SuDo Madhouse

by BigBJ

To others Hanna Frey is what she wants others to see, but Sam is the only one that sees her true side. However, given that Hanna has reincarnated into multiple dimensions and universes, it's no wonder that she might have a few screws loose. Follow the adventures of Hanna and Samantha throughout their life. OC-SI into Hanna Frey, A journey of damnation and maybe redemption.

34. Chapter 34: End Of Arc 2 - To Perdition

I SCREWED UP, THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO UP ON CHRISTMAS! SORRY FOR ANY CONFUSION.

---

HAROLD FINCH POV

From all the budget cuts this Hospital has been getting for the past few years Harold had thought the place might look different but much to his surprise the faculties in this rather small compound, while admittedly it's not the best, it is however not the worst, some of the items here are out-of-date to his untrained eye but it's more than adequate for the needs of Miss Groves and Miss Frey. More importantly, it will make them invisible to the wider world. However, he notes the CCTV cameras in and around the building.

Not long after they entered the admission area, both women were escorted off somewhere while they brought Harold into this small room after a brief tour and rather rushed tour of the ground floor of the hospital.

So here Harold sits waiting in a rather cramped office room in front of a desk with stacks of paper all over it and a lone sad computer that wouldn't be out of place in an office space from a decade ago.

He can sit here and be productive in search of the newly found threat posed by another artificial intelligence, but his mind wanders back to the events of last night and the creator of the said A.I.

To say he was disturbed, shocked, and horrified by what happened would be an understatement but his mind won't dwell on that, not because it's not something he won't be revisiting in the future for it's a subject that he needed time for his brain to wrap around.

What his mind is dwelling on is the morning after the conversation -well, it was already morning when everything happened-, is the lack of any action by opposing force, and how perturbed that made everyone while on the few hours' drive here.

It was early on their drive here when Miss Frey woke up from her shutdown and just sat in silence while looking at Miss Groves, who was sitting beside her. He was sitting in the back at that time with John driving and Miss Shaw with her sharp eyes keeping overwatch with her pistol in the ready.

The woman might have agreed to their arrangement when she first woke up, but no one in the car truly trusted a word she says with how easily a lie comes out from that wicked mouth.

When she didn't say a word for the first few minutes after waking up again, both Harold and Miss Shaw tried to catch her attention, but she didn't bite at anything they threw at her. Even when Miss Shaw threatened, Miss Frey didn't elicit a response like it did earlier.

They feared it would be like earlier with Sue contacting Miss Frey through means that eludes both him and John, but Miss Shaw assured them that there wasn't any and, in her words, 'high as fuck' beeping.

It was a rather unnerving few minutes after Miss Frey woken up with him at the back with both women, but he continues onwards by having a one-sided conversation with Miss Frey and telling her everything she needed to know about her cover for her interment into this facility. If he's being honest with himself, it isn't that hard of a cover background with how much it parallels her and Miss Groves' -to the best of his knowledge- background.

Whether or not Miss Frey fully grasped what he was saying was up in the air with how unmoving she was throughout their journey. All he can hope for is she did and if she did not… then… well, as distasteful as it sounds, he just has to gaslight her during the admission.

As if the world knew his innermost thoughts, the door into the small office opens rather violently, revealing a rather disheveled petite African American in a nurse uniform with multiple articles of paperwork overflowing from arms.

Harold isn't one to withhold a helping hand onto others, thus he gets up from his seat and says. "Let me help you…"

"No, no. It's fine. I have it under control." The nurse gives him a strained smile as she miraculously wrangles all the papers and files. "Though, thank you for offering."

"It's no trouble… it's just that you looked like you needed help." Harold gives the nurse a kind smile.

"I need help in other department." The nurse lowly mutters under her breath, but Harold managed to catch what she said.

It isn't hard for Harold to decipher the going on of the hospital from this brief interaction and in combination with the facilities he's seen, some corners have been cut to preserve some others.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, Mister…" The woman glances at the paper in her hand before taking a seat. "… Wren, I'm Nurse Sias. I'll be handling both of your nieces' admission into our care."

"No worries, it's just more time for me to finish the extra paperwork the lady from the front desk asked me to fill in." Harold lies out of pleasantries as he takes out two sets of documents and passes them to the nurse.

"Thank you." The nurse says curtly as she accepts it and organizes the papers she brought in with her into two distinct stacks and makes sure the other stacks of paper on the desk don't fall onto her organized stack, all the while grumbling under her breath.

Harold would never claim to be someone who easily understands other people's feelings or thoughts, but even he can see that the poor woman really doesn't like what she's doing.

"I would have thought, and no offense to you, Miss Sias, that someone from administration would do the tedious paperwork?" Harold asks to sate his curiosity.

The nurse lets out a chortle while she looks through the paperwork before answering. "None taken, and you're not wrong about that. We've been getting less and less money from the paper pushers in Albany, and that means we can't have a full staff. The suits on the third floor thought it was best for the hospital if they try to keep as many nurses, technician, and doctors as possible, but cuts still needed to happen… so now I'm stuck here doing double duty every other day."

"Is it the same for the other employees?" Harold asks a follow-up question.

Without looking up from her assortment of papers, she answers. "Yeah, it's on a rotational basis of who does it for the month and I'm the lucky girl to get it this month."

That easily answers his theory of what's going on in this hospital.

"Must be hard… Everyone here must be dedicated to their patients for you to doing work that's out of your scope with no added compensation." Harold says compassionately as he understands the sacrifice everyone working here is making.

The nurse snorts and shoots Harold a tired smile before saying. "Dedicated? More like we don't want to lose our jobs. Everyone one here knows that every hospital in the Northeast has been getting cuts as well, and we're the lucky ones."

"Ah…" Harold doesn't know what to say next, since he didn't fully comprehend the losses the hospital has been facing. When he gets back to the library, he should donate a portion of his vast wealth to the hospital that needs it the most in the state. Lord knows he doesn't need the money and that others will benefit mightily from such a simple act.

The nurse's eyes widen and waves her hand. "Oh, I made you worried, I shouldn't have babbled my mouth out to you, and everyone here gives their 100% for the patients. They wouldn't have taken the job in the first place if they aren't dedicated."

"No, it's fine… I just never realized the state of things with how busy my work is." Harold explains with a disarming smile.

"Anyway…" The nurse arranges the paperwork into two stacks. "… while we wait for my colleague to finish her examination of the two ladies. We should start with Miss…" She peers down on the form. "… Graves, seeing that she's unresponsive and then we'll do, Miss…" The nurse shifts the other stack slightly. "… Frayman, once she's joins us."

Harold gives a curt nod. "That's understandable."

Nurse Sais brings up two folders that's separated from the stacks of paperwork that she arranged and opens the cover. "It says here that both Miss Graves and Miss Frayman will be involuntarily admitted into our facility due to a court order, along with that a police report inciting accident, the report by the attending doctor of the ER that treated them and a report from the doctor of the local jail that processed them."

"Yes… I'm sure you've read the report and court order about what happened. Seeing that I was the main victim in all of that and I'm the last family they have, so I chose to not charge them of any crimes and pleaded with the judge that it was all a misunderstanding and no outside parties getting hurt, well except for my nieces. He agreed with me in to bring them here for them to be treated." Harold explains the cover he's been reciting in his head for the past few days.

The nurse puts down the folders and lets out a sigh as she rubs her jaw. "To be honest with you Mister Wren, I didn't have the time to read any of the reports in detail but from cursory look… you have all the required documentation from the judge, doctors, police, for their admission into M-unit. However, it would be kind of you to give me the cliffs note of what happened so I can type it down into their paperwork, so it's easier for my colleagues to know with what they're dealing with?"

Harold lets out an internal sigh while putting up a face of kindness and answers. "Sure. Robin… the one that's unresponsive, and I haven't seen each other for years and last year, she came back into my life. We had a rather heated disagreement on certain things about her past and her current doings before parting ways again."

"That's a different event from the one that's resulted in her being shot?" The nurse asks as she jots down everything Harold said.

Harold nods and starts explaining the convoluted cover he created that was based on true events. "Yes, it's different, but it's connected to the recent event. You see, Robin is a misanthrope… actually both of them are misanthropes, but Robin is more… fervent in her opinions. She has a rather skewed view of reality, believing that she was talking and following God's command. Her recent plan was to take me a building where she thought God lived, only to find an empty room. She became extremely… distraught by the sight of that empty room and I, not knowing better, choose that time to convince her that God doesn't talk to us directly. She didn't… appreciate that fact and brings up the pistol she had on her the entire time."

The nurse dutifully jots down every single Harold's bullshit before finally looking up at him with a curious look for a few moments. Despite knowing he made the cover as bulletproof as possible; he still felt a slight nervousness. Surely the story isn't too far out there… He didn't even add the involvement of potentially multiple sentient, omniscient, and omnipresent artificial intelligence that might not have humanity's best interest in mind. Putting that into the story might be pushing a little bit too far, despite Miss Shaw's readily acceptance of that fact, but Miss Shaw isn't the typical person.

"She brought you to a goose chase and then raised a gun at you with the intention of hurting or killing you?" Nurse Sias asks with a cool detachment.

"I couldn't possibly know what her intentions were, but it wouldn't be the first time she raised a gun at me that day." Harold gives the half-truth of the event, but he knows fully that Root would have killed him if wasn't for Miss Shaw and John's immaculate timing.

She writes down his answers and follows up with… "So, she kidnapped you at gunpoint."

"Yes." Harold lies again, as the only time she raised her gun at him was at the end. Although, it wasn't totally a lie, seeing that she basically threatened someone he loves to cajole him to follow her with the plan he rolled into motion years ago.

She nods as she writes down and asks. "And I'm assuming that the police intervened in this altercation, causing the gunshot wound and possibly her current unresponsiveness?"

"Yes." Harold answers truthfully.

She ends her writing and looks up at him with a hint of disbelief. "And you choose to not charge her?"

"Yes, I only want the best for her, for them, and don't want a felony on her criminal record for this temporary lapse of judgement." Harold gives the answer to the bleeding-hearted uncle that he's portraying.

"And it says that the state will not be paying her treatment, and you will bear the cost." She says as she picks up a piece of document. "Mighty charitable and merciful of you."

"That was the judge's condition for my request and I'm a relatively well-off man, so I don't mind spending the money to get my nieces treated properly." Harold lies through his teeth at the unsuspecting nurse.

Deep down, he can feel shame on himself because he knows the danger of putting two highly unstable women into this facility and the danger it poses to its inhabitants. As much as he wants to believe Miss Frey's words, he just doesn't trust her.

"You mention she believes that God is speaking to her. I take that she's religious?" The nurse inquires as she looks back down at her clipboard.

"No." Harold answers instantly before explaining. "As far as I know, she's an atheist. The only thing that she believes is that God talking to her, and God is living in the computer and the on the internet."

"A computer god?" That seem to catch the nurse's attention with her looking back at him with a hint of confusion and curiosity.

"Yes, an artificial deity constructed by man to be the perfect being."

He knows that saying this is incredibly dangerous, but… what Miss Groves said to him a year ago is true. The concept of omniscient artificial intelligence is completely out of the realm of reality for almost every human being on earth except for a few that know.

"Like the matrix?" She quires with a raised brow.

Harold didn't know how to respond to that… he didn't watch that movie when Nathen invited him to watch it a decade and a half ago due to him being so busy with work.

"I'm sorry, but I don't get the reference." Harold answers truthfully.

Nurse Sias shakes her head before looking down at her other stacks of paper and asks. "And Miss Frayman's involvement in all of this? It says they're cousins and I'm assuming by your siblings. Are they close to one another?"

Isn't that the question that's in everyone's mind that knows what happened between them?

"Yes, they're both my sisters' children, and I believe that the only people they care about are each other." Harold lies and answers the best he can before continuing. "Robin believes that whatever ailment that Anna could be cured by meeting God and asked Anna to follow her, which Anna did and was a rather passive observer throughout the entire event until the last moment after Robin was shot. That's when she got angry, and being a daughter of Texas, she raised her gun at the police before being shot in return."

That seemed to give the good nurse pause and made her look up from her paperwork with a look of shock. "I'm honestly surprised at the restraint the police showed when confronting your nieces. I would expect Anna to be dead with her pointing her gun at the police."

"And I'm entirely grateful that no one perish in that unfortunate event." Harold answering without missing a beat. But being honest with himself, he's also surprised at the restraint Miss Shaw showed on that night and the days following.

"Unbelievable." She shakes her head before shifting some papers around and says. "Let's circle back to Robin… seeing that we don't have any of her personal medical history, I need you to fill in the blanks. It's just some standard question, so the attending psychiatrist has some background to better treat her."

Harold nods. "I'll answer as best as I can."

The nurse puts the paper on a clipboard and leans back into her seat. "Alright… Does she have a history of mental disturbance, aside from her recent one? Any diagnosed mental illness?"

"It would be news to me if she has been diagnosed with anything, but like I said earlier… we haven't spoken with one another in years until last year. However, you have to ask her that when she comes back. From my experience with her the past year, most of the time she's quite normal, sociable even. But from time to time, she has these… episodes of intense determination when she gets a hold of an idea, and no one can get her to let go. Not only does she seem to lose all sense of self-preservation, but she's also willing to hurt other people in the attempt to bring those ideas into reality. She has a history of stealing, reckless driving and violence, with several counts of misdemeanors assault over throughout the years." Harold provides whatever he knows and understands.

"Lack of self-preservation? Are you implying that she's suicidal? Does she have a history of self-harm?" Nurse Sias asks without even looking up from her clipboard.

Miss Shaw's words this morning weigh heavily on him and he answers his interpretation of what happened a few days ago. "No, I don't believe she would have intentionally harmed herself. I would say that she's rather reckless with her life as well as with other people's lives. Her mother had the same recklessness sans being violent."

"Her mother, your sister. Tell me more about her… has she been diagnosed with anything? It might explain some of her problems." Nurse Sias says in a manner as kindly as she can without looking at Harold.

"Elizibeth… we used to call her Beth." He says sadly, trying his best to sell the story. "She died in a vehicular accident by hitting a tree in 2001. The police report ruled it an accident, but I'm sure that was her recklessness rearing its ugly head one last time. Beth… she did have a history of harming herself, but never… to the extent of ramming her car into a tree. I don't know if she was ever diagnosed with anything in particular and she hated visiting the doctors or hospitals and especially psychiatrist, with the only exception of giving birth to Robin… the poor girl had to grow up with my sister like that." Harold explains the best he can with the rather limited records, discoveries that detective Carter and John found in Texas as well as his own conjectures about Miss Frey's family and the tragedy that was her mother.

"And the father?" Nurse Sias asks after finishing writing up Harold's tale.

Now that's a mystery that Harold can only make assumptions about Elizabeth Groves suspiciously missing records from around the dates of Miss Groves' birth. The woman had a checkered past with a record that reflects it and yet there's two years of missing records. All of his assumptions were quite troubling.

"There was never a father, he's an unknown factor." Harold answered as truthfully as possible without delving into his speculations. "The family always assumed that it was another of Beth's reckless behaviors. She wasn't exactly selective with who she courted with."

"Does Robin share that trait as well?" The nurse asks clinically.

"The opposite, actually." Harold shakes his head. "I've never seen her so much as to look at a man in that way before. In fact, other than Anna and another person who I've never met, I don't think she has friends, never mind lovers."

Nurse Sias nods and continues with her form. "Does Robin or anyone else in your family she's related to have any history of the following: Thyroid Disease, Anemia, Liver Disease…"

Harold cuts in to add. "Her mother has liver disease from the excessive drinking she does to cope with her… problems. However, from what I've seen, Robin didn't inherit that behavior from her mother."

"But she does drink alcohol?" Nurse Sias asks.

That gave Harold pause slightly as he has never seen her drink anything, however given the average woman her age…

"Yes, she'll drink here and there, but she's always in control of how much she drank." Harold says out his speculation, not knowing if what he says is the truth.

The nurse gives Harold a glance before asking. "How about chronic fatigue, kidney disease, diabetes, asthma, stomach or intestinal problems, cancer, fibromyalgia, heart disease, epilepsy, or seizures, chronic pain…"

"That would be me." Harold jumps in with a smile. "However, it was an accident that cause it rather than inherited."

She nods and continues. "High cholesterol, high blood pressure, or head trauma?"

"Not that I know of, as far as I know… other than her recent woes after getting shot, Robin is a healthy woman." Harold passes along Miss Shaw's assessment.

"Do you know when her last menstrual period was?" The nurse asks blandly.

That caused a spike of awkwardness in him before answering. "No, I don't. However, I believe she's not having one right now. Her cousin who has been taking care of her would have mentioned it if she did."

The nurse nods and continues on clinically. "Has Robin been an inpatient or outpatient psychiatric treatment?"

"I wouldn't know, but I believe she inherited the aversion to hospitals from her mother." Harold gives an answer from the reaction he got from Miss Frey.

The nurse follows up with. "Is she on any medication?"

"Not that I'm aware of any. At least I haven't seen her taking any since she began her current obsession. I checked her bag and didn't find any pills, but her mother did have a history of hiding medications she needed to take." Harold speculates from the single police report about Elizabeth Groves he found when Miss Grove was 13, a year after Miss Frey's kidnapping.

"How about illicit drugs?" She asks with no judgement in her voice.

"I can say that she's not addicted to any substances, but I wouldn't put it past her to have used some in the past." Harold shifts in his seat as he feels like he isn't giving the best information he could have given.

"Does she use any nicotine products?"

That's something he unequivocally knows. "No."

"Level of education?"

About the same as everyone else in his little group of vigilantes, with one exception, so he answers. "Just a high school diploma, but she's an auto-didact."

The nurse nods in understanding and asks. "Any job history? Is she an unskilled laborer or working in an unsafe environment?"

Just what kind of job does she think someone with just a high school diploma does? Also, that's something he has given a thought about before coming here. "Despite her lack of advanced formal education, she is gainfully employed as a high-level computer programmer consultant and has been working at her current company for almost a decade now. Even with her occasional episodes of obsessions, she managed to retain her job, showing how competent she is in her job."

Harold chooses to omit the fact that Miss Groves was on the fast track to graduating high school early, before the unfortunate events of '91 and the uprooting of her life in the following years, causing her to not go to school for almost three years. Basically, having her to redo high school.

"I take it that she is not intellectually impaired by her lack of education?" The nurse twirls her pen as she looks at Harold.

"Oh, no. She's brilliant and dangerously smart. If I had to say why she didn't choose to continue her education is because she must have never found formal education to be challenging and she tried to take care of her mother's worsting condition." Harold answers with a serious tone because that actually happened.

"Any major life trauma? Besides the inherit neglect of being raised by an unstable parent?" The nurse asks blandly.

Just as Harold was about to answer the question, the door to the room opens to reveal another nurse guiding a rather stony-faced Miss Frey with nothing binding the woman's hands into the room and places her on the chair beside Harold.

"Is everything in order, Mary?" Nurse Sias asks the younger looking nurse who nods.

"We've started Miss Graves on the lorazepam challenge with her first dose of Ativan a few minutes ago and brought her to E-unit for further observation. Other than that, there's nothing wrong physically with her that we found, barring the gunshot wound and her catatonic state." The young nurse rattled off the mental list she has before nodding towards Miss Frey. "Miss Frayman is a whole different can of worms, and the most glaring issue is her being underweight. Nurse Moss has ordered a full medical checkup later tomorrow before we go forward with anything. We tried to ask her if she ate anything in the past 24 hours, but her only response was a smile… and no one was sure what to make of that."

"I'm fairly sure Anna hasn't eaten anything in the past 12 hours. She's just been drinking water the entire time." Harold interjects into the conversation the nurses were having.

Nurse Mary raises her brow at Harold and nods. "I'll inform Nurse Moss of that… maybe we'll get the checkup done later in the day." She turns back to Nurse Sias. "Is there anything more you need?"

Nurse Sias shakes her head. "No, thank you. Just pass me your report as soon as possible."

"Yeah, I'll get to it after talking to Nurse Moss." She replies as she exits the room and closes the door behind her.

Now that there's a new addition to the room that's very relevant to the question Nurse Sias asks before being interrupted, Harold says. "I believe that the trauma you're asking about is related to Anna's case. Should I say it now or should we start doing Anna's form first?"

The nurse just shrugs and answers. "It's no skin off my back. Let's start with Anna first before going back to the question, since that was the last question."

Miss Frey shoots him with a look of curiosity, showing that she indeed is fully cognizant as Nurse Sias changes the papers on her clipboard. "Now it will be the same questions again, since we don't have Anna's medical history."

"Is he supposed to be here for this?" Miss Frey suddenly asks with that deranged smile she had from yesterday, causing both of them to look at her with curiosity. Since what Nurse Moss had stated was, she was being uncooperative and now she's suddenly talking.

Being the professional that she is, nurse Sias quickly regained composure and says with a kind voice. "It's nice of you to decide to participate in your admission Anna… May I call you Anna?"

"Sure, it's not like my name is special." Miss Frey shrugs, not even looking at the nurse as she continues to look at Harold with those haunted eyes.

"I'm sure my colleagues before this have told you of the nature of your involuntary admission and the laws that govern it, or do I need to fill you in on the details?" The nurse says clinically as she noticed Miss Frey's attention.

"I heard what that lady earlier said and the meaningless state laws." Miss Frey finally turns her attention to the nurse. "What I want to know is, why is he here for this?"

The nurse quickly jots down something into the paperwork before holding up a folder to show and explains. "According to these pieces of document by the doctor that examined you earlier, it says that your compulsive liar, meaning I need a third party that knows you to verify what you say is true."

"You really sour the pot, didn't you?" Miss Frey smirks at Harold before turning her attention back to the nurse with a grin on her. "I did say I'll cooperate, so lay it on me. I'm an open book."

"Let's start with the basics." Nurse Sias moves back to her clipboard after changing the papers. "I already have your name and age. What's your relationship status and do you have any children, if any?"

Miss Frey has an amused smile and answers. "Single and no rugrats for me."

"Are you on disability or welfare status? If not, what's your occupation and education?" The nurse asks with a detached tone.

"Do I look like an inept to you?" The pale woman answers pointedly and continues with. "I'm a consultant and I'm self-thought."

The nurse raises a brow without looking up from her clipboard. "A consultant? Like Robin?"

"Yes, we work together." She answers with a prideful smile.

To which the nurse didn't even acknowledge and continues. "Where do you live and with whom?"

The pale woman's eyes glance at him for a second before smiling. "A penthouse in the flatiron district, and I live alone."

The flatiron district and that look she gave him… he shouldn't be surprised that she knew about Detective Carter's investigation of that former data center.

"Family or siblings? And your uncle did not provide any references for the GP you usually visit. Care to share with me your doctor's name?" The nurse asks not noticing the small exchange they had.

"No siblings and no family… well, other than sweet Robin and dear uncle Wren. Also, I don't have a doctor." She answers with a sweet smile.

He feels like he has to interject. "She essentially has no family connection other than with Robin."

Amber eyes lands on him with a curious look but she doesn't say anything.

"According to the medical report, I have on hand…" The nurse opens up the folder and takes out a piece of paper. "… it says here you have been experiencing episodes of prolonged dissociative shut down and unresponsiveness. Is this a new development? If not, how long have you been having these episodes? Is it longer than a month?"

Miss Frey has a blank look on her for a few seconds after being asked that question before putting on a smile and answering. "I'm sure the good doctor that checked on me was mistaken with him just being a lowly general practitioner."

"You're denying the two medical reports that were submitted to court?" Nurse Sias asks unimpressively, as if this isn't her first time hearing a patent denying their problems.

"Oh, no… I am merely denying the connotation that I was having multiple episodes of… zoning out when I only experienced it once after the police shot me two times and any normal human being would experience the same thing as I did if they got shot like I was." Miss Frey rebuts as she puts on a face of placidity. A total opposite emotion she was projecting from last night and the night she first woke up.

Nurse Sias looks up from her paperwork to look at Harold for answers, and he provides. "On our way here, Anna experienced multiple… black outs that span hours before coming to and blacking out again. As for how long she's been having, I can't say for sure, but she had an episode when Robin was bringing us to the location."

Miss Frey gives him a scowl. "And I wonder why that happened, uncle. Why don't you tell the wonderful nurse why that was happening to me on our way here?"

Undeterred by her accusation, he tells the nurse. "As you can see, Anna gets defensive whenever the subject of her condition is ever brought up."

Miss Frey lets out a soft scoff and comments. "Gaslighting me… how delightful."

In spite of his and John's attempts to clarify the misunderstanding with Miss Frey during their short drive to the hospital, the woman didn't even acknowledge their attempts. Now it seems like she still believe that something horrendous happened to her in the past few days and it makes his stomach tumble in disgust.

"You agree to cooperate, and lying doesn't help you with your treatment." Harold shoots back at the woman despite the underlayer of truth to her statement.

"And I am." She answers him curtly. "I wouldn't have answered her question in the first place, and I really dislike falsities in my history."

Her entire history is false…

Nurse Sias' eyes darts between him and Miss Frey for a moment before continuing. "Describe to the best of your ability your major symptoms. Depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, loss of interest in activities, psychosis?"

That gave the amber eyed woman pause as she taps her chin for a second and answers. "No, never, skip, you have no idea and woman, that last one is a large category you need to be more specific."

"What were your stressors? Are you going through any major stressors like divorce, relationship issues, work, or financial stress?" Nurse Sias quickly followed up.

Miss Frey lets out a chortle and answers. "I'm not in a relationship, so no, I know how to delegate my workload, and money is of no value to me."

The nurse glances at him and he answers. "I have no information on me to dispute her claims."

She nods and continues. "Tell me about your mood right now."

"I'm fine." Miss Frey replies almost instantly.

Nurse Sias, not buying what she says, asks. "How about on a scale of 0 to 10? With 0 being the worst you've ever felt and 10 is the best mood you ever had."

The pale woman shrugs and answers smugly. "I was about a 5 earlier and now I'm a 4, after uncle wren gaslighting me."

The nurse nods absentmindedly as she jots down everything before continuing on with. "How's your sleep?"

The woman, who clearly has bags under eyes that's highly contrasting with her pale skin, tilts her head as she asks. "My sleep?"

"Yes, like how long do you sleep? What time do you sleep? What time do you get up?" The nurse lets out a barrage of questions.

Miss Frey looks away from the nurse and bites her cheek for a few seconds before answering in a dull voice. "A few hours. I sleep when I sleep, and I get up when I get up."

That's the most non-answer Harold has ever heard, while the nurse doesn't seem to be phased in the slightest and asks. "Are there nighttime awakenings and have you been told you've snored?"

"I sleep like a baby and no." Miss Frey replies, still looking away from the nurse.

"Do you ever experience nightmares in the past month?" The nurse inquires.

That seems the cause of the woman to twitch slightly, but Harold doesn't think the nurse noticed it and the pale woman just sits in silence for half a minute.

"…No, I never have dreams." She answers with that slightly dead voice he heard from her yesterday.

Nurse Sias looks up from her clipboard and presses. "I take it you have had nightmares in the past?"

"I might get nightmares from the questions you're asking." Miss Frey avoids answering the question while she avoids looking at the nurse.

The nurse, sensing that this is a topic that Miss Frey doesn't want to talk about, moves forward with. "Let's talk about your interests. You commented that I have no idea about your loss of interests. Would you elaborate? Have you been experiencing a gradual loss of interest recently?"

Miss Frey pauses for a moment before saying. "The opposite actually. I have this one hobby that's been my entire world for the past few years, and it's been fun."

The nurse nods in understanding. "Do you ever feel guilty about yourself or about things you've done? Like recently with you pointing your gun at the police?"

That brought Miss Frey from her stupor, and she looks at the nurse with amusement as she answers. "Never."

"Do you feel you have excessive energy, or do you feel like you fatigue easily?"

"Feel like the usual if you don't consider the long journey I've been on to get here." The pale woman answers.

"Any racing thoughts or difficulties in concentration?"

"Only thoughts I have right now are how many more questions you're going to ask, and I can concentrate perfectly fine."

The nurse picks up a piece of paper from her desk that Nurse Mary left earlier and says. "Your current BMI is 13.4. How long have you been in this weight range?"

That seems to knock out the bemuse look on the pale woman as she answers with a shrug. "Never counted, a few years."

"Is this your ideal weight?" Nurse Sias probes further.

"My ideal weight is whatever that allows me to function." Miss Frey all but snaps at the nurse. "And I know what you're thinking, and I don't have an eating disorder. I just don't feel hungry and sometimes forget to eat, which is very normal for busy individuals."

"I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just asking questions." The nurse says diplomatically and continues with her questioning. "Is this the lowest weight you have, and if so, what's your highest weight?"

Miss Frey starts pulling the threads on her armrest. "Maybe, I don't know. I never weight myself throughout the years and the highest I've been is like Roo… Robin."

The nurse nods as she flips a page. "Find your worry is difficult to control? Feel keyed up, on edge, or restless?"

"I'm as cool as a cucumber." She answers with a smile.

"Do you find yourself easily blanking out or having difficulty concentrating?"

That question wiped away the smile on that pale face as she looks away from the nurse for a whole minute before answering. "Sometimes, and I've already answered that other question."

… She keeps looking away… Is her A.I. talking to her?

Knowing that Miss Shaw isn't here to hear from him, he slowly brings up his phone to see… nothing. There's no high frequency noise since Miss Frey entered the room.

"Feel irritable, or others comment on it?" The nurse asks and breaking him from his revere.

"I find these questions irritating, if that's what you're asking." She snaps at the nurse, who doesn't react to the sudden change of mood.

"Do you found if it is easy to jump from one idea to another?" The nurse asks clinically.

She rolls her eyes and answers. "I'm not some scatterbrain. Everything I do has been immaculately planned out."

The nurse gives an uncommitting hum and asks. "Ever get the feeling you have superpowers, or invincible?"

"Obviously." She says in an instant before flashing Harold a grin. "I'm the smartest person in this room, and you have no idea what I can do."

… At least she didn't say she has an unshackled A.I. in her back pocket, so that's good.

Once again, the nurse showed no reaction to the answer and continued. "You said you work with your cousin. How's your work? Have you been busy with your consulting job?"

"No, so busy. I'm very good at delegating work." Miss Frey smiles at the nurse.

"Have you been doing anything impulsive or risky lately?" The nurse asks as she looks up from her clipboard.

Miss Frey looks at Harold and says. "Coming here was an impulsive choice."

"Have you noticed an increased libido?" The nurse asks as she continues to look at Miss Frey.

The moment the nurse asked that question, Miss Frey freezes before slowly turning her attention back to the nurse and says in a low voice. "What?"

The nurse quickly follows up with. "Like sexual indiscretion when you normally wouldn't or having sexual relations with strangers?"

Miss Frey physically recoil at each suggestion Nurse Sias was asking cause the nurse to perk up her brows and jot down onto her clipboard.

"Why don't you uncle wren about that?" She says with venom in her tone.

The nurse's eyes raised at him, and he quickly answered the unasked question. "She's under the unfound impression that something unperturbed happened to her while she was… dissociating during our trip here."

The nurse's eyes look back at Miss Frey, who grimaces. "Of course, he would deny it. Would you believe the victim or the predator?"

Nurse Sias thinks for a second before sighing. "Nurse Mary would have noted anything amiss during your quick checkup, but we will get the answer later today during your medical exam."

Miss Frey scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Of course."

"Can I safely say that you are sexually inactive?" Nurse Sias asks with a kinder tone from earlier.

"Obviously… I find coitus to be revolting." Miss Frey replies like she's talking to a petulant child.

"When did you come to that conclusion?" The nurse asked, which caused the pale woman to narrow her eyes.

Oh, dear… He fears that Miss Frey might say or do something rash but…

She says with a placid look at her. "A long, long time ago."

Huh, that's a normal response.

The kindness in the nurse's face vanishes as she looks back at her clipboard. "Do you find yourself to talk more or talking more rapidly?"

There's a scowl on Miss Frey's face for a few seconds as she didn't answer the question and glares at Harold before saying. "I like to run my mouth. Next?"

"Do you worry that people might be against you or after you?"

"There's always someone waiting in the shadows to jump at the chance, and the fact that you don't feel that way is concerning." She replies with a whimsical tone, like she's answering the stupidest question.

Not that Harold disagrees with her statement.

"Do you ever hear things other people don't hear?"

The pale woman let out a loud chortle and says. "Yes."

The nurse looks up from her clipboard and asks. "Do the voices ever command you do to things?"

"I'll be damn if she ever orders me around." She answers mirthfully.

Oh, goodness… Despite what she says is true, she's giving them false symptoms of her condition.

"The voices are female?" The nurse inquires as she quickly writes down on her clipboard.

Miss Frey, unwittingly, or on purpose, says. "A voice, sometimes annoying singular voice, and yes."

"Is the voice outside or inside your head?"

"When the day arrives that she finally talks to me in my head, I'll contact you first." Miss Frey replies with a grin.

"Do you hear her talking to you now?"

"I told her to let me be for a while, unless I needed her."

Harold stares blankly at the grinning Miss Frey. She's doing this on purpose… This will not help her treatment, but he can't really say that she's lying about this without sounding mad himself.

"Ever feel that thoughts are being put into or taken out of your head?"

The pale woman gives an unimpressed stare and replies. "Not that I can think of, although sitting here is killing my brain cells."

The nurse rubs her eyes and asks. "Have you ever felt things are not real?"

Despite Miss Frey's bluster, the question causes a minor twitch that both he and the nurse notice, which Miss Frey tried to hide by asking. "Whatever do you mean?"

The nurse gives Miss Frey her full attention when she says. "Like feeling like everything around you doesn't feel right or not real. Your senses are telling you your surroundings are otherworldly or seeing objects that aren't right."

Her face seems like it was frozen in place before replying rather stiffly. "Nope."

Neither he nor the nurse believed what she says, but Nurse Sias didn't probe further and continue. "Do you ever get intrusive or unwanted thoughts, images, or impulses that repeatedly enter your mind, despite you trying to get rid of them? Like worries about dirt/germs, or thoughts of bad things happening."

Her frozen expression transformed into a dull one when she answered. "I dislike being covered in muck, if that's what you're asking, but don't all humans feel the same?"

Nurse Sias doesn't answer the question and continues with her own. "So you never feel driven to do a certain things over and over again?"

"No? I'm not insane." She replies with a slightly confused tone.

"Moving on, earlier when I asked about suicide you said skip." The nurse puts forward, causing the pale woman to frown. "Has that thought crossed your mind before?"

She looks away from the nurse as she pulls on the thread of her armrest and replies. "How much longer is this going to take? It bores me."

"Not much longer." She writes on her clipboard and continues. "Have you ever threatened someone specifically?"

Miss Frey looks back at the nurse. "Tons, the most recent one is dear uncle Wren over here and I might have a new slot opened."

Seemingly unmoved by that threat, the nurse plows forward. "Did you ever go through with your threats?"

The pale woman's eyes bore into the nurse as she says with a grin on her. "I'm sure you people have a policy for patients to not self-incriminate themselves."

That seemed to cause the nurse to pause for a second. "If you were to leave this hospital right now, would you hurt anyone?"

"Why would I leave this hospital? I told uncle Wren that I won't." She replies with a pout.

"Did you ever lose your driving license?"

"I never took the test." Miss Frey comments off-handedly with a shrug.

The nurse's eyes instantly snap at him with a questioning look, to which he just smiles and shakes his head, but inside he's slightly worried.

There's a copy of Miss Frey's fake driving license submitted to the hospital and clearly the nurse knows about it. He really hopes Miss Frey had just forgotten about it rather than she's breaking her deciding to break her cover right now.

The nurse really doesn't like his response if that frown tells him anything, but she continues with her questioning. "Are you on any medication right now?"

"5mg of desloratadine." She answers instantly.

Desloratadine?

The nurse quirked a brow. And deadpans. "That's an antihistamine."

Miss Frey nods dramatically and replies somberly. "I tend to get nasal congestion when it's cold, despite everything this poor body was built for the Texan warmth."

The nurse quickly recovers and asks. "Have you ever been on any psychiatric medication?"

Miss Frey waves her hand around as she ponders. "Does melatonin count?"

"No, but that's the next question. What supplements are you taking?"

The pale woman shrugs. "Multivitamins that Roo- Robin asked me to take."

"Do you have any allergies to medications?"

"Now that you asked, I do get stuffy when pollen season kicks in." She answers in a matter-of-fact way.

"Specifically psychiatric medications." The nurse probes.

"Not that I know, but I'm sure you lot are going to pump a load of drugs into me, so we'll find out together." She says with a smile.

The nurse pauses for a second as she changes the pages before asking. "Do drink alcohol and have you ever used street drugs?"

Miss Frey has a disgusted look at her at the question before answering. "I will not intoxicate myself with such filth for a short period of blissfulness, and unlike the degenerates that use them, I can't feel those fleeting feelings."

The venom she spits from being asked if she has vices tells him that she's telling the truth… but why? If she really doesn't believe in social contract, then why the rather violent aversion to drugs and alcohol? Did she have a bad experience in the past… were they forced upon her when she was kidnapped? Is that why she hates them, despite saying she wasn't traumatized?

It's all just morbid speculation, but the rational part of his mind tells him that she's just being hypocritical about her values like previously.

The nurse gives Miss Frey a pointed look before asking. "So, have used drugs before?"

"Not willingly." The pale woman snarls.

"At what age?" Nurse Sias probes.

"Young."

Harold feels like his stomach churns at what she says… but she has shown the pension to lie about sensitive topics…

The nurse turns to him and asks. "Is what she says true?"

He takes a moment to gather his thoughts before answering. "I can attest that she avoids taking vices, however, I don't know if she's been an unwilling participant or not. It's the first time I've heard of it."

"You're such a supportive Uncle Wren." Miss Frey says mockingly.

Nurse Sias sighs and writes something down on the clipboard. "How much caffeine do you consume daily?"

"Zero." Miss Frey answers instantly.

"Really?" The nurse asks with a hint of skepticism. "With your trouble in sleeping, you don't need the help of caffeine to stay up?"

Still having that scowl on her, she shakes her head. "I never liked the taste of coffee."

Nurse Sias just shrugs as she writes it down and continues. "Any history of concussions, head injuries, or seizures?"

Miss Frey exchanges her scowl for a blank look. "You should ask Uncle Wren about that, seeing that his pet sucker punched me."

The nurse gives him an accusatory look, and he replies. "It was rather chaotic at that time, with Anna being aggressive, and her other cousin… Sameen did what she thought best at that time to subdue Anna, which she regrets."

Miss Frey lets out a bark of amusement at Harold's statement. "And, no, I've never had seizures. Not that I know of."

"History of surgeries?"

"Duh?" Miss Frey replies and points at her recent wounds, but doesn't elaborate further.

"Do you know if your parent suffer from any mental illness?"

"Mother was annoying."

"Any extended family member die by suicide or unexplained death?"

"Well… you must know what happened to my dear old aunt."

"Did you notice anyone in your family that have problems with alcohol or substance abuse?"

"Father really made an effort to not show he's a drunkard."

The nurse parses through the paperwork on her clipboard before stopping. "Your uncle filled in most of your social history, but there is some missing information. How was your relationship with your parents?"

"They serve their purpose."

Nurse Sias quirks her brow. "Would you say you generally had a happy childhood?"

"It was the most blissful time I ever had."

"What was school like for you?"

"Boring and waste of time."

"How would you describe yourself as a child?"

"The perfect child."

"Were you bullied in school?"

That caused Miss Frey to erupt into a loud chortle. "Goodness no, everyone was dancing to the tune I was playing."

"Do you have any religious affiliation?"

"No, I don't believe in religion or god."

That gave Harold pause, and he couldn't help but asked. "But you follow the commandment to not take the Lord's name in vain. You even scolded Robin about it."

"Yeah, and?" Miss Frey looks at him quizzically. "It has nothing to do about my believes, it's just the polite thing to do."

Harold just deadpans at the woman, and the nurse furiously jots down everything.

"How did you do academically? And What's your highest level of education?"

"Dropped out from highs school." Miss Frey replies with a bored tone.

He just have to add. "Don't let her lack of official academic training deceive you. I would say Anna is incredibly smart. Smarter than most people in her field."

The nurse nods and continues. "Who is your support? Friends, family or co-workers."

"Just Robin…" She glances at him. "… and I guess my beloved uncle here."

Why didn't she say Pauling as well?

"Have you ever experienced anything in your life that you would consider traumatic?" Nurse Sias says suddenly, causing Miss Frey's face to twitch slightly.

After a few seconds of silence and the nurse looking at Miss Frey intently, she finally says. "No, nothing traumatic."

He might need to jump into the conversation again.

"Have you ever experienced any physical, emotional, or sexual abuse?" Nurse Sias asks more directly as she didn't believe Miss Frey's answer.

"Not that I know of." Miss Frey says with a hard tone.

Nurse Sias turns towards him for some actual answers and Miss Frey says mockingly. "Please dear uncle, do tell me my life story, because apparently my words mean naught."

Harold takes a moment to steady himself and he answers. "Earlier, I mentioned that this is related to Robin's trauma… When Anna was 14 years old, she was kidnapped from the library in her hometown and Robin witnessed it all happen. It somewhat affected the girls' relationship with the real world. Because for Anna, we all thought she died and for Robin, she had to live in a town that doesn't believe Anna was kidnaped by the pillar of the community… no one wanted to believe Robin, who saw it all happened."

"Ooo, spooky. I guess I'm dead." Miss Frey interrupts him.

The nurse doesn't say anything and just stares at him, and he continues. "We all thought she was dead. I only found out she was still alive a week ago when Robin brought me to see Anna. Somehow, Anna managed to escape from her kidnapper's clutches and never came back. Robin knew of Anna's survival only a few years after she left the town and never told anyone about it."

Nurse Sias hurriedly writes down everything he says and then asks. "She never made an attempt to contact anyone after she escaped, and is she still filed under missing persons?"

"She loathes Freer as well as anything that had to do with it, except for Robin and the police that processed her contacted the sheriff in Texas about her status." Harold explained his crafted story, seeing that Miss Frey had been deemed dead from their discovery last year.

"Wait… How did she create a company if she's registered as missing?" The nurse quirked her head slightly with a frown.

Before Harold could answer the nurse's question, Miss Frey interrupts. "Where's Roo… I mean where's Robin?"

"I'm sure you heard earlier that your cousin has been sent to E-unit for observation and she will stay there until she recovers." Nurse Sias replies promptly.

That sharp look she has on her is the same as a few days ago when she replies with. "And I'm going there after this farce?"

"No…"

Miss Frey quickly cuts the nurse off to say with an undertone of anger. "So, you're saying that you're going to separate me from her? In this looney bin, alone?"

"Yes, and she will be well taken care of. Due to the circumstances and reasoning of your admission, you have deemed too dangerous to be put in any other unit other than M-unit. Your cousin will be transferred to your unit when she's conscious and declared fit enough." Nurse Sias replies politely.

"She needs me. I want to visit her." Miss Frey's face and voice is eerily calm, which causes the hairs on his skin to stand.

"That is against hospital policy, and only your assigned psychiatrist can give special permission for a visit." Nurse Sias says diplomatically, but not knowing the danger she's.

Miss Frey sits straighter and replies with the same calm, eerie voice. "That wasn't a suggestion."

Feeling like he needed to do something to defuse the situation, he chimes in. "I believe it's better for both ladies' treatment if Anna gets the chance to visit her cousin occasionally."

The nurse shakes her head and says firmly. "It isn't your call what the method of her treatment will be Mister Wren, it is her assigned psychiatrist… however, I will have a word with the person assigned to her about this matter."

"That's all I ask and thank you." Harold replies with a nod.

The pale woman stares in silence for a few seconds before letting out a scoff. "What a charade. I will get what I want."

Harold, seeing that her mood has been swinging around ever since they first begin this questioning, and wanting a quick de-escalation, so nothing bad happens, says. "How about we continue with the questions?"

Nurse Sias gives a curt nod. "Have you ever felt you have a poor sense of self?"

The pale woman rolls her eyes. "No, I don't have self-esteem issues."

"Is it hard for you when people in your life leave you?"

"Wouldn't know." She replies with a bored tone.

"Do you frequently feel empty inside?"

"Yeah, talking to you makes my head empty, next." She replies deriding.

"Have you ever harm yourself such as cutting or burning yourself?"

"Uhuh, I sometimes cut myself when I'm shaving my legs." Miss Frey gives a joke answer. She clearly has lost interest in the questions.

Nurse Sias, sensing her patient is being uncooperative, stops that avenue of question and asks. "Any issues with the law? Or being in jail?"

"Yup, I've got a ton of grievance with your laws." Miss Frey's eyes drift away in boredom.

Nurse Sias turns to him for answers, and he provides. "She doesn't believe in laws."

"Ah…" She writes it down and looks directly at Miss Shaw. "Final question. What is your goal by the time you finish your stay with us?"

Miss Frey gives the nurse a predatory glance and answers, grinningly. "You'll be the first to know on that day."

"Thank you for your cooperation." Nurse Sias says with a smile as she reaches for the intercom on her phone. "Elliot, please bring the patient to her M-unit."

Nurse Sias then picks up a paper from her desk and quickly writes something in it.

Within two minutes, a man in standard hospital dressing enters and Nurse Sias speaks up. "Anna, this is Elliot. He's one of the techs that's assigned to the M-unit. He will be giving you an introduction to your new facility and accommodations."

"Finally. Bye-bye, Uncle Wren." Miss Frey says with a murderous look on her as she gets up and follows the man out of the room.

Seems like she already doesn't be committed to the hospital. He might need to add extra surveillance here, just in case.

The nurse quickly looks at Harold and says. "Now that she's gone, we need to review her answers."

He lets out a sigh. "Alright."

Hopefully, Miss Shaw doesn't get too annoyed by the delay while waiting in the car with John and he prays that John would still be alive by the time he finishes here.

---

SU POV

She drags her feet forwards as she slowly walks down the boring, sterile colored walls that's being illuminated by boring, white florescent lights and this hallway's light has this annoying hum that no one seems to be bothered by. It really grinds her teeth. Why can't they just use LEDs?

As she walks at a crawling pace, numerous humans pass by her, hospital jailors, her fellow inmates, with some of them needing the jailors to manhandle them. Some of the techs and nurses greeted by but she deservingly ignores them.

Not having much to do while she snails her way towards the psychiatrist -more like her torturer with how much pain it is for her to listen to that woman- for her bi-weekly snooze off, she looks back on her time in this looney bin…

It's been a fortnight since she was tossed into this sadist paradise, and it's been an arduous and tortures fourteen days. Truly, only from the mind of a deranged psychopath would they think of all the devious things they've done to her in her short period here…

A man in a nurse's gown greets her with a smile as he walks past her while holding a stack of files in hand and leaving behind the sounds of squeaking rubber shoes in his wake.

Well…

She might be hyperbolic in some aspects of her time here…

If she's being truthful to herself, her time here has honestly been fine, a very dull fine, and it wasn't as bad as she had imagined before coming here…

Although the concoction of medication they put her on majorly sucks. It makes her feel all weird and stuff, along with making her thoughts cloudy. And now she's gotta go to her chief chatterbox torturer to see if they want to change the medication for whatever worthless reason.

The next thing that just grinds her teeth is her room. Oh sure, there's an ensuite bathroom, and it's rather spacious for a barely functioning hospital. But the most annoying part of her room is her precious bed. They, in their infinite wisdom, added plastic on top of the mattress! Not only that, but the mattress itself isn't soft! How did they think she could sleep on top of such a monstrosity? A rock-hard mattress she can handle. Lord knows how many times she's slept on hard surfaces, but what she can't handle is the insufferable plastic underneath the fitted sheets.

If only the plastic wasn't there, then she'll would have a better night's sleep, even if she could only sleep for a few hours at a time, but it wasn't from the lack of trying. On the first night of her stay in this looney bin, she was clawing on her bed, trying to remove the plastic after laying down on that abomination and not a minute later, a couple of the techs rushed into her room to remove her from her bed, saying that it's for her protection. Her protection! The audacity of these humans, thinking that they know better than her.

When she calmly explained that she couldn't so much as close her eyes while on the abomination, one of the techs told her that the plastic is unremovable and it's in place for hygienic safety reasons. So, with that rather lackluster explanation, she elbowed that man's nose, causing him to bleed and her spending her first time in seclusion for the night.

Not that the green padded room is any kind of deterrence for her, so she continues on for the next few days, trying to remove the plastic from the mattress, which in their infinite wisdom, they stitched the plastic onto the mattress. After a few nights of restless sleep, got her hand on scissors -to their utter astonishment- and when she's halfway through removing the plastic, the techs bum rush her to tackle her down on to the floor and removing the scissors from her hands. Saying once again that they're doing it for her protection and dumped her back into the green padded room once again for another night.

… Come to think about it funny how the only room that has any kind of vibrant color is the padded room. These people are professional masochists. What sickos…

After all of that hustle, she came back to her room only to see that they had replaced her bed with a new one, along with that forsaken plastic, and she really couldn't be bothered anymore. Just like everything in her life, she'll adapt… and she had Sue place an order for a replacement mattress to be delivered to this hospital until they finally put a proper mattress in her bedroom and so far they've received 10 mattresses but haven't replaced her mattress yet. These hospital creatures are sure stubborn.

The other annoying thing about her being here is the clothing she has. It's all so boring! When she complained to the attending nurse, they said that it's the clothing she had on her when Harold brought her here. She ought to bring pain down onto Harold for only buying muted colored clothes for her to use while she's here. Goodness, it's such a boring taste and makes her regret coming here in the first place.

So, she did the most logical thing and had Sue ship her some adequate clothing for her stay, but these people who were holding her in this place rejected her choice of clothing! Saying that it's too bright… what a load of horse manure. Her next thought was having Sue constantly ship her clothing to the hospital until they let her wear it, but…

She wasn't in the mood to do that and honestly; she wasn't in the mood to be defiant for the past week. Which is so unlike herself when she thinks about it.

…

It must be the drugs that they're feeding her. Maybe she should stop taking them, seeing that it's messing up with her thought process and mood… but that would go against the goal of going with the flow for this little trip she's having and defeat its purpose.

At least they gave her these rather surprisingly comfy robes. So that's something.

Another thing that annoys her about this place is the people here. They're so annoying! Well… the staff are annoying, her fellow patients are fine since they leave her alone seeing that she won't initiate any contact with them, but unlike them, the people working here are incessant on talking to her and are very pushy. They just can't shut up!

Sure, she expected them to talk during her orientation to the unit, but she didn't expect them to keep on bothering her like an untreatable flea.

They kept on pestering her on about her needing to eat more or that she needed to make friends, or she needed to partake in their worthless activity group. Like she didn't need them to tell her how to eat or make friends. She already has Root -why would she need anyone else- and she doesn't need to participate in group talk or whatever horse manure they do in those rooms. Probably torture people if her experience in this place tells her anything.

As much as it would have been a pleasant thing to do, she somehow managed to curtail her desire to put to sleep those annoying pests, but it didn't change how annoying they were. It's like a constant bug flying around near her ear.

Despite everything negative, she still finds the place rather pleasant because the food here has a taste! She has no idea why she feels the sensation of taste again, but she can finally taste salt! Only to find out the food here doesn't taste very good, not that well-seasoned, the texture can be mushy and sometimes the food isn't even warm… at least food doesn't taste like ash anymore. However, she still doesn't follow her torturer's instructions on how much she should be eating out of principle, seeing those ghouls keep on, denying her request.

What's been consuming most of her mind is; why can she taste again? The dumb logical part of her mind quickly drifts to the answers that the medications are helping her… but that can't possibly be true. It just can't be the reason, because it couldn't have been that simple. It just can't!

That left her with the only reason, which was the asshole wants her to be here for some godforsaken reason. But why would the asshole want her to be here? What purpose does it serve? As much as she likes to grumble about her torture here, it's nothing compared to the past quarter of the century she's been living a living hell or even her past lives.

Had she been mistaken that the asshole wanted sacrifices? What the heck… this is too simple, there must be something more.

…

It must be a trick. The asshole must be lull her into a sense of warmth before ripping it all away. Now that makes sense, from everything she's experienced in this life. The smart thing to do is to grab Root and break out from this place as soon as her friend wakes up from her little bout of absent-mindedness.

… But the taste of food is soo tempting. After decades of not tasting anything sweet and more than a decade of not tasting anything else, being able to taste what she eats is just so good… even with the caveats of this facility food. All she can hope for is that this doesn't go away once she leave this place, because she really wants to try those comically big turkey drumsticks in Disney world. She might need to drag Pauling with her so Root doesn't go full manic mode like the defect like their previous conversation.

Su takes a left when she reaches the split in the corridor rather than the right because she really doesn't want to 'talk' with her 'psychologist' and listen to whatever irate things that woman has to say. Thinking about the crone ticks her off… the first time she met her, she did everything to beguile that crone, but she wasn't fooled and had the audacity to deny her 'request' on visiting Root!

So, she did the time-honored tactic of convincing someone which was giving them the silent treatment and so far, her handlers in this place have been resistant to it. It's honestly surprising that these people are being steadfast against her silent treatment. It usually works against Root since she would have caved in after a few hours. Her foes are truly formidable, despite them working in such a decrepit facility.

However, she isn't going to fail in this contest of wills against this doctor that she couldn't remember the name of… and in a matter of fact; she doesn't remember anybody's name here. Maybe she should learn their names and find an exploit in their personality, or even have Sue give her info about them, but that isn't fun. She has all the time in the world being in this godforsaken torture house and needed something to do in this dull building.

Despite her silent treatment falling on deaf ears, it wasn't like she couldn't go visit Root… well; it wasn't an authorized visitation, but she wasn't one to accept a no and it wasn't like these people could ever stop her. All she had to do was to sneak into E-unit, and it only took her a day to figure out how to go there without anyone noticing. Fools all of em, for thinking they'll keep her away from Root.

But when she finally reached her friend for the first-time last week… Root was laying in her abomination of a bed with her eyes wide open and completely unresponsive. Somehow, seeing her in that room, on that bed, with an empty look on her, shook Su right into her core, even though Root looks the same as when she saw her while they were in Harold's captivity.

Seeing her like that in this environment was so unnatural it almost made her stomach rolled to a point she almost puked… which was the drugs in her system's fault… Yet after that first night standing in that room looking at Root's lifeless face, Su dashed out of that room as quickly as possible, and she didn't go back to visit again.

Su just couldn't stand it… and it's Root's fault for being so… being like that in this kind of place. Even if it's the defect's fault for Root being here, she shouldn't look like that. Plus, she knows it's the drugs and her faulty brain that's causing her to feel this way. Yet she couldn't stop this feeling of… disgust when she looked at her only friend being like that.

At least she has Sue looking over Root for her and that made her feel better for leaving her alone in that unit. From the daily update she gets from Sue about her friend, it's all trending towards a positive outcome, with Root consuming sustenance on her own, walking on her own, even writing and drawing on her own. She had Sue describe what Root was drawing, and it's a picture of a terminal with her username, which is so adorable that she drew that in her current state of mind. Root even got into a fight and knocked some annoying pest onto the ground, that caused her to laugh when she heard about it. It will only be a matter of time before Root wakes up from her stupor and they can finally be reunited before they think about how to get out of here.

Although she promised Harold that she'll stay here to be treated, words are like the wind, and it can change… However, she did likes having the sense of taste again, and she still haven't figure out that peaceful feeling she felt back at Washington, so maybe she'll stay here another week to ponder… also there's the minor issue with Root little outburst back on the jet but she's sure that was just a misunderstanding and will be resolved once she's awake.

That line of thinking brought that sense of peace she felt in Washington to the forefront. Just what was causing it? Why was she feeling that? And there of all places?

The last time she felt something like that was when she was investigating Northern Lights and at IFT tower, but that feeling she felt back then was… dimmer if she needed to describe that feeling. However, what she felt back in Washington was much stronger, so much stronger. It was like she was freezing before, and that empty room was her being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket…

Speaking about fuzzy blankets, another thing here that sucks is that nothing here is soft and plushy! Everything was soo stiff and hard it makes her buttocks hurt just sitting on their 'sofa' and don't get her started on the mattress again…

Argh, why is her mind wandering away on something useless?

Must be the medications.

Where was she again?

Fuzzy blanket, warm feeling… Ah! It's that peaceful feeling that she has no idea what it means because the last time she ever felt so at peace was before that asshole came into her life with a baseball and knock entire world off kilter.

What's causing her head to spin for the past two weeks was the places that cause such sensation in her. Why is she feeling such things when she was in places that Northern Light or, as Root says, the machine, have been?

Just what does the asshole want with her? Does it have to do with the machine? If so, then why did the void come to her more than a decade before the inception of the machine? What would the asshole want with the machine? It's true that she's been having fun playing around with the machine for the past few years, but that doesn't mean anything. None of this makes any sense! That machine was built to save people, and that asshole is an… is an asshole! It loves torturing her and by that extension; it loves to torture others.

It all just makes her head spin and the medication she's on doesn't help.

She better stop thinking about this thing now… unless she wants to get another headache like last time, which sucks hard.

As she drags her feet forward down the corridor that loops back towards her psychologist's office, she notices how dull it is outside and there's fewer people in this part of her unit. She should come to this part of the unit more in the future, then maybe the cretins here will bother her less.

Not wanting to go to her doctor's office, she stops in front of a window looking out towards freedom, which is the building's parking lot and further out is some woods before going to some state road she didn't bother to learn when Harold was bringing her here.

While looking out onto that crusty, boring asphalt, Su can feel a tinge of calmness and peace for some odd reason. That's another thing she's been feeling off and on ever since coming here. There's no rhyme or reason for when she would feel this calmness. The last time she felt this was when she was in the toilet doing her business, which in itself is really odd, seeing that it wasn't anything special about that bowl movement. Before that was when she was sitting in the common area and just stared at the zoo of deranged people in there with her, since none of the reading material there was of any interest.

Somehow this fleeting sensation of calmness, her tasting food again, those feeling of peacefulness she felt in those empty rooms, must be connected…

… Or maybe it's the medications. Who really knows at this point? Seeing she's the only person in existence to experience this. It's not like she has any reference to go by.

She lets out a sigh before turning away from the window to continue on with her journey towards doom. Like the other things that's confounding her, she has a lot of time to figure out what it all means.

Just as she took a few steps away from the window…

RING

A payphone blares out its annoying ringing, causing her to stop and stare at the phone oddly.

RING

Huh…

Who might that be? Sue didn't need to call her since she could just do that high pitch thingy-a-bob she does, and her explicit instruction was to not bother her too much during her stay here.

RING

Her gut tells her to pick up the phone… but what if it's some creep that's been stalking her? What if it's someone that wants her dead and by her picking up, has a dial on her location and then kills her? She was standing by a window just a few moments ago and someone must have spotted her…

RING

…

… but Sue would have known about that plot and told her about it, like yesterday…

Eh, who cares if she dies, she dies… Su reaches towards the ringing phone.

RING

Things can't get any worse than they are now.

RING

Su picks up the receiver and places it on her ear.

---

ROOT POV

There's a sound of a brain tearing buzzing in her ears as she looks at the pathetic lying man in front of her and everything around her is nothing but solid white light with the only thing in her view is that man she really wants to kill.

"My name is Root." She brings up her pistol…

BANG

Searing pain. Blinding light. Head being dunk into water and the rolling sound of alarm mutes. POP, POP, POP. Muffled voices. Knees on the floor. Tears. Hope is lost.

No longer on my knees. When did I sit down? Hands on my arm. Pain. Pain. Stop the pain. Stop walking. When did I start? More people. Finch. Finch's dog. Hanna. She's hurt. Who hurt her? They need to die. Shaw? Men in suits. Guns. Maybe they'll kill me. Maybe they should.

Only five of us now. Cold. So cold. Hands everywhere. Straps. Head on window. Darkness.

Pain. Shaw inches from my face. Annoyed. Shaw next to Hanna, touching her. Don't touch her. Hanna does nothing. Strapped in. Tied down. Window again. Nothing to look.

Voices. People talking. Bumps. Talking about Hanna. Ants crawling into her ears. Water is going into her brain. Maybe I'll drown and that's okay.

Momentum stops. Door opens. Straps undone. The water drips out of her brain. But water still surrounds her. Harold's hand. Unstable. Cold. Winds. Pain.

Shaw hurting me again. Bathroom. Relief. Hanna watching her. Shaw watching her. She's small again. My body is still alive, but I don't want to be. Body does what it wants.

On the floor. Hands bound. Talking. People talking. They want to kill Hanna. She can't die. They won't. Shaw's angry. Hanna's awake. No one notices. Beeps. High beeps. Pain. It hurts her ears. Beeps stop. Hanna talks. People were surprised. Everyone talks. Hanna giggling. More beeps. Shaw punches Hanna. She can't do that. I can't let Shaw hurt her again. Hanna stops talking. Harold worried. People walk away. My face feels dry. So tired.

Light. Shadow. Movement. Throat pain. Poking at my face. Can't. Too painful. Loud noises. A knife cutting at my wrist. I can't see. Everything is in a blur. Gentle hands on my arm and shoulder. Legs buckling. Unstable. Forward. But I don't want to. Sunlight. Cold. Car. Window. So thirsty. Straps. Throat pain. Everything is in pain. I feel like I'm going to die. And I don't mind it.

Darkness. Dizzy. Foggy. Throat pain. Tired. Dizzy. Foggy. Throat pain. Tired. Dizzy. Foggy. Throat pain. Tired.

Dizzy. Foggy. Throat pain. Tired. Dizzy. Foggy. Throat pain. Tired. Dizzy. Foggy. Throat pain. Tired.

Dizzy. Foggy. Throat pain. Tired…

Light. There's sand in my throat. My joint aches. Hands bound. I'm sitting on a chair. Dizzy from the fog. Where am I? Am I dead? Where's God? Shaw? Is this hell? Shaw looms before me. Shaw's the devil? Fitting. She's talking, but nothing makes sense. It's all gibberish in my soaked ears. I see Hanna. Her face is covered in cloth. Unprotected. Unsafe. Shaw talks again. A pistol. Danger. Shaw has the gun and aims at Hanna. No. No. She can't die. I can't let anything bad happen to her. I reach for the gun while I yell at Shaw. Shaw stops and points the pistol at me. Barrel on my head. I leaned onto the pistol. She can't die. I can't fail again. Everything to protect her and I will be at peace at last. Forsaken by God. If this is life, then I don't want it.

Shaw doesn't end it. I didn't die. Why? I can't die if I'm in hell already. Pistol is away. Hanna is safe. Hands on shoulder. Pain. Shaw bringing her away. I can't leave Hanna alone. Shaw says something. I couldn't hear it, but I followed her lead.

Time is a funny thing. In the dark and warm places, it crawls. In straps and cold it moves faster. Out of control. I can't feel it passing, but it must. Blink and the figure beside me changes. Shaw. Big dog. Finch. Shaw, Finch… but Hanna is constant.

Wind. Straps. Light. Dark. Pain. Shaw. Wind. Straps. Light. Dark…

Harold removed the cloth from Hanna's head. She's sleeping. Everyone's gathered around me and Hanna. Talking. Silence. Waiting for something. Hanna wakes up. Harold starts talking. Beeping. Pain. Shaw talks. Harold's pet talks. Hanna talks. Everyone talks. Hanna looks at me. I look back. Everything around me is meaningless as I look at her. She looks away from me to talk to Harold. Sadness. Pain. Everyone talking. Shaw looks angry. Hanna looks bored. She's always bored. She agrees to something. Everyone looks relieved. Hanna goes back to sleep. Take me with you. Away from this hell.

The air is colder. Strap. Window. Rain on windowpane. Hands. Rain on my skin. Shaw Holding Hanna. Rain on my face.

Gray halls. Gray staircase. Up. Up. Gray room. Hands. Cold Hands. Cold metal. Where's Hanna? Hands. Many more hands. Pushing. Pulling. Strangers. Cold air on my skin. Bright lights. Smell of antiseptic and hydrochloride. Acrid. Sharp sting. Coldness invaded into her skin. Where's Hanna? Hands. Hands. Hands.

Silence. When did the hands stop? Time sneaks away silently, like a snake. Food at her mouth. My stomach rolls. The smell is horrendous.

Water at my lips. Sand in my throat. Thirsty. Sip. Sweat water. Cold water. Washing away the sand.

I'm still alive. Where's Hanna?

Waking. I slept? I must have dozed off. A bed. A ceiling. A woman pushes at my shoulders. She moves my leg. I'm on my stomach. A man holding my arm at my sides. The woman pulls my pants. Stinging pain. Deep into my skin. Coldness.

My other arm is tied up. No. It's in a sling. My shoulder stings. I got shot. Shaw shot me. Hanna was hurt. Where's Shaw? Where's Harold? Who are these strangers? Why did pull my pants down? What's going on? Where is she? Where is Hanna? What was that stinging pain? I move my lips, but there's nothing, only static. I can't hear anything with my cottoned ear. Like her head is in water. Unable to say or hear.

A meal. The scent is making me queasy. Water at my lips. Sips the sweet water. Wash away the sand. A spoon. Cold and smooth. Eat. A spoon, warm and stinky. No. Look away.

Hanna? She's here. She's safe. She's alive. Why is she looking at me like that? Hanna isn't here for long and left. Wait. Why is she leaving me again? Don't leave.

Things repeat themselves. Stand. Sit. Wait. Pain. Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Wait. Pain. Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Wait. Pain. Stand. Sit. Sleep. Pain. Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Wait. There is a pattern. There is some comfort in that. Things repeat themselves. But where's Hanna? She hasn't come back.

The pattern is broken. This is when they come and hurt me. They're not here. Late? Door open. They're here. Just one? A small cart. Like the doctor for my shoulder. No gauze. Blue paper. Iodine swabs. She holds up a syringe. A shot?

My sweater off my shoulder. Cold. A needle. Don't look. Pain. The same pain. Liquid. Injection. It's cold but dissipates. It's just a shot.

Stand. Sit. Eat… I wasn't done with that water. Sweet water. Why is it on the table again, and not on my lips? Spoon. No. Swat. Spoon gone. Grasp the water. Take the water. This is mine. Drink it all. Where is the spoon? Sweet and cold? Grasp the spoon. Where is the sweet? I am cheated. Throw the spoon. Hands. Hands. Hands. Stand. Sit. Wait. In place of the pain, she comes again. Another shot. No hands holding me down. My pants stay on. No pain in the back.

Stand. Sit. This is not where I usually wait. It's different here. There are people. There is movement. It is not peaceful. People shout. Cutting through the static. Knives in my ears. I want to wait in the waiting place. Stand. Walk. Hands. Hands. Hands. Sit. Sit. Sit. I cannot return to the old pattern. It's not allowed. I miss the water. Time moved faster than. Here it moves slower. Maybe it's the shots? They want me to wake up. I want to go back to before. It's easier than this.

Stand. Sit. Shot. Eat. Stand. Sit. Sleep. Shot. Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Wait. Shot. Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit… the new place again. Knives. I want to wait in the waiting place. I can't leave this place. Make the noise stop. Stand.

It's quiet again. I can make it stop. I did make it stop. 'It' is a man. Ugly. Vile. Loud. Walk. This is the wrong way. The waiting place is not this way. Forrest green room. Pushed over. They're hurting me again. Tugging at my pants. Pain from behind. They're gone. This is not the waiting place. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sit. Sleep.

The cart is outside the door. The woman is inside. Shot. Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Wait. Shot. The pattern resumes. Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Endure. Shot. Stand. Next is sit. In the eating place. They don't come for me, but I know the pattern. Walk. Sit. Eat. Walk. Walk. Sleep. Shot. Walk. Walk. Sit. Eat. Walk. Sit. Endure. Walk. Shot. Walk. Sit. Eat. Where's Hanna?

Walk. Walk. Sit. Sleep. Shot. Walk. Hands. A new room. A change in the pattern. Sit. White expanse. Object in my hand. I know that smell. Marker. White expanse. A hand guides mine. A mark on the white. Pull my hand away. Take the marker too. Mine now.

#ROOT

#ROOT

#ROOT

#ROOT

#ROOT

A hand on my shoulder. A shot. It's time to walk to the eating place. Walk. Eat. Walk. Sit. Endure. Shot. Walk. Walk. Sit. Sleep.

The pattern changes again. The cart has new things on it. Still the wipes. The syringe. The vial… she picks up the new object. Orange. Orange and white. I recognize this shape. Orange. Round. White. Medicine. Prescription Vial. She shows me the needle, but she puts it down. She holds out a pill and a cup of water. I don't want pills. Push them away. Water spills. Shot.

Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. #ROOT. I like the green marker.

Again, the needle is presented. The pill is offered. I don't want pills. I don't want another shot. Insistent hands poke at my lips. I want to bite them. Open mouth. Bitter taste. I take the offered water. No shot.

Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Endure.

Pill. Withdraw. Swat. Needle. Withdraw. Do not swat. It's sharp. Pill. Withdraw. Swat. Needle. Withdraw. Do not swat. Pill. This is a loop. This is a choice. Accept one or the other. Put the pill in my mouth. No shot. Water instead.

Stand. Sit. Eat. Stand. Sit. Sleep. Pill. Walk. #ROOT. Pill. Walk. Eat. Walk. Sit. Endure.

Walk. Sit. Eat. Walk. Walk. A sound cut through the water like Moses parting the sea. The payphone rings.

This is God's will, and God is calling.

Walk. Walk to the phone. If this isn't God, the world will end again. Hand trembles. Hold your breath.

BEEP. Can. You. Hear. Me. Beep.

God's voice pulls her head out from the water and breathing new life into her.

Root lets out a breath of relief and smiles. She's not alone.

"Absolutely."

---

A/N: Well, this took longer than I would like. At least I get to post this chapter on the anniversary of me deciding to write this fic and I thought I would only take a year to finish this story, and it's barely halfway through it. With the end of this chapter comes the end of the 2nd arc and the next arc will be the hospital arc, which is coincidentally where I stopped writing the major outline of the story last year before starting chapter 1. I got some idea of what to do but nothing concrete. For the hospital arc, I think I might go back to shorter chapters of 5k, which will take less time to write, and I might do third party POV that doesn't center on a single character in addition to Root's and Su's POV. Feels like it's going to be stale with just the two of them. Maybe more POV back and forth. The 3rd arc will be slower but will contribute a lot to the change of our main characters' attitudes.

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and a happy new year.