Day 41: Breakfast

[oftemptation]

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

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[feartehreaper]

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.

However, after a moment the Blade Brandier's words seemed to have a slight affect on the others, and so against his will Haseo also tried to act on the unspoken warning, interpreting Endrance's attempt to defuse rather than fight as good a suggestion to try calming down as any. He let his shoulders relax, shifting his weight to one leg as he looked away.

Another beat passed, and the female nurse finally tacked her smile back on and nodded. "I'll be right back," she said, threw a glance at the orderly that clearly meant "watch them", then hurried off to the food line. Haseo only crossed his arms and looked up at Endrance, his own silent meaning quite clear.

[oftemptation]

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.

"You think we're still in the game. I only wish that were the case..." He frowned as he spoke, motioning for Haseo to follow him as he moved to sit back down. "But it isn't. I've been trying to figure out how I got pulled from Indieglut Lugh to this place for a full two days - two days which have felt like an eternity." That last part was true on a number of levels. It had been hard to deal with that much forced social interaction, as much as it had been hard to be away from his usual haunts.

He sighed, and would have folded his arms over his chest as he spoke had that not been a bit too painful to handle at the moment. "But at any rate...this is a place called Landel's Institute. During the day, they claim it's a mental hospital. At night..."

Endrance gestured to the bandages on his arms. "It becomes dangerous. The lights go out and this place turns into hell."

[feartehreaper]

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 too?"

[oftemptation]

"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]

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.

"Did you talk to this person?" he finally asked.

[oftemptation]

"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]

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.

...Or was it? Haseo paused, and for the briefest moment he considered dodging the question by giving some half-assed answer. But that was an entirely stupid response to give an honest question, and Haseo begrudgingly recognized that if they were going to figure out anything about their situation, it'd most likely be disadvantageous to leave Endrance in the dark. The only problem was knowing where to start, and then knowing how to explain everything that was bound to come out.

"I guess... technically I'm considered the Sage Palace Emperor now," he said, resting an elbow on the table. "And yeah. Sage. Taihaku and a lot of others were infected with AIDA, and I... didn't really have much choice."

It was at that time Haseo's nurse chose to return, but fortunately she seemed content not to interfere. "Kai" didn't seem in immediate danger of trying to tear someone apart if he was left a plastic utensil, and so she just leveled a disapproving glare at Endrance's untouched breakfast that mostly passed over Haseo's head before retreating. Haseo himself mostly dismissed her in order to continue.

"Endrance, uh... what you were describing happened a while back."

[oftemptation]

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..."

He looked out for a moment, distracted by a rather loud and argumentative man standing on one of the tables and shouting math at everyone. Endrance shot him a frosty glare, then turned back towards Haseo. "But...even if the circumstances were less than ideal, that accomplishment is...well, it's unheard of. I'm incredibly impressed, though I should expect no less from you, Haseo." For half a second, his cheeks were tinged pink, but that, too, was forgotten with that last statement.

"It - it was?" Endrance's eyes widened in surprise. "When you say a while back...how far?"

[feartehreaper]

"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....

However, that's exactly what he did, the pause after his last sentence heavy with anger and dragging on until it wasn't clear if he was even going to carry on at all.

Then finally, he broke out of it. "Ovan... betrayed us," he said, voice dangerously low, "All of this time, he was Tri-Edge."

[oftemptation]

"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]

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 refused to bow down to him.

"But Sakaki won't be coming back." This at least Haseo said with finality, and he definitely sat straighter as he sought to meet Endrance's eyes. "I dunno how much AIDA and Data-Draining one can take, but if he gets infected again, I don't think he'd even be human anymore." Or at least able to pull off any plans. Even if Ovan is helping him....

[oftemptation]

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 the wrong that's been done is set right."

[feartehreaper]

"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."

"I actually saw him do it the first time. He... had an item that Ovan had given him, that could somehow contain AIDA." Ovan had later insisted that he didn't directly control the anomaly, but since Haseo didn't know how else to explain it he left it at that.

Endrance's promise came as no surprise, of course. After all, it had literally been minutes before that the man sitting next to Haseo had stepped down from his place of apparent betrayal and instead stabbed Sakaki in the back. "Love" was not a word that went neglected when Endrance had a say, and Haseo didn't doubt it would continue.

"I got it. Thanks, Endrance," he said, with as much sincerity as was possible given the circumstances. He shifted then, eying a member of the staff. "First of all... do you have your sword?"

[oftemptation]

"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.

"Taking that step, then using it to try going outside the system and control people's thoughts and actions...it's unthinkable. And I can't imagine what he must have been thinking, nor do I want to. The fact that Ovan was willing to go that far, too..." He shook his head, the mix of shock, disapproval, and anger clearly written in his expression. "It's madness."

That shift in subject was more than welcome. "I've made arrangements to have one made for me, but I don't have it in hand yet, I'm afraid. But..." Endrance looked up, meeting Haseo's eyes with his own, all seriousness and worry. "You need to know what this place is. I stepped in when the staff were approaching you because I was afraid of what would happen to you if I didn't. They all call us by false names, say we're ill when we're not, and at night..."

He took a slow, deep breath, holding it for a moment before letting go. "It's dangerous here at night." He didn't want to broach the subject of his Avatar not having come when he'd called it, not yet.

[feartehreaper]

Haseo's eyes dropped, lingering on Endrance's bandages again while his mind blazed. When Landel's staff had cornered him, even without access to his weapons Haseo felt certain he could have done something against them- more than just Misaki Ryou would have anyway, even if it didn't exactly involve backflipping off a wall and pushing back enemies with the sweep of a chainsaw-tipped scythe. Endrance too was a capable combatant in the World- almost untouchable even with the semi-legal interference of his Avatar. His injuries were definitely worrying, but that didn't mean Haseo was just going to give up.

"If it's dangerous then I'll be careful, but I'm not afraid," he said, and any uncertainty from before had melted away in favor of the determination he'd become so used to when faced by odd situations. For a moment Haseo stopped and considered himself, introspective. That feeling, his Avatar Skeith's presence was still there, and in fact Haseo was sure he could sense Macha too. This was somehow a relief, to think that that part hadn't been taken from them even if so much else apparently had.

"What do you mean? You can still fight, right? As your character?"

[oftemptation]

"I can, but..." Endrance sighed deeply, closing his eyes and turning away for a moment. How to explain this? It wasn't at all that he couldn't fight - he'd instinctively known how to use the pipe he had like a sword, after all. No, that wasn't it. The fact was, he had lost control of his emotions both times, and that made him weaker than he should have been. It didn't account for the fact that Macha hadn't come when he'd tried to summon her, but...

"The second night I was here, I was upstairs, on the second floor. Someone else had...accompanied me up there, and we were attacked. It was a cat, larger than usual, but...it looked exactly like 'she' had. I know it was a moment of weakness on my part, but I thought it might listen. I talked to it, and it took the opportunity to...well. Cats don't normally attack like the ones here do. That's not really the worst of it..."

He sighed again, pushing his still-untouched breakfast tray back a few inches before going on. "There was something on the BBS -- I mean bulletin board, in the Sun Room -- about certain powers that didn't work as intended. I was hesitant, actually, to try, but I had to know whether I could summon Macha. So last night, I went out to the courtyard, intending to just try it...but things didn't go as planned. They take people at night here, brainwash them, turn them against their allies...I had no idea the woman was there until she had a knife at my throat."

Endrance tucked his hair behind his ear again. "I thought I'd turned the situation to my advantage, but...she summoned something that was like Skeith, but...wasn't."