Unwilling Eldritch Horror of Fortune

“Good morning, Dr. Walter,” Molly greeted me, she looked out toward the rising sun and furrowed her brows, “I still can’t get used to how bright things are in this dimension. Why would the people here risk exposing themselves to so much radiation? They’re delicate enough without the added risk.”

I shrugged, “They’ve got bad eyesight, probably the main reason they need all the lights in the first place. Anyway, I need to send a message to the Director, things are going to get chaotic in the near future, and I’d best have her prepared for the worst.”

The doll hovered around me for a bit, and I had the distinct feeling that she was observing something just under my skin.

“Hm,” she mumbled, “Something seems different about you today, doctor…”

This strange doll was always more perceptive than the rest, but stranger yet, I still couldn’t quite figure out what she actually was, even with most of my functions available. I had some vague guesses, but that’s about it. Whatever Molly was, it was obvious that she was powerful, immensely so. Which begs the question, why would an entity of that caliber act like a glorified babysitter? I couldn’t tell much, but it was abundantly clear that the bulk of her power was situated in that doll's form.

Molly hovered around for a while longer before finally stopping to address me again, “I see… you are quite a fascinating individual, Dr. Walter. But I was right about you being reckless, you need sleep, and rather badly at that. Careful, your abilities can dwindle if you don’t watch yourself, and as a doctor, you should know this better than I.”

Yup, she knew a lot more. Creepy… but she was right. I was already feeling the strain, and it’s only been a few days since I was up. Still, I should be good to go for at least the rest of the week, and I had to make things easier for my weakened self when I returned to my nap again. That meant that I needed to leave for the wider universe.

I sighed, “I know, but circumstances don’t allow me to do what’s best.”

She gave me her usual sigh but nodded, “Abby and the kids will be rather sad if you injure yourself, so if for nothing else but their sake, try to take better care of yourself.”

“I will,” I said, nodding slowly, “And what about you?”

She gave me a small chuckle and a tiny beret appeared in her translucent hand - it was the one I made for her when we first met, “I’ll be rather sad as well, Walter. I’ve grown strangely fond of you in our brief interactions together… and I do like the hat.”

I returned the smile, “Thank you. But anyway, my health is a problem that I’ll have to deal with later, but there’s more pressing issues that I have to deal with right now.”

She gestured for me to continue.

“I’m going to be leaving this dimension for a while, maybe for a week or two, max,” I said, I didn’t have to explain to Molly why I put that deadline on myself, “I’ve managed to deal with some serious damage to the leader of the invaders, and I need to make sure that I can survive the fallout once I sleep again.”

Molly nodded, keeping silent, but glanced in the direction where we nuked half of Site 1100. She gave me an almost imperceptible sigh before focusing her attention back on me.

“The Overseer, that’s the guy in charge, will be pissed off once he finds out what I did,” I continued, “And I’m afraid that the Director’s going to be under a lot of scrutiny once that happens.”

The doll shook her head, “You sure know how to make a mess of things, Dr. Walter, I saw things on the madam’s side as well, and you did quite the number on that Jordan woman and her immediate staff. She’ll take a while to recover if she will at all.”

She chuckled before breaking into a rare smile, “But if you’ve managed to seriously wound our enemy to that extent after just a few days here, then I guess I can’t ask for much else. And don’t worry about the Director’s ability to deal with bureaucracy and with more money than sense and their lackeys, she’s done so since the founding of Hope Memorial. What will the madam need to know?”

“To deny anything and everything that they try to pin on her,” I started, “And to never trust anything that the people coming her way will say or offer.”

Molly shrugged, “So it’s the same as what she does back home. Easy enough. Anything else?”

“Yes,” I nodded, “Let her know that she should probably get any last-minute investigations and such done in the next day or so, then she should lie low for a while. I’ll manage to recruit some new allies who will try to slow down the spread of information, but I can’t rely on that.”

“I’ll let her know.”

“Aside from that,” I continued, “Just let her know that I’m doing well and that I’ll talk to her as soon as I can.”

Molly nodded one last time, “I’ll relay that information.”

She began to turn away to report back, but paused for a moment, as if she was hesitating about a decision, before ultimately turning back to face me.

“Tell me honestly, doctor,” she said, her tone oddly chilly, “How dangerous will the next stage of your plans be?”

I was going to say that it wouldn’t be all that bad, but stopped myself when I saw how serious the doll looked. True, just seeing Q and helping him out wouldn’t be too bad, but in order to get him his old job back, I’d have to interact with the managers and directors in charge of Central's various operations. Sure the Overseer might be busy, but his immediate subordinates will still be a pain to deal with.

Could I truly say that I’d be safe going into the heart of the Central Collective with my current abilities, and that’s not factoring in my inevitable decline down the road? I shook my head; no, it won’t be risk-free, but I didn’t know how to communicate that to Molly.

“It’s…” I began, trying to find the right words, “It won’t be dangerous in the conventional sense if that’s what you mean.”

She sighed, “You’re heading out into the Prime Materium, right?”

Now that was an old term I hadn’t heard in a long, long time. It was almost outdated even when I was a young chap. That’s what the really old entities called the junction point where all the uncountable universes converged, and where the heart of the Origin Matrix and its Central Collective was located. Hearing a term like that coming from Molly was a bit concerning.

“Yeah,” I answered as I tried to keep my face straight.

“And you’re going in that state,” she continued with a blank expression, “No matter how unwise that would be?”

“Some friends are coming along with me,” I answered, “But yes. I have to go.”

Molly sighed again, “I worry about you, Walter, it’s no wonder the madam spends so many sleepless nights trying to devise ways to help you further. I’ve never seen someone get into as much trouble as you have.”

I gave her a crooked smile and shrugged. It wasn’t like I wanted all that trouble in the first place, well, maybe some of it when I made that stupid idea to overthrow the Trash Matrix way back when.

“If you must go,” the doll continued, “Then take me with you.”

“Like, your actual body?” I asked, “But aren’t you with Alice?”

The projection of Molly shrugged her little shoulders, “I can afford to leave her side for a little while now. Toby’s doing an admirable job keeping her busy; you should see the chaos those two are creating in the Hospital.”

She chuckled to herself, clearly recalling something private, “But it also means that the girl doesn’t need me by her side all the time. She’ll let you borrow me if you ask.”

“Um, how do I get your actual body though?”

“Like this.”

Molly’s head split into a multitude of shadowy segments and before I could even react, even with my improved senses, I was swallowed into that maw of hers before being spit right out onto a familiar courtyard.

I looked around in confusion, a multitude of questions swimming in my head. How’d she manage to take me out from prime Central controlled territory and back here? Sure, I could make small portals to break apart physical distance, but what Molly just was different. She took me to another plane of existence, and a rather far one at that; that would usually require taking a train at the very least.

“It’s the charm, and no, I cannot send anyone else through so it’s not quite as impressive as you might think,” she explained before I could ask, “And yes, I can send you back where you were before now that I have an accurate location in mind.”

“Oh,” I stammered, “That’s a neat ability to have.”

Before I could respond, a familiar mounting pressure enveloped us and the shadows around the courtyard condensed into the shape of a very familiar figure.

“Will? Molly?” the figure said before quickly running to my side to wrap me up in a tight hug, “What are you doing back here?”

“That was me,” Molly - well, not her real body still - answered, “he’s here to pick something up.”

“What?” the Director exclaimed, “Take him back now! I’ve looked into the invader’s files and-”

Molly shook her head, “It’s fine, for a small amount of time in any case, trust me on that, Abby.”

Abigail frowned, but ultimately relented, “Alright… we have to be quick. The things I’ve been able to uncover about our enemies are not good. We have to be even more careful from now on. What was it that was so important for him to retrieve that you risked him coming here?”

“Myself,” the doll answered.

“Pardon?”

“It’s faster if Dr. Walter explains it himself,” she said, “but for now, please direct him to Alice and Toby. I’ll go brief the two kids.”

Molly disappeared before I could say anything else, which left me with a very confused-looking Director. Well, since the woman herself was here now, I just relayed the information that I told Molly earlier, and a more thorough report on what I’ve been up to as well.

“Damn it, Will… I’ll hold the fort down as your stand-in, but be careful,” Abigail muttered, “You really do know to get yourself into trouble, but I’ll feel a little better with Molly with you at least, she’s been keeping my family safe for as long as I can remember, and I’m sure that she can do the same for you.”

I followed the Director inside the building and took some time to dry myself off, the only thing I didn’t like about this place was the constant rain, it really did seep into every surface of your body. The Director had it easy since she didn’t have skin in the conventional sense, the liquid just kind of slid down the black void of her form.

“Hurry up, Will,” the Director said, “Molly might be confident that no one will notice your absence, but let’s not risk things.”

I nodded and rushed toward her; all of the staff tried to greet me when they saw me, but a cold glance from the Abigail stopped them all in their track. I had almost forgotten how menacing she was to the rest of the staff here. A quick jog took us to the patient’s ward where Toby and Alice were.

The two ran up to me the second they saw the gate to the ward open up while Alice all but tackled me. Toby was more reserved but it was clear that he was just as happy to see me.

“Uncle Walter!” Alice shouted as she clung on my waist, “Mom!”

I laughed and ruffled her snow-white hair, “Hey Alice, good to see you as well.”

I turned my attention to the other child and gave him a friendly pat as well, “And you’re looking a lot better as well, Toby.”

And it was true, his complexion had improved dramatically and I swear he had grown a few inches as well. Even the small surgical scars that used to line all of his joints had faded, and I’d have to really squint to just see them. He looked good.

“Thanks, Dr. Walter,” he said with a blush, “The Director helped fix me up a bit after you left.”

“I asked mom to fix me up as well, so I can match Toby,” Alice pouted before turning to me, “but she said I don’t need the same, um, treatment as him. But Uncle Walter, I want to grow up big and strong as well though… do you think you can fix me up since mom won’t do it?”

The Director shook her head and chuckled, “You’ll grow in a different way than Toby, and you know that Dr. Walter’s busy right.”

“I know…” Alice answered, “But maybe when you’re not busy?”

I smiled, guess she was feeling a bit insecure seeing Toby get stronger after each of his upgrades, it was cute.

The Director shook her head, “Come on now, Alice, we can talk more about it when Dr. Walter’s more free. But right now, Dr. Walter needs your help.”

“He does?”

“I do,” I answered, “I’m about to go somewhere really far away, and it’ll be lonely by myself.”

Alice nodded and stared at me wide-eyed, “Do you want me and Toby to go with you?”

“Not this time,” I replied, “Toby still needs your mom’s help here, and she’d be lonely without the two of you helping out in the Hopsital.”

“Oh…” the girl muttered, “Um, do you want to borrow Molly then? She’s good at keeping me company, and she’ll help you as well. She always keeps me ”

I smiled, “Can I?”

“Yeah,” she said, “If Molly agrees though.”

The doll, who had been quietly observing on the side, walked up and nodded, “I do, you two will be fine without me around for a few days, and we can’t have the doctor out there by himself. Remember how you were before I came along, Alice?”

She nodded, “Yeah…”

“And I’ll only be gone for a little while,” the doll continued, “so take care of Toby and your mom when I’m gone, okay?”

“I will!”

“And I’ll help as well!” Toby added.

“Thank you, Toby,” Molly replied, “And stay out of trouble you two.”

The kids nodded.

Alice handed me the doll, “Are you staying for a while, Uncle Walter?”

“Unfortunately not, I have to leave right away.”

“Oh…” Alice frowned, “Um, take good care of Molly while you’re gone… and will you play with us when you’re back next time?”

I laughed and bent down to look at the sad kid, “You know I will. We’ll play for the whole day next time! Pinky promise!”

Alice nodded, a little bit of her gloom disappearing, “Pinky promise!”

“Alright Alice,” Molly said, “But Dr. Walter and I really have to go now. I’ll take good care of him, don’t worry.”

It took longer than I anticipated to say goodbyes, but eventually, Molly was able to extract myself from the Hosptial once more, and the two of us rejoined Big Bob and Xalla. I quickly explained the new addition to the party, and we were finally ready to leave once and for all. I just hope I had enough time to finish everything I had planned.

 

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