IRON QUILL - BETA: The Strange Account of Mary Rose Pinkerton, Sole Survivor

[eatenbypotchky]

IRON QUILL - BETA:
The Strange Account of Mary Rose Pinkerton, Sole Survivor
written by The Reverend Noxweiler Berf

THE FOLLOWING IS GUILD PROPERTY. UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND PUNISHABLE BY SECTION 7-32 OF GUBERNATORIAL LAW.

From the Reports of Dr. Ambrose Sichermann, Head of Institutional Psychiatry and Mental Health at the Astoria Hills Sanatorium.

September 29th, 97 P.F.
Patient AB613 - Admission Report

My initial introduction to Patient AB613 was not as altogether unpleasant as predicted by my predecessor, Dr. Ravenport. She was, understandably, withdrawn and her physical wounds had left her in a pervasive state of discomfort. However, I detected none of the spirited aggression that had been reported by the Guild Guard. And, in keeping with the official reports, she will not speak, although she seems physically unhampered. According to the guard, despite the long and uneventful trip South from the outskirt territories, she has yet to utter a single intelligible word.

In fact, apart from the violent outburst that occurred when she was pulled from the wreckage of the caravan, she moves and reacts as if she is lost in deep thought, or, perhaps more accurately, walking in a waking dream. It is entirely possible that her outburst and her current docile demeanor can be attributed to the shock of the carnage that surrounded her in that God-forsaken desert.

Still, to prevent a potential disturbance amongst the other patients, I have placed her into a solitary, padded cell in the East wing. She has been restrained and I have administered a reasonable dram of opium to insure that the hard-earned serenity of our institution is maintained until I can interview our new addition and make a proper psychological assessment.

October 3rd, 97 P.F.
Patient AB613 - Initial Interview

The patient remains unresponsive. Yet as there have been no re-occurrences of violence,I have ordered that her sedation be gradually lessened so that the business of healing her fractured psyche can begin in earnest.

Of general note, the patient is, as near as we can approximate, fifteen to sixteen years old. She is caucasian and when standing, is 5 feet 2 inches in height and weighs a woefully malnourished 85 pounds, 3 ounces. Her hair is a light blonde, almost white, her eyes are clear blue.

Her skin is still badly burnt by over-exposure to the sun and she has numerous runic glyphs that have been carved into her flesh with a rough knife or other such sharp implement. Though they seem strangely familiar, I am unable to determine the meaning of these markings, despite my undergraduate studies in symbology. Likely they are meaningless self-mutilations inflicted upon the patient during an outburst.

Such questions aside for the moment, she doesn’t seem to sleep, must be force-fed and, when she does move, paces in a circle with a faraway look set upon her young face.

All told, the patient’s wounds are healing well, although it is clear that she will bear the disturbing scars of her ordeal for the rest of her life. Otherwise, she is physically improved since she was placed in our care.

It seems that the-powers-that-be simply want this young lady to find her tongue and I have been handed the task of assisting her using every tool at my disposal. Perhaps my impending success will garner my private research project the Guild funding that it deserves.

The following are the transcripts of our first, rather one sided, interview:

The time is 3:45 pm.
Assistant Physician Roderick Jorgensen is transcribing this session and Nurse Constance Grint is observing.

Dr. Ambrose Sichermann:
Good morning, young lady. I am Doctor Ambrose Sichermann, head of mental health in this hospital. The government has asked that I help you recuperate so that you can tell us all what happened to you and the others that you were traveling with. My task, simply put, is to get you to speak. You can speak, can’t you?

Patient AB613:
(Unresponsive. The patient remains in the corner with her back to Dr. Sichermann.)

Dr. Ambrose Sichermann:
It’s not uncommon for survivors to lose their way, young lady. You’ve undergone a truly horrific experience and you are frightened by what you’ve seen, by what you have survived. Now, thankfully, you are under the protective arm of the Guild. I assure you that whatever it is that you are afraid, it can’t harm you here. Now, it only possesses the power that you are willing to relinquish to it. You need no longer shield yourself in silence.

What is your name?

Patient AB613:
(Unresponsive. The patient has not moved.)

Dr. Ambrose Sichermann:
(Dr. Sichermann has lit his pipe and is casually smoking within a few feet of the patient. He is toying with the chain of his pocket watch. )
You see, miss, I am a very patient man. Throughout my fifty seven years of life, I have learned to cultivate a stalwart peace of mind that allows me to bide my time in all matters of importance. This session will not be concluded until you have told me your name.

(Forty five minutes pass in silence.)

Dr. Ambrose Sichermann:
(Dr. Sichermann checks the time on his pocket watch and snaps it shut. He tamps his pipe out and moves for the door, turning to me.)

Doctor Jorgensen, make the necessary arrangements to see that room 11B is ready for operation first thing tomorrow morning. If our young friend doesn’t wish to speak to me, we shall have to explore new, more rigorous, avenues of treatment. Perhaps the electro-shock generator will succeed where all else has failed.


October 17th, 97 P.F.
Patient AB613 - Ongoing Treatment - Session 26

Again, after multiple sessions of electro-shock and countless hours of my valuable time wasted, all attempts to discover and treat the psychosis that prevents Patient AB613 from speaking have been met with unmitigated failure.

The only sounds that I’ve been able to illicit from the patient have been muffled screams during our bi-weekly electro-shock treatments. In fact, despite being gagged and restrained, she screams with such fury and intensity that we’ve had to relocate the apparatus to the basement to prevent her high-pitched wails from disturbing the patients in the adjoining tuberculosis ward.

Additionally, the patient has been, inexplicably, escaping the confines of both her straight-jacket and her locked and barred cell. She has been found, on multiple occasions, wandering the halls with that strange, faraway look in her eyes.

Given the current state of affairs, I have been left with little solution other than to assume that one of our resident orderlies have been visiting Patient AB613. And, for whatever reason, left her to roam the halls after they fulfilled their corrupt appetites. Rest assured that I have dismissed the most likely suspects and have seen fit to place a ward-nurse at the patient’s door in constant rotation.

I now possess the only set of keys to the cell of Patient AB613

The following are the transcripts from the final report regarding Patient AB613:

October 21st, 97 P.F.
Patient AB613 - Ongoing Treatment - Session 33

The time is 3:45 pm.
Assistant Physician Christoph Jennings is transcribing this session and Nurse Constance Grint is observing.

Dr. Ambrose Sichermann:
It should be apparent to you now, my young friend, that I am not a man who leaves a task half completed. How long must we play this game? I know that you can speak. You are physically capable. Your apparent catatonia doesn’t prevent you from escaping your bonds, though does it? How are you doing it? Are you a burglar? A circus performer perhaps? The ragged dress that you were found in suggests that you were little more than a peasant girl. Again, I ask, how do you do it?

Patient AB613:
(Unresponsive. The patient remains in the corner, she is staring at the ceiling. her eyes seem to be unfocused, as if she is seeing past it.)

Dr. Ambrose Sichermann:
Yet, although you seem capable of escaping your cell you do not leave the building? Why? If you possess such skills of escapology, why not leave? Do you like it here? Do you wish to remain here for your entire life? Do you really want to die here? Trust me, there are those who spend their entire lives in misery behind these walls.

Is that what you want?

Patient AB613:
(The patient remains unresponsive.)

Dr. Ambrose Sichermann:
How did you find my room? Why were you standing at the foot of my bed?
(Doctor Sichermann begins screaming and shaking the patient.)
What is your name? Tell me your name! TELL ME YOUR NAME!

(Doctor Sichermann is, at this point, restained by the orderly that Nurse Grint called in.)

Patient AB613:
(The patient turns to look at Doctor Ambrose as he is removed from the room and...smiles.)

From the Incident Report of Lieutenant Cedric Havenhurst, Guild Investigator.

The fire that destroyed the entire East wing of the Astoria Hills Sanatorium left very little in the way of evidence as to what precisely started the inferno. The dead number well over two hundred patients, doctors and staff. The high body count can be attributed to the fact that the windows and doors had been locked and barred as per the sanatorium’s nightly protocol.

The fire burned for 12 hours before the brigade was able to extinguish it. Luckily they managed to contain it and, as a result of their heroic efforts, the adjoining wards were relatively untouched.

There was a sole survivor, a horribly burnt man in his mid-fifties. It is assumed that he was a patient as his flesh has been defaced with strange runic glyphs.

He is speaking but will only repeat a single phrase:

“My name is Mary Rose Pinkerton.”

[Paddywhack]

Excellent! Great last minute submission. Really enjoyed it. Nice use of all the elements, entertaining, easy to read, and creepy ending. I like the 'letter' style of the story. Hard to pull off sometimes, but I think this one worked well. Thanks!

[ukrocky]

Wow, awesome stuff! Glad you entered!

[eatenbypotchky]

Boyos,

Many thanks for the feedback.

As it turns out, I've accidentally cut and pasted an unedited version of the story. This version lacks an important detail and retains a bit of slop.

As I've just slid in at the deadline, I can't do anything to edit it...so after voting I'll post the final draft.

Please take a look when the time comes.

Lesson learned: Don't wait until the last minute to submit and don't do this sort of thing at the airport...

Noxweiler

[Sliver Chocobo]

creepy

[El Indio]

Very good! A creative and creepy entry that works very well. I like the dichotomy between Sichermann's detached, clinical, yet prejudiced notes and the objective transcriptions that show him to be a Guild thug with a doctorate. The language is nicely distant and cold in a way that enhances, rather than stifles, the intended mood. Apart from a few missing commas, the only major issue I had was the extra spacing between paragraphs, which made it feel a bit stilted compared to the internet standard. Otherwise, outstanding job!