This patient… Her feisty demeanour faded so quickly. She thinks she’s in control- they all do- but this… This is different. This is certainly an intriguing case.

Daniel leaves the room in a hurry, trying to pull what little remains of his composure back together. I remain diligent in my task of holding pressure over the patient’s wound, though she makes it quite difficult when she continuously attempts to pull away.

“Stay still, 693… You’re making this more difficult.”

“Good.”

“I’m trying to patch you up, you know. You’re going to bleed to death if you keep moving.” I warn, firmly holding her arm in place and wrapping a bandage around it.

“Good.” 

693 is very stubborn, I’ve seen that much on the cameras- But she’s definitely a whole other piece of work now that I’m the one actually handling her.

“Is that all you have to say for yourself?”

I’m met with silence. 

693 is clearly putting up a wall of anger and avoidance; and to be quite honest, it’s certainly irritating. Getting through to her may be more… difficult than I initially thought. I secure the bandage in place and take a step back, studying her. She’s quite thin and concerningly pale, with short, choppy blue hair. There are dark circles under her eyes, as if she hasn’t gotten decent sleep in a long while. Self-inflicted scars go up from her wrists to her arms, some looking to be only a few days old, the rest appearing to have faded with time.

“What… What are you?” The patient questions, giving me a look between fear, anger, and disgust. 

“I am a boss to some… and a saviour to others. I’ve even heard some call me the eye of the Sanctuary, or the pure embodiment of joy, but I am most commonly known as The Smiler. I’ve been observing you over the duration of your stay, and have decided to take hold of your case. I am happy to provide answers that I am permitted to disclose regarding any other questions you may have.”

“So you’re the asshole behind the cameras-?!”

“Indeed, I am. Though I would prefer if you refrained from using such profanities when speaking to me. I watch over this facility for the safety of all patients and Advocates.”

The patient remains silent for a moment, scratching at her neck with anxiety, as if trying to find the right words to respond.

“…Y-You didn’t answer my first question, by the way.” 693 huffs and crosses her arms, wincing. I raise an eyebrow in curiosity before she speaks up. “ What are you? You’re clearly not human.”

“That information is classified.” I reply, cocking my head slightly. Her interrogation is quite amusing to me. “Speaking of information… I would like to know your symptoms which came after your trials of Inoculation.”

“Why don’t you get asshole number one to tell you? I already told him everything.” As she says this, a sigh escapes me. I shift my weight to my other leg, my eyes narrowing in frustration at my employee’s previous behaviour.

“I sincerely apologise for Doctor Holden, he sometimes gets a little… frustrated when things don’t go right. I do not agree with his handling of the situation- which is why I stepped in- and I can assure you that we will have a conversation regarding this incident. Because of this, it would be best if I heard it directly from you. I wouldn’t want any potentially important information to be missed.”

“…Fine.” The patient grumbles, scratching at her neck again . “It hurt like a bitch. My arm went completely numb and there was this… burning sensation that came in waves.” She points to her left arm and makes a gesture to show the direction of the ‘sensation’ she speaks of.

“Hm… Never before have I seen a reaction of that nature. Do you mind if I have another look?”

The patient hesitates, but offers her arm out, her hand still twitching slightly. I try to be as gentle as possible when I grab her wrist and turn her arm over to get a closer look at the wounds.

Those idiots didn’t even bandage the other wounds- I’ll certainly have to talk to Daniel and his Inoculation staff later… What a headache.

The injection site around the upper part of her arm is red and bruised a harsh violet. The area is quite inflamed, as if the needle was inserted improperly. I lightly poke the area with the back of my claw, inciting a pained reaction from the patient.

“Ow-! Why the hell do you all keep poking it-?!”

“My apologies. I’m feeling around so I can get a better idea of the issue.” I explain, letting go of her arm. “This reaction is certainly strange… Lean forward, please, I’d like to see the site on the back of your neck.”

The patient begrudgingly complies, leaning forward. I brush some of her hair aside, squinting at the second injection site. It looks about the same as the other one, though luckily not as inflamed. 

At least there doesn’t appear to be any spinal damage. That would have made things much more complicated.

“…That can’t be pleasant.” I mutter, my keys jingling as I reach for them in my pocket. Crouching down, I unlock one of the medical cabinets, rummaging for some medical supplies to make up for the stupidity of my employees and returning to the patient’s side when I grab what is necessary. “Here- Hold still, 693. I’m going to patch those up. You’re bound to get a worse infection if we leave these open wounds exposed.”

The patient seems to perk up at the gesture before quickly shutting down once again while sitting back up. I sigh to myself as I properly sterilise and apply bandages to the wounds, preparing a lecture in my head for the Inoculation team.

“Get some rest, 693.” I add, tossing the rubbish from the bandage packs. “…You need it.” There is once again no response from the patient, so I take that as my cue to leave. 

After shutting the door behind me, I make my way to Daniel’s office. I knock on the door three times before making my way in, balancing my weight on my right leg as I cross my arms. Inside, Daniel sits at his desk, muttering to himself while scrutinising various papers and files all spread atop it.

“Doctor Holden.”

“…”

“Your outburst at Patient 693 was highly unprofessional. The way you handled the situation was unacceptable and not to the Ministry’s standards- not to mention that you nor your staff thought to bandage the previous injection sites. Had I not noticed, who knows what nasty infections our patient would have gotten? Please. Enlighten me.”

Daniel stays silent for a moment, pausing his meticulous studying to roll up one of his sleeves and grab a syringe, pushing the needle into a vial of Joy Serum. He lifts the syringe and pierces a vein with its needle, injecting the serum into his arm with ease. Daniel doesn’t flinch or react at all, instead smiling and letting out a sigh of relief when removing the needle and tossing it in the bin.

“I apologise for my earlier outburst, sir- I can assure that it will not happen again. This case just… perplexes me. I’ve never seen anything like it, and… It truly irritates me to no end not knowing the solution.” He rambles, a laugh escaping him as he holds a cotton pad to his arm and watches it soak with crimson blood.

“Hm. I can see that, Doctor Holden. You are to fire Advocate #35 and have a discussion with the rest of your Inoculation staff regarding proper sterilisation of open wounds. Am I understood?” I scold, my gaze narrowing to the various documents on his desk. They are all files containing lab information, dosages, and notes for Patient 693.

“Yes, of course, sir.” He turns to smile at me, rolling his sleeve down and putting his hands together as his eye twitches.

“I would like a copy of all patient file notes for 693 in no less than thirty minutes- and a copy of Doctor Kelman’s lab reports on my desk while you’re at it. You are dismissed.”

Daniel nods in understanding, holding the door open and following me out of his office. We part ways in the halls as Daniel catches the next elevator to the labs, whereas I head into the Flasher Wing.

I cautiously open the door to the room containing multiple metallic tables, each one having large leather restraints to keep patients in place. Hundreds of small lights litter the walls, luckily not flashing as of now. Standing behind one of the larger lights is the familiar silhouette of Trisha White, Head of The Flasher.

“Ah, Doctor White. I was wondering what the holdup on the Flasher sessions was. What seems to be the problem?”

Clang-! Clang-! ZZZZZZZTTT!!

“A-HA! Finally!” She exclaims, hopping out from behind the large light which flickers on at a painfully bright level. “I accidentally burst a fuse during one of the sessions… Oops, hehe~!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose with my claws, looking away from the bright light until she shuts it back off. Trisha has always been one of the more… impulsive of my employees, so it doesn’t surprise me that she broke a fuse in the Flasher room. She stands about 5’5, with pale skin and long, frizzy hair dyed yellow and shaved on one side. She also sports the Ministry’s signature uniform, though with the addition of round, light-protective goggles that rest over her eyes.

“…Of course you did, Trisha. Good thing you’ve gotten it fixed so that we can resume with marmalisation in this department.” 

“Hehe, of course I did~! I wouldn’t miss an opportunity to watch my pretty lights flash and flicker…” She chuckles, a look of awe on her face as she rests her head against one of the large lights, running a finger down its panel. “My lovelies…”

“That’s… Besides the point- I have a job for you, Doctor White. We have a patient who’s shown resistance to joy; Number 693. She’s very combative and tends to put up walls to avoid everything. I theorise that these mental barriers are somehow blocking joy from her system.”

“Aaaaand you want me to give her a good ol’ dose of the Flasher to… shed light on the situation? I can schedule her ASAP, just for you, boss~!”

I groan in annoyance at her puns and antics, but nod in confirmation.

“Yes, that would be much appreciated, Trisha. Does tomorrow morning work?”

“Of course, sir! I’ll have 693 on the schedule right away, heehee~!” She says in a giggly, sing-songy tone before waltzing off to her office.

I suppose I’ll head to my quarters for the night… Today has been quite the headache.

₊˚⊹ ≫ ✸ 𖦹 ✸ ≫ ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁

The next morning, I’m up bright and early- there’s a lot to be done today. After going through my daily routine of getting up and grabbing a coffee from the staff lounge, I head into the elevator holding a folder containing all of Patient 693’s files.

Ding!

I step out of the elevator, walking through the hallways and dodging any Advocates that pass by. Once I arrive at room four of the Inoculation wing, I insert my keycard into the slot to open the door.

“Good morning, 693. How are you feeling?”

As per usual, I get no response. The patient remains laid down on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling and scratching her neck in a state of dissociation. Approaching her cautiously, I’m sure to be as gentle as possible when pulling her arm from her neck. She flinches, snapping out of her daze.

“Gah-! Bloody hell…” She uses her other hand to itch at the bandages around her left arm. It seems that the patient is still on-edge now that the sedative has worn off.

“Don’t do that,” I warn, pulling her other hand away, “You’ll agitate your injuries more.” 693 responds with a huff of frustration before I let go of her wrists, letting them fall to the sides of the bed and picking the folder back up.

“What’s that?” She asks with a tone of annoyance.

My gaze shifts down to the folder before I pick it up, opening it and looking at the first page.

“It’s your patient folder. This contains documentation of your previous medical history, lists of any medications you’re currently taking, marmalisation progress, and notes from our staff.” I explain, skimming through the information on her file:

PATIENT IDENTIFICATION

Name: Skyler Jones, Subject no. 693

Sex: F

DOB: 03/29/1998

Height: 5ft 6in (167.64cm)

Weight: 104lbs (47.17kg)

Date of Admission: 04/02/2017

Reason For Admission: Self-mutilation, Manic Episodes, Alcoholism

Past Diagnoses: Asthma, Clinical Depression, Severe Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder

NOTES

• Very combative and aggressive with staff- restraint & sedation have been necessary
• Self-destructive behaviours and major resistance to treatment
• Possible allergy to the Joy Serum?