Noel’s form shifted and blurred as she approached the counter, but as she was almost within touching distance of the woman, her entire body melted into the background. Those colorless flames started to leak into the reception room, painting the drab walls a wiggling black as if Noel was in the process of infecting the whole place with her strange powers. A few seconds later, the redhead - er, I guess you couldn’t see her hair color now, so the uh, inky flaming blob-woman - appeared right next to Sarah. Noel’s face was eerily still as she placed a hand on the other's neck.

  I had thought that Sarah wouldn’t react, since she was in her robot mode, but I saw the ghost of a flinch, barely perceptible, pass through her as Noel’s creepy death flames touched the nurse. How odd, that was the first time I’d seen Sarah react before she had a proper idea of an individual’s role. Once again, I was pondering the question of just how this mysterious nurse worked.

  “T-this is a restricted space, ma’am.” Sarah stammered, pointing at the sign to her side. “For employees o- only.”

  Noel leaned in closer, her face only inches away from the poor shivering nurse. She pushed the paper closer to Sarah. “But I am already hired. Did you not, perhaps, read the contract?”

  I saw Sarah’s eyes dart at the paper before she wiggled a little bit in her seat in a vain attempt to distance herself from Noel. You’d think that she wouldn’t be so creeped out about an inky black hell-creature, given the normal coworkers that she had, but maybe she was acting this way because Noel reminded her of the Director. Both of them have that abyss motif going for ‘em, I suppose.

  “I- I mean, yes, you are technically a staff member, but-”

  Noel gave the nurse an icy glare. “But what? Are staff not allowed here? Is there a rule for that?”

  “No, but…” Sarah gave me another pleading look, and this time I think I could afford to help her out a little. Noel’s made a strong enough impression already.

  I walked over to the two and grabbed Noel by the scruff of her neck - how I managed to do that I didn’t quite know since she was mostly intangible - and unceremoniously dumped her back on the correct side of the reception desk.

  “You can’t be there because I said so,” I grunted, “I make the rules here.”

  Noel looked at me for a second before relenting. This was one of the scenarios that we had planned for prior, but seeing Noel enact what I told her so perfectly was beyond strange. She had been… well, she had been her normal self during rehearsals. That was to say, goofing off and completely unfocused. Yet true to the Regressor and Vadeem’s words, the crazy lady had, in fact, paid attention.

  “T-thank you, Dr. Walter.”

  I nodded. “Now are there any questions you have for our new hire?”

  “Right,” she composed herself - or tried her best to in any case - and addressed Noel once more. “It says here that you are also here to provide security, but does your job overlap with your coworker?”

  “He’s responsible for making sure that the hospital’s secure from external threats,” Noel said, her voice smooth and cold, “I am here to reduce the number of external threats that will test our defenses.”

  “I… I see…”

  “And,” Noel continued, a ghost of a smile starting to creep up her lips, “I make sure that any staff member who does not listen to Dr. Walter’s instructions is properly taken care of. He will be the interim Director, and I hope for your sake-” Noel glared at the poor woman hard. “-that his orders are followed to the tee.”

  “Y-yes, of course,” Sarah gulped, “You’ll find that there are no regulations being ignored here at Hope’s Memorial.”

  “Good. Is that all?”

  “That’s everything! Thank you for your time!” Sarah paused for a second. “Oh, there’s normally an employee handbook, but I guess we can skip that part of the procedures given the circumstances… But please do pay attention to the general rules!”

  I nodded and gave my two friends a map of the Hospital. “I have a meeting with the Director right now. Please take the time to familiarize yourself with this building’s layouts. The other staff should be informed of your presence, and won’t hinder you in anything that you do.”

  “Got it,” Noel said, “Where shall we meet you when we’re done?”

  “Dinner hall,” I answered, “I’m not sure when I’ll finish my meeting, but I won’t be late for food. We can talk more then.”

  “Understood.” Noel gave Sarah one final look before walking off. “Let’s go, Vadeem.”

  * * *

  The atmosphere was as bleak as I remembered it since my last visit to Hope’s Memorial. No, perhaps it had gotten worse since then. The staff was on edge and even the normal greetings that I’d get as Dr. Walter was muted and half-hearted. Everyone was doing their best to remain calm, but it was clear that the dread of the approaching incursion was on the minds of every staff present. I didn’t blame them, if my information was correct, the Director almost never leaves for an extended period of time like this.

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  I did my best to assure the staff that everything was under control, but it was a futile effort. Hell, even my mood started to sour by the time I reached the Director’s office. I shook my head and forced the melancholy out of my body before knocking on the plain wooden door.

  “Come in, Dr. Walter,” the Director’s familiar, calming voice said. “We’ve been expecting you.”

  I did as I was told, entering the familiar office and waving a greeting to the people seated. Abigail was at the head of the table, while only Molly - in her doll form this time - remained at the side.

  “Babylon couldn’t risk coming here so close to the incursion, and neither can my main body, but you can understand me in this form so that’s hardly an issue,” Molly explained, anticipating my question. “I can relay the new information we’ve managed to obtain.”

  I opened my mouth for another question, only for Molly to answer it before I spoke.

  “The kids are fine, Walter. Bob’s got an entire cohort of playmates for the two right now, they’re so busy that I only need a small fragment of my presence there to supervise.” Molly shook her head. “I doubt they’d even want to come back after their little retreat.”

  “And…” the Director began, her gaze focusing on the new glowing tattoos on my body. I wasn’t quite sure why that was important, but it didn’t seem like an appropriate time to ask. “Um, Molly has also informed me about your background. How… how you’re not originally from here.”

  I winced, unsure how to react to that. I felt bad; I never wanted to lie to the woman about this. The circumstances didn’t allow me any other choice, but how could someone believe that?

  “It’s fine, Will- well, I guess it’s just Walter now,” Abigail continued her tone on the cusp of wavering. “I know you didn’t have any other option. I… I can’t say I’m completely fine after learning that so many of my memories of you are fabricated, but that doesn’t mean that I blame you for it. If anything, I’m just glad you chose to come here at all, and nothing will ever matter more than the help you’ve given to my daughter.

  “If anything, the fact that you’d sacrifice so much for a-” she sighed, the next words coming out of her mouth strained. “A stranger like myself speaks volumes about you. But… but it’s fine if you choose to cut ties. I understan-”

  I couldn’t bear it any longer and went over to hug the poor woman. She hesitated at first but eased into my embrace. Sure, I originally came here under the pretense of a lie, but I’ve grown to think of Hope’s Memorial and all of its quirks as a second home over the last few months.

  “Enough of that. Look,” I whispered, “I’m sorry I withheld this for so long, but know this.” I backed off and looked into her eyes, hoping my sincerity showed. “No matter what happens in the future, I am still the illustrious Dr. Walter of Hope’s Memorial, uncle to Alice and Toby’s creator. Nothing will change that, and there’s nothing in the whole damned multiverse that’ll stop me from helping this hospital.”

  Abigail gave me a weak smile and hugged me again. I could tell that a bit of the built-up tension had dissipated from her body. Was she afraid that I’d abandon this place since I was never a “true” member of it before?

  “I think that’s enough moping around, you two,” Molly said, rolling her eyes. “As much as a heartwarming scene like this warms my heart, we do have an invasion to stop. The kids still need a home to come back to, no matter how much they might like Bob’s playground now.”

  I went back to my chair and tried my best to salvage the atmosphere. “I’m glad those two are having a great time at least. And knowing Bob, he’s probably gone overboard with the gadgets.”

  “I got to take a look at the facility a short while ago, and Lord Babylon’s done an amazing job.” The Director smiled, a real one this time. “Anyway, it’s nice that it’s just the three of us here, it feels less formal in any case, not that I mind Babylon’s presence of course. That man’s helped update so many of the aging tech in this hospital. We’ve seen an almost 80% efficiency increase since.”

  “And we’ve only converted less than a third of the total infrastructure,” Molly added, “But we’re not here to talk about the renovations, are we?”

  “True enough,” the Director sighed. “There’s some pertinent information that you’ll need before we start.”

  “Did we learn anything new?”

  “Something like that,” Molly answered, “We have rough numbers and general info about the invaders.”

  “What’s the details?”

  “The foes are humans,” Abigail began but stopped when she saw me frown. “Oh, not the ones that I supervised for you. I believe these ones come from another plane; humans are one of the more common species around so it’s not surprising that they make up the bulk of the invader forces.”

  I nodded again. I believe Greta had said the same thing before, although I still can’t wrap my mind around the whole multiverse thing. Did that mean that Big Bob created all of the humans around, or just this small group in this universe? In fact, did that mean that there were other versions of Big Bob floating around…? No, that couldn’t be it. If there’s one thing I knew for certain, it’s that there was only one Bob around.

  I shook my head. These are gods I’m talking about, there’s no point trying to understand how they work. It’s probably like how Molly and Abigail could be in different places simultaneously.

  I nodded for the Director to continue.

  “Anyway, they number roughly 5000, and according to Molly and Babylon, this particular group has already completed three other sieges like this one.”

  “I see… so they’re veterans at this point,” I muttered, “It’s concerning, but also exploitable, especially if they’re humans. I know how this species thinks, and they can get predictable.”

  “Good,” Abigail continued, “We’ll need every advantage we can get here.”

  She gestured for Molly to take it from here.

  Molly nodded. “Bob also informed me that this batch of humans has finished up to the seventh Trial with an average level of around 150 and three job advancements, although what that entails eludes me. He said you’d know what that means.”

  I frowned.

  That was a lot stronger than even Noel and Vadeem. I’ll have to think of a way to even the odds, even temporarily so. Maybe I could exploit something with the Hospital and how it integrates the people into its staff. I mean, I certainly felt different when I first turned into Dr. Walter, and Vadeem seemed stronger as well.

  “Quick question,” I said, “I think it goes without saying that being hired as a staff member changes the individuals here, right?”

  “That’s standard procedure,” Abigail said, as if that were common knowledge, but paused when she remembered my unique place in the hospital. “Sorry, I forgot. I mean, the hospital can hardly run without that feature, so they’re enhanced when they’re a part of the staff. Why do you ask?”

  I nodded slowly. “The invaders are a little stronger than I anticipated, so I’ll need to know all of the tools I have at my disposal. Tell me everything that you can about how Hope’s Memorial works.”

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