Interlude #1

Bajoran, Cardassian military hospital

Since yesterday, this hospital has felt different than usual. The shadow of the building itself looks a little darker, the white wall around it somehow seemed more oppressive, and some of the patients started to complain about the eyes in the corners of the room. How silly of them, maybe they want stronger antipsychotics?

"Doctor, Mr. Rirlan is requesting a transfer again."

"Ignore it" I stood, hid my trembling hand behind my back "He wouldn't dare" my gaze flew to the corner of the room, where an eye was staring at me from the shadow next to him.

"Wait!" the nurse stopped, her hand still gripping the doorknob.

"Could you get me some antipsychotics?" I sat on the bed as I pressed my temple, ignoring the eyes that started to pop out of the corner of my vision

"Are you okay?" she comes closer, gently caressing my temple with her hand

"….yes"

"Careful, Doctor" he quickly leaves the lab. Her feet move carefully to avoid the many glasses on the floor.

After she leaves, I pick the nearest breaker on the table and then throw it in the corner of the room, aiming for the eye staring right at me. But he passed harmlessly through that eye, not harming him in the slightest. As if mocking me, that eye began to fade, leaving me in an oppressive silence.

"Damn it…. " I sighed. I raise my trembling left hand, trying to massage my temple

"Maybe I should pass on…." I tuck my face between the soft pillows, ignoring the whispering sounds in my mind

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While he was sleeping, a pair of pale hands came out of the corner of the room. After a while, a pale figure slowly walks up to him.

"Another one" caresses his face slowly, dozens of gliding tentacles peeking out from her shadow. She then quickly leaves the room, leaving him trembling for an unknown reason.

She walked down the dimly lit corridor, chanting in an unknown language as she caressed the tentacles around her.

Ä̸̧̫̼͎̭̠͉͙́̏͊̀̃̆́̐͑̔̌͘͘h̵̖̘̉̀͝ą̶͓̮͉̱̹̳̖͎͚͔͐̀̔́ͅg̶̡̛͖̩̘̭͎̞͖͙̝̰̥̝̠̋̋͑̇̽l̷̞͈̹̫͇̈́̄̐͜ ̷̝͕͆̔́̽͑̉̀̈́̕á̶̡̭̠̩͉͍̘͓̺̾͠h̴̨̝͉̺̘̱͓͓̥̅̇̅̎͆͛̾̆̔̈́̚͝͝ ̶̹͔͉̫̖̻̞́͒͐l̷̹̬͍͌̂̒̑̈́̌̚͝a̵̠̳͚̗̗̥͎̲̫̎̌͂͐͑͘̕͠g̶͎̳̣̥̿̃̆̊͒͒́̈́̈̾̿̐̐̿͘͜ ̶̢̢͎̖̞͓̤͉͍̤̮̘͑̎͆͆̿͗̿͑͐͝͝l̵͙͍͝l̸̢̜̯̤̻̺̥̩͕͓̖͑̈́̅̽̈̒̊̊̃͠l̶̨̗̭̜̪͇̤̫̜̳̜̿͑̆̿̀͂̎̈́̕͠͝l̴̡͇̞͙̜͖̬̂̏̑̿̔̅̀́̍͂̕ ̸̢̻̐͑́̇́̽̆͠m̴̛̦̭̔̽͛̎͗́̅̿̇̒̚͘͜͜͠ͅǧ̴̙̖̻̳͓̩͖͉̜̩̀͒̉̂̃̚ͅě̴̢͕̫̼̝̼̥͇̼̗̋̅̾͗̿̀p̵̺̮͇̆̊́̇̉̌̽̊̔à̶̤̍͐̀͂̚͝͝ḩ̷̛̺̼̳͖̟̰̱͈͈̪̪̺͙̏̄̊̏̉͛̾̉̊̈́̇ͅl̴̛̼̀̋̓̉͒͗̄͛̊̉l̴̡̢̜̲͚͉͓̯̙̞̜͒͆͊͌̊̓͗̍̉̉͠͝o̵̥̻̪͗͒͗̈́͑į̷̖͖͖̜̙̜̑ğ̶̱̖͖̲͒̽̽̽̈̀̈́̍̓̏ ̴̻̺̲͓̲͉͐̍́̉̾̄̽̍̋̽̽̕͜͝ņ̴̧͎̯͉͈̰̳̘͎͎͙̙̏̏̾͊̌̽̒͊́̋̕͠ͅg̸͙̲̖͓̭̝̓͊̒̃̾̿̑͑̒̈́̑̈́ ̶̹̬̱̞̯͇͈̼̜̖̙̼͒̏͆́͋̌͛̈́̚͘͝ạ̵̛̰̳͙̜̤̥̣̈̆͂̏͊̈́͊͆̇͜͝͝ͅc̶̰̗̘͓͍̳̉̓̿͛̔͒̿̑̑̽̒̌̃̂͘ṯ̴͙̠̲͔̊͊̔̂̀͂̊̍͗͛͂̍̋̅̕.̶͎̤͑͐̈́̅͘͘ ̶̢̜͊͘ ̴̨̬̘̫̩̘̙̩̤̖̱̬͋͛͑̄͊́̓̌̊T̶̹͉͍͂̈́͋͑̋̒̅̇̈͝h̴̛͙̳̰͇͎̯̣̫̯̼̫͘ͅe̵̠͛́ ̵͖̣̘̱͇̋͐͊̒͌̉p̶̳̦̹̓̇͐̀̉̇̾̈̇i̴̡̡̥̗̘̯̻̠͈͊͌̔́̉̊̈́͘͠͝p̴̝̙̖̜̜̙̤͚̠̰̙͒̔͂ẽ̸̟͙̬͉̼͉̯̟̈́͆̑͑͜͠ ̵̧̛̞̞̦̺̙̰̍̔̔̒̚̚͝͝r̵̡̧̧̫̝̻̬̲̪̙̗̱̲̬̊̈̈́̇͐̀̆͑̚á̴̡̢̪̱̙̤͔̞̙̅̓̿̉͒͌̚͝n̴̥̰̙̦̞̱̂̔͌͘͝ ̴̧͈͔͈͚̎̓̔̆̒̄͐̐̊͛̈́̔̚͘a̸̧̡͍͕̩͚̜̗̭̠͛͌́̄͆̆̅̓́ļ̴̢̨͈̗̫̗̤̠͚̫̹̖̃̌̒͂͆̃͆͂̆͌́͜ͅm̴͈̪̖̩̺̮̌͐̊͆͑o̶͓͎̞̿̈̕͜s̸͖̽̆̊̉̑̃̇͐̃́̚̕ ͚͖T̷̷̨̨̛̛͙̹͙͙̹͙͛͗̋͛͗̋͝͝ ̸̡̜͖͚̠̯̹͙͗̏͊͝͝l̸̸̬̣̹̳̬̣̹̳̓̓̓̓n̴̨͕̥̥̒͐̾͝g̴̴̨̬̩̹͕̯̠̰͔̭̩̖̳̘̹̮̗̳͔̓͒͐͆̒͋͛͋͛͋͛̿͝͝H̶̢̧̛̘̮̩̗͇̫̮̗̩̳͈͍͊͊̔̉̑͜͝ ̴̩̆̅͋̉̒̾͊̊͐̚͠͠͠͝o̷̬͇̩͉̩͍̝̯̖͉̖͊͌̔͑̚̚͝t̶̛͈̬̻͚̻̤̦̖̻͉̆̋̔̽͘͘͘ḑ̶̥̠̹̞̫̩̰͈̘̮̏͗͘ḑ̶̥̠̹̞̫̩̰͈̘̮̏͗͘ḑ̶̥̠̹̞̫̩̰͈̘̮̏͗͘ḑ̶̥̠̹̞̫̩̰͈̘̮̏͗t̴̺̮̫̪͙͑͐̓̔̓͗̏̊͆͐̓̔̓͗̏̊͆͐̓̔̓͗̏̊͆͐̓̔̓͗̏̊͆̌͑̕̕̕̕̕͝͝͝͝h̴̴̰̮͇̮̞̰̮͇̮̞͗͗͐̾̌̔̄͐̾̌̔̄͐̾̌̔̄̕̕̕̕̕̕

Inside the hospital, some patients clutched their heads in pain, while others tried to ignore the illusion around them. After a while, the shadow of the hospital darkened, countless eyes opened in it.

"Damn it, I shouldn't be doing that!" the chant stopped abruptly, countless eyes starting to close again. So every patient in the hospital breathed a sigh of relief...

"Well, they'll survive after all… Me! Eat!" And again various cries can be heard from the hospital. But no one dares to ask the government for help. After all, unless it's a real insurgent attack, no one wants to be called crazy.

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Meanwhile, at the Hospitaller's office

"Another mass hysteria? Are you sure this isn't some kind of food poisoning?"

"Well, unless there's a genuine report of poisoned food, the higher ups are hell bent on not calling in the military, ma'am. They said it would destroy hospital reputation…"

"Shit!" she slammed the armored gauntlet on the table, breaking it.

"Yes ma'am, I mean no ma'am"

"…..Breathing? Get out of here!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"I swear, those damn bureaucrats will be the end of Cardassia…" her eye focused on the pile of recent hysteria reports.

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1 month later

As the days passed, the whispering sounds in my mind grew louder and louder until they were impossible to ignore. Now the whispers don't sound crazy anymore, they tell me secrets I shouldn't have known.

"Doctor, you're shivering again. Shall I turn on the heater?"

"Don't!" I suddenly got up from the chair and startled her: "If you use the heater, the voice will…!"

"Doctor..." she came closer to me. Her footsteps echo loudly in my isolation room. In her shadow I see dozens of eyes staring right at me

"...Actually, there are many patients with the same symptoms as you. But most of them get better over time..."

"How? Tell me! Can you stop it?" my trembling hand tried to take the glass of water. But her hand stopped it

"Calm down doctor, you just need to relax more…instead of focusing on those voices, why don't you focus on me?" She caressed my trembling hand, slowly calming it down.

"Those voices.... Can you tell me what they're saying?"

"He tells me to pray to their god and tells me terrible secrets... of course I refused! Why would I agree to such an absurd request?.... I wouldn't want to become a madman..." I grabbed her hand tightly. I expected her face to contort in pain. But, she calmly looks into my eyes, without a single flinch.

"Doctor, why don't you lie to that voice? Just say yes, but don't agree to any of his crazy demands." She sat next to me, still caressing my trembling hand

"Good! I agree!" The sound of whispering suddenly stopped. Then in my mind I hear the sound of children laughing. After a while they too stopped, leaving me in silence

"Task! Works! I don't hear those voices anymore!" I hugged her tightly. Her small figure enveloped in my thin arms

"Congratulations, Doctor!" she hugged me back, her hands tracing a circle on my back

"If the voice says something again, please call me quickly" after a while, she left my hug and went outside.

"Get well soon, doctor!"

When she leaves the room, the beautiful sounds of humming echo in my mind. Although a bit annoying, this is still better than the previous crazy whisper. Dozens of eyes began to erupt along the isolation walls, blinking in time with the buzzing.

"Whatever... I could use a lullaby anyway" I lay back on the bed, still staring at the dozen or so eyes above me. Somehow I felt that those eyes were full of joy, as if they were smiling at me.

"Damn…." I closed my eyes, trying to ignore the madness around me. As always, I heard the sound of sliding under my bed, followed by a cacophony of children's laughter from the corner of my room. Somehow, I'm sure I'll sleep tonight.

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5 days later

"Doctor, are you all right?"

"I can't bear this anymore, even in my dreams I'm not sure. I see visions of horrors that shouldn't have existed, I see my own insignificance and how everything I believe in will cease to exist. I don't want to live, I know things that no living being should know".

While Taska watched the doctor speak shakily, she saw pure madness in the doctor's eyes. The once confident doctor looked like a trembling wreck and started to cry.

"Doctor, have you slept, you need rest".

"I'm not Taska, if I fall asleep I'll be there again with that thing. Not even antipsychotics help, nothing helps". at the end of the sentence, the doctor started to cry even harder.

Taska took the doctor in her arms and started hugging him "Calm down, doctor, everything will be fine"

"No it won't, I know what I have to do to stop this"

"What, Doctor"

The doctor took out a medical knife and plunged it into the nurse's neck, who was not expecting anything.

"I'm sorry, I have to do this," he said while stabbing Taska

Finishing his murder, he picked up a knife as he continued to go from room to room. He used the fact that most of the patients were asleep to kill the rest of the hospital staff so he could kill the patients one by one.

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6 hours later

After losing contact with the military hospital, a team of soldiers was sent to check what happened. Entering the lobby, they already felt a chill reaching their bones. There was practically no one in the hospital.

Searching the entire hospital, they found a scene that made their stomachs vomit and traumatized them for the rest of their lives, seeing the massacred patients and hospital staff. There was not a living soul in the infirmary, the entrails of many patients were taken out and joined in the shape of a thirteen-pointed star with strange letters carved into their heads.

The called reinforcements found 23 dead and mutilated bodies of patients and hospital staff. The body of the perpetrator of this act, a doctor, was found on the roof of the hospital with no apparent cause of death.

After a long session of the civilian and military government, it was decided to cover up the entire incident so as not to affect military and civilian morale.