Hugo withdrew his gaze and turned to the warden beside him.
"Put Chief Guard Herman in a cell. Follow standard procedure."
The warden swallowed hard.
At Arkham, "cells" and "patient rooms" were two very different things.
Patient rooms were still places for human beings. Cells were for people who no longer even had names.
Putting a chief guard in one would undoubtedly destroy her future.
But he dared not speak up for Herman any further. Between offending Hugo and sacrificing a subordinate's future, he decisively chose the latter.
"Take her away." The warden waved a hand as though shooing off an annoying fly.
Two special guards stepped forward, one on each side, and gripped Herman's upper arms.
She was led away.
The warden wiped away his sweat in embarrassment. "Professor Strange, then I-"
"You may go back and rest," Hugo said directly.
The warden left at almost a jog.
Ririko rose from her chair, walked around the broad desk, and came up behind Hugo.
She leaned down, resting her chin in the hollow of his shoulder, her lips close to his ear.
"How are you going to deal with her? You can't let her live comfortably and eat well."
"Arkham's cells have never been places for comfort or good food."
Ririko shifted, moving her chin onto his shoulder blade and pressing her cheek against his shirt, feeling the contours of his back.
"What about me? Do I still have to stay in that patient room every day?" Her voice carried a fragile note she made a show of trying to hide. "If someone bullies me again, could you really bear it?"
Hugo raised his right hand and covered the back of the hand she had draped around his waist.
"You can help with miscellaneous tasks in the experimental section for now, but you may only move within designated areas."
Out of Hugo's sight, the corners of Ririko's mouth lifted.
She had finally achieved her goal.
She had endured all this time to get something on Herman-not only to get rid of someone she hated, but to seize the opportunity to gain more privileges.
As long as she could leave that damned patient room, she would have a chance to get close to Thomas Wayne.
She kissed Hugo on the cheek.
[Core character: Hugo Strange] [Current infatuation value: 50/100]
Hugo's fingers tightened slightly over the back of her hand.
"From now on, you must not do that without my approval."
Ririko withdrew her hand from his waist, straightened, and took a step back.
"Yes, Professor Strange."
Honestly... an old man whose words said no while his body said yes.
Ririko put on a white jumpsuit and pulled the zipper all the way from her left hip to her right shoulder.
She looked herself over in the mirror and decided it was passable. The cut was clumsy and ugly, but at least she was rid of that patient gown.
She also received an Arkham employee badge and moved into a dorm room in the Staff South Zone.
The room was about two square meters larger than her old patient room and even had a window, though it still looked out onto Arkham's central light well.
The bedding was reasonably comfortable, and the toiletries no longer came in plain white tubs. They were name-brand products purchased from outside.
Ririko hung her badge around her neck, considering whether she should take a few more bottles of nutritional supplements from Hugo's fridge and stash them under her bed.
But she quickly dismissed the idea. She now had access to the staff cafeteria, where she could choose her main dish, sides, and dessert at every meal.
When it was time for "work," she went to the Experiment Area on the first basement level.
Her guide was a middle-aged laboratory technician named Derek. He was balding, with a round face and three coffee stains on his white coat.
When he saw Ririko, he stared for quite a while before remembering what he was supposed to do.
"You're responsible for laboratories three through seven in Zone B. Record the test subjects' vital signs every two hours. Here are the forms. Put them in this folder when you're done, and don't lose them."
Ririko took the stack of forms.
Her gaze swept over the laboratories, and she asked a question she had wanted to ask for a long time.
"Jerome Valeska. Which laboratory is he in?"
Derek's steps faltered.
"Valeska? He was transferred."
"Transferred where?"
"He's no longer at Arkham. That's classified. Don't ask any more questions." Derek lowered his voice, afraid someone might hear them discussing a test subject.
Ririko had not expected Jerome to have actually been sent away.
Perhaps because she had eaten that burger of his, she felt a little hollow inside.
"This is number three." Derek stopped in front of a door.
She picked up a pen and recorded the heart rate, blood pressure, medication parameters, and other data on the form.
"The test subject in number five isn't going to last much longer," Derek called from up ahead. "We need a termination record over there."
Ririko closed the folder and headed toward the No. 5 Laboratory.
Two staff members in blue protective suits stood beside the bed, lifting the body beneath a white sheet onto a wheeled stretcher.
Ririko glanced at the label: Test Subject B-307.
Experiment duration: fourteen months.
Research project: Sensory Substitution Enhancement Study.
"What is sensory substitution enhancement?"
Derek said, "We stimulate the brain with electrical currents to convert visual signals into signals for other senses. The failure rate is too high... we're always having to replace the test subjects."
Expressionless, she lowered her head and wrote several zeros on the form.
At lunch in the cafeteria, Ririko carried a stainless steel tray holding a serving of roast chicken, a bowl of miso soup, a small dish of pickled radish, and a slice of strawberry cake wrapped in plastic.
She found a seat by the wall.
People sat around the cafeteria in twos and threes, eating, chatting, and complaining about overtime and work pressure.
Ririko chewed her chicken, her ears already tuned to the conversation at the next table.
"Have you heard about Herman?"
"Who hasn't? It's all over Zone B."
"What actually happened? How did she suddenly get-"
"No idea. The warden's office has suppressed everything. They haven't even announced what she did."
"All I know is that she's locked up in E Block."
"E Block? Isn't that where they keep-"
"Shh."
Ririko crunched a piece of pickled radish, committing their words to memory.
With Jerome gone, Arkham was a little less fun.
Maybe I could find some entertainment in E Block?
She was only a new employee. Even if she was caught, all she needed to do was pretend she had gotten lost.
Following Arkham's floor plan, she made her way to the cells in E Block.
The cells smelled different from the patient rooms.
The patient rooms smelled of disinfectant, bleach, and air freshener.
The smell of the cells was more honest.
Rust, sweat, moldy bedding, and that sour tang produced when people spent too long trapped in cramped spaces, their anxiety and fear fermenting together.
Ririko stood at the entrance to the E Block cells.
A man in his forties looked up at her.
"I'm a laboratory technician from Zone B." Ririko waved her badge in front of him. "The No. 5 Laboratory needs a replacement test subject. Has anyone new been brought in today?"
The man's gaze lingered on her face, then moved to her badge, and he nodded.
"One came in yesterday." He opened the register on his desk.
Ririko said casually, "We'll take her, then. Make it quick. Zone B is waiting."
The man picked up his radio, said a few things, then pressed several buttons on the control panel.
He stood and led Ririko deeper into the cell block.
The corridor was narrow, lined on both sides with heavy iron doors.
The man stopped in front of a door and swiped his card. The lock released with a heavy clunk.
The door opened.
Herman sat in the corner.
Her guard uniform was gone, replaced by a grayish-white prison uniform.
Her hair had come loose from its once-immaculate bun, several gray strands hanging beside her face. She looked ten years older.
The instant she saw Ririko, her eyes flew wide open.
Before you continue