Doctor Jones gave a heavy yawn as his plane arrived back in Lyre/Animalia. In this, his conversation with Nessa had been rather pointed in that his workload was drastically surpassing his capacity to do it. He'd come to Lyre to serve as a relationship coach to essentially help those that were either shy or uneasy with certain things that came along with being an Animalian or dealing with old fears and so on. It wouldn't be super hard, and it had been enjoyable. However, the success that he'd had soon lead to other clients coming in for other reasons. This had meant some of Heather's psychological examinations prior to her wedding and then dealing with the rise of Regressive Hypersexuality that occasionally popped up here and there, and particularly with those Animalians that had been older before their conversion.
And that presented its own fair share of problems. The biggest thing was that while not every new Animalian suffered from the condition, there was no actual physical cure for it. Hormone supplements or other related drugs in tests seemed to actually increase the presence of those symptoms. It supported some of the theories that Horizon had with regard to its cause in women with regard to reversing the effects of menopause and so on, and privately Doctor Jones wondered if the cause for men was somewhat similar. After all, what would become the Animalia Virus did have its start as a hormone type supplement to make bigger and better cattle that would improve food stocks and more resistant to things like Mad Cow Disease while having none of the negative side effects of older ideas like that. And the normal affects of the Animalia Virus on humans of all ages reflected that sort of thing.
Though, Doctor Jones' specialty was with regard to the mind and how it worked. And that was the thing that often created a lot of the added workload that he had. As the only real treatment that worked with regard to Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder was with therapy and helping those with it recognize and remember where the disorder had those sorts of side effects. It related to a lot of the issues that was often required with those becoming Animalians had to go through to be ready and adapt to the animal instincts that would likely come into play, and thus with better control, the more negative side effects of Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder could be essentially contained and controlled. And given the progress he'd made with some like Shyra, he could point to some clear victories that he'd had in controlling, but the treatment was still intensive, especially as more cases were diagnosed and went beyond what he could effectively treat on his own.
And the talk with Nessa had made that pretty clear. He'd had made some notifications for potential positions to join his practice for awhile, but he'd been dedicated to his work and often distracted by the new cases that came up that getting in touch with them all. There were others that he knew he'd have to keep open for a while. He was more than happy to have Bunni available to deal with child specific psychology matters, but it would take her time to go through all the appropriate classes, however, with the rest, he could handle those interviews. And in the days after returning to Lyre from Scotland he scheduled several of them... and they had varying degrees of success.
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"So tell me... Mr. Talon, why are you wanting to come and work with me?" Doctor Jones asked to the man seated across from his desk.
"Essentially to help people and guide them through the PROPER course of healing and decision making," the man he was interviewing, Mr. Talon answered.
"Proper?" Doctor Jones asked raising an eyebrow.
Mr. Talon nodded, "Yes. There will always be people seeking attention, and everyone knows that sort of thing has NEGATIVE effects. Be it peer pressure or something else. People don't always respond well to that and may make mistakes. With the right coaching in the initial visits, I'd think we could make sure that people aren't being lead into a decision and are well prepared for it."
"What you're suggesting is that I be extremely proactive with regards to dealing with potential Horizon customers that might suffer from Regressive Hypersexuality," Doctor Jones began to point out...
"And if need be, push them out of that decision," Mr. Talon nodded, "both for their safety and for Horizon's... and in a way, Animalia's. The bills regarding Regressive Hypersexuality aren't going to stay gridlocked forever... it won't be much more than a week before they have the votes to pass the Senate... and are being fueled by the argument that there is nothing being done to control a bunch of overly horny Animal-people that might take action that they'd otherwise regret."
"Please..." Doctor Jones narrowed his eyes, "please tell me how adopting the President's misbegotten opinion is going to help? As not every person develops Regressive Hypersexuality and in fact those that do develop it are not even in the majority of the population of those that have joined Animalia."
"It isn't so much agreeing with the President as it is providing him with something he sees as a positive type influence and giving him reason to mellow and thus something WORSE doesn't happen," Mr. Talon explained, "the man has made it pretty clear that if he could have his way, that the only job female Animalians could hold would be as strippers or escorts... males would be fed into the military or do manual labor without rest. None would be allowed to vote and so on. His own twitter feed shows that."
"The worst of that has been blocked by either Congress or the Courts," Doctor Jones pointed out.
"Yes, but that was with a court that was at a 4-4 tie with one potential swing vote," Mr. Talon answered, "right now, you're looking at a 5-3 secured vote with one potential swing vote, and even he leans more in the President's favor than not, so 6-3 in the Presidents favor in the Supreme Court. He has that locked up and the courts are not an avenue to block him. For, if the lower courts block his views, he'll just escalate it till it gets to the Supreme Court that has been engineered to be politicized in his favor. And Congress, while they've opposed him on some things... they are fast becoming a rubber stamp, and even if the Democrats regain control in November, that isn't guaranteed to work, as most of those up for reelection are in Red states that the President won by at LEAST 10 points in the 2016 elections. Those Red State Democrats CAN'T both oppose the President AND keep their seats."
Doctor Jones narrowed his eyes for a moment.
"Think of it as though you're looking at a problem that routinely occurs and requires constant treatment," Mr. Talon continued, "the reason doesn't matter. All you know is that it's a problem... even if it isn't a life threatening problem or anything serious... it is STILL a problem and seems that the same sort of treatment needs to be applied, but doesn't prevent the problem from happening..."
"That is more in Horizon's court with regard to modifying the Animalia Virus to make that transition easier and lower the likelihood of Regressive Hypersexuality from occurring," Doctor Jones answered, "restricting people's choices won't fix the problem. Especially when the problem is relatively minor. While those with Regressive Hypersexuality may be a bit... hornier than the average Animalian, there has still been yet to be a single rape carried out by those with the condition... and I've also had a few potential diagnoses changed due to different factors... that they're NOT suffering from Regressive Hypersexuality but from some other ailment that would be considered normal... being shy, conflicted over specific choices. My job is not to be proactive and prevent the disease... it'd be like demanding psychologists work with the army to see if a potential recruit might develop PTSD after combat... that's not my job. My job is to help those that have it. And it's certainly not to give the President the perception that he's won a victory in his own small mind."
"And you're not worried, he may pull something worse?" Mr. Talon asked, "out of frustration of NOT getting at least a small victory?"
"Everyone in Animalia is worried about that," Doctor Jones answered, "but he's also demonstrated that when he's had small victories, he'll claim they're bigger and demand more attention to it. Which isn't good either."
Mr. Talon didn't say anything.
"I'll get back to you," Doctor Jones finished the interview icily, "Have a good day."
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The next person that he interviewed was more interested in helping people than politics. In fact the man, by the length of his career and the places where he'd worked had shown that he'd had some experience. Once at the head of his own small firm in Northern California, which was then bought out and he was incorporated into a larger firm based in a nearby city. According to the application, the man had been there for a few years.
"So... you say you want to help people," Doctor Jones commented as he looked over the application, "Mister..."
"Swarzz," the man answered, "at least that's how its pronounced... but, yes, I want to help people."
"Any particular reason?" Doctor Jones asked as he noted the man flipping a small card through his fingers, almost nervously.
"Mostly, my little sister," Mr. Swarzz answered as he looked down for a moment, "we were always close... and she came to me from time to time with things that she worried over. It could be anything from bullies at school to what dress to wear or the "insane" rules our parents had. I did my best to assure her that things were fine and I would always be there to listen... and then... I came home from a friend's house to babysit her while my parents went out for the evening. Things were quiet."
Doctor Jones watched him hold back a sniffle and he looked back through to the card.
"I'd warmed up our dinner in the microwave and went to get her and found that she'd... she'd," Mr. Swarzz looked up and leaned back in the chair, "she'd hung herself... she'd left a note that when analyzed gave the doctors the indication that she'd been suffering with depression. It broke my heart, and in a way..."
"You blame yourself?" Doctor Jones asked.
"I should have been there," Mr. Swarzz answered, "I could have told her I loved her... that she WAS important. That what got her down didn't matter... and as I learned that things like therapy could help with those issues... I made it my mission to help people where I can. Give them confidence in themselves and help them move forward. It's what I've done with a lot of my own practice, counseling kids and people that are grief stricken and so on. I'd like to think that I've helped... and I've even set it up that I could do a lot over skype and so on..."
"Well... a lot of what I do won't be dealing that much with depression and those sorts of issues," Doctor Jones commented, "it's actually something that hasn't been noticed in Animalians. And Regressive Hypersexuality isn't life threatening."
"Getting self control and confidence would still be things that would help them move forward," Mr. Swarzz commented, "and from the case load that was mentioned in the advertisement... I thought that you would need the help..."
Doctor Jones nodded, "it would mean that you'd likely need to lessen your work with depression clients... or have them come to Lyre/Animalia for their sessions."
Mr. Swarzz was silent for a moment, and Doctor Jones saw him look down toward the card again, which Doctor Jones assumed was probably a photo of his sister. He had his private concerns that related to the story that Mr. Swarzz had told him. It indicated that Mr. Swarzz had taken on a lot of personal responsibility for his sister's death and was doubling down to prevent that from happening again. It was in a way a remarkable act of kindness that could be understood. However, it also gave Doctor Jones the perception that the man had his own stress and guilt issues that needed to be handled as well.
"I know... though... a lot of that has been in relation to the firm I've been with," Mr. Swarzz looked down again, "they haven't been super large... and while they've given me plenty of positive reviews... they also can't afford my salary."
He fell silent after that, which again made Doctor Jones wonder a bit.
"I take it you offered to lower your salary to stay on?" Doctor Jones asked.
"Yes," Mr. Swarzz sighed, "the firm in general is good... and they've been kind to me and have been supportive, but the woman at the top has... well... I personally think her greatest concern is her pocket book, but I have no proof of that. The fact remains that they're downsizing to make more money and my cases were handed over to someone else. I can still Skype with them and that sort of thing... and in my private hours... I have tried keep in touch and be as cheerful as I can..."
Again Mr. Swarzz's eyes fell downward again. It seemed to say that the man did want to keep helping those that he'd counseled when he'd started his work as a therapist, to be the good man who helped people get over their depression. Coming to Lyre/Animalia was something different from that, and would likely mean that man would have to accept less per session than what he'd had. The last part, Doctor Jones was privately certain Mr. Swarzz would be willing to handle, though the different nature of many of the cases that he'd be taking on would be a potential hurdle.
"And supposing I hire you as a partner in the firm," Doctor Jones spoke, "what are you looking for here? I am open to all the public, and the people from Lyre will come in, just as Animalians from Animalia... or those sent to us by Horizon for various reasons, and usually Regressive Hypersexuality... but most of my case load deals with relationships to Regressive Hypersexuality... something different from dealing with depression. You may get some cases, but not that many... at least not out of Lyre/Animalia."
"The opportunity to help and to make a difference in people's lives," Mr. Swarzz spoke, "I don't really care about money. I want to be of help to people. And while, yes, this wouldn't be the same work that I've done before... but that doesn't mean that I can't give them a good reason or good cause to become involved in... Maybe inspire action that will have a bigger and better impact."
"I see... and thank you," Doctor Jones spoke, and wrote down on a notepad next to Mr. Swarzz's name that read: "a decent candidate."
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One of the last of the candidates was a woman named Amy Add, or AA for short. She had come up along similar lines to Doctor Jones. She'd gotten her start in couples counseling type scenarios and focused a lot on that. It was something that Doctor Jones personally felt would be helpful for her, though she didn't have the official recommendations that Mr. Swarzz did, likely because she was younger When she left his office, Doctor Jones looked over to his notes and his case file list and had plenty to ponder over.
He'd already written Mr. Talon off for being too political. He didn't see Mr. Talon as being outright partisan or oppositional toward Animalia, in fact to a certain degree, he actually found Mr. Talon rather sympathetic to Animalia. However, he also felt that the man was far more interested in the potential political games to be played with regard to Animalia's right to existence and so on, which could be respected on some levels, but it wasn't the job Doctor Jones was advertising. It wouldn't help those who already had Regressive Hypersexuality and would only create a political football that Horizon would have to juggle as a result. And since the bill hadn't passed, yet, there was no reason to get into that.
The real debate he had was over Mr. Swarzz, AA, and Bunni. Some of it related to experience and recommendations and some of it related to his practices own future. Bunni had been studying to specialize in child psychology, which would mean that her specialization would be outside what Doctor Jones needed most, and so far, the number of child cases in Lyre/Animalia were rather low. That could obviously change, but without a real crystal ball that could tell the future, Bunni's planned specialization wouldn't run into that much of the way of demand. Particularly as young Animalians seemed to be reasonably well adjusted and that so far, their society didn't seem to generate the same sorts of stresses that often created problems for children and Lyre's human population had been dramatically reduced after the initial outbreak.
All of it left Doctor Jones pondering over what to do, particularly as ad didn't specify how many new therapists he'd need for his practice and the fact that with Mr. Swarzz, AA, and Bunni there were some good reasons for all three of them.