Day 40: Sun Room [Fourth Shift]

[clockmongler]

Well, that was... special. No wonder he was losing respect for this place--the fearful Martin Landel was coming undone, most probably with boredom. So scary. Even Nursey seemed a little exasperated, though that most likely had more to do with X's constant insistence to stay in the Sun Room rather than go inside the Greenhouse

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[trapdetected]

The opportunity to go to the recreational field would have to be passed on. Naoto wasn't one for playing around in the great outdoors (as "great" as they could become, in this situation), not when she could be spending her time doing much more productive things. Like compiling more of the notes she needed, attempting to make connections between what she knew and what had been newly found out, trying to figure out where to go from there to get the best results... Ignoring what was going on wasn't going to get them out any sooner, nor would it make anything better.

Naturally, Naoto wasn't going to be doing much of anything else when she had a choice in the matter. And thankfully she did; with the sun room being her only other option, that's where she decided to go, her first and only destination being the first empty end of a couch that was found. Much like yesterday, there she sat, writing down all the notes she could from her talk over breakfast and finishing up those from the bulletin. It was all she could do, up until the day came

[rocksthecourt]

The morning had been spent rather frivolously, he had to admit. Not that it was necessarily a bad thing. It was important to relax and enjoy oneself every once in a while, and in such a dangerous environment, it was best to take advantage of whatever rare opportunities one could get for pleasantries

[trapdetected]

Lost in her own thoughts, Naoto hardly gave any regard to the new occupant of the sofa-- it was hard to tell if she noticed at all. It was easy to forget the world around her existed when she was so focused on one thing.

So when a voice directed towards her came from seemingly nowhere, louder and more clear than any of the idle murmurs and quiet chattering from everyone else in the large room, her mind snapping back to reality was just visible enough on her face to notice. Quickly sitting back up, straightening her composure back to something more proper, Naoto looked up at the man who called her out.

"There is nothing wrong," she insisted, her voice flat in an attempt to brush off her moment of being mildly startled. Her face went back to its usual stoicalness as Naoto lowered her eyes back towards her lap. "I was merely thinking, is all."

[rocksthecourt]

Ha ha ha~ He could see that. Looks like she'd been fairly lost in thought if Klavier had been able to startle her without even trying. The smile on his face actually grew just a little brighter at the surprised look that crossed hers, and remained well after she'd regained her composure. A surprisingly strong composure, at that, especially for one so young.

"A relief to hear," he said, light-heartedly. "Far too many seem to be letting their anxiety take control of them. Especially this time of day. I should hope you weren't preoccupied by anything so... dismal. Penny for your thoughts?"

[trapdetected]

She could have done without the grin, but it was easy enough to ignore. This man, too, sounded interested in sparking a conversation; it was a little distracting from what she was doing, but maybe it wasn't all that bad. Perhaps she could get something out of him that would help at all.

"Letting anxiety get the better of me would hardly allow me to get matters finished," Naoto explained. Although, it was partially a lie; there were many ill feelings swimming around inside her, but she paid little mind to them for the time being. Right then, they weren't important. "Nothing dismal at all. I was simply putting together anything of importance and what sounded relevant to it. Most of it is..." Tough, but she wasn't going to say that aloud. "troublesome to deal with."

[rocksthecourt]

...What a wonderful change of pace. Edgeworth aside, Klavier hadn't met very many logical thinkers like this (and he was kind of a special case in his mind, but that was another matter). And to think it would be a child, not that he'd hold that against her of course. There were a good many children who were capable of far more productivity than those twice their age

[trapdetected]

He hit the nail right on the head. That's exactly how it felt like-- little things here and there, some of it the obvious, most of it common knowledge that was doing nothing but floating around amongst the patient population without leading to anything. It helped none; the "truths" here were illogical ones, by normal standards, and at best they only lead to confusion. And then there was that handful that lead to hurt, or worse.

But it was such a cynical way of looking at things. Not to say Naoto was an optimist-- perhaps a realist, if anything-- but there was plenty of determination to drive her in that direction, and even more pride to keep her from wanting to give up. A lot of cases took a while-- maybe this one would, too. However, it put things in perspective when you were suddenly personally involved with it... But with the outside world oblivious to the on-goings within the institute, the only way to solve this once and for all was to be involved, to be taken captive

[rocksthecourt]

Klavier admitted it was beginning to look futile to gather information, but that didn't mean he planned to give up any time soon. Aside from the fact he would be driven crazy if he did otherwise, he felt the answer to what was going on and how they could get out of this was in fact attainable. They had but to try. And it was good to see she'd adopted a similar attitude

[trapdetected]

"Correct," Naoto answered with a nod. "Likewise, I would have to say." She paid attention to what was written up there-- careful attention, and if what Klavier had jotted down about his own occupation was entirely true-- and so far, she had no reason to think otherwise-- than this could prove to be promising.

"Yes, I have," she continued. "As I had written up on the board, I'm a detective back home who has frequently enough worked with the police department. I assure you of my experience; allow me to say I am more than qualified for any investigative opportunities."

[rocksthecourt]

A detective? Klavier looked thoroughly amused. He hadn't even seen what she was capable of, and she was already the most professional detective he had ever met. The detectives he had worked with were either bumbling loudmouths or those with severe attitude problems, mostly in the latter category. Oh, they were good enough at what they did, but it make the work place a tad more frustrating than necessary. Haha, what he wouldn't give to have someone like Naoto working for the LAPD

[trapdetected]

For a moment, that amused look worried Naoto; what exactly was he indicating with such a face? The first thought that crossed her mind was that he hadn't taken her statement seriously. Unfortunately, it wouldn't have been surprising, not when she already had a hard enough time proving herself to be more than worthy to the police force back home, and here... In Inaba, she may have been the renowned "detective prince", but this was a completely different place with no credibility to her name. It would hardly come as a surprise of Klavier decided to laugh at her next

[rocksthecourt]

Now that was curious. That made Naoto the third newcomer he had met. And of those newcomers, all but one were associated with law enforcement in some way. That couldn't have been a coincidence. Klavier wondered if the data would support such a revelation. There was one more thing to keep in mind, and something she would certainly be interested to know once he had finished. He'd be sure to tell her

[trapdetected]

"You have a point." With a disappointed frown, Naoto crossed her arms. "It gets to a certain point until information becomes redundant, and nothing more beyond the basics can be obtained. When it comes to the bigger things... We can only get as much as everyone else is willing to share. One would think with the advantage of remaining anonymous on the board would encourage those would valuable information to speak up; they know as much would be extremely vital for everyone, especially those who can use it to further our chances of success."

Yet, it didn't. It was true that no matter where you went, people hid all sorts of things that could otherwise be used for the greater good; it was one fact of life during investigations. Naoto had to remind herself of that, no matter how much she wondered why anyone would do so here and now

[rocksthecourt]

"I assumed that, too. But it seems people are even more frugal with their information here than in normal cases," he said, levelly. In reality, that fact was extremely irritating. They should all be doing everything in their power to get out of here and figure out what was going on. But people seemed to show little to not interest in following logic. All they wanted was to engage in their selfish, narrow-minded agendas. "...You may actually want to exercise caution in that respect, Fräulein. There are many violent people here, and it seems people get a bit too antagonistic to those trying to gather information

[rocksthecourt]

He exhaled through his nose as though such a thought was frustrating. "As insane as this entire set up is, I don't think I can truely believe Herr Doktor is mentally ill. He is fully aware of what he is doing. Frighteningly so. I have to wonder why it is he chooses to change his behavior between night and day. What reason could he possibly have to hide his true nature?" It made one wonder... Which side of him was really the act? Or were both false faces, and he was something else entirely

[trapdetected]

"Perhaps so," Naoto said nonchalantly. "Though I would prefer not to hold back if doing so means not getting what we need. I am not one to pass up on the opportunity when given to me." Was it a risk she'd have to take? Maybe so, but simply being here in itself was nothing but a bunch of risks, and she was willing to take those extra steps if they were required. And with that whole manipulation deal that had been happening previously, with some luck they could regain some trust (it would be pushing it to say all; Naoto had a good enough idea about how peoples' minds worked), alleviating a little bit of their struggles. Enough to keep it from being a huge obstacle anymore, she hoped. "Ah, yes... if I remember correctly, it was someone named Mello doing so. With his disappearance, we'll have to try to keep his actions from having a lasting impact on those who remember him. They cannot truly believe every person collecting information like we are is doing so for the same reasons he was."

Tch. Naoto hated to think he got away with his