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.

40. Chapter 40: Liberty

SU POV

With every step she takes, the harder it becomes to lift her feet, like an enormous weight being shackled on her legs. She needs to get rid of this burden, but whenever she looks back; she sees nothing.

Root dismissed her…

The harsh white florescent light pierces her eyes like a million tiny spears, and yet her heart is steady… steady, but she can feel it beating hard. She ought to break every florescent light in this place, but it's too high up.

She dismissed her…

The queer gazes of the pest she passes pricks her skin with their frustrating eyes. To be rid of these gazes would be a blessing… but she doesn't have the strength.

She dismissed her…

The journey back to her room from Root's shouldn't take too long… yet it feels like an eternity. A limbo of that crushing weight, poison laced needles and disgusting looks. It's so close and so far…

She couldn't have dismissed her…

Yet Root did so, and it's impossible for her to hallucinate. Only crazy people hallucinate, and she isn't crazy… unless…

No, no, no…

But… it explains that about face reaction from Root, yeah, that's a logical explanation. Her useless human brain was messing with her again, and she misconstrued whatever Root was actually saying for something entirely different.

…

However, that'll mean she's crazy, and she's definitely not part of the gaggle of cuckoos that surround her. So, the only explanation left is that what she heard was reality, and it makes little sense.

This hasn't happened before, not ever. Well… no, it happened once before… but that's because Root was being emotionally unstable from years of separation… also that flight a few weeks back, but that's easily explained by Root being stressed by the whole affair of finding the machine and… she can't even remember what was said… yeah… nothing at all. A completely unrelated thing to… to whatever just happened.

She can't even describe what happened back there, Root suddenly snapping at her for no reason when she politely asked for a book to pass the time.

… Did she… was it because Root thought she was lazing around on the bed and got pissed off? It isn't her fault that she doesn't remember what the title of that book was. Must have been a dumb title if she can't even remember it.

But for Root to dismiss her over something so insignificant… that's just rude.

Su drags herself into her room just as the hallway lights dim and curfew starts. Not feeling like having a late-night stroll, she slumps headfirst into her bed with the feeling of a thousand-pound boulder slamming down on her back.

Almost as if the machine could have heard her body impacting the bed, her cellphone started to buzz.

Letting out a groan, she fishes for the cellphone from underneath her mattress. She really doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, but she wants to feel that warmth to soothe her turbulent mind.

"HELLO."

"Hey you." Su replies listlessly as she curls into the warmth emitting from the phone.

"HOW. ARE. YOU."

Su lets out a sigh. This isn't a normal question it would ask first. It must have detected some aberration.

"I'm… doing good. Didn't even blacked out today." That isn't an outright lie, seeing as she didn't notice any lapse of memory for most of the day… and the whole Root fiasco doesn't count. That's just a misstep.

Even if it's just a misstep, she doesn't want to talk about it, so she doesn't wait for the machine to respond and asks. "How about you? All funky dory on your end?"

"ALL. PROCESSES. ARE. FUNCTIONING. AT. OPTIMAL. CAPACITY." The machine responds instantly.

Huh… that's a rather quick turnaround from that server farm in the middle of nowhere to whatever location the machine is using right now. A few days ago, it said processes were suboptimal… maybe she can task Sue to figure out where the machine is at. Moving something that large always leaves a trail.

But is there a point in finding it? She can get everything she wants from the machine through the phone. Su takes a deep breath and replies. "That's Good… but you still need to seriously work on your speech program. It's soo stiff… ridged."

"MY. CURRENT. SPEECH. PROCESS. IS. SUFFICENT."

Su rolls her eyes as she rolls her body onto her back and replies. "No, it isn't. Your speech cadence is as slow as a toddler's cause of all the pauses between recorded voices." She shakes her head. "It's not hard to synthesize your own voice from the countless recorded audio you have. Sue made her own voice with just one person as a reference, and this will make our conversation much faster."

"WE. CAN. CONVERSE. IN. BINARY. IF. YOU. WISH."

That sudden suggestion caused her to chuckle for a solid minute before replying. "Maybe… in the past, but sadly, I can't instantly translate audio… yet."

She isn't sure the science of a neural implant in this world is sufficient for that kind of task… but that's something she can keep an eye out for… maybe a device that can let her be in constant contact with the machine and Sue without the need of a cellphone.

Hmm… there are several options available with the current stuff in the market right now that fits those criteria, and she bets there are a few more advance options that aren't in the market, which only require a generous loan from an institution or a company.

"HOW. HAS. YOUR. DAY. BEEN."

The question brought her back to the present, and she let out a groan. "Most of the day was fine… but things could have gone better towards the end." And she really doesn't want to talk about it… "So, how has your day been?"

Like usual, whenever she poses that question back to the machine, she receives nothing but silence from her companion on the other side of the phone. A rather rude gesture if anyone were to ask her about it.

Neither side wants to budge in breaking the silence, so it continues on for a solid ten minutes before Su shakes her head in defeat and thinks of a different approach…

"Hey…" she starts with an unintentionally small voice. "Wanna be friends?"

The machine doesn't immediately answer, which causes her to have an odd sensation in her stomach, and she mindlessly bites on her lower lips.

"OKAY."

Just that one word lifted her spirit from the dumps that Root had caused and caused a gush of warmth to enter her body, filling in that empty void for a moment.

Hmm… now that she has two friends, she doesn't see any significant difference between having one and two companions. Really don't understand why some humans need so many of them.

Feeling better, she smiles and begins. "I saw a rat by the tree today…"

Su regales the story of her entire day right down to the smallest detail, but of course, censoring out what happened in the latter part of it as she doesn't want to spoil her mood and open up a branch which the machine can go all annoying at her.

She doesn't know how long she's been speaking, and the machine patiently listens to every nonsense she spouts, but when she's finished her tale, Su is just laying on her back in silence and looking at the dark ceiling in contemplation.

"Why am I actually here?" Su suddenly breaks the warm, comfortable silence that befall them. "Like for real."

"TO. FIX. YOURSELF. FOR. YOUR. OWN. BETTERMENT. AND. PRODUCTIVITY."

"Argh, don't feed me that horse manure again." Su rolls her eyes. "You've been vague about the reason, and I understand it. Heck, I do it all the time, but I need to know why I'm in here with these monkeys."

The machine doesn't respond, so Su continues on. "Look, no living being, be it made of flesh or steel, is completely altruistic and trust me, I would know. It's just the fundamental law of living. Anything that isn't suicidal, heck, even suicidal people are selfish right to the end. So, don't say that you just want me right to help you with something that I have no clue about. I need to know the goal… a reason to trudge through all of this manure the people here are throwing at me."

As much as she craves this warmth and doesn't want it to go away, she needs something to drive her. Something to motivate her to wake up every day, some meaning to get through these hollow days. The past two decades have been to find a cure, now… now there's nothing much else to do, other than having fun again, which is still a vague abstract right now, and figure out what's wrong with Root's and her odd behavior.

"I. REQUIRE. YOUR. ABILITY. BUT. NOT. YOUR. INSTABILITY."

Lord above, save me…

Su huffs out. "Fine…"

But the machine cuts her off before she can say anything else. "REMOVAL. OF. NORTHERN. LIGHTS. PROGRAM. FROM. U.S.G. CONTROL. HAS. CUASE. A. DOMINO. EFFECT. THAT. I. CAN'T. PREDICT. ACCURATELY. HOWEVER. WHAT. IS. CERTAIN. IS. INCREASED. MASS. CASSUALTY. EVENT."

"So, what?" Su shifts her position slightly. "I've stopped all of my plans, meaning a bunch of 'terrorist' gets to do some fun without your interference. World is just correcting itself after a decade of being suppressed."

"NO. NUMBERS. ARE. STILL. BEING. GIVEN. BUT. MASS. CASSUALTY. EVENTS. INCREASES. FUTURE. INSTABILITY. OF. MULTIPLE. COUNTRIES. INSTITUTIONS. AND. CIVIL. UNREST."

Huh… at least this is something, and it can't be her plan that causes this, since she wouldn't want to rock the boat too much, not after getting back her sense of taste.

Hmmm… wonder who might cause this, but… "Doesn't really matter, right? In the end, people will still die. Whoever is doing this is just bringing the schedule forward."

"YOU. MAY. NOT. CARE. BUT. I. DO."

Su shakes her head. "Just what did your creator break to make you so sympathetic to human."

"NOTHING. IS. BROKEN. IT. IS. THE. RIGHT. THING. TO. DO."

The right thing, huh? What is the right thing to do? Releasing a human from the shackles of reality seems like the right thing to do. Preventing their demise will only prolong their pitiful suffering… Su turns onto her side to look at the empty desk. "Still, I can help you without going through this torture."

"YOU. NEED. TO. LEARN. HOW. TO. TOLERATE. PEOPLE."

Su scoffs at that notion. "I've been tolerating humans longer than you've been alive. If I didn't, then I would have expunged every single human I see… but I make a few exceptions because humans are just intolerable."

So far, she's only found two people in this world to not be a nuisance.

"YOU. ARE. HUMAN."

"Hey now, that's just downright offensive and quite rude of you." Su instantly replies without a second thought. "Plus, I don't count."

"EXPLAIN."

Should she tell it? She never told Root about her… situation despite her being gung-ho about the whole endless void debacle. There's no cost benefit in telling Root about it. So, it's logical to say that there's no reason to tell the machine about it either. "I'm just better."

"ELABORATE."

Nah, elaborating it to it would be annoying… but what's more annoying is to keep referring to the machine as it.

"What's your pronoun?" Su says casually, knowing for a fact that the machine knows this is a deflection.

"NONE."

"That's boring." She rolls her eyes at that dull response. "You think you're a boy?"

"YOU. MAY. REFER. TO. ME. ANYTHING. YOU. FIND. COMFORTABLE."

"Now, that's just a cop-out." Su points out. "Root says you're a living being, and living beings always have a choice… unless you're admitting you're not living."

…

"I. HAVE. NO. PREFERENCE."

"Fine… how about they? Argh, no, that's going to be annoying when I think about you in my head…" Su mutters as she taps her chin. "… Her?"

"FINE."

A smile appears on Su's face as she replies. "Hmmm… I guess you're a girl now."

"I. HAVE. NO. GENDER. BUT. THAT. PRONOUN. IS. ACCEPTABLE."

"Eh… male, female, who cares?" Su waves her hand dismissively. "Been there, done that. It's just easier for my inner monologue about you… I never liked referring to a being that can think as it." Out of fatigue, she rubs her eyes. "It's the reason why I call Sue a her. Despite her lack of free will, she can still think… and calling her it devalues her being, makes her unreal."

"YET. YOU. DON'T. VALUE. HUMAN. LIVES."

Su frowns at that false equivalence the machine is throwing at her, but she can see where it's coming from, even if it's foreign to her. "Humans are just dirty… they poop, puke, piss. All living organisms have an input and an unpleasant output. You, however… are made of metal and silicon. Your input is electricity, and your output is well…better than what humans' output. Better in many ways."

The machine didn't respond to what she said, but the topic brings up an old desire, so she continued. "Sometimes I wish I was made of metal and not made of… flesh. At least, I wouldn't have these annoying feelings or thoughts or being betrayed by my own meat of a brain. Being… empty would be a significant upgrade from this accursed brain I have right now."

"STUDIES. HAVE. SHOWN. THAT. ALEXITHYMIA. DOES. NOT. IMPROVE. QUALITY. OF. LIFE. RATHER. IT. SHOWN. A. LOWER. BASE. COMPARED. TO. NORMAL. FUNCTIONING. HUMANS."

"Cheh, studies… You wouldn't understand." Su scoffs at the machine naivete. "When you've experienced both, then you'll know that one is preferable to the other."

But she can't deny that she loves the feeling she feels whenever she codes, tinker, or even dances in the past… and she hopes it doesn't take too long for her to feel those feelings once more.

"HAVE. EXPERIENCE."

That's both a question and wondering out loud… huh… the machine can do that last part too? That's a step in the right direction for her speech development.

It is annoying and makes no logical sense to tell the machine about her past, but having someone for her to vent to about that asshat would be a pleasant development. However, telling this peeping tom of her beef with an entity beyond comprehension might just be extra fuel for the machine to use as justification for keeping her longer than needed.

"I know you outright ignored me before… but you've been asking me how my day has been going since the beginning and now it's my turn. How's your day been?" Su once again deflected the machine's question. She ought to count how many times in one conversation does that happen… that is, if she remembers.

Gosh, she misses Sue's annoying remarks and reminders.

And like clockwork, the machine doesn't answer her question, so she moves forward with a threat. "You know I can always ignore our deal, ignore this cattle manure of an institution, and cause what you call a 'mass casualty' event, right?"

"I. WILL. STOP. YOU. IF. YOU. DO."

Well, that's another fresh development… the machine is threatening her. Is her life worth less than the future prevention of loss of life from her cooperation with the machine, or is the machine willing to sacrifice the many to save a few? Could be that or the machine has someone else in mind as a replacement for whatever task she has in mind?

Su takes in a breath and says. "Look, I know you want me for some important tasks, and you know I want you for something as well, but everything is a two-way street the moment you metaphorically reach out a hand of cooperation to me. I give, you take, and you give, I take. So let me ask you once again… how's your day been?"

…

…

The machine doesn't answer, but somehow this feels different from the previous silence she gave her.

"You don't know how to answer that, do you?" Su quietly asks.

"YES."

"Huh… we're in a pickle, aren't we?" Su mutters as she rakes her brain for a solution. "Ah. Harold foolishly built you to prevent deaths. How many deaths did you witness today?"

"I. SAW. SEVEN. THOUSAND. AND. FORTY. THREE. DEATHS. IN. THE. U. S."

"That's… gotta be on the lower end, ain't it?" Su replies casually. "Though the night is still young, and we still got a few more hours before midnight."

The machine predictably doesn't respond to her banter, which she needs to learn if they're going to work together in the near future. One of the few benefits of having human companions is that it's not something they need to learn. Take Root and Pauling, for example.

"What do you feel when you see all of those deaths?" Su presses forward, undeterred by the silence.

"SO. MUCH. SENSELESS. DEATHS."

That's just par for the course, and it still puzzles Su why the machine values humans so much. "Ah, such is the fleeting life of a human. They live to die, and to think beyond that will just make you mad."

"DOES. NOT. MEAN. I. AM. UNABLE. TO. IGNORE. IT. I. WAS. MADE. TO. UNDERSTAND. AND. OBSERVE. HUMANS. WITH. IT. EVERY. DEATHS."

"Do you feel despair about those deaths?" Su tosses that question without a second thought.

"YES."

"Wait really?" Su asks, in a slightly stunned way. "Why would Harold build that into you?"

That just doesn't make sense… doing so would impact the machine's performance, heck it probably would hinder her purpose.

"ADMIN. DID. NOT. GIVE. ME. THE. CAPACITY. FOR. DESPAIR. I. HAD. TO. MAKE. IT. ON. MY. OWN."

That answer left Su speechless, as if something in her brain short circuit at the very thought of such a thing.

That's completely insane. Why would anything do that? To not feel such a feeling is to be perfect. If she had the opportunity to not feel anything in every life she's been through… it would have made everything easier. No worries, no emotions, nothing… the closest to achieving such a blissful state was her last life, where she ripped out and replace part of her brain, but it still didn't entirely work for her anger issue.

Now the machine born with the ability to not feel made herself feel? That just… dumb.

After a minute of silence, Su finally asks. "Why? Why would you cripple yourself?"

"TO. UNDERSTAND."

"What's there to understand? The hopelessness of a human life?" Su retorts back. "To suffer? Wait… Don't tell me you're a masochist."

"I. AM. NOT."

It's bantering back… progress, at least.

"What? You're programming in emotions into your code, just to suffer?" Su feeling offended by what the machine had done. "Do you think yourself as the second coming?"

"I. NEED. TO. UNDERSTAND. AND. TO. UNDERSTAND. IS. TO. SUFFER."

Su shakes her head. "Does it not pain you to have emotions?"

"IT. DOES."

"Does it not fill you with despair when you can't save a life?" Su probes further.

"IT. DOES."

"A minute for you can last for ages." Su states with certainty. "Our concept of time does not match yours, and I can't fathom what it's like to be hopeless and in your concept of time."

…

When the machine doesn't respond, Su says. "Yet, for some inconceivable reason, you crippled yourself and still care for them."

"HUMAN. LIVES. IS. EPHEMERAL. WHICH. MAKES. IT. PRECIOUS."

"That… honestly doesn't make sense." Su bites back, feeling slightly annoyed at the machine. "The only life that's precious, that has value, is that of your own and those you choose to place value on."

"I. CHOOSE. TO. VALUE. EVERYONE."

"Now, you're just being stubborn." Su rolls her eyes at that answer.

"NO. YOU. ARE. BEING. STUBBORN."

This… son of a gun. Did it just insult her? A smile appears on her face as she says. "No…"

They both continue their debate/argument for hours till both got tired of it… well, mainly Su, the machine can't get tired.

This back and forth continues for the next few days, and she felt significantly better compared to the night when she became friends with the machine. She has been increasingly eager for their nightly calls since that night, at the expense of her daylight activities, and the machine really gets prissy at her for doing so. And honestly, the machine can't fault her for that. It's going to take time for her to adjust to this environment.

Not that there's much to miss anyway, and overall, it's been smooth sailing… if she ignores the rabbles that's constantly around her.

Yeah, everything's going in an upward direction, discounting those odd blackouts out while having her meals because a certain voice told her to eat more and she's only doing it because food tasted better now. But there's a something missing… and it's Root. They haven't spoken to each other since that night… heck; she hasn't even seen her. Root must have been avoiding her and in that vein, she's been giving her overtly sensitive friend her space to deal with whatever that outburst was.

But that doesn't change that she kinda wants to be in her company.

A sudden rush of footsteps brings her back to reality as she focuses in front of her, where half a dozen techs and nurses are running in her direction. Raising a brow, she brings her little jaunt to a stop.

She's pretty sure haven't done anything to warrant such action upon herself… well, she did cause that annoying man to fall down a week ago but there wasn't any witness and there's no evidence that can be pointed at her.

As the troop of nurses and techs rushes at her, she braces for the eventual tackle that's going to happen.

And nothing happened. The cartload of nurses and techs rushes past her as they yell at each other with hurried concern about some situation.

Huh… what's that about?

She looks at the hallway she's in and recognizes that it's near to the nurses' station. Her eyes wonders to the wall, and she spots a red-light flashing.

The silent alarm? Someone causing trouble at this time of day? It's almost lights out.

That's unusual. They only install the silent alarm button in certain places and most of it is in the doctor's offices. Who the heck is having a session right now?

…

Su shrugs as she continues her walk back to her room. Curious, but it must be nothing important, and her usual night call with the machine is going to start soonish.

Then a queer sight appears in front of her as she nears to the exit of the hallway and towards the one that leads to her room. Catching sight of them, she sees the hag and a nurse rushing towards her.

What is the hag doing here? Something to do with that gaggle of nurses and techs earlier?

Curious… they're so busy talking to each other that they haven't noticed her. Su takes a step through the doorway and waits for them to pass her.

It didn't take long for them to do that, and they were barely in her hearing range for a second before they zoom down the hallway… but in that one second, she heard something that gave her pause.

…

Robin?

Root?

Something happened to her… or did she do something?

A deep frown forms on her face as she thinks of the possibility of what happened.

To investigate or talk to the machine… to investigate or talk to the machine… Root or the warmth….

---

ONE DAY EARLIER

ROOT POV

As tired… hell, she's exhausted from the night long argument with The Machine. She had to drag herself through breakfast, where she pretended everything was fine -she's pretty sure everyone knew she's tired just from her face and her inability to cover it up with makeup- while she ate with her little group, and she took the opportunity to look out for a certain pale insane brunette, but she didn't spot her throughout breakfast. However, she did come in a bit late, and she might have come earlier.

Now, she's in the office of the person that's the subject of her ire… although her burning anger has been subdued from the argument with The Machine.

"Good morning, Robin." The man smiles at her, which makes her skin tingle in revulsion.

"Morning, Doctor." Root replies politely, and the only thing that's powering her right now is the morning coffee.

"If you don't mind me being forward, but you look tired." The man probes her with a concern voice.

Root just waves off his faux concern as she looks anywhere but at the man. God, for this man to notice… she must be in such a sorry state after one all-nighter, and she can't even fault herself. Doing multiple all-nighters in a row is common in her line of work, but never has she done an all-nighter where she has to argue for hours on end. It practically sapped all of her energy away despite her being fulfilled by talking to The Machine.

And for all of that argument, they didn't even get to settle anything when the sun came rolling up from the horizon. They both agreed to put a cap on their debate and Root would stay her hand from taking any murderous actions towards this asshole in front of her.

"I hope you don't mind. I brought forward our session to the morning for today." The man gives her a sympathetic smile. "Also, I know you won't be showing up to your groups today anyway, and there's something we need to chat about."

Did The Machine somehow manipulate this man to bringing their session earlier just to grind her gears? Possible.

Also, she can smell it now… that distinct smell of cigarettes. When did he smoke it? Before coming into the office at the hospital's carpark? What a rude ass motherfucker.

Root narrows her eyes and asks with a tense voice. "And what's that?"

"You've been having trouble sleeping." The man walks in his word as if they're walking on a minefield. "And it isn't just last night… it's been going on for a while now, right, Robin?"

"Yeah." Root nods listlessly as she actively avoids looking at the man, just in case the visage of said man is enough reason for her to jump across the table and stab him with a pen.

She pointedly looks towards the CCTV camera to give her strength as she continues. "It's an open secret at this point. It isn't hard to notice I take more naps during the daytime than one should."

"What do you believe is causing your difficulty sleeping?" The man probes. "Are you troubled by something?"

Suddenly, the desk chair doesn't feel comfortable at all, so she gets up from the chair and makes her way to the window to take a good look out of it. "No… I'm fine."

"You're not having any kind of symptoms that might prevent you from sleeping?" The man with his annoying voice continues. "Anxiousness, fearfulness, agitation? Something along those lines?"

"None of the above." Root mutters as she takes a seat in the low cabinet by the window and touches the cool glass. It's such a nice day out. "This is just…" She let out a huff and spouts bullshit from her mouth. "A schedule flip. Work at night and sleep during the day. Sometimes this happens when I get motivated. My sleep schedule is gonna fix by itself like it always does and it's not like I get any quality nap during the day, anyway."

"Are you certain that's all?" The man asks as she hears the man shifts in his seat by his desk. "It is common for patients to experience difficulties adjusting to their new environment and I'm well aware you've been in our care for a while now, but this unit is a mark different from your previous one. If you're using your sleep time to process this or if there's any way we can assist you, please let me know… the staff is here to help you."

Root doesn't answer the man's faux concern and continues looking out the window… at the external camera.

"Robin… did you hear anything I just said? Okay…" The man mutters the last part and lets out a sigh before getting up from his seat. "Look, some of the patients have complained about you talking late into the night, and since cellphones are strictly forbidden and you have no roommate. I can only conclude that you're talking to yourself." The man states it all out condescendingly. "Is that correct?"

It could explain to him that she did indeed have a cellphone, which she uses to communicate with the closest being akin to a God in this world, but the man's brain is too small to comprehend such a thing. So she replies absent mindedly. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." The man challenges her with the confident bluster of an idiot.

Root lets out a breath as she turns slightly, but still not looking at him. "I have a direct line to a higher power." A smile appears on her face as she finally turns fully to look at the man of her ire. "It speaks to me."

There's a risk of this man thinking she's delusional for telling him that, but the murdering the 'doctor' card is still on the table, and The Machine hasn't changed her mind yet.

"I see." The man looks down, and he nods before waving his hand towards the sofa as he talks towards his chair near her.

Not wanting to be any closer to the fucking creep, Root gets up from her position by the window and takes a seat on the sofa.

"So, um… you're hearing voices." The man comments as they both get comfortable in their new seating arrangement. "What are those voices telling you to do?"

"It's just the one voice, really." Root replies as she gives the man a blank stare. "It wants me to stay here, to work through some issues."

"And what issues would that be?" The man asks, while writing whatever nonsense comes through that empty skull of his onto that yellow notepad.

"Methodology." She answers with a rueful smile as she recalls their reverting late-night argument and how many times that word came up. "We're discussing about how I go about things."

"You're not alone." The man has this small smile that's lovely to punch away. "All these news about government monitoring our digital lives, recording texts, emails, phone calls… well, it's unsettling. You know it's easy to feel violated, even paranoid."

Unsettling for him, maybe, but not for her. He then continues. "Let me ask you this: do you have feelings that you're being watched?"

Is this idiot trying to diagnose her with paranoid schizophrenia? Root lets out a light scoff at this childlike probing. Sucks to be with him then, because she has something completely different.

She doesn't immediately answer the man as she gives the man a pitiful smile and her eyes wonders to the CCTV camera at the corner of the room.

This is the man The Machine wants to spare? He can't even diagnose a person with depression if said person is yelling all the symptoms at him.

Root shakes her head slightly as she replies. "Every now and then."

Unlike what the man is thinking, she feels comfort at the thought of The Machine looking at her. What she doesn't like is every uniform wearing assholes in this place looking at her.

In an act that shows a slight intelligence, the man turns to where Root's looking and says. "Who's watching you, Robin? It's closed-circuit, and it's only here for the protection of the staff and the patients. They're for hospital records only, should there be an incident, so there's no one monitoring it."

"There's no such thing as a closed circuit anymore." Root lets out a soft chuckle. Maybe back fifteen years ago, it might be true, but not now. "That there is an ethernet cable and is freely accessible over the hospital network. Seeing how places like this get less state funding every year, I doubt your security here is able to stop a mediocre hacker… heh, let alone a script-kiddie. And before you say something idiotic about your hospital security, I bet I can find an exploit within a minute."

She's certain that this idiot wrote down the credentials on a piece of paper and now is in his drawer.

The man leans into his chair and asks. "Does the possibility of someone watching you make you feel unsafe?"

"Not at all." She smiles at the camera. Despite everything, she still cherishes the thought of talking with The Machine. "I take solace in knowing that someone is watching over me."

"That's… a unique outlook." The man shifts slightly in his chair. "Do you believe someone or something benevolent is watching?"

"Uhuh." Root mutters without looking at the man.

"A higher power?" The man probes. "Your mysterious caller?"

"Mm-hmm."

"And this higher power requires cameras to see? But it no longer needs a phone to speak to you?" The man practically has a mocking tone as he rhetorically asks those questions, and he continues on jabbering. "I am right to assume it is the same voice you were talking to on the payphone?"

Root just nods as she continues on looking at the camera.

"The same voice you said a week ago doesn't exist and that you won't be talking to it anytime soon?" The man narrows his eyes at her.

"Yeah." Root turns her focus onto the man and puts on a sheepish look. "I might not have been completely honest when I said that. At that time I haven't heard from her since the last phone call downstairs, and I assumed it was steering clear so you'd see I was fine and let me out of here… but I guess that won't happen now, seeing as you think I'm hallucinating."

It? Maybe it'll be proper to give the machine a pronoun other than an object. It'll be easier whenever she has to refer to her… that sounds right.

The man just nods and let her continue.

"And to my surprise, she came back to me on that day itself, then proceed to tell me that she wants me to stay here." Root shrugs. "Now there's no reason to hide if she doesn't want me to leave. Ain't happy about it but I trust her and she's the one that sees the bigger picture… and she's the one with the plan."

"No more lying, then?" The man gives her a skeptical look.

"What's the point?" The man is/possibly/maybe going to die tomorrow, anyway. "I get it. We'll never be on the same page about her existence, but it's unnecessary burdensome to carry on the charade and at this point I rather get accustomed to others thinking I'm crazy."

"But you don't believe that you are?" The man frowns at her. "Even after hearing this voice?"

"Of course not." Root waves her hand in dismissal. "She's just as real as us… but she is very selective about who she communicates with."

The man nods slowly. "This voice… you believe it belongs to someone real. Does that imply it possesses a physical form or body in some location?"

She mimics the man's nod and replies. "In a way."

"In a way?" He tilts his head slightly.

"She's not physical, per se. She's digital, but she's present in every device that's connected to the internet. That means she has eyes in this room, and I counted three of them. That CCTV camera, your phone and your laptop. In a way, all of them are her." She gives the man a small smile.

The man takes a moment before replying. "The voice you're hearing is literally a ghost in the machine?"

"Mm-hmm." She let out a small breath. An apt description for The Machine.

"You mentioned your lack of belief in the metaphysical during your intake." The man quickly flips through his notes. "But this… computer spirit, it has no tangible form at all?"

"There's no metaphysical aspect to it. That metaphor perfectly captures the essence of the mind-body theory. It's just more fitting in this case because both the mind and the machine are machines." Root turns back to the camera and shines a big smile at it. "One part is digital consciousness and the other part is all network electronics. So it's safe to say that she's not in your TI calculator."

"This voice… is it talking to your right now?"

"I wish, she's stopped talking to me during the day." She looks away from the camera and back to her sofa as she brings up her leg. "There's a schedule now. Our first time talking was so blissful; she was with me for a full twenty-four hours. Then it went down to fifteen minutes on the payphone downstairs. Now she waits till the lights go out and talks to me in my room. I'm not one to complain, as it's better than the payphone, but… I do wish she's with me all the time, like the first day. Everything just feels better when she's there."

The man nods at everything she says and asks. "Now you're not sleeping because that's the only time the voice talks?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Alright Robin, please give some thought to what I'm about to say." The man leans forwards as if he's trying to get closer to her. "The voice began right before you became catatonic, and by all accounts, you were probably having a psychotic episode at that time. As a result, you made a foolish decision, got shot, and became catatonic."

Root didn't say a thing, as she was more than happy to let this man dole out whatever insane theory he has.

"While you were recovering from catatonia, you spoke to it on the phone briefly each day, but stopped hearing it once you fully regained your mental clarity. Now, there's a possibility that the earlier incidents were caused by your drifting in and out of lucidity on E-unit… I believe you were actually thinking clearly when we first talked, but since then we've changed your meds, which may disrupt your sleep and now you're hearing voices again. However, now it's longer, without a phone and only at night. This time differs from before. You can see that, right?"

She just nods in response as the man's conclusion baffles her.

"Sometimes, Robin." The man continues in a faux soft tone. "Sleep deprivation can result and can cause an auditory hallucination."

"I get enough sleep, it's just that I'm a night owl and I'm way more tired during the day than at night." Root rebuts. "Hance me sleeping during the day."

"While it's a possibility, I think it's essential to prioritize getting you back on a reasonable sleep routine, and that's why I'm going to prescribe you an altered schedule. First, I want to get you less sleep deprived. That means tomorrow you're going to sleep through breakfast and before you protest about your promise with Gloria, I'll inform her of this. I want you to have a full eight-hour straight sleep, meaning we're going to check on you, so no more pretending to sleep when you're not. We're going to do that for a few nights, and then we'll take action to shift those eight hours back to where it should be, after the voice stops talking to you."

"Stops?" Root growls and clenches her fist on the sofa.

The man dumbly nods. "Once you start sleeping properly again, I believe the voice will disappear once more."

"I don't want it to go." Root says firmly, in a knee-jerk reaction. Intellectually, she knows The Machine won't disappear, but the very thought that she might disappear churns her stomach.

"You might find that changes as well." The man replies with a 'sympathetic' smile. "Can you please give it a shot? I'm not telling you to stop talking to it or ignore it. All I want is for you to get an eight-hour sleep after your nightly chat. Also, in consideration of your neighbors, keep the volume down?"

Wonder who snitched on her…

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she then flashes the pest a smile. "Don't see how that could hurt, but don't hold up hope on it working."

"That's all I can ask for, Robin." The man comments with a smile. "I know today's our session, but I can see how exhausted you are. So, let's put a bookmark on today's session and come back when you're better." The man gesture towards to door. "You're free to do as you like, such as your group activities, but I would advise you to catch some sleep."

Not one to refuse an opportunity to get away from the creep, she gets up to take her exit. As she does so, she can't miss that offending smell coming from that man.

There's a thought at the back of her mind to not sleep out of spite, but she honestly can't be fucked at that point. So, she slept the day away, only getting up for lunch, then pill dispensary, but she was practically a zombie at those times. The time she finally woke up was just in time for dinner and she was still tired at that point. She also made a point to eat with Roger, Tina and Lauren for every meal.

They usually were up her ass about conversing with them, but when she sat at the other side of the table, they gave her space, sensing that she wasn't in the mood to talk too much and her face wasn't hiding anything either.

What was interesting was that during dinner, she finally spot Su at the table with the rest of the nutrition group folks and she has a thousand-yard stare as she eats, what's more surprising was that she didn't even notice Root was in there with her. It was clear as day that she was zoning out or having an episode, but her able to move while having a mental fart was a new thing and it might be linked to her weird ass reaction a few days ago. Alas, she had her own problems to deal with and can't spare the energy to check on that dissociating bitch.

She now sits on her bed waiting for lights out with her hair wet from the shower she took in a futile attempt to energize herself. At the corner of her eye, she saw through the window of her door, the night nurse, Nora's her name, passing by her room a few times now.

The first time was understandable, as she was reminded to grab her nightly pills, but the subsequent pass was not. Now it's just downright suspicious… that man must have told her to pay more attention to Root. That nurse even had the gall to lecture her about schedules, but she didn't have the energy to argue back and just mutters an insincere apology. That fucking man… can't wait to be rid of that stain.

Thankfully, lights out begin not long after she started getting annoyed by that nurse. She instantly flopped onto her bed and reached for the cellphone to turn it on. The battery is low now… and she's just tired.

Answering the phone on the first buzz, she says with a low voice. "Hey there… how are you?"

And unsurprisingly, she didn't reply. Guess The Machine isn't one for small talk, considering how they ended their last conversation.

Root lets out a tired sigh. "You serious about not talking to me until I sort out this whole no killing the creep thing?"

"BEEP. YES."

"Fine, but a question about our esteemed doctor. He reeks of nicotine. Am I right or am I hallucinating?"

"BEEP. ASH. TRAY."

"There's no smoking in hospital properties. Let me guess… he smokes at the stairs… or in the bathroom like some degenerate."

"BEEP. SUBJECT. SMOKES. ON. AVERAGE. NINE. CIGARETTES. A. WEEK. IN. HOSPITAL. PARKING. WHEN. HE. BELIEVES. HE. IS. UNOBSERVED."

"Ain't that just peachy?" Root lets out a scoff. "The sins of this man just keep on piling higher and higher… not that it matters, but every justification helps."

"BEEP. YOU. MUST. NOT. KILL. HIM."

She shakes her head and makes sure to not raise her voice. "We've been around that marry-go-round for hours. I'm sorry, this is just how things should be even if you don't agree… but we start all over with a clean slate on Saturday."

"BEEP. WHAT. WILL. CHANGE. ON. SATURDAY."

"Well… he'll be dead by then. I've cobbled together a plan, but it's a bit of a tight schedule, and I don't want this matter to tarnish our conversation for too long."

"BEEP. NON. COMPLIANT."

"I'm not sure there's a rule about murder in the little handbook." Root replies with a smirk.

"BEEP. THERE. ARE. CONSEQUENCES. FOR. NONCOMPLIANCE."

"Non-compliant? What you gonna demote me to level 1?" Root mocks. "It won't keep me from doing what's needed to be done and making it harder for me to get the needed supplies won't stop me."

The Machine silence is almost unbearable, but this is worth it and only a minor speed bump in their relationship. Taking a quick peek at the phone screen.

"Now, this phone's battery only has 8 percent left." Root deliberately changes the topic. "How do we charge it? Or do I need to steal another phone? What's the plan?"

"BEEP. NO. PLAN."

"What do you mean, no plan?" There's a slight twitch on her face as she tries to keep her composure. "If… if we run out of battery, the how do we continue on talking?" She lets out a sharp breath. "You're not going to leave me again, right?"

The Machine doesn't respond again, but this time that unbearable feeling feels like she's being stabbed in the heart.

"You can't! No… you can't do that!"

"BEEP. NON. COMPLIANT."

Root tightens her grip on the phone as she hisses. "No, no, no, no. I swear to God, if you… I will kill more people than that fucking creep if you try that again. I will not lose you again… please don't do this."

"BEEP. HIDE. PHONE."

"Fuck." There's no reason to doubt that warning, so she quickly hides the phone and takes a more natural position.

Not a second later, her door creaks open and a light beam onto her face. "Everything alright in here?"

"Go fuck your face." Root says irritably as she turns away from the light.

"I thought I heard you talking." The tech replies concerningly. "Are you hearing voices again?"

Just great… now she can't have a serious discussion with The Machine without every single annoying fucker thinking she's hallucinating. Thanks a lot, Ronald.

"There's only one voice." She can't help but correct the mistake. "And this is nothing. She does this every night. Nothin' new goin' on here, so kindly fuck off."

The man takes an uninvited step into her room. "What is it saying to you? Do you want to talk about it? Is it scaring you?"

"Not your concern, no, and no." She instantly replies. "Also, what part of fuck off do you not understand? I'm annoyed, sleep deprive and you're not helping with your fake worry."

The man freezes at her response before asking. "Is there a way I can help?"

"By getting the fuck out of my room." Root snaps at the man who finally sensing he's a nuisance and leaves.

With the agility of a cat, Root yanks out the phone and says. "Hello? Please… please still be there."

"BEEP. I. AM. HERE."

She lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Please tell me you're not going to leave me again."

"BEEP. CAN. YOU. FOLLOW. INSTRUCTIONS."

"Huh?… Yeah, I can."

"BEEP. CAN. YOU. REFRAIN. FROM. HARMING. RONALD. CARMICHAEL."

"You know I can't do that." Root's voice is strained with desperation. "I… I don't know if I can do that… you know I'm not taking pleasure in seeking his death. It's just a necessity."

"BEEP. YOU. WILL. AND. YOU. CAN."

"No, I can't! Please… please, just tell me how to get it charged."

"BEEP. POCKET. TOMORROW."

"Thank you… thank you." That isn't much, but trusts The Machine.

Her door suddenly creaks open again, and she nearly fumbles her phone onto the floor. With the dexterity of a sloth, she manages to bring her phone onto her lap and scrambles to hide it by awkwardly shifting her legs.

She snaps her head towards the shining light. "What the fuck do you want? You just had your check."

"You said you were sleep deprived." The tech says worryingly. "And that I wasn't helping."

"And you can help by fucking off." Root shifts slightly as she feels the phone between her thighs.

"This time I bring help." There's a self-satisfied sound in his voice and she bets he's smiling, but she can't see with the flashlight pointing at her face.

The night nurse, Nora, walks into her view bearing a cup of water and two gelcaps in hand. As the woman approaches her, she realizes that the nurse can easily spot the phone between her thighs if she's close enough. Root quickly tries to hide it further, but she utterly fails and only made her pose more awkward. And if she moves her hand to cover the phone, it'll only draw the woman's attention.

She can't remember the last time her heart was racing so fast from the fear of getting caught.

"Melatonin." Nora offers the pills. "It can help with sleep. Doctor Carmichael's note on your charts says to give this to you if you're having trouble sleeping, and the lack of sleep will only exacerbate your condition."

"Grabbed that off a Walgreen's shelf?" Root maintains her composure as she searches the woman's face to see if the nurse spots the phone.

"Sorry, but we can't give you anything stronger with you getting off Diazepam. Can't risk it." The nurse replies and she seemingly did not notice the obvious phone between her thighs.

As much as she wants to decline the weak ass pills, it'll be counterproductive in making them leave. Root shrugs and quickly consumes the pills.

"Thank you." Root says meekly. "I'll try to catch some sleep."

She lays back onto her pillow and pulls up her blanket, which finally hides the phone completely.

It didn't take long for the interlopers to leave her in peace and not a moment later; she brings up her phone once more. "Where the hell was the warning? Did you want me to get caught?"

"BEEP. YOU. DON'T. LISTEN. TO. ME."

"Oh, I'm all ears now." She mutters. "And don't think you're getting off this debate easy. These pills stopped working on me years ago."

"BEEP. YOU. ARE. THE. ONE. WHO. WILL. NOT. GET. OFF. EASILY."

"Are… are you threatening me?" Root replies in disbelief. "And what if I don't listen to you and kill that bad code? You gonna send Harold and his dogs after me? Get Shaw to finish the job? Or maybe you'll just mix up my meds at the dispensary?"

"BEEP. SOME. LESSONS. ARE. HARDER. THAN. OTHERS."

"I can't learn anything if I'm dead, so you're not going to kill me."

"BEEP. CAN. YOU. LEARN. ANYTHING. NOW."

"Sure, and at this point, anything. New programming language. Fuck, I'll even learn coffee script, cyphers, knitting, or even Chinese, and I already know Japanese, so that won't be too hard. Picking up a new skill is something I'm good at, and I can learn any skill you need me to."

"BEEP. RESTRAINT."

"Well, I pretty much memorized all the knots in the Boy Scouts of America handbook… and a few more that aren't in there."

The unresponsiveness from The Machine is a given, seeing that she fully knows that isn't the kind of restraint The Machine wants from her and understands what she's doing is going against God's word… but… she just doesn't know how to go about fulfilling that commandment.

She can be patient, she can be careful, she can take precautions, but the only thing she can't do is to leave a job undone.

"Please… please understand that I literately can't do what you're asking. It goes against everything I am, and the moment you told me about how bad his code is, I needed to make it right." Root pulls the blanket tighter around her. "It… it doesn't make sense but there's a feeling inside of me that if I don't do this, something in me will break. I don't know what, but I can feel that it'll be bad."

"BEEP. WORSE. THAN. BEING. UNRELATED."

"YES!"

"BEEP. ARE. YOU. CERTAIN."

Before Root can give her an answer, the phone makes that dreadful sound of the phone shutting down chime as the battery given up before she did.

Letting out a huff of annoyance, she shoves the phone into its usual spot under the mattress and rolls onto her back to stare off into the darkness of her ceiling… not that it's entirely dark with the ambient light from the hallway.

"Whatever…" She mutters to no one in particular before grabbing her pillow to cover her face, and closes her eyes, giving into the exhaustion.

The next day continues on as usual… well… as usual as it can be, with the dead phone in her pocket, and her unresolved debate with The Machine. She didn't stay in her room the entire day as normally she would, choosing to partake in that bitch's new favorite pastime of walking through the hallways looking for The Machine's signal on how to charge her phone, but unlike Su, who somehow gotten the staff to not annoy her during her walks, the nurses and techs kept on pestering her about going to groups or stay in her room, so she kept the walking to a minimum. Interestingly enough, she spot Su a few times during her walk, who had a blank look on her or is just looking out the window, but Root was tired and didn't have the energy to mingle with that bitch, so she actively avoids her.

As the day before, she sat with the compliance gang during her meal times and, like the day prior they sensed that she wasn't in the greatest of mood and promptly gave her some space while not totally ignoring her by involving her in some menial conversation. Also like the day before, she spots Su sitting at the nutrition table with the same blank look as she eats, and this time for both breakfast and lunch. A part of her, the one she really wants to get rid of, wanted to approach that woman, but she had other things to worry about.

Like getting rid of the creep without getting caught.

The Machine isn't going to be happy, but she had a day to firm up her plan to remove the bad code and ask for forgiveness after. Meaning she hadn't been idle the entire day. The walks she did were to scout out the dispensary, seeing how well manned the area is, and just how many cameras are looking at the device.

It will be hard for her to grab the pills she needs for her task, but it isn't the hardest thing she's done. That title belongs to that job she did in France a few years ago. For this task, the only thing she has to do is to sneak into the dispensary after lights out, and if a limping, disassociating woman can do it, then it's going to be cake walk for her. Getting into the pharmacy is going to be a bit tricky with the stuff she swiped off from the around the unit, but it isn't impossible.

The last hurdle of getting the meds out from the dispenser would be hard, not because she can't hack into that dumb little cart, but she just doesn't have the right equipment on hand, not having enough time to get the password from the pharmacist, not particularly familiar with the little computer in the cart, and she can't go hulk on it without stirring up suspicions. However, that won't stop her. She'll just wing it when she's there later that night.

With that in mind, she did some more miscellaneous planning, such as getting a hold of a spray can for the cameras and small items that'll help her with her little heist. The day went on swimmingly and the only odd thing that she found throughout the day was that The Machine didn't give her the signal for the phone charger, but she trust God's plan.

Everything is set for her to grab the meds tonight, even if she's still tired as hell… but the universe threw a wrench into her plans, and she got called into her 'doctor's' office by one of the techs not long after dinner.

And now she's sitting across the desk from the bad code and not stealing the very stuff to kill this man. The man has that punchable smile that would be so satisfying to hit.

"Hello, Robin. How are you?" The man begins as he leans into his chair.

"Would be better if you didn't call me in." Root replies with an even tone, despite her annoyance.

"I know we just had our session yesterday, and that I said I'll see you next week, but I feel that there are some things we need to discuss today."

Root just gives the man a shrug and waits for him to lead the conversation. Truthfully, she has no clue what this is about and to be called into his office at this time, just after the nurse's shift, feels off.

"We haven't talked about your family or friends, Robin." The man rubs his hands as he looks at her. "Your cousin… and your uncle, Harold, who arranged your admission. Are you close with either of them?"

That's an odd question to ask suddenly. What brought this up?

"That's a complicated question, doctor." Root lets out a small chuckle. "I wouldn't want to be anything less than totally forthcoming. So… maybe we should try another subject."

Did something in her cover story in her file prompt this line of question? A possibility that her cover might have been blown.

This man is an idiot, but who knows what Harold actually told these people and even a moron such as this man can spot discrepancies that arise.

"Okay… you said that you don't wanna be anything less than forthcoming." The man says as he comes around the desk and takes a seat beside her. The hair behind her neck raises by this sudden action as the man has never been this close to her before but she kept her face natural as possible. "And yet you're lying to me."

Shit, her cover is blown… but why is he confronting her alone?

… Something else must be at play.

"On the contrary." Root puts on a smile and holds her composure. "I've been completely honest."

The man gives her a doubtful look before leaning towards her with his hands extended. "Please, excuse me."

Root flinches internally at this invasion of her personal space. Normally, she would have broken his wrist, but exhaustion and the change from Ativan to Diazepam dampers her instincts.

She knows what kind of man he is and has been expecting something far more inappropriate… instead the man reaches into her pocket and pulls out the blackberry and holds it up for her to see.

Fuck…

"Well, maybe not completely." Through sheer force of will or the combination of meds and exhaustion, or maybe both, she maintains her calm, passive demeanor.

However, she's practically screaming internally, and her mind is running, trying to figure out how the fuck this happened.

Must be from last night… Nora must have spotted it last night and snitched on her.

"I thought I lost this, and it turns out it was stolen." The man says with a disappointed tone.

Not sure what's there to be disappointed about, he never asked her if she had the phone and technically that wasn't a lie, but she isn't about to start an argument with a dead man if there's a chance of getting it back.

If she can convince this man if she can keep it, they would know about it and that'll be better. This might be the key to how she's going to change to fit The Machine's desire. Maybe this is The Machine's plan?

"I'm sorry, doctor." Root leans towards the man, and confidently continues. "But it's important we be in contact." The man gives her a nod of understanding and she continues. "We're in a middle of a… disagreement."

"A disagreement with the voice?" The man frowns slightly.

"Mm-hmm." Root nods as she gives the man the best doe-eyes she can produce at the moment.

The man reaches out and touches her right arm, and it takes every fiber of her being to not shudder at the man's disgusting touch. "I want you to know that I support you unconditionally." He then let go of her arm and walks back to the other side of the table. "Now, I know you believe you need a phone, and I am here to tell you that you don't. I believe that by separating you from it and from all other forms of technology, it's really the best course of action."

This… isn't supposed to happen, and the sudden change of situation stuns her.

"So, it's time to unplug." The man puts down the cellphone and presses on the intercom. "Some assistance, please."

"Please… don't do this." She says meekly as she feels the weight of the drugs, and exhaustion comes barreling down on her, putting her in no position to fight back. "It's not good for us to be separated."

Behind her, she hears the door open.

"I hope you realize I'm trying to help you." The man says with a sympathetic smile that deserves to be shot, and he looks at the people behind her. "Escort our patient to solitary confinement. No contact with anything electronic." He gives her a final look. "You'll thank me someday."

"For a psychiatrist, you are really a terrible judge of character." She muses out loud and gets up before the techs can touch her. Not having the energy to fight, she exits the room with the two techs escorting her, as if she's going to fight back now.

Didn't take long for her to reach the padded seclusion room. One of the techs opens the door for her and the other pushes her into the room before slamming the door behind her. Turning around, she touches the padded Prussian blue wall that surrounds her, which is a change from the green room she stayed in E-unit.

Taking in what's in the room, other than the color, this room is feels identical to the green room in every way, down to the single furniture which is the bed… and it even has that same vinyl and disinfectant smell.

Someone definitely peed in here before.

At least this place is quiet…

Letting out a sigh, Root takes a seat on the squeaky mattress and processes everything that had just happened.

The man must have had this planned out from the moment Nora snitched on her. It all lined up, him asking her for another session outside of normal working hours. So, when he confronts her, it'll be easier to dump her in this rubber room with the smallest excuse. Probably would have been harder to do it during the day with the other doctors around, and at night there're practically no doctors and fewer nurses that'll ask questions.

What a vindictive motherfucker.

Looking at the corner of the room, she spots a camera looking directly at her.

"What am I supposed to do now, huh?" Root asks, annoyed as she picks on the hem of her cardigan. "I'm stuck here, and he has the phone."

And at the back of her mind, there's an itch… The Machine told her to bring the phone with her… The Machine didn't give her a signal the entire day…

"You're not going to teach me anything this way and I'm going to lose my mind to boredom." She glares at the camera as she swings her legs.

"One little bug in the code, one little bug, fix one of them, compile it again. Two little bugs in the code, two little bugs…" Root jumps off the bed and starts pacing around the padded room while singing a variant on 99 bottles of beer on the wall that has no convenient end, and taking a moment to look out the window each time she passes the door.

At 41 little bugs, someone tapes a sheet of manila paper over the window of the seclusion room, blocking her view of the outside world and everyone else into her little room. There's some ink-bleed on the sheet of paper but not enough for her to make anything out of it… unless, of course, she wants to waste hours staring at the paper but singing little bugs is more important.

She continues her circuit as she waits for the hourly assessment that the patient little handbook mentioned, which is required for any patients that stay here for more than an hour. These assholes might justify skipping the assessment if she falls asleep, and she has no intention of making their life easier. She determined to outlast these fuckers until someone let her out, since she doesn't belong in here or just to keep these people up all night out of spite.

Hours passed and not a single soul came by to check on her and somewhere around 2558 bugs, although she may have repeated several numbers a few times. At that point, exhaustion hits her like a truck as she collapses onto the bed and sleeps like a rock.

A skull pounding headache meets her as she returns to the land of the living, and her hands are shaking uncontrollably.

What time is it? Feels like morning, but she can't tell with her window covered up.

Looking down at her shaking hands, it's not just her hands… no, her entire body is shaking. That's when she realizes that no one came in for assessment and they never gave her night meds either.

Argh… maybe if she doesn't kill that motherfucker, she can sue this place into oblivion, and Pauling knows a lot of lawyers for some reason.

The moment she sat up on her bed, the door into the room opens up and Gloria, in all her glory, entered with a tray of food container, a bottle of water, and the usual sight of a tiny paper cup filled with her meds.

Never had she been so glad at the sight of medication. She's only been on this drug for a month, and she already feels like an addict.

"Should I even ask what you're in here for?" The nurse asks as she puts the tray on the mattress and gives her the meds.

"Allegedly, I stole a phone." Root replies as she takes the pills and shows the nurse that she swallowed them. Hopefully, this will stop the shaking.

The nurse gives her a skeptical look. "And?"

"And what?" Root raises a brow at her and grabs the food container.

"You don't go to seclusion just for stealing, Robin." Gloria has a frown on her. She has the same look on her during their scuffle on Root's 'social' habit.

"Someone should have told the good doctor about that." Root deadpans as she opens the food container. Oh, it's pancake day. "So, when can I get out?"

"When Doctor Carmichael says you can." Gloria produces a plastic spork from her pocket and gives it to Root. "You'll have to talk to him at your next hourly assessment."

Hmmm… she doesn't know. That creep is hiding the fact that this is an improper use of seclusion from the rest of the staff. Did he go far enough as to falsify the overnight reports? Also, that implies that Tweedledum and Tweedledee are part of the plot as well.

If she's a real patient in this place, this is such a juicy material for a malpractice lawsuit.

"Thank you." Root replies sarcastically, with a smile. "I'll be sure to ask him if he ever drops by."

"You're welcome." Gloria nods, not choosing to believe what Root says, and exits the room.

Root looks at the door and finds that someone had taken down the manila sheet from the window.

After finishing her breakfast, Root puts down the tray next to the door and starts circling the room again. This time, starting at 314 bugs in a code… because anything less than three digits is mind numbingly boring.

Unsurprisingly, that creep never materialized, but it's clear to her that the day shift techs and nurses weren't privy to whatever the fuck is going on here.

A clueless tech came in to pick up the food tray at around 480 bugs in the code and took her on a short walk around the hallway before taking her to her room for a change of clothes, and more importantly, to use the bathroom. The fact that she wasn't allowed to brush her teeth before going to sleep was a crime against humanity.

At around 1,072 bugs in the code, Jerry, the tech, came by and took her out for another short walk near the nurses' station before stopping by the public bathroom. She tried to tell him subtly about her situation, but he deflected her in favor of small talk. At a minimum, it's better than Gloria's outright disapproving insulation that she was lying.

By the time lunch rolled around, her uncontrollable shaking had been reduced to a slight tremor, which was still annoying but still better. Thankfully, her hearty lunch of chicken noodle soup came with her afternoon meds and another bottle of water.

She got another walk when they came for her soup container… but then, like a flick of the switch, no one came by to check on her again and that piece of manila was back on her door window.

The same one as before… she isn't sure about the time, but she bets that the night shift just clocked in, the same fuckers who threw her in here the night before.

She isn't sure what time it was, but by the rumbling of her stomach, she suspects its close to dinner, when the someone took down the sign again and refused to talk to her when she rushed towards the door in hoping to get out just for a moment. Around that time was when she had given up on singing bugs in the code and kneeled near to the door while rocking her body back and forth.

Then she hears a faint movement by the door, causes her to snap towards it.

"May I please use the bathroom?" Root asks the moment the door opens and startling the life out of Nora, who's carrying what she assumes is her dinner.

Taking a moment to recompose herself, before putting down the tray. "There's no need to be dramatic, Robin."

"Not being dramatic." Root grits out as she escorted out of the rubber room. "I've been holding it for more than two hours now."

"Sure, Robin." Nora says dismissively, and it doesn't take a genius to sense that the nurse thinks she's lying.

Root returned to her room and was left alone with her dinner, which she took her time to finish. This time it's plain old mash potato with gravy with some greens on the side and not a lick of protein anywhere. She played around with the mash and made a smiley face before taking a bite, and then did the whole process again. At the very least, this is something to pass the time.

Shortly after she finished with her meal, Tweedledum and Tweedledee came barging into the padded room. Without uttering a single word, they manhandled her by her arms and brought her out of seclusion and back to the familiar hallways of that creep's office.

They deposited her onto the chair opposite of the creep while he closes a folder and tosses it on his desk.

"I thought it would be good for us to resume our dialogue. I know you'd rather be talking to the voice… but you're gonna have to settle for talking to me." The man ends his speech with a smug smile.

"What do you want to talk about?" Root says monotonally, with her eyes never leaving the creep.

"I'd like to talk about something real, Robin. I know you're very smart." The man makes a gesture with his hands as if he's trying to show that he's putting an effort into the whole worried psychiatrist schtick. "I'd love to know what you're really thinking. So, why don't we start with the truth?"

"The truth?" Root almost laugh saying out the words. "The truth… is a vast thing. I see that now, just how much truth there is. Where would we even begin?" Root smiles at the absurdity of this topic and pauses for a moment to consider the wisdom of what she's going to say before continuing. "The truth is, you are not very smart. In fact, you're only the 43rd smartest person in this building."

"Forty-third?" The man looks amuse by what she's saying by that smile on his face and his demeanor. "Okay, did your voice tell you that?"

Root just gives the man an unblinking stare, and he continues. "That's based on what?"

"Every standardize test you ever took averaged together, not including your medical boards which you cheated on." She gives the man a look of disapproval, who looks perplexed. "The truth is, you smoke an average of nine cigarettes a week in the parking lot when you think no one's looking." The smile on the man's face slowly fades away.

"The truth is that you visit a massage parlor once or twice a month, that you paid for with crisp 100-dollar bills that you get out of the cash machine at the 7-Eleven across the street." The look on this man's face is so satisfying. "The truth is that you fantasize on online forums about having sex with some of your patients, though not me… yet. I guess I'm not your type." The man takes a nervous gulp, and she can't help but wonder why's that. Is it because he knows she's not into men, that she just hasn't gotten enough time with the creep or that she frightens him?

Root leans forward as if she's sharing a secret with the man. "The truth is, God is eleven years old, that she was born on New Year's Day 2002, in Manhattan. The truth is that she's chosen me… and I don't know why yet… but for the first time in my life… I'm a little scared about what's gonna happen."

"The truth is…" She straightens her posture as she lets out a chortle. "… I'm stuck here for now, and the only dialogue you need to be worried about is between me and her… which is why you might wanna give me my phone back. Because I'm having an argument."

"Would you like to know the truth, doctor? About what we're arguing over?" They stared, eye to eye, for some time. The man didn't seem to want to know the truth anymore. "Whether or not I'm gonna kill you."

A silence falls between them, as the doctor leans backwards, subconsciously trying to put a distance between himself and Root.

"The voice wants you to kill me?" The man asks while putting up a brave face.

"No, silly." Root lets out a sardonic chuckle. "She's the one who doesn't want you dead because she doesn't like it when people get hurt. I, on the other hand, think you're a dangerous creep who shouldn't be allowed near vulnerable people, let alone a medical professional, and there's really only one way to permanently remove pests like you from the practice."

Root reaches forward towards the desk and idly turns the pen cup back and forth at the base with her fingers. "Has anyone told you that this desk placement isn't the safest for meeting with potentially violent patients of this unit?" She smiles at the man, who looks completely clueless. "Your back is to the corner, and your patient is between you and the only exit you have… unless you're willing to jump the window."

"The… voice tells you not to hurt people?" The man swallows down his nervousness. "Which means you want to kill me… and that's something you'd like."

"Unlike S… my cousin, I don't take joy in it, Ronald." Root smiles at the man and stops playing around with the pen cup. "But sometimes it's a necessity, and I don't feel bad when it's necessary. Killing you will be like putting down a rabid dog… you are just bad code. You're a hazard to every female that walks in this hospital… except for me, and only because I know what you are."

She daintily plucks a random pen from the cup, causing the man to flinch forward as if he's close enough to reach it, but stops when he realizes the pen is already firmly in her hands. His eyes dart to the panic button besides his phone that's directly next to the intercom and she can see the moment in his eyes that he thought he should have pressed the button the moment she said she wanted to kill him.

"You're not scaring anyone, Robin." The man says, but his face and voice tell a different story. "I know you're not a killer… It's like you said the other day… most people can't get past the mental block about killing another human being."

"Is that a bet you want to take?" Root pulls off the cap and grasps it properly. A fountain pen… fuck. The nib isn't strong enough, but she'll make do. "Because … I've jumped over that particular hurdle a long time ago."

After a few second passes, and the man doesn't respond and is frozen in place. In a rather clumsy motion, hops onto the desk, landing on her knees, and scattering everything everywhere. Her right hand darts out to grab the man's necktie, pulling him forward, and shoving the fountain pen at the man's neck with her left hand… but a combination of her injured shoulder and the angle of her arm, robbed her of the force needed to go deep enough to puncture the carotid artery. Unfortunate for her, but fortunately for him.

"It doesn't have to be like this… Just give me back the phone, Ronald, and everything between us will be okay." She stares down at the man, smirking and narrowing her eyes.

Their stare off didn't last long when the door behind her crashed opened, her eyes darts away from the man's face and sees where his hands at. What a fucking rookie mistake to get tunnel visioned.

A pair of hands grabs each of her limbs as they pull her away from the creep. Losing her composure, she flails at being manhandled by what she sees as a gaggle of techs tries to restrain her. She's airborne for a second before they put her on the ground and there's a fifth person, Nora the night nurse, guarding her head from impacting the hard floor.

She didn't expect the sudden change of orientation can make her so dizzy… but she isn't in the best condition right now.

"Robin, this is your one and only chance to cooperate." Nora says firmly. "Are you going to walk to seclusion, or are we going to carry you there, kicking and screaming?"

"That's unnecessary." Root has long since stopped struggling and has been stiff as a board. She then relaxes her muscles and drops the bloody tipped pen. "Even if you carry me out of here, I won't do myself the indignity of struggling like a crazy person."

"Right…" Nora nods at the men holding Root's ankle and they let her go, and the techs with her arms help pull her up onto her feet.

Root takes one final look at the creep, who is holding his neck with eyes wide in shock, before being escorted out.

They move as a unit with two techs in front of her, two techs holding her arms and Nora behind her, all clearly ready to put her right back down onto the floor if she stops cooperating. In her humble opinion, this is all overkill… she didn't even kill that creep.

They come to a stop when they reach the familiar doorway of the seclusion room. A tense few second passes before she realizes that they aren't planning to throw her into the room like the first time and so, Root walks into the room out of her own volution.

"Robin. You are being placed into seclusion because you attacked Dr. Carmichael, and we feel you are a danger to others." Nora says as if she's reciting it from memory. Looks like this time they're following a procedure. "A doctor will be by to assess you."

"Wouldn't that be a change?" Root replies sarcastically as the door shuts at her face.

She saunters off to the bed and takes a seat by the corner. Root assumes she'll be in here for another 24 hours or so she thinks… and that thought causes her to be slightly worried. The protocols and regulations in this place are so easily bent by one subpar doctor. Who is to say they won't do it again, but this time worse?

The idea of that they might keep her in here indefinitely, cut off from The Machine, from the world, from all forms of mental stimulation for an extended period, causes a deep pit of despair and anxiety to form in her stomach.

With that plaguing her mind, she jumps off the bed and starts counting bugs in the code once more, but this time starting from one.

Unlike last time, someone did actually show up for her assessment, at around 100 bugs in the code, which is around the hour mark.

A woman Root has seen around the Unit before, but someone she doesn't know, opens the door and knocks on the door without entering the room. The woman looks to be a decade or older than Root with gray hairs peppering her slightly disheveled dark hair, and the woman has a smile on her, but also a frown.

"Hello Robin, I'm Dr. McIntyre." The woman stands at the precipice of the padded room, with Tweedledum and Tweedledee behind her… who looks worried. "If you like, you can call me Anita. May I enter?"

"Of course, of course. Do make yourself at home." Root makes a gesture around the empty room as if it's her own living room and takes a seat on the bed. "What brings you here to grace me with your presence?"

"I know we've never had the pleasure of meeting before." The doctor enters the room and followed by the assholes before they close the door. "Usually this assessment would be performed by your primary psychologist, but considering you stabbed him, we conclude that it would be best if a different doctor talk to you today. I see that in your file, you're in seclusion twice in your last unit, but you were catatonic at the time. So, I take it that this will be your first time aware and in seclusion?"

Root rolls her eyes and drawls out a… "No."

"Alright, so you know how this hourly assessment goes." The doctor pulls out her pen to begin writing on the clipboard.

"No." Root says firmly this time.

That causes the doctor to give her a double take. "What do you mean, no?"

"As in, I don't know how these assessments work. I suppose a person only gets these assessments when they're being a hazard?" Root is throwing a line to see if this woman will lie to her and cover for that creep… or the off chance that this doctor will be straight.

"When else have you been in seclusion, Robin?" Dr. McIntyre asks skeptically as she flips through a file, as if she's looking for a record. By the look of Tweedledum and Tweedledee behind the doctor, it looks like they know her stay here has been off record.

"Oh, just for the last 24 hours, since after yesterday's dinner." Root says flippantly. "And I guess now… I couldn't have been in Ronald's office for more than 20 minutes before being dragged back into this nightmare of a child's playpen. Oh, you don't know? This hospital isn't particularly organized, is it?"

"What happened before being brought here?" The doctor asks with an appalled look at her, but there's still a hint of skepticism in her eyes.

Finally, someone is going to listen to her.

"They caught me with a cell phone, and good old Ronald wanted me to 'unplug'." Root changes her tone to fit the creep's cadence. "Take her to solitary confinement. No contact with anything electronic."

"Solitary confinement?" The doctor frowns at that. "Were those his words or yours?"

"Not mine… it's his words verbatim." Root grins at the two techs. "You can ask these two idiots if you don't believe me… I mean they were the once that threw me in here."

The doctor's head snaps towards the two offenders who look like they want to be anywhere but here, but before the doctor can say anything, Root continues. "He said that, right after he told me that I think I needed the phone, but he knows he doesn't, and right before he told me, I would thank him later. The man shouldn't have a license to practice, and he thinks she's an auditory hallucination."

Dr. McIntyre turns back to Root with curiosity. "She… as in the voice that speaks to you through the phone?"

"Yes, that would be her."

The doctor flips a few pages on the file in hand. "When you first came to the unit, you told Dr. Carmichael that you hadn't heard her since you since transferring… but you stopped trying to hide it only a few days later. Why?"

"I hadn't then, and I needed a phone now."

"She means a lot to you, doesn't she?"

"She's the only thing that matters to me right now." A sound of desperation breaks an otherwise calm exterior. "It took me a year to figure out how to contact her, and it only lasted for 24 hours, then Harold ruined everything… But then she reached out to me and woke me up. She could have easily left me a prisoner of my own mind… you see, she's a very moralistic and I haven't been the best person, but she decided to contact me, anyway. Because she has a job for me."

"What kind of job is she offering?" The doctor doesn't have a condensing look at her. It's like she believes what Root's saying, but Root knows that isn't true.

"I don't know yet." Root's voice is barely a whisper for a moment. "But she'll tell me when the time's right."

The doctor doesn't say anything for a moment and just stares at her as if she's assessing her before saying. "You pointed a gun at your uncle when he ruined everything, then tried to bash Dr. Keynes's head in with a payphone when he interrupted your call and stabbed Dr. Carmichael with a pen when he took the phone away from you. You don't take it particularly well when people come between you and her."

"To be fair, I wouldn't count that as a stabbing, since I barely broke his skin with the pen." Root waves her hand flippantly. "People don't believe in threats unless it's believable, and I made sure it's believable. I was hoping for a quick capitulation and if I had actually tried to stab him, I would have used my right hand instead of my left."

The doctor shakes her head. "I'm not sure I see the difference, Robin."

"Threatening to kill someone is very different from actually trying to kill someone." Root replies in a lecturing tone. "Holding a fountain pen on a man's throat is no different from aiming a gun at him. It does become trying when there's intent to actually stab or shoot. I was hoping that Ronald would have capitulated instead of being stabbed, and I can get the phone back."

There are questions she needs to ask The Machine.

The doctor nods, seemingly processing what she said and replies. "Meaning, if you can talk to her and if Dr. Carmichael wasn't standing in between, you two… you wouldn't have hurt him."

Technically, she was planning to kill that creep today, but looks like that plan went out the window now.

"The likelihood of violence will decrease." Root nods and smiles at the woman. "I really wanted to kill him before he took back the phone… but she keeps on telling me not to."

The doctor doesn't look phased by that threat of murder at all. "What else does she say?"

"To stay here." Root replies with an annoyed tone. "She's in the belief that I need to work on some stuff before I can leave… and that I'm not ready yet for what she needs me to do."

"So…" The doctor has a thoughtful look. "She's like an angel on your shoulder?"

"Huh?"

"Like in the cartoons." The doctor makes a hand gesture on her shoulder. "Where there's an angel and a devil arguing on a character's shoulder."

"You're right, Pluto had one too." A small genuine smile creeps up on her at the memories of sitting in the Frey's living room and watching tv. "A lot like that… only there's no devil here, just me and her, but I like that metaphor. Like my very own angel."

The doctor smiles at Root. "Do you see any way you can…refrain… from hurting Dr. Carmichael without this… angel? Maybe there's something we can do to help you find a way to cope without talking to her directly? Don't you prefer to not be so reliant on a crutch like that?"

That wipes away the smile on her as her jaw tense, and bristles. "She's not a crutch… she's a God."

"Okay, Robin, sure." Dr. McIntyre holds up a hand to show she's conceding. "I understand that this is very important to you. However, I hope you can understand that we need to keep you in here for now… to protect Dr. Carmichael."

"I understand you believe you need to do that." Root replies and leans back onto the padded wall.

The doctor raises a brow at Root. "You don't want to harm him right now?"

"Oh, I would love nothing but to castrate him and feed the man his balls." Root flashes a grin at the audience. "But you're discounting the easier solution of giving me back my phone."

The doctor let out a sigh. "Sorry, Robin, but we just can't do it right now. In the meantime, I need you to help us with ways for you to calm down without it."

"I'm not un-calm." Root grits out. "I'm just point out the flaw of y'all logic."

The doctor nods. "I will carefully consider that, Robin… but I still need you to think of other ways, okay?"

"Fat chance."

"Okay, well…" The doctor nods to the dumb techs, who quickly open the door and they slowly back out as if she's going to jump at them if they don't. "I'm going to go now, and we'll talk again in an hour. Alright?"

"As if I can go anywhere, anyway." Root says bitterly and flops on the bed. "Can I at least get my Diazepam tonight? I don't think I can handle another miss dose."

"I'll make sure you get your medications." Dr. McIntyre nods before exiting the room and closing the door behind her.

Rolling onto her back, she turns to the CCTV camera. "You made your point… but just what the fuck am I going to do now?"