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damned_institute2010-05-20 08:06 am
the-head-doctor.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_institute2010-05-20 08:06 am
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Night 49: Head Doctor's Office - 3rd Floor
The room was almost cozy at first glance. A large oak table sat in the center of the comfortably-sized room, framed by two corner bookcases that seemed to be filled with thick texts and various legal binders. On the wall directly behind the desk, placed between the two bookcases, was a large head-on portrait of the Institute itself, framed in dark, polished wood that matched the rest of the furniture and complemented the forest-green of the thin carpet.
Although some knickknacks – generic awards, staff photographs, a golfing figure made of business cards – dotted the bookcases, the centerpiece of the room was clearly the desk itself. Its glass-paned top was tidy, though not necessarily pristine: the inbox and outbox were chock-full of looseleaf paper and manilla envelopes, and several folders were piled neatly on the far side of the desk's surface, as if they'd been only recently put aside. A keyboard and two flat screen monitors were the only immediate indication that the office wasn't pulled straight out of the mid-twentieth century, though some sections of paneling on the ceiling and walls seemed suspiciously rectangular.
Three chairs in front of the desk and a door off to their right were the last inanimate objects of note, and even those might have been completely missed due to the figure sitting in the desk's high-backed, leather chair. He was currently relaxed, paging quietly through the file currently open in front of him. A pair of oval-rimmed glasses didn't do much to mask his face from those who'd seen it before, and to someone who hadn't, the small microphone sitting just inches away from him was more than enough to reveal his identity.
After a moment, the man glanced up and smiled at the patients in a strangely non-malicious fashion. He slowly closed the folder and placed his hand over it as he leaned back in his seat.
"I was wondering when you three would get out of the hallways." He raised his hand and slowly slid the glasses off his nose, then nodded at each person in turn. "Fai, Kurogane, pleasure to see you again. Tsubaki, good of you to join us. I... wouldn't bring you all here if I didn't want to talk civilly, so can I assume you realize how stupid it'd be to try anything... or will the barrier have to stay?"
As if to illuminate his point, he tapped the glasses against his desk and a brief flash of a force field appeared in front of the patients. The Head Doctor raised a brow questioningly.
Although some knickknacks – generic awards, staff photographs, a golfing figure made of business cards – dotted the bookcases, the centerpiece of the room was clearly the desk itself. Its glass-paned top was tidy, though not necessarily pristine: the inbox and outbox were chock-full of looseleaf paper and manilla envelopes, and several folders were piled neatly on the far side of the desk's surface, as if they'd been only recently put aside. A keyboard and two flat screen monitors were the only immediate indication that the office wasn't pulled straight out of the mid-twentieth century, though some sections of paneling on the ceiling and walls seemed suspiciously rectangular.
Three chairs in front of the desk and a door off to their right were the last inanimate objects of note, and even those might have been completely missed due to the figure sitting in the desk's high-backed, leather chair. He was currently relaxed, paging quietly through the file currently open in front of him. A pair of oval-rimmed glasses didn't do much to mask his face from those who'd seen it before, and to someone who hadn't, the small microphone sitting just inches away from him was more than enough to reveal his identity.
After a moment, the man glanced up and smiled at the patients in a strangely non-malicious fashion. He slowly closed the folder and placed his hand over it as he leaned back in his seat.
"I was wondering when you three would get out of the hallways." He raised his hand and slowly slid the glasses off his nose, then nodded at each person in turn. "Fai, Kurogane, pleasure to see you again. Tsubaki, good of you to join us. I... wouldn't bring you all here if I didn't want to talk civilly, so can I assume you realize how stupid it'd be to try anything... or will the barrier have to stay?"
As if to illuminate his point, he tapped the glasses against his desk and a brief flash of a force field appeared in front of the patients. The Head Doctor raised a brow questioningly.
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Going through doors during the night at this place had never felt so strange for the ninja before, and he raised his guard for it despite the dizzying sensation. He became even more guarded once he realized that the lights, that had never once been on in the evening hours, were. And that the place they were now in was no longer a hallway, but a room.
As though they had been transported. Kurogane knew this feeling by how strange it had been to travel with Mokona's magic. It had been nearly a month since he'd felt such a thing, but he could still recognize it - if not through sensation, then through the proof before his eyes. Another world it might not have been, but another place from the hallway. Another display of the same kind of magic someone possessing a feather might have. Another clue.
That became quickly ignored once Kurogane spotted the man sitting at the desk. "Landel...!" he hissed immediately, hand falling on reflex to his side as his stance turned defensive.
Civility had never been Kurogane's strong suit when it came to facing his enemies and never would be, however the absence of a sword and showing of a barrier left the ninja with few options other than to try it. Still, stubbornness prevailed, so before falling back to the Doctor's wishes, Kurogane stepped up and calmly struck the barrier. It held up as Kurogane had already guessed it might, and Kurogane glanced at his hand before returning his glare towards the head doctor.
"Talk then," he barked with a look that just dared the man to try anything other than what he said.
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Typically, there was a steeling of nerves or a gathering of strength as one prepared to face their enemy. Kurogane's reaction came as easily as breathing, but Yuuhi's was a bit different from the face he wore into a fight. This man had managed to wear them, or more accurately him down physically, mentally, emotionally, in every way possible over the last several weeks. The latest, and easily most difficult though, was his own death, just a few days ago. While he tried to remain firm in his standing, it was hard not to let fear show through, his usual mask of a smile beyond broken. What was it going to be this time? Another fight to the death? An impossible choice? He took a few more steps into the room.
What on earth would Landel want to talk to them about? He swallowed back his fear and anxiety, though his glances up at the man every now and again probably gave him away. Was this what happened when they were to be sent home? Did every patient that left go through this same procedure? Or was this something else entirely?
He hesitated, but obviously, just as before, arguing with the man would get them nowhere. Whereas good behavior might help their case. He hadn't lied to them before. The others that'd been held captive during the night in the coliseum were fine once the match was over; he'd been able to verify that much himself over the last few days. But trust was another thing entirely. If he ever wanted to see Ashura again, to actually be able to save him, hadn't he said he'd do everything he could? Who better to appeal to than the one responsible for their being here?
Yuuhi glanced at Kurogane, the man's anger obvious enough, then at the poor girl they'd recruited to join them. Obviously this was no part of her plans either, but she'd been caught up in it all the same. He said nothing, but maybe he didn't have to. The fact that he finally decided and took the offered seat probably said enough.
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But instead of the narrow stretch of corridor between the entrance and the wall of doors inside, her foot came down on carpet, and her eyes stung from bright, warm light. The sole thing that kept her from stumbling was sheer surprise, which effectively froze her in place as her eyes tried to take in everything at once. Until Kurogane’s hiss.
Her blood felt like it was pumping cold. The doctor!?
She looked at the microphone, at the painting behind the desk, at the three chairs in front. Three chairs, like they’d been waiting to fill in just the night. Him waiting, like he’d been expecting them. And he knew their names--the first time anyone connected to the hospital had spoken her real one. But more than that, he acted like this wasn’t the first time he’d met Kurogane and Fai. Tsubaki glanced at the two of them, but immediately looked back when Landel made the barrier spark into existence and Kurogane moved to strike it.
What was happening?
Somehow the most unsettling thing was when Fai looked back at the two of them and sat down in one of the chairs without saying a word. Tsubaki felt like she’d been holding her breath for years. Nothing could have prepared her for this, to be suddenly facing the man who’d apparently started everything.
“… Where are we?” Compared to Kurogane, her voice was soft enough as to be drowned out should someone have spoken over her.
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"Thank you, really. I understand how difficult this must be after our previous experience together, but as you can see..." his hand moved to indicate the room, "there are many ways I could hurt you without putting on such an elaborate charade – in my very own office," he added as an answer to Tsubaki, raising his eyes to meet hers. They seemed calm in a strangely casual way, as if this demeanor wasn't part of some manufactured gambit. As if he was really just a man, trying to talk.
He looked back to Kurogane, expression neutral. "If you want to keep standing, I won't stop you. In fact," he said, nodding at the door, "you can walk out right now if you want, but before you do, I was hoping you'd hear me out on... an offer."
He lowered his head, keeping his eyes set on the patient.
"If you choose to stay, it might be the first of many decisions you'll be able to make free of my meddling."
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Blazing eyes stayed glued to the Doctor until the ninja felt someone go past. He didn't need a second look to know who it was that decided to have a seat. For only a moment, Kurogane put a look on Fai unlike any the other would have seen before. As much as Kurogane had glared at the man throughout their travels, this situation was far different than anything they'd faced before. They had been trapped before in Shura, but with no enemy messing with them like this, and they had faced a clear foe in more worlds than could be counted, yet not once had they followed along with anything those enemies had thrown at them.
Kurogane would not be starting now. And Fai... would be lucky if the ninja didn't kill him afterwards.
"Don't sit," he said somewhat softly to the girl by him. He could tell she was confused, and while he might not have known her very well, he wasn't about to let her get caught by the Doctor's plan, whatever it was. That Fai was now through the barrier and them not was already problem enough. "If you wanna talk, then talk already," Kurogane repeated as his only concession to the man.
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Though it was also the fact that he was through the barrier now, and the only one to do so, that was enough to make every nerve in his body warn him of how dangerous it was. But he had a feeling the rest was true too. That the doctor could easily injure them without the force field in place, though whether or not the others believe that was a different matter entirely.
What was truly curious was the offer. The fact that the man in control, the one with all the power over them in the first place, was willing to make a deal with them and dangling something as enticing as freedom in front of them. Even if he couldn't save Fai just yet, being free could mean the possibility of helping the king.
"What is it?" he asked carefully. Something so valuable wasn't going to come without a price. While he knew he'd do anything to save the people who were important to him, he couldn't seem too eager, too desperate for what the man might offer.
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The man, if he could be called one, given that if everything known about him was true then he was hardly human, looked utterly ordinary to the naked eye, and the office equally so. But Tsubaki couldn’t say they defied her expectations, because she knew better than make any. Appearances only ever went so far. Likewise, trusting that he’d brought them here peacefully and would let them go the same way was out of the question, even if it was true he had the power to do a great deal of harm without needing to go so far. The deal wasn’t as simple as it sounded, and she reminded herself not to get trapped by black-and-white thinking.
And also… It was Kurogane and Fai she was worried about.
She could sense how short Kurogane’s fuse was like it were a physical heat on her skin, and when he spoke to her, she let out a breath, lowering her chin to steadily look back at the Head Doctor. It wasn’t, however, defiant. She didn’t think it was safe to cross his power field, either--partly because it was too early to say where this meeting was going--but it wasn’t hard to see why Fai had. Landel wasn’t giving them much choice. But she wasn’t going to leave.
Following Fai’s question, Tsubaki asked, "And why us?" That alone made no sense to her. The others clearly had more history with the Head Doctor than most, but… she’d never met this man before now and didn’t see why she’d be chosen specifically for an offer.
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"Why you...?" He echoed distantly, keeping his eyes on the desk. After a moment, he reached out for one of the folders and tapped a finger against it. "You, Tsubaki, I didn't originally intend to bring here, but some reference to your profile brought up some interesting... facts." He pulled the file open lightly, began flipping through it. "For example, your loyalty to your partner – Black... Asterisk? Or however you pronounce it – and believe me, I can sympathize with the need to sometimes make a... difficult sacrifice in the interest of the greater good."
After a moment, he closed the file and moved on to the next two. He continued to avert his gaze from the patients, instead focusing almost singularly on the text in front of him.
"Fai D. Flourite and Kurogane – no surname. Both pseudonyms. Both from Subverse one-two-two-six-seven-oh-one, or, as we've found it named in certain merge-overs, 'Tsubasa,' or... ex-ex-ex-Holic. I don't quite remember. However," he continued, glancing briefly at one of his computer screens before returning to his task, "the name is not what I'm interested in. You see, 1226701 is... a rarity within a rare breed."
He finally straightened in his seat, looking back up to the patients, or rather, just past them. He reached for a small object on the desk – some kind of small remote – and clicked it. Suddenly, on either side of the front door, two large screens seemed to emerge from panels on the wall; two more slid down from the ceiling just over the Head Doctor's desk and then angle down towards him.
"Allow me to explain," the Head Doctor continued, almost absentmindedly, as he watched the screens take their places. "1226701 is, as we've categorized it, a Class-I Subverse, meaning that it, like Altverse zero-one – that's where we are now – branches out to have full access to a multitude of Altverses within itself. In a a way, Class-I Subverses are not one single Subverse, but a collection of connected ones. And, unlike most sentient members of Class-I Subverses, you two–" he gestured absently at Fai and Kurogane with the remote, "have had the privilege to travel between your Subverse's Altverses. You, yourselves, have left your homes."
The screens whirred to life, but displayed nothing but quiet static. As the lights in the room itself dimmed, the projection of the screens seemed to bathe the Head Doctor in a kind of unstable, shifting light as he made eye contact with Kurogane.
"In more... to use an inaccurate phrase: universal terms, this means that the three of us share a very uncommon experience."
His gaze steadily moved from Kurogane to rest on Fai.
"And two of us chose it of our own volition."
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Like hell Kurogane would be allowing anymore sacrifices like that!
At the sounds from the door, Kurogane reacted defensively, and turned towards the screens, putting himself as best he could between them and Tsubaki while trying as well to keep from leaving her directly in the Head Doctor's line of fire. There was too much going on, too many factors to account for, and only a few he could understand outside of his outward responses.
That the doctor hadn't intended on bringing Tsubaki there at first was the clearest Kurogane understood, meaning that he'd been after the two of them. The rest of his babbling only made some sense, however - the numbers and sub-whatever nonsense he was spilling was beyond Kurogane - but the ninja could get around that to what the man was really saying.
Dimensional Travel.
What that witch had given them at the shop, and what they'd seen others be capable of as well. Kurogane and Fai both knew there were those who could already travel between worlds, and that the patients here had been forced into doing so, but to hear the doctor admit to the same was different. Was that the reason for all of this? Traveling between worlds?
When Kurogane realized that the screens were of little threat, at least for the moment, he returned his gaze to the doctor. He gave a small side-glance up at the screens there, then over when the magician was addressed, but was quickly back on the doctor to deal with more important matters. "The hell's your point?"
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Yuuhi turned and his eye flicked to the screens at the front door, then to the ones near the doctor's desk. Static was all that appeared on them, so he turned his focus back to the man and his explanations. He still hadn't mentioned what this deal was he wanted to make. And while Yuuhi might be able to travel to other worlds on his own, Kurogane and the rest of their group had to use Mokona. Though no one had seen the little creature in weeks.
And finally, things started adding up. He'd been pulling people from all these Altverses and Subverses, but it wasn't what he really wanted, was it? Kurogane and Fai had chosen to leave, at least, chosen to go on this journey together (though it was hard to say if it counted for Kurogane or not. The man hadn't exactly been thrilled about leaving), but the doctor?
What was he looking for in all of this dimensional travel? If he wanted to make a jump to another world, wasn't he able to then? Or was something holding him back? The man ought to know then, that Yuuhi wasn't able to use his own magic for that, especially here, dampened as it was and with only one of his eyes. Was that why it'd been taken away? For their studies or... Yuuhi might be able to do it, if something wasn't keeping him from his magic, but wasn't the doctor capable of that himself?
"So you want our help to travel to one of them?" he tried, attempting to follow the man's train of logic. Why would he even need to strike a deal? Couldn't he just take what he wanted? As he'd demonstrated on several occasions, he had more than enough power to do so. Just the fact that Yuuhi was still there, still alive and breathing, despite his injuries was proof of that. "I don't understand."
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Landel had obviously had personal knowledge of everyone he took, but to see it there, in a file… It was cold and clinical and only raised more questions instead of answering a one.
The pinch was an ache by the time doctor went into her companions’ files and remained even as he began explaining about numbered universes and turned the screens on. Tsubaki glanced at the blank screens, trying to understand what was being said. Altverse? Was that ‘alternate universe‘? And Kurogane and Fai’s world, a world that connected to a group of other ones. Travelling between these worlds seemed to be a part of Landel’s interest in the two men she‘d arrived with.
She looked at all three of them--at Fai‘s profile, at the expression on the Head Doctor’s face, at Kurogane’s back, the last someone who was thinking of her too much. She thought that in this moment, if the objects of Landel’s regard were going to suffer any more harm than they already had, that harm would fall more on Kurogane and Fai.
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While his explanation was of a condescending nature, his tone persisted in staying relatively neutral. His eyes went back to the screen. "What I mean to say is that we share a kinship, a... mutual background. In fact, I might even add that the reason I've been made caretaker of all of you is because, like you..."
The screens finally came to full life, displaying grainy security video that seemed to cycle through different parts of the Institute. One from a hallway still traversed by a patient here and there, one from an empty doctor's office, one from the basement Ball Room, one from the town's movie rental shop, and another from what seemed to be, against all logic, the rainy forest. The Head Doctor pointed at the patients that showed up on the screens, each in turn.
"...and like him, and her, and her, and him..." he paused, then looked back to the patients in the room with him, "I, too, am not of this world. I, too, am not what you'd call a normal human in the strictest sense. However–"
As the screens seemed to split off into sections and focus in on several groups, the Head Doctor lowered the remote control back down to the desk and folded his hands over it.
"I have learned from an... old friend that less overt methods than pure power are effective in fighting one's enemy. What I'm asking, I suppose, is for your cooperation in locating and eradicating a certain pest. After all," he said, with a small, almost sardonic smile, "a selfless and loyal group such as yourselves would be, I imagine, the type to appreciate the needs of the greater good."
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"It doesn't matter what you know about us," he spoke suddenly, and much more calmly, as though he wasn't addressing just the Doctor anymore, "We are nothing like you, you bastard."
Fancy words or not, Kurogane could understand what the Doctor was getting at. He was trying to compare them, everyone there, with himself. And just because of being able to travel from world to world? Che! If that was all it took to make people see eye-to-eye, then he'd never have gone after Seishirou that time in Oto, and wouldn't have as many problems as he did with the magician. Thinking that it was was wishful at best, and flat out stupid since the man seemed to think it could lead to cooperation.
"I don't take orders from you," he hissed, anger from before returning to his words. He then shot a glare at the magician once more, "And I'll stop him if he tries to." The girl behind him he couldn't answer for. Still, she should understand things before speaking again. "No matter what you say, we can't trust it."
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-and become my chess piece.
There were still many secrets he'd left alone in his travels with Kurogane, Mokona, Syaoran, and Sakura. He'd been so sure as a child that he would do anything it took to bring his brother back to life. That he could kill if he had to, or hurt others. But when he saw Sakura's clear and trusting eyes, or Syaoran's dedication, Kurogane's loyalty... the thought of someday betraying them was one he tried to keep far from mind. To think he might have to make another deal here, just to keep going, to keep the things that were dear to him, it was more than a little overwhelming.
But even if he did accept the offer, Kurogane's open defiance and promise to keep the decision out of Yuuhi's hands was enough to create problems. Kurogane and likely Tsubaki too, would be likely to tell the others to distrust him if he agreed to the proposition. It put him in a difficult spot and whether or not he agreed with the doctor or his methods, there wasn't a lot he could say without Kurogane putting a stop to it. His gaze met the doctor's for a moment, then fell to his lap once more, not refusing the offer, but not siding with Kurogane either.
[Sorry for the wait guys! Just got back! ^^;]
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She felt the pressure of her upper lip on her lower one. Of course Kurogane was right.
Knowing doesn’t mean understanding.
And yet… and yet… Tsubaki’s attention was drawn to the video feed, some of it from within the building, the rest from impossible places that made her shiver. She lingered on each face, only looking back once the man behind the desk began to talk about his humanity. No, no normal human would do what he did and call himself a caretaker--no healthy, whole human. And yet it was too early to know exactly what he was. Or how much what Landel said did matter.
It was too early for a lot of things.
Words aside, it was his smile that Tsubaki both distrusted and disliked. He was looking down on them. What was less clear was the reason behind their being in his office. What kind of person would the Head Doctor consider an enemy, an enemy he would want his captives to deal with? And how would doing so be for the greater good? Again, Tsubaki voiced the question. “Why would you want us to do that?” Underneath her words was the other important question: Why would he think any of the prisoners would do what he asked of their own volition? The unspoken offer sat like a weight on the conversation. So did the utter obscurity surrounding Landel and his intentions.
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But then his face seemed to soften again. He sighed, bringing his palm to his face and pressing the heel of his hand over one of his eyes. "But I do suppose some limited information is required before a soldier proceeds with a mission."
He paused deliberately on that term, then nodded and finally stood up from his seat.
"You see," he began, "this facility is very important, more than you know or can probably comprehend. I don't expect you to believe me when I say it, but much of our society relies on what goes on here, as barbaric as it may seem on the ground floor. As little as my assurance might mean to you, you have my word that the theatrics are all a crucial part of the process. Otherwise, I would not use them.
"But on to your question." He pressed his hands against the top of the table and leaned on them, thinking for a moment before looking back up at the patients. His voice went low; serious, but not quite dangerous. "We've had our first period of peace for some time now, but that's currently being threatened by a certain... group. This group has currently been dealt a large blow with the–" he paused, "–death of their previous leader, Alec Doyle, known more commonly as 'Jack.' However, there's a new kid keen on taking his place, and that, along with some other... unforeseen circumstances that caused us to lose his trail, has allowed me to conclude that perhaps a new plan of attack would be most prudent.
"And that's where you come in."
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Despite all that though, Kurogane was not about to turn his back to anything that happened. Leaving the office had been removed the moment he'd spotted Landel and had further been taken as an option with Fai's idiotic move to sit. This was the closest he or possibly anyone had gotten to the one behind everything, and hostages or not Kurogane could not leave the room. Not without knowing Landel had been dealt with one way or another.
So he listened, intent though passive, to everything that was said to them, bracing for a potential attack when the doctor rose from his seat. Speaking to them from behind his desk was one matter, but moving around could easily turn conversation into violence. The Doctor should know by now that Kurogane was analyzing not only his words, but every move he made.
"The hell's this 'we'?" Kurogane sneered when talk of peace was mentioned. The patients had hardly had any kind of peace here, "And what makes you think we'd help you?"
Kurogane had already made his stand on taking orders, so the Doctor could make his own guesses as to what that would mean for 'favors'. That said, Kurogane could not keep his eyes from again looking to the magician. There were ways, he knew, that enemies attempted to get what they wanted. He'd dealt with many in not only his travels, but in protecting Princess Tomoyo. As stood, Fai had already given the Doctor one, and with the images showing at the door and desk, Kurogane could just imagine the others available to the Doctor.
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"And if we do this," he said finally, "find out more about them, stall them, hurt them, or whatever it is you want of us, what exactly is our incentive?" It might benefit him to threaten their lives, but Yuuhi wasn't one to place much value in his own. The screens were enough to suggest he might hurt others, but wouldn't that happen regardless? He supposed it would be just as easy for the doctor to offer to simply not hurt their friends as it would be to offer them a reward. But if that was the case, why not choose others who might know more about the resistance group?
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It all came down to knowledge.
Knowledge was one of the most important things to have facing an enemy, as well as in life. She had to watch, listen, and try to make the connections on her own. The Head Doctor’s feelings of superiority had been coloring his behavior from the beginning, allowing her to see that talking civilly wouldn’t include talking about what they, as prisoners, most wanted to know: what Landel was doing, what was behind the hospital, what form the overarching pattern drawing them all in was supposed to take. The purpose, in other words. From what Tsubaki had gathered in the minutes she’d been in Landel’s presence, pressing the issue of tools and soldiers wasn’t going to lead anywhere.
She pressed her lips together a little harder when the doctor stood, intent on what move they could make next. The same questions Kurogane and Fai had were circling her thoughts, but Landel had already shot down her asking once. What could they do? What could she do?
Trying to digest what Landel had chosen to reveal, Tsubaki waited for more. She just didn’t understand enough yet.
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"For a man who's seen as many different worlds as yourself, I'm surprised you wouldn't consider that perhaps this altverse, too, has a whole population of innocent civilians. That is who this whole show is for, not myself personally. I am sure you must find that difficult to believe after everything that you've seen from me, but..."
He trailed off, as if lost in thought for a moment before he looked back to the patients. He chuckled quietly, though there was little mirth in it. "I suppose that there'd be no use in explaining myself, though, would there? Incentive is what interests you, I realize."
He paused, tapping one palm against the table before standing up from it and shifting his weight back to his feet. "As a show of good faith..." he moved his eyes from Tsubaki, to Kurogane, then to Fai, "perhaps I should ask... you what you feel a fair reward would be from me. I can't promise a deal, but I can... consider one."
Almost as an afterthought, he sighed and added: "I would certainly prefer rewarding you to the alternative."
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If the people they'd seen in town were the innocent civilians in this world, they did indeed have a more problems than any of them had a chance of overcoming. Especially if whatever strange happenings in town were common every night. And if it went even beyond this institution, then maybe there was some truth to what he was saying.
At the mention of their incentive, Yuuhi glanced cautiously from the doctor to the others, though his gaze didn't linger before the doctor's found him. He shifted slightly in his seat, heels of his boots quietly scuffing the floor. Once again, the man didn't seem to be lying. As bitter as many of his truths had been, they were still truths. And Yuuhi had yet to see otherwise. At least, not up close.
He knew he should be jumping at this chance; the doctor had everything he needed to make things better, to finally fix all that had gone wrong. But just as it'd been as a child and when he met the time witch, a price had to be paid. Betrayal, pure and simple. Before he'd said it didn't matter who he hurt as long as he could bring Fai back, but that was long before he'd come to know each of the people he traveled with. And it wasn't just them either. There were new friends, new people he cared about here. Could he cast them aside? If the doctor was telling the truth, it would save the innocents of this world, but...
"There's someone I want to bring back," he said quietly, wringing his hands in his lap as he glanced down at the floor. "You did it before, for me after that..." he trailed off, not wishing to think on it. They both knew what he was referring to, and what the implication was.
"If that's too much, just tell me how it's done, that's enough." There was Ashura too, of course, but his brother came first. If he had Fai back, even that wouldn't seem so impossible. A life here, difficult as it might be, had to be better than death, and infinitely better than waiting out their days in that cold, frozen tower. Kurogane and the other could hate him if they liked, judge him, try to make him change his mind, but he'd made his choice a long time ago.
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Because so did Kurogane.
"That's not an answer," he snorted, angry for the Doctor's side-stepping. When the man had spoken of "we" it hadn't been in reference to some kind of naive populace, it had been in terms of a war. That meant groups, or factions. Something that "innocent civilians" had no business claiming to be a part of, especially if they had no knowledge of it.
When the Doctor continued, Kurogane knew that pressuring for more of an answer would be pointless. The bastard was too obsessed with getting them to do his bidding. More talk of rewarding them and attempts at good faith. Kurogane would have thought their captor to have been smarter. Could he really not understand that no matter what words he spoke, not a one of them could be trusted as truth?
There's someone I want to bring back
The silence in the room broke and Kurogane's glare shot to the source. He had ignored the magician before, letting his questions go only because they had been helpful in getting information, but this last time had not been a question. He was responding, and to the Doctor. Not only responding, but setting terms!
"What the hell, magician?!" Kurogane barked, advancing a step only to feel the barrier's rejection keep him from moving any further. "Have you been listening to anything?! You can't trust this bastard! None of us can!"
To Kurogane, the move to compromise with the Doctor wasn't one of betrayal, it was one of idiocy. Fai had his flaws, but he was smarter than that. He should have known better! And in more ways than just thinking he could trust another, especially this man, at his word. "No matter what you're thinking in that empty skull, you can't bring back the dead!" he added suddenly, back teeth grinding hard as his eyes returned to the Doctor, harder than ever.
There was hypocrisy in his words, he knew, but only in as far as this place went. They'd been made to experience death before. All of them had. Some more than just once. But only in this place. Only here. That was enough to question things. With what he was facing now, he was beginning to doubt that anyone who was still in the hallways had ever really died. Kurogane was no magician, but knew enough. Tomoyo's barriers, the witches time-travel, and Fai's own magic... the hell was to say someone could not have the ability to make them face some kind of falsified death with magic? Or that that person was the one taunting them from behind the desk? Because the last thing Kurogane would believe of Landel was that he was some miracle worker who could raise the dead on a whim.
"No one can."
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Fai, though, might have had a different idea, for he seemed to be making a serious answer. He wanted a part in the deal? To… bring back someone?
The calm before the storm, the wait just before the first strike, felt like it was coming closer to breaking.
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"Just because you feel I cannot be trusted doesn't mean you should deprive others of what they could have." As if in implication, his gaze wandered to settle on Tsubaki as he began walking away from his desk and toward the door to the side of it. "For example, your Institute-met companion here. Perhaps there is something she might be willing to work for – of course, she has ample time to think it over, if she wishes, but as for Mr. Flourite..."
He looked once again at Fai with a somber understanding and dead seriousness. He nodded. "Yes, I can give you your brother, and I can prove it to you if you doubt me, after which I know your loyalty to me will be unquestionable. However..."
He arrived at the door and pulled a set of small keys from his pocket, using one to unlock the panel next to the doorframe. "I know that you, Mr. Kuro, will be the hardest to win over. I was hoping to convince you of the validity of my cause, but I can see now that that notion was... well, in a word: ill-conceived."
He opened the panel and began to punch in a long series of numbers, then pressed his hand against it. The panel gave a loud BEEP that signaled the door unlocking; the doctor then turned the handle, pulled it open, and glanced back at the patients.
"Don't be shy," he said, sounding genuinely encouraging in a way that the context only made more sinister. "It's just a hallway."
And it was: a short stretch of hallway, dark and windowless.
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Still, it was hard to escape feeling like he was selling his soul. Was it his imagination? Or was he just so shocked to finally have his goal in sight, not just an impossible dream anymore, that he was hesitating? What if the doctor really was trying to help people? Logic told him it wasn't the case, but it wouldn't be the first time he'd put sense aside.
When the doctor opened the door into a murky hallway, offering them their heart's desire, he stood abruptly. No matter the cost, he reminded himself. He'd promised that it wouldn't matter what happened, so long as he could be with Fai again. Even if it meant living in a world consisting of only the two of them while the rest crumbled away, nothing else mattered. Though he already knew he'd pay it, the price this time was steep. Letting himself be pulled deeper into darkness and branded a traitor among his fellow patients. It was easier to ignore the reminders, the faces of those he'd lost already, of those who still called him a friend and pretend he didn't care. Gathering what remained of his courage, he walked forward, head bowed slightly to keep from catching a glimpse of either of his companions' faces.
He ignored all warnings; there was doubt enough in him already, but he couldn't turn back now. If that made him a fool, so be it. The doctor had spoken nothing but the truth. If the doctor could prove he was good to his word, Fai would be his pawn, for he knew that if the man had the power to give back life, he need only threaten to take it away to keep him in check.
Yuuhi didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until he reached the doctor and lowered his head, bowing once, stiffly, but the message, acceptance of the offer, was made clear. He brushed on by, waiting a moment or two for further instruction or to see if the others might follow.
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"There's nothing to have!" Kurogane roared when the Doctor addressed him again. It wasn't just that Kurogane refused to believe someone could bring back the dead, but that he would never be able to trust the Doctor at his word. Nothing the man said, did, or showed would be enough for that.
But when the Doctor opened the doorway, Kurogane took a step forward, feeling that the barrier had rescinded. "I am not letting you out of my sight." The Doctor or the magician. Even if it meant following both into the hallway while unarmed.
Kurogane's eyes were fixed onto Fai's back as he watched the man head to the doorway and enter. It was a good thing that neither of the kids or Mokona was there to see how easily he'd gone along with the Doctor, however there was someone there. The girl who he should have just let go about her business for the night. Maybe then she wouldn't have had to deal with any of this.
"You don't have to come," he told her simply and took more steps for the door, "But you'd better have made up your mind if you do." Because right now they were seeing what happened temptation overruled uncertainty. When he got closer to the doorway he felt the barrier's force pushing against him once more and waited with his ever-present glare for the Doctor to lead the damn way to whatever he was hiding.
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She hadn’t felt entangled in her thoughts, yet when the Head Doctor looked at her again, his gaze landed like a jolt; she jerked to full alertness at his movement, watching him. Anger, resentment, they were the feelings Tsubaki drew the least on. At the moment, she wasn’t sure what to feel at being referred to in the third person. It was insulting to an extent, but was eclipsed by the out of control train they all seemed to be riding. She couldn’t put it past the man not to be feeding the atmosphere on purpose.
Tensed for what would happen next, it was through her peripheral vision that Tsubaki saw Fai rise. So sudden! Nothing was coming together to make sense, and an unknown passage provided to them by Landel himself was just another jumbled part. “Wait!” she exclaimed, lunging forward two steps. It was mostly for the doctor, but she felt, too, that if she could delay Fai’s decision before more of the situation revealed itself, it would be for the better. She spread her hands, appealing. “Your cause,” said Tsubaki. “You say there’s no use in trying to make us believe or explain to us, but I’d like to hear it, if you told us. The truth is worth hearing. So…” What was important wasn’t what Tsubaki believed, but the explanation that Landel kept saying would be automatically rejected. Incentives weren’t worth half as much to her.
If Landel meant what he said about the greater good and the validity of his cause, then surely…? She wanted to know.
Her eyes flickered briefly to Kurogane at his words, and back to Landel. Her mind was already made up. But did they have to be paid to be cooperative?
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"The truth is always worth hearing, my dear," he said in nearly a murmur before he raised his head and spoke louder: "And I greatly appreciate you showing interest in circumstances that... well. They're more pertinent to all of you than you probably would like to know."
After a moment of pause, he nodded his head and turned to walk into the hall, gesturing at the patients to follow.
"I will be glad to explain those circumstances, but I'm afraid my words would be wasted on Mr. Kuro in particular unless he is given a more... personal incentive. But please – come. I can assure you that this is a display, not a pact. You will not be bound to my service by any means unless you specifically agree to it."
The hallway's surfaces all looked to be a solid black metal, and the Head Doctor's polished shoes clicked eerily in the small space as he made his way to the end of it. The hallway itself wasn't very large – probably only a bit longer than the office attached to it, but wide enough to comfortably fit the four of them. As he waited for them to slowly file in, he said: "What I can tell you is that if you think my methods are inhumane..." he gave a short chuckle, raising a brow sardonically, "you should see the opposition."
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And what exactly did the doctor mean, bound to his service? No doubt it was much like any other wish he'd seen granted. A deal had to be made and both parties made to abide by the rules. He followed quietly, uncertain in his alliances, but resolute in his decision.
"The opposition. What are they trying to do?" he asked, echoing the question Tsubaki had tried. If he wouldn't say his own reasons or explain things for them, maybe he would be more willing to tell them about what they'd be up against.
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With Fai already going along with the man and Tsubaki attempting to understand, that left Kurogane as the only one who would not be temped by pretty words and promises. The ninja became even more grounded in his decision when he heard Landel speak of being "bound" to his service. Kurogane already served under someone, and the last thing he would do was make some deal that had him serving another.
Entering the hallway a few feet behind Fai and the Doctor, Kurogane was forced to keep his distance by the barrier Landel seemed to be keeping in place. Despite that, Kurogane kept as close as possible, silent while the others there spoke. The Doctor had finally been right about one thing: anything he said would not be trusted by the ninja. There was the only understanding the two were likely to find between themselves.
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What were the circumstances he spoke of?
At any rate, Tsubaki didn’t have much of a choice in staying behind. After shooting a look at Kurogane--no one could fault him for not being totally willing to fall into a polite discourse with the doctor--she quickly ducked in behind everyone. She could only hope this was actually a demonstration, and not another figurative hand on their back, pushing them deeper into Landel’s designs without giving them a chance to turn back.
But even the thought of the display didn’t reassure her. Was the Head Doctor somehow going to convince Fai that he could reunite him with his brother?
The mounting tension only deepened her unease.
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He gave one last confirmation and the wall in front of them came to life with a thud and whirr. The Head Doctor stepped back as a block of the wall began to slowly slide up, revealing a the first inch of a long, vertical window that seemed to span most of the hallway.
"Identity confirmed. Welcome, Doctor Martin Landel, and guests, " an artificial voice spoke, sounding like an advanced sister synthesizer to the I.R.I.S. program. "Access encryption detected. Opening A-1 observation station... Opening... Status: no abnormalities detected."
The voice continued to give a verbal account of its processes, along with indecipherable strings of numbers and coded data. The wall continued to raise at a snail's pace, and the doctor kept his eyes on it all the while even as he began to speak.
"If you haven't guessed yet, we are currently in a world where a state of constant war has only begun to become past tense," he said, just loud enough to carry over the program. "People here have good reason to be distrustful of the other and to take desperate measures to secure their own livelihood. It's only the luckiest who manage government contracts like the ones you see here – the ones who sign up for the privilege of a worry-free existence."
He glanced briefly and somberly toward the patients.
"They choose to forget."
He looked back to the wall. About half of the window had been uncovered, revealing a poorly-lit room with a large, ceiling-length cylinder at the middle, glowing faintly blue from its top and bottom. Around it were spidery lengths of cords and black, box-like objects. "Scanning for contaminants... none detected. All processes functioning within normal parameters. ID number 000281936478, region number 1226701, sub-region 7283..."
"But I can tell that all of you are very set in the ways of your past," he continued somberly, crossing his arms over his chest, "and it is because of this that I'm forced to... dig into that past in order to force you to help us now. You, Ms. Tsubaki, will discover your reward tomorrow, but as for you, Kurogane... I'm afraid your gift must be a bit more underhanded."
The Head Doctor raised one of his hands and snapped his fingers. The window, now fully open, was illuminated by a blue-hued glow from the inside of the cylinder – a tank. In that tank, faintly outlined by the light, was the figure of a girl familiar to at least two of the figures in the room.
"This one... would be yours, gentleman," the Head Doctor murmured. "The one you've traveled with, and become... so close to. She is my captive unless you do as I ask – and I'll have you know she's quite more interesting a catch than either of you two can imagine. I can't even begin to think of the tests we might have to run on her."
He turned back toward the group, smiling faintly, almost sadly.
"Find me the man on the radio – the new one, the impostor. Your investigation begins tomorrow night, as will my orders."
Slowly, the scene faded to darkness.