Day 27: Library

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in. 

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close together when they'd left Rekord, but he hadn't seen a trace of any of them.  He was able to communicate easily with the people here though, which led him to believe Mokona was within a mile or so.  Unless the ones running this little game had some other way to let all these other-worldly people communicate amongst themselves.  In which case, the others could be very far away indeed.

The library had that wonderful smell of old books, and Fai traced his fingers along the shelves, skimming titles and pulling books that struck his fancy.  Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The War of the Worlds, and with a smile, he found Bram Stoker's Dracula as well.  Raven had been telling the truth then, in spite of his own lies.  Ought to be a good start.  He sat leisurely at one of the tables and began flipping through his selections.

[waiting for Tamaki~]

Comments

[no-side-effects.livejournal.com]

"Or it could be that this Alec Doyle actually founded the city. This location could have been strategically selected to be isolated from all potential outside factors the institute wants to prevent from interfering. If the institute isn't a self-sustaining entity it makes sense to construct a town nearby. And, what a perfect place that nearby town would make to start out all the people who have been 'cured' here," Wesker shook his head at the talk of people being from books and video games.

"As for the books and video games, I believe that is all brainwashing induced. I won't debate the nature of belief and disbelief, but do keep this in mind, while an illusion can kill you if you believe it, the real thing kills you if you believe it or not," Wesker noticed the edge of the wand sticking out of Rabastan's sleeve. Interesting, so he did in fact have a wand.

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

Bast made a thoughtful sound at that. He hadn't considered that possibility. Town construction and the like hadn't been a factor, his psychosis preventing such in that he didn't believe anyone other than himself (and a very select few) were real. Therefore, they ceased to be as soon as they stepped out of his view.

"I hadn't thought of that," he admitted, mulling this option over. If that were true, then even getting out of the institute wouldn't do them any good. Not that Bast wanted to escape really. He would have liked to have Severus gone since he could tell the Dark Lord, but that wasn't a major concern. Severus had vanished once, he could again. With help if necessary should the Potion Master ally himself with Potter. Accidents happened all the time in a place like Landel's, and no one could blame him really. Or at least not be able to prove anything.

Coming out of his thoughts, he mentally rewound what Wesker had said. Having no knowledge of virtual reality or the like, the best he could fall back on was the idea of illusions scaring a person to death. He had seen that happen once. The idea that this was all real was instantly discarded. He was the only -real- one so he couldn't die, right?

"But is it real at all? We could all be under an Imperius and doing what we were ordered to, believing it all. I guess it doesn't matter, not really. It's like debating good and evil when neither one exists. It's all labels that people apply to things they don't understand to give it a frame of reference that they can grasp."

The frown came back, turning his mouth downwards. Wesker had brought up points he hadn't thought of before, and that was mildly disturbing in itself. That meant Wesker could potentially be real like he was, thus why the man wasn't seeing any of the cute stupidity that Bast displayed around others. Bast had the sneaky suspicious that the man wouldn't buy much of it anyways at this point.

"That leads us back to what purpose. What does it serve to have a Death Eater like me, someone like Yazoo despite his cat-eyes, a warrior like Leon was before he disappeared, or a boy hero like Harry Potter. Even Raistlin, a wizard of some sort. It can't be magic. Yazoo didn't and doesn't have any magic from what I read, just their 'mother'. What do you think?"

Wesker was intelligent, something Bast had gotten in a short time. Everyone else was focused on getting out. If Wesker came up with an idea he hadn't, Bast had to assume he'd been thinking on the same lines as he did. Did that mean he was real or not?

[no-side-effects.livejournal.com]

"Experimental data. They want to see how we react to this situation and how we use our abilities, or lack of abilities, to survive. They will likely try to replicate our abilities or apply the information gained here somewhere else." Had the insanity all been an act? Or was he one of the annoying people who were both intelligent and insane?

But, at least the man was giving Wesker information about other patients, and the name 'Leon' had to be a coincidence. 'Warrior' didn't sound like Leon Kennedy, and he hadn't seen the former cop in the hospital.

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

"Data?"

That was one of the words he didn't get. Ignoring that for now, Rabastan didn't appreciate what he was hearing. This was an outcome he hadn't been expecting as of yet. The sick pulse of a headache came from behind his eyes, something easily blamed on Harry Potter and how upset he had gotten him before.

"That doesn't make sense. Anyone who goes to Hogwarts can learn the spells, but it's inborn ability that makes a wizard or witch capable of using that power. No one could do what I do just because they repeat the same words. I could hand you my want, tell you to say 'Lumos', show you the right wand movement, and you still would be able to do anything. I could understand if they were taking blood or hair or... something. They would be able to fashion spells then tailored to a person, but not just watching."

Bast glanced down at his radio, patting it absentmindedly. "In a minute, Jack. I'm talking to Mr Wesker."

[no-side-effects.livejournal.com]

"Exactly. They have probably discovered ways to duplicate inborn abilities. For instance, outside this place I am very nearly impossible to kill, I myself have been working towards replicating that ability in others, with slight success. They likely have a superior method to what I was researching, with the other capabilities..." Wesker considered what Rabastan believed wasn't happening.

"And they could very easily be taking blood and hair samples while we are unconscious in the period that separates the end of night and breakfast. It would be very easy to do," He himself would hopefully be playing around with a few blood samples in the coming night shift, if he made it to the lab that he was supposed to be guided to.

He simply ignored the way Rabastan spoke to the radio, refusing to devote any of his thought process to something so absurd.

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

"That sounds like a long-term Polyjuice Potion," Bast murmured thoughtfully. Wesker was feeding his innate paranoia in all new and interesting ways. "I could see you or the other smart and powerful people, but why ones like me or the children? Madness and weaknesses such as my size are generally traits anyone wants to pass on."

Genetics simply wasn't something Rabastan had a grasp on, being a wizard negating the need for science in his world. The wizard's wandering attention was being kept for a new record of time, intent on Wesker. Oh yes, there was a better than average chance that Wesker was real and that interested Rabastan almost as much as the man's intelligence. It was rare anyone bothered to even attempt to have a conversation about anything advanced with Rabastan. In truth, he usually preferred it that way because it did lend more to the idea that he was stupid and useless.

People made better cannon fodder if they didn't know they were being it.

"Why can't you be killed. Are you like the Dark Lord? He was killed or so everyone thought, but he came back later. You don't look like much of a wizard, and you sound like a Muggle although I was always told that Muggles were generally... erm... not that smart."

To Bast, Wesker just didn't seem like the sort that would take an insult against what he might be. It was best to play it safe in the slurs department. He glanced back down at the still-silent radio and huffed like a parent with a demanding child.

"Yes, Jack. Jack says to watch out when you get to where two is one. You'll see the red there, and that's when you need to be careful," Bast said with a shrug. "I know it makes no sense, but if I didn't tell you, he'd nag me about it."

[no-side-effects.livejournal.com]

"Hmn. Yes, your Dark Lord and I seem to have that in common, then, though I imagine our methods probably differ," It was mildly interesting, but as magic probably didn't have any practical application for him he wasn't inclined to invest time delving into it unless it would be of some use.

And, as Rabastan had said, it was an inborn talent if he was to be believed, one that also required a wand, and special words, none of which Wesker possessed.

"And how should I look like a wizard in this place? You don't look much like one yourself, aside from that wand you've got. Of course, with what little I've seen of it I can't even be certain it's a real wand, and not just some toy that looks like a real wand?" Wesker might not know magic, but he did know how to play mind games and be deceptive. He was curious if he could get Rabastan to think him a wizard, or to let him examine the wand.

And as for muggles being unintelligent, Wesker just grinned.

"Muggle," whatever that was, probably non-wizards? "or Wizard, most people are not that smart, Mr. Lestrange. There are very few people I could converse with and call it an intelligent conversation," And it was horribly pathetic that he was having a mentally engaging conversation with a madman. He wasn't quite sure he liked being called 'muggle' though, Wesker refused to be generalized into any category that didn't have intelligence as a prerequisite for membership. He didn't even qualify for 'human'.

While he would have liked to ignore it, Wesker decided to actually acknowledge what Rabastan was saying about 'Jack'. "Be sure to tell Jack I said thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

[rabastlestrange.livejournal.com]

"I don't think you and the Dark Lord have a whole lot in common though. He really hates Muggles, and He would probably try to kill you right off. That or cut you up and figure out why you can't be killed. Things like that interest Him."

Whoever this 'Dark Lord' was, Rabastan had some respect for him. A suspicious look was given up to Wesker, Bast needing to ponder for a minute if it was possible that this 'Wesker' was really Voldemort hiding out. It wasn't exactly unheard of from what he knew. Voldemort was a master of disguise, manipulation, and magic.

That might bear watching.

"Wizards don't usually wear sunglasses in the first place unless they need to, and not ones like that either. They look Muggle in design. What's the shiny black stuff they're made of?" Rabastan asked, turning his head to the side to try to study Wesker's glasses better. It would appear that things like plastic were unheard of in the wizarding world.

Bast blinked at the very suggestion that his wand wasn't real or a... a toy! It most certainly was not! Huffing a little, he drew himself up to his full 5'2 height and looked around for nurses. They got so upset when he showed his wand off. Hmph.

"I'll have you know that this is one of Ollivander's stock! It's is eleven inches long, made of cherry wood, and has a core of dragon's heartstring. A toy?"

Giving another wary left and right look, Bast edged his wand out of his sleeve and muttered 'Lumos' under his breath. As he did, the end of it burst into light, something he quickly hid under his sleeve with a quickly whispered 'Nox! Nox!'.

"See? I told you it wasn't a toy. Of course it's real."

Straightening it back in his sleeve, Rabastan lifted his thin shoulders in a shrug. "Yes, most people are stupid, but that's because they're stupid and think like a herd of sheep. Do this because 'they' say to or don't do that because it's wrong. It's like what I said with labels. People put them on things to make it so they can say this goes in that pile and this goes here. Some things prefer to be without a definition. I could call you a monster or you could call me one... come to think of it, lots of people call me one... but I'm no more a monster than I am a Hornswaggler. I'm me."

He waved a hand in annoyance at the whole thing. People had tried to classify him his entire life. It hardly mattered what people who didn't exist thought of him.

"I'd like to think that there's a few of us walking around that are beyond that, beyond anything that society, religion, morality, or anything else puts down. That's we're the only ones who are real."