The Asylum Chapter 9

Ariadne’s reading brought up heart-breaking story after heart-breaking story. None quite so sad as the story of Peregrine Norwich, but even so…Why were so many people so willing to use Wolvercote House in this way? “Another girl who will not have the sense to marry where her parents wish! But I think I am beginning to understand how this machine works now.” “The key is applying a stimulant directly after the treatment, in order to counteract the tendency to fall asleep. The mind is most receptive to new ideas and new concepts after a session on the machine.” “I have managed to manipulate her mind enough that, in these clothes, she will undergo a marriage ceremony and be unable to resist or refuse. It is quite fascinating to watch: one part of her obviously knows that she does not want to do this, but she seems unable to prevent herself from saying the correct responses.” “She left here to attend her wedding. And I heard later from her guardians when they settled their accounts: that she went through the whole ceremony with no more hesitation than would be considered proper in a young and nervous bride. And as her husband is some sixty years old, he will provide the sense she so patently needs.” As she turned the page on the sorry tale, it suddenly struck her that this might explain Pete’s behaviour towards her. After each ‘treatment’, he’d spent his time thinking about revenge – Sarah’s past revenge, and his own immediate desire for it. Maybe Dr Wolvercote had succeeded in re-programming Pete’s mind – without realising it! But how could she get Pete to see this? They’d done it! The bandages came off that day, and Jonas had his face back! There were one or two marks still left, but Olaf reckoned they should fade. And now Jonas and Ariadne were going to remove his helmet – and tomorrow, the three of them would work on Pete’s suit. Pete didn’t like the way Ariadne looked at him sometimes – as though everything was his fault. Whatever had happened to her, she deserved it! Olaf and Jonas looked at each other and burst out laughing at their hairless skulls. “Pete’s hair grew back fast enough,” Jonas said cheerfully – he was high on happiness and relief! Ariadne was happy for them both too – and once Pete was out of his suit, she’d ask the two of them to take this helmet off her. Sometime when Pete wasn’t listening…
In her cell, with her enhanced hearing, Amelie knew everything that was going on. And in her re-shaped and re-ordered mind, she formulated plan after plan. But a locked door was between her and the one that pulsed insistently in her head. Jonas was so happy that night, he forgot to lock Ariadne in her cell. And, just as before, Ariadne found herself in the cellar. “Your turn to be a little caged bird,” the voice whispered in the darkness. “And here – to stop your hands getting cold. They were made for young Norwich, when he was about 13, I think – they fit just fine, don’t they?” And Ariadne couldn’t break free of the metal grip on her arm. “I won’t bother leaving you any water – I’m sure Jonas will find you before too long.” The birdcage was cramped, and the seed and water jars were as mocking as they had been for Veronica, all those years earlier. Jonas did find her the next day, but it was a long night. And then Pete caught her by herself.
“Looks like you won’t be helping get this suit off me after all. But never mind – Olaf and Jonas can do it. Hope you like your new gloves – I think they’re perfect for you.” “Let’s face it, this is what you deserve! In fact I think you deserve 10 years in prison for all that’s been done to me alone! Only I’d have you serve your time in this place…” Maybe Pete was right. Maybe this was what she deserved. Maybe you did inherit this sort of debt. Olaf and Jonas (who still felt incredibly guilty about what had happened to Ariadne) assembled all the tools they thought they might need, and set to work. “I can’t thank you both enough!” Pete was wearing a somewhat motley assortment of clothes, but going round stark naked wasn’t really an option! “You know, we could raid the dressing up chest for you as well. You don’t have to stay in those hospital gowns.” Sometimes Ariadne felt she couldn’t bear it any longer. As the others began to make steps away from their imprisonment, away from the effects of the experiments performed on them, she seemed to be sinking ever downwards. “That’s staying on you, that helmet. Did you know that?” Pete had crept up behind her and made her jump. “I’ve told Olaf you need to wear it for my research purposes. And he’s not to take it off, even if you beg him, because then we’ll have to start the experiment all over again.” It pleased him to see her cower away from him. How many innocent girls had been frightened out of their lives in this very room? Olaf – and Jonas – had taken Pete’s advice and raided the clothes cupboard. Both felt all the better for being out of their institution gowns. Olaf was busy growing a beard as well.
“I don’t want to look like the person I was. I’m not him any more.”
Their next big question was how to help Elise – and Ariadne had been busy doing some serious thinking. She went to tell Olaf her conclusions. “So your theory is that the machine sort of wipes someone’s mind clean and leaves it open to new impressions?” Olaf said to Ariadne the next day.
“That’s what Wolvercote thought,” Ariadne said. “So if we could give Elise some pleasant new impressions – something beautiful to listen to, or to see, it might help pull her out of this pit she’s in. She’s been looking at those four grey walls for so long now! But I don’t think he realised just how it worked. Look at Pete – all he thought about after each session was revenge. And now listen to him. And what did you think about?”
“My research – though he used the new machine on me. He wanted to make me agree to something..”
Ariadne interrupted him. “Precisely. And now it’s like your research is all that’s real to you. Everything else seems to be peripheral.” “Something beautiful to see. That’s going to be hard here. Unless…”
Ariadne could almost see the light bulb going on above Olaf’s head.
Five minutes later, they were in the cellars, with Olaf going through the contents of the workbench. Maybe he could make a new visor, but unlike the one he’d worn, program it for beautiful scenes.
“I can do this! Ariadne, I think you’ve come up with the best idea yet!” When Ariadne was outside, she regained some sense of perspective, could see that it wasn’t fair for Pete to hold her responsible for all the wrongs done there. But inside the building, it was hard for her to hold on to that viewpoint, and as autumn advanced, there was less to do in the garden. Olaf had set to work straight away on an adaptation of his visor – one that could be taken on and off for starters! He was beginning to be convinced that this might just lift Elise from her current state. It had to help! Otherwise she’d never be fit to leave here – or only to go into another institution. Poor Elise looked – and was – scared half witless as they sat her in the chair and locked her into place.
“She won’t sit still of her own accord,” Pete said. “I couldn’t have done. I hate to do this to her, but we’re going to have to.” Olaf operated the machine, while Pete smiled reassuringly at Elise, hoping it would help. Then they moved Elise into the modern laboratory. Once again feeling rather mean, they locked her into an old device Pete had found: they had to keep her still and stop her taking off the visor Olaf had made. Olaf put the visor on her, and Pete selected some music – classical, lyrical and peaceful – and then they all watched Elise anxiously, to see if her fears were subsiding at all. Amazingly, as they watched her, her face calmed and relaxed.
And as the sessions went on, Elise began to look better and better. She stopped pulling out her hair and even let Jonas wash it for her. The colour came back into her face. But she still remained passive under their hands, letting them move her from one attic to the other, treating her to the best of their ability. The music spilled out from the laboratory, echoed along the corridor, and wound its way through the bars of the cells. And in her room, Amelie heard it, and the red light faded from her eyes. “Olaf, what’s this thing round Elise’s neck?” Ariadne had to stay away from Elise unless Elise was wearing the visor; the sight of Ariadne made her scream with fear. Olaf looked at it more closely. “I don’t know, but I think I’d like to find out. I’ll have to see if we can remove it – if Elise will let us.” In between sessions, Elise slept, but she looked peaceful and untroubled now, and Olaf reckoned her brain needed the down time. But she still hadn’t spoken to anyone. Pete reckoned he looked almost normal again. And Olaf thought he’d probably managed to make a key that would unlock the collar from around Pete’s neck. The Wolvercote family had been a sight too fond of their precious alloy, Pete thought angrily. It was poetic justice, Ariadne’s present state. Olaf took the metal object off from around Elise’s neck. It wasn’t easy, and in the end he and Jonas had to resort to brute force, cracking open the locking mechanism with tools that were designed for something else entirely. Elise sat obediently while they worked on it. Once it was off, she touched the place where it had been – and then leapt up and hugged him! And then Jonas – who rather enjoyed the experience. “Thank you both, so much.” Her voice was husky from disuse. Olaf was intrigued. What was it with that thing round her neck that had been so significant? Haltingly, she told him about it.
“It was a lock – a bit like the ones on your wrists? But it was programmed for time. It wouldn’t unlock for twenty years. And if I tried to go out of the main gates, I’d get a shock that would stun me. I wasn’t going to be able to leave here until I could take it off.”
“Twenty years! No wonder you still felt so hopeless!” Elise raided the wardrobes and made herself a dress from a corset and another dress. Pete, to everyone’s surprise, proved to be a dab hand with the scissors and cut her hair very nicely indeed. Ariadne would have hated her, the contrast between the two of them was so great, were it not for the fact that Elise was so kind to her – and so apologetic for having being scared by Ariadne’s appearance. Elise’s kindness to her and evident sympathy for her actually made Ariadne’s life a bit more bearable. They continued to trawl through the journals together, this time looking for building plans – anything that might help them escape. “Pete. Listen. If you’re going to get out, you need me.”
It was Amelie, speaking to him. And as Pete looked at her, he noticed something different.

The Asylum Chapter 8

Jonas went back into the lab to see if Olaf needed any help.
“I’m getting some answers,” Olaf replied. Jonas envied Olaf his total absorption in his work – it was as though this was the only thing that was real for him, and as long as he could get on with it, then he was content. For himself, Jonas longed to be free again – and to persuade Ariadne to freedom as well. If only she wasn’t so timid!
“What I really need is some notes on the development of the alloy – but there aren’t any on this computer. So it’s back to the journals, I think – Pete’s put some more out for you to read. He’s looking for all the actual physical examples of the alloy that we have up here.” Jonas went and sat on what had once been Ariadne’s bed and began to work through the pile of books on the floor. Presently, Pete joined him, and they carried on together, pausing occasionally to read each other stories from them. It was another three days before they found what they had been looking for. I can see why they brought the boy to me. With those looks he could not be anything other than a Norwich. Luckily for them, his mother came straight to their house, and no-one else knows of his existence Luckily for him, the old man has some scruples. He does not want the boy dead, nor imprisoned, but he wants him – or rather, his all-too-distinctive looks – hidden. He has read that romance, The Man in the Iron Mask, and wants to know if I can do the same. The old fool does not realise how that iron mask would have reacted with the skin underneath it. But Master Peregrine Norwich will be an excellent person on whom to test the alloy my father was developing – and developing for such a purpose. The boy can stay down here in the cellar treatment rooms, until I have seen what I can make for him. I hope the cries from the other rooms do not keep him awake. This is a somewhat crude beginning, but it will serve. Bearing in mind the new science of fingerprinting, I have also made some little gauntlets for him to wear at all times. As the boy grows, he is more than ever a Norwich. And since they could not deny the legality of his mother’s marriage – apparently, the priest could not be bribed – then he is an embarrassment to the family. But his death would cause too many questions. They plan to remove him to a remote estate, now that he can no longer be hidden in a nursery. I am still not happy with the design of the mask and helmet, but the alloy is now perfected. At their request, I have made him a pair of metal boots – with lead soles. It seems he tried to run away…By the time he is an adult, I should also have the design problems solved. My eldest son is taking a keen interest in this work… Well, Peregrine Norwich has visited this place for the last time. Now that he is fully grown, there will be no need to fit and re-fit either the helmet or gauntlets. To that end, I have, as requested, designed a helmet that cannot be removed. I borrowed ideas from the latest advances in diving technology, and this has been fitted and fastened permanently. The old man is dead now, and his son fears Peregrine Norwich greatly – but the old man made him promise to keep young Norwich alive. I believe he will be spending the rest of his life on that remote Scottish island they own. Olaf was delighted.
“This could be exactly what I need! This, and the physical objects you’ve found. So that explains the small ones – they weren’t prototypes, they were made for this boy personally. That’s ideal, as I can date their development really easily. But the other things are harder to identify and put on a time-line – are there any other mentions of them?” Jonas told Ariadne all about Olaf’s progress when he visited her – and tried once again to persuade her to leave. He watched what little he could see of her face, felt her hesitation, silently urged her on to make the right decision, and could almost have cheered when she finally agreed. Once free again – for a given value of “free”, thought Jonas bitterly – Ariadne spent as much time as she could outside, trying to avoid Pete. That heavy suit made the stairs and the ladders difficult for him, and he wasn’t likely to follow her there. And Jonas had been right – this was better than being alone in the dark, even if she did feel afraid. Jonas had the big key to her cell, and locked her in each night carefully. Pete watched sardonically as she meekly went in and let Jonas turn the key on her.
Through the electrified bars of the garden, she could see her little car slowly beginning to be streaked with rust. It hadn’t been a very good car in the first place, but it had been hers, and she’d loved it. But sometimes Ariadne couldn’t avoid Pete. Olaf had sent her to fetch another of the objects they’d found – Jonas had found a mention of it – and Pete followed her.
“Your turn now,” he said, and patted the helmet she wore. “And do you know, at the moment, no-one can get that thing off you. Still – I’m sure Jonas has plans for you. He’s doing a good job of looking after you.” The undertones in his voice confused Ariadne.
“And after all – Wolvercote House has trapped both Jonas and his ancestor – just like me. I think you do owe him.” “I think I’m there! I think I’ve found a solution that will reverse the changes. It was Ariadne noticing that pencilled comment in the margin about enzymes that put me on the right track – if she hadn’t come and asked me what it meant…If this works, Jonas, you’ll have metal dandruff! I thought we’d try part of a foot first before we go near your hands or face.” It was a good week later though when Jonas looked down at his feet and suddenly realised he could see skin again! The metal was flaking away! Once Olaf was happy with the progress of the treatment, he began on Jonas’s hands.
“And then your face – but that will be slower. I don’t want to disfigure you.”
“Could I look worse than this? He was working on reconstructing my face: making me look like anything he wanted. I know how Ariadne feels when she catches sight of herself in the mirror.” “That’s what he wanted to do with Elise, with her mind – reconstruct it any way he wanted. And that’s what he’s done with Amelie. I found some of her notes on this computer when I was looking for yours, and had a quick look at them. What he’s done to her is way more complex than I realised.” “Like what? I thought he’d just made her perpetually angry.”
“No – much more than that. Those marks on her face – it’s that alloy again, but he’s got current and information flowing through it. It’s like he’s almost using it to power her, I think. I think he’s enhanced her hearing and sight. And he’s done something very odd to her mind with that interface at the back of her head – memory, thought patterns, it’s like he’s re-programmed her.” Lying on her bed, Amelie heard every word they said, despite the distance between them. Finally, someone was working out what had happened to her. But she was going to need all of them if they were to help her to get free: and it was so difficult to control her thoughts or her behaviour with the interface programmed as it was. At least she could recognise the pattern now, without Wolvercote constantly re-setting it any more, and use the sane moments to think and plan before she lost control again. She wasn’t sure if she ever would get free to run or not. But if she did, she’d show them her gratitude. She held on to this thought for as long as she could before the roaring tides swamped her mind again. This time it was Pete and Ariadne working their way through the old journals – trying now to find out more information about the machine Dr Wolvercote had used on Pete. He was beginning to suspect that it had changed him more than he had realised. Ariadne had made a comment about him being a natural at electronics, he was so calculating – but he was sure that once upon a time he’d been a much warmer and impulsive person. But it was easier to forget that Ariadne was a person, and just think of her as a tool – and with that metal helmet on her head, she was now a faceless tool. With Jonas’s hands and feet just about back to normal, Olaf was beginning work on his face. By the time that was done, Jonas should have full use of his hands again. Then they could free Pete from his suit – he’d nearly worked out how to do that, he just wanted to double check everything – and get this thing of his own head too. Pete said Ariadne was happy to go on wearing hers, which seemed a bit odd to Olaf until he explained that she was helping Pete with his own research. But sometimes she might want to stop, but Olaf mustn’t help her, or it would ruin the test and they’d have to start again from the beginning. Then it all made sense. He was sure Pete had said Ariadne had gone though – but here she was back. Maybe that had all been research too. Olaf shrugged and went on with what he understood.