Ray slept dreamlessly for far too long, his body ached for movement, freedom but his will would not allow it. He couldn't decide if the counselor turned on him or if he had turned on the program. These half waking thoughts were the most conscious he could find himself as he was moved from his sleeping quarters to the activities room to another room where they showed films.
As he would find patterns in the chains of days the device strapped to his arm would rob him of will or consciousness or of his emotions. His body was turned into a virtual prison and if he dwelled on it long enough the machine would spill it's contents and the void would swallow him again.
His private thoughts he had shared to the counselor, in deference to the judgment of the system he and the other heroes of The Protectorate had aligned themselves with, and now it was used against him. Now he was trapped in a hell of his own admission. This was his punishment for not running, and not running had him trapped from being there for Sophia.
But did he deserve this?
~~x
"Hello? Hello? Greetings and salutations? Hola? Kon'nichiwa?"
The high pitched words swam in Ray's head, each syllable uttered by blackened lips and chipped teeth. The patient that straddled his lap kept treating Ray's eyes like a microphone. Her tattooed face sported Jack O'Lantern features, the smell of acrylic paint filled his nostrils as orange and black paint still glistened around and on her mouth.
"Come on, I hope there are no vacancies there. We are bored, Pretty Boy. I must admit your face is quite suited for the creature features but then again we have always been a fan of the monsters."
His visitor adjusted herself in his lap, wrapping thin bony arms around his neck. She leaned back and lolled her head before her head righted at an uncanny angle. Her eyes either lacked irises or were so dilated they appeared entirely black. No matter, her vague stare belied any semblance of life and hinted at an eerie danger he lacked the will to escape.
"If you are in there, Pretty Boy, welcome to the Asylum. Well, the Asylum West. Think of each of the Parahuman Asylums such as those Denny's restaurants across the country, this particular location has the staff that can get us the fun drugs!" Instead of laughter a series of unproductive coughs came out of her.
"Oh our terrible manners, we are Sauin! If you need your padded room turned down, a mint on your pillow, or a poster of Alexandria to hide your escape tunnel-", she punctuated the poster comment with a purr, "- we are your girl!"
A shadow suddenly loomed over Ray and Sauin. The Halloween faced woman released Ray's neck and raised her hands in mock surrender. Armored hands reached over and pulled the thin woman off Ray without a word.
"Come on, we were just being friendly. That is the point of activities time, is it not?" Sauin's reedy voice protested as it faded into the background.
Ray's seat faced the wall with the sole window on it. The image shone on the window projector glitched for a moment and had inverted colors before turning back to a calm forest scene. The familiar drone of the medical device strapped to his shoulder whirred to life and the sound of liquids being fed into his IV burbled.
His eyes grew heavy once again, and the smell of paint remained.
~~x
The whir of the medical device accompanied his return to consciousness. A shaped pillow cradled his head as he found himself in the sitting position in a chair, he was unsure if he was in the activities room again or a whole different but similarly painted slate gray room. Before him sat a large monitor a black screen was frozen and on it the word 'Pause' in all caps blinked continuously.
The sound of a series of sniffs was followed by a word, "Morsel?"
The voice that spoke made his heart sink, it was familiar and yet terrified him on another level. A figure leaned forward into view and looked into Ray's face. A bald, gray skinned creature and it's sharp toothed grin filled his peripheral vision. The tapping noise of his medical administrative device metering out a dose and the whir of it delivering the meds coincided with the Negalodon as it leaned back into it's seat.
The screen flickered and a credit and title sequence played for an unfamiliar animated family film. Ray's breathing grew shallow again as he calmed.
"I heard you like monster movies", Negalodon spoke again over the movie. Another mechanical whir followed and sleep beckoned Ray.
"I hope you enjoy your respite here. They'll fix you up, Morsel, and they'll call for you. Yes, we'll all be useful again soon."
~~x
He could smell smoke and sweat and he stirred from his slumber. Ray fought the great weight that kept his eyes shut and found deep brown eyes that looked down into his as cold crept through the air.
"Dulc-?", he managed to croak.
The brown eyes melted away into black doll eyes and a deep red stained the pale, Jack O'Lantern tattooed face.
"Pretty Boy, you are awake!"
The cold stung where the metal of his restraints dug into his skin.
"Aww, he is panicking. Why do you not stop doing your thing, Summer and help us get Pretty Boy up and out?" Sauin spoke over her shoulder.
A blue skinned hand reached down to Ray's waist and shattered the leather and metal restraints with a frozen touch. Another series of touches and Ray was covered in shards of stuff leather and metal. Sauin brushed them from Ray's body and started affixing Ray's limbs to a harness.
"Alright, now let us get the fresh meat up and on your pretty pretty back, Don?" the reedy voice summoned the gray skinned beastial figure from however long ago.
Negalodon shrugged the harness on and Ray was now suspended on the figure's back.
"Morsel is secure, Sauin. What of the others?"
The Halloween woman walked behind Negalodon and adjusted a few straps on Ray's body and slowly sensation returned to his legs.
"Ah, that is an excellent question to pose towards us. Gorehound is acquiring further finger and eye scan materials, they are a tetch too picky when it comes to replacement parts of their body so let us spare them the time they need. While Silicate is scattered throughout the facility waiting in plain sight to spring into an ambush."
Sauin smacked the side or Ray's face in an attempt to elicit a reaction but to no avail, "And Ms. Adore is ready to turn this place into a literal madhouse if necessary, happy?"
The creature exercised its jaws with several sudden test bites of the air, "Immensely. Now say goodbye to this sanitorium, Morsel. Time to meet our sponsor."
~~x