Into The Aether

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Pathologist

The building creaked and groaned in the still night. The room was aglow with the lantern that sat on Richtofen's desk. Various tomes lay strewn about its surface with scattered pages of notes throughout. The Doctor sat behind the chaos but was clearly unphased by the madness - he was completely in his element. His visor and gloves sat neatly next to him on a solitary portion of the desk that remained free of the ever encroaching chaos. On his chair, his jacket lay slung across the back of it.

The voices were especially cruel tonight; despite his valiant efforts to carry out their demands. He had spent days pouring through every piece of knowledge this facility had to offer. Yet, he was no closer to finding his next destination. And with the commotion in Der Riese he had also dropped his diary - which he cursed profusely.

"Verdammt!" Richtofen spat.

The window nearby allowed the wind to whistle loudly into the room. As he cried out, a sudden gust picked up causing him to instinctively get up to close the window. As it thudded shut, one of the voices spoke up.

"She is distracting you, Edward. By now you would've solved this... or maybe you are stalling? We cannot accept hesitation. Your ascension awaits, Doctor! Do not waste this opportunity", it hissed.

Then another voice came forward.

"It is ALL your fault! You don't deserve to ascend. You are STUPID and INCOMPETENT!" The second voice screamed.

"Shut up!" Richtofen yelled aloud.

He clutched his head as it filled with a sea of voices. The noise was suffocating and he was nearing his limit as he slumped down the wall and onto the floor.

"You need to get rid of her", a calm quiet voice spoke which caused the others to halt in silence.

"Yes, she is interfering. She wants to convince you to stop. But why not have both? Use her and then discard her; she will persist in your thoughts otherwise. You are above such primitive urges - do not let it cloud that brilliant mind of yours!" The voice insisted as it took a different approach to convincing the doctor.

"N- no -- NEIN! To vhat do depths vill jou all drag me down to?!" He exclaimed in disbelief.

He was a man of unscrupulous morals but even he had his limits. Though, he would be lying if he said he had not at least felt a morsel of temptation. He often thought about what it would be like - to have her.

"The diary was taken by the Soviets, you must go to there and retrieve it", a quiet voice whispered.

Richtofen had buried his head in his arms before slowly looking up and around the room in surprise.

Was it helping him?

Richtofen jumped to his feet as he ran back to his desk and hastily collected the papers he needed to take with him. He did not have that many belongings but it felt good to feel like he was doing something. Then, through the flurry of paperwork, he suddenly stopped. His ears caught onto a sound coming from the stage.

Richtofen crept over to look out at the stage from his ivory tower. He had found comfort in being tucked away, high up in the projector room, but it also allowed for him to keep a close eye on her. His eyes widened as he saw her sitting up in the sofa gasping for breath; but her anguish did not please him. He wondered to himself what she could have dreamt about to cause such a reaction - it was not exactly easy to instil fear in her.