"Good evening Mr. and Ms. Ranax," the doctor said, standing up from his chair with a warm smile on his face. "It's been a long time since I've seen either of you."
"Yes, it has," Mr. Ranax, shaking the doctor's hand. "I believe it's been at least two years since we've talked."
"Indeed," the doctor said, adjusting his glasses. "Two years, four months, and nineteen days to be exact."
He nodded towards Ms. Ranax. "How's the baby Ms. Ranax? She doing well?"
"Yes," she said smiling slightly. "She's doing very well, just learned to walk a few days ago."
"That's wonderful." He nodded to the chairs. "Please, sit down!"
Mr. and Ms. Ranax sat down as the doctor grabbed a few documents from one of the shelves. He couldn't help but notice that the couple seemed rather...nervous. Ms. Ranax looked like she hadn't had much sleep for weeks, and her husband kept rubbing his temple as if something was really eating at his mind: very usual for this particular couple.
He sat down at his desk. "So...seeing as you're both here and not working in the lab like usual, I'm assuming it's serious."
Neither of them said a word.
"Let me guess..." he said, scribbling down a few notes on his pad. "Your eldest?"
Mr. Ranax met the doctor's gaze. "You've heard about him?"
He smirked. "I'm pretty sure everyone on the colony's heard about him by now. Let's see...didn't he spray graffiti all over the kitchen a few days ago? And wasn't it a month ago when all the creatures in the lab got loose, and he got caught by the C.E.? Trust me, I'm very aware of his criminal background."
They both looked down, very distraught.
"Ahem, my apologies," he said, going back to his notes. "So, what exactly is the problem?"
"We were hoping you might know what's wrong with him," Ms. Ranax said.
"You mean you don't have any idea what the problem could be?"
"Well..."
"Anything you can tell me will help."
Mr. Ranax put his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Ever since about a year ago, he's been out of control."
"Out of control?"
"Yes...misbehavior, complete disobedience, and really easy to irritate. Every time we see him, he's almost always annoyed...usually with us."
"How old was he when it started?'
"Seventeen."
"Was he like that beforehand?"
"No, not at all."
"Hmm..." he said, continuing to write in his notes. "Anything significant happen around the time which he appeared to go through this change?"
Ms. Ranax shook her head. "No, not at all. He doesn't have many friends and doesn't get out much, and nothing bad has happened within the family for a long time."
"So...you really don't have any idea what the problem could be..." he said, sitting back in his chair.
"Yeah..." Mr. Ranax said, looking down again.
The room was silent for a few minutes. The doctor sighed. They really had no clue what was wrong with him? You'd think that they'd have at least some idea, being his parents and two of the very few people he knew.
He looked over the parents once more. After getting a second look, they didn't just look stressed, they seemed...worn. Their lab coats were unusually dirty, and he noted quite a few scratches and bruises on both of their arms. How much were they working?
"Well, I'm afraid there's not much I can do," he said, putting down his notepad. "I know him even less than you do, and since you really don't know what's going on, there's not really much I can do. It's not a usual situation, as he should be past the emotional drama at his age. I'd suggest trying to dig into it further, maybe ask him directly."
"Right." Mr. Ranax said, standing up. Ms. Ranax stood up silently, and both of them left without even saying goodbye. The doctor wiped his brow, and sat back down deep in thought. It was clearly a disfunctional family: the parents working too much and the child an absolute mess...and yet that didn't feel like the full story. It was normally for a child to feel frustration, but to go so far as pulling stunts that could land one in prison was a bit extreme. Not to mention that it felt like the parents were hiding something, but he had no idea what it was. Maybe they weren't even aware of it...
He took a sip of coffee and looked outside his window to the hallway. Both of them were long gone, lost to the masses of Colony 257.
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