"Astral, we need to talk. Your choices and actions on the FBI were made out of rage, I get you care for every person. Your actions however proved that wrong. Innocent people died in that building collapse. If you keep going down this path you may never come back." Anders looked at him with her famous clipboard, preparing to take some notes for him. "You were clearly upset over something you couldn't control, why is that?"
Astral picked up his next creation that he was prototyping. "Well, it's simple. She was getting taken advantage of, for no reason other than learning something. I could only dream of a world where knowledge was given to everyone in an open format." He grabbed a second sheet of loose paper. Working on the logistics of something. "But as of now, it pains me as a person of history that so many things are locked behind the government. Only the elite few have access to it and it drives me mad."
Anders wrote down what he was saying in brief little chunklets. "From this madness, do you think it can be fixed by freeing the information to the public?"
He looks up to her. "Are you my new shrink? Cause you are digging at the deep shit." he went back to his design, crumpling it up and tossing it into the trash can, visualizing every project he had started to plan. "It would ease my own conscience to release all the data that I have, exposing a corrupt government that is lacking any unity. It would be a futile cause, not many would listen and even less would believe such things. Hence why I teach my students to learn the news for themselves, so that way they can figure out what is right, and what is wrong." He had a design that he made several concepts on in a flurry. "Then once you see the world for what it is, it becomes a place you marvel at for how successful others become."
Anders took notes of Astrals anger, in his serenity. "Have you ever thought about the reasons why you became this way?" Her calming and soothing voice making him ease into his sketches lighter.
"God this did become a therapy session." He sighed and leaned back. Looking upwards. "Well, I always was told to be honest. No matter the reason, I just wish everyone shared this passion with me."
"Being honest, or exploring history?"
"Honesty, it kills me to see when kids in my class come to me for relationship advice, I give them all the same answer of being honest. It has caused a lot of ended relationships from my point of view." Astral circled something on his paper. "But in the end they come out happier on the other side."
She finished writing her single line of analysis and looked at him. "It seems to me like you care deeply about any person you meet, whether you have one conversation or one hundred." she paused for a second. "You don't suffer from anything. You just like being kind due to it making you feel good." She set her clipboard down and walked over to him, leaning in and kissing him on the forehead. "I admire that about you, no matter how bad a situation might seem, you have been a bright and happy person."
"You know, I wasn't always this way. A part of me wanted to mold myself into someone much better. It happened during high school. I was a quiet person who isolated themselves due to not knowing how to communicate with people my age. I could talk to younger kids or older adults just fine. But something threw me off, and I wanted to become someone who anyone could look at and be. Wow, that person is a good one, I wish more people in the world could be like him." He looked at Anders and smiled. "So I became that person after a long summer. A changed person, who would talk to anyone no matter the issues between us."
"Ah a hero then." Anders leaned back. "That ideology will someday get you killed, you cannot protect everyone. Yet, you have a sense that you will put your life before others."
Astral set his pencil down, he had his design down. "Gladly, if it meant I could save even one person I care for, I would do it in a heartbeat." His morals were too strong to pass up. He had always cared for anyone he had met. Fake or real he would always wish the best for people.
"So you say, you acted this way in more ways than this one instance of taking on the FBI for no reason haven't you?" Anders asked a question she knew the answer for.
Astral looked into her eyes. "Yes, I often roam campus late at night, smog is bad enough to not see the stars, but the quiet that I can get every five to ten minutes while walking is good. One of my students many years back was walking back to her dorm. I saw her in front of me and she got escorted by five dudes to a frat house, I followed them, she refused many times for actually entering the house. I stepped in and told them off. My student was dropped instantly on the deck, obviously drugged. I told them to leave her alone, they said it was none of my business, I told them if they didn't let her go I would mess them up."
Astral took a breath. "Once I said that they all laughed, a young teen versus five dudes, they would take that in a heartbeat. After they all got knocked out I was able to bring her home. She thanked me later and I had no worry, same thing happened to a male student of mine, he was being hazed and I told them to fuck off, mind you I was fresh out of college, and they said no. I beat the shit out of them and got him to his dorm safely."
"Wow a true hero, could you get hotter?" She fanned herself with her clipboard.
Astral leaned back. "Anders, you are a very attractive lady, but I am not a person like that." He looked at her and only had his new contraception on his mind outside of martial art books he could buy.
"Good, you are the classic hero archetype. Pure of heart, innocent and have a good nature. I think!" She was cut off by Astral leaning over and kissing her on her lips, being forceful and shoving his tongue into her mouth.
Astral pulling back from the kiss, with saliva hanging from the corner of his mouth. "Don't confuse yourself lady, there is a lot more dirty work in my mind than what I say. I think of such disturbed thoughts that even the most dark people would fear me." he tilted his head and smiled.
Anders was visibly disturbed, she never had once been so dominated by someone. Especially by any man. She was at a loss for words. She felt exhilarated. "Astral, I want you to do something which I haven't let any man do, and that is." She took a second to collect herself. "To care for me for a lifetime if not longer."
Astral looked at her. "I will, but believe you and me, you won't be the last person I will care for." he reached his hand across, lifting up her chin to look at him. "Besides, you are a great therapist. As for now. I want you to see the dark side of me. If that's okay."
Anders put one of her hands down. "You are kinda killing the mood but sure, what are these dark thoughts that you go through." Astral would lean back into his chair. Looking up to the ceiling.
"Your mood will be fine." He paused for a second. "I feel like with every action I take there are a set of voices in the back of my head. Who questions every decision I make, telling me that I shall become of the void alongside the overlord." Anders pushed him back, grabbing her notepad.
"What name did you just say?" Anders looked at the Desert Storm notes.
"Overlord?" Astral spoke, while he thought back to their fest conversation on this.
"Oh no, that is a big problem." Anders looked at her notes.
"Me being me, losing thought or Overlord?" Astral spoke.
"Okay, from these notes, the 'Astral' from the desert storm operation mentioned how Overlord would take them over. So that means you must be extra careful. Becoming one with him could mean bad things." She spoke while being a bit shaken up.
"I will meditate on this subject tomorrow." Astral spoke while hugging Anders. "Your touch reminded me how much I missed this." He opened up the pocket dimension and set her in there and hopped to his house.