UnwillingEldritchHorrorofFortune
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Chapter 84: The Newest Arrival
🕑 Added 2024-02-26 14:52:52 +0000 UTCThe Regressor and I approached the reception, he was all grim determination while I took a final breath and got into character. If I needed to skirt around the rules, then I knew what role I had to play. If this dull-looking nurse was the key, then I was going to make one hell of a first impression.
“Hey!” I greeted with my brightest tone, “Sarah babe! How’ve you been? Never did hear back from you after that steamy night out!”
Jae-Hyun looked at me as if I had just lost my mind, but I needed to do this. How she reacts to this prompt will determine how much leeway I had with this role. The best case scenario is if she fills in what I said with matching information on her end, sort of like an improv performance, but I can play it off as an inappropriate joke if that falls short.
She stared at me vacantly for a while, her hazel eyes glazed over. This was the same thing she did when the Father first introduced himself, and she only became animated a short time later.
“That’s not an appropriate conversation to have here!” she answered with a crimson blush on her otherwise pale face, “That’s not something-”
“Not something the illustrious Dr. William Walter would say? I guess I am the best physician in the building! You saw my knowledge of anatomy firsthand, after all,” I added with a light-hearted laugh and a wink. It seems that the best-case scenario was most likely, which meant that I needed to cement my identity as quickly as possible.
Without missing a beat, the nurse replied sarcastically, “I would hardly say that you’re the best doctor, or the most knowledgeable.”
Good, so the nurse will, for the most part, follow the prompts the Aspirants give her. If that’s the case, then there’s something else that I can use to my advantage: that sweet, sweet active ability from my new title. I had the perfect idea of what to say, but let’s speak with the nurse a little more first.
“Alright, alright,” I answered and entered the woman’s personal space; she didn’t immediately flinch back, which I took as a good sign.
I gave her my most charming smile, “I got a new patient here, you know the drill, love.”
Sarah sighed again, “Don’t call me that, please.”
“That’s not what you were saying the other night.”
Now she was a little flustered with a hint of anger showing, “Dr. Walter, please! We have a new patient here, I know how hard it is for you to act professionally, but this is too much even for you!”
Good, now she was getting angry, time to use that little title active.
Noe, do your thing!
“Acknowledged, my Host.”
I stared at the nurse, maintaining eye contact, and I felt the new power in my voice, “You know that I don’t need to do that. The normal rules don’t apply to me, the Hospital’s Director loves me too much to get rid of me.”
The nurse froze again as if some kind of conflicting force was raging inside her. Even Jae-Hyun looked at me in question, but he was smart enough not to speak out of turn at such a crucial moment. A visible shudder was felt in the building as if the very foundations of the place were changing and an invisible force seemed to sweep through everything around us, but the tremors quickly subsided. Eventually, the woman unfroze, although that slight daze in her eyes never left.
“Yes… right…” she muttered before the cheer in her voice returned, “I know the Director has a soft spot for you, which is why you shouldn’t advertise our little meeting so vocally! You know how she gets! We’ll both be dead if she ever finds out you were unfaithful!”
Now it was my turn to pause. What?
Whatever, I didn’t have time to contemplate what random background information the nurse gave to my made-up doctor identity; I’ll just go with the flow for now and deal with the consequences later. Sorry future-Walter!
“True, even I know my limits,” I said with an exaggerated sigh, “I know all too well how she can get. But can you please have someone take the patient to the wards? You know I’m far too busy to do such dredge work, I have people to fix, work to do, bodies to get rid of.”
Sarah sighed again, “As if you do much work around here, but I’ll have another nurse have him processed.”
She turned to Jae-Hyun and her friendly tone turned ice cold instantly, “Here is the patient handbook, make sure you follow the rules to the letter. Failure to do so will result in the appropriate punishment. We hope you will get the proper treatment here.”
He took the little booklet silently and the nurse whispered something else into the intercom. Strangely, I couldn’t tell what she said even though I was right next to her.
Soon, another masked man, this time there was no mistaking the inhuman nature of the being, came in to take Jae-Hyun away. The new nurse looked like he came right out of a slasher flick, he was abnormally huge, maybe over 7 feet in height and wider than Vadeem. His skin was a patchwork of sewn bits and decaying flesh, and a grotesque surgical mask obscured his face. Were the other workers here equally horrible?
The creature nodded at me and the receptionist took out an awful-looking needle and jabbed the Regressor right in the neck. Jae-Hyun passed out immediately and was dragged away into the depths of the Hospital. The strangest thing happened once he entered the hallway, his normal clothes were replaced with an inpatient gown and even his appearance was slightly altered to look more sickly.
I guess that signaled his integration into this weird Hospital’s structure; the Father didn’t seem to change earlier when he passed through, but then again, he was already dressed up as a creepy priest.
Once the two were fully out of view, I turned my attention back to the only normal-looking person in the hospital, “So Sarah, about that night…”
She rolled her eyes, “You have work to do, Doctor.”
“You know you can call me Will,” I said with a wink, “You were practically screaming it before.”
She blushed, “Don’t talk about that! And go, before both of us get in trouble. Take your handbook, although I’m sure you’ll never read it anyway.”
I grabbed it off the desk and gave her a friendly wave before turning to the dark hallway myself, “You know where to find me in case you get lonely again! Take care!”
“I swear you’ll be the death of both of us!”
I laughed and gave her a little wave of goodbye before heading into the Hospital proper. Much like Jae-Hyun, my clothes had changed as well, and my comfortable sweater and trousers morphed into a decrepit surgeon’s uniform. This thing looked more like a Halloween costume than the real deal, what with the random brown and red stains on it, but it fit this hospital’s setting well enough. I can only imagine that the rest of me transformed to match the outfit.
I sighed and got ready to see what kinds of horrors I’d face here. But first thing’s first, let’s see what the rules were, and what the Regressor needed me to do. I found a quiet corner and pulled out the rulebook first to make sure I didn’t accidentally die because I broke some random law.
Physician’s Handbook:
NOTE: ON THE ORDER OF THE DIRECTOR, ANY PHYSICIAN CAUGHT NEGLECTING THEIR DUTIES WILL BE SEVERELY PUNISHED.
FAILURE TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS OUTLINED BELOW WILL RESULT IN PUNISHMENT.
FAILURE TO ADHERE TO HOSPITAL PROTOCOLS WILL RESULT IN PUSHISHMENT.
THE DIRECTOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ADD ADDITIONAL REQUESTS AT HER LEISURE.
FAILURE TO MEET THE DEMANDS OF THE DIRECTOR WILL RESULT IN PUNISHMENT.
Well, that was an ominous start. I’m pretty sure I never want to find out what this punishment was.
Instructions for care:
- All patients in this hospital are sick. There are no exceptions.
- Do not engage in conversation with a patient outside of treatment sessions or lunch hours.
- If a patient speaks about impossible events or a trial, then they are sick beyond help. They are to be reported to the Disciplinary Department or the Director immediately.
- If you see a patient breaking the rules, they are sick and need immediate treatment. They are to be reported to the Disciplinary Department or the Director immediately.
Where there’s a problem here, I didn’t know what the rules were for the patients. I couldn’t exactly report patients breaking the rules if I didn’t know them! That’s going to be something that I had to find out immediately before I headed to where they were housed. Let’s read what else is on here.
- Physicians must supervise at least 3 procedures per day to ensure that doctors are performing their duties adequately. The Physician must report any doctor found neglecting their duty to the Director.
Damn it, I had no idea what the duties of a doctor were, something else I had to find out ASAP. Hopefully, my status as the Director’s pet would give me a little leeway on the rules here, although I don’t want to see how far that grace would go.
- The Physician must make an in-person report to the Director at the end of the work shift.
Fuck, even more unknowns. At least that was all the rules I had to follow, but this situation was looking worse and worse. First of all, what am I even reporting about? I didn’t know where the Director was, or even when work hours ended. I was starting to curse my idea of being someone so important to this stupid hospital. The Regressor’s trust in me was too high if he thought I could get through this crap with ease.
Speaking of the Regressor, I still had his little note to read. I hope he remembered to provide me with some basic information in addition to telling me what I needed to do for him. I pulled out the crumpled note and quickly read. As always, the Regressor was all work and efficiency, even in his writing.
Work hours: 8 am - 8 pm. The trial starts at 8 am.
Lunch at 12, never miss it. Dinner and breakfast are safe.
Your dorm number will be in the registry in the Admin building.
Be careful when you operate after work hours, it is exceedingly dangerous.
Director’s office is on 2nd floor, Room 201. Don’t go there unless you are thoroughly prepared. I’ll give instructions on what to expect later.
Ah… well shit, I had to go to the Director’s office tonight, and I highly doubt Jae-Hyun’s in any condition to give me the instructions today. Guess I’ll have to wing it…
Be wary of the Physicians here, and especially the Director. Avoid her at all costs.
Well double shit. Looking back, I guess the Regressor’s exact words were for me to go in as a Doctor and not a Physician, but who the hell knew those were different roles in this damned hospital? I thought the words were synonyms, in fact, I’m fairly confident that they were!
Map of the hospital is found at the Reception hall, ask for one. Say it’s for an intern.
Other rulebooks for various staff can be found in the relevant wards. Ask the workers to give you one.
I need you to do the following:
Get me a key to unlock the Patient wards.
The password to the Director’s computer
Uniforms from one of the other roles, preferably a doctor or nurse
Keycard to access the basement
More instructions to come once those are done.
Good luck Walter.
And that was all the instructions that I got. I read it over one last time to make sure I committed it all to memory before getting rid of it entirely. I took a few more moments to compose myself, working out the priority that I should do things. I needed to ensure that I live first, so finding out the basic information about the patients and doctors was number one, followed by figuring out what on earth I was supposed to report about at the end of the day. The Regressor’s tasks could wait until after.
Thankfully I had a full 12 hours to work with, but there was a lot on my plate already. I couldn’t be complacent. For now, let’s get that map so I knew where I was even going. I sighed. Guess it’s time for Dr. William Walter to start his first day on the job.
Comments
Toby Lechtenbeger
Favorite chaoter in whole book
Toby Lechtenbeger
Love it. More sassy love doctor
