I looked over at the screens, folding my arms.

“I’d like to let Dr. Darnall take point in our review, Victoria. Had I not already been here, I wouldn’t have agreed to come test you. I don’t think I’m in a position to, and I’ve given Dr. Darnall the outline to follow in reviewing master–stranger influence.”

“Unfortunately, it works best when there’s a longstanding relationship between therapist and the supposed target of the influence,” Dr. Darnall said.

“My irregular attendance at appointments comes back to bite me in the ass, huh?”

“I wouldn’t phrase it that way. You prioritized other things, and that’s fine,” he told me. “How are you?”

“I’m about as good as can be expected, honestly. In some ways I’m better. Hard to explain.”

“Hopefully I can help you with that explanation,” he said.

“How are you?” I asked. “Your first time here?”

“It is. It’s… daunting. Interesting. Can you tell me about the ‘better’?”

I drew in a deep breath, and I glanced at Jessica.

“Before I do—” I started.

I was aware of the noise from elsewhere, and broke off to look. Babble and back and forth, but I couldn’t pick out the how or what of it, and nothing seemed to have really changed on the screens.

I looked back at the pair. At Jessica.

I thought of what I’d seen last night.

“Before you do?” he prompted.

“Full disclosure,” I said, not taking my eyes off Jessica. I swallowed. I second-guessed myself, changing my mind about what I was going to say. “I’ve reviewed the protocols and questionnaires. I read about how this goes, the kinds of questions you ask. I don’t want my answers to seem fake or crafted, because I know what’s coming and I am unconsciously crafting them.”

“I can adapt,” Darnall said. “Thank you for letting me know.

That was the part about making the patient comfortable.

“I visited the agents last night,” I told them. “Went to one of the places powers stem from. I think I figured some stuff out. I’m… tired. A little shaken from a near death experience in the middle of it. Flutters of panic. But, uh, my power’s been broken for a little while now. As part of what happened to put me in the hospital. And now it’s not. Or it’s a lot better. People mention my sister, and I don’t feel like my heart is going to stop beating, or like my brain has slammed on the brakes and pulled the steering wheel hard left into dangerous roads.”

“That’s a pretty extreme change,” Darnall said.