My name is Michael. My job is to maintain a facade of calm acceptance, no matter that the system is in turmoil. I am called upon to deal with those in authority over us, as well as to handle unpleasant situations where the host fears she will disgrace herself. I deal in logic, therefore I am not as prone to emotional outburst as she is.

When I am presenting, the face wears a blank expression, but eyes are constantly moving. It is my job to watch for danger, to keep us safe. I am rarely surprised or stunned, but it is not unheard of.

It has been said that I am loyal to the system. This would seem to imply that I have a choice. I do what I have to do; we all do. I am not immune from emotion, but I refuse to be swayed by it. There are others in the system who deal with emotional matters.

I am perhaps the last "protector" alter to accept the validity of therapy. To my way of thinking, if an event was traumatic enough to be "blocked", especially if that event caused a rift in the personality, then it should remain buried forever. I am not dogmatic about it, however. Recently I have been presented with convincing evidence that such trauma should be dealt with, but only when the time is right. Instead of erasing the traumatic event, the dissociation merely blocks it from memory until the host reaches the point of accepting and dealing with it. Formerly, I assumed the blocked memory to be off-limits forever, but if this were so, it would disappear instead of merely fading into the background for a time. Therefore, I must adjust my thought processes; enlarge them, in fact, to embrace at least a certain portion of therapy. And if a portion of therapy is desirable, perhaps the rest is also. This I am leaving to time and experience.

End trans.