Lanie's Questionnaire

Lanie lives in a nice house in a surburb in Salem, Indiana. It is exceptionally tidy with a soft color scheme and minimal clutter. The dogtor recently acquired the house from Dominic the paranoid hacker who generously gifted it while pretending to want to avoid government attention from excessive homeownership. Lanie's best friend Keara Star and her almost perfect clone Dr. Mel Dakkera live several blocks away in a similar home (another property acquired under the same circumstances).

Originally, Lanie lived with Keara in their home in Berkeley, California. The place got a bit crowded when Mel suddenly arrived on the scene. Lanie intended on staying with them as the household pet once she completed her transformation. However, several Contracts went sideways, resulting in her being both terribly cursed and potentially wanted by the FBI. As a result, she spent six months in the place that the curse bound her to--a haunted extradimensional space located within a museum in Detroit--until she could both break the curse and shed her tainted human identity. While cursed, Lanie lived with her friend (and fellow Contractor) Jason Decker and her adopted daughter, Violet.

Keara and Mel moved to escape the chaos of the Bay Area, a place which always seemed to attract non-beneficial supernatural activities (such as the spreading Sleeping Sickness, a mysterious glitter dump, and a Kraken tentacle attacking the coast). Lanie soon joined them in the Salem neighborhood after taking on her dog form and settling Violet in a boarding school for the supernatural.

Lanie lives as a dog and undercover human with:

• a Contractor clone and former leader of the clone recruitment/terrorist group, Lucy/Dr. Wumbratainment (who decided that she'd prefer to be a pomski in containment instead of a human kept in a large cage in a psychotic man's nuclear-proof basement);
• two supernaturally Augmented bloodhounds, Talis and Charm;
• and a personal bodyguard, Sierra Tomason.

Lanie shares accounts with Dr. Mel Dakkera, her clone. Upon developing her first power, Lanie proceeded to amass wealth by treating clients without them knowing that they were being supernaturally treated. Specifically, she had them close their eyes, breathe in a certain pattern, and then recount their mental health troubles over the course of eight hours total, ensuring they were oblivious to her power's visible manifestation. In exchange for fast, effective treatment, Bay Area patients paid either 1% of their current salary over the course of two years in monthly installments or 2% of their annual salary up front. The deal was supernaturally enforced, where failure to pay resulted in their healed Traumas returning to them (an aspect that she explained as subtly and carefully as she could). Even when Lanie became distracted with breaking a nasty curse, avoiding detection by the FBI, settling her (demon possessed) adopted daughter, and helping other Contractors with their problems, Mel continued treating wealthy clients with this "breakthrough hypnotherapy." This has led to a decent amount of cash flow through wise investments and ongoing monthly payments for past healings.

Monthly expenses for Lanie include:

• $30,000 for an around-the-clock bodyguard
• $300 for grooming, walking, and medical care for her two bloodhounds
• $9,000 for a private chauffeur (six hours a day) 

Monthly expenses for Mel are negligible aside from the $4,000 mortgage payment for the home in Berkeley (the other half being paid for by Keara). Both Lanie and Mel are frugal with their money, with Lanie only spending large amounts of it now to maintain her safety and independence despite being a supernatural canine.

Lanie originally aspired to cure the mental illnesses and emotional maladies of children and young adults (especially minors) as an undercover, supernatural therapy dog. This would require her to heal Traumas quickly (for children don't have the bandwidth to talk about their troubles for many hours), in a seemingly mundane or invisible way (to avoid becoming the golden goose), and quite possibly in small groups to help as many children as possible.

When Ghoul Fever spread, however, Lanie's Ambition shifted. Mental health needs skyrocketed as the minds of the infected rapidly degenerated and the fears and stresses of those not yet infected grew. Now she intends on advancing her power to heal minds to the point where large groups of those in need of services can receive them, even if they cannot talk about their traumatic experiences. Healing large groups will also require her to provide her services from a greater distance than "an arm's length."

Concerning the undercover aspect, Lanie has fulfilled her desire to become an independent, lovable dog--a being that has both zero legal bindings and zero legal rights. Telekinesis allows her to meet her basic needs independently, a Confidential Communication power and her friend's supernatural pen allowed her to communicate with those around her, and wealth allows her to hire people to deal with the rest (e.g., chauffeur service, bodyguard, pet care). A little bit more investment in the new form will make life even more convenient (or less inconvenient), such as a way to carry canine gear and a way to escape containment should she ever cross paths with an animal control officer.

Lanie would never kill a person or animal for her Ambition, although she is willing to kill what she considers to be malicious demons and monsters. She has come close to death several times while on her journey to becoming the greatest therapy dog in the universe.

Note: When I first answered this question, it didn't say "(before signing The Contract)". -_-

Becoming terribly cursed and all of the new titles that resulted has been the defining event in Lanie's life. It resulted in the deconstruction and reconstruction of her relationships with herself and with other Contractors.

She already shed her original identity, gifting it to her clone. Then who was she? The evolving situation sparked by her becoming cursed brought about potential answers: a mother, a co-parent and pseudo-wife, a therapist who worked for the military. But none of these fit. Despite her love for the toddler she stumbled upon, she wasn't ready to be a parent. Despite her love for her friend and fellow Contractor, she wasn't ready to be a co-parent and pseudo-wife. And she never wanted to be a human, not even before signing The Contract in blood. Bit by bit, was built up in a rush to meet the emergency needs of others became stripped down once more and rebuilt into something that she wanted--who she really is.

Concerning other Contractors, Lanie originally approached them with great suspicion due to the (since redacted) scandals on the news. So much so that she prepared to collect information on them and pass it on to the proper authorities if she considered them to be dangerous to the public--including mentally, morally, and/or emotionally unstable. Despite this starting point, during the first several Contracts both the tasks and her teammates were surprisingly reasonable (albeit sometimes lacking in strategy and subtlety). Then she found herself in a multi-layered situation involving a curse, trouble with law enforcement, and a demon-possessed toddler. Out of desperation to not drown and determination to succeed, she decided to approach Contractors as potential allies instead. She offered them the only things she could: mental health services and a Network of screened Contractors to trade information, goods, favors, and services. Their problems became her problems with the hope that her problems could also be theirs.

Lanie's three closest people in her life are currently Dr. Mel Dakkera, Jason Decker, and Dominic West. 

• Mel is almost a perfect copy of Lanie: self-disciplined, compassionate, strategic, and slightly silly. They both love platonic physical affection, running, dogs, and spending time with their best friend, Keara. They both have little interest in pop culture, romance, and food. Due to self-love, Lanie and Mel care about each other like two close sisters. The two talk several times a week, providing a sort of sounding board combined with therapy on a deep empathetic level. When one says they get it, they really do. While they disagree on how to go about making the world a better place, they respect the good work that each is pursuing--so long as it doesn't interfere with Keara's normal life and each other's pursuits. Slowly, their personalities diverge due to different life experiences. Lanie is more trusting of Contractors and willing to be interdependent, even if it means getting caught up in their messes with the hopes of the favor eventually being returned. Mel continues to dislike Contractors in general, being open to only professional relationships with former colleagues like Norton, Jason, and Abbas. Lately Lanie's missions have "come home" to Mel, increasing the tensions between them until Lanie fulfilled her promise to no longer be a human who perfectly shares Mel's likeness.
• Jason Decker is a man who similarly struggles with his identity as a dishonorably discharged former sniper for the US military. Lanie met Jason on her very first Contract and later went on four more with him. His identity as a protector by being an aggressor is something that he's not fully come to terms with, walking the fine line between considering himself a monster and a blood-stained hero. His desire to defend that which he holds most dear--ranging from his special ops team (during a mission that went terribly wrong) to his demon-possessed adopted daughter and his best friend Mel/Alice/Lanie (from the dangers of the modern and supernatural world)--poorly aligns with his singular talent to shoot things and his propensity towards isolation. Like Lanie, Jason has tried to rebuild who he is after becoming cursed, but he hasn't quite determined the blueprints nor the foundation. His selflessness during the de-cursing death/resurrection ritual led to Lanie being free from the curse and Jason being doubly cursed. In response, Lanie is willing to do everything she can to help him break free. Only then will he have a shot at living the life he wants.
• Dominic West is a paranoid, mildly insane hacker who believes nearly every conspiracy theory--not all only because he hasn't yet heard of them all. Lanie stumbled upon Dominic through a referral to someone who could help set up new identities for herself, the demon-possessed toddler she stumbled upon, and Jason. This was the start of a friendship where Lanie called on Dominic for help with things like tracking down a Contractor traitor, smuggling her out of Texas after a job went horribly wrong, and later helping her kill off her fake identity and set up a new life. He also generously helped her, Keara, and Mel relocate and gotten selflessly involved in a Contractor kidnapping case involving a young girl. In return, Lanie has helped heal the mental health issues of his "employees"--not nearly enough. To Lanie, she owes Dominic her life. To Dominic, she owes it to herself to discover who she really is, embrace it, and be happy. Nevertheless, his insanity can be slightly worrisome at times, such as when he casually shared that he's been monitoring Lanie's daughter and pseudo-husband through their electronic devices ever since he set up their identities to make sure that the little girl was at all times safe and well.

Lanie was raised by two financially established, older, doting parents. Her childhood summers involved leaving her small hometown about an hour north of Sacramento, California, and vacationing all over the United States with her parents and their two dogs in a trailer. With no siblings nor relatives around her age, Lanie behaved more like an adult as a child--or, at times, a dog. Her closest friends beyond her parents were the family's German shepherds, which her father bred and trained as a hobby.

In elementary and middle school, Lanie was picked on for being socially awkward and noticeably skinny. In late high school, she finally learned the social rules of fitting in and even achieved a level of popularity, but she still felt like an observer among strangers. Part of this stemmed from her general disinterest in boys, fashion, music, and movies/shows. Instead, she enjoyed reading high fantasy, running, and training her dog to compete in agility courses. 

Lanie began college at the age of 15 through a dual enrollment program and later attended UC Berkeley for her Bachelor's and Doctorate degrees. She became a psychologist at 25, specializing in behavioral and cognitive psychology, and has had a successful private practice in the Bay Area for eight years. Psychology drew her because it leveraged her "observer among strangers" perspective to connect with people and do some good in the world.

Her father, a retired private security guard and landlord, was diagnosed with early onset dementia when Lanie was 23. Her mother Maribelle Dakkera, a retired government employee, passed away suddenly six years later. Jonathan Dakkera currently resides in a memory care facility in Cleveland, Ohio, close to where he grew up and his two siblings live.

The loss of both of her parents in Lanie's early adulthood (and her childhood dog) has been hard on her, and it's something that she's not quite come to terms with. Combined with her lack of friends as a child and being surrounded by adults, she also struggles to drop the self-discipline and maturity and engage her playful, relaxed side. 

Despite being physically affectionate with those she's closest to, Lanie is both asexual and aromantic. Thus, her first love was her childhood dog and best friend, Luna, a German shepherd that her father gifted her from a home-born litter when Lanie was twelve. With her dad's help, Lanie trained Luna to do a variety of tricks, including navigate an obstacle course that slowly expanded over the backyard. An old soul at heart, Lanie took Luna's care seriously--with the same level of seriousness that her father cared for her, her mother, and Maximum (his stud dog). Aside from school, Luna and Lanie were inseparable. Luna passed away soon after Lanie completed her doctorate degree in psychology.

In her mind, Lanie has never dated; however, a guy she befriended during her undergraduate years would disagree. The two accidentally defined the relationship in vastly different ways, eventually culminating in his frustration with her blatant rejection of anything romantic between them after what he considered to be a whole year and a half of investment. The situation scarred Lanie, making romantic interactions and gestures shift from being uninteresting to uncomfortable and even dangerous.

Today, Lanie would say that she loves Mel, Jason, Keara, Violet, and her father--and she's developing love for Dominic. But she's not "in love" in the way that people usually mean.

Lanie has several fears. The most longstanding one is her fear that her supernatural pursuits will somehow result in Keara and Mel dyeing or finding themselves in a situation worse than death, such as being kidnaped and held hostage, imprisoned, or otherwise abused. Keara deserves the very best life--which looks like continuing her work as a (mundane) child therapist, learning how to cook new gourmet recipes, endlessly dating in an attempt to find the perfect man, and keeping up with the latest fashion trends. Keara doesn't need Lanie to accomplish these things, yet, ever since they met in early college, the women quickly became best friends and decided to do life together--perhaps until the right man comes along and pops the question to Keara. Mel continues to fulfill this promise, being a lower-risk housemate than Lanie because she hasn't been invited on any Contracts since the split (and if she were, she would decline). Lanie similarly desires not to taint or ruin Mel's life, which has led her to stay in touch with them from a distance. Now that she's primarily a dog and they all live in the same neighborhood, Lanie will likely visit more regularly than she has over the past six months; even then, it will be done with a level of secrecy.

Another one of Lanie's fears is Jason Decker dying--something which has come up numerous times now. She's been doing everything she can to free him from the curse (that originally had a grip on them both), but will it be enough to set him free and let him live the life he always wanted? She also fears that she's horribly messed up his life on accident in a variety of ways (such as by being too proactive/bossy, by taking in Violet and then burdening Jason with parenting responsibilities, and forming a temporary family unit that complicated their relationship)--something which he has neither confirmed nor denied.

Lastly, Lanie is afraid of the demonic being behind the curse murdering her daughter, something it has already attempted once.

Being a dog, there aren't many things that Lanie can easily take with her. Presently, her three most prized possessions are:

• A plain silver wedding band that her and Jason picked up at a pawn shop soon after they agreed to be legally married--Jason using his real identity and Lanie using a fake one set up by a hacker friend--for the sake of forming a typical family unit to co-parent a demon-possessed toddler that they stumbled upon in a nightmare realm. The wedding band represents her love and loyalty towards Jason, even if her sense-making of their tumultuous relationship and his troubles with the FBI compel her to stay away from him for a period of time. It also represents the chaos that they navigated together, some of it destructive and some of it constructive, which has shaped her into who she is today. The ring, wiped clean of any fingerprints with rubbing alcohol, is attached to her collar like a dog tag.
• A supernatural pen provided by Dominic West, who noticed that Lanie had trouble using telekinesis and supernaturally speaking through electronic devices at the same time. The pen can be connected to up to three things, allowing Lanie to hear, see, speak, and even smell through those things. Dominic attempted to explain how it worked--something about nanites created by the Illuminati--but what the psychologist cares most about is the fact that this pen is connected to a small speaker in her customized dog collar. This allows her to talk through the collar to everyone within earshot without having to concentrate.
• A customized dog collar that Dominic created which has a small gap in the center to hide the supernatural pen, a small built-in speaker (with no power system), a transponder that can be activated to send her location to Dominic as an emergency rescue method, and a spool of wire that could be used as a wire saw. Under all that white fluff, the light grey collar is hardly noticeable until a woman's voice starts speaking through it.

The dogtor has a lot of problems in her life, but the biggest one is probably that she makes other people's problems her own problems. For example, she's taken in a toddler who is demon possessed and somehow supernaturally tied to a cursed nightmare realm. This could have been someone else's problem, but she decided immediately that it was hers to deal with (and, by proximity, Jason Decker's). Similarly, although Lanie is no longer cursed, Jason Decker still is, so she's willing to cash in on every favor and trade in every supernatural item that she's accumulated in an attempt to set him free. And when Lanie noticed a string of unusual activities in an obscure city in Indiana, she connected the dots enough to discover a Contractor kidnapping case involving a group of rogue supernaturals--something concerning for someone trying to create a Network of trustworthy ones. Being at the center of this Network allows her to hear about all of her allies' troubles and be invited/asked get involved. Where are the dogtor's limits? Will she rest when she no longer has anything to directly gain from getting involved in other people's affairs? Will her calculations of risk and costs ever outweigh her proclivity towards compassionate?

"Uh, my mornings are pretty straightforward. I get up around 6:00 AM and go for a long, slow jog with Sierra. (I invited Wumbra several times but jogging doesn't seem to be her thing, so she stays home.) Then we come back and get cleaned up, which involves me showering and brush--combing. I try to be a human as little as possible these days so that Mel's DNA (and technically Alice Decker's DNA) isn't all over the house, so that means a shower as a dog... I'm getting the hang of it. Didn't realize how much Samoyeds shed and when you add on the other three, I vacuum like twice a week now--with Talis and Charm in the backyard of course. Wumbra doesn't seem to mind the noise as much as they do, probably because she doesn't have dog-level hearing.

Anyways, for breakfast I usually have steak..." The dog pauses to licks her chops even though she isn't actually using her muzzle to speak. "Did you know that there's eight different cuts of cow? I never bothered paying attention before since I couldn't digest it. My favorite so far is filet mignon. I tried searing it like Keara does, but I kept on burning it--and then I realized that I can simply eat it raw as long as it's a high enough quality--and it tastes delicious. I have some brown rice and dog-friendly vegetables with it, of course, for a well-balanced meal. Sierra usually has fried eggs and toast, and dogs get the same thing as me. And then we're ready for the day."

"I mean, one of the benefits of being a dog is that no one really cares what you're wearing and whether or not you did your makeup so long as you're, like, clean and fluffy. I'd definitely brush myself right before leaving the house, but that's more to avoid the embarrassment of shedding everywhere. I guess I could pick up some dog clothes and accessories... It's hard though because, like, the collar Dominic made for me is pretty well hidden by the fluff, and I don't want to wear more clothe; the fur coat is already quite warm. Maybe something could go on my head? Actually, that's a good idea. It might make the kids laugh if I picked up like a grey lab coat (so that it would contrast with the fur) and a plastic stethoscope--or would that have negative connotations for them?" Using telekinesis, the dog proceeds to search for doctor dog outfits on her laptop.

"Absolutely not..."

"... Okay, that's not too bad."

"Uh, like, that's really hard to say. So much has changed over the past year..." The dog closes her eyes to consider the question, with her voice (coming from the small speaker in her collar) going quiet for a moment. "In the past, Keara and I would just walk around the San Francisco Botanical Garden for the day. I suppose we still could--it depends on if I'm Illuminated at that point or not. Well, maybe I could go undercover--dye my fur and get a short cut? I-I don't know. It's not like I can host a party where everyone comes over when I'm managing a Network of allies who want to protect their identities and my closest colleagues are in legal trouble. Unless we, like, do it at one of Bu's restaurants." Another pause. "But even then, that's not secure enough as evidence by his kidnapping. The most secure place I can think of is Dominic's house, and he'd never have piles of strangers over..." She licks her chops again. "No matter what, though, it's going to involve sushi and steak."

The dog's ears go down. Her tail probably would too, but she's sitting down. "I, uh, I just wish I wasn't so useless. I know that's rather abstract, but when I think on the times that I really regret, it's being helpless in a situation where people are depending on me--even if they don't know it. Like when Jason's arm got blown off, and I tried to stop the bleeding but then I actually made it worse, causing him to pass out. And then not knowing how to help him in that moment, instead letting him get picked up by the police, almost die from the curse, and taint his identity. And Abbas has both legal and supernatural trouble, and I have no idea how to help him. There's a demon cohabitating my daughter's body, and I don't know what the solution is. And even now, on the way to rescue a girl who was kidnapped, there really isn't any role that I'm playing in the mission itself. I coordinated it, but everyone else has done the rest of the prep work and I don't have anything to contribute. Its not like I need to be the hero or anything. I just, like, wish I could do more than find other people to solve these problems."

"Since Day 1, I've told the harbingers generally what I'd like to receive as payment, usually right at the end of a job and sometimes a few weeks later after I've reflected on it. I figured that's why they give me their business cards sometimes, so that I can call them back once I've decided? I'm not sure if things like getting better at healing the mind was a latent power I always had that some supernatural force far beyond my comprehension helped me unlock, or if it was something that was 'granted' to me from essentially nothing. I suppose I could ask..." The dog sniffs the air a little, looking in your direction. "I try not to get too specific about it, as they might have a better idea of what the possibilities are. For example, I asked for a way to better sense my patients' physical and emotional states and that resulted in me waking up the next day with a fantastic sense of smell and the ability to hear tiny sounds like pulses and fidgeting." A pause. "To be honest, I've found the whole thing to be rather confusing. Dominic shared that he has to discover ways that, like, the Illuminati are watching him or the government is poisoning the water in order to co-opt the enemy's tactics, and those discoveries are somehow made possible by him completing jobs. However, Jason just asks for things like I do. And Akira talked about it like his abilities were slowly developing over time, so I guess all of it's fair game?"

The dog tilts her head slightly to one side. "Uh, not really. My mother was a casual Catholic, and my father seemed to go along with it for her sake. I was baptized as a baby, and we went to mass a few times, like, for the big holidays. Now... I don't know. I'm sure that there's some higher power out there, higher than the Harbingers, and I hope that such a power, if it's sapient, is 'good' in all senses of the term. There does seem to be a natural order in the world--both in the hard and 'soft' sciences--that make it impossible for me to believe that all of this is the result of pure randomness. That is to say, chaos seems to have been reeled in by something. I just don't know what, and, to be honest, that doesn't really bother me. I'm going to do all the good I can possibly do in my lifetime. If it turns out that death is, like, a doorway into the next place, then I'll deal with that when I get there. One thing at a time."

The dog sighs. "Drawings can come to life. Vampires, ghosts, demons, and powerful creatures from other universes are very real. Everything down to 95% of the soul can be perfectly copied. And someone can literally become anything they desire if they're invited to become a Contractor and then play their cards right." She pauses, collecting her thoughts. "I didn't think such things were possible... But what might have made these things easier to discover was also that I didn't think they were impossible. I didn't think much of them at all, really. But if you want to talk about conflicts with my worldview, I confess that I went into this expecting Contractors to be, uh, rather malicious. From my personal and professional perspective, having an insatiable appetite for power is usually found in people who are egotistical, self-serving, and mentally unsound. So my original plan was to monitor Contractors, observing them and learning about them on the jobs (by being 'one of them') to then turn them over to the FBI--maybe just the blatantly concerning ones or maybe all of them for monitoring. And now... I think that some of them are what I assumed, but most are just mentally unsound." She pauses again and thinks about the various Contractors she's interacted with, including Edgar and Norton. "... some more than others."

The dog looks puzzled, head tilted to one side. After a long moment, she straightens up. "Well, if you're talking about the ones I see the most on the job, that would be Jason Decker and Abbas Serna. But, like, I'm pretty sure that Jason isn't going to do these jobs anymore. And Abbas I haven't worked with since the Crypt--well, he didn't--that's a long story." Lanie sighs.

"In short, Jason Decker is a conflicted ex-black ops sniper who basically needed to find his place in the world. I think I've talked about Jason enough already, though. Abbas Serna ... Abbas is a shy, wanted, hunted monster hunter. Despite all his abilities in stealth, he seems to be a professional at getting noticed in the wrong place at the wrong time. I appreciate his steadfast willingness to help--" Her ears and head go down as she looks away and adds more quietly, "--even if he has trouble just, like, helping himself." A long pause. Speaking timidly now, she says, "He babysat Violet when Jason and I were, uh, figuring things out. She loved going into the woods with him, probably to eat bugs and forage--such a wild child..." Lanie becomes lost in thought.

"But, um," the white Samoyed looks the interviewer in the eyes, "outside of the jobs, I see Dominic West, Minerva McAlister, and Bu Fang regularly."

"Dominic is a kind, generous, hyper-paranoid genius. I've depended on him many times and in many ways. He is the first person I'd call if I needed help--and I hope to be able to help him someday too."

"Minerva is a young, fearless, aspirational shapeshifter. I'm still concerned that someone so young is going on these jobs, but she's proven herself to be very capable--which honestly is relieving."

"And Bu ... Bu is nuaunced. I've been keeping an eye on him ever since Kevin's funeral. He seems to be stabilizing."

The interviewer gently reminds the dog what the prompt is, causing her to snort.

"Sorry. Bu is a highly networked chef who can alter appearances, forms, and abilities--and who is recovering from several recent traumatic incidents. I'm extremely grateful for his company when I was ill for several months. He was the only Contractor I stayed in touch with during that time; Sierra helped me reach him through his restaurant. It was really helpful to share my story to someone in our line of work, from start to finish, to try to make more sense of it all." Lanie seems to smile more, but maybe that's just characteristic of the breed. "He's a good listener, just like Sierra, Keara, and Mel."

The dog is quiet for a long time. This clearly isn't something that she's considered before. "I don't know if ... I don't need much--just a cushion to lay on."

"Would you be perfectly happy in a plain white room with just a cushion in the center?" the interviewer gently prompts.

"Not 'perfectly happy', no... because then I would be alone, and to be honest I really enjoy being with my friends. Based on that, I guess the perfect room would have a large comfy couch. On that couch would be Keara, Mel, Sierra, Tal, and Charm ... or Dominic, his dogs, Minerva, and her dog." There's a long pause. She swallows before adding, "Or, if all the FBI issues were resolved, Abbas, Jason, and Violet." That would have been a dream come true, to get that back again one more time.

"Anything else?"

"I suppose it would have some pillows and blankets, because the perfect room for me would be cold--with this double coat I tend to run warm, and also the cold..." she hesitates before saying quietly, "tends to lead to, like, cuddles."

"Anything else?"

"Lots of plants in the room; houseplants smell nice, especially when they're recently watered. And lots of windows so I can, like, watch the wildlife. And plenty of food for everyone, cooked by Bu Fang--" The mere thought makes Lanie's mouth water. The dog licks her chops. "--including steak and sushi."

The dog is quiet for a while as she looks out at the fields of grass shifting in the light breeze. This was a nice place to have a conversation. "I'm 'the best' at healing broken minds, possibly the best in the world at this point; we'll find out soon I guess." A pause. "But I'm not sure I have a whole philosophy for it. This is, I became interested in psychology to better understand people and how they work because for a long time they didn't make any sense to me. I also wanted to help them in some way, like, to better understand themselves and how they work--including their dysfunctions. It would be vain of me to say I'm the best at it, if I truly am, because I care the most. Lots of people in my profession care deeply about their patients. On that note, I doubt it's because I'm a genius because I'm not--not at all. Like... I really just excel at healing broken minds because I was willing to risk it all--put my life, my sanity, and my health on the line to get supernaturally better at it. And by luck or fate I was given the chance to do so."

"I think that my personal limits--the lines that I'd not cross--indicate that I'm a compassionate, empathetic person... break them?" The dog is quiet for a while and then her ears go back flat. "Um, I think I'd only commit murder if, like, the person was on the verge of killing others, torturing animals, hurting children, or something equally atrocious. That is, if I didn't stop them right then and there, I'd be permitting them to commit terrible acts against the innocent--which would put their pain, their blood, their traumas, and their lives on my han--uh, paws too. The same goes for harming an animal; if it's an animal that's wildly out of control and endangering other, then I think I might try to stop it even if that means killing it. Concerning children..." The dog swallows. "I don't know if I'd hurt a child to stop them from harming others, intentionally or accidentally. That's why my telekinetic ability is non-damaging; it's for restraining purposes only ... I hope I never get into a situation where I'd have to find out."

1. Sarabande in D minor by Handel is a good representative of her childhood: orderly, repetitious, harmonious, and at times pleasantly slow with Lanie, her parents, and the family dogs.

2. Funeral Dirge by Terence Blanchard feels fitting because Lanie has experienced a great deal of loss in her life, beginning with her parents as a young adult (her mother passed away suddenly and her father has early onset dementia). This continued on with her own identity, and then her best friend Keara (who she gave over to her double), and then, in a way, Jason Decker, Violet, and even Abbas. She recently gave her two bloodhounds to Keara and Mel and is even considering dismissing Sierra once Lanie "goes public" in order to protect them from kidnapping or worse. While the dog gains freedom from severed ties, it also grieves her every time. Furthermore, at any moment she expects one of her friends to die on these dangerous jobs, with every unsuccessful telepathic call prompting worry.

3. Dog Days Are Over by Florence & The Machine makes the list because Lanie was stuck in a personal rut--a period marked by dull lack of progress--before she was invited to participate in the Contracts. As a mundane human, the young psychologist felt frustrated with her inability to heal minds more efficiently as well as discontent in her own body. She also was concerned about the rise of insane, malicious, terrorist-oriented supernaturals. The Contracts gave her the power to change the world and her own form (as well as become familiar with and monitor other Contractors) but at a high cost.

4. Feeling Good by Nina Simone represents the dogtor because, as a dog, she is finally able to embrace her true self--engaging in the world the way that she always wanted to. She shed her original identity, false identity, role as a mother and a pseudo-wife, and human form in order to move closer towards her goal of transforming the world. But to change the world is ultimately a selfish aim, because at the end of all that, perhaps then the dogtor will finally be able to simply chase squirrels, chipmunks, Frisbees, and tennis balls--living her best doggy life and "feel good".

5. Lean on Me by Bill Wither represents Lanie's approach to surviving the challenges and fall out of the Contracts. It is also her approach to helping her friends survive, by establishing and ever-expanding the Network (where goods and services can be traded with a certain level of privacy).

"Evolve?" The dog tilts her head slightly to one side as she ponders the question. "Well, several of my goals have already evolved. Like, one of my main motivators for accepting these jobs was to monitor Contractors, uh, for sadistic, terrorist-like tendencies. Once they were identified, I planned on anonymously reporting them to the FBI via telepathy. And now, like, I continue to monitor my peers through the Network, including using the blacklist...  but I have much more trust in most of them than I did starting out--and if a truly concerning one comes to light, a danger to the public and other Contractors I mean, then I'm pretty sure I'd deal with them myself--not alone, with the help of my friends. That's in part because I'd personally prefer the FBI not get involved in my own affairs and in part because I now know that the authorities are probably too weak and inefficient to do anything effective regarding a bad actor."

"Concerning my other goal, I originally wanted to heal children at hospitals. But then Ghoul Fever spread, and the accompanying insanity with it. And over time my own ability to heal the mind grew and grew to levels I didn't think were possible. Now I have a much bigger vision to cure all of the world of mental health issues, undoing the damage that was done by that strange, supernatural virus. And when that's done--and I firmly believe that it is possible to achieve--yes, I'd like to retire. I have no need for an infinite increase in power, and I'm no help to anyone dead."

The dog is quiet for a long time. "I don't get angry much these days. Jason Decker used to get under my skin all the time. We fought about lots of things, like how to raise Violet and, uh, basically everything else. Looking back on it though, that was partially my fault for being so tense all the time and struggling to nail down who I was, my identity." There is another pause as Lanie's black eyes stare off into the distance, her mind wandering and pondering. "Looking back at the past jobs, I think I've been pretty level-headed even when my teammates let me down. Actually..." her ears go back as her tail slinks down "... I can get pretty angry at myself when I feel like I'm useless or didn't do enough, especially when someone gets hurt. That's happened a few times, with Jason especially which I guess is also tied to why we fought so much. Thankfully, like, no one has died due to my insufficiencies, and I'll do everything I can to prevent that. Having the ability to heal injuries is a part of that. Also, if a Contractor does something for their own personal gains at the cost of others, I don't have the patience for that--like when Bryan secured his own win on the last job ahead of everyone else instead of focusing on the eminent danger at hand and helping everyone succeed. That, like, really annoyed me--and, to be honest, if it led to more deaths or our failure of the mission then I probably would have been very pissed off. We're all in this together--that's my baseline expectation. That's why I have zero patience for backstabbing and selfish recklessness among my coworkers. The stakes are high. If someone is willing to step on someone else to get ahead, then they have no right to get any farther."

"Um..." The fluffy white Samoyed looks right at the interviewer. "... the hardest? At this point, it's probably that I was once Dr. Melanie Dakkera--um, not that I identify as that anymore. Now I'm 'Dogtor Lanie,' and that's what I want--and what I wanted, what I was striving for for months. But, uh, if it was widely known that originally I was 'Mel' who was close friends with Keara Star and who then became two people (so that I have basically a twin sister with my exact same likeness who is now running around with my former identity)... If the world knew the full storyline and actually believed it, then I think that would upend the 'normal life' that I've done my best to ensure for both of them. Not only that, but once I get Illuminated, if anyone knows that they have ties to me, then that might put them at a kidnapping risk. So, to protect them, the secret I'm trying the hardest to keep is that they have anything to do with me..." Her tone becomes quieter as her ears droop down. "... which means I'll be staying in touch telepathically but, like, not in-person anymore, not for a while."

"Wait, what? Harbingers are Contractors?!" The dog just sits there for a long moment, wide-eyed. "Seriously?! I thought they were beings from another dimension or something eternal, like, as old as time itself--demigods or aliens or something. Where do they get the authority to hand out powerful artifacts and unlock someone's latent potential and all of that other supernatural bullshit?"

The interviewer informs Lanie that the answers are beyond her comprehension and she should focus on the interview question.

"I mean," her done drops a bit, "you were the one who started this conversation, but that's fine ..." The dog then tilts her head slightly to the side, confused. "Um, what was the question again?"

The interviewer repeats the question.

"Uh, I'd keep going by 'Dogtor Lanie'. I don't see why I'd need a different--wait, who would I be telling this different title to? ... I'd never send other people on Contracts! If the world is, like, ending or something I would call up my friends and go take care of it myself." The dog is dead serious. "Why would I need others to run dangerous supernatural errands for me? I don't need to 'play god,' and I have no desire to be a part of more insane people rise to power--or die trying."

The interviewer reminds Lanie that she has coordinated complex jobs before.

"Yes, but that wasn't for power; that was to help my friends."

The interviewer mentions that Lanie could send people on Contracts to help people become stronger to help their friends or make the world a better place.

"Sure, but I could also accidentally be sending people on jobs who want to do the opposite. Or they could start off on a good path and then change course. No, I'd want no part of being a Harbinger."

"Someone I've worked with multiple times, so maybe Abbas or Jason... or Minerva or Dominic if we're counting collaborations outside of the jobs." To put a name and a face to this hypothetical situation makes the dog's heart speed up just a little bit as her ears go back. The thought of them dying on a Contract that she survived makes her tense. It would mean that she had failed to protect them; the death of her friend would be on her hands paws. She answers quickly, "I would honor their passing as best I possibly could, contacting their loved ones if possible and then retrieving their body and setting up a memorial... assuming that there was no way to bring them back--way that they had specified in advance, I mean. For example, Iryna seems to have a way to come back given that she attended her own funeral. Others might have their own ways (maybe I should ask them). But, barring that, I'm not one for necromancy; the dead should stay dead." That statement is a bit ironic for someone who died and resurrected once, but to the dogtor that was a special case. "Concerning 'looting,' that's probably not the right word for it. Powerful artifacts should be given to trustworthy people so that they aren't misused. That's why I gave the friendship bracelets and Shadow Killer--Jason's sniper rifle--to the Library, to be rented out under specific, supernaturally enforced terms." Hopefully Dreamer was being honest with her. "If I had known about the Library sooner, I would have given them the cufflinks too. Hopefully Bu uses them wisely." If there was a way to use such a dangerous weapon wisely.

"Uh, yeah, I didn't have much in the way of covering my tracks for a long time. In the past, a false identity helped sort of--ditching it was far more difficult that I realized though. But with Alice Decker's death, I shed some potentially complicated legal issues (among other things). To clarify, I didn't do it; it was just the wrong place at the wrong time." The dog's tail begins to wag, thumping on the carpet in a slow rhythm, and her ears perk up. "I'm pretty sure that being a dog has taken care of entanglements with local law enforcement now. Dogs don't have citizenship and aren't upheld to the laws, not that I intend on going psychotic or feral or anything like that!" She clears her throat before continuing. "On the one hand, being a dog means I cannot, like, own property, and I have no rights. To navigate that, I've partnered with my handler and bodyguard as well as PETA. But on the other hand, I'm pretty sure no one can, like, take me to court or arrest me because I am a dog."

The dog's black eyes stare into the eyes of the interviewer. Her fur bristles up along the spine for a moment, and her lips curl up ever so slightly showing sharp pearly canines. "If innocent people get hurt in someone's path to power, then I will do everything I can to stop them, whether it's right then and there if I think I can handle them myself or soon afterwards with a team backing me up. I won't kill them... well, if it's between their life and someone else's--especially a child--" Her ears go down as she continues in a lower tone, "--I ... I might. Like, I'm not sure ... I don't want to find out, and neither do they ..." There is a long pause. "If I'm handling them with a team, I'll be able to 'take them out' in a non-lethal way--my allies have a wide variety of skills and are very good at what they do. That's my preference."

"I'd absolutely refuse. I'll harm no one--Contractor, normal, or animal--if I can help it. I hold myself to a high standard, not wanting to kill even my enemies if possible. I mean, uh, it still bothers me that I helped Abbas kill that vampire a long while ago, like, even though it was chasing our car down with clear intentions to kill us." A long pause. "In that regard, Norton's ability to convict mid-violent act is inspiring. Maybe I could do something similar someday, stopping someone in their tracks with my words and sheer will (although in his case it was probably the will of more than just himself--the royal 'We' in a more literal sense, it seems). Property damage I have a bit more tolerance for, like someone's car exploding or a house burning down--but not if innocents are harmed in the process. There's insurance for that... and if there isn't I would slip them half a million or something, like, discreetly... And theft is fine by me, for the most part. As long as we're stealing stuff and not, uh, people."

"Oh, do they hire repeatedly? The majority of the jobs I'm invited to I learn about through letters: letters with wax seals, letters with mold and grime all over them, letters finding their way to me no matter where I am or what I'm doing. That means I haven't met that many Harbingers face to face, despite being on twelve of these jobs now. ... The one I remember the most is the first Harbinger I ever met, the one in a slick suit with orange aviator sunglasses. I appreciated him taking the time to meet me and explain, like, what this was all about. He also confirmed my suspicions that one of the more public supernatural figures was a Contractor--Mark Collins. I also appreciated him saying what I had been thinking in that moment--that the world needs a different kind of supernatural out there. One more of the 'good guys'. At the time, I had a very poor opinion of Contractors due to some recent terrorist events. But the way he talked about it ... it made me willing to give this a chance."