Day 59: Library
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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Maybe it was silly, but he just didn't want to spend too much time there if he didn't have to; he'd had his fill last night. Instead, he decided to just find a spot where he could spend the shift trying not to dwell on why he wasn't in the Sun Room. Unfortunately, one thing he'd forgotten about Libraries was that they were notoriously quiet and that didn't mix well with avoiding thoughts ( ... )
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After a moment in the Sun Room eyeing the construction of a fortress of blankets and pillows, Edgar headed for the library, hoping to spot Locke. He knew the treasure hunter was still around, as he'd seen a note penned by him just that morning on the bulletin board- Edgar had to admit that he was relieved in that aspect, given how short his stay had been before. It was just a matter of catching him, which was strangely difficult in spite of the limited number of places to hide during the daytime shifts.
Turning the corner into the library, he found exactly who he sought almost immediately. One look told him that the night hadn't been kind to him. "Rough evening?" he asked quietly as he approached.
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Locke jumped a little, not expecting to hear Edgar's voice breaking through his thoughts. Turning, he greeted his friend with a wry smile.
"And the morning hasn't been all that great either." Locke looked over Edgar, checking to make sure he was still in one piece and at least mostly healthy, which he seemed to be, though he wouldn't put it past the king to hide it if something were wrong.
"Ran into some trouble while adventuring last night. Please tell me you had a bit more luck with whatever you were doing last night." A bit of good news, including hearing Edgar hadn't actually run into anything last night, would make things a little better.
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He conveniently left out the specters for now, resolving that he was going to have to talk to Locke about Celes' former presence at the institute... eventually.
"What trouble did you find?" he asked with a quirk of his lips, unable to keep the implication that Locke might have gone looking for it from his words.
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"Actually, the guy I met and went with last night also had one of those injections. He wasn't seeing things, though, he kept hearing threatening voices; actually heard me threaten him a couple times too, apparently." Thinking about it, he realized he didn't know if Tolten was still suffering from that or not, he hadn't asked.
"We went out to try and get me a weapon, like we did the other night. He thought we could find knives or something in the kitchen, so we headed there...but I led us through the Sun Room...it was a trap." His smile turned wry and he averted his eyes from his friend. "Got us gassed...throat still hurts a bit from it; we didn't make it to the kitchens."
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"The Sun Room is often perilous at night," Edgar said, returning his attention to Locke. "The last time-" he paused, stopping himself from saying we, as this wasn't the same Locke- "... I passed through there at night, I managed to make it through once without hassle. By the time I returned, there was the corpse of a monster lying in the center of the room- luck had been on my side, apparently. Another ( ... )
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He turned a slightly teasing grin onto Edgar. "And you better watch out for yourself again. Try to have more uneventful nights, alright?" Although, he was intentionally not keeping an eye on his friend tonight, he knew he'd still be worried for the king the whole time. He hated not being able to watch out for him, but he also knew he couldn't be in two places at once. Besides, at this point, that whole liability thing still came into play and he didn't want to be a danger to his friend.
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On the other hand, Locke was the one who had disappeared once before; the institute had an unfortunate record of breaking even the strongest wills. That gave the king reason enough for concern.
"It's Terra I'm trying to keep an eye on," he continued after a brief pause.
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"So you saw met her, then. You see what I mean about not herself, then...I still can't tell if she's just lost her memories or if she hasn't even met us yet." It was possible, Edgar hadn't experienced what Locke had, not yet, that meant anyone could come from different times. He really hoped it was the institute to blame, if she hadn't even met them yet then there was no real reason for her to trust them, was there?
She'd only be meeting them for the first time; like everything they'd been through had never happened.
"Was she alright when you saw her?"
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He crossed his arms stiffly, brow furrowing. "I'd be willing to bet she's never met us," Edgar answered. "There's not even the faintest recognition in her eyes when I speak to her, and I like to think I'm pretty hard to forget." It also made the most sense, from the military's standpoint: take her from a time before she learned to stand on her own, before she had true allies, when she was most easily controlled. If they were looking to use patients as weapons for their own ends, they had found one. That was the part that raised Edgar's hackles.
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"Well, whether she knows us or not, we'll just have to keep an eye on her." She was still Terra and that meant she was still their friend and he was about to leave her on her own in this place. Admittedly, it was a little hard to try and watch over someone who might not trust you completely. "We can't lose hope after all." Like what Al had talked about yesterday, no matter what happened, they had to hold onto hope, for each other if not themselves. Locke was willing to keep up the optimism if it meant it helped his friends with their own.
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However, it really was his nature to be a hair controlling, to want to know where his friends were and what they were doing at any given time. A lost ally would only serve to hinder him further: no one could benefit from the skills of someone who wasn't there, and the disappearance of one of his comrades weighed heavily on him. He'd learned that much already.
"Especially given the announcements last night," he continued. "I suppose you heard that they're now using patients to do their dirty work. Sounds a bit too familiar, if you ask me."
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Speaking of experiments, the thought of the food issues he was currently having resurfaced in his mind. Part of him didn't want to tell Edgar, figuring it was nothing his friend had to be concerned over, but he also knew he'd feel a bit better if he heard Edgar say there was nothing wrong with the food. It wasn't likely he'd been lied to, but there was something to say for double-checking in a place like this.
"It might seem strange, but did the food look or taste different to you this morning?"
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Either that, or there was something else afoot. He halfway expected another tainting- it wouldn't be the first time they'd poisoned the food, though doing it at the start of the day was unsettling.
Even more unsettling was if Locke felt he'd been subject to said poison. He gave his friend a cautious look, trying to judge on appearance alone.
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It was really pretty gross, he only hoped it wouldn't last long. Locke noticed the look and raised an eyebrow at his friend. "M'fine, Edgar. As far as I can tell, whatever it is is just messing with my head...like an illusion or something."
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