"They took my roommate the night before last, and now he's gone." Half of the truth, but entirely true on its own. Mello debated silently for a moment before deciding to go with the concerned-friend route, one he was annoyingly unsure he could pull off, but the best strategy for now, he figured. "I don't even know what happened to him."

He looked down at the floor, battling the sense of futility he'd always been able to shake off easily before. No one had yet offered him a glimpse of hope about being able to get the effects reversed. Landing in the empty version of Tokyo had done it, only for it all to get yanked away again. If Mello could find a way to pinpoint the cause for that effect, it wouldn't be hopeless. But it was entirely too specific a question to take to the general population. Have you been fucked with and randomly, temporarily cured? Sign up here! Yeah, that would be sure to go over great.

"What about your friends? Would any of them be able to tell me anything about it? I mean, if they'd be willing to, of course. It must be horrible." Overacting or not? He'd see. The pathetic part was that the uncertainty in his voice wasn't wholly faked.