damned_institute | Night 74: Records Archive (Third Floor)

[From here.]

Lloyd didn't have to wait long, as Castiel headed back over soon after he'd left. Ryuuzaki and the woman with him had been in a hurry, but they'd given him the information needed, so that was all that mattered. If anything, it was good to see that another group was moving on, as they would be spending quite some time here from the looks of things.

"I need to search through the computer," Castiel said as he stepped toward Kratos. He didn't want to forget any of the details he'd been given, seeing how he couldn't trust his memory as much as usual.

There were going to be plenty of Earths to search through, so he wanted to pinpoint these two as quickly as possible, not to mention trying to find his own.

Edited 2014-01-07 15:37 (UTC)

It wasn't long before the man responded again; Kratos handed the radio over to Lloyd and scribbled "Amestris" - or, what was hopefully an approximate spelling - on the sheet of paper in front of him. He turned his attention back to the computer. There had to be some kind of search function; especially with all these versions of Earth, it was difficult to imagine someone committing all of the nuances to memory.

Eventually, though, he found the search function - handy, having a small hand lens icon for easier identification - and typed in "Amestris". The results had just popped up when Castiel came back, asking to use the computer.

"Do you need me to run the search immediately?" he asked. "Otherwise, if you write down the information over here" - Kratos pushed the sheet and pen in Castiel's direction - "I'll attend to it after this one--unless you needed to take care of it personally?"

"No, that's fine," Castiel said with a shake of his head as he took the piece of paper and pen and leaned against one of the shelves to start writing down all of the details he'd just been given.

It sounded like they were already getting some responses to the message that Kratos had sent out, which was good. The more world names they could get tonight, the better the chance of getting every single person still caught in this place home.

This didn't solve the problem of their brainwashed allies, but they were going to have to take this one step at a time, and so Castiel focused on writing. Legal system, 2016, spirit channeling...

Lloyd spoke briefly with the other man, frowning vaguely at the feeling that he knew that voice. He couldn't pin a name down right away, though. Distracted, he glanced at the computer screen to see if Kratos had had any luck.

"Why do you think there's so many worlds with the same name?" he asked, voicing something that had been bothering him since they'd first looked at the list. Were some names, like Earth, really just that popular? Lloyd couldn't imagine naming his world after just one of the elements. Did those worlds just have no water, no fire, no air? Or just more earth than anything else? "And how will we know who belongs to which one if there's more than one of them?" He hadn't heard that part of the conversation that Castiel had had with L and Lana, but it was a problem that even he could see they'd have to deal with somehow.

Kratos watched as Castiel began to write down on a separate piece of paper the information regarding the other worlds he'd just been told about, and then turned back to the screen. Surprisingly, the search for "Amestris" had resulted in a single result - presumably, the world that the other patient on the radio had been speaking of. He briefly skimmed the description, which went on about "alchemy" and some international conflicts of note, and then zeroed in on the coordinates listed. Taking up the pen, Kratos wrote them down next to "Amestris" and then passed the paper to Lloyd. "Here."

He spared a glance toward Castiel's paper and was about to try a second search when a second patient responded; Kratos, attention diverted, hastily wrote "Republic City, Southern Water Tribe" down before moving on to the next search. "It seems like it's the same world, except different versions of it," he said distractedly. "I'd prefer to remain unconcerned about the logistics." After all, it was confusing enough to have to deal with multiple worlds, let alone multiple versions of the same world. "In the mean time, the search function on the database seems to allow me to search for specific characteristics, which should allow us to differentiate--can you get that?" Kratos nodded in the direction of the radio.

Castiel could have answered Lloyd's question, but Kratos did so for him, allowing him to focus on writing down everything that the two who'd passed through had told him. He would need to get into contact with them tomorrow, to see how much further they'd traveled and what they'd found.

Yet another reply came in. He didn't recognize that voice either, but that was beside the point. So long as they were able to obtain the information for whoever responded, that was what mattered.

Castiel slid the journal back over to Kratos, leaving it there for him to start searching when he had the chance. At this rate, they were going to be spending most of the rest of the night working on this.

"There," he said, "that's what they told me. It should be enough to narrow it down to one Earth."

Lloyd took the paper from Kratos, then turned his radio back on so he could relay the numbers to the man on the other end. He took a moment to talk to the woman, too, and wrote down what she had to say about her world.

While Lloyd did that, Kratos busied himself with starting the search through the list of Earths. This time it didn't go as quickly - most likely because there were so many entries. A circle spun next to the search lens, as though symbolic of the seemingly eternal wait while the computer ran through its database. In reality, it only took another few minutes before Kratos had another string of numbers written down. He passed them to Castiel before starting the next search.

While he waited for the next response, Lloyd made a face. "I'm glad it's you dealing with that," he said to his father. "I don't think I understood even half of what you said." He glanced at Castiel, half-curious, half because he was restless and talking was at least something to do. "Do you have anything like this in your world?"

At this point, Kratos was doing the most difficult job between the three of them, but Castiel could already tell that he was more proficient with a computer, even when it came to something as simple as typing.

As soon as the numbers for the two worlds he'd been told about were written down, Castiel ripped that piece of paper out of the journal and put it into his coat pocket. He would have to give the information to Ryuuzaki and his female friend tomorrow.

When Lloyd turned to ask him a question, Castiel tilted his head curiously. "You mean a database cataloging other worlds? Or the computer itself?"

He was aware of there being other planets, but the information about them was limited, and God had never seen fit to have them investigate much beyond that. Their dominion was over Earth and nothing else, and so while Castiel knew about the other planets in their solar system, he wasn't much more informed than that.

"Either? Both?" He hadn't really thought to specify. "My world..." He trailed off, realizing he had to amend what he'd been about to say. "It does, sort of. I think? I've only seen computers inside a few places. Most people don't have them. I don't think any of them have a list of other worlds, though. Not like this." He gestured at the list he'd already written down. "I don't think anyone knew there were this many worlds out there. I- Hang on."

Someone else was calling through the radio. Instead of a nagging sense of familiarity, though, this time Lloyd recognized the voice. He'd spoken with owner just that morning. He turned his radio on again. "Sora!" While he talked, he quickly wrote some information down before passing it to Kratos. Sora's world is Destiny Islands.

Castiel was more than prepared to explain some of the details of his world to Lloyd. There wasn't much else they could do when they were waiting for replies and when Kratos was working on the computer, but then Lloyd was interrupted.

Castiel listened to the exchange, but he didn't recognize this Sora either. It was starting to sink in, how few of the people in this place he actually knew. Not that it had ever been his goal to befriend everyone.

Once Lloyd was done, Castiel spoke up. "Computers are common where I'm from. Most families have at least one, and they're also used in offices. But I don't think they would have a database like this. Scientists have researched the other planets near Earth, but it isn't nearly as extensive as this."

"Whoa," Lloyd said, impressed by the numbers Castiel was suggesting. "Almost everyone in your whole world? Your world must have a lot of mana to run that much magitechnology." Would his world be like that if it hadn't been split? If the Tree hadn't died from so much mana being used up in the war?

He broke off again when he got another couple responses. The words "Hyrule" and "Ordon" were quickly added to the list of names Kratos needed to search for. Kratos only nodded and slid a piece of paper back to him in return. He'd found Sora's world, and the world the girl was from. Lloyd wasted no time in passing that information on.

The worlds were being found and the information passed along to those who needed it. They were actually making some kind of progress, even if they didn't yet know what to do with these numbers. That they could work out later, but even this kind of breakthrough was bound to raise morale.

Castiel waited until Lloyd was finished with his work on the radio (and he seemed to be the best choice for the job) before he responded to his earlier statement. "I don't think that Earth has... mana or magitechnology. Computers run on electricity, which is a kind of energy source." It was possible they were different words for the same thing, in which case Lloyd's world was in short supply.

There might come a day when Earth was also sapped of its resources, considering how quickly the humans were burning through everything...

"Electricity..." Lloyd echoed the word with a frown. He knew what electricity was. He'd been hit with more electric attacks than he'd ever wanted to feel in his life. "That's just lightning-based mana, isn't it?" He glanced at Kratos for confirmation.

Kratos's attention remained on the computer, fingers typing in the words for his search. Even so, he took the time to answer Lloyd. "In our world, yes, but other worlds are no doubt different. Haven't you seen enough in the time you've been here to know that already for yourself?" As Lloyd frowned again, mulling that over, the older man nodded at his computer. "There are two results for worlds with a 'Hyrule.' Is 'Ordon' part of a separate search, or should I include it in the parameters?"

Lloyd's brow furrowed. He hadn't thought to ask. "I don't know," he said. "Hang on, let me ask." He turned the radio back on to call Sora. He took a moment to talk to the other girl, too, when she responded just after that.

Lightning-based mana. It was an understandable mistake. Lightning was power, and angels had the ability to control that kind of weather if they were high enough in the ranks. There was a reason that it usually smelled of ozone whenever an angel arrived somewhere.

Not that Castiel had even a shred of that power now. "This computer runs on electricity," he clarified. "It's also used for lights."

Not that there were many lights on in this room, but still, Lloyd should know what he meant.

That was probably enough of talking about energy sources and computers, though. Castiel stood up and stretched. "I'll start searching through the rest of these texts," he said, as it seemed that Kratos and Lloyd had things under control here.

The lights might have been off right now, but Lloyd had seen them on during the day. He knew what Castiel was talking about. "Huh. I wonder what the difference is..."

He didn't wonder for long, though, soon distracted by more responses from the radio. He winced when the girl, Korra, asked about Earth. Oh man, there were so many different Earths. Trying to pin down just one... At least she'd given them something to narrow the searches down with.

Death City, though... What kind of a name for a city was that?

Fortunately, with the new information, it didn't take Kratos long to come up with results. Lloyd called the others back to let them know, inwardly pleased. After so many days without making any progress, it felt like tonight they were finally doing something that would help!

Just overhearing the back-and-forth between Lloyd and those on the radio, it sounded like they were slowly but surely finding each person's world. Castiel was eventually going to have to run a search for his own, but he decided to wait until the chatter on the radio had died down. It seemed like they were almost finished.

In the meantime, he wandered the archive, picking out binders and journals at random to page through them. Most of them were filled with reports about the different experiments performed on the patients, and he found that he didn't have much of a stomach for reading about it. Not because he was squeamish, but because it felt like an invasion of privacy.

Would he be able to find any information about Dean and Sam here? Castiel didn't know if he wanted to learn about what may or may not have been done to them. Yet before he knew it, he'd started searching the shelves for the M-U file for patients with last name "D," for Derringer.

Once he found the correct journal, he opened it up and started flipping through.

[From here.]

After traveling through so much of the institute without seeing another soul (save for that zombie scientist, anyway), Sora was taken aback when they stepped in and saw three other people there. Even though Lloyd had told him this was where they'd be, it was different seeing them in person now.

Lloyd and Kratos were sitting near the computer, whereas their friend was standing in another part of the room and reading something.

Sora moved right over to the pair, seeing how they were the ones he knew, and waved excitedly. "Hey, we made it! What's happening here?" Sora's gaze shifted to the screen that Kratos was sitting at, head tilted curiously.

Link's eyes brightened when he stepped into the records room to see another group. Part of him... had been hoping that Tsurugi would be among them, by some sort of miracle, but he knew at this point that holding out a hope of seeing him tonight would be foolish.

He swallowed, eyes darting to the door frame behind him before returning to the group before them. Link offered a small smile, but no words. Never having been much of a talker, he began taking a look around.

"Sora!" Lloyd's face brightened as well, and he stood up from the desk he'd been sitting at side-by-side with Kratos. Stepping forward, he gestured around him. "This is the Records Archive! But you already knew that," he laughed. After all, Lloyd had been the one to tell him. "This is Castiel, and that's my fa- I mean, that's Kratos." His eyes darted to his father following the slip. Their relationship still wasn't something he knew what to do with, or whether or not they should even openly admit to it. Landel already knew, though, didn't he? But did that mean it was safe to say it out loud?

Was he even comfortable with it himself?

Kratos's eyes met his, but his face remained impassive, offering him no clues about what he thought. Instead, his attention slipped past him to Sora and Link, and he inclined his head in greeting.

Right. Now wasn't really the time. Lloyd tried to push the awkward moment aside so he could focus on the more important things right now. Like the records archive they were in. He waved the two over, inviting them closer to the computer, even as his eyes were drawn to Sora's friend, curious. Despite the light of his lamp on the table, it was hard to see much in the dark beyond a general impression of face and build. "You guys wanna see the list of all the worlds?"

When the door opened Castiel forced his attention away from the volume in front of him to watch to young men step inside. He only recognized them from having seen them around the different common areas during the day. Lloyd and Kratos looked to be familiar with them, though, and so they should be able to handle orienting them with the room.

Castiel heard Lloyd introduce him and nodded in silent greeting, but that was all he felt was required of him.

Another few pages, and he finally came across "Eric Derringer," Dean's fake name. There was no sign of "Matthew," which meant that of the two of them, Dean was the only one unlucky enough to get picked for experimentation.

There was a date offered for the experiment, but Castiel had no idea when that was compared to now. The first detail offered was that a demon had been the one in charge of Dean's session. How had Landel managed that?

It was kind of funny the way that Lloyd was almost official with the way that he announced the room that they were in and then introduced the others. "Oh, I know Kratos!" Sora said with a smile. "We've worked together plenty of times, right?" He leaned over to make eye contact with the man in question, offering a smile. He looked just as serious as ever...

The other person with them, Castiel, might as well be Kratos' twin. He had the same serious look on his face -- Sora could make that out even from this side of the room.

When the offer was made to see the database of all the worlds, Sora immediately nodded. He was used to learning about a multitude of different worlds, seeing how that had kind of been his job back home, and so he was very curious to see this for himself.

"Sure!" he said, drawing closer even though the space around the computer that Kratos was sitting at was getting pretty cramped.

Edited 2014-01-20 03:36 (UTC)

Link nodded, turning his attention to Lloyd when he mentioned showing them the list of worlds. He had seen all three of these men before, standing around the Institute with the other longtime patients, but they hadn't spoken. His eyes lingered on the book in the oldest man's hands before he stepped over to the device. What was it called, again? Did he know?

The radio had crackled to life briefly when Korra gave her thanks, but other than that, there hadn't been any other requests for specific world coordinates. Kratos slid to the side, letting Lloyd take advantage of the lull to show the other two boys the computer. In the mean time, he picked up pen and paper again and returned to copying coordinates down as they were listed. Just because they had not been requested did not mean they were not important. Not everyone might have a radio, or the opportunity to use one.

Lloyd pointed to the list - or, more specifically, to the worlds that both had Hyrules. "You can see what I meant when I said there were two worlds. That's your world... um... Link, right?" That was what Sora had called him on the radio, right? "I'm Lloyd," he added, just in case he hadn't picked up on that. Now that the other two had stepped farther into the room, it was easier to get a look at them in the light. Link looked like he might be Lloyd's age, and now he could see that his hair was blonder than it was brown, falling in a way that didn't quite cover...

...pointed ears? Lloyd's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Are you an elf?" He hadn't seen anyone here who didn't look human - not counting the monsters he'd encountered at night. He was surprised enough he almost didn't even notice when another voice issued from the radio, and this time not in response to their call.

Castiel had one ear trained on the conversation taking place on the other side of the room, but for the most part it was introductions and explanations. Are you an elf slipped in there, and he glanced over, noting the stranger with the pointed ears. He'd never seen anything like that -- whatever elves were, they didn't exist on Earth.

He returned his attention to the file. This demon, which had somehow made its way into the institute and onto Landel's staff, had started by showing Dean an image of his brother using his own demonic power to exorcise demons.

It was the sort of thing that would have troubled Dean, considering what point in time he'd been pulled from. This had to be some form of manipulation, as it was what demons always did -- pitting the brothers against each other, digging right into that weak spot with clawed hands.

Reading it was enough to start a steady build of anger, but that only showed in Castiel's tensed shoulders.

That Castiel guy was kind of anti-social, wasn't he? Sora wondered what that was all about, though he was quickly distracted by what Lloyd had to show them.

Like he'd said, there were two places called Hyrule on the list. It was kind of weird, but with so many worlds out there, it might be pure chance that led to them having the same name.

Weirdly enough, Lloyd then turned and asked Link the same question that Sora had asked him earlier in the night. Sora couldn't help laughing.

"Apparently not," he said. "I asked him too." Sora glanced over at Link and smiled sheepishly, before returning his attention to Lloyd. "So you have Christmas where you're from, Lloyd?" How else would he know what elves were?

Night 74: Records Archive (Third Floor)

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