With no other way to tell time Rembrandt instead kept track of when the guards would bring him his medication. He attempted to figure out just how long they waited to offer each dose but found keeping track of even that was hard. Whether it was multiple doses a day, or only one, he didn't know. The only thing he did know was that the guards did not watch him as they gave him the medicines, so he instead pocketed the pills, flushing them when offered bathroom visits.
He'd been given pills seven times, so if his medicine was to be taken once a day he had been here a week now. The isolation and lack of sleep were severely taking their toll on his mental health. He had daily headaches thanks to the lighting and when brought up to the doctor it was always brushed off. They didn't seem to care much for his comfort, claiming the lights were at a decent level. This neglect to his welfare led him to doubt their sincerity about wanting to help him, not that he trusted them anyway. This entire hospital was a realm of torture, clearly not designed to help those with an ill mind.
Throughout the week he saw Quinn, Wade, and the professor several times, sometimes outside of the room and out of reach, other times in the cell with him, vanishing the moment he blinked, reached for them or looked away. They would always promise him freedom, offering to slide out of this place or help him, only to vanish the moment he got his hopes up.
Once again he sat in his bed, Quinn standing nearby with the professor's timer.
"Rembrandt, thank god I finally found you. Look, we don't have much time. I can explain once we reach the next Earth" Quinn said, pressing a button on the timer. Unlike every past hallucination, a bright sky blue vortex formed in the room, causing the wind to pick up and blow against his face.
He stood, watching the familiar gateway with wide eyes, a small smile gracing his features. Was this finally the real Quinn? Would he be able to slide and escape this hell? Even if it were all delusions he didn't care anymore. He would gladly go back to living in his hallucinations than continue to live here. Quinn leapt into the vortex, Rembrandt following close behind. However, rather than slide, he seemed to faze through the gateway, slamming hard into the wall behind it. Falling harshly to the ground as he heard the vortex close, pain coursing through his body due to the impact. He curled in on himself, a fresh set of tears falling from his eyes as the little hope he had left wilted away.
Throughout the week, Rembrandt would be offered visits to the recreational area, or taken to have private conversations with Doctor Henry. Each time, he attempted to make a mental map of the institution, but found the places wholly unnatural twisting and turning hallways made it difficult. With his inability to go down and explore the many twisting hallways and turns, he couldn't really get a proper lay of the land like he originally planned. If he ever escaped, he would have to blindly guess which route to take.
Breaking out of his thoughts Rembrandt looked over from his side of the table, watching Doctor Henry with uncertainty. Today was another private visit with his doctor, where each time they would discuss his delusions in detail. The first visit mostly consisted of the doctor telling him his friends, and sliding were not real, and that he would assist in Rembrandt returning to a normal life in the future. The second visit focused on the timer and its many features, which Rembrandt mostly avoided explaining due to seriously not understanding it, or simply pretending not to know how to explain it. The third focused on worlds he visited, one the doctor seemed to focus on more than any other was the Egyptian Earth, then asking about the Egyptian timer, which Rembrandt again acted as if he didn't understand.
Each time he refused to answer a question, or pretended not to understand, his doctor would appear frustrated. Today was no exception, despite the fact that they hadn't even started talking yet. Perhaps he was just in a bad mood?
"Brown, you seem to be improving. Likely due to taking your medication" Dr. Henry said with a fake smile, "I would hate to think what would happen to you if you didn't take those pills. Considering the extensive damage to your brain and the fact that you've been living in reality for more than a week now, it is more than likely the darkest parts of your psyche would resurface, bringing about much harsher hallucinations than you can handle. We wouldn't want that, now would we?"
His voice sounded calm, friendly even, despite the look of rage written across his face. Rembrandt swallowed, he knew what he was subtly referring to. Somehow the doctor knew he was flushing the pills. Was this some carefully veiled threat? Did he only just find out? Putting his shaking hands together Rembrandt leaned forward, resting his arms on the table.
"No, I don't suppose we would. Do you mind telling me what this meeting is about?" Rembrandt asked, his voice laced with distrust and false bravado. He didn't want to reveal just how mentally exhausted or terrified he was to this man.
"Well, Rembrandt, I had hoped we could attempt to discuss Arturo's timer once more? You mentioned your friend, the professor, found you using a more advanced timer than either Quinn's original or the Egyptian models. What advancements did this timer possess? How did he find you if the multiverse is as vast as you previously claimed? The story simply doesn't add up."
"Why are you so interested in the timers? That's all you seem to talk about. Even when we discussed other worlds, you kept going back to the Egyptian timer, or the Egyptian world. Why that world in particular? Because it had its own timer?" Rembrandt bit out, watching the man with obvious distrust.
"I can't help you unless I understand what happened to you in your delusions, Rembrandt. The first step to understanding requires I understand the timers. Now I will ask again, what advancements did Arturo create? How could he track you throughout the multiverse?"
"You're so focused on that one aspect of the timer. How can this possibly help you? If it was all a delusion it would make no difference. It's such an insignificant detail. Wouldn't it be more helpful to ask about my friends, or how I felt during the adventure?" he asked, noticing the look of rage grow upon the doctors face.
"I am growing tired of these games. Tell me what I want to know, or else I will use whatever means necessary to gain the information I desire"
Rembrandt froze, the obvious threat coming through loud and clear. Licking his dry lips he swallowed, wondering why this man so desperately wanted sliding. Was it a situation like Logan's world, where his Earth was depleted of its resources and they wished to steal from others?
Suddenly, as if his thoughts came to life, Logan St. Clair appeared in the room, just behind the doctor. Raising her gun she fired three shots into Rembrandt's chest, the bullets ripping through muscle and causing him to scream in agony. Quickly he reached for his chest, only to realize there were no blood or bullet wounds present. Breathing heavily he looked around the room, only to see Logan no longer there.
"How did Arturo find you?! What were his advancements?! I do not have the time to continue coddling you. I want the information, now!" The doctor all but yelled, standing quickly and causing his chair to fall to the ground behind him. His voice sounded different, the world melting and shifting around him. The doctor's face shifted as well, changing into that of a completely different person. Rembrandt quickly noticed his left eye was missing.
Standing directly behind the man was another figure, one with ugly ape-like features Rembrandt remembered from his capture. Its eyes were sunken in, its teeth a dark yellow color. It wore a black outfit, red stripes across the arms and legs.
Quickly Rembrandt got to his feet, moving away from the Kromagg and backing closer to the door. As he did so an alarm began to blare loudly throughout the room, one he remembered clearly from his previous time in the Kromaggs hands. Letting out a frustrated growl the maggot pulled a weapon from its belt, aiming it at Rembrandt and walking around the large table.
"It seems we are out of time," the human interpreter said, his voice laced with rage "Your friends have been detected sliding here to save you. If you tell my overlords what they want to know, they will let you leave with them unharmed. Don't you want to go with them? To see the sun, the sky, the grass again? Don't you want to go home?"
He moved away until he could no longer, back against the wall. He felt cold as the interpreter continued to yell, feeling as if a bucket of ice water splashed against his skin as the words registered in his tired brain.
"My overlords know the timers advancements can be used to get you home. They are tired of waiting. If you tell them now, they will remove the tracker from Mallory and allow you to leave. They will leave your home earth alone. Tell them, Rembrandt! Do you realize what they will do to me if you do not comply? Tell me, what advancements did Arturo create to find you?!"
That was when he recognized it, the tremor in the man's voice. He was terrified. Had they threatened him? Either produce the response we want or suffer the consequences? It would explain why he was so angry, Rembrandt's refusal to speak could cost this man his very life.
To Rembrandt's surprise the door beside him burst open before he could even contemplate a response, Quinn rushing past him and tackling the Kromagg, sending them both to the floor. The interpreter attempted to grab at Quinn, only for the weapon in the Kromaggs grip to mistakenly go off, hitting the man in his chest. He fell to the ground with a pained cry, Quinn swinging his fist and knocking the Kromagg unconscious. He quickly got to his feet and ran back to his friend. Quinn had a bright smile on his face, grabbing his arm and pulling him out into the hall. He saw the professor and Wade as he exited the room, each giving him a look of relief.
"Thank goodness we found you when we did. Come along Mr. Brown, we must hurry." Arturo yelled, pulling the advanced timer from his pocket and turning to open the vortex.
The familiar white walls were now a stark contrast to their original looks. Instead, the halls were dark and grey, reminding him of the eerie hallways from their first run-in with these freaks.
"Is it really you guys? These maggots have been filling my head with hallucinations, making me see fake versions of you. How did you get here, what took you so long?" Rembrandt yelled, voice mixed with joy and doubt. Quinn was quick to put his hand on his shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. Wade likewise grabbed his arm to offer her support.
"It's us Cryin man. I'm sorry it took us so long but the professor and I had a few setbacks, preventing us from coming sooner. We can explain more once we get out of here. Come on, we have to go!"
As the professor opened the gateway Rembrandt just watched them, eyes narrowed in disbelief. This felt all too similar to every previous rescue attempt. They were fake, they had to be.
We will explain everything on the next earth!
We have to hurry!
We finally found you, Rembrandt. Quickly, we must slide!
As his mind yelled the same words he heard over and over at him the professor jumped into the vortex, followed by Wade. Quinn was about to as well when he noticed Rembrandt backing away, shaking his head. Reaching out a hand he attempted to step forward, but Rembrandt yelled, causing him to freeze.
"Stay back! I won't fall for this again, I won't keep letting you do this to me!" Rembrandt yelled, backing away further as Quinn once again attempted to reach for him.
"Rembrandt, please! Look, do you remember how we reunited with the professor? The world we were on? We landed on a world where the government tried to force drugs on the population in order to control them. I was captured and drugged myself, only to wake up and learn the professor survived!" Quinn said quickly, trying to convince Rembrandt to trust and follow him by recounting one of their many adventures, attempting to prove who he really was.
"I won't let this happen again! Leave me alone, go away!" Rembrandt screamed, covering his ears and closing his eyes, looking away from Quinn. His mind hearkened back to the previous hallucination, the one where he jumped into a wall.
Looking back to the vortex, then to Rembrandt Quinn stepped closer, raising his voice and speaking as quickly as he could. He did not want to leave him here, especially seeing him in this condition.
"A little over two weeks ago we landed on a world being conquered by the Kromaggs. We were prepared to slide out immediately but were stopped by some members of an escaped Kromagg prison group hiding in the city. It turns out some of them knew intricate details about the Kromaggs and their technology due to working under them as slaves for so long. They told us if we helped them leave that Earth they would remove the tracker and we could finally go home! We helped many of them escape but the Kromaggs found where we were hiding. They captured us and learned of the new timers, however the remaining prisoners saved us and we slid out, but they managed to recapture you before we could all escape. They know the professor's timer can help them find Earth Prime, but they don't know the specifics. They want the Quantum Scanner!"
Despite everything he said, Rembrandt continued to look away, covering his ears and muttering to himself. Cursing Quinn rushed over to him, prepared to force him into the vortex if he had to, only to be violently shoved away.
"I said leave me alone!" Rembrandt yelled, moving further away from this false image of his friend.
"Rembrandt there's some kind of field around this Earth that prevented us from sliding here sooner. We broke through once, but we might not be able to do this again. Please, you have to come with us!" Quinn yelled, his voice laced with panic. He once again tried to reach for him, only for Rembrandt to move even further away. To his horror the vortex began to close, causing him to turn from Rembrandt and rush toward it, looking back and yelling as he did.
"We will come back for you, Rembrandt! Don't give up, I swear we will save you somehow!"
As he ran for the vortex a Kromagg turned the corner, firing his weapon and hitting Quinn in the back. Letting out a pained scream he fell into the gateway, it closing as he made the slide. Seeing this Rembrandt watched in horror, reaching out for the now empty space where his friends used to be.
"...Q-ball?"
Just as suddenly as he stepped in that direction everything went black. The last thing he registered was the loud ringing of the Kromagg alarm and a burning pain in his upper back.
Jolting awake, Rembrandt sat up in bed, rubbing his eyes and looking around the familiar cell, only to see it looked much nicer than he previously remembered. The walls were once again white, but the overhead lighting was much dimmer than before. It didn't hurt his eyes to look at them and even the bed was far more comfortable. Sitting next to the bed was none other than Dr. Henry, who once again looked human. Backing up against the wall Rembrandt let out a whimper, noticing his body was covered in sweat. The doctor noticed this and quickly stood, stepping away as he realized he was causing him distress.
"Rembrandt, please calm down. During our visit you had a complete mental breakdown. You fell back into your delusional state and attacked one of the guards. We managed to sedate you and bring you back here, where I administered a higher dosage of the medicine we previously gave you. I'm glad it brought you back. I only hope it will keep you here, rather than allow your mind to take you as it has in the past."
He only watched the doctor, breathing heavily as he hugged his knees, burying his face in his hands. Henry watched him with a sad expression, slowly backing away to the door.
"I will give you some time to collect yourself. If you need me, just call for one of the guards and I will be here in a moment's notice. Please, just try to relax and take your time with this. I know it isn't easy, but you have a support system to help you."
As he heard the door open and close he let out a soft cry, alone once more in his private hell.