Day 59: Cafeteria (noon)

[immortale]

By the time lunch rolled around, things still weren't getting any better. The voices hadn't gone away; instead, Firo was pretty sure they were getting more frequent. Ennis had been silent since last night, but Czes's voice had been an insistent buzz in his ear all morning

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[falseblack]

Noon came with a single realization, one he had dismissed due to the presence of others. The quiet of the library brought the detail to mind, however, which prompted Nigredo to feel glad for the move to a more crowded space. This successfully drowned out the murmur of phantom voices in his head, forcing the once silence-loving variant to prefer a more raucous environment.

It wasn't that the voices were remotely familiar. They simply spoke (the very worst things) out of turn, and Nigredo required something less.

Until this wore off, he would have to make due with noise and a book about a girl who wanted to be a little princess. Except the former was causing a tension headache, and the latter proved more intriguing than the title suggested. By the time Nigredo had gotten his tray and sat in one corner of the cafeteria, he was already well into the life of Sara Crewe in Miss Minchin's boarding school and a numbing pain.

And thus, the specters soon found themselves with an inattentive child.

[Renamon.]

[yin_yang_fox]

Even rehashing points gave Renamon more things to think about and consider, even if from another point of view. It reminded the Digimon to call out to Badou on the board. The man would want to know about last night, especially after the last they spoke. Both Badou and Daemon were ones who had vanished and returned with memories intact. She briefly wondered if there were similarities somewhere between them. She would have to see.

Entering the cafeteria brought her attention onto another point. The dark head of a solitary child; the reason her notebook was under her arm. She took the tray offered and moved towards Nigredo, silently noting the lack of his eating. And the boy was small enough. The disapproving look vanished before it set into place. "Nigredo," she said, to call attention. Then sat opposite, sliding the notebook next to her. She smiled despite herself. "I found out some things last night you might be interested in."

[falseblack]

Sara's life happened to be so mundane to prove surreal, and though Nigredo couldn't see how a family could so easily abandon their own in a place filled with girls, he supposed her father had his reasons. Furthermore, the girl had Nigredo's coloring, which the U.R.T.V. found to be both coincidental and disturbing beyond belief. He also sighed at the "rather tall" descriptor; with his luck, the seven-year-old was probably taller than he was.

A name called drew him away from the words, and Nigredo tipped his head to find Renamon seated across from him. "Ah, hello." Hers was a face he had hoped to see before the day's end. Out of propriety, the boy snapped the book shut and set it aside for something infinitely more interesting. "What did you find out?"

[yin_yang_fox]

If his age was overlooked, Nigredo's attentive nature was something to appreciate. Especially in regards to things like this. An agreement would be kept first, however. Her fingers touching the notebook, she slid it across to him, nodding. "The transcripts are labeled but feel free to look through the rest as there may be something of interest. I'll get it back from you whenever you're done."

As for the other item of interest.... She tipped her head towards the boy. "I met Marc last night." Perhaps it was cruel to give that and nothing yet further but the Digimon was curious of the boy's response.

[falseblack]

The notebook and the subsequent explanation were a welcome sight, one awaited for since the initial agreement. Nigredo took it with a careful hand, trying his very best to appear gracious and not at all bursting with excitement. "Thank you," he replied, smiling. "I'll try to finish it by tomorrow. Also, let me know if you would like anything in return." He wasn't one for simple taking, after all.

Sadly, the well-constructed mask crumbled when Renamon revealed the nature of her find. More appropriately, the identity of her find. Green eyes went wide to show whites, and without thinking, he leaned forward in anticipation. "Really? Him?" His eyes might as well have sparkled. "Could you tell me more?"

[yin_yang_fox]

She nodded to him. "Just information if you find any. That's all." For now at least. The child could likely be a help to her, but she'd prefer to gauge his abilities before even thinking to use him at night or in something more complicated. Nigredo was a possible ally, far more mature than he should be for his apparent age, and

[falseblack]

"Understood," he gave, sounding suspiciously like a soldier acknowleding their objective. Which, in all honestly, wasn't too far from the truth. Nigredo wished to repay Renamon for her generosity, and if more information was what she wanted, he would retrieve what he could

[yin_yang_fox]

The boy was quiet and involved; a most attentive audience. The Digimon was pleased by that. That he followed what was unspoken was better, and then attributed to something she had not counted on was surprising. Nigredo had a useful mind, and he would be good to bounce things off of, given the chance. She made a mental note to do so in the future.

As things stood.... "How did you figure?" she asked curiously. "It's hard to differentiate between the man and the place."

[falseblack]

How Nigredo figured was quite straightforward. He had been present during the infamous Marc-and-Landel broadcast, after all, and had managed to witness what could not be considered as mere coincidence. The boy canted his head in thought, lining up the memory within the context of the offered question.

"The night Dr. Landel invaded Marc's space," Nigredo began, "he said, 'While Aguilar can run his little men around like toy soldiers, he still doesn't know how to run the Institute itself. And I do mean that quite literally.'" The child paused before continuing, allowing enough time for the words to sink in. "He snapped his fingers, and one of the...people I was with reacted as if he was in pain."

Which he deserved, but that was beside the point.

"I have an idea of what might have happened," he pressed on, "but with this block in place, I doubt I'll be able to detail it. I just believe it's viable that the direct cause of that shift had to do with the Head Doctor himself, not necessarily the place. Especially as he supposedly lost any

[yin_yang_fox]

His logic was sound enough, though one detail pressed forward to her notice. "The person you were with." She watched the boy. Here, she would have to reply on his judgment and deduction rather than her own. "Is there anything that set him apart? Something he experienced here to place him as unique in your group?"

Brainwashing. Experimentation. A return to the institute, memoryless or not. A loss of time. The next day none had came forward to report any strange pain or irregularities. Which meant what had happened occurred to a very select group or... Just the one individual. What set that one apart?

[falseblack]

Unique, hm? The label arrogant, sadistic freak instantly came to mind, only for Nigredo to remember that it described Erika just as well. He almost sighed at the loss. "At that time, he was the only one who had gone through the southern doors. He was qualified, you could say," the boy remarked, folding his hands across the notebook.

"This is based mostly on circumstantial evidence--" There could be no way to repeat that effect for a definite, after all. "--but given the Head Doctor's comment about the 'nice little surprise waiting down in the Basement' afterward, it's the strongest lead I have."

[yin_yang_fox]

The word 'qualified' had unfortunate connotations in the Digimon's mind, but it also lined up something quite nicely. She should have assumed, to be honestly. If one door could not be opened unless it had two keys from two halls, then perhaps it was simple to think that the final door could not open unless you completed that third challenge. She needed to find out exactly what that was.

That Nigredo could not speak on it was effortlessly frustrating. Her eyes slanted. "The door he opened cannot be entered unless you've been through the southern doors," she gave in theory. "Have you tried this?"

[falseblack]

A normal child might have pouted at the question. Nigredo merely frowned in an emotion close to disgust. He had wanted to pass through those doors that night--looked at them with longing, in fact--but that want had nearly led to a disaster. Never again would he allow those people to mingle. Never.

"Not yet," he admitted. "I currently have little want to go back down there again."

[yin_yang_fox]

...Interesting. The Digimon raised an eyebrow in partial interest. "Because of what's down there or a different scenario altogether?"

[falseblack]

In Nigredo's mind, it was never good to admit your weaknesses. Never correct to concede to elements that could be used against you. Although the answer to Renamon's query was a mix of the two offered, the child wasn't so keen on the former. What was down there and the curiosity to know had once cost him his life and something like security. And it had been the final time, hadn't it?

The last he'd spent proper time with both brothers.

His countenance tipped toward apathy as his eyes drifted to away from Renamon's. "More it's getting tiresome," Nigredo said. "I've been in the basement for the past three nights."

[yin_yang_fox]

The statement was both true and not. The expression the boy used was almost familiar, and she couldn't place the reasons. It gave her an edge of concern, unmoving expression locked on him as he spoke. "Is that a normal length of time to go through those challenges?"

She almost thought to reassure him that she would find out the secrets. That she intended to go through all of them, and reveal which way that path lay. What she and Daemon talked about was correct--it was necessary, perhaps a necessary sacrifice, if only to clear the way, and reveal its use or uselessness.

But the boy was against others going. At least through that center door. Still, she could say as much. "I'll be going down soon to look things over. I'll try that fourth door he supposedly opened. If it doesn't open at my touch, we'll at least know that completing the side challenges does nothing in the way of that path."