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(static) ... should be... without... there. We should be running now. Thank you for waiting.
Not at all, doctor. You do us all a great service by helping us. Should we proceed with the tour?
Please, by all means.
(footsteps)
This is the mess hall. Some of our calmer residents can freely come and go and eat whatever they like. Others we feed in their rooms. And others still we keep sedated and feed intravenously until there is a time which they can be cured or studied safely.
How many residents are there?
To be honest, doctor, I do not know, and that is by design. The Asylum covers the entire planet, and our patients range from your normal schizophrenics to the truly insane. He also have special residents from other dimensions and time-warpers that had unfortunate accidents. Left bits of their brains in the past or future. The facility is designed to house any and all persons and individuals that may be less than civil and more to the point, uncontrollable and dangerous. Needless to say, our security methods are substantial and thus all the secrecy to the workings of the Asylum, even among administrators.
But how can the Asylum run if there isn't someone who knows everything about it? Someone in charge?
That's part of the beauty of it, doctor. With no one in charge, there's no one to revolt against. No one knows every schematic or door code. So if there people who work here don't know how to escape, how would the residents? This way, please.
(door opening)
We are entering the private wing. The are patients here are residents of their own free will, as well as some who do not have an underlying malady contributing to their... instability. Your client lives here. She's been significantly isolated.
I'm still not sure what exactly I have been called in for.
There we have something in common. My orders were simply to take you to Tiana, wake her up, and ask that you help her.
Tiana? Is that the name of the patient?
Well, to be fair we don't know her real name. We're not even sure she has one. We heard a distress call from one of the outer planets. When we arrived, there was no one to contact. We picked up a single life form, and there she was. Once we found her, we sedated her and brought her on board. The name Tiana comes from us, the guards and technicians who brought her here. Do you know what it means?
Its origin is old Riddian, isn't it? I seem to recall that Tiana was the name of the goddess of passion...
You know your mythology well! Ah, here she is.
(silence)
Her? She looks so young! She can't be more than fifteen!
Fourteen, we guess, unless she ages differently, though we haven't noticed anything unusual yet.
What have you noticed about her?
Not much, I'm afraid. We've kept her sedated since we found her, so he have yet to witness her speak or even move.
You've kept her sedated? For how long?
Almost three years.
Three years!? What is wrong with you? She's just a child!
(laugh) While your sympathy is noble, dear doctor, it was no place with this one. When we found her on that outer planet, she was alone. A single life form, remember?
Alone? I'm not sure I understand your meaning.
She was the only living thing on the entire planet.
The whole planet was empty?
I never said empty. It was once a thriving colony. Still young, but there were cities, spaceports, harbors. Civilization. We have documented that the population was somewhere around 1.7 million people. And that's what we found. 1.7 million bodies. She killed them. She killed an entire planet, doctor. And I don't mean with bombs or guns or anything. She used her wits and her bare hands. We have no idea how, but the bodies... we collected hundreds of them, performed autopsies and investigations. Each one was killed by someone's hands. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen her kill with my own eyes. When we found her, she was just sitting there, dead bodies all around her, bloodier than you can imagine. I sent a team down to collect her. When I didn't hear from them, I sent a second. Then a third. I sent almost an entire platoon of men with the most advanced weaponry the galaxy has ever seen to collect that little girl. She killed them just as easily as the rest of that planet. She tore through power armor like it was made of paper. I have no idea how its possible, but that little girl can dodge bullets, survive explosives, emerge from aerial bombardment without a single scratch... there was nothing we could do to collect her, until I tried simply asking her.
You... asked her?
I asked her. Sent down a comm unit, and asked her to sit on the ground peacefully. She did. I then told her we were taking her away, and she nodded. She willingly took the first sedative that put her under, and now she's here. I can't make any heads or tails out of it. This little girl slaughters a planet of millions people, and she just sits and takes instructions like a child.
She is a child.
(pause)
So she is. But its that idea of talking that has the government all excited. That's what you're here for. I've been ordered to wake her up and let some Universe Psychologist talk to her. Try to get her to work for us. But I have to be careful, and take the safety of the rest of the Asylum into consideration. You realize the position this puts me in, doctor. I have the government breathing down my neck, but I'm not going to sacrifice another one of my men to that monster.
With all due respect, sir, I wish our positions were reversed.
(laughs) I suppose you have me there. We will wake her tomorrow morning, and you will be sealed in a containment facility with her when we do. You'll be miles and miles away from another living thing, but we'll have recording equipment and a comm if you need to contact us for anything. If things go awry, you'll be the only one she kills. Hopefully. But who knows? She hasn't spoke to anyone for years, maybe she'll enjoy a little conversation.
I certainly hope so. Any chances I can turn down this job?
I was ordered to have my men kill you if you did. (footsteps) By the way doctor, you forgot about one thing.
And what is that?
Tiana was also the goddess of death.
(end recording)
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*static* ...Testing... Testing... This is Doctor Eldrich Mendelson, Universal Psychologist, and this is the first session with subject after awakening. Hello, my name is Dr. Mendelson. And what is your name?
...Name? What is a name?
What do people call you?
Call me? I don't understand...
When people are born they are given names. A word or sound that is different from other words that can be used to identify them as separate from other people. Parents usually give them to children when they are born. When you hear your name, it means someone is trying to get your attention. It is something that lets other people know who you are. Do you know of anything that may be like a name for you?
Perhaps... perhaps what my parents called me first? Perhaps what people say when they see me?
Yes, that could be right.
(Loud screaming ensues for several seconds)
Oh god... open the door! Shut this down! Let me out of here!
(A door opens and closes. Screaming can still be heard, though muffled.)
This was a mistake... (heavy breathing) Subject has limited social understanding, and appears to have psycopathic tendencies. The door is locked, and she finally stopped screaming... my god, does she believe those screams are her name?
(end recording)
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To be continued...
1 comments:
I really liked this one. Very unique and original.
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