I can only make so many… guarantees, you understand. And, of course, my…

[Dr. Stoica growls quietly]

Dr. Stoica: …my begetter can make far fewer.

Lily: Oh, yeah, BloodyMary, right?

Dr. Stoica: …I will not comment. [Slightly seductively] Rest assured, though, you’re lucky you’re outside her group. I can’t expect she would be granted the same one-on-one time as us… I certainly would not grant her that.

Lily: Oh, y-yeah, totally! She, uh… she seems really cruel…

[Dr. Stoica clears her throat]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] She’s… unpracticed with interviewing others, at the very least, and her observer is a man. Assuming it's still the same one I saw before… I haven't seen much of either of them of late, to be honest.

Lily: So how'd you get her to turn you, anyway?

Dr. Stoica: …Apologies, I've gotten us off-track. Let's get back to the matter at hand.

Lily: Oh, r-right! Sorry.

Dr. Stoica: The fault is all mine. Personal and professional matters have been… blurry… but I digress. Let's start with this: how did it feel to be bitten?

[Lily snorts]

Dr. Stoica: Hm?

Lily: N-no, I just… that's… that's one of the questions?

Dr. Stoica: I understand it sounds a bit ridiculous, but baselines are valuable, especially with matters as inherently biased as this. We’d certainly want to know if you didn’t like it.

Lily: That's f-fair, um…

[Lily giggles]

Lily: I mean, It's like you said. I've, um, been begging you to do that to me for, like… months now, right?

Dr. Stoica: And did it live up to expectations?

Lily: YEAH. I— I, um… I mean, yeah. I don't know what else to, um… say…

Dr. Stoica: Well, I'm happy I could provide that for you, Lily.

Lily: I'm happy I c-could, too…?

Dr. Stoica: …Biting?

Lily: N-no, I mean, um… blood.

Dr. Stoica: Ah.

Lily: And that thing you said, that I'm your type, I— I just—

[Lily screams into her hands]

[Dr. Stoica laughs]

Dr. Stoica: Well, I must admit, it’s true. Excuse my corniness, but you truly were an A-plus.

[Muffled giggling from Lily]

Lily: S-so it is possible!

Dr. Stoica: Possible…?

Lily: O-oh, um, it’s nothing! Just a stupid, uh… internet thing…

Dr. Stoica: I'm… tentatively curious.

Lily: Oh, d-don't worry, it's nothing weird… It's just, l-like… um…

[4 seconds of silence]

[Lily groans]

Lily: L-like, it's this post, where they go, like, “I'm gonna get a good grade at being a person, and that’s reasonable to want, and possible to achieve.”

Dr. Stoica: …That doesn't sound particularly healthy.

Lily: N-no, I mean, like, that's the joke, y'know? Like, it's like needing v-validation for doing, um, good, I guess? Sorry, I'm p-probably explaining it badly…

Dr. Stoica: No, that’s alright. For an academic, I’ve found these sorts of references tend to fly over my head. I don’t believe my childhood was quite as… Prussian as yours, in this way.

Lily: Prussian?

Dr. Stoica: If you went to public school in this country, you were probably educated along those lines. Very organized, very strict. I was born— Well, the status of the Romanian people was somewhat contentious when I was born, but my memory tells me I was basically a peasant. I wasn't particularly concerned with ‘grades’ in those days.

Lily: Oh, huh… I guess that makes sense.

Dr. Stoica: [Slightly seductively] I believe I understand the core of it, anyway… you feel unsure of your value as a person and fantasize about accomplishing something which earns you authoritative acknowledgement of that value, even if there is no apparent authority which could or should grant it to you?

Lily: Uh… yeah! I think?

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] Hm…

[Dr. Stoica chuckles]

Dr. Stoica: Well, I'm going to get a bad grade at my job if I don't keep us on track. Apologies, again.

Lily: Y-yeah, no worries…

Dr. Stoica: Now, I am sure there is much to say about the brief moment you spent as…my thrall…but first, I’m interested in the opposite. Tell me, have you had any trouble with your deprogramming?

Lily: I mean… I guess it depends on what you mean by trouble?

Dr. Stoica: It’s a broad subject, but I can start with this: have you needed to rely on your failsafe tape at all?

Lily: Oh yeah… um, I h-haven’t, really.

Dr. Stoica: …And that’s the trouble?

[Lily squeaks]

Lily: Y-you can’t just come out and say it!

Dr. Stoica: [Slightly seductively] I find it’s best to be direct in situations like this.

Lily: Y-yeah, it’s… It’s just that…

Dr. Stoica: Please, keep going.

Lily: I— Um… I guess the release must've worked really well, because… um… I’ve kind of been trying to undo it, and I can't?

Dr. Stoica: I… [Flatly] I see.

Lily: S-sorry, I just— just— I know it’s possible! And I remember you didn’t know how to release thralls, you didn’t think you could, and now you’re kind of, like, compartmentalizing my brain or something, so I think there’s gotta be some way to pry that open, right? A key or something?

Dr. Stoica: I can’t—

Lily: It just felt so good, so safe, and— and I've listened to the failsafe, um, a lot, and I know like you guys told me, and l-like it says, that I get a choice at the end for, like, my normal self, of whether to listen to the trigger to re-release me, but I don’t know if I would, and I think I don’t really care? It’s kind of a lot, but— but— I’ve kind of been… thinking about it a lot…

[Lily breathes heavily]

Dr. Stoica: I… suppose that’s reassuring, in its own way. My methods must have advanced quite considerably. That, or you may not be in total agreement with yourself.

Lily: Total agreement?

Dr. Stoica: Perhaps some part of you knows how this would affect you and doesn’t wish to give in. It’s only natural to be in conflict with yourself, after all, even in ways you don’t see. Ways you can’t let yourself accept. Ways…

[Brief pause]

Dr. Stoica: [Extremely flatly] Ways you could never see coming.

Lily: Oh, yeah, maybe.

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] …Whatever it is, perhaps it's worth discussing with a therapist. We can provide recommendations for—

Lily: W-well I, um…

Dr. Stoica: Hm?

Lily: S-sorry, I just thought of the corniest thing I could say.

Dr. Stoica: By all means.

Lily: Really? It’s reaaally embarrassing!

Dr. Stoica: [Slightly seductively] And I’m not assigning a grade. Certainly not on how stoic you can be… that’s my job, after all.

[Lily giggles]

Dr. Stoica: Thank you. But seriously, by all means, embarrass yourself.

Lily: Okay, it’s just… you can provide recommendations, and— I mean, I could provide you something, too.

Dr. Stoica: …Are you flirting with me?

Lily: Y-yes? If that’s okay!? I— I mean I know I’ve been flirting in your comments but that was mostly kind of a joke, but I did kind of really think—

Dr. Stoica: Please, it’s alright.

[Dr. Stoica clears her throat]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] You’re… far more charming that I might’ve expected. Last week, I only said there might be more between us in order to stave off the blood lust; now, I'm not so sure.

Lily: Y-yeah…?

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: However, You’re also a longtime fan of my work and a test subject in an ongoing experiment, which raises rather obvious ethical issues. But then, your blood…

[Dr. Stoica growls]

Dr. Stoica: Lily, do you know why I’m wearing this mask?

Lily: The N-95 one? You said you use those to hide blood smells, right? Didn’t you use it for all the test subjects?

Dr. Stoica: I did last week, when I had to actually drink from them. For followups, I haven’t been. [Slightly seductively] Not until I smelled you approaching.

Lily: I-I— Really?

Dr. Stoica: I… could tell it would be hard to avoid a careless decision.

Lily: Oh my gosh. I… I…

[Lily squeals]

Lily: Okay, please, could we, um… I mean, I won’t be part of the enthrallment study anymore tomorrow, right?

Dr. Stoica: …I suppose not. We’ll mostly just be following up about your home after today. Any further enthrallment followups are optional.

Lily: So… um… jeez, I’ve never… Um, maybe, we could, um, meet up then? If you’re free…?

Dr. Stoica: I…

[Dr. Stoica sighs]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] A date between us—or perhaps something more platonic, I don’t know—it can’t be as fan and… creator. But if you’re willing to meet as equals, to learn about each other as we would anyone else, to negotiate boundaries actively… maybe. Are you willing to do that?

Lily: Yeah! Yeah, I… that makes sense.

Dr. Stoica: …Alright. You’re staying at the Vacation Inn right now, yes?

Lily: Yeah… just for now, I hope.

Dr. Stoica: [Seductively] Then we can meet there, and we can get to know each other properly… You deserve that much, don't you?

Lily: Yeah…

[Dr. Stoica clears her throat]

Dr. Stoica: [Flatly] Thank you. You really do deserve an honest relationship… don't let me give you anything less.

[Lily sucks in a breath]

Lily: Y-yeah. Yeah, you too!

Dr. Stoica: And… you also deserve for me to actually conduct your interview. Apologies, again. Let's talk about this later.

Lily: Okay.

Dr. Stoica: I'll start a new recording, too, just to be—

[End Log]