Sleep well

She had too. You cannot expect a mindmaster to not investigate a book that supposedly makes everyone insane. Her duties were done. Matrim has forgotten he flirted with an elder god for an entire evening. He earnestly only remembers the play. The slight disapprovel he has for yellow clothes will wear off in a couple of weeks. Tara has had her week of vacation. Thanks to Matrim’s time procedures it felt more like a month for the girl. She has taken up Patricia’s offer of a daily therapy session, to help her cope with the horrors of her master in yellow. Patricia truly felt sorry for the girl. The therapy she could provide was not enough. But the girl seemed to understand that, for now, it was either the deaths of millions, or continuing her suffering.

Duties done, Patricia prepared herself for the next few hours. She made sure that sensitive info was securely locked away and that her mind reset copies were up to date. Time to let Levi put his security measures into play. His setup in room 101 was quite complicated. She would be strapped into a chair with the written out play: "The king in yellow" securely out of reach. Pages could be turned by a complicated voice command. Levi would set up mind shields for her. She was not allowed to use any procedures, and premium cuffs would prevent her from doing so if she got insane enough to try. Patricia went with it. It felt weird. Usually she was the one doing the securing. The premium cuffs, also called mage cuffs, were the worst. Being robbed of her own defenses, her mind as open as it last was before she watched her parents burn to death.

Nicole was in the sideroom, behind the glass. Grinning. Seeing her sadistic coworker in handcuffs in her own interrogation room was a sight to behold. That was a surprise for Patricia. Since when did Nicole have a sadistic streak? A flash of fear shoots through her. What a time to find out now, when all she could do was talk. Well, she could at least use it once have some fun with Nicole: “Nicole, if you like this so much, get Sophie here as well. You know she would like to enjoy it with you.' From her tone of voice the implications were clear…

When Levi has left the room, taking Patricia's cat Charlotte with him, Patricia starts reading. The first pages are easy. Soon it gets worse. She’s using the old ways to calm herself and clear her mind. Breathing exercises. Meditation. Vividly imagining torture. That last one was not such a good idea. The play itself is making her question it. She’s not the executor now. She’s the victim. And the executor. Levi's mind shields are holding. For now. It is not enough. Patricia starts to struggle to form the sentence for the next page. Fighting to form the words, fighting against the play. To not do what the play is telling her. She tries to use procedures to shield herself, but the cuffs are preventing it. Struggling against the cuffs. She can only hide behind the archmage’s mindscreens. It is not enough.

--- *I remember after finishing the first act that it occurred to me that I had better stop. If I had not caught a glimpse of the opening words in the second act I should never have finished it ---*

Levi kindly erases the last part of the play out of her mind and secures the book. She got several pages into act two. When the horrors are erased, Patricia wakes up with a jolt. With one thing on her mind. ‘I need to work’ she says.

Levi checks her mind. She is in control. He offers her some water. Patricia gladly accepts it.

‘I need to work’ she repeats.

‘You’re staying in room 101’ he answers.

‘Whatever you think is necessary, but let me work. I can see some things now. I’m not sure how long this stays as clear as it is now.’

Levi releases her and gets her pen and paper. No computer though. Patricia starts writing. New, complicated mind procedures are written out by hand. A first sketch of how to prevent insanity in the void for VE-ers, that will need rigorous testing before first use. She continues with enhancing the TU shields specifically used for the Old One's play. And finishes with an improved treatment plan for Tara. Finally, she is done. She has not used any time procedures, and barely any mind procedures. She has not realized this is not the amount of work you can do in a day. It is exhausting. Patricia manages to make it to the nearest bed. Which is in one of the cells. She knows she has napped some time during the day, but now she can finally get a good rest.

---*This was too much, so I went into the kitchen, and, seizing a hatchet from the pantry, started to find the infernal beast and settle her then and there---*

She wakes up. Why is she holding an axe and headed towards Nicole? She is not using co location, is she? Patricia tries to figure out what happens. Just a nightmare? No need to alert the others for a freaking nightmare. A mindmage should be able to fix that herself. You can’t co locate in your sleep, that's impossible. It's three o'clock, it was a long day of work, her mental defenses took a hit. Just a nightmare. She falls back asleep. Waking up 20 minutes later in a pile of blood. No, water. She has knocked over the water bottle. She checks. The blood is still liquid, with some white fur. Patricia panics. Did she kill Charlotte? Why is she holding a knife? Pen? Was that first co location real as well? She grabs the premium cuffs and locks herself into the heavily secured mage cell. Can't do any harm from there.

Of course it also destroys the mind shields she has set up. Losing all protection against the nightmares.

*---His face for a moment was awful to look upon. His eyes dwindled to a pair of green sparks.*

*"I invite them to come and have a little chat with me," he said in a soft voice ---*

The play and real life fade into each other. The repairer of reputations leads an army of informants. Makes them do whatever he (or she?) wishes. Makes them kill. Of course he is completely insane. She is. There is only the cat, who knows there is something wrong. Attacking him. He is called Mr Wilde. Making people perform to his wishes. Making people enjoy his plays. Poor Gwendolen and Cecily. Poor Franklin, May and Matrim, enjoying the play. Puppets to his ideas. Her ideas. He could just as easily make it end in in a bloodbath, instead of a triple marriage. Isn’t it important to be earnest? To fully realize what this master in yellow can make you do?

The next day Levi looks at the camera's. Patricia is not in room 101 anymore. He wants to raise the alarm when he notices the figure on the ground of the empty mage cell. He calls Nicole:

"Have you noticed any alarms tonight?"

"Two minor subdimensional spikes on my floor, but they got filtered by the threat heuristics. Perhaps it was Charlotte hiding under the bed after her visit to Charon last week." She suddenly starts to curse. ''Sorry, for some reason the cats decided to push the water bowl right in front of the door. That wakes you up really well.''

"Meet me in room 101."

Nicole finds Patricia in the mage cell. She does not respond to a normal greeting. Physically she seems fine. A little dehydrated after about ten days of not keeping a regular schedule. And tired of course. But she is not sleeping. It's like she's seeing several hundreds of camera's, trying to make sense between all of them. Nicole tries to get her out of it by offering tea and crumpets and teleporting Charlotte. Charlotte snarls and refuses to get near her owner. She disappears under the closet that is furthest away. Patricia freezes in fear when she sees the cat. It does seem to help though. She seems to notice Nicole is there. It was just a dream after all. Very relieved, she tries to hug her. Which is not very doable with premium cuffs. She accepts the tea. Most of it ends up on the ground because she is too shaky.

Levi resets Patricia's mind. Before he does that, he sends three images to Nicole. One of Patricia looking at an axe in her hands, walking towards Nicole's bedroom. One of Patricia looking at a pool of blood with white pieces of cat fur. And camera images of Patricia waking up with a jolt, who locks herself in in the mage cell.

The next day, Nicole receives specifications for improving the anti anti magic shields for the Old One's plays. Plus a request to adjust the dimensional barriers of room 101. Plus an invitation for tea and crumpets. Nicole automatically edits out any references to magic. She has macros for that. And accepts the invite.

*---And eventually," he continued more quietly, "it will secure the happiness of the whole world."---*

Patricia looks a hell of a lot better. An impeccably ironed dress and neatly brushed hair help a lot. They have a friendly chat with tea and crumpets. Catching up on what happened in the last week.

There is a bouquet of flowers on the table. It has always been there. A get well card is attached to it. ‘Congratulations girl. It only took you three tries to get it right without destroying all of time. Glad you are sane again.’