Day 52: Library (2nd shift)

[longlivetehking]

Scar possibly couldn't have been more thrilled at the prospect of being escorted to the library. He had visited this particular room plenty of times to know that it was entirely useless and uninteresting - like most daytime activities, for that matter. Still, the nurse seemed rather convinced he'd like one of those silly books filled with papers

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[composers]

Luckily for Zack, Austria already had his doubts about the institute's intentions, though it had been for completely different reasons. But none of this could be considered to be part of Prussia's 'style', where the aforementioned nation was more eager to conquer and get it over with as opposed to playing these mental games with his opponents. But there was something more dangerous with the way these details were described, and if the aristocrat could ever bring himself to believe Zack then his worries would've easily been justified.

...Yet he couldn't allow himself to just dismiss it all so easily. Allowing them to wander around on their own-apparently in some futile attempt to escape-had been perplexing enough for Austria to believe that this wasn't at all conventional. Someone had to have a disturbing mind to play with people like this; like it was all nothing more than a game to them.

"So they can implant different ideas into your mind and make you believe it's all true?" But he wasn't looking at Zack, and the question was more to himself than anything. Once more he was reminded of Prussia and how the latter was convinced that he'd known about 'West', and that the man in question expected him to believe it as well. He eventually glanced back up, quietly wording his next question in his mind before asking.

"Have you encountered anyone who has claimed that you know them, even when you yourself cannot recall?"

[zack_fair]

Maybe Roderich was playing along, or maybe Zack was slowly but surely getting through to him. It was a good thing that he hadn't known what brainwashing was before now (it wasn't a pleasant thing, and if he'd come from a place where that didn't exist, then that was for the best), but Zack wished the other patient never had to see its effects firsthand. And yet he knew even that was probably too much to ask.

He nodded when the man asked the first question, even if it was mainly an aside to himself. The fact that such a thing was even possible was scary enough, but Landel seemed to do it without much trouble at all. It was like he picked out a patient at random, messed around in their head, and then placed them somewhere to watch whatever ensued. Like they were wind-up toys.

Getting asked something else thankfully distracted him from that train of thought, and Zack glanced over with his bright eyes narrowed. It seemed to come out of nowhere, but clearly there was some sort of connection. For now, he'd just answer.

"Not that I can think of, but I've met people who are from a time way ahead of mine. To the point that some kid I knew when she was nine is now closer to twenty." It was still downright baffling when he thought about it too much, but Zack was luckily pretty good at adapting. For those who weren't, this place had to be tough.

[composers]

Austria hadn't expected Zack to take his question seriously, and so the moment it tumbled from his mouth he already regretted ever asking. But the aristocrat was surprised (and maybe even horrified, though he didn't reveal it) that the other man had an answer that could support such a wild idea. And even more shocking was the fact that Zack answered for the very issue he was facing, signifying that this may have not been as abnormal as he previously believed.

But what he was explaining was impossible! Something of that stature was too grand, too complex for anyone to reach and manipulate. Austria offered Zack a wary expression at that, continuing when he knew better than to ask.

"Correct me if I am wrong, but are you implying that time travel is a possibility?"

There had to be something else that was causing this, maybe an extension of that 'brainwashing' that the Head Doctor seemed so fond of. Because decades, maybe even centuries, had to have passed before the child he once new could transform into the toned man who claimed to be the same entity. Austria couldn't even begin to fathom how it could be done, and yet he couldn't believe even a part of him was considering it!

[zack_fair]

This conversation was getting more and more unbelievable, at least for the average person; if Roderich happened to be someone who came from a "normal" world, without monsters or evil corporations or silver-haired generals who wanted to destroy the world (though that was normal, in Zack's case), then it was no wonder that he was tripping up on every fact that he was giving him.

Still, they were facts, and Roderich was going to have to acknowledge that eventually, even if he didn't want to. Zack wondered if it might be better for them to take a seat after all, to sort through all this, but it was starting to look like the shift was nearing its end. In that case, he'd just have to explain as much as he could before the nurses broke them up.

"In a sense, yeah," he agreed. "Or, Landel can at least take people from different points and then bring them here, causing their times to clash." Or something like that. In his case, the fact that he'd died made it even more complicated, but he wasn't going to bring something like that up now. If he did, chances were Roderich would just term him legitimately crazy and leave it at that.

"I don't know if you were here when the doors were acting up, but I actually ended up back home then... except that it was years and years in the future." So much had been different, and so much still needed to be explained to him. Zack hoped he could track Cloud down soon.

[composers]

'Clashing' felt like an understatement at this point, where Austria couldn't begin to fathom how or why this was even happening. But was that why Prussia found familiarity in describing Ludwig as someone else? Was it because he, too, resided in a different 'point' in time where it'd become part of reality?

Had he decided to believe all of this without any ounce of doubt it would make sense in that regard. However, the aristocrat just couldn't bring himself to rely on this 'convenient' scapegoat, where the reasoning was far beyond otherworldly. While one could claim that his own existence was beyond most reasoning, it would've been nothing more than the ignorant assumptions of a human being. Those were simply facts he'd known, where the idea of 'nations' weren't supposed to be knowledge shared among the public.

"So it can be as simple as opening a door? Really?" However, before he could ask anything else aside from reciting what Zack said, the intercom abruptly came to life. Listening to the message, Austria sighed before readjusting his glasses.

"I suppose that is the end of it for now."

[zack_fair]

When the man came back with another question, Zack started to get the feeling that he wasn't really explaining himself very well. Still, all this weird time stuff was pretty hard to describe, and you could only really understand it when it was staring you in the face. Through from what the soldier was picking up, it seemed like Roderich had already come across it and was just choosing not to believe in it.

While that was stubborn, it was also understandable. Some of this stuff was just so crazy that he wouldn't have wanted to deem it true if he hadn't heard it from very trusted friends.

"Well, it was just that one night that the doors were..." He started to explain, but the intercom cut in, ending their conversation before it could really come to a proper end. Zack felt bad that he wouldn't be able to give this guy the full explanation, but he also knew there were others around who could probably detail it better if asked.

"Seems that way, yeah," he agreed. "It was nice talking to you," he added sincerely as he moved away from the shelf, cradling the book in one arm. "Thanks for the help, though I'm not sure if I returned the favor very well." Which he felt bad about, but there wasn't much he could do.

At that point the nurses chose to come over, and so Zack moved away with a wave, hoping that the polite man would be okay despite all of his confusion about their situation.