Abigail and Molly took the next hour or so going over the key points of the Hospital’s operations, and what it truly meant to be the acting Director. The end results were… well, they were strange, to say the least, but the key takeaway was that everything hinged on that plain receptionist Sarah. I was also able to figure out, at least in part, who the mysterious nurse/receptionist was.

  If I understood what the two told me, Sarah was Hope’s Memorial. Like, she was the embodiment of the building itself. She was the reason why the rules could be enforced, why the Director could be in so many places at once, and she was key to the continued survival of Abigail’s home. There was a lot of other information, of course, but those things would only make sense once I officially took the place of the Director. For now, I stored the information in the back of my mind and allowed Noe to think of uses for all that data. There was only one thing that bugged me about what I was told.

  “Hold on,” I frowned. “I get that Sarah’s the hospital, and that she’s in charge of enforcing the rules, but I’ve seen staff and patients break them all the time. Heck, I was running around like a maniac catching those rule-breakers! How come Sarah didn’t just, I don’t know, erase them or something?”

  Molly and Abigail sighed almost at the same time. The Director spoke up. “That used to be the case, before the Central Collective showed up.” She chuckled half heartedly. “I remember a time before we needed the enforcement staff… but that was a long time ago…”

  “What changed?”

  “After my predecessor sighed that damned contract, the abilities of the hospital has been in decline. It's like a disease, slowly whittling away at our health, and we can't do a damn thing about it.” Abigial gave another deprecating laugh. “We’re a shadow of our former self. “No one can find the reason for it, but me and Molly have done our best to try to maintain normalcy since." She paused briefly. We… we live off rules, and it’s the least we can do for our staff to pretend they still mean something, even if I have to enforce them myself.”

  “Hang on,” I muttered, “This change only occurred after Central arrived, yeah?”

  Abigail nodded.

  I smiled after confirming something with Noe. “I might be able to do something about this then… Do you mind calling in Sarah?”

  “We were going to do that anyway, but I suppose you have a plan?”

  “Yeah,” I nodded. “I have a way to mess with Central’s operations, and especially with the entity that’s made a huge mess of this place.”

  “You mean that system they call the Origin Matrix?” Abigail inquired. “I’ve read a lot about it during my stay as your double, and if the information is accurate then it’s… it’s terrifying. Can you truly go against it?”

  “I’ve already done so,” I grinned. “It hates my guts now. But in any case, yes, I can screw with the Origin Matrix, but I’ll need access to his hospital’s core to undo whatever it is that it’s done here.”

  “Making a mess of things as always… I’m glad that part of you isn’t a lie.” The Director shook her head. “Never mind, but I can see why you would need Sarah.” She paused to think for a second. “Okay, there might be a slight change of plans, but I’ll get her. Just give me a second.”

  The Director said, picking up the intercom system next to her desk and called the woman in question over. In a surprisingly short amount of time, Sarah - whom I didn’t even know could move from her desk now that I thought about it - arrived and stood at attention. From the looks of things, the nurse wasn’t acting like a robot, or I guess it was more accurate to say like a building, right now. Seems like her attention's solely on us at the moment.

  “You called for me, ma’am?”

  “Yes, Sarah,” the Director said, “Please, have a seat.”

  She nodded and did as instructed.

  “I’m sure that you already know, but Dr. Walter will be taking over my role in the coming days while I am away.”

  “Of course, ma’am.”

  “Good,” Abigail continued, “Now the good doctor needs your assistance for a procedure before he officially takes over. Just do as he says and it should go well.”

  “I will assist in any way that I can, Director, but... are you sure he has full access? You know that-”

  Abigail cut the other woman off. “He has my full authority going forth, do you understand?”

  “All of it, ma’am? That would require the doctor’s status to be changed, and that is assuming what he plans to do is even possible.” Sarah asked, hesitation clear in her voice. “You have been the only one who could fulfill the requirements thus far, Director. Do you wish to risk it?”

  The Director looked at me. “Are you sure this will work, Walter?”

  “Positive,” I said, although I still wasn’t sure what all of that other talk was about. It didn’t matter though. I had full trust in my Noe.

  “Then I am sure of it, Sarah.” She answered with conviction. “I know that full well of the risks, and I approve. The idea was to just have Walter take over for a week, but there has been a change of plans.”

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  Sarah grew increasingly uncomfortable looking. “If you give the all clear, then so be it. But Director, I must remind you that if he has full control then I can’t guarantee-”

  “I know the risks, Sarah, I’ve said so already. Do it.” the Director said again, her tone leaving no room for questions. “I trust Dr. Walter with my life, and I trust him with the wellbeing of Hope’s Memorial.”

  “I… I see. I understand, Director.” She turned to me. “Please, do what you need to do, doctor, no, I suppose you are the vice-director now, Walter, if, of course, you finish the initiation process.”

  She gave me a formal bow. Okay… I guess I just got promoted. Huh. I gave the Director and Molly a questioning glance.

  Abigail returned a wry smile and explained. “If you’re to do what you need, then you’ll need more authority than a simple physician or even the acting Director can do. I’ve simply allowed you to do your task, Walter. Go, do what you need to do, and don’t worry about anything else. I trust you.”

  I scratched the side of my face, unsure how to react, but I decided to just go with the flow as always. “Um, okay, and thanks for the show of confidence.”

  Abigail chuckled. “You are welcome, but shouldn’t my soon-to-be vice-director do his job right about now?”

  I laughed as well and nodded. “Right you are.”

  Noe, any idea on how to fuck with the Trash Matrix here?

  “I will need closer contract with Hope’s Memorial,” she explained. “Hold Sarah’s hand and tell her to lower her metal guards. I will infiltrate the Trash Matrix’s code through her.”

  I relayed the information to the woman, and after getting the approval of the Director one last time, I held Sarah’s hand close and allowed Noe to do her thing. Abigail and Molly’s eyes turned intense the second Noe started, and even Sarah had an astonished expression on her face, all of them clearly in awe at whatever it was that I appeared to be doing. But from my point of view, I was just… awkwardly holding Sarah’s hands. I couldn’t see or even feel anything that Noe was doing.

  And so I just sat there while the others stared at me like I was a saint for close to half an hour. The only indication that anything was happening at all was the display showing my Luck Charges slowly tick down. I couldn’t have been happier when I saw that the Luck Charges started to slow down and eventually stop, signaling the completion of Noe’s grand work. That was when I felt the true change of my System’s magic.

  Hope’s Memorial underwent a fundamental change in an instant. It wasn’t a tangible one that one could see with their eyes, but I - and I would bet good money that everyone associated with this hospital - felt the change in their souls. The oppressive atmosphere of dread and despair morphed into one of, er, even more dread I suppose, but it was the good kind? It was hard to explain given the shift in outlooks between humanity and this hospital’s inhabitants, but the new dread was invigorating to the inhabitants. I could feel the renewed energy like never before as Hope’s Memorial regained something it had long, long lost.

  However, while that might have been the end of the changes for the other staff, I noticed something else. Whatever new role I was assigned, or perhaps it was due to Noe’s fiddling, had fundamentally changed my relationship with Hope’s Memorial. I could feel the building as an extension of my own body, and if I closed my eyes and concentrated, I could perceive every living being in its confines. I’m pretty sure that I could do more than just look at things as well, and I had a sneaking suspicion that I could make some fatal changes to the Hospital’s layout and function.

  Say, Noe. I know that the Trash Matrix and its minions got things monitoring my involvement in future trials, but do you think they’ll notice me using Sarah as a medium to fuck with them?

  “I do not believe so, but it would be prudent to test this out first, my Host,” my lovely system replied. “My Luck Charges will ensure that small-scale experiments will be outside of any detection methods, so it would be best to test your hypothesis when the first scouting party arrives.”

  I felt a smirk creep up my features. That’s perfect… If things go well, then I almost feel bad for the poor fools coming here.

  I didn’t have too much time to ponder the implications of this new link as the shock of what I had done finally wore off and the others in the room regained some semblance of brain function.

  “You… you actually did it,” Abigail muttered, her face a mask of equal parts disbelief and shock. “I mean, I know you can do things that I never thought possible, but…”

  I smiled and let the equally shocked Sarah go. “I told you I could. I mean, I have to pull my weight if I’m going to be the vice-director here.”

  The second I was free and the Director had recovered enough to fully understand what had happened, Abigail rushed over and engulfed me in a tight bear hug. “Walter, I- I don’t know what to say. First, it was my daughter, and now this?”

  Molly strolled over and rolled her eyes at the sight. “You can start by thanking him, madam. And please remember that you are working at the moment, we are with company.”

  Abigail blushed and awkwardly separated from me. “R-right.”

  She cleared her throat and composed herself, a smile that I’d only seen her use when I first created Toby appearing on her once gloomy face. “Thank you, vice-director Walter. You have done a great service for Hope’s Memorial, and everyone working here owes you our gratitude.” She squeezed my hand. “Thank you… I mean it.”

  Molly rolled her eyes. “Okay, that’s enough of the sentiments for now. Can someone please check up on Sarah? I can’t communicate with anyone else besides you two in this form, but please remember that she should be the one feeling the most change from Walter’s tinkering.”

  “R-right,” Abigail stuttered, “Sorry, this is unlike me, I mean, I knew Walter would succeed, but I never thought he’d be able to… never mind. That’s irrelevant for now.” She turned to the nurse. “I apologize for neglecting you as well, Sarah. Are you okay?”

  Sarah blushed and shook her head. “No, it’s fine, Director. I’m just as surprised at the change as well. Vice-director Walter has… I don’t even know how to word it. We’ve had other initiation ceremonies before, but this was different. I haven’t felt like this in centuries. But yes, I am fine; no, I’m more than fine. I feel fantastic.” She turned to me and bowed again, even lower this time. “Thank you, Walter.”

  “Now you guys are just making me blush,” I said with a chuckle. “But I have a quick question. I feel like I’m, I don’t know how to say this-”

  “Like you’re a part of this place?” Abigail finished my thought.

  “Yeah, that.”

  She smiled. “That’s because you are the vice-director, Walter. I suppose I should give you the rundown of your new role. And before you ask, there are very stringent requirements for the position, so that’s why the role was left vacant for so long.”

  “What was the requirement that I managed to fill, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  Abigail grinned. “Why, you had to be able to commune with Sarah on a fundamental level. Even so, it appears that you’ve gone well above what was required as well. It was a good thing you offered to fix our issue because none of us would have thought to give you the position otherwise. This will make the battle ahead much easier. Let me explain what you can do now.”

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