Play with Fire

Chapter 1

Delilah stood and watched as the two doctors drained the liquid from the tank. Inside was the body of a young ginger man, subject 826. Every patient at the Indian Hill Facility had their own doctor to look after them and track their progress. Subject 826 was to be hers. She had nursed many patients and inmates before, but this was something new, even to her. She was told the superiors had big plans for this one. She wasn't too interested in their plans, seeing how she was just there to do what was asked of her. She knew all too well she was in no position to question any motives or the authority. She knew better.

The two doctors had brought the subject out of the preservation tank and laid him onto a patient transport table. He was to be taken to Delilah's lab. The only time she wouldn't be attending him was when she was either sleeping or the rare few hours break she got.

At the beginning of her employment, she was certain she didn't want to be working anywhere else. Now, she wasn't so sure of her decision. She couldn't deny that the pay was good, that her every need was taken care of and that her quarters were comfortable to live in, but... the true ethics, or rather the lack of them, was what sat wrong with her. Only after a good year of employment had she realized just how tight the security was and how closely everyone was watched. Observed, really. Every single one of her actions were questioned. If she didn't provide a suitable answer... well, she didn't like to think about the consequences. It wasn't rare for her co-workers to be there one day then gone the next, as if they had disappeared into thin air. She knew that wasn't the case, but she never dug any deeper into the matter. She didn't want to admit it, but she feared what she would discover. The superiors here ran a tight ship. Once you signed that contract, you signed your life away. You would remain working for them until you expired, and if she had learned anything from her years of working there, the employment would continue long after your heart had stopped beating. She was thankful for one thing however, the fact that she was the one observing and testing and not the one on the receiving end.

Delilah escorted the two other doctors and subject 826 to her lab and allowed them access with her identity card. "Put him over there," she said, pointing to the center of the room. The two doctors pushed the transport table to the spot specified and applied the brakes. They then left without a single word. She closed the door behind them and collected a few papers. She brought a pad and a file over to the small table beside her patient. After pulling a small recording device from her lab coat, she pressed the record button and set it down next to the papers. "This is Doctor Delilah Smith speaking. The date is the second of November 2019. I am situated in lab 306," she shuffled through some papers. "Doctor Strange had requested that I alone will observe patient 826 throughout. I will be the one administering his treatment for the foreseeable future. Patient 826, formerly known as Mr. Jerome Valeska, came out of his preservation tank ten minutes ago. Today I must perform routine tests and record my findings." She pressed the record button again to stop the recording.

Taking a deep breath and looked down to the corpse. "Good morning, Mr. Valeska. My name is Doctor Delilah Smith and I shall be your doctor. Now, have you any pain anywhere?" She received no reply from the corpse. However, it wasn't like she expected one. The silence of the lab could become unnerving without any noises and she felt talking to herself and the patient helped alleviate her creeped out feelings. "Of course you don't." She smiled to herself. She brought her attention back to the papers next to her and scanned them. "Right, first things first, I have to wire you up. Don't move, I'll be back soon."

The lab was a pristine white. She hated it, but she was told no personal effects were allowed in the work space. Figures. No one was allowed to be unique here. Everyone was expected to allow themselves to be programmed and become robots.

A few moments later Delilah returned, pushing a small monitor with a number of wires. She set up the monitor. It let off a small bleep as it turned on. Once she had plugged some of the wires into the device, she moved over to Jerome. "This might be a little cold, sorry," she said, she placed a wire with a sticky pad onto either side of his head. A drip slid into his wrist. "I hate the feel of drips, so unnatural." She told him as she heard another voice from behind her.

"Lilah, you do know they can't hear you, right?" Delilah turned to see fellow doctor, Caspian, standing in the doorway, arms folded and a smile on his face. 'Lilah' was what she liked to be called, and Caspian, who she'd been friends with for a little under a month, had caught on. "I know. I just don't like the quiet." She shrugged. The blond haired doctor entered the room and joined her next to the monitor. "If the brain isn't ticking, the ears aren't listening," he told Delilah. He looked down at the body. "Patient 826 huh? Got your hands full there."

She looked to him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, it's Jerome Valeska isn't it? He was a troublemaker when he was alive. A crazy, psychopathic nutcase." Oliver looked the pale figure up and down a few times.

"Really?" Delilah found herself asking.

He looked at her, surprised. "You...didn't know?"

She shook her head.

"You might want to do some research into this one, then. Just so you know what you're letting yourself into." He turned to leave. "But I think you two will get along just fine. After all, you're not afraid of clowns, are you?" He smirked and left the room, closing the door behind him.

Delilah's eyes fell to Jerome again. "Troublemaker, huh?"

Delilah sat at the desk in her bedroom. She licked her index finger and flicked the page over. She usually read the patient's file once and that was enough for her. But after her co-worker's warning, she decided to do a little more digging. She had discovered he was part of the group known as 'The Maniax', most of which were also deceased. Looking up for a moment to tie back her copper-colored hair, she wondered if any of them were also in the facility. "Maniax," She read aloud, reading the description of the group. She wasn't surprised when she discovered they were just a group of mentally unstable individuals who had escaped from Arkham Asylum a few months back. They later revealed themselves to Gotham as the Maniax. "So you're an outlaw, huh?" she muttered to herself. "That's actually kind of cool. Minus the murdering spree stuff." She glanced over to her clock beside her bed and was surprised. Was that really the time? She placed the papers back into a folder and got ready for bed. It had been a long day.

A dark room. Surrounded by silence.

Delilah saw a small glimpse of light.

It was a tank.

She recognized the being inside. She approached the tank to take a closer look.

"Delilah..."

She heard a sing-song whisper. She turned around only to find nothing but darkness behind her. She turned back to face the tank.

His eyes were open.

Delilah jumped back and landed on her backside. She looked up to subject 826. She saw his mouth turn up into a mischievous smile.

Delilah shot up in her bed. It took her a second or two to catch her breath. She looked down at her pajamas. They were covered in sweat. She lay back down with a sigh, it was just a dream. And just then, her alarm rang, further rattling her. Without having to look at it, her arm flew over to it and slammed down on the button.