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Day 41: Breakfast

May 11, 2009 09:30

Endrance turned his head to look at the intercom, giving it a look that would wither an entire rose garden in an instant. He would never get used to ending up in his room again from somewhere else in the Institute ( Read more... )

methos, klavier, tenzen, tsubaki, kaiji, anise, kamiya kaoru, rude, snake, teisel, the doctor, blitzwing, ken amada, sam winchester, utena, asch, miku, zex, franziska, misa, peter parker, luxord, raphael, kanji, brainiac 5, the flash, james bond, phoenix, megatron, albedo, blue beetle, van, eileen, lord recluse, peter petrelli, yohji, mele, stahn, two-face, akihiko, ritsuka, the scarecrow, sync, ayumu, okita, daphne, juri, lockdown, scourge, tyki, yukari yakumo, haseo, citan, kiden, tony stark, endrance, obi-wan kenobi, kenshin, senna, fayt, hanatarou, chidori, sora, jason, evangeline, luffy, renamon, claude, keman, haruno sakura, superboy, edgeworth, sousuke, harley, dean winchester, hughes, celes, hk-47, sho, ren, guy, kvothe, kio, armand, alessa, nigredo, naomi, wesker, frey, valyn, lelouch, chise, ryuk, yomi, fai, leon magnus, schuldig, sasuke, yue, aidou, ophelia, gin, scar (tlk), brad, subaru, sanzo

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feartehreaper May 11 2009, 18:52:15 UTC

As Haseo was escorted through the institute, he became certain of one thing. He was not one of the crazier ones playing 'The World,' and therefore something was wrong with the explanation this overly-kind nurse was trying to provide. Her insistence on the name "Kai" didn't help, and even though the first few times he dismissed it, when he finally realized she was trying to apply it to him had finally shaken him free of his anxiety. His name was definitely Misaki Ryou in real life. Even if this woman was completely incompetent at kanji, there was little chance she'd be able to get something like that out of it. Even if she had only ever heard it aloud. To boot, his correction had pretty much been laughed off.

Now entering a large, bright room, he eyed the other people present with narrowed eyes, noting that they were all wearing the same grey uniform, and that most of them were accompanied by a nurse in the same fashion he was. Something was definitely off with him too. He felt weird. He was getting more irritated by the second ( ... )

oftemptation May 11 2009, 19:35:03 UTC

Just as Endrance was about to turn away and chalk that weird feeling up to nothing, he heard a voice he'd recognize anywhere. He was out of his seat and running towards the doorway before anyone could stop him from doing so, the action more out of instinct than anything else. "Haseo!", he called out, ignoring how much that short sprint had actually hurt ( ... )

feartehreaper May 11 2009, 21:36:59 UTC

Had there been no interference, Haseo likely would have been in far more trouble than he knew what to do with- providing an example of why he had once been so widely known as the "Terror of Death" would have quickly spelled disaster and sedation. Fortunately, that was not the case. Upon hearing his name, Haseo broke his glare to whip his head around, recognizing at once the voice and the man it belonged to.

"Endrance!" he exclaimed, and then with nothing better to do, fell silent to witness the encounter between his would-be savior and the nurses. At least his level of tension was relieved at least slightly to see someone he recognized, although he wasn't sure what to make of being likened to a flower. Or for that matter, why Endrance sounded like he already knew what had happened. Haseo had just been with him- he was certain they had warped out at almost the exact same time ( ... )

oftemptation May 11 2009, 22:08:44 UTC

That silent meaning wasn't lost on Endrance - that look meant one thing and one thing only. Where the hell are we, and how do we get back? Unfortunately, there wasn't a simple answer to either question. After a moment's tense silence, the orderly seemed to be easing up, and that was Endrance's cue to move on and start trying to answer things ( ... )

feartehreaper May 11 2009, 23:39:34 UTC

Haseo may have resigned himself to following along, but he was still far too much on his guard to attempt a sitting position. The residual adrenaline was making him feel as if he should be ready to do something drastic at any moment, which only confused Haseo further. That sort of reaction in the body of his player character, that feeling, didn't make sense. What Endrance was saying didn't make sense. There were just too many things to take in, and Haseo wasn't capable of processing it all on such short notice.

He shook his head and stared, a hand once more at his brow, then with eyes widening in involuntary worry as he noticed the bandages. Aside from thinking the man looked strikingly out of place in such drab clothing, anything else different had escaped his notice. That was bad, very bad. However, as much as he would have liked to question after what had happened, there was something far more pressing to address first.

"Endrance," he started, voice full of tension, "that doesn't make sense. Weren't you warping to Lumina Cloth

oftemptation May 12 2009, 00:01:51 UTC

"I was," Endrance said, cocking his head to one side. "You had gone after me, you told me you needed me, and I was on my way to meet you. I never got there, and I'll admit I...I thought I was in The World at first. But I learned firsthand that first night I was here that it wasn't true. I tried to contact you using a computer upstairs, but couldn't log in to it. And I..."

He swallowed the lump in his throat. Now wasn't the time to get overly emotional, even if he did have a lot of things he wanted to say about how he'd felt the whole time. Those could wait for now. "I made several inquiries over the bulletin board in the Sun Room. No one had heard of The World, aside from a..."

Endrance tucked his bangs behind his ear so he could look directly at Haseo. "A friend of Atoli's. She was here before but disappeared, and I don't know what happened. It was before I was taken, at any rate, and... she was in the same situation we are...in her PC's body with no idea how it happened."

feartehreaper May 12 2009, 02:29:18 UTC

Perhaps 'The World' was "only" a game, but during his time playing it, Haseo couldn't really believe there was any sort of limit to what could or could not happen in regards to the things associated with it. Even if Endrance seemed certain that this wasn't the game, the fact that they were literally their characters had to mean something. He shouldn't have been terribly surprised after what he'd been through, but he kind of thought he needed to sit down at that point. He did so.

"Atoli..." he repeated, "but I just saw her too. I mean--" he looked back at Endrance, frowning. What he'd described as experiencing right before arriving at the institute had been just before the fight with Bordeaux, which Haseo knew as some time in the past. For better or worse, he trusted what Endrance had to say, but unlike the NPCs in a video game, people weren't tied to save points or anything like that. He wasn't sure how he was supposed to respond when it seemed one of his allies had been reset to an earlier point in time ( ... )

oftemptation May 12 2009, 02:54:13 UTC

"I did... and there's no case of mistaken identity here, as much as I'd like to say that. I may not have known her well, but the description matched what I've seen, both in terms of appearance and how she acted. Her friend was quite worried about her, enough to keep an eye out for her when she vanished." There had been the rest of that conversation, as well, the part that brought up so many past memories...but it didn't seem entirely relevant at the moment. "We talked for some time, actually, and I had to explain how immersive The World is to have it make sense at all to someone else. I..."

Endrance trailed off, looking away for just a moment. I wonder...this whole place doesn't have anything to do with AIDA, right? It can't, not when no one seemed to know about it...but...

When he spoke again, it was a single question out of what seemed like hundreds that were running through his head. "What's the last thing you remember before you were brought here, Haseo?"

feartehreaper May 12 2009, 21:30:29 UTC

That sealed it then. A sour look crossed Haseo's face as he thought about Atoli being, from what it sounded like, by herself in this strange place. Hadn't she already been through enough? And, she wasn't even there anymore, and Haseo didn't know what that meant either. Atoli... I promised myself I'd protect her, came the unbidden thought, along with something less coherent about potentially failing and general frustration. He'd have to find and talk to this person: a friend, Endrance had said, but he'd have to judge that for himself when the time came. If nothing else, at least the next question was easy enough to answer ( ... )

oftemptation May 12 2009, 21:51:01 UTC

Endrance's face brightened considerably for just a moment before fading back into worry. He wasn't entirely sure whether to congratulate him on that victory, or to immediately apologize for failing to do more. On the one hand, there was the fact that there was only so much he could have done, given that there had been some time since her disappearance and his own appearance in this place. On the other... I promised myself I'd be there in every way for you that I could be, or that you'd want me to be. I feel like I failed you here...because I know you'd have wanted me to protect her."I'm sorry," he finally said, after a long moment. "I...I know you would have wanted me to look out for her. I did everything that I could, but...I don't feel like it was enough. The incidents that occurred at night just feel like excuses ( ... )

feartehreaper May 12 2009, 23:38:31 UTC

"Yeah, that's what the Announcer said too," Haseo responded, and gave a half-audible scoff at the thought, just barely amused. He couldn't help but feel a little vindictive over the rather loud man's confusion after all that had happened, even if he could guess he didn't likely have any real ill intentions beyond doing his job. "The Emperor's title doesn't really mean much to me though... it's not like I did it alone."

He took a deep breath, tilting his head as he thought- just how far back did the Sakaki thing go anyway? "Couple of weeks?" he guessed, "After we beat Bordeaux and Sirius, it..." Haseo gave a glare to the pancakes in front of him. "It was Sakaki's fault. He tricked Atoli and infected her with AIDA. Took over Moon Tree and said he was going to make the world a better place... he was controlling things outside the game."But that... that's not even the worst part." Haseo felt sick, having to explain it, when he himself didn't even understand what had happened. But it wasn't like he could suddenly stop ( ... )

oftemptation May 13 2009, 00:21:54 UTC

"But still..." Endrance was about to continue with the gushing praise, but stopped in his tracks a moment later. He listened to everything in stunned silence. There was no doubt in the slightest that it was the truth, but...it was just so much to take in. First Sakaki, then Ovan? That anger was more than understandable, it was akin to what he'd felt in the past. That feeling of both betrayal and anger at once...

There weren't words enough to be comforting, and the moment's urge to fling his arms around Haseo passed just as soon as it happened. With staff watching the both of them like hawks, it would only lead to trouble, even if it did seem like the right thing to do.

He didn't say anything for a long time, trying to think of a way to deal with his own shock and do something to make Haseo feel better at the same time. "Haseo...you stopped both Sakaki and Ovan, right? I shouldn't even need to ask, of course, but..."

feartehreaper May 13 2009, 02:49:26 UTC

Haseo let the silence be, residual fury throbbing in time with his quickened pulse. Wanting something to do with his hands, he turned his attention once more to the tray the nurse had left behind. Mercifully, she had left him bacon in addition to the pancakes, and he cautiously took a strip in hand before answering. "Both of them," he confirmed, but he didn't sound particularly relieved by that fact alone.

"Ovan... told us what he'd done right after we beat Sakaki. I don't know what he's up to, but... he's an Epitaph User too. He wanted me to fight him, so I did." Haseo paused again, thinking back on how he'd felt and what Yata had said to him afterward, and then what had transpired in that Lost Ground Cathedral, where so many other things had begun. "He came back," he said, and pulled apart a piece of bacon.

"And then Sakaki came back too. He was even worse- corrupted, like Bordeaux. He convinced CC Corp to let him take over G.U. and turned the Arena into a 'PK tournament' as some sort of... revenge or something. Because we ( ... )

oftemptation May 13 2009, 03:36:57 UTC

Endrance felt his heart sink even further as Haseo finished the story. In a way, it reminded him of what had happened years ago, just with different people pulling the strings. "How did Sakaki come back that first time like that? It shouldn't have even been possible..." He knew firsthand that you only got so many options when you were Data-Drained when the infection ran that deep, and they all involved coming back without it. "Unless he...but why would he have intentionally infected himself?"

As for Ovan...he had to admit he didn't know the Steam Gunner well, aside from his reputation. That reputation alone was formidable, however, and he knew about the fact that he and Haseo had been in the same guild some time back. But, to take things that far, admitting - or bragging? Endrance wasn't sure - that he had sent so many people into comas and caused so much pain... it was simply unforgivable.

"We will find a way out of this place, Haseo. And when we do... I swear that I'll do whatever it takes, whatever you need me to do, so that all ( ... )

feartehreaper May 13 2009, 17:01:48 UTC

"Sakaki was convinced that AIDA was going to help him 'rewrite' the world. He wanted to go beyond the system and control people's minds." This was undoubtedly a touchy subject for Endrance, and Haseo was half-tempted to ask him if he wouldn't have done the same thing, right after he'd been cleansed of AIDA himself- if it had meant going back to that semblance of 'Her' that he had loved so much. Instead, he merely let out a breath and said, "So yeah. It was intentional ( ... )

oftemptation May 13 2009, 17:30:07 UTC

"That's..." Endrance trailed off again. Yes, there had been a moment's temptation to do the same thing, but he'd decided against it in the end, because losing 'her' a third time, even if it would be an illusion at best, would probably have driven him completely mad. The alternative that he'd chosen hadn't been a whole lot better, in retrospect, but all of that was in the past now. Dwelling on it too much wouldn't get him anywhere ( ... )

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