“What do you mean Hope’s Memorial’s shutting down?” I asked, still not believing the news.

  We had relocated back to the Director’s office after sending Noel and Vadeem back under the pretense that I had to meet with the Administrator one last time to inform him of the good news. Molly had gone somewhere else, probably surveying the damages and speaking with staff, which just left me and the Director alone. I couldn’t hide my unease at Abigail’s announcement, and I think they saw through my false cheer. They didn’t press the fact, however, undoubtedly due to some other miscommunication. It suited me just fine to deceive my friends right now, however, they didn’t need to deal with this kind of news.

  The Director had none of her usual indomitable aura sitting downcast on the sofa at the moment. The mug of coffee was shaking in her hands as she stared off into the distance. “The shareholders and politicians in charge have made their decision; there’ll be cuts to healthcare, and our hospital’s the first on the chopping block. They say it’s because of the breach in patients, but…”

  “But we all know the real reason why they did this,” I said, clenching my teeth.

  Abigail nodded weakly. “Because of my daughter… It’s safe to say that the people in charge of this world are fully in the pockets of the Central Collective, and now they’re not even trying to hide it. They at least pretended to care about their home when I first came to the meeting.”

  I frowned. “What changed?”

  “You came along,” She said with a sad smile. “They showed their true colors when news of the new vice director reached their ears. I think they knew that the original plan of sending invaders over would fail at that point, so they went with plan B.”

  “I’m sorry…”

  Abigail shook her head. “Don’t be. Without you this hospital would have been destroyed; at least the staff have the prospect of new work once this is over.”

  I could feel my anger rising; everything that we did, all of the planning and plotting, all for naught. But I should have known. Those associates of the Overseer and their ilk would never just accept defeat, they’ll use any opportunity to advance their plans, so why wouldn’t they anticipate something going wrong with their attack? Even if they didn’t notice my involvement, it wasn’t like they could afford to underestimate a god. Fuck!

  “And is there nothing that we can do?” I asked.

  “The bill’s already passed, Will,” the Director muttered, “Everything was done legitimately. We have no recourse; we can’t even protest the decision. We have a week to organize our things before we’re shut down.”

  And for the first time since I had met the woman, I saw genuine weakness. The Director gave up all pretense of being the strong leader that she was and started to weep openly, her inky black tears falling into the cup of coffee, staining the liquid with her misery. I went over to sit beside Abigail, holding her and doing my best to provide comfort, but I knew that it was a hopeless gesture. She was about to lose everything she cared for.

  No, it wasn’t hopeless yet. There must be something that I could do. I needed more information.

  “What will happen to the staff?” I asked, “Are they going to be targeted because they worked here?”

  Abigail took a moment to compose herself before replying. “No, as everything was done by the books. They’ll receive severance pay and can apply for new ventures elsewhere. The decision to cut healthcare is already under scrutiny, so I don’t think the traitors will overreach and hinder the staff here.”

  I nodded slowly. “And Sarah…?”

  Abigail’s mood turned sour again. “She… she…”

  I didn’t need to hear the rest of her words to know what the likely outcome was for the living embodiment of the hospital that no longer served a purpose.

  I clenched my fists. “We can’t just abandon everything; if protests and legislation won’t work, why don’t we just take Sarah and run for it? We have Babylon to help, he can get us out of here, take us somewhere safe, at least temporarily, until we can figure out how to fix this mess. I don’t believe for a second that we can’t turn this situation around, there’s bound to be other people who haven’t sold their souls to the Central Collective, we can rally them and fix this.”

  The Director squeezed my hands and shook her head. “By the time we can organize anything, it would already be too late for Hope’s Memorial.” She looked down and chuckled to herself. “I’ll figure something out… I’m sure I will.”

  “Then we move,” I said, “We take Sarah and hide. You said it yourself, Abigail, we need this hospital for Alice to grow. We can’t just give up without trying.”

  The Director’s laughter grew louder as she forced down tears. “And how do we move a building in one week, Walter? Sarah, the person we talk with, is just a construct - a golem. She can’t leave the premises. We can’t just take her with us like you plan.”

  I frowned. No, that can’t just be the end of things. I still felt her presence through my link with her, and I needed to speak with the woman herself. “Sarah, please come over now. I know you’ve been eavesdropping.”

  A soft knock was heard a few moments later before the same plain-looking nurse entered the Director’s office. Sarah must have noticed the devastated features of the Director, but she didn’t comment.

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  She bowed to us and took the seat adjacent to us. “You called for me, vice director?”

  I nodded. “You heard the news, I need to hear your opinion on things.”

  Sarah nodded, her expression unchanging. “It has been an honor working alongside you, Director, and although I wish we had-”

  I stood up and stopped the girl. “No, no, we’re not saying our goodbyes! Sorry, I should have clarified. I wanted your opinions on the feasibility of leaving here.”

  “That would be impossible, Vice Director.”

  “Why? What’s preventing you from going? I’m sure that I can contract some workers to move every brick in this hospital within the week.”

  She gave me a comforting smile but shook her head. “Even if that were possible - and bringing in thousands of workers here isn’t feasible - it wouldn’t save the situation. Think of it this way, Dr. Walter. Would you still be alive if we deconstructed every cell of your body and transported it elsewhere?”

  “No…” I muttered.

  “It is the same for me,” Sarah continued, “Unless we move the entirety of the hospital at once, under the noses of the shareholders, then the situation is hopeless.” She gave the two of us a weak smile. “As I said, it has been an honor to work alongside you both.”

  “Wait, wait,” I said quickly, holding a hand up. “I know that your current body’s just a construct, as the Director said, but your main form is this building, right?”

  She nodded. “Along with the courtyard and its surroundings, yes. Hence, why moving me would be impossible.”

  “But aside from the unique nature of your body, everything else about you is practically the same as me or Abigail, yeah?”

  She nodded again. “For the most part, I believe so; why?”

  I smiled as an idea formed in my head. Yeah… this could work. I quickly took one of my teleportation tokens out and shoved it in Sarah’s hands.

  The Director frowned. “Is that the same trinket you gave me? I’m not sure if it’ll work, Will. I used it, and a small portal appeared; it won’t allow Sarah to go through.”

  I double-checked the title just to be sure, but I was sure this would work.

  Title: Sprouting Faction Leader

  Title Passive:

  +50% Charisma when interacting with members of your Faction within your Base of Operations.

  Title Active:

  Base of Operations: You can designate any location that you have previously visited as your Base of Operations. While in your Base, no information can be leaked from within, and no one can spy on your activities from without.

  You may gift up to 6 Tokens of the Resistance to individuals within your Faction. Those tokens allow members of your Faction to freely visit the Base of Operations with your permission, regardless of distance.

  Yup, as I thought, it made no caveats about the nature of the being that it could transport. It made sense, now that I thought about it, with the entire multiverse taken into account, there was no way that the titles would discriminate against different kinds of bodies or forms. Hell, Xollons in their Prime form were the size of a moon. I’m sure that there are even larger life forms out there, so what was one sentient building in the face of that kind of biology?

  “No, this should work,” I said confidently, “I’m sure of it.”

  Sarah looked at the trinket with trepidation. “Should I try it?”

  I was about to say yes, but a worrying thought occurred to me. “Uh, hold off on that for just a moment.” I turned to the Director. “When you used the token, where did you appear?”

  “Ah, good point,” she said, “I was in a lounge area, it’ll probably be problematic for Lord Babylon if a building suddenly appeared there… Hold on, let me contact Molly.”

  The Director vanished from her position without another word. That left me and Sarah awkwardly sitting alone. With the situation so strained, I didn’t know how to interact with her anymore.

  Thankfully, the nurse was the one to break the awkward silence first. “Are you sure this will work?”

  “Almost positive.”

  And it was true. The title system had never failed me before, and if the thing could affect gods and other multidimensional horrors, then I can’t see why a simple building would be excluded.

  She gave me a weak smile, the gloom still evident in her features. “That’s good.”

  I frowned. “Why the long face, though? Isn’t this a good thing?”

  “I guess so, Dr. Walter…” She whispered, shaking her head.

  No, there was definitely something wrong here. But then again, given the news, it made little sense for her not to be anxious.

  I sighed. “Are you still afraid? Look, even if this doesn’t go as planned, I have other strings I can pull, we’re not leaving you to die here, Sarah, that I promise.

  “Perhaps a little, doctor, but that’s not it.” She shook her head and gazed around the room. “I’ll miss this place, you know. I’ve been here, on this hill, for my entire life. I’ve worked with Abigail’s family since the beginning, and I’ve seen thousands of staff pass through my doors over the years. I’ve endured it when the invaders came and sealed my powers, and I’ve been there when Alice was born.

  “I… I don’t know any life other than this, Walter, this is all I know. I can’t imagine an existence where my halls are empty and there are no patients to save. What’s the purpose of a hospital if there’s no one to cure? What is my reason to exist at that point?”

  Man, it was rough seeing Sarah like this. I had always associated her with the mysterious receptionist manning the front desk, emotionless and robotic for the most part. Seeing her so vulnerable was… it was rough.

  “It’s not forever,” I said, offering the only words of consolation I could, “And it won’t be for long either.” I offered her a weak smile. “Look, you’ve seen me do the impossible more than once, and let me say that I will stop at nothing to fix this current situation. You’ll have the kids running in the halls and bugging the staff back in no time.”

  Sarah chuckled. “You should have seen the two after they came back from the trip with you. They were practically bouncing up and down the walls.”

  “Yeah, so just bear with it for a while, the Director and I will save this place if it’s the last thing we do.”

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