Somnambulance [Retconned]

[Toaster]

The Lich gently glided down through the light cloud cover, approaching the Southside River Clinic on Denver, a private institution far too expensive for someone like Olivia to pay a visit to. Luckily, however, the hospital's chief of medicine still owed her a favor and had agreed to meet the mercenary after hours to see to her condition.

Olivia steered the ship towards the building's rooftop, foregoing the visitor's landing pads out front in favor of a more discreet approach. The flat roof, still wet from an earlier rain shower, glistened in the warm light of an evening sun. As the Lich settled down on a gravity cushion and let its engines spin down with a tired whine, Olivia slid down the extending access ladder, landing in a puddle of rain water with a splash. Wettened blood seeped from her boots into the pool, discoloring it ever so slightly. The mercenary tried to ignore it, glad that she had been able to at least clean her trousers. She took a deep breath and steeled herself for her appointment with the doctor.

He greeted her as she stepped out of an elevator onto the building's third floor.

"Miss Sable, it is good to have you back."

Olivia nodded wearily, shaking his outstretched hand.

"Thanks for seeing me again, Doctor Macintosh," she replied and followed him as he led her down a long hallway towards one of the many examination rooms that lined it. As they stepped through the door, Olivia was once more astounded by the clinic's lavish interior design, momentarily distracted from the worries that had brought here there in the first place. The room resembled a hotel suite more than it did a hospital room, its floor imitation marble, its walls painted a comfortable shade of peach and decorated with gilded vines. Luxury meant to attract Liberty's wealthy elite, not a lowly mercenary like herself. Luckily, Doctor Macintosh did not seem to mind treating someone like her.

"So, Miss Sable," the doctor said as he motioned for her to take a seat on an examination table, himself settling down on a small stool beside it. "I must say, I'm curious as to what brings you here under these... secretive circumstances." He smiled, clearly not expecting anything too serious.

Olivia took a seat on the table, sighing tiredly. She breathed in deeply, collecting her thoughts, before responding.

"You remember the migraines I complained about last time?"

The doctor nodded.

"They haven't gotten better." Olivia hesitated for an instant, deciding how forthright to be. "Actually, they've gotten a lot worse."

Doctor Macintosh stroked his chin.

"I take it you have been taking it easy lately, as I recommended?"

Olivia cringed slightly. Easy was not what she would call her lifestyle. Noticing the doctor frown at her reaction, she quickly responded, "It's not stress, I'm sure of that. Stress wouldn't-"

Macintosh raised an eyebrow as she cut herself off. He waited a moment for her to continue, but when she didn't, leaned forward and smiled reassuringly.

"Well, Miss Sable, if you don't think it's the stress, I suggest we take some more scans and see whether anything has changed."

Olivia nodded slowly, agreeing. The doctor rose from his stool and motioned toward a door in the wall behind them, leading, as Olivia already knew, towards a small laboratory. She got to her feet and followed him into the room. It provided a stark contrast to the luxurious examination room, its walls and floor covered in white tiles, no decoration to be found anywhere. It was instead filled with medical equipment, scanners, computers, and locked closets. The doctor opened one of them and retrieved what looked like a crown made of diodes and wires. Turning towards Olivia, he nodded at a chair for her to sit in and pulled up a second to sit across from her.

"Alright, Miss Sable," he spoke softly as she sat down before him, "same procedure as last time." He leaned forward and gently placed the device on her head, attaching the diodes to her scalp. "This will give us a preliminary picture of your brain's structure. If anything immediately noticeable has changed, we'll know where to look more closely." He turned towards a table to his side and brought up images of Olivia's last scan from one and a half months ago on a computer screen on top of it.

"Ready?"

Olivia nodded.

"Let's-"

She blinked ... and found herself standing in the middle of the small room.

"-go..." she finished, trailing off in confusion. She glanced about herself. Doctor Macintosh was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, she reached up to her head. The scanner was still placed firmly atop of it.

"Doctor?" She called out warily. When no response came, she stepped forward, towards the chairs they had been seated in seconds earlier. "Doctor Macintosh," she repeated. She glanced around again, a wave of anxiety building up in her chest. She stepped around the computer table beside which they had been sitting, heading towards the door to the examination room, and nearly tripped. Catching herself, she spun around and glared down at the floor.

Olivia's eyes widened in shock. Sprawled on his back across the tiled floor lay Doctor Macintosh, half hidden behind the table. Olivia took a careful step towards him and froze, noticing his head. It was twisted around, face down into the floor.

"Oh god," the mercenary muttered as she realized the man was dead.

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Olivia Sable