That One Patient

This is day two of my treatment of Patient Apollo Glint (AKA: #73104-921) and I first thought it would be more of the same as was yesterday. However, when the staff let him outside of his room for the day, he seemed… a little different. He kept to himself for the most part but he was calm nonetheless. However, there was the matter of that when he stared at the T.V., the picture was seen as being filled with static and distorted. The static I can see is a natural phenomenon but how the staff described the distortion, undulating among other things. I might need to have the wires here checked. I want to rule out any weirdness.

When he had his lunch (Mashed potatoes, Cornbread, and Hayburger), he ate everything EXCEPT the potatoes. Odd, I never met a pony in my life that didn’t care for mashed potatoes. Here’s where it gets odd. All he did with the potatoes was draw something in it, a symbol of sorts. I advised the staff to keep me abreast of any and all occurrences involving him so they handed me the tray with the symbol intact.

Crossreferencing it with some pictures we took of him during processing, it matched the marking on his right hoof, possibly a birthmark. It’s a circle with two elongated triangles on the top and bottom of it and what looks to be “C’s” flanking either side of the circle. It’s an odd symbol but I will read up on it for further study. It could have meaning. But, something about it seems oddly… unnerving.

After I had a chance for some lunch myself, I got right into interviewing Apollo again. Earlier, he was given a dose of his medication to control his outbursts. Initially, I feared such a combo would render him unresponsive but when I greeted him, he said hello back, followed by an apology for yesterday’s outburst. I might have to consider marking Schizoaffective Disorder on his document, especially after his interview today.

He was rather talkative today but nonetheless kept himself on guard and cautious throughout. When I asked him what happened that day he killed all those ponies, here’s what he described.

When he went to wash his hands in a bathroom, he looked in the mirror and say his eyes bleeding yet he couldn’t feel any blood, followed by a burning sensation in his eyes. From the sheer pain, he began to scream, begging it to stop. That’s, apparently, when he heard some sort of deep and commanding voice, one that wasn’t there. It said:

“Only through the spilling of blood shall my presence be cast aside!”

After rushing to the kitchen, his marefriend tried to comfort him to no avail. That’s when he took a knife and slashed her throat before she could blink. When his brother came in, he lunged at him and stabbed him twenty-eight times before killing two more as panic broke out. When he got outside and saw his sister approach with a few guards, that was when he tried to stab himself with the knife but the guards were quick enough to subdue him. After all that, he claimed everything was like a blur to him.

After his recollection, I showed him the tray with the symbol being more pronounced for clearer visibility. I… have no clue as to the significance of the symbol, its meaning, or its connection to him but he started panicking. He practically jumped out of his seat and began screaming and crying. That was when I had to cut the interview shorter than I hoped.

That symbol… what about it caused him to exhibit so much fear? Could it have something to do with a traumatic experience? That fire his parents died in? I need to look more into this. But all in all, we got a bit done in regards to him

On a side note, to myself, have the cooks improve upon the mashed potatoes recipe here. This slop would make my mother feel ashamed.