Night 71: Patient Library

[forsworn]

[from here]

Shortly after Kratos closed the library door, the intercom came on abruptly. For some strange reason, though, the voice that came through was not Landel's, and it was soon joined by several others who also were not Landel. The rebels? How had they accidentally hijacked the intercom? And more importantly, where were they broadcasting from and what were they doing? Those questions, though, had to be saved for later: their goal tonight was very clear; they had their own mysterious lead to decipher.

He began to move again once the broadcast turned off, heading straight for where they'd found the switch the previous night. "Check the right side of the center aisle," Kratos said as he passed Lloyd. "We're looking for the Oxford Book of English Verse."

Comments

[knightspirit]

[from here ]

It was only by a hair's breadth, but somehow, Kyousuke managed to make it. Luckily, the door to the library had already been opened, since he may not have otherwise. Nothing seemed to be flying this way, either, which was either a very good or a very bad sign. It was hard to decide which.

Somewhere in the confusion, though, he'd lost track of Sora; he'd been so focused on trying to outrun Korra he didn't have a moment to spare to see if they were on the same page. Hopefully, they were. He wouldn't be able to complain if he'd stayed behind to help Tsubaki, but from the way Kratos put things, it was possible that there were bigger things ahead.

[lighthearted]

Sora was slightly delayed with making his way in after Tsurugi. Between getting blasted with some of that wind and having to make a split second decision on where to fight, he showed up a minute or so after Tsurugi had made it. Sora closed the door behind him to protect against any other attacks Korra might throw their way, and then slumped down slightly as he caught his breath.

Who knew wind could be that strong? Well, okay, he did -- he'd used plenty of Aero spells in the past.

Once he felt like he could speak again, Sora straightened up and looked around. It was so quiet in here... "She'll be all right," he said, mainly to reassure himself. "What were we looking for in here, again?"

[knightspirit]

He seemed a bit winded, but it looked like Sora made it, and since he managed to shut the door behind him, they were probably in the clear for now. While Sora caught his breath, Kyousuke briefly scanned the library. It looked empty, but that didn't necessarily mean anything in a place like this.

"Yeah," he agreed quietly when the other boy spoke. He was almost guilty for leaving someone behind, but this was what Tsubaki asked for, and there were times where you had to trust in each other's decisions. She stayed believing they'd make it to third floor, so they'd have to do the same and believe there was something she'd be able to do for Korra. "In exchange, we'll just have to make sure we find something."

"It's called The Oxford Book of English Verse," he answered, idly beginning to scan through the books on one part of the room.

After a moment, though, he had to pause. He wanted to avoid bringing anything like this up, but after encountering brainwashing twice in the same day, it was hard not to come back to. Maybe Sora would know something. "... Hey. Do you mind if I ask you something?"

[lighthearted]

Tsurugi was right. They had to make sure that they didn't let Tsubaki down, that they had some information to give her when the morning came. Which was why Sora only took a few more seconds to recover before he moved away from the door, shining his flashlight around as he tried to figure out where this Oxford book might be.

It would make the most sense for them to split up, since there were a few different aisles to check through. It could take them all night just to find the book, but Sora hoped that wouldn't be the case.

He was about to take off to the other side of the room when Tsurugi interrupted him. Sora paused and looked back over, making sure to point his flashlight at Tsurugi's feet instead of his face. "What is it?" It didn't seem very much like Tsurugi to strike up a conversation when they were in the middle of things, so Sora had to assume it was pretty important.

[knightspirit]

"It's about the people they brainwash here," Kyousuke responded. He returned to looking through the books as he spoke, trying to make it look like this was just a casual conversation with no deeper meaning to it, even though that couldn't be farther from the truth. "I was wondering how much you know about it. Like if anyone's ever broken their on them."

That was all he needed to know: whether there was something he could actually do, or whether he needed to make one. It was bad enough that they made people attack each other, like they'd just seen with Korra, but the idea that one of his best friends no longer even understood who he was... He just couldn't deal with that.

[lighthearted]

Of all the people to ask about this, Sora was a pretty good choice for it, if only because he'd been here for so long. He focused on checking the shelf across from where Tsurugi was looking, but there was no sign of anything with "Oxford" in the title so far.

"I don't think it's something anyone can be broken out of, at least not until morning comes," Sora responded after a pause. He hated to be the bearer of bad news, but it was better not to give Tsurugi false hope about it. Just like Sora hadn't been capable of being reasoned with when he turned into a Heartless...

"The best way to handle them is to knock them out. That keeps them from hurting anyone else, but it's not that easy, since they're usually way stronger." Still, it had happened in the past, so he at least knew it wasn't impossible.

[knightspirit]

Not until morning comes. So in short, not until the institute decided to release them from it. Did that mean there was nothing anyone could do unless they figured out how they managed to brainwash them in the first place? And that might be easier said than done; he remembered the person who had attacked him his first night saying that he couldn't remember anything about the process. It wasn't an unexpected answer, but Kyousuke still couldn't stop the sinking feeling that followed.

"... And the visitors? What about them?" he asked. He stopped in front of another shelf as he asked, pretending to skim over more titles, even though these seemed to be a little thin for the type of book they were looking for.

[lighthearted]

The visitors were an even worse issue. Sora sighed as he thought first of Donald, and then of all his other friends who had come here and then been released. Riku and Kairi were in that number too, and from the sounds of it, Tsurugi had also been visited by someone. Probably earlier today, come to think of it...

"I don't know," Sora admitted. "There has to be a way to snap them out of it, right? If the Special Counseling patients can go back to normal, then the visitors must be able to, too." It seemed logical to him, but there was no denying that when he spoke, it was also to convince himself.

He moved onto the next shelf and wondered if there was anything more he could say about it, something that might make Tsurugi feel a little better about the whole thing. "I... I don't plan to go home until I can make sure they're safe," he eventually said.

[knightspirit]

From the sound of things, nobody had ever managed to bring any visitors back either. Kyousuke frowned, clenching his free hand into a fist, but beyond that, he didn't react much; he couldn't expect anything more. ... Nothing here could ever be easy, could it? But the greater the trial, the greater the reward. It was getting difficult to think like that lately, but he didn't have much of a choice, either. There was nothing to do but keep going.

"... I probably won't either," he responded after letting Sora's words sink in. "There's too many things that are only half-finished." Of course, he couldn't leave Tenma here, who didn't understand anything anymore, but that was hardly the only problem he'd be leaving behind. Kratos and Lloyd, too.. He couldn't just leave before making sure they were okay, either. ... He wondered if he should tell Sora about that. It wasn't the sort of thing he should be spreading around without knowledge or consent on their behalf, but Sora did seem to trust Kratos, and in this kind of situation, more help could never be a bad thing.

But before he could, he managed to catch sight of their target out of the corner of his eye, and moved over to investigate. "I think I found it," he called out. He didn't touch the book yet; he'd wait until Sora was ready to move on for that.

When did you want to tie things up here?

[lighthearted]

If Tsurugi felt the same way about it, then he definitely had a friend out there who'd been brainwashed. At least it meant that the two of them would be in for the long haul together, and that probably counted for a lot of other people too. Maybe this records archive they were looking for would have some information about how to undo the brainwashing, too!

When Tsurugi announced that he'd found the book, Sora perked up and immediately moved to his side, though he made sure to keep enough distance that their shoulders didn't brush. He hadn't told Tsurugi about his inability to make physical contact with people, and now didn't seem like a good time to bring it up.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Pull it out!" Was that what caused the passage to open? Sora was excited. It wasn't enough these days that he got to experience something new within the institute.

[knightspirit]

Without further prelude, Kyousuke pulled the heavy book from the shelf, and there was an audible click as the switched snapped into place. There was a heavy rumbling sound as the door dragged itself into place, but Kyousuke didn't move quite yet. He narrowed his eyes, checking over the entrance, already prepared for something to jump out and attack them at any second.

But an attack never came, and the opening seemed empty. Based on what Kratos told him, the boy wasn't sure if he trusted that, but they weren't going to get anywhere by standing around here. It was time to get moving.

[ to here ]