Chapter 2
"Very impressive, doctor." a low, accented voice congratulates as I step out of the patient interview room.
I look up and see next to Dr. Leland is a stiff, stout woman with sharp glasses, "You are the new psychiatrist, yes? My name is Dr. Whistler, and I am the head of the research department here at Arkham."
"Pleased to meet you Dr. Whistler." I greet her politely, seeing how her title most likely makes her my boss's boss.
"I'm interested in the work you'll provide us here at the asylum." she tells me as we begin to tread deeper into the asylum, "I understand your previous line of work was a little more...action-oriented, shall we say?"
I nod, "It wasn't what I had in mind. I'd originally gone to school to become a psychiatrist, but life had other plans. Now that I've retired, I can finally put my degree to use."
We pass by another security checkpoint, Dr. Whistler starring unfailingly forward,
"I'm taking you to the maximum security sector of the Penitentiary."
Dr. Leland looks up in surprise, "Uhm, Gretchen, you are aware that this is Dr. K's first day on the job-"
"I want to see if she has guts, Joan." she replies coldly.
The door opens to another long corridor of cells, these ones much smaller than the previous ones. Compared to the last cell block, this one is relatively quieter. There's a guard between every cell, and the floor panels are clear glass with electrical wiring running underneath, suggesting that it can be used to shock the patients.
One patient, a bald-headed man with grotesque scars all over his body, immediately jumps up to the front of his cell and presses himself against the glass, "Oh, you poor, poor, zombies...soon you will all be liberated."
"Do not respond to the patients taunts, unless they are your patient you have no buisness with them." Dr. Whistler instructs me, as we walk past the man's cell.
"Victor Zsasz...why is he posted so close to the entrance? And why isn't he in Intensive Treatment?" I ask, doing my best to ignore the stares of the patients we pass.
"That is a very good question, but that is also none of my business. If you are truly concerned I suggest you take it up with the asylum's director."
I might just do that.
As we walk through the asylum, I can't help but stare at some of the inmates. After all, these are the famous criminals you always hear about on the news.
Suddenly a rat runs out from in between a grate and scampers right in front of our feet, before disappearing into a small chink in the wall,
"Ah!" Dr. Leland screams, jumping back.
"Ratcatcher!" Dr. Whistler proclaims, she stamps over to a nearby guard, "Where is he posted?"
"Toward the end of the hall, second to last cell on the right." the guard responds.
She snarls before charging off, Dr. Leland and I trying to keep up. We reach the end of the hall to find a sniveling man with rat-like features chuckling in the corner of his cell,
"Did one of my friends disturb you?"
"Mr. Flannegan, you know the rule about bringing rats into the asylum!" Dr. Whistler disciplines him, accusingly pointing a finger at him, "Release them at once!"
A rat runs out from under his bed, up his body and into his hands, "But doctor, I simply found these fellows, I didn't invite them. And besides, it gets so lonely in here."
"Guards, seize Mr. Flannegan, put him in isolation." she orders.
Two guards surround his cell as the glass panel slides open. They grab Ratcatcher by both arms and drag him away,
"They'll still find me in isolation. You can't keep me away from my friends."
I watch as the guards carry him away. Dr. Whistler looks over at me. She's evaluating me, obviously, but I'm also evaluating her. She's been working here at the asylum for a long time, perhaps longer than anyone else. From the way she briefly glances at each and every patient we pass, it's apparent she's had to work with all of them at one point, she's probably the one who interviews all the high-profile patients. And from that display, she clearly has some sort of personal grudge against Ratcatcher, or maybe she has musophobia (fear of mice/rats).
"You two stay here, I'm going to speak with the head guard about this vermin problem." she tells us, before firmly marching off.
"Gee, that was harsh." says the patient in the next cell. He raises his eyes from his book and spots Dr. Leland and I, "Say, is this my new doctor?"
"No Nigma, we're still looking for a suitable doctor that can tolerate your...antics."
Didn't Dr. Whistler just say to not converse with patients unless they were assigned to us?
"It's simply that none of them were intelligent enough to appreciate my genius. Ah well, the search goes on. While you wait for your idiot boss to return, how about a simple, elementary riddle? Riddle me this, what comes first, chicken or egg?"
"Chicken." I mumble under my breath.
He puts his small pocketbook away and calmly strolls up to the glass, hands crossed behind his back, "...did you say something? I couldn't quite hear you."
"Chicken comes first in the dictionary. You weren't referring to the philosophical question, since you didn't use thewhen referring to either the chicken or the egg."
"So you do have a brain. Pencil me in for next week...I look forward to it."
"She's not your doctor Nigma." Dr. Leland counters, annoyed.
"I don't see why not." Dr. Whistler interrupts, walking back to meet us, "Nobody else is willing to take Mr. Nigma on as a patient, and if Dr. K is up to the task, we could arrange to have her interview him sometime this week."
I hesitate, was Dr. Whistler just testing me? Leaving me alone with access to the patients to see how I'd react to them? And is Dr. Leland in on this? Truth be told, even I didn't expect to have such a high-profile patient this soon. But then again, the Riddler isn't exactly a physical threat, maybe Dr. Whistler and Leland are telling the truth, maybe he is just that irritating. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they're trying to intentionally force him on me,
"Alright, I'll take him on." I decide aloud.
We start walking back when another patient calls out, "Good luck with him doc! We can barely stand him in here!"
Dr. Leland and I separate from Dr. Whistler who heads back to her office. She looks at her clipboard,
"Alright, so, I need you to interview one more patient today, here's the file."
She hands me another thin file, and I open it,
Patient Name: Val Kaliban alias "Spook"
Age: 37
Sentence: 70 years (3 served, sentence extended due to breakout attempts)
Previous Diagnostics: Schizophrenia, Severe Depression, possible other Delusional Disorder
Additional Notes: master hypnotist, escape artist, believes himself to be a ghost, aims to convince others he is a ghost, commonly attempts to escape the asylum
"Didn't this guy actually pass away recently?" I ask, recalling hearing about a similar person who took the Gotham mayor hostage.
She shakes her head, "That was Spook II, similar modus operandi, different person."
We return to the same patient interview room, where a tall man shrouded in shadows sits in the patients' chair. I can hear the guard cautiously close the door behind me as I sit in the opposite chair,
"Well, shall we begin? I'm Dr. K, your new psychi-"
"I know who you are." the man interrupts harshly.
I look up and see that one of the light bulbs is out, causing the darkness to obscure my vision of Mr. Kaliban, "That light wasn't out before, and I was just here."
"Oh really?" he asks.
Just then, another light goes out behind me, creating a popping noise before shutting off completely. Mr. Kaliban moves his face out of the shadows ever so slightly, so that the fluorescent light gives off a faint outline of his long, bony face,
"Tell me, doctor, do you believe in ghosts?"
All the lights in the room go out at once, leaving me in total darkness. I lift myself out of my chair, my hands gripping the table for support. The lights flash on again, to reveal who I can safely assume is Val Kaliban in a long, dark cloak, standing upright, a sickly thin hand tapping his finger on the metal table. Upon slowly sliding his hand off of the table, he raises both arms in the air, causing himself to levitate off of the ground, the table and chairs being pushed away from him by some ungodly force.
"I am the ghost of Val Kaliban." he declares, in a distorted voice, "I am, Spook."
Author's Note: Thank you to Guest for suggesting Val Kaliban/Spook. If you would like to suggest a villain (at least for now, Batman villains only), don't hesitate to ask!
Thanks :)