BOS Psychiatric Session: CLASSIFIED CODE OMEGA RED

Presiding examiner: PSYCHE

Subject: MISS FORTUNE

"Alright [REDACTED]. Remember, you can stop anytime you want."

"It's alright, Doctor. I...I really have to do this."

"Alright. So, in your application, you wrote that you had...an uncontrollable and crippling fear of tentacles. Could you elaborate on that? Is it a constant phobia, or..."

"No. I don't constantly live in fear of tentacles popping out of shower drains or sewer grates. Heh, I know we don't live in a hentai cartoon."

"So, this only comes into play when you are actually confronted with something that has tentacles..."

"Yes. And...it's bad. I can't even stand to have seafood if I can see any tentacles in it."

"So...is this fear founded in anything concrete, or...?"

"Yes. When I was thirteen, my family went on a vacation in Baja California, and we decided to do some diving. Father got a divemaster certification on a lark a few years earlier, so we felt that we were in good shape. We had a few day dives, and they were pretty spectacular, so we decided to do a night dive."

"Mmm-hmm."

"Thing is...we didn't know about..."

"Know about what?"

"Humboldt squid. They live in the deep water around Baja California, and come up at night to feed. They're...they're huge. Big as a furson, jetting out of the deep, flashing black and red and white. Anyway, we were looking at a colony of snapping shrimp, when I felt something grab me from behind. I screamed, but the sound doesn't carry underwater. It...it was a squid...it bit through the hose on my regulator, and my next breath took in a mouthful of water. I tried to swim back up, and get to my parents, but...it...it...it was just so strong, it kept pulling me down. I couldn't breathe, couldn't fight back, couldn't see...the only thing I knew was that this thing kept shifting around, gripping me, trying to find a good place to bite into me...I...I honestly thought I was going to die!"

"But...you didn't did you?"

"No. My parents turned around, and saw the bubble column from my severed hose. My dad swam down and managed to catch up with me. He pulled out his knife and carved a huge gash in it, and it let go. I managed to get up to Mom, and she gave me her emergency regulator. And when I looked down...ugh...they...the squid were tearing each other apart."

"Are you doing alright now?"

"Y...yes. But every time I see an octopus, or a jellyfish...I just...completely choke up. The only thing I can think of doing is getting as far away from it as possible. I'm...I'm not crazy, am I?"

"No you're not. Don't worry, you're going to fit in fine."

FINAL DIAGNOSIS: FIT FOR ACTIVE DUTY

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