Doc Alson's Office
Alison had been speaking metaphorically, as regards puddles -- as she not infrequently did. She was at times accused of being somewhat hard to interpret -- not because she wasn't capable of speaking plainly, but because doing so too much wasn't as interesting.
She had hoped he might elaborate a little, as to what sort of trouble he'd gotten into, but wasn't surprised when he didn't. It had been a vague sort of prompt, on her part.
"Really?" she smiled. "Before the ESN came courting me to enlist, I had a private practice, and no intention whatsoever to leave Earth. I ended up with a retired ESN officer as a client, who appreciated the work I did with him, and started to make referrals. I thought carefully about it, and ultimately, it was too good a career move not to take. As well as a chance to be nearer to several cultures I wanted to learn more about."
"Your blood pressure's fine." Following that, she moved on to visual acuity, and general assessment of head, eyes, ears, nose and throat. And then cardiovascular and respiratory evaluation, which checked out fine.
"Hm, so far so good -- you're in remarkably good shape. Did you enjoy the tunnels? Win some prize, or such?"