Night 49: Head Doctor's Office - 3rd Floor

[the-head-doctor.livejournal.com]

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.

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[the-head-doctor.livejournal.com]

"You mean your brother," the Head Doctor said bluntly in response to Fai's request, just in time for Kurogane to start his tirade. Someone watching him closely would have been able to see him rolling his eyes just slightly and giving out a small sigh, but Kurogane, at least, seemed a little too preoccupied at the moment to notice.

"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.

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

He'd expected a laugh, or even to be told that it was impossible, but when the doctor knew exactly who he was talking about and even left the offer to bring him back so casually sitting on the table, how could he refuse it? His first instinct was doubt, of course, but the doctor promised to prove it. Yuuhi was surprised he couldn't hear his heart hammering noisily in his chest. If the offer was real, he had to take it. No matter what the doctor needed or wanted of him, if it meant bringing Fai back, he'd take it in an instant.

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.

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

Family, was it? A brother? That revelation made Kurogane only angrier to hear. He knew the magician was weak-willed, but if that had been his goal from the beginning, then he was more of a coward than Kurogane had first realized. The idiot wasn't running from his past, he was trying to find a way to fix it, or else die trying! Letting something that could never be changed control everything!

"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.

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

Tsubaki’s brow knit. Brother. Fai wanted to bring back a brother. She knew what losing one was like, but…

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?

[the-head-doctor.livejournal.com]

The Head Doctor seemed either unaffected or unimpressed by Kurogane's threats toward Fai, simply standing in the doorway with a neutral expression as if waiting for the patients to sort themselves out before he involved himself directly. In fact, it was only when Tsubaki began to speak that the Head Doctor glanced away from empty space, a strangely sad smile spreading across his features as she asked about what was truly at stake.

"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."

[not-rly-fai.livejournal.com]

Knowing whether or not the doctor's cause was a just one might alleviate some portion of the guilt he knew was sure to follow, but hearing that the opposition was worse was of little comfort. Still, he was glad Tsubaki had asked, small hope as it might be to cling to, or defense for his decision. He'd known right off that Kurogane wouldn't understand, but the man already hated him, couldn't he be relieved instead, that at least Yuuhi had some small reason to hang on and want to keep living? If Fai was this close, he had to at least try.

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.

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

The truth was worth hearing. Kurogane agreed with that in his own way, but there had to be circumstances for hearing that truth - specifically being able to hear it from someone they could trust. Someone who hadn't been putting them through hell over the last few weeks, others longer.

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.

[thecamellia.livejournal.com]

The situation was becoming more unsettling by the minute. Every time Landel hinted at what may or may not be happening behind the scenes, Tsubaki had to bite back a brush of agitation.

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.

[the-head-doctor.livejournal.com]

"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."

Slowly, the scene faded to darkness.