Nightshift 44: Main File Storage

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

[from here]

No tell-tale insect sounds yet. Nothing trying to bite through his jacket, either. Indy brandished the aerosol can and moved toward the file cabinets, looking for the "P" section.

"It might be worth taking a look at some of these files," he said over his shoulder to Ryuuzaki. "The dates have been blacked out, but it's possible there's still something in there that would point to a purge. 'Reasons for discharge' is on there, I know." Probably all falsified, but right now the specific lies they were telling were of interest to him--especially if there were bodies to contradict them.

Comments

[ryuuzaki]

L followed Indy into the room, then closed the door behind them.

"Yes. It seems unlikely that misdirection is the only element, although that could be the primary or secondary purpose of something which also fills another function."

He swung the beam of the flashlight over to the cabinets, clutching his pillowcase with his other hand. "I was told that a few people I know have been here in the past, but the use of false names complicates matters -- the only one I know is that of a current patient." Still, he thought, it might be possible to find one of their files, if they were given a false name in some way resembling their real names. On the other hand -- "Their residency here, also, would postdate any possible purge."

Approaching the cabinet, he pulled out the drawer that included surnames beginning with K; it was handy, and Mello's old file might be in it, but even a survey of the other contents might be helpful.

"The 'Reasons for Discharge'... how closely do you believe they might be related to the visitors who were said to be present yesterday? There was some suggestion that former patients were involved."

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

Jesus, Indy could have kicked himself. He hadn't even thought to check if there was a file for Dad in here. Looking for a folder for "Harry Lucas, Sr." immediately shot to #2 on his to-do list.

What did he think of the visitors-as-former-patients theory, he mused as he found the right drawer and began to thumb through it. The time travel wrinkle made it hard to tell. Even though they hadn't been close, Indy was pretty sure he'd've heard about it if his father had disappeared anytime before Fall 1938. Anytime after Indy himself had been taken was fair game. But then, maybe he wasn't thinking big enough here--given the technology Landel had, there might be no reason why he couldn't send someone right back to when they came from, with all the memories of this place brainwashed out of them. Even if former-patient files existed for the "visitors," they could easily be falsified. How could anyone tell, short of somehow getting reliable accounts out of the staff? That would be like getting water from a stone.

"I don't know," he admitted after he'd collected his thoughts. "Back home, nothing about my visitor suggested that he'd ever been here, but there are plenty of possible explanations for that. If I can find a file for him, it might have some answers. The problem is, it's impossible to tell how much of this information is at all factual."

[ryuuzaki]

This caught L's attention; it left the cabinet he'd begun to rifle through and snapped to Indy's face.

Of course, there is no way to tell which information is factual, but... L moved back to his pillowcase, then pulled out his own file, opened it, and scanned over it. As he took in what it said, his expression shifted, going from inquisitive to irritated and resentful.

-- Preposterous... but enlightening, given the behavior of the staff so far.

"I think we can count on most of it being inaccurate," he replied, in a flat, dead tone. "Who was your visitor?" He began to flick through the folders in the cabinet again.

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

"My father," Indy answered, voice carefully neutral. "I'd assume his account will match up with what's in my file. Whoever wrote it is good, I'll say that for them. Just enough facts to make the whole thing sound almost plausible." It had been smart to throw Sallah and Marcus in there too, just in case hauling Dad in hadn't made driven the point far enough home: Landel and his goons knew who Indy's friends were, and they could get to them.

It was tempting to take a look at his own file, but he'd have plenty of time for that over dinner tomorrow. Maybe he and the new silent-type roommate could start a reading hour.

Where the hell was this thing? Pi-, Pie-.... Indy flipped to the front of the drawer and began to check again. Looked like Pierson really had been the guy's real name after all.

[ryuuzaki]

So he recognized his father, and vice-versa, yet their interaction mirrored what was in the file, rather than what Dr. Jones would have expected. It was consistent with everything he'd learned about the Institute so far, yet the people who he had seen from his own life, the people who were at the Institute as patients, seemed to be aware of what he knew to be the truth.

A few files turned up which might or might not be Mello's, but on reflection, L decided that a random sampling might be more useful. He began to pull whichever file came to hand -- a few Ks, then he moved down and took a few from other drawers, other letters, flipping each over and scanning it before discarding it to a pile on the floor.

One thing was universal: the dates were always blacked out. The information would be useless in determining whether or not a purge had occurred and whether or not the bodies in the woods could be related to it. He let out a frustrated sigh, then the words trailed out, reluctant and with mild chagrin, "I do not think this information is applicable to my particular, current questions."

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

"If you're finished, could you do me a favor? See if you can find a file for a 'Harry Lucas, Sr.' It'll cut down on the amount of time we have to spend in here." Indy was conscious of the fact that he was giving more information than he was getting in return here, but it wasn't as though his pseudonym was a state secret, after all. Besides, he still didn't trust these cabinets not to be buggy. Open the wrong drawer and they might unleash the swarm.

As he worked, he added, "If you can use a computer, there are some in the doctors' offices downstairs. You might have a better chance at finding some real files there, or at least dated copies of these." Or more lies--it probably depended on whether Landel was more interested in keeping them from anything useful or throwing them a bone on any given night. Indy was sure no one would find anything in those devices that someone didn't want them to find.

[ryuuzaki]

In an ordinary situation, L would not be willing to search through files for someone else, but here... well... what else was he doing? Apart from that, it would save time. This was only his second night in the Institute, yet already, he understood that it might not be a good idea to stay in any one place for too long. He made a soft noise of agreement, then began to flip through the files in the L drawer.

He paused, though, when Dr. Jones mentioned computers -- as if he cannot use them himself, or as if it is common for people here to be unable to. With a quizzical expression, he asked, "If? Is it an unusual skill, Dr. Jones?"

Two files pressed against the front and back of the tip of his long index finger, where he held his place in the drawer. No "Lucas, Harry" (or Henry, or any other official variation) just yet.

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

Whoops. Indy decided he'd better backtrack. The ratio of information-given to information-received was getting more skewed by the minute, and not in a direction he liked. "I'm a scientist. I try not to make assumptions," he countered. He left it at that. The simplest bluffs, in Indy's experience, were usually the best.

Well, that put Ryuuzaki from sometime around 2009 or even later, didn't it? Something gained, at least. Chances were good he'd need someone who could work a computer at some point; fifteen minutes with a display model in a shop probably didn't qualify him as an expert, especially if Pierson had been right about their being encrypted somehow.

Speaking of Pierson, if he had a file, it wasn't here. If it wasn't the name, could just be misfiled, or maybe they hadn't moved it from downstairs yet--too bad he hadn't had a chance to check. Indy tried to quash the various sinister alternatives that kept suggesting themselves among the mundane ones.

"So much for that," he said, stepping away from the drawer. "I'm ready to move on when you are."

[ryuuzaki]

It hadn't occurred to L -- a man from 2004, a man who had spent most of his life alone in a room in front of a computer -- that some people here might not be able to use them, even though he was aware of the rumors that some came from different times, and the fact that people he had known when they were teenagers had been present as adults suggested that it was possible. Even Lunge claimed to have been brought from a date almost a decade earlier than L.

He gave his head a tiny shake of annoyance. His analysis, his considerable insight, was based on the world he knew. In some ways, that will be useless to me here. How much "unreality" is possible? A failure to reset the parameters of his thinking might lead to a failure in a larger sense: he could be trapped in the Institute forever, or until his death. There is no way to be certain of how many people are conversant with various kinds of technology; even a poll would be relatively useless, since the responses would only be anecdotal and the patient population appears to shift on a frequent basis. Then, how useful will the information be?

Turning his attention back to the drawer, he flicked through a few more folders, and there it was: LUCAS, HARRY SR. Removing the folder from the drawer, he held it out to Jones, dangling it from between his fingertips.

"Yes, I am ready." He gathered up the pillowcase and hefted his flashlight, then slouched back over towards the door. The thought struck him as he walked: Is Dr. Jones one of them? Almost anyone might be.

[To here.]