Day 59: Sun Room

[witchdetective]

Erika stood back to survey her work, and she had no idea why no one seemed to care.

By 'no one', she was referring to the soldiers who were on guard, who should be looking particularly anxious due to the atmosphere of this place. It didn't make sense in her mind. Someone who just took up a large chunk of the middle of the Sun Room to build a

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[witchdetective]

Erika saw the footsteps approaching before she heard the voice speak to her, but she could already tell that it wasn't a soldier, but one of her fellow patients. At least it was someone she actually had to talk to at some point. Therefore, she only scowled when she saw Sync's face, even before he opened his stupid mouth. If he approached her, then he was thinking about last night. Good, it would be nice to settle all of her business during the day if she had nothing else to do. Of course, she wasn't letting Sync get away with that.

She remained where she was, lifting up the blanket to indicate that the only place she was willing to talk was inside the fort. As if she wanted people to eavesdrop on their conversation anyway.

"That was the point. Now, get inside." After making her demand, Erika disappeared under the fort once again, crawling over to the center where it was much roomier. As stupid as she looked building and actually sitting in this stupid thing... It was kind of cozy. Erika leaned against the couch she was using as support, waiting expectantly for Sync to follow.

[ran_on_empty]

'That was the point'? Sync had begun to retort when Erika suddenly disappeared under the covers once more. But instead of listening to the latter's demand the God-General stubbornly stayed put at the 'fort's' entrance, refusing to partake in something so stupid in front of everyone in the entire damn Institute.

However, the longer he lingered the more curiosity ate at him, and finally after a minute he cast a final glance around him. The replica's scowl only worsened at the fact that he was even considering, quickly slipping underneath the covers once he was certain no one was looking. Sync crawled through one of the various tunnels to the middle where Erika resided, sitting up and crossing his arms once he found a good spot.

"I'm going to assume you actually have a good reason for this."

[witchdetective]

Though Sync didn't immediately follow her orders, Erika merely waited. She didn't know Sync for long, but she already knew a few things about the other boy and one of them was that he hated to waste time. So it was really no surprise when she finally saw him crawl through the fort, a smirk of satisfaction on her face that she managed to coerce him into doing something stupid. That made up for her failure at eliciting a single reaction from the soldiers.

Sync wasn't the only one who entered; Erika spied another girl crawl in shortly after, apparently interested in the fort itself. Despite all the work she put into the fort, she didn't care too much if other people took interest in it, as long as the stupid thing didn't come collapsing down while she was still inside it. Now then, she had more pressing matters to take care of...

"I was testing the military's patience. As you can tell, they have infinite patience for messes and none for broken dress codes," Erika smiled, the dissatisfaction evident on her face. "They must be truly distracted by the traitor." That was her only explanation for it, even though she thought such an internal threat would have made the military much more stricter. On the other hand, perhaps they understood that their captives were not the problems here. In that case, maybe the last thing on their mind was policing some girl's whim.

Well, it worked out for her either way. Erika enjoyed the illusion of privacy she created for herself, even though it was only an illusion and all they had to do was walk out of the room for true privacy. "Anyway, we don't need to talk about that. Instead, let's talk about that new challenge for us in the basement."

That was what Sync had approached her about, as there was absolutely nothing else they had in common. That was fine; Erika didn't like to admit it, but she couldn't trust anyone else to go with her to such a place. It was a sad day when she could trust someone who indirectly lead her to her death over a random stranger in this place.

[ran_on_empty]

When Erika finally divulged her reasoning the God-General understandably raised an eyebrow. Military life had been a familiar occurrence for him, and so he assumed a zero tolerance policy for everything within the institute during the day. Discovering that the military's priorities were skewed as they were meant that Erika's theory at least possessed some truth. But how long they would tolerate her actions was tentative, and for all they knew that would all end within the next few minutes.

"You'll probably catch their attention if you stretch it the entire length of the Sun Room."

But now there were more important matters to discuss, namely the reason why he sought her out in the first place. The skeleton had provided them an interesting explanation for what had to be done, and now they had to weigh their odds to decide if it was even worth it.

And of course it was. After all, everything that led up to it had indicated its importance. Why else would they have to jump through so many hoops to get to it? There was also a chance that it could all be a ruse, but at least it would've given them something to do while they waited to die.

"What are you willing to give up?" For Sync the choice was obvious, but either way he was expecting Erika to go into some long-winded explanation anyway.

[witchdetective]

As far as Erika was concerned, her fort had attracted enough attention; she could see a few others toying with the fabric or otherwise going in themselves, so perhaps the fort would stretch itself out with no effort on her part. Honestly, she wasn't even willing to build any more at this point; she was tired and she had probably completely undone any "healing" that Aigis managed to do, imaginary or not. Luckily, they hadn't attracted too much attention and thus their conversation remained uninterrupted. And the ex-detective didn't betray Sync's expectations in the slightest and launched into her long-winded explanation.

"That depends. I suppose smell would be the obvious choice," Erika shrugged, giving no comment on whether this move was good or not. "Whatever we pick, it means the other person must compensate for it." In particular, she had already been thinking of that sense, yet... Her brow furrowed as she tried to think of what role the senses had in their upcoming trials. It was obvious that sight and hearing were important, but if they were to spend a trial in a dark cave, losing the sense of touch would have been the most fatal mistake. Unfortunately, the only way to go through the trials was to pay the fare, so they were going to have to take that chance.

"Obviously, we'd have to make sure not to lose anything essential. I suppose I could stand losing my sense of touch. If we have to cross again, then my sense of hearing." Actually, losing her sense of hearing sounded like a small blessing; like she wanted to continue to hear Sync's squeaky kid voice for the rest of her nights.

[ran_on_empty]

It seemed as if their thoughts were in sync for this particular task at hand, and that the latter didn't see it necessary to even explain why. But regardless of that, the God-General wasn't all too pleased about the toll provided in the first place. They could risk a few encounters with the ferryman, but it was becoming all the more necessary to make sure their nights counted more than these abruptly cut 'adventures' they seem to have been experiencing from the start.

Of course, Erika wasn't going to be let go so easily for her comments, which was why Sync only smirked when she began listing her other 'expendable' choices if they were to traverse farther than that.

"Yeah, I don't blame you for getting tired of hearing yourself talk." Leaning back against the couch, he idly ran his hand along the blanket roof. "Of course, it'd be easier if we brought along someone else to sacrifice everything for us."

[witchdetective]

"I only speak for your benefit," was Erika's response to that, smirking back at Sync with a mean look. It was sad to consider that to an outsider, they might have looked like the type of friends who just liked to poke fun at each other, but it was also difficult to miss the malice in the words they exchanged. However, that didn't make for good teamwork, which even Erika had to admit, so she shrugged at Sync's suggestion. It was good in theory, but... well, to be honest, Erika was getting tired of having to kidnap people who were only going to serve as dead weight, especially so if they had to sacrifice their senses.

That black haired boy was the first candidate that crossed her mind, and strangely, he seemed almost fitting since she and him were apparently still on speaking terms despite everything that happened. Obviously, she had no desire to seek out the other person who went with them, so their options were somewhat limited. On the other hand, the number of eligible people would be clearly marked for them so...

She looked up thoughtfully, as if she was still considering Sync's suggestion. He was right, but maybe Erika was thinking more about the type of people who went through that trial. Most of them would have probably been traumatized or upset by the sort of brutal trial that waited for them at the end of the line if they were stupid enough to go in a group of friends, which is what she imagined most people did. Therefore, it made sense to think that people would be even more unwilling to go through additional trials... Even so, one group before them had already tried. And Sync knew those people, didn't he?

"One group already went before us. Maybe we should collect some information from them," Erika thought aloud, though she was already giving a rueful smile. That strange rule that prevented them from speaking out loud about the basement might still be in effect and on top of that, Erika could already guess that these people weren't really on speaking terms with him. Which meant they weren't going to be on speaking terms with her either. "But I guess I'd have to ask, wouldn't I? I don't think Guy-san is interested in talking to me, so tell me about the others."

[ran_on_empty]

"I guess you don't need me telling you to not say you know me," To say that he wasn't on 'speaking terms' with any of them was an understatement, but Sync wasn't about to go through the whole rigmarole of explaining just how bad it'd gotten. No, he trusted that Erika would at least fabricate some kind of story to at least get the other two to initially listen. The God-General would've preferred the option with the sacrifice, but he wasn't going to stop her from doing more of the work for him.

"But fine. The other 'blond' the skeleton was referring to is a guy named Claude who's about as tall as Guy but with choppy bangs parted at the middle. He'll be harder to spot in the crowd, but easier to weasel information because he's such a goody goody.

"The other is a girl named Anise, and she comes from the same world as me. She's a few inches shorter than both of us with long dark brown hair tied into huge pigtails. I don't think I've seen anyone else with the same style, and her voice can break glass, but that's the least of your worries. She'll be more suspicious if you try talking to her with that annoying attitude of yours, but she'll hide it well enough because she was part of her job back 'home'. And she isn't above lying."

[witchdetective]

Long brown hair... in pigtails. Erika looked thoughtful as she considered who this girl "Anise" might be. She met someone like that when she first arrived, though their only interaction was because she apparently knew Rika Even though that girl was no longer on this board, it was like her shadow remained, impressing on her interactions with others. This time, it would be an advantage for her. Yet Sync warned her that Anise wasn't the most trustworthy person, an idea that Erika had no trouble believing.

"I may have met this 'Anise' person. She knew Rika, so she might be more comfortable speaking with me. But Claude sounds like a better bet," Erika thought aloud, going by Sync's information. Even though she met Anise before, if there was a chance the girl could give her false information, Erika unfortunately would have no way of verifying that. Of course, Claude probably wasn't any better; the three of them sounded close and that meant Guy might have already told them to steer clear of her. How troublesome. Perhaps she should have gone easier on Guy when she met him, but the damage was done.

They had a lead, but it was a lead that might not have been worth pursuing. And either way, none of those three would be possible candidates for a sacrifice in the least. There had to have been other people who already passed the Coliseum trial, and Erika had to find a way to rope one of them into their group. Too bad socializing wasn't Sync's strong point; he seemed to have more enemies then people who could stand being in a room with him.

Well, then agan, wasn't she the same way?

"How about this? I'll try to collect some information from one of these three, and you look out for people who have that pin." Erika knew she didn't have to point out which one. "If we get good clues, then we'll know if getting a sacrifice is worth it or not. That won't help us for tonight, but it might help us in the future if we can't get any further tonight. Is that alright, Sync?"

[ran_on_empty]

The fact that Erika had already met Anise was both surprising and not. Given how close in proximity everyone else was, there was bound to be some confrontation regardless if anyone was even aware of who exactly they were speaking with. So as long as the teen actually achieved some kind of normal conversation, Anise might actually prove to be useful after all.

"I hope you bothered not to act like a creep," Sync responded 'helpfully', but the thoughtful expression made it obvious that he was at least somewhat intrigued by this discovery. Still, it was a strong point for them both: if they didn't care who they sacrificed then dipping in the pool of potentials would at least be easier in the short run.

"That sounds good enough to me," He began, knowing just what Erika was speaking about when she referring to the specific pin attached to her beret. The fact that the skeleton hadn't mentioned anyone else meant that chances were good that no one else had been exposed to the cavern and its price just yet. Whether that would prove helpful for them or not was uncertain until they actually got there, but he wasn't about to let any potential opportunities go to waste.

"Speaking of which: travel light tonight. I'll bring the radio, so all you'll really need is that sword of yours. And don't wear that dress." He wasn't going to take any chances if it was just the two of them tonight.

"Actually, tie your hair in a bun or something too. I'm surprised it hadn't gotten caught in anything and screwed us over yet."