They took a right turn, going through a pair of double doors, coming to a small lobby filled with mass-produced furniture, with generic photographs of flowers and wildlife. Nikita had seen thousands of identical waiting rooms in doctor’s offices across the country. Nikita could just make out, in her peripheral vision, a pair of double doors looking out to a small blacktop parking lot and, beyond that, a field of corn, softly swaying in the breeze. Dr. Malphren must have noticed, because she stopped, turning the wheelchair to face the exit.

 

“It’s a lovely view, isn’t it? Go ahead, take a good long look.”

 

Even though Dr. Malphren didn’t say it, Nikita knew she was never leaving that hospital. She let out a pathetic, choking sob as Dr. Malphren wheeled her away. She opened a unobtrusive side door with a keypad code and held the door open for Nikita to see inside. The seats inside were large and heavily padded, although the upholstery was clearly treated to be fluid-proof. The lights were turned down low, and while the private room featured tissues and magazines just like the lobby, lubricant and condoms also graced each end table. Dr. Malphren picked up a magazine and showed Nikita the cover. She had never heard of Glamoured (The World’s Premiere Mind Control Magazine!) but she recognized Dr. Malphren on the cover.

The magazines existence, and the amount of customers it must have to justify its continued existence, terrified Nikita to her very core, a terror that Dr. Malphren’s words only deepened.

“This is our private waiting room, for clients who are…in the know. Sometimes they’ll ask for private companionship, but if they want a show, that’s also an option.”

 

Dr. Malphren picked up a remote off the end table and pushed a button. Soft lights revealed a huge, backlit aquarium, teeming with tropical fish, along with rocks and plants.

But what drew Nikita’s attention was the rubber-coated figure, neutrally buoyant and restrained with thick straps, connected to tubes that swayed gently in the current that led to the figure’s face, chest, and crotch.

 

“Patient #79.” Dr. Malphren said, matter-of-factly. "Came to us for help with her fear of water. I think we fixed that for her. Or maybe we made it way worse. I haven’t bothered to bring her up to check. I’m sure the sensory deprivation has broken her mind in any case. I stopped caring about her treatment after she said”-here Malphren’s voice became a mocking caricature-”fish are stupid and aquariums are for losers.” Dr. Malphren stomped over to the tank and pointed accusingly at a gently fluttering mass of fins.

 

“Epalzeorhynchos bicolor. Red Tailed Black Shark. Until 2011 they were thought to exist only in captivity. Do you have any idea how are it is to keep just ONE of these? Let alone five! It’s not easy, let me tell you.” Dr. Malphren took a deep breath, and seemed to calm down.

 

“But, in case that’s not your thing, there’s also a TV.” A push of a button, and a huge flatscreen above the tank lit up, displaying a padded cell and straightjacket-bound figure. The Doctor thumbed through channels, each showing a different cell, a different patient. She turned to Nikita with a wide smile.

 

“All these channels, and there’s nothing good on!” With an uncharacteristic giggle, she tossed the remote aside, wheeling Nikita away before coming to a sudden stop. “Oh, I almost forgot! I didn’t introduce you to our receptionist.”

 

The wheelchair rolled backwards until a figure came into view, bright eyes shining under a shaggy pixie cut of purple-black hair. There was a plastic tag, the kind normally seen on cattle, dangling from their right ear and pinned to a gown of bright teal rubber. Their smile widened as she saw Dr. Malphren.

“Patient 14,” the Doctor said. “This is Nikita. Say Hi.”

 

“Hiiiiii!” the…patient said brightly, waving happily. “I read ALL about you! Dr. Malphren lets me read all sorts of articles and stuff! That way I can tell her what’s important!”

 

Patient 14 cocked their head. “You should really make your computer systems more secure! I was able to get in and read all your files and see your browser and schedule and stuff! And my brain’s all-”

 

“Patient 14, dear,” Dr. Malphren cooed, interrupting her patient, who fell silent instantly, wearing an expression of enraptured awe. “Why don’t you tell Miss Nakita here how you came here?”

“Ok!” the patient said brightly. Nikita noticed with growing unease how little the patient’s body seemed to move as they talked, as if a human head was atop a mannequin's body. But as unsettling as that was, Patient 14’s story was so, so much worse. It came in like a flood.

 

“Dr. Malphren and I were roomies in college but then she got in trouble and they took her away from me and I was super sad so I came to visit but it turns out she’s waaaay smarter than them and took over so when I got there she was in charge so she made me her patient and fried my brain and taught me how to be a good patient and now I help her out with stuff! Sometimes she even lets me work with the other patients!”

Nikita stared in horror.

 

If the Doctor had been able to manipulate such loyalty, that would be horrifying enough, but the patient’s joy and connection to Dr. Malphren seemed…entirely genuine. They seemed so sweet…could they really be behind her current predicament?

 

“Please…” Nikita managed to whisper. “Help…”

 

Suddenly, she found herself being wheeled away, deeper into the hospital.

 

“Say bye, Patient 14~” Dr. Malphren cooed.
“Bye byeeee!” came the response, accompanied by a wave.

As Dr. Malphren pushed the wheelchair through a pair of double doors, she bent down, whispering in Nikita’s ear.
“Oh, sweetie…don’t you get it? No one is coming to help.”