Nightshift 26: Hallway between F and M Blocks

[haiiro_no_chou]

[From here.]

Still no sign of any patients or monsters, and no word from the radio man yet. Turning right, Rukia continued on around to the first M-Block.

Comments

[razing_phoenix]

"Yeah, I heard about those alchemists. It kind of sounds like I'd be waiting for forever, but I should probably sign myself up anyway." There was nothing wrong with getting his foot in the door, even if it never amounted to anything. He would just use the bat or whatever else until then, and hope he didn't get himself too hurt. Jade seemed unconcerned, but when was he anything but?

This memory stuff again, huh? It was giving him a bit of a headache, but if there was anyone who might have some idea of why it was happening, it would be Jade. They may as well discuss it as they traveled. "It had been a year since we'd taken care of Van, and we were still waiting for Luke to come back. His twentieth birthday was coming up..." If it turned out his memories were weird, too, he was going to start getting irritated.

"It looks like Peony has the same problem as Luke, but it's not as bad," he informed the older man. "He thought we were about to go defeat Van, and had just... taken care of Nebilim." He knew that was a bit of a touchy subject, but Jade would most likely take it in stride.

[visualize]

"I see. Well, you'll be happy to know that we’re on the same boat." This made everything a little more bearable, even though it ruined his chance to poke a little fun at 'seeing into everyone else's future'. Unfortunately for them both, Jade was still unsure of how to go about this. He'd have to seek out others who've had similar cases and try to formulate something out of that.

Guy's approach to Peony's own memory was enough to coax out a chuckle. He'd long since put that part of the past behind him, or at least, when it came to that monster he so wrongfully created back in his younger years. Yes, there wasn't much else he could do but move forward.

"I suppose it could be worse. It'd be rather unfortunate if the others arrived in more or less the same condition as those three."

And then there was... ah yes.

"Is it true that Asch managed to arrive as well?"

[razing_phoenix]

It seemed that he and Jade were the farthest along, then. Asch obviously didn't remember anything after his death, and the others were behind by varying amounts of time. Granted, none of that really mattered while they were here, but it would become more of a problem when they all got back to Auldrant. Although what was going on in their own world when they returned might give them an idea of what had caused the memory loss in the first place.

"Well, it sounds like we're the only two who remember everything properly." Unless someone else came along and recalled even more than them. It was a possibility, but for now he was going to assume that he and Jade knew of everything that had happened. It almost made some kind of ironic sense - they had always been the two who had known the most while the others had been differing levels of clueless.

"Asch is here, yeah. Apparently the people behind this are able to bring people back to life..." He trailed off, more than aware of the name Jade had come to be known by. The Necromancer - this was a step above what he had accomplished, wasn't it? "It's not another replica or anything like that, either." Unless they had found a way to insert memories into replicas, but Guy didn't think that was the case. He had felt like Asch, and while he knew that didn't scientifically count for anything, he was going to trust his gut feeling.

[visualize]

Jade wouldn't have been surprised if one of the others arrived with even more memories of the future. Except from the looks of it, this wasn't the most worrisome factor they had to deal with. Yes, there was no doubt that Fomicry was a dangerously flawed concept that tested the moral boundaries. Even he wasn't able to figure out a way to implant the original's memories into a replica, yet maybe that was for the best.

But to erase the memories of those who've lived and return the ones of those whom died? For some reason, he had a feeling that they were looking into this too deeply, and maybe the concept behind it was more simple than they would've imagined.

"Let's suppose that this Institute did have the means to bring back the dead," The Colonel proposed. "I'm sure you're aware of what this means. Even though I doubt we’d be in any immediate danger considering the circumstances we're facing, it'd be wise to be on the lookout just incase."

[razing_phoenix]

He wished Jade hadn't felt he needed to point that out. Guy had considered it already, and it wasn't something he wanted to think about more than once if possible. His eyes narrowed, but that was the only outward sign that he hadn't wanted to hear those words.

"I know. I spoke with Asch about that, actually. I'm hoping it doesn't happen, but if it does..." What then? It was going to make his life harder, but nothing would change. It was true that he had mixed feelings when it came to Van - a lot of them had suffered from that issue, but all of them had been able to do the right thing in the end. Things would be different here, but...

"I'll deal with it," he finished. His hand tightened around the bat he was clutching, and he held back a sigh. There were a lot of different ways things could go if Van showed up, but he didn't really want to consider them unless they were a reality. There was no point in getting worked up about something that might not even happen.

[visualize]

There was no further need to linger on the subject when Guy was fully aware of the possibilities. They had run through this before, several times in fact. If they were ever to cross paths with the man whom had often threatened the lives of all of those in Auldrant, then they would have endure it one more time.

Yet before they could proceed any farther the radio he kept close sparked to life a second time that evening. Jade was quick to pull the piece of fontech out, turning up the volume and listened quietly to the subtle hints spoken with every other word. It may have been a good thing to know that they weren't far from what the Colonel guesstimated as the place the man was referring to.

"You do know what this means, do you?" And with a cheerful grin Jade was once again turning at his heels and proceeding back the way they came from.

Given the situation, he wouldn’t have minded if he was right or wrong, and for obvious reasons.

[razing_phoenix]

Even though Guy had taken a good look at the radio before (he had resisted his temptation to take his apart because he wasn't sure if he would be able to put it back together again), he was still pretty excited when it started up again. The message itself wasn't as interesting, in his opinion, especially since the voice seemed to repeat itself a lot, and the only important part was at the end.

Women. Great. It was like the whole institute was against him or something. Though Jade didn't seem to hesitate in turning right back around. Was the colonel that certain that the voice was even speaking the truth? Then again, since they were so close already, they may as well check it out.

"Man, you're dragging me around all over the place." Guy didn't hesitate to follow, though. He wasn't usually the one who took the lead, anyway, so he didn't mind if Jade was the one calling the shots. He couldn't really see it being any other way.

[visualize]

"Yes, it's almost like the good old days." Truthfully enough, Jade was a little skeptical about this man on the radio, but there was always the chance that his words rang truth. It was just best to proceed with caution like any other situation, and hope that they'd find something useful out of the whole ordeal. After all, there was still plenty to do while the night was young.

Since they've yet to really traverse that far from the F Block, the Colonel approached it with little to no difficulty.

[To here.]