"What do people always do?" The Head Doctor continued to chuckle mirthlessly in response to Fai's question, shaking his head as he stepped toward the opposite wall and began punching codes into yet another control panel. "When a threat rears its head, when something new appears where there was once thought to be nothing... the nearly universal – pardon the term – reaction is fear and suspicion. I'm sure that you all have seen this firsthand, and I am afraid that I have as well, from... more than one side."
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."
no subject
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.