Fragment 34

I opened my eyes, curious to know what Luigi had thought of my dream. But when I looked down, there was no written note in my hand. Where was it? What had happened? I looked up at Nastasia, who stood at the foot of the bed, her mouth a thin, tight line.

"We've reached an impasse," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Luigi wants to stop this. He's afraid."

I would have laughed at the imbecile, if it weren't for the prospect of losing my chance to take his life for my own. "He's a coward. What do you expect?"

Nastasia frowned. "I expected Luigi to interpret your dream in a way that would encourage him to open up to you more. The description you gave of him appearing bigger and stronger than you, and your need to be close to him in order to survive - I thought it might help him feel stronger. Instead, it has consolidated his belief that you're an invader, a parasite that needs to be cut out."

"But you can't stop this... The dreams are the only way I can break through to his side of the barrier."

"Mr. L, you are both still motivated by your fight for control. You want his life; he wants you eradicated. It can't work, either way. Until both of you understand that fighting is not the answer, you will remain separated, and tied to one another. Remember what you are."

A jewel of strength in the mind of a weak-willed individual. I felt a knot grow in my chest. So, nothing had changed. The dredged memories, the notes we'd written to each other, the dreams - nothing had changed anything. I was still an automaton, unable to suppress my desire to kill Mario. There was no way anyone would allow me to fulfil my purpose, and even if I did, I'd return to that non-existent, non-sentient state before my creation. I deserved better than that.

"I'm going to bring you another visitor." Her announcement shook me from my thoughts.

"I don't want to see anyone." Like I had any choice. She whispered something, her eyes glinting at me through her glasses, and I lost feeling and movement in everything below my armpits. I flexed my hands and bent my elbows, thankful that they were still untouched by her hypnotic paralysis, but I couldn't raise my arms from my shoulders. I glared at her. "What was that for?"

"Let me remind you that you are an assassin. You are violent, unpredictable, and suicidal. I'm doing this for the protection of your visitor."

"I have nothing against the Mushroom-heads."

"Toads," she corrected, "and he's not of that species. I'm putting you out until he arrives... Time to wake up, Mr. L."

If she hadn't announced the continuity break, I'd have barely noticed it, save for the sudden appearance of the short, elderly looking man at her side.

"Oh, my," he gasped, wiping the palms of his hands over his white lab coat. I couldn't see his eyes behind the thick lenses of his glasses - the light seemed to bounce off them in spiraling patterns - but the sight of me opening my eyes had clearly unnerved him.

I couldn't help but feel pleased with the reaction. I studied his shocked expression as he stared at me. "Enjoying the freak show?" I said.

He flinched at my words, but didn't reply.

"This is Professor Elvin Gadd," said Nastasia. "Professor, this is Mr. L."

He hesitated, as if choosing his words with care. "Fascinating, I'm sure." He fidgeted as if he wanted to shake hands; I guessed he'd been warned not to approach or touch me.

"I'll leave you two to get to know each other, 'k?" Nastasia gave the professor a warning look, and left the room. For the first time since I'd caught that stupid little Mushroom-head in the corridor, I found myself alone in the company of someone new. Professor Gadd and I watched each other, and in the silence I listened for Nastasia's footsteps. Judging by their absence I had no doubt that she'd gone no further than a few feet beyond my door, ready to immobilise me if I tried anything.

The old man shuffled to the stool by my bed and climbed onto it. "Forgive me for asking," he said, "but your eyes... can you see well?"

"Better than you, evidently," I said, waving a finger at his spiral-lensed glasses.

A wide, almost toothless grin took over his face. "Oh, ho, these..." He took them off, revealing small, grey eyes and white, bushy eyebrows. "I'm not so bad for my age, you know. I developed these lenses myself. Their primary function is to detect incorporeal manifestations, along with a little correction on short-sightedness."

Incorporeal manifestations? "You study ghosts?"

Gadd hesitated. "Of course... you don't know. Forgive me. Yes, I study ghosts, when I'm not working on interdimensional transporters, of course." He interlaced his fingers over his chest and swung his legs, too short to reach the floor. "That's my latest project. Transportation through space, time and dimension. It keeps me out of mischief. It's how we managed to bring Nastasia here."

"We? Who's we?"

He put his hand to his mouth. "Well, now, I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say to you. But Nastasia came here through my specially made transporter, yes."

I resisted the urge to try and grab him by the throat. I wasn't sure my limited arm movement would have allowed me to, anyway. Better to keep fishing for information. "Who's idea was it? To bring her across?"

"Why, it was yours! I mean, Luigi's." Gadd straightened his back. "Sorry. Looking at you, it's very confusing. Even with the eyes..."

"I'm not Luigi."

"No, no, of course not." His face flushed. "That is evident. I..."

"Why are you here?" I cut him off.

The professor spluttered for a moment, and cleared his throat. "If I were not persuaded that this visit would help matters between you..." - he hesitated - "...and Luigi, then I wouldn't have come. So, here I am. Although I have no idea what I am here to do. I'm a man of science, but my knowledge doesn't extend to this field."

I would have shrugged, if I could. He didn't see any point for the conversation to continue, and neither did I, except for my suspicion that Nastasia was lurking outside the door, listening to every word. But at least his company was a change from hers, and better than solitude. "Tell me more about your work," I said.

"Oh, well," he said, "broadly, I suppose, I'm researching interdimensional physics." He paused, as if waiting for my reaction. "That would be the effects on people and objects that that travel between them. For example, that floro-sprout that was embedded in your head. It originated in Count Bleck's dimension, and neutralised the extraordinary effects the 1-UP mushrooms normally have on you. Fascinating, since the 1-UP mushroom's effect is enhanced through interdimensional physics, too."

"1-UP mushrooms?" I hadn't a clue what he was talking about.

"Oh, haha, forgive me..." He slapped his forehead with his hand. "Never mind, never mind. But! Yes! I hope my scientific interest doesn't offend you. You see, you, yourself are alien to this world, in more ways than one. A truly interdimensional being indeed!" The professor clapped his hands together with delight. "Criminy! Just think! You physically originated in Dimension A, but your consciousness, Mr. L, was created in Dimension B, and here I am, speaking with you in Dimension C! A unique opportunity."

He'd completely lost me this time. I snapped at him. "For what?"

"Oh, ho! For my research! You have no memory of your true origins, do you? Then I'll explain. You and Mario, you come from a planet called Earth, in a dimension where, so I'm told, you lived unremarkable lives. But when you came here, to this dimension, the change in physics gave you extraordinary powers. You can manipulate the elements. You can jump like fleas! In Count Bleck's dimension, your powers were slightly altered, but still just as strong. Of course, as Mr. L, you wouldn't have known any different, because your mind is native to that place.

"Here's another example," he said, bouncing a little on his stool. "Take those Brobot machines of yours. My, I wish I could have seen them in action! Incredible! But they were no match for Mario, because they were constructed with materials native to that dimension. You and Mario were alien, and so the physics affected you differently. Had you ever wondered why Mario was able to destroy your Brobot machines, but was never able to destroy you?"

Staggered at how much he knew about me and my battles with Mario, it took a few moments before I realised my jaw was hanging open. I must have looked as idiotic as I felt. No, I'd never wondered why Mario hadn't been able to kill me. Did that mean Luigi had the same invincible powers as Mario? It didn't correlate with Nastasia's description of him. I needed to know more. "How well do you know Luigi?" I asked. "What's he like?"

"Oh my," said the professor, scratching his head. "This is odd. I must remember who I'm talking to..." He took a deep breath, leaned back and waggled his feet. "Ah, well, he's a quiet chap. Not like his brother at all. When I first met him, I would never have put him down as the heroic type."

Heroic? Nastasia had never called Luigi heroic. I recalled his written words. Two men against an army of thousands... I tried imagining Mario and Luigi running through the landscape I'd seen in my dream, hurling balls of fire from their hands, and incinerating Bowser's troops. "I heard he was a coward. Weak-willed."

The professor nodded. "He does come across that way, I'll be the first to admit. He's easily spooked. Nervous. But he surprised me once, when Mario got into trouble some years ago. I doubted very much that Luigi would be able to rescue him. But, rescue him he did."

I perked up at the mention of Mario in trouble. Anything I could learn about Mario's weaknesses would be useful. "What happened?"

"Well, now. An order of ghosts called the Boos was behind it all. They're dangerous enough, despite the Mario brothers' super powers. The Boos concocted a plan to lure Mario and Luigi to a phantom mansion they'd created, so that they could turn the pair of them into living portraits. It would have been an eternal hell, I should imagine." The professor shuddered as he spoke. "Mario's fearless nature cost him, though. He didn't wait for Luigi, and went right in there on his own, unprepared, and didn't come out. It was lucky Luigi hesitated at the mansion's entrance, or he wouldn't have run into me when he did. You see, when the mansion appeared, I couldn't wait to explore it. You have to take up these rare opportunities for research, you know! Anyway, when he told me his brother had gone and disappeared inside, I equipped him with a ghost-catching gizmo of mine, trained him up, and sent him in.

"When I watched him go, I didn't hold out much hope for Mario. Luigi was terrified; I expected him to run for his life at any moment. But what he went through that night changed my opinion of him completely. He wouldn't give up, in spite of his fear, and the trials he faced to rescue Mario were unbelievably fierce. Luigi has a hidden strength, Mr. L, something special inside him that not many people can see or appreciate. For that reason, I have a lot of respect for Luigi."

I had no answer to the professor's story. Luigi? A hidden strength? Why had Nastasia not said... No - she had said it... A jewel of strength, hidden in the psyche of a weak-willed individual... I didn't dare think it, at first. Was I assuming too much? Could I have been what drove Luigi to overcome his fears and save Mario? No. That had happened before she'd created me. 'I' did not exist... But that very jewel of strength, that thing she said I was created from, I wanted to believe it was the same thing that had helped him save the man I'd been tasked to destroy. I deserved to know that memory of the mansion and the Boos. I deserved to know what it had felt like!

When I looked up, I hadn't realised Professor Gadd had already got down from his stool and was backing away.

"No, don't go," I said.

"You look troubled. I was going to find Nastasia."

I nodded. I needed time to collect my thoughts. "Professor?"

He looked at me.

"Will you visit again?"

A/N - A big shout out to everyone who interpreted Mr. L's dream a few chapters ago. They revealed some fascinating angles on the ordeal Mr. L is going through in this story, and the way he sees himself. It's incredible how different each interpretation was from the others, yet every one of them hit the nail on the head.

As you've probably guessed, self-discovery features a lot in the Mr. L chapters, and I'd be interested to know what you make of the way Professor Gadd's visit affected him, this time.

Thanks for your patience with the update delay, and thanks for reading!