The audience hall had filled in. Representatives from all of Haven's races were present, as well as diplomats and leaders from each of Haven's allies. As I sat there, sipping my tea, i realized there must be quite a few people who suffer from the same affliction that once caused me so much anguish, albeit unknown to myself.
Jan was on stage, and as the sconces darkened, his presentation started.
"PPD, persistent Personality Damage. Most of us here believed this was a life sentence of ineptitude, crippling its sufferer to a point where their ability to function in society was fairly limited. The fact that you are here means that you still have them in your society. Although this is caring in itself, we have no representatives from the GWA, because there those who have PPD are simply put to death.
The question is, how did we make the jump to healing this malady for the mind. This starts with my colleague Janus. Janus, like me, is a Lancer Gole. However due to the memories he was given by our previous overlords, he has a crippling mental condition called Anxiety. Specifically, we determined that a portion of is brain that connects memory to fear responses, natural in all of us, was hyperactive. My people had tried several remedies, but short of severe tranquilizers, Janus was unable to cope with the issue, and spent most of his time unable to make simple decisions.
Then, shortly after the Parasites came to Haven, I was assigned to the Parasite research unit. I noticed that most of those who were initially given passengers or drivers had their personalities slightly altered. Specifically, they were more mentally balanced. One of the elves known for her temper found that while implanted her rage had quelled.
This gave reason to believe that a Parasite's control of a brain could be used as a way to level off less desirable mental attributes. And if that was the case, could it be used for worse scenarios.
Our experimentation was off to a rocky start. Janus, our first candidate, was a Lancer Gole. His mind was his most precious treasure, and we did not know how someone with such crippling anxiety, even if voluntary, would react. I am sad to say that there were three Parasites that failed to latch. Their sacrifice is not forgotten however, because on the fourth attempt, after a copious application of sedatives, tranquilizers, and local anestetics, we were able to keep Janus from rejection.
Within 2 weeks, his anxiety had quelled. More importantly, he stated that he was pleased to have Humi, his research assistant.
With this success, we reached out to our Diplomat in Ston. we had heard that there were several who suffered from Addiction, a mental inability to survive without the consistent application of a poisonous substance. He provided us a volunteer, who at the time was suffering the ill effects of withdrawl from Bloodroot, and at this rate might die from its absence.
Unlike Janus, our second subject Gina was of weaker mind, and able to easy accept a latched passenger. As the focus of this passenger's efforts was negating the addiction, its job was fairly easily done, and as a thank you for her returned life, Gina offered to stay on at the clinic, where I am happy to say she is one of our favorite sponsors.
With these successes, we submitted our findings to the Representative council. You are all here and have read my reports. However there was only one that took up our offer for a call for volunteers, that would be Representative Sutemos.
She provided us with a dossier of Lark, a Private within the Haven protectorate. Lark suffered from PPD, and although his military battle record was meritorious, he was unable to function as a member of a team, nor was he able to function well in society.
She said she would sign over the volunteer paperwork on the condition that no more harm come to one of the heroes of the Skygge, her 'gentle giant'. She also wanted the operation to be his choice, although that was difficult since it was hard to reason with someone with PPD.
With that Lark was transferred to be outside our clinic and after observing him for a time, we approached. We had thought about our approach, and with a bit of surface reads Janus and I determined that although he was fairly mentally damaged, he still felt loneliness, compounded by the fact that he served in a team of one.
You see, ladies and gentlemen, a parasite when implanted, assumes the role of what it is that you need from them. For some, its a forever lab assistant. For others, its a forever motivator and life coach.
Now, trying not to embarrass Lark and Sophia, but as you can see from how they interact, it is apparent that what Lark needed most was his forever friend, a partner."
A spotlight shined on myself and Sophia, who had her arms wrapped around one of mine. I felt something strange, but Sophia's [shadow clone] just hugged tighter. There was a bit of chuckles from the crowd. Jan continued,
"As for the scientific part of my presentation, over a few weeks of observation, we have determined that the split control for Lark has allowed a sync rate of near 100% of his brain, Sophia acting as a Neural Bridge, or patch, between the damaged and disconnected tissues in Lark's brain, alleviating the symptoms of PPD. In the use case of Lark and Sophia, we have seen an almost non-functional ward of the state become a successful member of society. Lark and Sophia have been promoted within the Protectorate, as well as work as part of the parasite outreach team. Lark's previous work with children and his kind personality help in this case. I do firmly believe that this pairing is in the benefit of the host. It should be noted that there is interference within the Limbic system, but the conditional Parastesis Rage only occurs if the parasite's unable to devote attention to managing the limbic system. Or in the case of Lark and Sophia, purposely turns it off." Jan winked at Lark, "Now this solution is permanent for both parties. Should the parasite be removed or destroyed, the host would revert to his previous form, and I can surmised that such a change would kill the host. Thankfully in Lark and Sophia's case, I don't foresee a change to their arrangement anytime soon."
"So as the gathered can attest, the Parasites are more than the 'brain leeches' and 'mental killers' the rumors have them out to be. They are first and foremost helpers and healers. They have made it possible to do something that no amount of magic or medicine could do. They can cure the maladies of the mind."