Dr. Jimenez is mean to me, but I know he must mean well. He keeps telling me that there's something wrong with me. That I'm crazy. It must be true. Why else would I be here?

My treatments hurt so much, but I deserve it I guess. Don't all crazy people have to get tests?

~ Sophie Liaz

❁

"Cotard delusion disorder."

"Patient, due to his or her belief of lifelessness or immortality, lacked any sense of self preservation and expired almost immediately due to the hostile environment within STEM."

Dr. Jimenez scribbled something down on his clipboard.

"Obsessive compulsive disorder."

"In severe cases, subjects caused bodily harm to themselves almost constantly. Due to their condition, everything had to be symmetrical. For example, if a wound was received on the left side, the patient would willingly inflict said wound on the right side. This led to them losing their sense of self and eventually committing unintended suicide."

More frantic scribbles.

"Posttraumatic stress disorder."

"In a marine or soldier's case, the subject relived continuous flashbacks of their traumatic pasts. This quickly drove them into madness, where they would then mercilessly attack anything and anyone in sight until eventual expiration."

Ruben spouted out the results of his experiments without a single error, though his mind seemed to linger on something else as he stared distantly out the window he lean against.

Dr. Jimenez heaved a weary sigh. "Is there any condition that hasn't eventually led to expiration?"

Ruben shook his head, his gaze still focused on the window. Rain drizzled down the clear glass, reflecting slightly on his white, bandaged face. "Not yet," he droned, his face blank of any expression as per usual.

Jimenez sighed once more, but sucked in a deep breath before speaking, "well, we shouldn't get discouraged just yet. We've barely scratched the surface. The machine is still in beta testing for God's sake."

As in 'we' he meant he himself. Ruben was obviously lost in his own thoughts. Not that it mattered anyway. It wasn't as if a few failures would stop him from furthering his research. The man was fueled with so much vengeance and rage.. Jimenez sometimes believed that only death itself would cease his determination.

"Ah.. I suppose it's time we selected subjects with much less severe conditions. I suppose we should have started out simple in the first place.."

Ruben nodded distantly, his stone cold eyes briefly flitting to his colleague before falling back upon the gentle rain outside. "I'll be down in a moment."

Jimenez nodded briskly before exiting the room.

❁

Today was just like any other day. Silent.

Sophie sat in her cell, glumly fiddling with her broken teddy bear and kicking her legs off the edge of her bunk. Her blue eyes stared sadly into her plushie's blank glassy ones. The bear had become surprisingly worn since her arrival to Beacon, even if she had only been here for a mere month.

But more change can happen in a month than one would expect.

She fingered the ragged bit of cloth on its right side, the place where his arm once resided. Memories immediately flooded into her fragile mind. She withdrew her hand as if she'd been bitten and instead hugged the teddy bear around its stomach.

Tears fell gently, sliding down the girl's ghostly pale cheeks and landing on her ragged bear's dirty polyester fur. It wasn't a regular occurrence for her to cry. Crying didn't gain her anything but more tests. Besides, she didn't have the right to cry. It was her fault for being so stupid and worthless. At least, that's what Dr. Jimenez had always told her..

She sat up to attention as she began to hear footsteps outside. Fear gripped her heart. Treatment already? But why? Why so early?

Her fingers wrapped around and gripped the edge of her bunk until her knuckles turned white. Silently she prayed to God.

"Please, not me.."

❁

Ruben folded his arms behind his back as he strolled down the hall, passing glances at each door he passed and reading each label carefully. 'Obsessive compulsive disorder', 'dementia', 'schizophrenia'. He mouthed each disorder as he read, recalling each patient he connected to STEM with the corresponding condition.

Upon reaching one door, he paused to give a double take to the label. The diagnosis blank was left empty, but there was indeed a patient inside. The only information about the occupant, was a hastily scrawled ID.

'Patient #68'

Ruben's bandaged brow lifted in light confusion. He peered in through the barred window to see a little form sitting by the wall. The lighting was dim and flickered often, but he could make out a few features. Female, red hair, rail-thin. A toy of some sort was clutched in her hands.

He withdrew and cast a glance at Jimenez, who was currently busying himself with writing down the names of potential subjects.

"Doctor,"

"Yes?"

"Who is this?"

Jimenez quirked a brow, but answered nonetheless. "Sophie Liaz.."

"What's her condition?"

"I...I can't recall.." He answered hesitantly, "but it's far too severe for what we're looking for."

Ruben nodded in understanding and Jimenez returned to his scribbling and constant muttering among himself. Ruben mentally noted Jimenez's hasty reply and inferred that there was indeed more to this child than he had implied.

He sighed wearily and looked back into her cell to find that she was staring right back at him. Her broken, blue eyes held so much sorrow and fear that he almost felt pity for her. Immediately she looked away from him, her hands wringing themselves nervously. In any other situation, he would have suspected such a reaction from his appearance. With all his bandages, he received many stares from the few that saw him. But the this was different.. This child feared something. Something that threatened her from the outside world.

He took a step back, reading the text engraved on the wall above the door before leaving to examine further patients.

'Room 36'.

//Hi again! Many thanks for reading this! Remember to leave a vote/comment if you liked it! Remember to check out my other fanfic, Memory's Captive, if you're enjoying this one! Have a splendid day and see you in the next chapter! :D\\