Page 37 of Matthew

Presiding Therapist: Dr. Retel, psychiatrist; also present, Dr. T. J. Sanderson, psychologist and Earther trauma liaison

Dr. Retel: I was thrilled to hear you play last Sevenday, Matt. Your first show was amazing.

Dr. Sanderson: You were incredible. Even without the alphabet song.

(Laughter)

Matthew Larsen: Thanks. It was great of you guys to come and support me. I appreciated it.

Dr. R: How did you feel about it?

ML: I thought I’d throw up before I got on stage. But after the first verse, I was fine.

Dr. R: It was obvious how your confidence grew. The crowd loved it, which must have helped.

Dr. S: I heard several say they wished the show had been longer.

ML: The next one will be. I’m adding covers as fast as I can. I think I’ll have a second original tune this week.

Dr. S: Excellent. I’m looking forward to it.

Dr. R: You’re making strides, Matt. I’m excited for you. I could go on and on, but I suppose we should tackle some therapy now.

ML: Yeah, I guess we have to.

Dr. R: We left off last time discussing how you enlisted in Earth’s fleet to escape your father. He approved of you joining the military.

ML: He saw it as me manning up. He was pleased when I was assigned to a battlecruiser after basic training. He thought I’d have the chance to fly a fighter or use weapons.

Dr. R: How did you feel about military service?

ML: I hated it. I was afraid someone would sense I was gay, so I kept to myself. I sat in my quarters playing my guitar when I wasn’t on duty or disciplined with cleanup duty.

Dr. R: Cleanup duty?

ML: Scrubbing toilets, mopping floors, that sort of thing. My usual duties were similar to what I’d done at my father’s company…running errands and transferring stuff. I wasn’t very good at it, so they kept putting me on cleanup.

Dr. R: Why weren’t you good at your job?

ML: Have you seen a battlecruiser? Those ships were huge. I was always lost. When I tried to do paperwork, I was constantly distracted, drifting off and daydreaming. It was the same as what happened in school. I couldn’t keep my mind on what I was supposed to do. At least I’m not turned around at home anymore, though. I can find my rooms fine.

Dr. R: The paperwork and errands, those were your job until you left the fleet?

ML: Until the war ended and my ship went rogue. Most abandoned the ship, then I had to help take up the slack. I screwed up even more.

Dr. R: You didn’t abandon the ship, but you hated the military. Why did you stay?

ML: Where would I go? As bad as things got on the ‘cruiser, it was still better than being around my father. At least it was until Kom’s destroyer was captured, and I was given guard duty over the prisoners.

Dr. R: You’ve said you felt bad about it.

ML: I’d heard nonstop how evil Kalquorians were. I was terrified of them, but what the other guards did was horrible.

Dr. R: I see this is hard for you to discuss. Please try.

(No response)

Dr. S: We aren’t here to judge you, Matt. We understand you were trying to survive a terrible situation.

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