Day 57: Sun Room

[bodhiandspirit.livejournal.com]

It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.

What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, and the fact that her equipment had been confiscated once again. Rita didn't have time to mess around... which was precisely why the cheery voice broadcast over the intercom only served to grate on her nerves more than usual. In fact... how was the Head Doctor even giving that announcement? She doubted he'd managed to take the institute back in such a short amount of time, though the broadcast itself was suspicious for a number of reasons. Even though she could clearly hear the man's voice, it didn't necessarily mean that he was there. She had to look at things critically.

Still, it seemed almost as if everything had returned to normal... with a few exceptions. The different staff was one, and her lack of possessions was another. It didn't seem like the staff was expecting to fool the patients into thinking this was the same old institute, so why...?

Even as she went about preparing for the day and walking to her first destination, Rita kept her most pressing questions in mind, coming up with multiple hypotheses to explain what was happening. Since she didn't expect that the Chapel would hold anything of interest to her, Rita opted for the Sun Room instead. She was interested in seeing the bulletin board, for one.

When she entered the Sun Room, Rita brought a pen and her journal with her. If no one approached her, she would at least have a chance to document her discoveries from the previous night. First, however, she checked the bulletin board, only to find it completely empty. That confirmed a few suspicions of hers. Content to see evidence supporting her ideas about the strange occurrences, Rita sat down on a couch, opened her journal, and began to write.

[Free!]

Comments

[godforsaken]

Erika would be glad to know that her deductions were correct once more, as the God-General never stepped into the chapel since his arrival within this damned institute. However, this fact was only second nature, shadowed by what was in store for them today. And what was in store for them completely contradicted the institute's actions only days ago.

At least, if he was just dreaming it all along. But if that were the case then his partner would wave these assumptions off as frivilous padding. That only made it more urgent to meet with her, especially over the progress they should've made in the basement last night. If this was all a ruse, then what they achieved was only half of the requirements to make it to the Coliseum, and if Landel truly did make that announcement in the radio then it was likely they'd face competition soon.

Yet there were also other things, things that made Sync grit his teeth when the word 'visitors' were mentioned, but there were more important things on his mind than having to endure another session like that. He didn't bother to say a word to his nurse as he made his way through the hallways, moving into the Sun Room and spotting Erika immediately. After all, if there was one thing she was good at, it was making herself noticeable even in a crowd.

Without waiting he was quick to approach her, quickly sitting down in the chair next to her before speaking.

"So what do you make of this?" If they were on the same level then he wouldn't need to elaborate.

[witchoftruth]

The detective already knew that this was the right room, but she couldn't help but feel the slightest twinge of satisfaction when she was able to predict her "partner's" behavior. He wasted no time either, immediately asking for her opinion on what 'this' was. 'This' being easy to identify, though Erika should have felt surprised that he didn't reason it out on his own, ever since the Doyleton trip. Perhaps he didn't pay attention.

"Visitors," Erika replied, though she frowned as she had to consider the true nature of these visitors once again. "The military has taken over, but we are the only ones who know. The rest of the world thinks that Landel's Institute hasn't changed the slightest. That is why the Doyleton trip still happened." Appearances for appearance's sake. Erika hadn't forgotten that the nurses mysteriously came back that day, and they were now back again. Of course most would think that things had reverted back to the way it was.

If only that were true. Too bad Erika was never wrong.

"At least, that's my theory. I'm assuming that these visitors are real in the first place. I wouldn't know, but maybe you would?" She left that question to hang in the air for Sync to answer, which he damn well better. The only way this theory worked was if the visitors were actual real civilians, but that implied that there were people here who were actually admitted for being delusional. That was entirely possible, yet... perhaps it just seemed strange, to keep the real patients around when this place was no longer a hospital (or really, had it ever been?). Maybe those patients were just kept elsewhere from the rest of the test subjects.

[godforsaken]

It made enough sense given previous circumstances, though he supposed it wasn't too far-fetched with how far would they go to keep this covered. Doyleton had been easier because they were travelling to a new location altogether; they had to work at a little harder when it involved their home base.

Of course, any thoughts of 'commending' Erika were quickly forgotten when she began to inquire about his own experiences on the matter. He didn't want to talk about it, but it was either that or having to deal with the latter attempting to goad him and forgetting what was really important. So Sync decided to humor her, though it was obvious that he wasn't getting much enjoyment out of it.

"They aren't." One would think he'd stop it there, and he almost did, before continuing.

"I've had a visitor before, and they were once part of this place too. All of it is just a ruse to make you believe what they're telling you is true." And chances were good that Erika already figured this out, but if anything it could just solidify her theories. "I don't know if my case is special. Some people might get 'visitors' who've never been here before, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were just on reserve."

[witchoftruth]

"... When you put it that way, then my theory sounds baseless, doesn't it?"

Erika didn't expect her question to hit a nerve, but she might have when she noticed Sync's slight hesitation to follow up on his answer. Hm, so he wasn't too happy about his visitor... He told her what she wanted to know about this person though, something that just made her theory sound all the more incorrect. If the visitors were former patients, then what was the point of keeping up the charade? That said, former patients might not have realized the military's true ownership of this place; Landel was booted very recently, after all. But, even then...

"Even so, I don't think all of those visitors are fake." Erika wasn't looking at Sync, but past him and at the wall as she formed together the clues in her mind. It didn't make sense immediately, but she was already repairing her theory with the information Sync gave her. Erika was very good at that, a reason why she didn't outright lose the fifth game with Battler.

"The strangest thing is how a former patient would be allowed to come back. You said this was a ruse to fool us, but now that ruse is unnecessary - the military isn't trying to fool any of us anymore. The only reason they're doing this now is for the visitors. They even have a recording of Landel-san for that purpose." A recording was just Erika's guess of how Landel was able to talk to them again despite no longer holding his position, unless they had some other trick to disguising their voice. Of course! Erika looked excited now, turning her gaze back to Sync. It was fiercely competitive, almost like she was challenging him to shoot down her flawless reasoning. She placed her hands on the table sharply, making a slight thud with her palms.

"But a former patient coming back makes perfect sense. Landel was only fired a few days ago. Those who were here before, who were too stupid to figure out this place's true nature, they're the ones who need to be fooled."

Of course, even Erika knew her theory wasn't flawless. How come the former patients still accepted that this place was just a mental institute, even after being subjected to the illusion being broken at night? Still, Nunnally, her former roommate, came to mind. Nunnally had suffered one of those "sleep studies", and then was discharged shortly after. It made sense - the girl had been broken. Maybe the others had to. Getting people to accept a lie was as easy as just convincing enough people to believe it, and once enough did, no one wanted to speak out against it. The same concept worked for Beatrice, and it was just as flimsy and weak. Hah!

"Simply because of the visitors, this reasoning is possible for Furudo Erika," She grinned, tapping her temple with a finger as she leaned back in triumph. "What do you think, Sync?"