Nightshift 44: Main File Storage

[its_the_mileage]

[from here]No tell-tale insect sounds yet. Nothing trying to bite through his jacket, either. Indy brandished the aerosol can and moved toward the file cabinets, looking for the "P" section

Comments

[quarter_english]

L followed Indy into the room, then closed the door behind them.

"Yes. It seems unlikely that misdirection is the only element, although that could be the primary or secondary purpose of something which also fills another function."

He swung the beam of the flashlight over to the cabinets, clutching his pillowcase with his other hand. "I was told that a few people I know have been here in the past, but the use of false names complicates matters -- the only one I know is that of a current patient." Still, he thought, it might be possible to find one of their files, if they were given a false name in some way resembling their real names. On the other hand -- "Their residency here, also, would postdate any possible purge

[its_the_mileage]

Jesus, Indy could have kicked himself. He hadn't even thought to check if there was a file for Dad in here. Looking for a folder for "Harry Lucas, Sr." immediately shot to #2 on his to-do list.

What did he think of the visitors-as-former-patients theory, he mused as he found the right drawer and began to thumb through it. The time travel wrinkle made it hard to tell. Even though they hadn't been close, Indy was pretty sure he'd've heard about it if his father had disappeared anytime before Fall 1938. Anytime after Indy himself had been taken was fair game. But then, maybe he wasn't thinking big enough here--given the technology Landel had, there might be no reason why he couldn't send someone right back to when they came from, with all the memories of this place brainwashed out of them. Even if former-patient files existed for the "visitors," they could easily be falsified. How could anyone tell, short of somehow getting reliable accounts out of the staff? That would be like getting water from a stone

[quarter_english]

This caught L's attention; it left the cabinet he'd begun to rifle through and snapped to Indy's face.

Of course, there is no way to tell which information is factual, but... L moved back to his pillowcase, then pulled out his own file, opened it, and scanned over it. As he took in what it said, his expression shifted, going from inquisitive to irritated and resentful.

-- Preposterous... but enlightening, given the behavior of the staff so far.

"I think we can count on most of it being inaccurate," he replied, in a flat, dead tone. "Who was your visitor?" He began to flick through the folders in the cabinet again.

[its_the_mileage]

"My father," Indy answered, voice carefully neutral. "I'd assume his account will match up with what's in my file. Whoever wrote it is good, I'll say that for them. Just enough facts to make the whole thing sound almost plausible." It had been smart to throw Sallah and Marcus in there too, just in case hauling Dad in hadn't made driven the point far enough home: Landel and his goons knew who Indy's friends were, and they could get to them.

It was tempting to take a look at his own file, but he'd have plenty of time for that over dinner tomorrow. Maybe he and the new silent-type roommate could start a reading hour.

Where the hell was this thing? Pi-, Pie-.... Indy flipped to the front of the drawer and began to check again. Looked like Pierson really had been the guy's real name after all.