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quarter_english January 29 2010, 11:30:22 UTC
"Questions which I think you wouldn't have much trouble guessing," L replied. "The most salient one is, of course, why I was... oblivious... to any experience of the town itself, and whether or not I would be again. That is: is the anomaly in some way intrinsic to me, or was it the result of what happened to me that day?" He paused to sip at his juice.

"Following on that, apart from anything that an examination of the town itself might be able to tell us, I can't help but wonder why it is there at all. We discussed the possibility of the bodies being the result of a purge of patients from the Institute, but ultimately, that seems unlikely."

The intense element in his expression receded a little more, as he considered the situation. "It's a shame that I was the only person who went out there while convinced of a false identity. We do not all seem to have experienced the delusion in the same way. For example, Keman told me that he simply disbelieved what he saw, and tried to rationalize it, until he was attacked. But my companion and I did not encounter any serious threats that night; we have no basis for comparison. It might be possible to find one, but not without tipping our hand, particularly given the way the staff is censoring the bulletin board. It doesn't seem worth the trouble when a second trip to the site stands a better chance of being productive."

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its_the_mileage January 30 2010, 06:05:46 UTC
Indy managed to stifle a sigh of relief. He never thought he'd see the day when he'd consider brainwashing and town-sized hallucinations the more rational direction a discussion could follow, but here it was.

"At a guess I'd say it was probably a result of what happened to you, but that's easy enough to test," he said. He didn't comment on all that musing about the brainwashing symptoms; in truth, Indy didn't find it all that interesting. Having a list of possible effects might have some uses, but as far as he was concerned, it was enough to know that brainwashing effectively put you out of commission. The patients weren't likely to come up with a way to snap someone out of it on their own, so their best bet was to keep studying the Institute in hope of eventually getting at the people who (hopefully) already had one.

What Indy did care about was the ruins, so he tried to swing the conversation back around that way. "What makes you think a purge is unlikely? If I recall, it was your theory in the first place." He had his own ideas on the subject, but he was also going to make damn sure that information flowed in both directions here.

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quarter_english January 31 2010, 09:08:07 UTC
"Yes. I will have to make another trip out there. It's a shame they don't give us gloves in this place."

L found himself unwilling to share his strongest suspicion with Dr. Jones. The town is irrelevant, a red herring, something there to draw out curious types and make them waste their time. The trek out to it takes most of any night on which it is attempted; patients who made it never seem to see much before dawn. Yet it is irresistible to all kinds of people: archaeologists and other investigators, for example. He sighed, a sigh which might have sounded as if it was a response to the question about the purge.

"It was my theory, or the beginnings of one, but if such a purge happened, it wouldn't have been very long ago. The skeletons are clean, and there are a number of them, yes? That kind of cleaning is done primarily by dermestid beetles, and it is unlikely to occur in a few short weeks when so many bodies are involved."

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