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

Comments

[zack_fair]

A lot of people would have probably called his breakfast a waste of time, but Zack didn't think that was the case in the slightest. Helping someone out, even with something as simple as how to use a fork, could mean a lot. And doing someone a favor like that always tended to put him in a good mood. If you couldn't get enjoyment out of something like that, then you probably needed to look at life a little differently

[zack_fair]

Oh no. That look wasn't good. Even now, Zack sometimes forgot that there were certain worlds where people didn't even know about monsters. If that stare was any indication, then Roderich came from one of those, and he'd just given him a piece of information that was maybe a little too hard to swallow. Still, wasn't it better for him to be prepared beforehand, rather than running into a monster when he didn't even believe they existed

[composers]

The more Zack spoke the more ridiculous everything sounded, and Austria was beginning to regret ever asking for details. It was a disappointing thing to see the lively man in the same mental state as the rest of these patients, and once more the aristocrat was reminded of the potential dangers they posed. Yet Zack had been the first person to actually make an attempt to answer his questions, and so maybe he could sort through those answers for the truth

[zack_fair]

Oh. This was even worse than Zack had realized. Did Roderich seriously think that this was a legitimate mental institution run by people who were trying to help them? How could he, when their very presence in this place was already completely suspect? Unless he truly thought that he had something wrong with him, but...

"Well, first of all," Zack said, his tone become more serious as he tried to get through to the other patient, "the staff isn't around at night. Not really. The doors just open and the Head Doctor expects us to run around looking for a way out. He also expects us to fight whatever gets in our way. He's not really interested in helping any of us, especially since most people here aren't crazy in the first place. What Landel really wants to do -- I think -- is mess with us and watch how we react

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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