Regnum Aetern: Dual Rebirth

With the strange pulling force limiting him, there were very few things Adrian could do. So he sighed and focused on the doctor and his past self once again.

The doctor smiled amicably.

"Okay, with that out of the way, we can now move to some tests. Mr. Daniel, are you up for a little game with me?"

His past self stared at the doctor for a bit before giving a light nod.

The doctor continued.

"The game is simple: I will ask you a question related to a scenario, and you will answer. Do note that you absolutely cannot think before answering; you have to speak the first answer that comes to your tongue as soon as you hear my question. "

The doctor leaned forward slightly and widened his smile.

"It doesn’t matter how extreme or how strange your answer is; you must speak it. Mr. Daniel, you have to remember that this is all to help you, so you must be honest."

The doctor was clearly rather insistent in the last part. His past self looked into the doctor’s eyes as if trying to discern something, but soon replied.

"Okay, Doctor, I promise you that I will be honest and follow the rules."

The doctor seemed rather content with that reply as he straightened his back and adjusted his glasses.

Just then, Adrian’s gaze fell on the notebook the doctor was holding in his hands, and faint curiosity bubbled inside him. He remembered wondering what the doctor was writing in the notebook, yet he couldn’t see anything from his angle.

But that wasn’t the case for Adrian now.

Walking forward, he stopped just behind the doctor and looked at the notebook’s contents. And what he saw was not what he had expected.

==========

Notes

Subject name: Daniel

•The subject believes that they are mentally ill.

—Possibly suffering from extreme anxiety and stress?

Subject’s reasoning required✓

The subject states being apathetic to an extreme degree.

—Emotional burnout?

•The subject concluded that they were mentally ill due to being mistakenly charged by the cops and locked up unfairly.

—The possibility of the subject suffering from social anxiety is extremely high.

•(Important) The subject mentioned a strange detail. They mentioned that it was past twelve at night when they were returning from work. They also say that they work as a manager in a private company.

—Possibly suffering from overwork due to unethical company worker policies?

—But the police must’ve investigated the subject after they were mistakenly charged, yet there seemed to have been no action against that company for breaking worker regulatory laws. (Strange)

...

==========

Although Adrian had decided to look at the contents of the notebook, he was only acting on a whim and didn’t believe that he would actually be able to see anything.

That was because this was a memory, Adrian’s memory. Everything that he was seeing was just a conjuration of that memory. And in Adrian’s memory, he had never been able to take a look at the contents of this notebook.

So how could he see it now? How could he witness something that never existed in his memory in the first place?

It didn’t make any sense at all. Was this... really just a memory?

As Adrian struggled with the new puzzle he had discovered, the doctor asked the first question.

"Let’s suppose that you and a stranger are both lost in a desert together. You have only a single bottle of water, while the stranger is extremely thirsty and you are moderately thirsty. What will you do? Please don’t take time to think and tell me the first answer that comes to mind."

His past self’s reply was instant.

"I would keep the water all to myself since I am lost and don’t know how long that will be the case. I might be only moderately thirsty now, but that might not be the case in the near future."

The doctor stared at him for a bit before quickly jotting down in his notebook.

==========

•The subject’s reply to a moral dilemma is self-preservation at the cost of another’s suffering.

—What is noteworthy is that the subject had not tried to justify himself in any way. This behavior is a sign of a major psychological abnormality.

==========

The doctor shifted his focus back to the young man in front of him and moved to the next question.

"Let’s say that an unknown individual is coming at you with a knife in their hands and with the intention to kill you. There is no one around besides the two of you, and you can’t ask for help. The only thing you have is a gun in your hand. What will you do?"

The young man in front of him replied flatly without any change in his expressionless face.

"I will kill them. After all, my life is more important."

The doctor once again began jotting down in the notebook he was holding.

==========

•The subject is admitting that they are willing to resort to extreme acts like murder for self-preservation.

—The complete lack of hesitation suggests that the subject considers this mindset normal.

==========

The doctor took a deep breath and remained silent for some time. Then, he asked the third question in a tone that seemed somewhat less lighthearted compared to before.

"Back to the previous scenario, suppose that person suddenly came at you with a knife, and you had nothing to defend yourself with either. In the end, you were stabbed. But you miraculously survived, returning from the very edge of death. What will you do?"

But unlike the previous ones, Adrian’s past self tilted his head at that question.

"What do you mean? Why would I do anything? I was stabbed, yet somehow lived; then that is a good thing. The only thing I’ll do is be careful so that I am not stabbed again."

This time, the doctor didn’t start jotting things down in his notebook. He remained still with a look of confusion clear on his face. It took him a few moments to return to normal.

"Mr. Daniel, someone suddenly stabbed you for no apparent reason with the intent to take your life. You only survived by sheer luck and could’ve very well died. The person who made you suffer through all that is still out there, living as though nothing had happened."

The doctor paused for a bit.

"Don’t you... feel the desire to take revenge?"

His past self nodded.

"Of course I do.

The doctor blinked.

"Then why?"

"Because that is just an emotion, it will fade with time." The tone of the young man’s reply was flat. "Acting on those feelings and trying to get revenge will have consequences. Who knows, I might get stabbed again and might not be as lucky this time. The reward is not worth the trouble; it’s just that simple, Doctor."

Hearing that reply, the doctor remained motionless for some time, looking into the empty air before jotting things down in his notebook.

==========

•(Important) The subject’s reasoning makes very little sense, even though it appears logical.

—The subject does not lack emotional response, yet they do not guide his actions and decision-making. Yet the subject chooses self-preservation, which is primarily an emotional response, while knowing his actions are immoral. Their thought process is strange.

==========

After that, the doctor asked several more questions, while his past self replied instantly with that same flat tone.

By the end of those questions, the polite smile had vanished from the doctor’s face. He was looking at Adrian’s past self with a rather serious expression.

When he spoke, his tone was still polite, yet it lacked the lightheartedness from before. It now sounded somewhat formal.

"Mr. Daniel. First, I would like to start by saying that in my twelve years of experience, I have never seen a mental patient who truly believes that they are mentally ill. After all, that is the most annoying trait of mental illnesses."

The doctor met eyes with his previous self.

"This is the strangest point about you, Mr. Daniel. There were a few others who also came to me, believing they were mentally ill. But among all of them, you are the only one who is actually suffering from mental problems."

The young man remained quiet for a bit, staring at the doctor expressionlessly. Then asked in his usual even tone.

"What exactly am I suffering from, doctor?"

For a while, there was silence. Then the doctor took a deep breath and answered.

"Mr. Daniel, you seem to be suffering from an extreme case of Antisocial Personality Disorder, also known as ASPD for short. You must’ve heard of psychopaths and sociopaths, correct? What people colloquially call psychopathy or sociopathy falls within this spectrum."

The doctor paused and looked at the young man, as if waiting for him to digest the news or react in some way, but the young man still remained expressionless. Seeing no reaction from the young man, the doctor continued.

"Please listen carefully to what I am saying now. People suffering from ASPD usually suffer from a lack of remorse, disregard for rules, and aggressiveness, among other things. Most of the time, people diagnosed with ASPD turn into criminals. Terms like psychopaths and sociopaths are good examples as they are commonly associated with psychotic killers and mass murderers."

Adrian’s previous self slowly opened his mouth and asked flatly.

"Doctor, what are you trying to say, exactly?"

There was a hint of sharpness in the young man’s otherwise dull tone. The doctor replied in the most serious tone he had used until now.

"What I am saying is that as someone suffering from ASPD, you have a reasoning and moral framework that differs greatly from other people. Because of that, you need to find a new moral compass, one that will keep you on the right path. Otherwise, Mr. Daniel, I fear that you might unknowingly arrive on the path of Evil."