damned_institute | Night 41: M01-10 Hallway

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Night 41: M01-10 Hallway

[in M7]

Hanatarou had managed to choke down about half of his dinner before finally giving up and pushing the tray away. With a glance back at Sora to make sure his roommate wasn't looking, he'd opened the closet door to get his uniform and started to change; he thought that if he was going to act like a healer he could at least look like one. Right?

He was just settling his pack in place when the intercom went off, and he gave a startled glance back toward the speaker. The announcement was creepy and disturbing as usual, but considering that he was already a bundle of nerves as it was...well, there wasn't really a visible impact on him. There were supposed to be two people - two strangers - coming by to be healed, and he hoped that he'd be able to help them.

The healer paused for a moment, staring blankly at the imitation Hisagomaru in the corner of the closet before finally deciding to leave it there for the time being. He'd have to see how he felt after trying to heal two people before deciding what he was going to do next.

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Endrance simply nodded at first, a brief 'why didn't I think of that?' running through his head. It was a good thing to know, though, just in case something happened, or the weapon maker needed a bit more material. "Not that I needed to worry, but it's better to have something like that than not," he said quietly.

The words 'don't apologize' stuck in his head. Did that mean it was okay, or...no, better not to get too caught up in that train of thought, as easy as it would be to do that. It had been impulsive on his part, and better for the moment to leave it as that - a moment of getting too caught up in that mix of...of everything, really. So, when the subject changed, it was almost a little too welcome.

"Ah, right...that actually ties in with what I'd wanted to talk to you about," Endrance began. "Tsukasa and I met briefly back when we were both playing R:1. I admit I don't know the full story, but this is what I do know." He took a seat at one of the desks, setting his flashlight on top of it for light.

"You remember that incident a little while ago, when everyone logged into the game couldn't log out, I'm sure...the same thing happened to Tsukasa. Only it lasted a lot longer, with his consciousness trapped in the game world while his real self was comatose. He had something similar to our Avatars, while that happened - a guardian capable of using Data Drain. He was able to come out of the coma after the AI Morganna was defeated."

Endrance paused, taking a long, deep breath. "I met him several months after that, after...well, I'll just explain everything, as I'd intended to do. I...had a friend. Mia. A player in the form of a cat. She and I were out and about one day, and she showed an interest in another player - a boy named Kite. He had a bracelet that she was interested in, though I couldn't see what she was talking about. I have to admit, I was intensely jealous at first, even going so far as to ask him to give me the bracelet so Mia would pay more attention to me, but managed to make friends with him after a while. It was around this time that strange occurrences began to happen in R:1 - fields that were completely corrupted, bugged monsters, things such as that. Kite was looking into them, and eventually a lot of players started to work with him. I was one of those players. In the end, it seemed like all of the problems were traced to a group of strong monsters - the phases of Morganna, or the Cursed Wave."

He paused again, pushing the bit of sadness that always came with this subject back down. "As we defeated each one, things only seemed to get worse. More and more areas seemed to be affected, and not just fields - the towns, too. Even Mia was affected...she started to act strangely after a while. We thought it was just a problem with her computer or her headset, until one day I couldn't find her at all. I searched and searched, with no trace of her...until I got to one particular field. She..." Endrance swallowed hard around the lump in his throat, unable to keep going.

Haseo began to spin in-hand his new acquisition experimentally... an ability he was pretty sure he didn't possess in his real body. "Tsukasa was still in the game but was comatose on the outside?" he echoed. For a brief moment he almost hoped for Shino and Alkaid... but he soon pushed that feeling down. The circumstances were different, clearly.

But then the mention of a familiar name caught his interest, and he listened carefully as Endrance related what had happened. Mia was what Endrance had called that AIDA-cat and... had he heard the name Kite before? He wasn't entirely certain, but suddenly, several of the pieces from earlier in the day fell into place- namely, he reminded of the brief conversation he'd seen between Tsukasa and Endrance on the board, and how odd it had seemed....

A long pause passed again after Endrance had trailed off, then Haseo remarked without looking back, "Tsukasa called the friend you were with 'Macha,' not Mia. That's the name of your Avatar." He didn't really ask after what had happened. From the way Endrance was acting it seemed easy enough to have an idea. "So... these 'Phases' correspond to the Avatars?" He paused, thinking, then added, "'Morganna Factor' is another name they call the ability to summon Avatars... part of the reason why everyone was locked in that one time was because AIDA stole Atoli's...."

"Yes, it was just like that...he was in the game, but was also hospitalized. As far as I'm aware, his was the only case like that until the incident we know about in R:2...other players fell into comas within the game during the time I was active, but they weren't seen in the game at all until after they woke again," Endrance said, nodding.

He didn't say anything for several moments after Haseo mentioned the name Tsukasa had used for Mia, but it was a small comfort to not have to explain in full detail what had happened that day. "I suppose I don't need to explain what happened, then... and yes. At least in name, the Phases correspond to the Avatars..." He hadn't seen - or had blocked out, one of the two - the image of what Mia had looked like when she had transformed, so he didn't know if they corresponded to each other in appearance or abilities other than Data Drain.

Endrance listened to the explanation of what had actually happened during that incident, thinking it over. "I see...so AIDA has the ability to strip away a person's power, not just..." He trailed off again. "I feel like I should thank you now, for taking that away. I...I don't know what might have happened otherwise."

There was one more thing he had fully intended to tell Haseo, but it almost didn't seem as if it needed to be said. On the other hand, could he really hide the fact? "Haseo. There's one more part of the story. I...I'm not proud of this, but I was so distraught after losing Mia that I turned to the enemy's side, giving them information. But I changed my mind and realized that what I'd done was wrong during the battle with the final Phase, Corbenik. I took a Data Drain intended for Kite so that he could keep going, and fell into a coma myself afterwards. I don't think I stayed that way very long, but..."

He took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. "I'd do the same thing for you, if it were to come to that."

"Corbenik was the last one, huh?" Haseo gave a humorless laugh and crossed his arms. "That's Ovan's. Although... there's still an Epitaph User missing so...."

"But with AIDA...?" Haseo agreed with what had once been said that it seemed like AIDA was experimenting. If it had had the ability to create the false server with Atoli's abilities, affected the real world, and twisted so far the goals of Sakaki and Taihaku, who weren't Epitaph Users, what would have gone down if AIDA had continued to control the power of the Temptress? "Who knows," Haseo answered, slightly uneasy again.

"But I don't think G.U. would have let it go on. Pi and Kuhn both have Avatars and were in that tournament too, and before I--" ...went power-hungry, lost control of Skeith, and might have really hurt Kuhn had he not prepared beforehand... "--beat them, they had every intention of coming after you." As he spoke he went about the room, gathering the things he'd made mental checks for, but paused again.

"Thanks, but..." he said slowly, but then paused for several beats before he finally scoffed and continued with an exasperated half-smile on his face. "...Well, if you really don't remember... you did something pretty stupid to help out against Sakaki, Endrance, but I... guess it worked out, so whatever."

"Yes...the final Phase was Corbenik. But... an Avatar controlled by someone with that level of power? That's a truly frightening thought." A thought that couldn't go ignored once they made it back to their real bodies and back to the game proper, not with that added to what Haseo had said about Ovan over breakfast.

"I see..." Endrance hummed thoughtfully. Yes, he remembered seeing Kuhn's team go up the arena rankings. Interesting, then, that they both had Avatars, too... So everyone was...no, not looking out for me, but ready to take me down. They had been good, and it was again, something of a comfort that it would have happened anyway, but that didn't change the fact that he was still glad Haseo had been the one to take away that infection. "I'm still glad it was you," he added, flashing a brief smile. "It did hurt, but...it also brought about what happened afterward, when you came to find me."

What happened between that time and the time Haseo's from? What does he mean that I did something stupid? I...can't think of what I would have done, and it seems a few other pieces are missing from the puzzle...

Endrance shook his head. "I honestly don't remember anything after leaving Indieglut Lugh, Haseo...what happened?"

Edited 2009-06-02 18:37 (UTC)

We already beat Ovan once, Haseo thought, but that clearly wasn't enough....

Haseo shook his head at the request for an explanation, holding his hands up in a shrug. "You won't believe it," he said flatly. He also didn't really want to go through it, but now that mention had been made, it wasn't like he really had any choice. He shifted his weight again and stared at the ceiling in thought, as if he wished it would tell the story instead.

"Like I said before, Sakaki became obsessed with getting revenge. He blackmailed us into participating in his twisted Arena game and we..." Haseo suddenly paused and blinked, remembering that Endrance hadn't seen the Serpent of Lore.

"...Do you even know what G.U. is? The guildmaster Yata, and Pi, are System Administrators, and Kuhn works with them investigating and fighting AIDA. They have this... thing called the Serpent of Lore at the @Home that lets you watch pretty much everything going on in 'The World.'

"When CC Corp let Sakaki take that over, Pi altered our characters so that we could meet outside the normal areas of 'The World.' But after a while... you and Saku stopped showing up. ...And then you said that you were going off on your own."

"I was going to ask that, too..." It didn't particularly matter one way -- no. It did matter, because it was something that would clearly become important. This 'Serpent of Lore' sounded eerily like what Lios had used to check on Kite's group's doings in R:1. It wasn't surprising that only System Administrators had access to a tool like that, but in the wrong hands...

"I see," he said. "So, then, in a way, the Epitaphs were coming together...how funny, that the past and the future both take the same path, with the Phases being the keys to The World. It's almost as if it's a rare, thorned flower that blooms once every seven years. The seed waits for the right light in order to grow...and it's nurtured by The World itself."

Endrance blinked at Haseo once he said that Sakaki had taken over the Serpent of Lore. "In those hands...the only choice would be to change..." That last sentence, though, completely derailed his train of thought. His eyes opened wide with shock, and he gasped loudly.

"What? Why would I do such a thing? Was I reinfected by AIDA? I...I wouldn't intentionally leave your side, Haseo..." Especially not with that girl...

Edited 2009-06-02 19:54 (UTC)

"Calm down... it's not like that." Haseo closed his eyes in irritation, taking a deep breath. Told you it was hard to believe, came the unbidden thought. He went quiet again- Endrance revealing the ruse himself had just happened before Haseo had woken up in an institution bed, and so far he had had little chance to turn the incident over in his head himself. So while a better story-teller may have saved what had really happened until the end, Haseo jumped straight to the point.

"You would," he said, "You pretended like you were betraying us, and Saku followed your lead. Whatever you did must have been convincing enough to fool Sakaki... the next time I was in the Arena, against Antares, he..." Haseo rubbed the back of his neck, trying not to get too pissed off at the memory, but regardless his voice became more stressed as he went on.

"Sakaki accused me of cheating and Antares of throwing our match. He showed everyone footage of Skeith in the Arena that he'd gotten from the Serpent of Lore, and then he tried to disqualify me."

Once more Haseo sighed and held up a hand. "Sakaki thought he was being really funny. He put you and Saku on Emperor Taihaku's team, but didn't suspect..." Haseo paused again, sorting the details out. "While we were trying to get close to Sakaki by rising through the ranks, I guess your technique was different...."

"W-what, I..." Endrance shook his head vehemently, the shock clearly written all over his face. "I... No. I wouldn't have done that willingly...there's no way I..." The words went flying out, and there wasn't any stopping them. It wasn't a lie. That wasn't Haseo's way of doing things. Normally, he might have appreciated that frankness, but right now it was just a little too much.

"But...I..." There weren't words for the emotions he was feeling right now. Endrance could imagine the look on Haseo's face the moment that had been revealed, how much of a shock it had to have been. That was enough to make his stomach twist and almost bring tears to his eyes. "If we were to leave right now and not remember...but, I'd want to remember so as to change things, because there has to be something else, some other way..."

There couldn't be. If that's how far I went, that means there was no other choice...but to think I would practically do the same thing all over again, go to the enemy like that...it's all weakness, all my fault that I couldn't find another way of doing so.

He opened his mouth to try and apologize properly, but the words wouldn't come. There weren't words enough, and he shook his head again. "I...I'm..."

"H-hey!" Haseo said, entirely taken back by Endrance's reaction. He couldn't help but stare, kicking himself mentally for clearly saying too much too soon. Then, without really thinking, he stepped close to where Endrance was seated, grabbing him by the shoulders roughly. "Listen... geez... you've already apologized!" he insisted, staring down at the man. "Cut it out!"

Haseo wasn't sure what else there was to do- asking Endrance to just forget he'd said anything was just stupid. After a moment he relinquished his grip with one hand, but kept the other in place in an attempt to keep the Blade Brandier's attention.

"Listen to me, okay? I don't even know what would have happened if it had gone any other way. Didn't I say it turned out alright in the end?!"

Haseo sighed again, then went on quickly. "Even though it wasn't what Sakaki planned, Taihaku insisting on fighting me anyway. You weren't involved because Taihaku wanted to go at it alone. Me and Kuhn and Atoli defeated him, but... the AIDA that was with him tried to infect me instead."

And now he was just trying to get to the end, admit what had happened, and try to move on, even if the whole event had nearly destroyed... several of the people tangled up in the mess. "It... didn't work, but then that fucktard Sakaki attacked me personally." Haseo blinked, his brows knitted together. "But he didn't expect you to stab him in the back. Literally."

Endrance did as asked and listened, but was still unable to bring his eyes up to meet Haseo's until the very end of the story. So that was what I was thinking the entire time...I see. So it had to be that way, because it's the only way I'd have been detached enough to follow through. And if I'd said anything before, it wouldn't have worked...so...

He was silent for a long moment after that, and didn't realize he'd hugged Haseo again until after it had happened. "I'm glad you're still all right...", came the quiet reply. "I... I don't think I could forgive myself if you hadn't been." The thought that if it hadn't ended well, the Adept Rogue would never have told the story never occurred to him.

Endrance let go of Haseo then, pushing the chair back so he could stand up. "With that said...what did you have in mind for trying to find out how we're getting back?"

.... Endrance had grabbed hold of him. Again. Haseo stiffened, again, sputtering. Was that seriously necessary? It was weird anyway, but it just got all kinds of weirder when this wasn't 'The World.'

Even after he'd been freed, he let out several agitated breaths, backing off to what he deemed a relatively safe distance. And yeah, he'd said that Endrance's actions were for the best, but he could think of numerous reasons why they could have still gone horribly wrong. It was so far off from being the right time to continue that, however, that even Haseo found the idea utterly distasteful and he let it go gladly along with the change in subject.

"I don't know," he admitted, reluctantly, that familiar irritation coloring his words. He let that hang in the air, hands on hips, then, "I guess all we can do is to try and investigate and hope something comes up." That's pretty much how it's always been, anyway.

"For one, if Tsukasa can heal, or cast spells... I don't really care about anything else at this point aside from if he can be trusted or not...." He glanced up, looking for confirmation, but then paused again, another realization just beginning to occur to him.

"Uh... Endrance, did you tell Tsukasa one of our room numbers?"

"All right," Endrance nodded, stepping towards the door. "And about Tsukasa...I don't think you need to worry about being able to trust him. Mia didn't warm completely to most people. The fact that she did to him...I know it doesn't mean the same thing to you, but it means a lot to me," he went on to explain. "Also, his R:1 class was the Wavemaster class - which means he should still have some magic ability, even if it's less than usual."

He put his hand on the doorknob and had just begun to twist it when he stopped and winced at that last question. "We got so caught up in reminiscing that I completely forgot to tell him mine, and I didn't know yours until we passed each other on the way back. But...I think I saw him heading this way, so it's entirely possible that he caught your signal to me. It's worth a shot," he said, nodding once then stepping outside.

[jumping down to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/629437.html?view=53616573#t53616573)]

Edited 2009-06-03 19:42 (UTC)

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Night 41: M01-10 Hallway

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