There was a small celebration in Ansem's study the day Braig rejoined them. The bandages had been replaced by an eyepatch and there was more gray in his hair than before, but his mind - and mouth – was as sharp as ever. Once the impromptu party had settled down, the first thing he asked about was their research. "I'm sure I've missed a lot," he said.

Even's eyes flickered to Xehanort's, then away as Ansem answered, "Actually, you haven't missed anything. I've asked the others to put off any personal projects until after you returned to us. I have a plan in mind that will require all of our input."

He was the immediate and sole focus of five and a half pairs of eyes. Group projects involving all of them were rare, since Ansem liked to spread their talents out. The last one had been during the epidemic two winters back, when they had all worked nearly nonstop to combat the illness. There was nothing like that going on now, in the lazy warmth of summer, so what-?

"The darkness in people's hearts...I wish to probe its depths and, if possible, rid ourselves of it entirely," Ansem said.

Even was the first to speak. "How? Where do we even start? Saying 'the darkness is a problem' is far to broad, there's no way to narrow that down properly."

"We'd have to use at least one live test subject," Ienzo said. His fingers drummed on his knees as he turned the problem over in his mind. "More than one would give better results, so we know which parts of the data are individual and which are universal. But the point stands, we need an actual person to test."

"We need a baseline. How deep is the darkness?" Braig added.

"Is that going to be different for every person, do you think?" Dilan sat forward and propped his chin on his folded hands, looking thoughtful.

"Possibly it varies on the personality type," Elaeus added.

"Psychology?" Xehanort asked. "You've been looking into that recently, haven't you, Even?" He raised his brow at the man in question.

"It would be as good a place as any to start," Even answered, though it was directed more at Ansem than Xehanort.

"Go brainstorm, and come up with some tests to run," Ansem told the group. "Keep in mind that our hypothetical volunteer will be a human being, and that we do not want to harm him or her."

"Yes, Master Ansem," they chorused.

Xehanort lingered after the others had filed out. He watched as Ansem pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing on it in his neat script, the words 'Ansem Report' centered at the top. "Master Ansem?"

The pen paused, and golden eyes met his. "Yes, Xehanort?"

"I'll do it. Be the test subject, I mean. Or a test subject, anyway."

His teacher set his pen down and gave him a measuring look. "You are my senior apprentice, a brilliant young man, and I do not hesitate to call you my best student. I need you as a researcher, a scientist, not as an experiment. Why do you wish to do such a thing?"

Xehanort gave a low bow. "I am honored that you think so highly of me, sir." There was, in fact, no way for him to describe how it felt to know that Ansem considered him - him - his best apprentice. But now was not the time to indulge in that glow, not yet. "I promise that you will not lose me as a researcher. In fact, would it not be better to use someone who can provide information correctly from both sides?"

"That can't possibly be your true reason."

Xehanort dropped his gaze. "Ever since the explosion, I've been having nightmares. Mostly of looking for someone, and people looking for me. Even thinks it might be my memories trying to come back."

"You spoke of these nightmares to Even, but not to me?"

The reproach, gentle as it was, felt like a knife to his heart. Xehanort's head snapped up, his eyes wide. "No, Master Ansem! It's not – You were busy with Braig at the time, I wasn't about to bother you over a few dreams!"

A raised hand silenced any further comments Xehanort might have made. Ansem pulled out one of his ice cream bars from the enchanted drawer in his desk, unwrapped it, then took a bite. After he swallowed it, he said, "You hope that probing the darkness in your own heart will return your memories to you. It is not an unreasonable expectation, since we still do not know what caused them to leave you in the first place." He nodded and picked his pen back up. "Very well, then. Once we have a defined route of exploration, we will begin."

Long after Xehanort joined his fellow apprentices, the only sound in the book-lined study was the scratch of pen on paper. Eventually, though, Ansem set the pen down with finality, and pulled a folder out of his desk. It contained only one other sheet of paper, which was also inscribed with the title of 'Ansem Report'. Ansem slipped the new sheet behind the old, then replaced the folder in his desk. That done, he left the room to join his students, all eager to begin their new line of study.

One of my own apprentices, Xehanort, has volunteered to be a subject.

But is he really the right subject?

Much to Even's disappointment, the nightmares gradually decreased over the following weeks. Eventually they vanished completely, leaving only the lingering memory of the taste of ash on Xehanort's tongue. Xehanort wasn't sure whether he was relieved to see them go or sad at the loss of what might have been a glimpse of his past. Either way, Ansem continued his examinations of Xehanort's heart, for all the good it did them.

"We're gettin' nowhere with these tests of yours," Braig growled at Xehanort.

"I know," he said glumly, staring down at the notes. The original results from the psychological tests Ansem had given Xehanort had been marked on so many times by the scientists that they had become difficult to read, prompting Xehanort and Braig to volunteer to rewrite them, added notes and all, on fresh paper. It was mildly discouraging, to say the least.

"What are you complaining about now, old man?" Ienzo asked as he entered the workroom, their lunch on the tray he carried. After Xehanort cleared off enough space, the teen set the food down and cocked his head at Braig.

"For one thing, in my day we had respect for our elders." This statement earned identical disbelieving snorts from both younger men, which Braig chose to ignore as he selected a sandwich. "For another, we're just going around in circles with this darkness stuff. There's nothing new here."

"If only we could isolate a heart, study it without interference from the person..." Xehanort frowned at the sandwich Braig shoved into his hand, then took a bite. Breakfast suddenly seemed very long ago, and he hadn't noticed how hungry he was until then.

"We'd need a bigger lab to work in, one that people won't be able to randomly come in and blow up," Braig said.

"There's that huge storage space hidden behind Master Ansem's study that nobody uses anymore. I could probably talk him into converting it into a lab," Ienzo offered.

"Elaeus and Dilan have been working on creating artificial hearts. It would make sense that they would need extra space," Xehanort said. "A perfectly plausible request."

"Just to be clear here, we're not talking about removing Xehanort's heart, are we? 'Cause I do think the king would notice that little detail," Braig said.

"Of course not," Ienzo said. "We have no idea what happens when a heart is removed, there's no sense in risking one of our own like that."

Xehanort gave a firm nod, certain that they were finally on the right track. "Do it. Ienzo, speak with Master Ansem about the new lab. Braig, talk to Dilan and Elaeus, then the three of you start collecting samples. I'll find Even and come up with the next line of testing."

The plan worked like a charm. Progress was temporarily halted to allow the construction of the new laboratory deep beneath the castle. By the time it was completed, a large number of samples had been gathered from the streets of Radiant Garden and carefully hidden from Ansem's discovery.

The computer system Ansem set up for the lab was a pleasant surprise for his students. High speed, large memory, and already installed with an excellent security program Ansem himself had adapted specifically to their project from older software. It was, in a word, perfect. Detailed files of their experiments could be kept on the computer, easily accessed, but safe from the eyes of anyone outside the circle of seven.

Those files, however, would be left to the other five apprentices. Much like his master, Xehanort preferred to write most of his plans on paper, by hand. To Ansem's displeasure, he had been called away to one of the outlying provinces over a succession dispute just as the laboratory had been completed. Having no other choice but to go settle it in person, but unwilling to make his students wait another two months to continue work they were obviously eager to return to, he had left Xehanort in charge of resuming the research. Thus, Xehanort was in Ansem's study, sitting at Ansem's desk, staring at the unmarked paper long after everyone else had gone to bed.

What to call it? Names were considered and discarded almost within the same instant - Darkness of the Heart, Delving into Darkness, Darkness Report, Xehanort's Reports. The last one earned a snort of laughter as he imagined Ansem's reaction to that title.

Ansem...He titled his writings 'Ansem Reports', didn't he? With a shrug, Xehanort wrote Ansem Report 1 at the top of the page. Flatter his teacher. Why not?

With the title taken care of, the initial part of the report felt like it wrote itself, and the words poured out onto the paper.

It is my duty to expose what this darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments:

- Extract the darkness from a person's heart.

- Cultivate darkness in a pure heart.

- Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.