Day 59: Library

[gald_digger]

Anise couldn't get out of the Cafeteria fast enough. The stench of rotted food was overwhelming, and she was starting to feel sick. Most of her nausea came from seeing the people around her eating it, though. Even her friends! Anise didn't know what to do... What if lunch ended up being the same

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[believein0]

It had been unwise to skip out on a majority of the morning meal. Zero's gut was making weird rumbling noises now, which, as he'd learned through his experiences yesterday, meant that his body was craving energy. He'd been more focused on learning about the institute than eating, and now he was going to pay for that. Oh well. The information was worth it, and it wasn't like morning meal was the only meal of the day.

The next shift gave him a choice between two places to go. (They were actually giving him a choice? Wow. How kind and lenient of them.) Pushy Human Escort left Zero in the Sun Room, where he was free to either stay or go into the nearby Library. That Library interested him, but first he would check the bulletin board for any new info. It ending up being somewhat of a disappointment. Most of the notes he skimmed through only had to do with people trying to check up on each other. There was one that mentioned a strange device, but other than that there was little of interest on the board right now

[purpletaint]

[ sorry for the delay! don't mind the troll... ]

So what Albedo learned from last night was touching a snake's head made you miss breakfast. And after he had just promised Ritsuka to eat, too. A pity. Still. At least he didn't miss because of sedation. That was a delightful change. Or something of the sort. He found himself in a bit of ill humor. The kind that came after no amusement in a night, and a corpse that didn't know it was supposed to be dead yet showing up to stomp into Albedo's business.

Oh, Yomi was charming, he would not deny, and the boy was sure he could have made good use of her little gift, but that he hadn't, and still had to deal with Klavier regardless

[believein0]

...Hm? Zero had just come across the curiosity-piquing book title The War of the Worlds when a boy came up to him and asked him how he was doing. Odd. He turned his head to look at him, initially a little confused, and then blinked in surprise when he realized just who the boy was.

"You're...that kid with the shotgun," the once-Reploid responded, completely ignoring the bit of formality the boy had given him in asking him how he was. Good, he'd been hoping to run into the kid again sometime, and being approached by the kid himself at a time when he had little else to do was a highly convenient way to do that. Now Zero could ask some meaningful questions about who the boy was and where he'd gotten that firearm from - what he should have done the first night but didn't out of the foolish presumption that it had all been a meaningless dream.

...Although why, exactly, did the kid seem so happy to see him? Surely the once-Reploid couldn't have left that big of an impression on the boy from their one brief encounter?

[purpletaint]

...So he was. Albedo's light grin turned pleased as the boy leaned back on his heels. "So you remember," he purred. He glanced to the side as if musing. "That was a fun night."

Fun only in the way of combat, and nearly faulty at that. A truth had been drilled into him--don't let giant spiders bite you--and the effects of that venom was still something nearly furious to think of. Nothing of that showed, however. Albedo was a charming sort, when he wanted, and the boy's boredom was at its peak. Which way to play, then?

He blinked twice as if noticing something, then gave the other a quick appraisal. "Hm." His brow furrowed, then he pressed a finger to his lips. "You're a fighter, right?" The smile returned. "You didn't bother with any of that needless disuading. Only gave the facts and went on your way. It was refreshing."

This, at the least, was true.

[believein0]

'A fun night'? The boy and that blue haired human had gone to fight the spider after Zero had left, hadn't they? Was that really 'fun' to this child? ...He must be one of those kids trained in combat like the woman from breakfast had talked about. The shotgun had been a clue, but his asking Zero about being a fighter and thinking that night had been 'fun' were proof.

"Yeah. I'm a war Reploid." Or he was, before he ended up in this place. Why did the kid find that to be such a pleasing thing? "And I didn't stop you from going in there," he added, "because you and that other human looked like you could protect yourselves. Otherwise I would have tried to stop you."

If he hadn't been so sure he was dreaming and that this child was, well, a child, then he would have put up at least some resistance to him and his friend going into that room with the spider. Just enough resistance to be more assured that they could handle a fight on their own. But he hadn't bothered to do that, which could have been dangerous for the pair if the spider

[purpletaint]

War Reploid. Now that sounded impressive. In an outdated sort of way. He tilted his head at the other. And proceeded to ignore half of what the other said. "'Reploid,'" the boy repeated. "As well as calling us humans... You're something of an android, then? Quaint."

With Realians in production, the last time androids had been used... Even cyborgs now were obsolete... Ah, Albedo didn't have the mind for it. Artifical constructs were a bit annoying in all honesty. Science led to the creation of both Realians and URTV, but the URTV Variants were a stand alone project for the sheer sake of their own minds. Will, emotions, and soul. If one believed in that sort of thing.

The boy shrugged, holding his hands palms up. "We went and fought it. Killed it and another one as well." That's all. He blinked at the other slowly, smiling serenely. "Also, I have to correct you if you continue wording it like that. I'm not a human. Please remember."

[believein0]

Zero nodded his head, listening to the boy's answer with interest. The way he talked about killing the spiders (there had been two? Where had the second one come from?) like it was yesterday's news was surprising, especially coming from a child, but it all became much clearer when the boy continued on to correct him

[purpletaint]

Ah, and here they would diverge, for the other would offer information on himself without following Albedo. Hardly the other's fault, in the end; Albedo hadn't clarified absolutely, after all. Still, the other had allowed that this body was not his own, if he was to be believed, and so the other became more interesting. And what did his form look like, then?~ All metallic or human in nothing but form?~

The boy leaned against the bookcase casually, watching with idle interest. No need to move to enlighten unless it became burdensome, he supposed. "A biological weapon. Created as an accelerated retrovirus to combat the universe's ills. Something to harness energy to use it to disrupt other forms of it." A simplified explanation, but in essence, utterly true. All that was left out was that Albedo had been transformed by what that man had feared, was touched by god, and was a higher existence than any other right now

[believein0]

"Zero." The once-Reploid blinked and crossed his arms, a little stunned at what he was hearing. So the boy - Albedo - was a...living biological weapon? A retrovirus? Able to use energy to combat other types of energy... So something similar to a Cyber-Elf, except made of organic matter from the way he was describing it. How in the world was he created? True, current technology was able to harness similar power to combat (or spread) computer viruses, so it made sense that humans could apply the same methods to the organic viruses that plagued their species. But Zero had been so used to seeing humans rely on machinery and the digital for so long that he had never heard of organic biological weapons being used before

[purpletaint]

Oh, how cute. Zero, was it? A technical term or a unit of production? Perhaps Albedo should have identified himself as unit 667, but alas, that was kept for business now. He watched Zero brightly, looking every inch an interested child.

Which was half-true at the least.

"Retrovirus," he corrected with a smile. Which were basically the same in the end, but let's keep to distinctions, shall we? "I don't believe I've ever been called an elf before, but I guess that's something you have?" It grated partially against him, the comparison, but it wasn't enough to spark his temper. He picked and chose his battles, and he'd prefer to play more. "Depending on your time period, you likely wouldn't," the boy said in a show of understanding. "In this part of space-time, it's around 2006 AD, I was told. I'm from four thousand years past that."

[believein0]

Zero nodded his head in confirmation at the elf question, but then he quietly stared at Albedo for a good few seconds as he took in what the boy said after that.

He's from...four thousand years in the future? And it's only 2006 AD here? But he's from four thousand years ahead of that - roughly 6000 AD? How....what? How was that even possible? Time travel technology? Did the Institute somehow have the capability to do that, or was there something else? And how did Albedo know what year it was here, anyway? If he was right, then that meant Zero had actually gone back into the past? Then how did they have the technology to...huh...

"You're...? What?" The once-Reploid was almost speechless at first, although the reaction showed poorly through his otherwise stony expression. (As it was with almost any reaction, really.) He took another second to get over his initial surprise and then made a somewhat brusque request. "Explain what you mean."

[purpletaint]

Perhaps if Albedo didn't have a regularly stoic little brother, the expression might not have shown, but as things were, the surprise was nearly blatant. And where to go now?~

The boy tilted his head down slightly, looking up through his eyelashes and smiling coyly. Such a simple question to answer. "I'm from four thousand years in the future," he repeated innocently. Zero was new, wasn't he? If things like this were still catching him up. "TC 4753, to be exact." If it mattered at this point. His grin widened. "All of this is ancient to me, really. Flashlights caught me up for a good few nights. Such an old artifact to work with."

[believein0]

The flashlight issue was actually mutual for Zero; at least, they used much different - more advanced - flashlights in his time period than they did here. But regardless. "Yeah, a lot of this is old to me, too," the once-Reploid replied. It was all fairly out of date by 24th century standards, but it must be completely obsolete by Albedo's time.

Yes, this boy - this living retrovirus - was from 4753... TC. Most likely not the same as AD, he was guessing. So what did TC mean? And, once again, just how was it possible for Albedo to be here, in this time? So many questions...

"So then, the institute's capable of...time travel?" It was a concept that, even by 23XX, was only dreamed about. They had ways of teleporting people around, but not teleporting them through time. Could it be true? Did Aguilar really have the power to do that? Zero felt almost doubtful of it, but considering everything else that didn't make sense around here...

[purpletaint]

The boy rocked back on his heels again, looking at the apparent android pleasantly. "So it would seem. You're new, aren't you?" Albedo smiled again. It was nothing against this one in particular. Many didn't gather the nuances of the institute for a while, and yet still, he found it necessary to point this out to him. "If you ask around, you'll find the the majority of individuals here are from different time periods--or different worlds, if you can find it in you to believe it."

The game here was already reforming, but Albedo would continue by the original rules for a while. He tipped his head in apparent interest, blinking idly. "What are your capabilities here? Have you been completely locked down or do you have access to some of your previous potential?"

[believein0]

"It's my second day." Which was considered new, doubtlessly, but this now made Zero curious. How long had other prisoners been kept here? How long did one have to be here to no longer be 'new', and who were considered 'veterans' among the prisoner population?

...And did Albedo really just say different worlds? That phrase was rewarded with another look of (stoic) surprise from the once-Reploid. Time travel could be believed with the right argument, but different worlds altogether, different dimensions? The ideas were starting to leave the territory of plausible and skirt the edges of impossible

[purpletaint]

...Oho. So this person really was new. If this was his second day, then Albedo had the pleasure of seeing him on his first night, more than likely. How adorable. Well, he seemed to have survived fine enough. And that was what mattered in the end. He was reminded, however, of the similarity present. His first night here, Albedo had seen a group fighting a giant spider. Oh, that was irony at its finest perhaps.

He pushed off the bookshelf as Zero spoke, twirling around to press a finger to the spines instead, moving along the edges in supposed curiosity. Half the titles were known instantly, the rest either perked or laid dead to his senses, and it was a mystery in itself which were which. He tilted his head to catch a glimpse of the now-human. A bit disgruntled, that one. And why wouldn't he be? If he had had a superior body, why would he not be displeased? Albedo himself had been in a fury enough at finding himself cut off from his abilities and power. And... other things