Day 44: Intercom, Dusk
The intercom jingle sounded throughout the Institute, but it took a few moments for anyone to speak.
"Hello, everyone." The Head Doctor's breathing seemed slightly labored, his voice somewhat hoarse. There was a kind of weariness to it that hadn't been present before. "I... just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing quite fine."
He paused, then took a deep breath and continued.
"However, the recent events here at the Institute have made us realize that our current protection is not quite so fine. So, in order to protect the welfare of our patients and staff, we will be implementing some new security measures to make sure that none of these mishaps occur ever again.
"While most of these reforms will be at the staff and technology level, research into the habits of our patients has forced us to conclude that, while we have put our best faith in you, we simply cannot allow the nonsense on the bulletin board to continue. Much of the spread of nighttime rumors, we fear, originates from just a few of you who seem insistent on alarming everyone else through constant misinformation.
"Well," said the Head Doctor, and now his voice sounded a little more normal, "that's not going to go on any longer! From tomorrow onward, nurses will be diligently monitoring all activity on the bulletin for inappropriate messages and will take them down if need be! Also, we will be quite more diligent about completely clearing the bulletin every night so as to facilitate better, more proper communication. After all-"
He coughed, suddenly. After a deep breath, he finished with:
"In... any case, I am sure that even this small change will have a profound impact on the recovery of our more willing patients. I look forward to seeing it, but at the moment, I must leave our CM-US Trials and Special Counseling in the hands of our experienced doctors and bid you all goodnight."
The intercom clicked off.
"Hello, everyone." The Head Doctor's breathing seemed slightly labored, his voice somewhat hoarse. There was a kind of weariness to it that hadn't been present before. "I... just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing quite fine."
He paused, then took a deep breath and continued.
"However, the recent events here at the Institute have made us realize that our current protection is not quite so fine. So, in order to protect the welfare of our patients and staff, we will be implementing some new security measures to make sure that none of these mishaps occur ever again.
"While most of these reforms will be at the staff and technology level, research into the habits of our patients has forced us to conclude that, while we have put our best faith in you, we simply cannot allow the nonsense on the bulletin board to continue. Much of the spread of nighttime rumors, we fear, originates from just a few of you who seem insistent on alarming everyone else through constant misinformation.
"Well," said the Head Doctor, and now his voice sounded a little more normal, "that's not going to go on any longer! From tomorrow onward, nurses will be diligently monitoring all activity on the bulletin for inappropriate messages and will take them down if need be! Also, we will be quite more diligent about completely clearing the bulletin every night so as to facilitate better, more proper communication. After all-"
He coughed, suddenly. After a deep breath, he finished with:
"In... any case, I am sure that even this small change will have a profound impact on the recovery of our more willing patients. I look forward to seeing it, but at the moment, I must leave our CM-US Trials and Special Counseling in the hands of our experienced doctors and bid you all goodnight."
The intercom clicked off.