First, a quick overview of the story so far: Before the story begins, the MC dressed up in a weird costume, armed herself with a sword and killed two people. Then she was caught, thrown in prison and later moved to a mental institution. The story starts with her sitting in the same mental institution six months later, talking to the doctor about the chance of being released. (or at least being transfered into a more open institution.) But before that can happen, the doctor asks her to tell what really happened back then when she killed someone. The MC starts to tell an absurd story about a secret world, a guardian (Cara) that's half human and half... something else (we're talking yellow eyes, sharp teeth, claws, small horns, feral features in her face etc) and a cyborg-version of Annie Oakley (famous western-woman who worked with Buffalo Bill and became the first American female superstar.) So for the problem. I'm closing in on the end of the first part (of two). The flashback will lead up to the MC killing those two people and being arrested, and the present day part will end with her finishing her story. But after that? I can think of two ways to end everything. 1. The doctor don't believe her and locks her up. The second half of the story focuses on the guardian and cyborg. They consider helping the MC, but decide it's better to keep her locked up. Both of them have spent their entire lives doing whatever it takes to keep the knowledge of the other world hidden. If the MC is locked up in the mental institution, who is going to believe her story? 2. The doctor do believe her (after getting proof that she's telling the truth) and sends her to a more open institution. She will spend some time here before making a run for it and escaping (early in part two). The guardian and cyborg are very much real and will help her stay hidden. In the end, she introduce the doctor to the guardian and cyborg, forcing him to admit she is sane and release her. Which one do you prefer? And why?
I can only say one thing to that. Why, in any sane world, would a doctor believe that story? If she killed people, there's no way she'd be transferred to a more open institution. At least not until they believe she's rehabilitated a bit, and that's not going to happen in as short a time as six months. The first version makes a lot more sense. Although, you could mix the two. The guardian and the cyborg come to her, the doctor sees them, and via coincidence is the only person to see them. Eventually, he begins to think himself insane, realising that (again, via coincidence) only he and the patients ever see the guardian and the cyborg. Or, again, just the first version because it makes sense.
One thought: presence of psychosis is used in recidivism tests as a marker of lower risk offenders. The vast majority of psychotic patients who act violent only do so once, partly because it's often a fluke event, and partly because we have more effective treatments for psychosis than for, say, personality disorders. And it's not like a person either is or isn't psychotic. Many patients with psychotic conditions, at their most stable, are still hallucinating or having delusions - it's just not interfering too much with their functioning. Medication has taken the edge off enough that they can get on with their lives. For example they may go from hearing screaming voices continuously to hearing mumbling voices some of the time. I agree that unless he's given proof, the doctor won't believe her story. But if she is overall much improved and shows no sign of wanting to take drastic actions related to this belief of hers, she might be moved into a lower-security setting simply because she's doing a lot better. Especially if you make the time interval longer, say a year and a half instead of six months.
Thanks. The 'six months' was my initial time line, but I could easily expand it as long as I want. I'm thinking five or six years instead. It's not that relevant. And as for proof, that's simple. If I want the doctor to believe her, there are several options. An easy way is to have the guardian or cyborg talk to him at night when he's alone, like in the parking lot, breaking into his home or something. They will need a pretty good reason for it, though.
