Day 57: Waiting Room/Lobby 2 (Fourth Shift)

[unheroed]

By some stroke of luck, Harvey hadn't been bothered while he'd been in the library, allowing him to lose himself in a random book for at least a little while. Even so, he'd gone through all of his possible options for who might be visiting, from Gordon (in which case he'd probably end up sedated by the end of it) to his mother to Bruce Wayne to

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Re: 2/2

[damned_visitors]

Just coming back to Landel's made Langdon Caul feel nervous. The hallucinations and headaches had faded when the tumor was finally removed and the delusions had eventually followed, but he still had the memories. The sooner anyone could be released from that self-induced hell the better.

Langdon nodded a hello to the nurses as he was once again let into the visitor's room, this time from the other side. He was wearing a knitted sweater and a newsboy cap that hid the scar from his recent brain surgery, and his long-fingered hands were buried in his pockets. There had apparently been a staff change after his release, but he still felt ashamed to walk sane amoung people who'd seen him mad.

But enough about his problems. He was here on a social call. They had said his real name was Laurier, but it was hard for Langdon not to think of him as 'L' when he saw the wide-eyed young man hunched in his chair. Abe approached him carefully and sat down in the opposite chair, folding his hands in his lap. He hoped L at least remembered him, he remembered their interactions as being pleasant.

"It's good to see you again."

[quarter_english]

As Abe entered the room and took his seat, L leaned forward across the table, staring at his visitor with keen, undisguised fascination.

Not Watari; not even Yagami or Amane or any other significant person from his history prior to the Institute. It had only been five days since he and his erstwhile roommate had last seen each other. Why did they choose him? Am I less likely to be skeptical of him?

Then, Maybe he made the choice himself. If nothing else, it would tie in with the way Aguilar was hiding both his own presence at the Institute and that of his troops, and with the way Abe had seemed to feel responsible, in their last conversation, for his inability to rescue L from Monday night's procedure.

Edgeworth, in his previous stay, had suggested that visitors might be brainwashed, might be actors. Abe's appearance--perfectly himself, as far as L could see, apart from the change in clothing--suggested the former rather than the latter, but how brainwashed could he be if he had made the choice to check in on his former roommate, and if he had to be convinced that Landel was still in charge? The situation suggested certain parameters.

"Yes," he replied, sounding vague, mystified. There was some possibility that Abe could pass on some information about the world outside; if he couldn't, or wouldn't, that might help to establish the specifics of the supposed brainwashing. "Where have you been all week? Your release was sudden." After a pause, he added, careful to weight his tone with chagrin, "I didn't even have the chance to say goodbye."