"There's no need to worry. It's just an initial assessment, and how the treatment will proceed depends on the outcome."
"What do I need to do?" Mark asked, outwardly appearing more relaxed with a loosening of his shoulders and arms but his facial muscles remained intensely strained.
As Shiller watched him calmly, Mark realized his body language was betraying him. Placing a hand on his forehead he said, "Sorry, but right now might not be a good time for therapy."
"What's wrong?"
Mark opened his mouth, then shut it again, unsure how to describe his ordeal. After a moment, he began to speak,
"I'm not sure how it happened. Yesterday, I was assigned to provide security for Stark's tech exhibition. You know, it's usually a low-risk assignment, especially when it comes to protecting Iron Man."
"It should have been a good practice run for a newbie, but for some reason, those who had just completed training all had other assignments, and I was the only one left with this thankless job."
"I knew it was just a way for my boss to single me out. Neither Stark nor I were pleased with the situation. It was supposed to be a standard security detail, but in reality, it was more like surveillance."
"Somehow, I ended up fainting in the bathroom. I suspect it was my other personality manifesting again."
"And then, this morning..." Mark propped his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands. "I saw the headline on the front page of the Daily Bugle, 'Iron Man battles the Bandaged Murder Demon.' God..."
"The Bandaged Murder Demon? They gave you that hideous moniker? It appears your superstar career hasn't exactly taken off."
"Superhero?" Mark laughed bitterly. "I'm countered as a villain to the superhero Iron Man. So what kind of respectable nickname do you expect them to give to a villain?"
"But that doesn't seem to matter? Since you have bandages covering your face, no one was able to recognize you. Moreover, the fact that you're here suggests that Stark isn't planning on pursuing the matter."
"Stark might not be seeking me out, but my colleagues..." Mark made a complicated face – a mix of shock and confusion.
"Lately, they've suddenly started acting extra courteous to me. It's starting to unsettle me."
"News of my resignation has been circulating for quite some time. Nobody would bother with a lame duck. But who would have thought, this morning, someone brought me breakfast and someone else even got me a newspaper..."
"My hard-to-please superior not only promptly approved my resignation letter but also boosted my insurance payout before my resignation took effect, enabling me to seek medical help here..."
With one hand propping his forehead and confusion written across his face, Mark asked, "How did they suddenly come around?"
Shiller chuckled, "Maybe it's because a presence that you're unaware of has paid a visit. Hence, they got scared."
Mark failed to make sense of Shiller's riddle, but quickly Shiller changed the topic asking, "So, you have already left the CIA?"
"Yes, I'm currently considering my next job."
At that moment, Shiller pulled out a document, handling it to Mark. Lowering his head and accepting the document, Mark saw the headline - "S.H.I.E.L.D Agent Recruitment Notice."
Mark widened his eyes and queried, "You want me to work for S.H.I.E.L.D? But I don't have any experience dealing with supernatural incidents."
"Don't worry about experience, everyone starts from scratch. S.H.I.E.L.D Director Nick is short of manpower. As a former psychologist for S.H.I.E.L.D, I'm willing to help my former boss and recommend an excellent candidate."
Mark hesitated, but when his eyes landed on an eye-popping figure on the first page of the recruitment notice, he abruptly closed it and told Shiller,
"Please forward my regards to my new boss."
"Rest assured, but your dissociative identity disorder still needs treatment," Shiller twiddled a pen in his hand.
Mark furrowed his brow, "Is there any viable treatment plan? At minimum, it needs to allow for me to live normally. Fainting all the time is not an option."
Shiller flipped through the files in his hand and began, "We have interacted for some time now. Your case is very rare. Generally, the first personality that a person splits into is a protective personality."
"Looking at your two personalities' traits, you seem more like a protective personality since it's healthier and more stable."
"In reality, you are the original personality and Jack is the protective personality that branched off. He is extremely aggressive, unstable, and not as healthy."
"But now, you have a third personality developing. This third personality appears to be healthier and more stable than either of you."
"This irregularity is rare. It appears to lack a fundamental cause and seems to occur at random."
Shiller pointed to a file beside him. "I discussed this rare case with some of my former professors and classmates, but they too, were clueless."
Looking at the pale expression spreading across Mark's face, Shiller quickly reassured him, "However, the cause of the personality split is merely a theoretical issue, we all agree on the practical parts of treatment."
"Since your newly formed third personality is the most stable and healthy, we could try directing it, facilitating its formation thereby managing your daily life."
"If he takes control, will I lose consciousness? Wouldn't that be essentially replacing me?"
"In most cases, yes. Normally when another personality takes over, you'd lose consciousness, but..." Shiller took a different approach, "you're not just anyone, you're a follower of Moon God Kong Su, and you're also my patient."
"I can teach you how to manipulate your Consciousness space, and Kong Su can lend you power to construct within the Consciousness space. Once your spiritual intensity grows stronger, you can also become aware of happenings in the real world."
Seeing the towering figure of Kong Su behind Shiller, his skull eyes staring at him, Mark took a deep breath. He was growing weary with the constant loss of consciousness. Accepting this proposal wouldn't make things any worse.
Shiller gathered the medical files on the desk and looked up at Mark, "For the time being, you'll need to stay here at the clinic. Facilitating personality growth isn't a simple task, it needs continuous observation."
Mark nodded, both standing, Shiller showed him to his room. At the same time, Peter, carrying a backpack, walked in. Pointing at Peter, Shiller said,
"Peter, you'd better not let me catch you playing games until 3 am again. Go to bed early tonight."
Peter scratched his head and gave an awkward smile, nodded, and scampered up the stairs two steps at a time.
Shiller, busying himself with assigning Mark a room, heard Peter mumbling distractedly as he pounded up the stairs,
"Just as I was leaving the lab, Mr. Stark said the same thing, urging me to go to bed by 9 pm tonight. Good grief..."