Chapter Text
The hospital buzzed and hummed gently with the sound of machinery. The Doctor sat on a chair in the discharge area, their visor lying on the table next to them, their hood pushed down over their face.
“Doctor? Doctor?” Amiya called out. The Doctor didn’t respond. She tapped them lightly on the shoulder. The Doctor still did not respond. She leaned in for a closer look. The Doctor was actually asleep.
She shook the Doctor gently. Still no response.
“Doctor? Doctor wake up!” she called out in mild exasperation. She grasped the Doctor’s shoulders with her hands and shook. The Doctor still wasn’t waking up. She was shaking and shaking but no response.
“Throw water on them!” cackled Lapland as she walked past. Amiya ignored her and sighed. She sat down on a chair next to the Doctor.
Amiya didn't expect their reunion to be like this. Her expectations had the Doctor being… Doctor-ish. Harsh sarcasms, piercing glares and a Doctor who cursed her out for disobeying them. Lectures on obedience - the ultimate virtue. Being chewed out for disobedience - for not being a chess piece.
“You’ve thrown it all completely off course!” they would have shouted, ignoring the fact that they threw themself off the chessboard. They would have glared fiercely, struggling against the physical restraints, eager to get back to the game. They would have insisted on inspecting all the operators - or what remained of them, even as Gravial would be rushing in with chemical restraints. Their eyes would have been alert and piercing through the emoticons on the visor as they knew their plan was on still foot.
Amiya twisted her rings on her hand. She had prepared herself for a Doctor, barking angrily and screams from the operators, ringing through the Control Centre. Sometimes she thought she heard that usual bark, rolling down their Control Centre, rousing operators out, out to the next security operation. She would be scrambling to be in the Control Centre, smiling, encouraging and boosting morale because they were there, they were on it. Just like the old days before she started taking up operations. Before she drowned in the heady stream of paperwork and contracts, and the mundanity of running a hospital.
The Doctor would not have been on a chair, sleeping like a sweet innocent Operator before their first operation. After those few hectic days. A frantic rush back to safety after W spoke. When they were in sight of Rhode Island primary landship - the Doctor collapsed.
Amiya screamed. Nearl slung the Doctor over her shoulder. Gavial rushed towards them in her medvac and hopped out, slinging out her stretcher. Nearl gently lowered the Doctor onto the stretcher and the two of them worked over the doctor, strapping in the doctor as Amiya answered Gavial’s questions quickly and precisely.
“Adrenaline,” said Gavial as she tightened the Doctor down. The Doctor was strapped to a stretcher which was being loaded onto a med-vac, “Could only be that. Most deep sleepers need a week of normal sleep before they come out of it. Either way, I’ll take the Doctor back. The rest of you will need to continue on foot so I can get Doctor to base faster. ”
Amiya nodded, biting hard on her lips. They saw the medvac move off and they resumed their march.
The Doctor snorted, their chest rising through their thick coat. Amiya leaned in closer but they still weren’t awake. Maybe she should force feed the Doctor some of that horrible nutrition paste that they made all of them eat years ago. It might jolt them back to themselves.
“Small sacrifices for big gains,” they had proclaimed proudly as everyone tried their best not to gag. The smell was overwhelming and it quickly flooded the tiny room they were all in. 12F and Doctor ate that paste like there was nothing to it. Everyone else forced it down - not like there was anything else to eat. But now she thought about it, the Doctor may have kept their tastebuds. The Doctor suddenly stretched with a yawn. Amiya’s ears stood still. They leaned forward at her with a shy smile.
“Hi,” said the Doctor.
“Hi,” said Amiya shakily.
The Doctor cricked their neck and pointed to their visor. “Care to tell me what that is?” they asked. Amiya inhaled sharply.
"That is your visor Doctor. It gives you access to Priestess on an internal screen. You also gave it an Emoticon Function. People can see your emoticons but they can’t see your face. It also has an AutoEmoti Mode where it can read your emotions automatically by feeding into the sensors in your jacket and it will project an emoticon that is equivalent to your current emotion. You can still see and breathe out of the visor," she said unable to stop spilling out facts.
The Doctor tilted their head and reached out for the visor. They examined the visor, turning it over and over in their hands then popped the visor over their face.
"OWO" emoted on the visor.
Amiya got up from her seat and then held out her hand. The Doctor stared at her.
"We're going to see Dr Kal'tsit today, remember? You woke up two days ago but the hospital’s only discharged you yesterday. She's going to tell us whether you'll be resuming your role as field commander. It’ll be fine,” she said softly, "it'll be fine."
The Doctor took her hand. She squeezed their hand gently and gave them a reassuring smile. At least she hoped it was reassuring. It must have been because the Doctor gripped her hand back. She walked slowly, Dr Kal’tsit’s office wasn’t too far away. The Doctor winced slightly, their ribs still ached.
“Did we tell you about Rhode Island itself?” asked Amiya. The Doctor shook their head and she could feel their pitying stare prickling the back of her ears.
“Well, I guess there weren't many people for you to talk to there,” she said jovially, “Rhode Island is a pharmaceutical company seeking to find a cure for oripathy. There are Mobile Rhode Island branches in the mobile cities but our head branch is a self-sufficient mobile base.”
“Rhode Island has two main functions- Research and Hospital. Upon entry to the hospital, Patients can choose to either pay an upfront cost for their treatment or enter into a work development plan. Those who enter into a work development plan can either work in HR, Logistics, Marketing, Research or as a Security Operator.”
“The Security Operators and their missions are managed by your Priestess Network. Our Security Operators are in charge of maintaining security of Rhode Island and performing Contingency Contracts. Currently, the bulk of our security has been outsourced to security companies such as Blacksteel and Pen-Log as Rhode Island develops," she sighed.
“But if Dr Kal’tsit gives the okay, we can build up the Control Centre! We’ve got that Lungmen agreement and Doberman and I are working on drawing up new contracts since you’re here now,” she said eagerly.
“I think we passed it,” said the Doctor, tugging back on her hand. They winced slightly from the movement.
Amiya laughed shakily, “Oh yes, I got a bit carried away there.” She walked back two rooms and knocked on Dr Kal’tsit’s office.
“Come in Amiya,” called out Dr Kal’Tsit. Amiya lead the Doctor in and pulled out a chair for the Doctor. The Doctor hesitated then sat and looked around.
The walls were covered in mounted monitors while a few monitors were bolted to white tables. The monitors ran all sorts of numbers on the screen - the meaning of which the Doctor didn’t know but felt they should have known. On a large monitor, Dr Kal’tsit appeared. She sat in an black ergonomic office chair, her back facing the pair.
The Doctor leaned forward staring intensely at the monitor. Amiya stood behind the Doctor, her lips pursed and her fingers turning her rings around and around. “>____<” flashed across the Doctor’s visor. Amaniya gently held the Doctor’s shoulders and rubbed them lightly.
Dr Kal’tsit turned around. She nodded to the pair then sighed.
“Ok. I’ll keep this simple,“ she said as she waved her right hand. A monitor to the side flashed up with a detailed instruction plan.
“I’ll send this plan to your inbox Operator Doctor. Based on your hospital results and Warfairin and Silence’s reports - you are cleared for light duties and training like any other operator. Amiya is in charge of any operations you may undertake. The decision in regards to field command will be left to Doberman and Amiya. Daily examinations for the next two weeks. Those examinations will be conducted by operator Silence.” she said, pointing at the Doctor with her pen.
“0 w 0” flashed across the visor.
“We’ll review the need for daily examinations and the potential for heavier operations after the first two weeks,” continued Dr Kal’tsit, “But for now, you are dismissed. I will be unable to video conference after today so Amiya, please bring the Doctor to Operator Silence when it is time for their examination.”
The Doctor nodded and stood up quickly, shooting out into the corridor. Amiya shook her head at the Doctor with a light chuckle.
“Thank you,” she began, “The Doctor’s just,”
“Amiya, a word,” said Dr Kal’tsit abruptly. Amiya shifted her foot slightly and nodded.
“Amiya, I know you’ve read the reports. That Doctor is not the same Doctor,” said Dr Kal’tsit quietly, “They have experienced such severe memory loss, it would be wiser to treat them as an entirely different person and as an entirely new field commander. I advise signing them up with a new code name. It would lessen the burden... ”
Amiya pursed her lips and shook her head slightly. “I know that,” she said, her fingers twisting her rings around and around.
Dr Kal’tsit shook her head slightly. “That may be so. I’ll video call you at the same time tomorrow. I’ll see you then. See you tomorrow for your appointment.”
Amiya walked quickly out of the room as the monitor disconnected. Amiya turned her ring on her left hand around and around as she walked down the corridor. The Doctor was much faster than they used to be, they already managed to speed past the hospital and into the public waiting lobby, despite all the pain they seemed to be in.
She found the Doctor staring at a framed photograph. Amiya looked up as well. It was a framed photo of executive directors and officers at Rhode Island. “Do you recognize anyone in the photo?” she asked softly. The Doctor shook their head.
Amiya smiled softly and took their gloved hand. The Doctor stared, their head tilted until they grasped her hand back. “You’ll meet them in due course,” she said softly, “They usually do shift as Security Operators. I’m sure today must be overwhelming. I’ll take you to your office.”
She led the Doctor along clean hospital corridors to gradually grubbier corridors and elevators. The Doctor looked at the mildew stains and the vain attempt by someone to attack the mildew with a scrubbing brush. They stopped in front of a small room. Amiya took out a pass from a lanyard around her neck and pressed it to the lock.
“Your hand Doctor,” she said. The Doctor raised their gloved palm to the lock. It beeped green.
“I’ve coded your office lock to your signature,” she said, “Welcome to your office.”
The Doctor stepped into a room filled with monitors that weren’t powered on and diplomas framed up in walls. So many diplomas. There were mainly cardboard boxes. Cardboard boxes and laptops on cardboard boxes. A giant bunny plushie in the corner. A trolley with more cardboard boxes.
“You can access the Primitive Rhodes Island Terminal Service from here. I’m sure you’ll remember how to use it, after all you invented it. I decorated the majority of your office the way I remembered you said you’ll like to decorate your future office. I’ve left your personal items in the boxes, ” said Amiya, “I have to make sure the rest of the base is in order, I’ll see you around Doctor. ”
The Doctor sat in the chair and nodded to Amaniya as she left. It was a comfortable chair that seemed perfectly matched to their contours. As though a person had spent a long time making sure that that chair was comfortable in all the right spots. They got up from the chair, they didn’t want to sit in someone else’s chair.
They opened up the cardboard boxes. There were framed photographs of someone that looked like themselves. Textbooks of neurology. They opened up a textbook and flipped through it. It looked hard. Did they actually read and understand it? They looked at another textbook - it looked like they did write that one. They threw it over their shoulder.
The Doctor sighed and rummaged through another cardboard box. It looked like a unused kettle and a box of instant noodles. They would eat that later. The Doctor cricked their neck. They had been on guest mode this whole time - which was adequate enough for the Priestess unit. But they wanted to know more, they wanted access to the system.
The Doctor slid their fingers against their visor. “Please enter password” flashed before their eyes. They frowned… how did they know how to do that.
Nothing to it.
“Babel,” they thought.
“WRONG PASSWORD” blared against their skull. They grasped their head and lay down on the floor, face down. Curse past them for having a password system that present them still couldn't hack.
“Reset password,” thought the Doctor.
Three security questions popped up before them.
“What was the name of your first pet?” popped up.
They couldn’t remember and swiped next.
“What is your favourite food.”
They couldn’t remember and swiped next. They closed the log in entry and rolled again, staring at the text book they had thrown onto the ground.
All those degrees but they couldn’t even remember what that part of the brain was called.
Were they really called Doctor? Wasn’t it just a horrible case of mistaken identity? All these people insisting that they… The plaques, all for a person that wasn’t them. The operation and the tactics they had led - luckily they hadn’t lead anyone directly to their death then. The santka boy had gotten away - he were in the same medvac waiting bay as they were.
Different emoticons kept flashing rapidly before the Doctor’s eyes.
None of the medics would tell them what happened at Chernbog. All those people gone, because they had rescued the wrong person? How long could they really keep it up? How long could they keep defeating and killing other people until it was too late for Rhode Island to kill them, they were far too important?
“;_____;” flashed the Doctor’s visor. The Doctor curled up and started crying and crying.
There was a knock on the door and it slid open. Amiya stepped in. “Doctor?” said Amiya, wincing slightly as the Doctor’s pain and hurt washed over her in constant rolling waves.
“That’s not me,” sobbed the Doctor.
Amiya gritted her teeth and approached the doctor slowly. She held the Doctor tightly as tears rolled down her face. The waves of fear stabbed and burned her heart.
“What’s wrong?” she asked gently.
“Who was the Doctor? I don’t know? I don’t know anything that is in this office! All of this, is for another person that wasn’t me. All the pieces in my head are disconnected and I know these things but I don’t know how I know it and I can’t take it and it hurts and it hurts and it hurts,” wailed the Doctor, their visor cycling through various crying emoticons, flashing onto Amiya’s cheek.
“Well, the old Doctor would never let me hug them like this,” she said, choking up as her voice squeaked. “I’m so sorry Doctor, I’m so sorry. Do you want me to sign you up with a new code name?”
There was a long silence. The crying emotions gradually stopped cycling and settled onto one teary emoticon.
“No. I don’t mind. You can keep calling me Doctor,” they said slowly, “But can I redo this room?”
“Of course Doctor,” said Amiya, “I’ll help you get furniture parts to get furniture you like.”