Leaving home

What a blessing it is to stop feeling pain. I couldn't even imagine how delightful it felt! Just twenty minutes ago, I'd thought I was used to the not-so-pleasant body sensations, having learned to concentrate on my thinking, but it was still a bit like a toothache: when you were distracted, you could forget about it completely, but the moment you hit it, the pain shot through you, suggesting a trip to the dentist.

The memories of the interworld and the resulting smoothing of the emotional peak certainly help to cut off the body sensations, but it's not the same, as all emotions disappear... Although lately I haven't stopped feeling joy, which was quite strange and unusual.

No sooner had I entered the isolation room than I was nearly knocked off my feet by a joyful whirlwind, who in fact turned out to be a cute and pretty blonde.

"Mr. J!" She shook the stamped certificate in my face. - I am officially healthy!

"I didn't doubt it, Sunshine!" I pulled Harley to me and kissed her softly.

"A soft cough distracted me from the process of exploring my assistant's sexy body. My senses were clearly heightened by the upgrade, and the lack of pain helped me enjoy the embrace to the fullest.

Jeremiah was a little farther down the hall, watching us curiously as we reunited after such a long time apart. It wouldn't be good if he noticed the medicine case, so I had to distract him.

"Mr. Arkham," he said to me, "you've been away for a while, but I hope the examination went smoothly. Because knowing Hugo, he can be a little over the top at times, especially when he finds an interesting guy..." He paused, trying to find a more correct word.

But we don't need to be thoughtful. I know from my own experience that my eyes start to look around, and the presence of extraneous things in my possession is definitely not stipulated by the security regulations of such secure facilities.

I suspected that I was not supposed to leave Hugo alone, but with an escort. But that half-assed Mengele was a little slow on the uptake after the hypnosis and amnesia, and the interesting results were right in front of his nose, so he let me go without thinking. Eh, I should have ordered him to write a prescription to carry these substances as prescribed drugs, but we're all strong in hindsight, so we work with what we have.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha! Oh, come on, doctor!" I pull the girl back a little, shoving the case into her hands, and then step forward, shifting the focus of attention to myself. Still, I'm really starting to think faster after smoothing out the emotional peak. - I've left these hospitable walls, but you know that there are no such things as completely mentally healthy people, only the under-treated.

Harley instantly realized what was required of her, shifting slightly back and to the side to hide the medication behind my back, but with this one herself remaining in plain sight.

"That's how... I'll have to remember that, it's a very good phrase. - The head of the hospital's lips quivered in a hint of a smile. - But you still haven't told me how the examination went?

Hmm... Does he really think I'm trying to get off the subject? It's easier for me.

"Well... I wouldn't say it went perfectly. Towards the end, we even had to call in a nurse who was able to restrain Dr. Strange when he started acting like a maniacal vivisector.

"Yeah, that sounds like him..." he stretched out thoughtfully.

Looks like it. Does it?! It took me a few moments to realize what the doctor had said.

I almost snapped, but still managed to hold back the first impulse.

Jeremiah is not at all embarrassed that his employee is no better than the patients? I was sure that Hugo was hiding his cockroaches very, very deep, especially if I remembered Harley's words about the nice old man... Though a girl's perception is not always adequate... And now I found myself willingly falling into the hands of a maniac, like a sheep to the slaughter. That's fucking great.

"Ah ha...

Okay, Jay, calm down, just calm down, as one illegal migrant worker who lived on a rooftop and talked to a little boy used to say. Still, the head of the hospital did help you out quite a bit by providing excellent living conditions and discharging Harley. So consider that now you've paid him back in full by getting rid of an annoying competitor.

Hmm, and if I put myself in Jeremiah's shoes, nothing bad should have happened: the call was unexpected, the exam rooms were shared (though that didn't stop me from installing a surprise chair and organizing a hiding place in the wall), there were cameras everywhere, and time was limited to only two hours, twenty minutes of which were spent on the road. The head of the hospital didn't even hesitate to get off his ass and personally visit Hugo, along with my assistant's forceful support.

"Does this happen to him often?" I was pulled out of my thoughts by the doctor's voice, who stood half a meter away from me, scrutinizing my face.

Shit! I gotta stop looking into myself. I could put up a sign that says, "I'm in my head, I won't be back for a while."

"Sometimes it happens. - Harley came from behind me, who liked to give me a kiss at times like this, only now she didn't have the opportunity because of the extra object in her hand.

"Looks like catatonic stupor. - Dr. Arkham pulled a small flashlight from his breast pocket and shined it directly into my pupil.

"Ow!" The bright light stabbed my eyes unpleasantly. - I'm with you again, don't do that.

But my words didn't have much effect on Jeremiah's demeanor.

"It's an interesting phenomenon, watch the light. - The man moved the flashlight a little to the right, and then began to slowly describe a circle with it, reading a mini-lecture. - Catatonic stupor can be called a kind of trance or deep meditation, but unlike these two states, during stupor the brain activity increases by about twenty percent and beta rhythms change, as in active wakefulness.

Something I don't like so much attention, though this information is interesting. I guess I learned to do that after traveling through the Darkness, when I had to dive into myself to save my memories and my sanity. Whoa, gotta wrap this up, but I have a feeling Jeremiah isn't going to let up that easily. Luckily, I know what I can interest him in.

"Dr. Arkham, Strange noted spikes in activity during the EEG, and if you want to see the data, you'd better hurry before he deletes it. I doubt he won't want to do something small before he's fired.

"Hmm... It would be better to do a second inspection..." The man said thoughtfully, putting the flashlight away, and I felt the air move behind me. - Ahem, but perhaps we shouldn't... Yes, we shouldn't...

"As long as all the formalities are settled, we're free to go?" I asked, just in case.

"Yeah, I'm going to go see what my coworker has dug up before he actually gets to the point of deleting the data he received.

Jeremiah Arkham bid us a polite farewell and headed toward the observation room with a quick step.

"What?" the girl asked, her lips pouting amusedly as I looked at her closely. - I just ran my thumb across my throat, showing her how sick I was of being here!

Is she kidding? I don't care, though!

"You're a good girl. - I mussed Harley's hair a little, picking up my briefcase and heading for the exit. I could tell that it wasn't the first time she'd pulled a distraction like that. Her perfectly calibrated stance and demeanor helped her avoid unnecessary attention to my charms.

"What's in the case?" The girl asked as we entered the isolation room. It was a strange name for this place. It was more logical to call it a distributor, because here the patients were given a superficial examination, directed to different parts of the building: the examination room, surgery, the experimental ward, or... the morgue.

"Not here. - As soon as we entered the room, we were immediately approached by one of the staff members in an orderly's uniform.

"Hello, where's your escort? Visitors are not allowed to move around the hospital without one.

Wow, so far this is the only stranger I've met who hasn't immediately labeled us as local psychotic patients.

"Dr. Strange brought me here, and her," I glanced at Harley, who was holding my hand, "Dr. Arkham. They had some interesting results, so they couldn't show us out.

"Dr. Arkham and Dr. Strange are working together?" I got a very suspicious stare.

"Well, not that they're working. It's just that Dr. Strange is quitting tomorrow, and the head of the hospital is making sure he doesn't delete any important data.

"That old asshole's quitting?! Oh, I'm sorry. You've no idea how much he's been annoying everyone with his nagging. He wasn't the nicest person to talk to before, but since he came back from Blackgate, he's become completely inadequate. - The employee looked around fearfully and lowered his voice and said. - Only I didn't tell you that.

"No problem, we understand. When the bosses are assholes, it's very hard to work. Why don't you show us out?

"Well, for such good news, why not? I'm gonna have to check with the doctor, though. I'm sorry, but that's the rules. - The man waved his hands guiltily. - Stay here, I'll be right back. By the way, I must warn you, if you leave, I'll be forced to raise the alarm.

"Mmm, then you can show us where the restroom is. We'll wait for you there. It's not far. - I'll be sure to check, just in case. I didn't want to be the cause of alarm on the island.

"No problem.

The orderly took us to the reflection room and ran to the examination room. Amazing, with the availability of cell phones and landlines, you have to use couriers to relay messages in some cases. Although, according to Harley, communication lines are relatively easy to hack, and imitating the right voice with the right technology would be no problem, especially for some supervillain.

The wait wasn't long and soon we were approaching the first roadblock leading to the center of the island.

"Peter," on the way I found out the name of our escort, "and how do we get to the big land?

Alan was already gone, and there was no public transportation, so that left only cabs. But no matter how many requests I left on the local cab app, they were all ignored. More precisely, there were views, but not a single confirmation. It seemed logical: a normal person would hardly want to voluntarily approach this island with a grim reputation, especially given the recent events with the fake Joker and the Enigma, but then how do we get away from here? Not on foot. I sure hope not on foot.

"Employees are usually taken by a special bus in the morning and evening. I doubt you would agree to wait for the evening, so only a cab, but you need to order a special one with triple fare. Regular drivers prefer not to go near the island. When we reach the mansion, I can call you a car. - The orderly replied, confirming my thoughts.

It's going too fast, it's gonna be a hundred grand for the fundraiser. Buying some supplies, a new costume, Harley's toys, a trip to Metropolis, food, and now a triple fare cab, it's all eating up the available budget. Even though I was talking about making money from games, when will that ever happen? The patent is still pending, and without it I'll make a lot less money when people make clones, but the worst thing is that some big company may well be the first to file a patent, and then I'll be sucking a bean with my Napoleonic plans. There's hope for Strange. If the hypnosis worked well, there'll be a lot of money, but there's a hitch here, too - the Dark Knight will definitely ask where the wood came from, and I won't want to reveal the source of my income, nor will I want to reveal the presence of two interesting substances. Damn, that's a bummer.

Behind my not too happy thoughts, I didn't notice when we reached the mansion to pick up the things we had left behind.

"Shall I call it in?" Peter asked, picking up the phone at the entrance.

I was about to agree when all of a sudden a notice came in about a reservation being taken. Surprisingly, someone actually agrees to give us a ride without any triple tipping.

After refusing to call another cab, we reached the gate with the orderly, which separated the world of normal people from the world of the insane. Hmm, and even the trees on the other side looked healthier, even though the dryad had managed to mess around on the island. There was a relatively small patch of land in front of the main gate of the island, used for turning cars around, with a few trees on it, where we were to wait for our transportation.

As soon as we crossed the invisible boundary, I was clenched in a tight hug and squealed in my ear.

"Vee-ee-ee-ee! We did it, Mr. J. Now we're both normal!!! Ha ha ha!

"Yes, sweetheart. - I hugged the girl back.

It's an earache, but it's a small price to pay for my beloved's happiness.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. - The guard who let us out hissed, clutching his weapon in fear. The harlequin's reaction almost made him turn gray before his time.

"No, we are definitely normal, we even have certificates. - I smiled sincerely.

The man groped the back of his pants for some reason and then walked leisurely to the checkpoint, having previously locked the gate.

"Yes, Mr. J., they're fine... Ow!" My companion was aware of my condition, and of the fact that a hug wasn't exactly arousing my enthusiasm. She tried to pull away, but I wouldn't let her go.

"Oh, no, you're not getting away from me that easily now.

"Are you feeling better?" Harlequin, unable to believe her happiness, looked at me with a look of adoration.

"Yeah, let's back up a little bit and I'll tell you what happened to me.