Night 58: Ruins
[from here]She moved from the cover of the trees into the open space provided. In this, at least, they had been right. And these in front of her fit the idea of 'ruins' precisely--imperfectly so, as the result did not match the time. She eyed the buildings warily. And where would the new radio persona be, if he was indeed here? There were few
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The two girls questioned and queried, and Renamon watched as Marc spoke. The most severe detail was Landel's abilities--the extent of his power rivaled the institute itself if it was so simple for him to do what he wished. Unless he was something like a god, like some had claimed here, and existed unbound. Was that normal behavior for gods? Nataku aside, Renamon would prefer to have no dealings with gods of any sort. The Digimon Sovereigns, the gods that resided within the halls at the institute, Landel.... The Digimon was quickly becoming atheist more and more. Wasn't there a human from the west that claimed god was dead?
A tangent, and unnecessary. Tear echoed a term, and Renamon's eyes flicked to Utena. "She was supposedly Doyle's replacement though her hints didn't always pan out in useful ways. And we were even warned against her from the start from someone unnamed. A while back she was caught by Landel, and 'taught a lesson'. However, a few claimed that she was Lydia, working as a double agent. Though, even with Landel's punishment, I'd be curious who she was the double agent for."
Whether or not that was what Utena wanted to hear, it was said. Which left only one point now that the Digimon actually needed to address. She turned her gaze on the man, appraising him for the first time since they had arrived. "You're obviously risking a lot to assist us how you're able," the Digimon started. "And there's no way for us to really understand how much you've sacrificed already. And now with things as they are...."
There weren't really words applicable for this. Renamon did not know the man, not any more than what he had given through words. There existed a kind of muted earnestness about him, however--something that reminded the Digimon of Toboe, or Sora, or Takato. It wasn't something that gave an absolute trust, but it allowed her to consider that he was actually doing as he said. With people as they were, it was a large allowance. "We are grateful," she said lowly, eyes watchful. It wasn't as if people did not recognize the efforts being made, even if most couldn't trust.
Yet, even with that, she would point out. "You know more than we do, obviously. But military seems the same in all worlds." Her expression turned slightly grim. "It's not something you can take down so easily. Destroy what's at this location and there's likely twice that elsewhere. Unless you're going after something larger."
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Even if the examples given of Landel's powers were not one's standard fare in terms of threats.
Information on Marc's predecessor (or predecessors, as the case happened to be) gave Tear a general idea of the history of the radio presence. However, there remained a good deal of information still left to be desired, which she attributed to her short time at the institute. For a brief moment, the soldier wondered if it was entirely possible to recall her previous stay, before the onslaught of forgotten memories and time lapses. She then frowned, knowing that was impossible.
She could have asked more questions on the nature of the relationships, but given time constraints, Tear allowed others their queries first. Someone could probably fill her in on the history later. For now, new information was the more critical, and Renamon and Utena were better equipped to ask them.
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Never mind that the ability tied directly one of the things that angered Utena the most in the Institute thus far - the brainwashing of patients. Whether it was used for Special Counseling, visitors, or that very "special" day Utena had spent as Yomi, it all came back to stripping away a person's identity and sense of self, and that was just one of the most unforgivable things in the world as far as Utena saw it. She was surprised Landel hadn't just wiped Marc's entire mind and left him a babbling mute for the rest of his life. It was within his power, from what she was hearing. Small things to be thankful for, she thought with teeth grit.
She almost missed the next things that Renamon and Tear had to say, lost in thought as she was. Something about the military being hard to get rid of and being the same in all worlds. That was true, she thought, definitely. Thinking back to her meeting with Berg earlier in the day, she had very much gotten the sense that he was part of something a lot bigger than just what was going on at the Institute.
Speaking of Berg. Utena's eyes widened slightly, unable to believe that she had almost forgot to bring up the subject. "Oh! That reminds me: Marc, the military are starting to ask the patients what they know about you," she said, leaning in a step in order to get back into the conversation. "I got invited up to see some guy called Berg today. A Lieutenant General, he said. He said he's been meeting with patients to 'get to know them better', but one of the questions he asked was definitely something like 'what do you know about the man named Marc?' I didn't say anything, but I don't know if anyone else has..."
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The blond went on to surprise him further when she took the time to make it clear that she appreciated what he was doing. She didn't even ask what his reasons were for helping, which was a popular question; she just let him know that she was thankful. It was nice to hear and pretty rare at that. In the end, all he could do was offer her a smile. Hopefully that would get his feelings across well enough.
Either way, he was quickly distracted from what Renamon was saying about the military (which was more or less an agreement with him) by what Utena had to say. She'd met with Berg? Marc couldn't help but look visibly shocked by that, since he wouldn't have thought that someone so high in the ranks would talk to the patients personally. It soon became clear why, though, since they were trying to get information about him.
He sighed, though it turned into more of a scoff in the end. "Well, that's worth knowing. I guess we'll have to hope that everyone else was as tight-lipped as you were, but this is still a good sign. If they're asking you guys, it means they don't know as much about me as they'd like." And if he had anything to say about it, it would stay that way.
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Her attention diverted entirely with Utena's words, and Marc's reaction to it. They had been pulling people to speak with? She hadn't even caught on to that. An error entirely. Was it just to get information on Marc? Or were there other aspects they wanted to pull from the patient body? The more they showed what the wanted, the more the patients had an advantage. Any time something was held as wanted, it could be denied, as much as possible.
That aside, that the military was questioning for Marc, and from more than one individual, meant that he produced a valid threat to the military. The Digimon turned to look at him again, eyeing him once more. Not much, but appearances were nothing but deceiving. It could be a ruse of the military to center attention on one rather than something else, but she would take it as it appeared for now. Which meant there was a different concern. She glanced to Utena. "Were you with others when you met him previously? Do you know if those were the others called in to speak with them?" If they were, then somehow the military knew who had spoken with Marc... Which meant there were internal conflicts of the patients' own.
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Yet, a part remained curious. Why would the military have such an interest in Marc? Unless they wanted to eliminate all unknown variables, it sounded sloppy for them to go to the patients. "Do you know why they might be asking for you?" she raised after Utena while looking squarely at Marc. "Aside from the obvious, of course."
Renamon also had her set of questions, which proved equally intriguing. Rather than adding to them, however, the Melodist waited. He had enough on his plate already, after all.
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Renamon piped in next, and Utena turned to her, shaking her head. "No, I was the only one there. He didn't mention anyone else who was there when we met him, just that he wanted to meet with patients and get to know them better. That was pretty much it. He was actually kind of... civil about it." She kept quiet for the moment about exactly what she and Berg had talked about (more like yelled about, at least on her end of the exchange). She was betting Renamon would be interested in the stuff about visitors and whatnot, but that wasn't really what everyone was talking about at the moment. Besides, a lot of that stuff had been personal, she thought with a brief flash to Himemiya in her head.
Speaking of whom. "Anyway, I know at least one of the people who was with us that night isn't around anymore," she added.
Her head slipped down a bit, and her ring hand balled up. She let Tear speak next, and waited for Marc's answer. Though, now that Himemiya was on her mind, Utena had to admit that she wasn't really as focused on the conversation as she had been a moment ago.
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It was kind of upsetting to hear that one of the people from his rescue team had disappeared by now, but Marc couldn't say that he was shocked by the news. A lot of time had passed since that night, and it wasn't as if Landel's was known for having a long staying period for any of the prisoners. He almost wanted to ask Utena who it was, but he wasn't going to be that inconsiderate.
"Well, I guess we'll just have to cross our fingers that no one turns into a rat," he said after a pause before glancing to Tear. She had definitely been the quietest during this whole exchange, but now she had a question of her own.
"There is the obvious, yeah. I'm making trouble for them and they want me out of the way, but... I'm guessing they don't know exactly where I'm holed up." Landel obviously had known, but Aguilar didn't seem to. Which was just fine by him, really. "And I'm betting they're kind of curious about my background. Who I am, where I come from, why I'm going to all this effort to make their lives more difficult." The basics, in other words.
Marc had to admit, it was kind of cool knowing that he was being viewed as this enigmatic figure, even if it was going to get him in some serious trouble sooner or later.
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