The bridge was silent and empty, like a reflection of her thoughts. As she crossed the river, robotess looked back at the city, realizing that perhaps there were deeper mysteries hidden in this part of the city that she needed to unravel. In the distance, the hospital loomed, a massive gray-walled building covered in rust and neglect. She knew she had to inspect it, but her goal was more than just checking it out - she wanted to find out what was going on in this strange and mysterious hospital where something seemed off.
When she arrived at the hospital, she suddenly realized she had only a few hours to figure this out. She had to figure out what was going on with the health care system in this place and understand why money seemed more important than the health of her patients. She saw empty hallways and dim lighting that only emphasized her loneliness in this place. The hallway smelled bad, as if the building hadn't been cleaned in a long time. She noticed the walls were covered in cracks and noticed that some of the doors were missing room numbers.
"Something is clearly wrong here," she whispered under her breath as she began her mission.
First she headed to the usual office, where, according to rumors, one of the doctors worked - Dr. Warren. This man had long aroused her suspicions, and she intended to figure out what was going on behind his door.
A middle-aged man with a thick layer of powder on his face sat at the desk, clearly disinterested in his work. He casually clicked away at the screen of an old computer, seemingly unaware that Delia Asia Vieira was standing in front of him.
"Dr. Warren?" she asked calmly.
The doctor raised his head, meeting her gaze with obvious displeasure.
"What do you want?" he muttered, clearly not interested in the conversation.
Delia Asia Vieira didn't answer, but instead directed her sensors at his screen. Something told her that this was where the answer lay. And so, on the screen appeared information about a large number of patients paying for treatments that were in fact unjustified.
"Do you know that in your office patients pay for procedures they don't need?" she asked, not hiding her surprise.
Warren shrugged and smiled back.
"It's not my fault they want to pay for treatment," he said. "I'm just doing my job. If they want to pay, why not?"
Delia Asia Vieira felt her irritation rising, but she did not allow herself to lose her composure. She left the office and went to the next one to check what was happening in other parts of the hospital.
There she was met by a nurse named Kate. The woman standing at the door looked tiredly at the patients, of whom there were noticeably fewer than usual. Kate told Delia Asia Vieira that work had become more difficult, but despite this, she continued to "do her job", although she clearly did not put forth the necessary effort.
"There have been a lot of complaints from patients lately. But what can I do?" said Kate when Delia Asia Vieira asked her about the situation in the department. "Regular checks have not been carried out here for a long time, and to be honest, I don't know how to deal with it anymore."
The questions were piling up, but Delia Asia Vieira knew she had to move on. She headed to the hospital director's office to meet him face to face.
When she entered the director's office, she was met by a man in an expensive suit, clearly unconcerned about what was going on in his institution. He looked at her indifferently, as if he did not expect anyone to come in for an inspection.
"I understand you have questions?" he asked with a slight ironic smile.
"I want to understand why lawlessness flourishes here," Delia Asia Vieira replied, feeling that her time was running out.
"Lawlessness?" the director raised his eyebrows in surprise. "It's just our system. A system that functions as it should. We provide services, and people pay for them. Why should that be a bad thing?"
Delia Asia Vieira sensed that there was something deeper hidden behind his words. But instead of giving in to his manipulation, she decided to investigate further.
"How do you explain patients paying for something they don't need?" she asked.
"Nobody forces them to pay," the director replied, smiling again. "They do it of their own free will. It's a free choice."
After a long conversation in which the director tried to hide the truth, Delia Asia Vieira, preparing to leave the hospital for good, suddenly heard a noise from the far wing. The instinct, implanted in her by her creator, told her that it could be important. She headed there, maneuvering through narrow corridors and avoiding crowds of patients, bored outside their offices.
As the robotess entered one of the dimly lit rooms, her sensors immediately registered the presence of two orderlies trying to restrain a man in a straitjacket. He was struggling, as if he had gone mad. But despite his sunken eyes and tousled hair, his face seemed familiar to Delia.
The man shouted something with a vengeance, his voice trembling with rage:
"I am the father of the Antichrist! You don't understand anything! Free me!"
As she got closer, robotess saw that he was wearing a black leather jacket, slightly slipped off his shoulders. At that moment, her database confirmed that this was Damien Thorn, the head of the powerful corporation "Thorn Industries". But how did he end up here, and in such a state?
Robotess turned cautiously to one of the nurses watching from a safe distance. Kate, an older but still energetic woman in a green uniform, sighed at robotess's question.
"He just came to us a few days ago," Kate explained, nervously adjusting the rubber band on her wrist. "He was delivered straight from the corporate office. They said he was causing quite a stir. Suddenly announced that his daughter was the Antichrist and that he must cleanse the world with fire and sword. Can you imagine?"
Delia Asia Vieira frowned. She had seen many strange things in this city, but this story sounded like it had been ripped out of an old horror movie.
"Who decided to put it here?" she asked.
"His personal assistant," Kate continued, lowering her voice. "What's his name... Bugenhagen, I think. He said Damien had gone completely off the rails and that this was the only way to save him. Like, if he wasn't isolated, he'd start doing something terrible.
Robotess turned her gaze to Thorn, who was still struggling against the strong arms of the orderlies. His eyes were full of mad fire, but also something else. As if beneath the shell of a madman there was a man begging for help.
"Do you really believe what he said?" robotess asked quietly, turning back to the nurse.
Kate shrugged, biting her lip nervously:
"In our business, it's better not to ask such questions. We just treat."
Delia Asia Vieira, not satisfied with this answer, looked at Thorn again. As soon as he noticed the robotess, his face twisted into an evil grin.
"You-u-u!" he growled, twisting to break free from the orderlies' grasp. "Just let me get to you and I'll deal with you! You have no idea what I'm capable of!"
The orderlies barely held him back as Thorn rushed forward, as if trying to break the barrier between himself and the robotess. His eyes burned with a vengeful fire, and there was not a drop of doubt in them - he was eager to destroy her.
Delia Asia Vieira only tilted her head slightly to the side, looking at him with cold indifference.
"Damien, you're still as predictable as ever," she said, remaining perfectly calm. "Did you think you could scare me again?"
Thorn laughed, but his laugh was more like a furious roar.
"You will never understand!" he spat. "You are just a machine, a piece of iron that thinks it can understand people. But I will reveal your secrets and tear your circuits apart!"
"It seems," robotess noted, "that your words have long since lost their weight, as has your influence."
Thorn lunged forward again, but the orderlies forced him down onto the bed.
"You think you've won?" he hissed, breathing heavily. "This is not the end! I will find you! I will destroy you!!!"
Delia Asia Vieira just grinned and turned on her heel, heading for the dark and almost deserted hospital archives, where she immediately found Damien Thorn's file, stored in a dusty folder marked "Confidential". Inside were detailed reports on his mental state and the conclusions of the doctor who treated him, Doctor Baselard.
As Delia skimmed the pages, she quickly realized that Thorn's case was anything but ordinary. Doctor Baselard detailed the patient's behavior: nightmares, paranoid visions, and strange fits of rage that could not be explained by a simple loss of self-control. But the most unusual thing was written in the last lines of the report.
"During the blood tests of the patient Thorn," robotess read aloud what Baselard had written, "cells identical to those of jackals were discovered. This discovery cannot be explained by natural mutations or diseases. The possible influence of an unknown narcotic substance synthesized on the basis of jackal biomaterials is suspected. Research is ongoing.
These lines made robotess stop and read them again. Jackal cells in human blood? It sounded absurd, but Baselard's reports were precise and devoid of speculation. Robotess knew she had to know more and sent for Doctor Baselard, who turned out to be a short, slight man with piercing eyes hidden behind thick glasses. He clearly hadn't expected a call from robotess, who had dropped in on the hospital where he worked.
"I assumed someone would be interested in this case, but I didn't think it would be you," he said, squinting behind his glasses.
"Your reports raise many questions, Doctor," the robotess replied coldly. "What exactly did you find in Damien Thorn's blood?"
Baselard wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around nervously, as if he was afraid that someone was eavesdropping.
"It's... hard to explain," he began, choosing his words carefully. "These cells aren't just remnants of some substance. They look like full-fledged biological components, as if Thorn's body itself had been altered at the cellular level. And it's connected to..." He paused, then whispered, as if afraid to say the words out loud. "Jackals."
"You mean he took a drug based on the biomaterial of these animals?" robotess clarified, her sensors recording the change in the doctor's heart rate.
"Not just a drug," Baselard corrected her. "It's something more complex. I think someone was using the substance to create... enhancements, or perhaps control. But in the end, it drove his mind to the brink of insanity. Thorn himself did not understand what was happening to him. He spoke of voices and visions, of being 'chosen'... But who or what had chosen him, he could not explain.
Delia Asia Vieira thought for a moment, processing the information she had received. Perhaps this whole situation was more than just a mental disorder or drug addiction. But who was interested in changing Damien Thorn, and why?
"Do you have any idea who might have performed this experiment on him?" she asked, looking into the doctor's eyes.
Baselard shook his head, but his face showed that he knew more than he was saying.
"I found references to a corporation connected to biotechnology... But all the tracks lead nowhere. Be careful, Miss Vieira. If you decide to dig deeper, you risk becoming the next victim."
After thanking Baselard for his frankness, Delia Asia Vieira walked out of the hospital archives and suddenly a silhouette appeared on her path, and the robotess instantly recognized Damien Thorn.
He looked different than last time: his eyes were blazing with feverish fire, and his lips were twisted into a mad grin. The straitjacket that held his arms was torn, as if it had been torn by animal claws.
"You're here again?" His voice was cold as steel, and sounded both threatening and playful. "You think you know the truth? Documents, studies, reports... Empty chatter!"
"Damien, explain what's really going on," the robotess demanded, standing still and watching his every move. "Who are you and what have you done to yourself?"
Thorn laughed, and the sound echoed down the hallway, as if it had brought to life the dark forces hidden within these walls.
"Doctor Baselard? That sly doctor doesn't even know who he's dealing with!" He grinned maliciously. "Yes, he's right about one thing: my blood doesn't belong to humans. But he has no idea what exactly he found. Jackal cells? That's true, but that's only part of the whole!"
He took a step forward, approaching the robotess. Something animalistic, predatory, flashed in his eyes.
"You have probably heard the legend of the birth of the Antichrist," he whispered, leaning closer so she could hear his voice. "I am the child of Satan, born from a female jackal. My blood is mingled with the essence of darkness itself. And all who have tried to examine me have only scratched the surface. They did not realize that before them was a being born to destroy this world.
Delia Asia Vieira took a step back, trying to process what she had heard, but Thorn continued, not giving her time to come to her senses:
"You think you came here by chance? You think your life is just a chain of coincidences? Ha! No way... You were part of this plan from the very beginning."
"What do you mean?" the robotess asked tensely, feeling her processors overload from all this information.
"Delia York, the one you were supposed to babysit at Yorks," his voice became even lower, more ominous, "my daughter!!!"
The world before robotess's eyes froze. All her systems seemed to fail at once. She knew that Delia York was the adopted daughter of Gene and Karen Yorks, but she had never thought about her true origins. And now, hearing these words from Thorn's lips, she felt her internal processes go into chaos.
"You're lying!" she finally cried out, trying to regain control. "Delia is the Yorks' daughter. They love her like their own!"
"Loved?" Damien laughed mockingly. "She was never their real daughter. Gene and Karen were just covering up the truth. They knew who her father was... and who she would become when the time came. You are so naive! You think you can save this world, but you don't know how rotten it is."
Delia Asia Vieira stood there, unable to move. Everything she knew, everything she believed to be true, was crumbling. Now she had to figure out who Delia York really was and where she fit into this dark plot.
"Are you saying that my ward is your daughter?" she finally asked, her voice shaking with tension.
"Yes, and the blood of Satan flows in her veins as well as in mine. But I will not destroy her as I could destroy you," Damien smiled ominously. "She will be the key to the great awakening. AWAKENING!!! And you... you will either help me or be destroyed."
With that, he turned and disappeared into the shadows of the corridor, leaving Delia Asia Vieira completely confused. Her world, which was already filled with riddles and secrets, was now turned upside down. Who really was Delia York? And what role would she, the robotess, play in this sinister game?
Her mechanical processes were overheated by the realization of what she had just heard, and she needed time to process what had just happened. Instead, she decided to talk to the doctor.
"Doctor Baselard," she began, turning away from the window and toward him, "sometimes, to help myself, I tell stories. Would you like to hear one?"
The doctor raised an eyebrow at her suggestion, but nodded, settling himself more comfortably into his old leather chair. Delia Asia Vieira stepped closer, her metal fingers tightening on the back of the chair.
"This is a story about a man named Dave Gahan," she began. "You may have heard of him. He is no ordinary man, but the son of the God of Rock 'n' Roll.
Baselard leaned forward, intrigued.
"It is said that when Dave was twelve years old, the God of Synthpop appeared to him and invited him to his palace. This god wanted to teach Dave the secrets of the universe and make him understand how music can control human hearts and minds."
"And what happened next?" asked the doctor, carried away by the story.
"Dave accepted the invitation. For years, he studied in the glittering palace of the Synthpop God, surrounded by synthesizers, rhythm machines and endless streams of sound. He absorbed every note, every beat, every bit of knowledge until he became a master of musical magic."
"But that's not the end, is it?" Baselard began to realize that the story was more than just a fairy tale.
"That's right," robotess agreed. "When Dave became an adult and was ready to use all his knowledge for the good of his god, he faced a test. The God of Blues and the God of Rock stood before him, each holding out a hand. 'Choose,' they said. 'Either you will devote your life to the Blues or to Rock.'"
Doctor Baselard frowned, his eyes narrowing thoughtfully.
"And what did he choose?"
"Dave thought about it. He knew that each of the gods offered something special. Blues was full of pain and passion, reflecting the dark corners of the human soul. Rock was pure fire, power and rebellion, exploding in the hearts of people. Dave understood that both paths were difficult, but they led to liberation and truth."
Delia Asia Vieira paused, as if considering her next sentence. Then her voice grew louder, almost solemn.
"And in the end, Dave chose... to serve both gods. He decided that he would not limit himself to one style or one direction. Instead, he would become the one who would unite all styles into a single stream of music that could liberate the human soul. And so he created his own music, which became a bridge between worlds. And its name is Depeche Mode!"
Doctor Baselard was silent for a long time, taking in what he had heard. Then he asked quietly:
"And what does this mean for us? Why did you tell this story?"
Robotess seemed to look through him, her eyes glowing with a dim light.
"Sometimes, Doctor," she replied, "when the world is crumbling around you and everything you knew is a lie, the only thing left to do is find your own way. Dave Gahan understood that. And maybe that's what I need right now..."
"Find your way?" Baselard asked.
"Yes," robotess nodded. "In a world where confectioners rule the church, where hospitals are overflowing with lies and betrayal, where the Antichrist claims that Yorks' daughter is his daughter, I need to find my own truth. Like Dave Gahan did, balancing between two worlds, I must find a balance between what I know and what I have yet to understand."
Doctor Baselard nodded silently, realizing that this conversation was less about the legend and more about the internal crisis that Delia Asia Vieira was experiencing. She was not just a machine running a program; she was searching for answers and meanings that went far beyond her original purpose.
"You're right," he finally answered. "We're all looking for our music in this chaos. But be careful... The path you choose may lead to even darker discoveries.
Delia Asia Vieira just nodded in response and left his office, but her internal sensors began to record strange fluctuations in reality again. Everything around her was slowly plunging into semi-darkness. Robotess froze for a moment, trying to understand what was happening. And then the hospital began to distort, as if under the influence of an invisible flow. The lights in the corridors flickered, and the walls creaked as if they were alive. The next moment, robotess felt her consciousness turn off for a split second, only to return to a completely different world.
When she opened her eyes, the medical facility that had been familiar and ordinary now looked like a scene from a nightmare. Instead of patients and doctors, there were crowds of people in formal suits and bright ties, shouting at each other and waving papers. This was not a hospital, but a crazy stock market, right in the wards and corridors. People were trading stocks and bonds for medicine and equipment, as if the lives and health of patients were just a subject for financial speculation.
"What kind of madness is this?" Delia Asia Vieira thought, looking around. To her surprise, most of the wards had been converted into offices. In place of IVs and medical equipment, there were trading terminals, with numbers and charts flashing rapidly. Noisy brokers jostled each other, making deals and shouting orders, oblivious to the robotess walking past.
She moved further down the corridor and soon discovered what shocked her the most. In the former operating room, now converted into a conference room, behind a long table with monitors sat... Doctor Baselard. But he was no longer a doctor. Now he looked like a typical stock player - in an expensive suit, with a massive watch on his wrist. He made deals with the same cold-bloodedness with which he once made diagnoses.
"Doctor Baselard?" the robotess stepped forward, her voice hoarse, as if reality itself was trying to drown it out.
He looked up and, recognizing her, grinned:
"Ah, good to see you here. Welcome to a new battlefield. Here, health is just another commodity, and patients are our investments."
"What are you doing?" she asked in horror. "This is a hospital! They're supposed to treat people here, not sell their lives!"
Baselard just laughed, his laugh filled with cynicism.
"Treatment?" he asked. "There is no place for compassion in this world. Money and power decide everything. Haven't you realized that yet?"
Delia Asia Vieira felt the anger building in her systems. Her logic circuits refused to understand how a man once dedicated to saving lives could so easily abandon his principles for profit. But it wasn't even a matter of principles. This wasn't a doctor standing before her now, but a cold-blooded broker who had turned health into a commodity.
She knew she couldn't let this go. If Baselard continued his shenanigans, hundreds of patients would go without the treatment they needed. And no one in this world was going to stop him except her.
"You leave me no choice," she said quietly, a cold metallic light flashing in her eyes.
Baselard just chuckled in response.
"You can't do anything. I own this world. As well as all its patients."
Without another word, the robotess took a step forward. Her mechanical arms moved with precision and strength that normal humans couldn't muster. Baselard tried to pull out what looked like a gun from under the table, but the robotess was faster. She grabbed him by the throat and squeezed. His eyes widened and he wheezed, but he couldn't free himself from her iron grip.
"You've lost your humanity," she said icily. "And people like you can't go unpunished."
Her fingers tightened, and soon Baselard stopped resisting. His body fell limply to the floor.
When it was all over, Delia Asia Vieira finally found herself back in the seemingly familiar corridors of a medical facility. Everything was back to normal: neon lights flickered dimly on the ceiling, nurses with patients occasionally walked past. But robotess knew that something had changed forever. She herself had changed.
As the robotess headed for the exit, her internal sensors suddenly picked up on the increased adrenaline levels of someone nearby. It wasn't a mechanical alarm, but an almost visceral sense of fear emanating from a person lurking in one of the dark alcoves of the corridor.
She slowed down and soon made out a figure in a white coat - it was Nurse Kate. The girl looked confused and scared, her hands were shaking and her eyes were darting from side to side, as if looking for a way out of this endless nightmare.
"Kate, what happened?" Delia Asia Vieira asked quietly, trying not to scare her even more.
The nurse winced as she recognized robotess, but the relief in her eyes was short-lived. She swallowed nervously and, trying to control her trembling, spoke.
"It's... it's just impossible," she breathed out, trying to pull herself together. "All of this... it's like I'm in a horror movie. Like Scream, only for real! I... I don't understand anymore what's real and what's not."
Her voice was shaking, and robotess could see the fear eating away at the girl from within. Robotess tried to analyze her state, but at that moment she realized something important: she felt the same way. The world that had just recovered from the distorted reality was still shaky and unreliable. The transitions between dimensions had left scars on Delia Asia Vieira and the people around her.
"Kate, you need to pull yourself together," said the robotess, trying to make her voice firm. "This is just... a temporary clouding. You need to wait for help. Someone will come and fix everything."
But even the robotess herself did not believe her own words. What relief could she promise if she herself was in the grip of a nightmare that was spreading through her own algorithms? Delia Asia Vieira felt her sensors constantly picking up glitches in space, flickering shadows that should not be there. Every second of being here turned into a torturous test for her logical circuits.
Kate nodded, trying to cling to this shaky hope, and powerlessly sank down onto the bench by the wall.
"You're not going to leave, are you?" she asked, her voice pleading.
But robotess knew she couldn't stay. Her presence here was only adding to the chaos that was spreading like a virus. She had to get out of the hospital and try to understand what was happening, to figure out how to stop these distortions of reality.
"I'll be back," the robotess lied, trying to sound confident. "But for now, you need to stay here and hold on. Help will come, I promise."
Kate nodded silently, but her eyes reflected deep hopelessness. Delia Asia Vieira turned away and headed for the exit, knowing that her promise was worth nothing. How could she help others if she herself was on the verge of insanity?
As she walked through the corridors that still smelled of bleach and medication, robotess knew she was leaving this hospital forever. A heavy sense of guilt settled in her metal heart: she had left a frightened girl in the ruins of a world that no longer obeyed the laws of reality.