Mason rode the elevator up to Lucille's penthouse, mentally rehearsing what she would say. Not long after Constance had told Mason of her cocaine habit, she had told Lucille of it as well. Mason had felt it should be up to Constance to handle that confession herself; Constance, on her part, had known that Mason would do what she felt was right, and had steeled herself to do the same.

On the heels of Constance's confession, Lucille had thrown herself into research on the issue of cocaine addiction and its treatment, and had amassed her usual formidable amount of information. The first conclusion that she'd come to was that she needed to get Mason's input on what should be done. The second was that Constance could not be allowed to simply continue with the drug.

Mason knocked at the door of Lucille's study. "Oh, there you are," said the Ventrue Primogen to her ghoul. "Please sit down." Lucille handed Mason a stack of printouts about half an inch thick. "If you would, read through these facsimiles quickly, and we'll talk."

Mason nodded, used to this kind of thing with Lucille. "It's about Constance and her... problem?" Mason asked, noticing the subject matter as she paged quickly through the stack - chemistry of addiction, treatment programs, withdrawal symptoms, rehabilitation specialists, addictive behavior, changes in brain chemistry, new research... Mason stopped looking; these things weren't truly relevant.

Lucille nodded, as always proper and polite. "Do you have any questions about this information?"

Mason shook her head, and let Lucille continue.

"Very well. As I see it we have three options. First, and preferable, is that she quits on her own. Second, if she will not quit, there seem to be many reputable programs in the area who could assist her. Third, and not acceptable, she continues with her addiction." Lucille looked at Mason. "Do you think she will quit on her own? From your observation of her?"

Mason shifted in her seat. "Miss Semingworth... I think she'll do her best to. But, it isn't that easy. Constance has a serious psychiatric problem... I am not qualified to diagnose it but I'd guess, severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder, plus agoraphobia. That's going to interfere with her attempts to kick her habit. We have to give her time."

Lucille looked thoughtful. "Perhaps then the idea of putting her in a rehabilitation facility is the best. There she would have expert psychiatric attention as well as a drug free environment and health care for her withdrawal symptoms."

Mason shook her head, hard. "No... see... the stuff that caused all her trauma was, well, for her to talk about it is either impossible, or she'd violate the Masquerade... she'd have to talk about supernatural things, or at least bloody murders and cover ups... she'd end up considered totally insane, or maybe even accessory to murder, and ... well... I can't see it working out well."

"From my discussion with her, she seems very circumspect."

Mason nodded, trying to control her worry. "She is... but that's part of the problem... without knowing what really she has been through, the psychiatrists no matter how good won't have that much chance of really getting at what the problem is. And how will they understand that she's been through seventy years of trauma when she looks only 25?"

"Then, perhaps a psychiatrist within... 'the community'... could be found. Shall we attempt to locate such a person who is highly placed enough in his or her facility to be certain of protecting her from Masquerade breaches?"

Mason considered this... "That would solve some of the worst of the possible problems. But, for Constance... I think being apart from Nicholas, and their dogs... would just make her withdraw more from the world... he's the only person she's ever been able to be close to, I think."

"I believe we should still make the effort to find such a person. Even if in the eventuality, the doctor is required to attend to her in her own apartment. In parallel, you should encourage Constance to attempt to wean herself of the cocaine and I will make sure she understands that continued abuse of such substances is not acceptable for my employees. We will see how things transpire after that. Does that sound agreeable?" Lucille looked to Mason for her answer.

Mason nodded hesitantly. "It sounds, well... certainly possible of a solution. I'm trying to help Constance not be afraid to leave her apartment... once we tackle that, and she feels safer... it might work. And I'd like to work on such a place."

"Very well, and thank you for coming at such short notice."

"You're very welcome, Miss Semingworth."

"Now... before you go, would you fill me in on the status of your experiments?" Mason smiled, and went enthusiastically into the details of her latest research, largely on the changes in her own cells between when she was a ghoul solely to Lucille, and now, when she was drinking nightly from Lyness in addition to every week or two from her employer. The most exciting change was that her blood had transformed, from a mixture about 3 to 1 of vampiric vitae to human blood, into almost indistinguishable from what ran through the veins of a Kindred. Despite this, her flesh was still practically indistinguishable from human, though she found that if she concentrated, she could heal wounds very very quickly, far more so than before. Lucille also found the details fascinating, and the two were caught up in them for over an hour before Mason returned to her apartment.