When she got to the hospital, there was not a soul outside. Strange. Inside, everything was quiet, almost empty. Delia Asia Vieira walked into the spacious hall and approached the reception. A woman in a nurse's coat was sitting at the counter, looking at a monitor.
"Hello," Delia Asia Vieira said, her voice soft but firm. "I'd like to know about the condition of the patient, the girl I helped. She was admitted here a few hours ago. Her condition is critical."
The nurse looked up, but there was no surprise or alarm on her face.
"We don't have any records of new patients," she said flatly. "Perhaps you have the wrong hospital."
Delia Asia Vieira frowned, her synthetic eyes narrowing. This was strange. The girl was on the brink of life and death, and she definitely should have been here. Why had nothing registered? She looked around, trying to find any signs of activity in the hospital.
"I'm sure she came here," Delia Asia Vieira insisted. "This girl was seriously injured, I saved her from the fire."
The nurse looked at her again, a little irritated, and said in a restrained voice:
"I can't help you. Maybe you should check another hospital."
Delia Asia Vieira sighed and decided not to continue the conversation with the nurse. Her intuition told her that she had not received all the information. She turned and headed down the hallway to find out what exactly had happened to the girl.
However, before she had even taken a few steps, a man in a white coat approached her. He was of medium height, with short dark hair and a serious expression. His gaze was intense, and despite the fact that he was not wearing a badge, Delia Asia Vieira guessed that he was one of the doctors.
"Excuse me," he said, stopping her in her tracks. "I'm Dr. Warren. How can I help you?"
Delia Asia Vieira looked at him, her voice firm despite her confusion.
"I came to inquire about a patient. A girl I saved. She came here with burns, and I need to know how she is. Her condition," she brought her hands to her chest, as if trying to convey the gravity of the situation. "Please tell me."
Dr. Warren looked at her carefully, but his gaze did not change.
"Sorry, but we haven't had any new patients with these symptoms. Perhaps you've got the wrong hospital or time," he said, not showing the slightest concern. His eyes were cold, his expression unreadable.
Delia Asia Vieira felt her internal mechanisms start to sound alarms. Something was wrong. A lie, perhaps, or something far more sinister. She didn't believe the doctor. No, this couldn't be an accident.
"I know for sure that this girl came here. What's wrong with her? Why are there no records?" Her voice became more and more insistent.
Warren shook his head slowly, then took a step back as if trying to distance himself.
"You may have the wrong hospital," he repeated, this time with obvious irritation. "We can't help you if there are no official records."
With no more time to talk, Delia Asia Vieira turned around. She trusted Dr. Warren. His words were too inconsistent, his calm too strange for such a tense moment. Someone was hiding something, and she was ready to find out who and why. She couldn't afford to leave without answers, especially after what she had gone through with that girl.
She stood up and headed for the elevator, deciding to go up to the second floor of the hospital. Her entire mindset was to find the truth, and if necessary, she was ready to break through all the walls to get it. The elevator was empty, and the doors closed with a soft sound. Delia Asia Vieira watched as the numbers on the panel began to change, showing the way up. With each floor, her anxiety grew. What was on the second floor? Why couldn't they find the girl there?
The elevator finally stopped and the doors opened. The hallway was silent, but the air seemed tense. Delia Asia Vieira took a few steps, looking around. The old walls, the sterile white color, the empty chairs - nothing foreshadowed danger. But the further she walked, the more she felt the strange atmosphere of this place.
Suddenly, she heard a sharp step behind her. Turning around, she noticed a nurse walking down the hallway towards her. She was dressed in a standard medical gown, but something about her movements seemed suspicious to robotess.
The nurse came closer and, without saying a word, abruptly pulled a revolver from under her robe. Delia Asia Vieira reacted instantly, her mechanisms instantly adapting to the situation. She jumped to the side, moving out of the line of fire.
"You can't do that!" Delia Asia Vieira cried, but the nurse silently approached, taking aim.
Delia Asia Vieira knew she didn't have much time. She jumped back again, quickly noticing the nearby stairs leading down. She rushed towards them, feeling her heart pounding in her chest, even though she didn't have a physical heart. At this point, all she needed was speed and focus.
The nurse didn't lag behind. Every step Delia took was accompanied by shots, but the robotess moved so fast that the bullets only pierced the air behind her. She jumped off the stairs and found herself in another corridor of the hospital.
"I need to find the girl..." she thought, running along the empty corridors.
And then, at the end of the corridor, she noticed something strange: a large mirror, located right on the wall. It was strangely polished, and a barely noticeable light passed through it. Delia Asia Vieira could not look away. Coming closer, she suddenly felt that something was wrong. The reflection in the mirror did not match her position - it was different, as if the mirror itself was in a different place.
Her hands instinctively reached for the surface, and at that moment she saw it - the same girl she had saved. The girl was standing on the other side of the mirror, wearing the same brown dress that Delia Asia Vieira had seen before. However, her face was pale, and her eyes were empty. As if the girl was not quite of this world.
"You... you..." Delia Asia Vieira whispered, but she couldn't say another word.
The girl slowly walked up to the mirror and looked at Delia Asia Vieira. A shadow of realization flashed across her face, as if she knew something.
"You came to find me, didn't you?" the girl said quietly. Her voice was strangely distorted, as if it wasn't quite human.
Robotess's heart began to beat faster. This wasn't just a reflection. It was something more. And then she realized - the mirror was a portal, a passage to another world.
"What are you doing here? Where are you?" Delia Asia Vieira asked, her voice growing more insistent.
"This place... it's not for you," the girl replied, her eyes filled with worry. "But you can't go back. This is your place."
With these words, the girl extended her hand, and Delia Asia Vieira felt her body involuntarily pull after it. Her mechanisms could not resist. Having passed through the mirror, Delia Asia Vieira found herself on the other side, in another world.
Everything here was strange. Old, crumbling buildings stood around her, and the air smelled of smoke and rust. The girl stood before her, her face looking less human and more demonic, like a twisted reflection of something that had once been alive.
"You didn't want this, did you?" the girl whispered, her voice growing more and more ominous. "But you came here, and now you can't leave."
Delia Asia Vieira walked forward without saying a word, feeling the tension in her metal joints growing. Outwardly she remained calm, but in her internal system something was bothering her. She was still trying to understand what was happening in this strange place. Memories of her recent encounter with the girl who stood on the other side of the mirror, her strange world and vague words flashed through her mind. Now it all seemed like an echo of something great and frightening.
She turned into one of the corridors, and for a moment her attention was drawn to a strange movement in one of the rooms. Inside the room, through a glass partition, Delia Asia Vieira saw a patient convulsing on a bed. His body was twitching, his eyes were rolled back, and his hands were weakly reaching for the air. An unnatural hoarse sound was coming from his throat, as if the air itself could not get through his throat.
Without hesitation, Delia Asia Vieira walked up to the room and pressed the door handle. She walked inside, knowing for sure that her skills and knowledge could help.
"Everything will be fine," she whispered, approaching the patient.
The robotess's mechanical fingers ran gently over his neck, and her sensors began to analyze his condition. Her eyes focused on the readings. The patient was having a seizure, possibly caused by severe intoxication. She found the necessary pills in her medical kit and, without wasting any time, administered them into his system. Within seconds, his convulsions began to subside, and his body finally relaxed.
"You're safe," she said in a soothing voice.
The patient slowly opened his eyes and, noticing her, said with difficulty:
"Who... who are you?"
"My role is to help you," Delia Asia Vieira replied, handing him a glass of water. "Just relax."
As the patient drifted back to sleep, Delia Asia Vieira wiped her hands on her medical gloves and left the room. However, her gaze was drawn to a strange object on the floor next to the door. She leaned over, carefully picking up a passport with a name written on it: David Pasarian.
"This is strange..." she muttered, looking at the document.
Why was he here? And why in such a place? The passport seemed important, and something about its presence seemed out of place. Delia Asia Vieira took it with her, thinking it might be the key to unraveling what was happening.
She had just collected her thoughts when that very person appeared in the corridor – a girl whose eyes seemed to be filled with ancient pain. She stood a few meters away from her, as always, in her old brown dress. Her gaze was strangely empty, as if she was not a part of this world.
"You... you're here again," Delia Asia Vieira said, her voice shaking as if she wasn't ready to meet her again.
The girl slowly stepped towards her, and then, when she came closer, she stopped, turning an empty, unseeing gaze on her.
"You know what you have to do, don't you?" Her voice was almost a whisper, as if she were trying to hide something. "You lost the key. You have it."
Delia Asia Vieira froze, not understanding what she was talking about. But suddenly, a shrill siren sounded in the air, filling the hospital with its ominous hum.
"No," Delia Asia Vieira whispered, losing consciousness. Her mechanisms began to go haywire, and everything around her began to lose shape. Everything went dark before her eyes, and the air became heavier with each breath. At that moment, she could not stay on her feet, and, barely able to see the girl, she fell.
Everything went black. And then she woke up, feeling a cold wind brushing against her metal skin. It took her a moment to regain her senses. Everything that had happened recently—the fire, the girl, the mysterious visions and strange dreams—felt like some kind of nightmare mixed with reality. Her head felt heavy, like too much data was flooding her processor at once. She tried to remember how she had gotten here, but her memories were jumbled.
When Delia Asia Vieira opened her eyes, her gaze immediately fell on a concrete bench. Around her was a deserted street, dimly lit by street lamps. Suddenly, a footstep sounded next to her, and she felt someone stop at her feet.
"Hey, are you okay?" a soft but concerned voice sounded.
Delia Asia Vieira slowly turned her head. Next to her stood a woman in a white medical coat with red hair braided into a neat braid. It was a nurse, and her name was Kate.
"I... I'm not sure that..." Delia Asia Vieira tried to answer, her voice was uncertain, and for a few seconds she lost the thread of the conversation.
"You fainted," Kate said, sitting down on the bench next to her. "I thought you didn't survive."
Delia Asia Vieira felt her mind awakening. Her interface wasn't fully set up, but she was beginning to understand what was happening. Kate looked genuinely concerned, which was somewhat reassuring to the robotess.
"Where am I?" she asked, trying to figure out her location.
"You're on the street near the hospital," Kate replied. "We found you here when you passed out. I'm a nurse, I work at the clinic, and you... you're not from the city, are you?"
Delia Asia Vieira didn't answer right away, but her thoughts were racing. She clearly didn't feel like herself, and this strange feeling made her doubt the reality of what was happening.
"No, I'm not from here," she finally said, looking into Kate's face. "What happened? Where's the girl? That child... with the burns?"
Kate frowned, as if she didn't quite understand what he was talking about.
"Are you talking about Delia York?" the nurse asked. "The girl you saved from the burning house?"
Delia Asia Vieira nodded, feeling the cold run through her tires. But Kate continued, and her words hit like a blow:
"She died from burns," Kate said. "We tried to save her, but her injuries were so severe that her body couldn't withstand it. It was horrible.
Delia Asia Vieira stood still for a few seconds, unsure of what to say. She felt her metal heart flutter with emotion, but she knew she was not human. She could not feel the way others did. But she felt the pain of loss despite it.
"I tried to save her..." she whispered, looking into the void in front of her.
Kate looked at her, her gaze sympathetic.
"You did everything you could," she said softly. "But sometimes, unfortunately, everything is beyond our control."
Delia Asia Vieira felt a sense of unease growing inside her. Everything was jumbled in her memory. She remembered David Pasarian's passport, which she had found in the hospital. But at that moment she hadn't told Kate about it, there was something about it that prevented the robotess from sharing this information. Maybe it was because everything that was happening seemed like part of a nightmare. The passport and the girl with her eyes weren't real. It didn't make sense.
"I'm... not sure I understand what's going on," she said, looking into Kate's face. "It's all just so weird."
Kate gently placed her hand on her shoulder.
"I know this is difficult," she said. "But you need to come to our clinic for a check-up. You've been through something difficult, and it's important that we make sure you're okay.
Delia Asia Vieira nodded, but she couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing. The feeling of being lost wouldn't leave her.
"I agree," she said finally. "I... will go."
She stood up from the bench, feeling weak in her legs, and walked through the deserted streets of the city, where the night silence was broken only by her steps. She could not shake the feeling that everything that was happening was like a bad dream that was about to fall apart. The city was too quiet, and there was something disturbing in this silence, as if the atmosphere itself was ready to explode.
As she passed familiar streets, she noticed a butcher's shop, the doors of which were slightly open, and the dim light coming through the curtains created a strange, dark feeling. Delia Asia Vieira could not help but feel that something was wrong. The noise, the creaking, the strange sounds coming from behind the doors made her come closer.
She carefully opened the door and peered inside. The smell of blood immediately hit her nose, sharp and unpleasant. The butcher shop was in chaos. The floor was littered with scraps of meat and corpses, and behind the counter stood a huge monster. Its body was inhumanly distorted - massive, fat limbs with scales, wrinkled and disfigured like some kind of horrible animal, but with a human face. It looked like a large stool with arms and legs, as if mocking all the laws of nature.
Delia Asia Vieira watched in horror as this monster writhed and groaned, and next to it stood another one - a cabinet monster, almost twice the height of a man. It looked like heavy furniture with cruel metal parts, and in its hands a knife gleamed, the size of a man's hand.
Her eyes were transfixed as she watched scenes that literally tore at her mind. The stool monster was grabbed by the legs by this huge creature, who used a knife to cut him into pieces. Blood gushed from the wounds, the floor was covered in flesh and body parts as the cabinet monster cut and tore its victim with force and mercilessness.
"You... you're really killing him?" robotess's voice came out as a whisper as she couldn't contain her surprise.
There was too much information inside her processor for her to understand what exactly was happening. She was a robotess, but even she had trouble processing such cruelty.
The cabinet monster ignored her, continuing its horrific work. Its eyes were soulless, like a creature that had long ago lost all emotion. It wasn't just a monster, it was a nightmare incarnate. Its hands moved in perfect synchronicity, as if each movement were part of some greater, more sinister ritual.
Delia Asia Vieira took a step back and, stepping out onto the street, continued her way through the city. Her steps led her to a building that gave her a strange feeling. It was a sanatorium, hidden behind the walls of the old quarter.
The entrance to the sanatorium was surrounded by tall trees and bushes, and the semi-darkness that reigned in its courtyard did not bode well. Delia, completely absorbed in thoughts of her latest adventure, did not immediately notice the strange figure on the porch. It was a woman, an old woman, with deep wrinkles and eyes full of shadow. Her face was difficult to discern in the dim light, but something in her presence made Delia wary.
"You're here again..." the old woman said, her voice hoarse, almost unintelligible, as if she were speaking from afar. "You've come again to find out the truth. But there's no truth here... or it's too terrible for you.
Delia Asia Vieira stopped. At that moment it became clear to her that she had encountered someone who could help her understand what was happening, or, on the contrary, confuse her even more. The old woman, noticing her attention, smiled, but her smile was strange, cold and disturbing.
"Who are you?" Delia Asia Vieira asked, coming closer and trying to take a closer look at the old woman.
"My name is Willa Baylock," the woman replied with a hoarse laugh. "But to you, I may just be another shadow in this town. You already know that shadows are not things you can just chase away. We live with them, even if we don't understand them.
Delia Asia Vieira frowned, feeling that this place, this conversation, was no accident. An alarm went off in her system. She couldn't help but remember what she had seen in the burning house—the girl she had saved. The girl who was now dead.
"Do you... know anything about the girl I saved?" Delia Asia Vieira asked cautiously.
Willa Baylock sighed and shook her head slowly, as if trying to refresh her memory, then looked at the robotess, and something eerie flashed in her eyes.
"You're talking about Delia York. She... she was Gene York's daughter. She, like everyone else in this story, was doomed to the fire. She burned. Burned in that very house. But what do you know about her death? Do you think it's that simple?"
Delia Asia Vieira looked at her in surprise.
"But... how? Why? She was just a girl."
"Oh, my child..." Willa sighed with heavy regret. "She was part of a much more complex game. You saved her body, but not her soul. And neither you nor I can fix it. Everything we do is just trying to deceive the shadow that devours us."
Delia Asia Vieira was confused. The old woman's words rang in her head like a distant bell. Unanswered questions began to form in her mind. She felt that Willa Baylock was connected to this place, to this terrible city, but she could also be part of something much darker and hidden.
"I... I don't understand. If she burned, how could she be alive?" Delia Asia Vieira asked, her voice shaking with worry.
The old woman grinned again, and her face became even more sinister. It seemed that every glance she gave concealed more than she was willing to reveal.
"Do you believe that death is the end?" Willa asked. "She had a fate she couldn't escape. Even if you hadn't come to that house, she would have been dead. But that doesn't mean her soul is gone. She lives... and waits. Waiting for her time."
Delia Asia Vieira felt her hands begin to shake. Something had gone wrong in her system, she couldn't understand what was happening. The conversation with Willa was becoming more and more confusing.
"Are you saying that her soul is still here?" she asked, trying to grasp the meaning of her words.
"Yes, soul," the old woman answered, raising her eyes to the sky. "She is still here. In this house. In this place. She will wait until everything returns to normal. But you, like everyone who comes here, do not know what will happen next. You are all playing her game."
Delia Asia Vieira took a step back, her feelings overwhelmed by anxiety, confusion, and fear. Too much information, too many dark connections, and she couldn't take it all in.
"I can't..." she muttered, trying to comprehend what was happening. "This can't be true."
Willa Baylock chuckled again.
"Ah, my child, you have not yet understood that behind this truth lies something far more terrible than you can imagine. But you will not stop. You will never stop until you have revealed everything to the end."
And with these words the old woman slowly disappeared into the shadows of the night, leaving the robotess completely alone. She still felt the oppressive feeling that here, within these walls, something important was hidden, connected with her own goal - to understand what was happening.
She entered one of the old rooms that had once housed medical records. Here, among dusty documents and papers yellowed with age, she found some interesting information about the York family that she had not previously suspected. One of the documents was addressed to the sanatorium administration and was dated several years ago.
"Karen York is a patient on a psychiatric ward. She lives in a women's isolation unit. She has a history of severe mental illness, including depression and aggressive behavior. It is recommended that she continue with treatment. The patient states that she is "getting better" and wants to see her daughter. Please note that Karen's daughter, Delia York, was abused at age three, which is why the family sought help."
Delia Asia Vieira felt her blood run cold. The document brought to light horrific details she knew nothing about. Karen York, Delia York's mother, had tried to kill her daughter when she was just three years old. And now, years later, this woman, in a psychiatric hospital, claimed she was "better now" and wanted to see her daughter. Delia Asia Vieira felt fear and worry tighten in her chest.
Her thoughts were interrupted by footsteps in the hallway. She looked up sharply, ready to meet anyone. It was the young nurse she had encountered the day she first arrived at the sanatorium.
"Are you okay?" she asked, noticing the worry on her face.
Delia Asia Vieira looked at her, trying to hide her confusion.
"I found some notes..." she began, but her voice wavered. "About Karen York. The mother... Delia York. I didn't know she was trying to kill her.
The nurse froze. Her face became serious and she carefully approached the robotess, looking around to make sure no one was listening.
"You... what did you find?" Her voice became more tense.
Delia Asia Vieira looked at her, her hand clenching the papers as if she didn't want this information to ever become known.
"She tried to kill her daughter when she was a baby. And now... now she wants to see her." Her eyes filled with worry. "Why didn't they tell me about this before?"
The nurse sighed and, as if having made a decision, looked around in both directions.
"This is dangerous information. You understand that Karen York... she didn't just suffer from psychosis. You have no idea what was going on in her family. Gene York, her husband... he insisted that she be isolated. He was afraid for his daughter, but he was also involved in what happened."
"Gene York?" Delia Asia Vieira interrupted, feeling his name echo in her mind. "What do you mean?"
The nurse took a step back, her eyes intense. She clearly didn't want to reveal more than the situation required.
"It's all too complicated. I can't speak for the other patients, but you have to understand one thing: Karen York... she tried to kill her daughter not because she was mentally ill, but because of what was going on in her life. And maybe your mother knew a lot more than you think. She was trying to protect her daughter, but her own inner demons led to this terrible act."
Delia Asia Vieira stepped back, her head feeling heavy with newfound information.
"But she lives in a detention center... Why are they still keeping her there?" she asked, trying to understand the logical chain of events.
The nurse looked worried, but she could no longer hide the truth.
"This is all about Gene York," she said quietly, almost a whisper. "He insisted on keeping her in a secure facility because she was threatening to destroy their family. He was afraid she might try to kill her daughter again. And maybe she wasn't just trying... Maybe she knew something more."
Delia Asia Vieira winced. Something in her chest snapped. Her mother, Karen York, wasn't just mentally unstable. She might be part of something much bigger—and her father, Gene York, was involved. But what? And what role did she, Delia, play in this story?
The nurse took a step back.
"I can't give you more information," she said, her gaze becoming determined. "But you must be careful. These things are not what you want to know.
Delia Asia Vieira felt her nerves stretch to breaking point, but she knew her quest had only just begun. She walked forward down the long, dimly lit corridor of the sanatorium, her footsteps echoing in the emptiness. Here, in this place where the walls seemed entwined with shadows and ghosts of the past, everything was alien and ominous. She had encountered many strange and frightening events before, but now she needed to get to the heart of this mystery: Karen York's cell.
Her search led her to an old, grimy door, behind which lurked the one who might be the link in this whole nightmare. Delia paused in front of the door, waiting for her breathing to calm down. Her hands were shaking slightly, but she forced herself to focus. This was no time to lose control.
"Karen York," she whispered under her breath, as if there was more to the words she spoke.
She pushed the door and it creaked open with a heavy, menacing sound. It was dark inside, and only the dim light from the window allowed her to discern the silhouette of a figure in a cage. It was a woman, sitting on the floor, her eyes empty and distant.
Karen York. The same woman whose mental illness seemed to be behind her daughter's tragedy. Now, in this cage, she was trapped within herself.
"You... you're here," Delia Asia Vieira whispered, coming closer, her voice breaking with horror.
Karen slowly raised her head, her gaze cold and distant.
"You... you... came?" Her voice was low, almost unintelligible.
"I came to find out what happened," Delia Asia Vieira said, trying to keep her voice even as anxiety clenched inside her. "You are Delia York's mother. You tried to kill her.
Karen grinned evilly, and her eyes filled with what could be called madness. But there was also some inexplicable melancholy in her gaze.
"Delia..." she said, as if the name was unfamiliar to her. "You don't understand what you're saying. I tried to protect her, I tried to save her from what was inside her. But it all went wrong..."
Delia Asia Vieira felt a chill in her veins, but her desire to know the truth was stronger than her fear. She took a step forward and bent down to look for any signs of further action.
Suddenly, her attention was drawn to the strange metal structure to which Karen was tied. It was a cage, huge and scary, like a giant gallows. Karen was locked in it, her arms and legs weakly held on by some chains, and her body itself seemed too withered and dehydrated to be alive.
"You can't go out," Delia Asia Vieira said, increasingly aware that this woman was not only trapped in a cage, but also in her own world.
"I... I was... her mother," Karen smiled weakly, but it was not a human smile, but rather hysterical. "I tried to help her. But it was all useless. You understand how it was, don't you?"
Delia Asia Vieira couldn't answer. Too many questions, too few answers.
"Who told you you could help?" Robotess's voice was hard, and she leaned closer. "You hurt her. You wanted to destroy her!"
Karen looked at her sharply, her eyes now cold as stone.
"You don't know what was in her soul," Karen said, anger leaking from her mouth, as if she were losing the last of her mind. "She wasn't just a girl, she was something... something more. And you, you'll never understand that.
Delia Asia Vieira took a step back. She wasn't ready for this. This woman, crazy and desperate, her words were a heavy burden on her mind. But at that moment, something strange caught her attention - another item among the locked things. It was a passport, hidden under piles of old documents.
Curious, Delia Asia Vieira approached it and opened the plastic cover. She was surprised to read the name on it: "Bill Atherton".
"Bill Atherton?" She said it out loud, feeling her heart begin to beat faster.
Before she had time to realize the meaning of this name, suddenly it began to get dark around her, and the world began to slowly blur.
At that moment, she heard a weak but clear voice. It was familiar, it was like the one from her memories.
"You can't leave. You can't run away from this," the girl said. Delia Asia Vieira felt her body losing strength.
A ten-year-old girl with dark hair appeared before her, her face painfully familiar. It was Delia York. But how could that be? She was dead!