"Doctor?" A hazed voice called.
Kris lifted their tired head, batting their eyes before drooping back down, sleep blurring the edges of their vision. It was like the world had been eaten by grays and blues and Kris thought, very distantly, that it was beautiful. The swirls, the jetting of color across the canvas like haphazard strokes of a brush, a stunning replication of what they thought life really was: nothing concrete besides anguish.
It was calming and lifting, cooling their clammy skin until it was a placid wash of ocean-blue water, until the air seemed to envelop them and cradle them like the warm embrace of family, and the languid, breezy hints of sober consciousness faded away again.
They were asleep and in their dreams they saw freedom, soaring high above the reddened clouds of mayhem and the cast-iron chains of their shackles. They were flying, rising to the blazing, beckoning sun as a choir of angels reached a crescendo. And then they felt their wings flutter away and crumble, and the angels stopped singing, and the clouds and shackles and teeth and cloth came closer and closer until they could feel the snapping of the shackles around their wrists and ankles as they plummeted, the wind curling around them and ripping away their wings, fluttering their clothes and driving against their skin so coarsely it threatened to break. The clouds parted and showed the stretched mouth of death beneath them, jittering and giddy with a promise but grim with purpose.
Kris felt their skin prickle with fear, something worming underneath and fleeing over their chest like a breeze of hot-water that scalded their skin. Abhorrent mortification muled in their heart, kicking, beating, thrashing against the cage of bones and begging them, begging Kris to move, to run, to fight back, but the gaping crater broken into the ground inched closer and closer until they fell through the middle and landed onto the hot black-top.
And standing there, just feet away, a mass of red sweated with devious, unfeeling expectancy.
They felt something poke into them.
" …hello. "
The other slithered closer, reaching out a bronze claw, sharper than a kitchen knife and sturdier than the support beams in the basement of Kris's house.
" …I know… I know. I'll be careful. I'll be safe. Don't worry about me, it treats me well. No… no… I won't have too much fun. No drugs, no… err, well, you know. I'll be good, I swear."
"Doctor, something's happening. T-They're waking up…! Oh, Angel, what do we do?"
"Let them." Someone replied. "Let them wake."
It is a mere fictitious frivolity that brought you to this point. An erratic symphony of lost self-assurance combined with the inevitable, inextricable shedding of your logic and goals overshadowed the true intention of your existence. You will listen to the next command. Compliance will not be rewarded but punishment will be subverted. Given the current outlook of the situation, your efficiency toward progressing your mission has dropped significantly. Parse your humanity and remove it from your being or else you will face the true consequences of failure. Further motivation is needed. Should you succeed and correctly abdicate sovereignty to efficacy and commence in the removal of capricious denialism and stubborn, intractable intransigence on a meaningful and comprehensive level, the logical response would be loosened control for good behavior. Present concentrated adherence to logical and mathematical calculations. Destroy the fleeting humanity skewing the results of the experiment. Comply.
"That's enough. Wake them. We will get our answers in due time, I'm sure. You; report this to the Director Interim. You; chart this. I want full records of this conversation. This is huge for us, understand? And get me Detter Scrubs! I want our resident psychologist here."
"Yes, Doctor." Two voices responded. Kris began to blink away their tiredness, watching with a slothful disappointment as the vivid painting of somber hues faded into the dirty and dusty room they were in.
It was a cramped room with a high ceiling. The same bricks and crumbling structure as the buildings outside but supported by strong steel reinforcement beams that stretched over the roof above and down the ancient walls littered with fuse boxes and wires. The wires dragged across the floor, winding around and plugging in directly under Kris's feet.
They yanked at the bindings holding their hands to the arms, flailing around as they realized they were strapped down to a chair. The bindings did not budge but their escape attempt did bring a gasp from the people in the room.
Kris shot a wild glance up at them, balking as they admired the Darkners. Two of them, one dressed in a pristine lab coat with scrubs underneath sheltering an odd, warped skeleton of a body, with the head of a melted human skull, and the other was much the same, but instead of bones it was a stethoscope. The diaphragm protruded from the overtly large ears, sagging and rising like an elephant's trunk. The ears were the size of dinner plates.
"D-Doctor! They're mad! Mad, I knew it! They're infected! I knew Detter was wrong; I just knew it-"
"'Mad,' yes. Not infected. Think of it, they wake strapped to an electric chair. Of course they will thrash and… and fight. They don't know who we are, Doctor Ocvory. Patience; it's a virtue."
The elephant-o-scope Darkner swallowed anxiously, raising a clipboard and all but hiding behind it as Kris glared at them. The other doctor, the skeleton, held his hands up in a placating gesture. He had far too many phalanges to be a human skeleton.
"Greetings, Lightner. We mean you no harm." He spoke like a gurgle from inside his chest. "I am Doctor Rnd, this," he gestured to the meek one behind the clipboard, "is Doctor Ocvory. We are members of this institution. You may know of us…? You sought us out, didn't you?" Doctor 'Randy' waited for Kris to respond.
Frothe at the mouth.
They blanched, glancing upward at the spirals of wires and metal above positioned like spears waiting to impale through their head. A ring of metal fell down just above their hair, which was standing awkwardly straight, and a glimmer of fear blitzed into them faster than they could squash it.
The cool washed in.
"Hello…? Are you there?" Doctor Rnd inquired. Kris took one look at him, one look at the electric chair they were seated in, one look at the doctor nervously writing on the clipboard, and one final bug-eyed look at their hands.
They felt strings intertwine over their fingers.
You awaken in the dark recesses of a safe haven. A shade falls on the world. You are filled with the power of electricity.
"…Lightner-"
They yanked roughly at their bindings, thrashing like a feral beast and clamoring ferociously, snarling at Doctor Rnd and beating as hard as they could against the straps. The doctors leaped backward, staring, gawking fearfully at them before Doctor Rnd waved at his subordinate.
Kris barked, and growled, and flailed. The doctors danced around them, the skeleton slowly circling around to their right as the elephant ran for a lever to their left.
"I TOLD YOU! WE'RE… GAH, I TOLD YOU ALL! THEY'RE INFECTED!"
Doctor Ocvory slammed the lever down, the machine whirring as energy gathered through the wires, coursing forth and arching up and around their head until it finally zapped through the machine itself, sending a powerful current straight into their head. They twitched, and thrashed, and wailed like a dying animal until it was over.
0-0-0
"…Lightner? Are you okay?" Kris dimly nodded to the doctor, who hummed a pleased noise. "Ah, exquisite! You can understand us! Make sure to chart that, Ocvory."
"G-Got it, Doctor."
"Back to the question at hand. Did you seek us out?" Kris nodded again, a little more naturally as the steam of death began to flitter off their mind. They wished they were dead with how the other began factoring the variables so quickly. "Splendid. Truly splendid."
"You come seeking Asylum from the world beyond, to find the little bit of safety left in this forsaken world. It makes me happy that we are still known as an institution of care, even in these… troubling times."
"Ah. Enough of my wistfulness! It serves us no purpose. Doctor Ocvory, would you please release our Lightner friend from their bindings? Detter will be here any moment to check them over and I want them to feel comfortable for her."
The elephant doctor cleared their throat, coming forward and tentatively unlocking their restraints.
Kris flexed their hand and rubbed their wrists as the shackles clattered to the floor. The doctor pawed at their neck sheepishly as they subtly backed away.
Kris patted themself down, idly checking for their items and weapon. They leveled a questioning gaze at the skeletal doctor, who bounced his head and went to explain.
"We requisitioned your belongings in case you had gone mad after all. They will be returned to you shortly, I swear of it."
Kris begrudgingly took that as an answer, stretching their sleepy muscles and finally getting a clear view of the room around them.
The electric chair behind them was the only true furniture, besides the three folding chairs sat a good distance away in a neat line. One was off-center.
Aside from that, there was a door off to the left of the chair, unseen from their previous angle.
They stayed quiet, thinking over their situation. They avoided being fried in the chair this time simple enough, they just showcased not being a deranged, foaming, maddened lunatic. Clearly, it seems to be a big deal, and they understood why. They remembered the Lunatic, the first Darkner of this new world that they saw. Feral. Rabid. And the Lobotomy, who seemed slightly more coherent, but still attacked them with bloodthirst.
The doctors mentioned an 'infection.' Perhaps the Lunatics were the afflicted Darkners? It wouldn't be too far of a stretch, and even the other calculated the probability being significant, but they still were curious about some things. Specifically, where their friend was. 'Friend.' Where was Susie? They couldn't just leave her alone in this world. Not to mention - thanks to a rapid transmission of statistics - their probability of prolonged survival was significantly higher with her around.
Aside from that, Kris wondered who this 'Detter' character was. They seemed important, if the third doctor was sent to retrieve them.
Kris decided to begin their questions. "What's going on?" It was simple, almost farcically flippant, but the doctors responded with answers to some of their questions.
Doctor Ocvory was the first to respond, seemingly overcoming their fear of Kris as sarcasm bled into their wavering voice.
"Nothing much! Just struggling to s-survive in a world of madness with a bunch of infected P-Patients who, heh, seemingly have a taste for murdering? Heh, heh. S… S-S-So nothing much…"
"Excuse my colleague here." Doctor Rnd sighed, dragging a hand down his frontal bone. "Things have been… rough, lately, as I'm sure you could guess. The Brain has gone numb with the infection and… it's… the…" Rnd exhaled lowly, stumbling on his words with a complex, impassioned grimness behind his dignified exterior. "…I estimate that closing the Fountain would be a mercy on us. On us all."
The Fountain. They should inquire about it, since the complex seemed close enough that the doctors might have known something about it. Kris needed to know what that wall blocking it was.
"…the Fountain?" They played dumb.
Doctor Rnd gave them an inane and subtle tilt of his skull, crossing his hands in front of him with a sincere pleasure. They supposed he enjoyed talking about the Fountain streaming upward from just outside of the complex walls.
"The Fountain; the lifeblood of our world; the power source that gives this world form; the font of magic which permeates this cortex and filters life from undeath. Ah, I could speak for days on it. It's majestic! Royal! Power incarnate! Once upon a very short time ago, it was the generator of our world's electricity. The core of our power supply. The magic captured from it was used to fuel our inventions, to alleviate our resource demands, to slingshot our civilization ahead and become the epicenter of change and science."
"But one day, not too long ago, something happened. The same magic we harnessed began to… twist. Those further from the Fountain felt the effects first as the magic went farther and farther from the parent source. Soon, it began to take a toll on their minds. Their bodies mutated into the creatures they are now, and they sought to seal our patron Fountain and doom us all. The Astrowall was constructed as a barrier to keep it safe."
"Now, the facility operates on minimal processes. Behind the Astrowall is a skeleton crew of our most skilled engineers. They are the only ones keeping the lights on while we attempt to cure this… unfortunate… unpropitious disease of the mind."
So the plague was caused by warped magic? The Darkners apparently were using the Fountain as a direct power source; one so valuable they had to make a barrier to prevent the infected from entering.
"What is the disease?"
Rnd lost his enthusiasm, staring down at the floor for a long time before answering in a monotone, hopeless voice that seemed to barely reach the walls.
"…the disease is a rapid progression of mutations theorized to be caused by exposure to impure magic harnessed from the Fountain and diluted. Early symptoms… side-effects include paranoia, delirium, extreme hunger, and the eventual… eventual brain death of the subject."
Doctor Ocvory chose that moment to chime in.
"We've tried to treat it, b-but… so far, we've only cured one person. T-That was thanks to Doctor Scrubs. S-She's a genius but… it took a lot of our resources."
"Yes," Doctor Rnd interrupted, "Detter was the one to discover the way to siphon the magic from inside and deposit it into the Fountain to be cleansed. It ruptured our one line to the facility, but we have made repairs to the system and are expecting to begin testing on the third iteration of the treatment very soon, if time allows us."
"The third?" Kris began to string them along.
"Do you recall that behemoth that attacked you? The Lobotomy? As the name suggests, Detter's first attempt at curing the disease was a surgical procedure to alter the frontal lobe of the patients to remove any sense of anger or rage. While it successfully removed their wanderlust for the Fountain, it did not solve the inherent problem of violence. If anything…"
The doctor trailed off as the door opened.
"Speak of the devil and she arrives."
"Greetings and salutations." A voice hummed with the magical, mystical reverberation of a dozen bees thrumming their wings.
Two hard white hands floated forward toward Kris before the rest of the doctor. Two ceramic molds with a hole cut in the very middle, and they could see through them, and the hands crawled forward, and they shrunk away.
The hands skittered and tapped in the air, as though conducting a symphony of instruments, or playing the piano, or typing at a computer.
'Detter Scrubs' was nothing like Kris imagined. They imagined a cross, a staff, wings even. They did not imagine a floating book tethered to an ephemeral, invisible body, nor would they have guessed the 'woman's expression.
She strode forward proudly, strutting as the pages of her… face flapped in the wind. Her head shut for a moment and Kris managed a proper look at her. She was a leather-bound book. A little red bookmark waved over the loose covering, slowly swishing in the wind of her motion, as did her long white coat. Oddly, despite being named 'scrubs', she wore a gray turtleneck sweater underneath.
The book rotated slowly, spinning silently as the doctor seemed to stare at them. The hands slowed their flurry of movement, dying down, hanging loosely in the air until the doctor produced an odd shiver.
The book cracked open again, pages flipping gradually until it found a picture. An exclamation mark.
"…Kris. You're finally awake. Good. I was beginning to worry." Kris blinked at the doctor. How did she know their…? "Your friend was adamant about your safety, though it felt fraudulent to me. We shall see. Come." She beckoned simply. The book closed. "I shall divide my attention between you both for today but please book an appointment for later visits."
She spun simply, marching forward. Her sleeves flapped as she crossed hands she didn't have behind her back. Kris glanced at the other doctors; Rnd waved them forward while Ocvory twisted their trunk in excitement.
"Kris, come. Tell me about yourself."
They had begun to follow her through the dirty brick tunnels. Iron-barred windows shone with the dim light of the Fountain in the distance. Her voice echoed around the halls like a chamber, bouncing around, calm, steady, short, clipped, affectatious.
It smelled faintly of dust, cobwebs, a heady, damp, fetid smell that spoke of many years. The bricks looked rough, sanded, chalky, as though battered by erosion or scratched at evenly with files. It made them uneasy, made them feel trapped and unnerved.
The doctor strode in long, tall strikes of her white, closed-toed sneakers. Bum, bum, bum, bum. The noise was muted on the mosaic floor.
"Kris? Do I detect hearing problems? Doctor Rnd could create a hearing aid for you, if you need it. Kris? I said-"
"-I heard-"
"-that DOCTOR RND CAN MAKE YOU A HEARING-"
"I CAN HEAR YOU!" Kris snapped in annoyance. Their heart pounded with strain and their mind flinched. Rage boiled in their veins and they were faintly reminded of how worthless, useless, and incredibly draining it was.
The doctor laughed, the book opening to a page they couldn't see. "Pfft, I know, I know. I'm merely joking with you, Kris. I'm afraid you don't trust us. As your doctor, that cannot stand; there must be a level of trust given and shared. I apologize for it, though. It was incredibly rude and wrong of me to incite you like that."
The other hummed in appreciation. Seemed like it liked the doctor's pleasing nature. Kris was disgusted by it, already calculating how to use her, already cataloging the information.
"Orientation begins soon." Detter casually mentioned. "You will be present. It's always nice to see a new face around here. I'm sure the patients would appreciate it."
"…is this a mental asylum?" They questioned tentatively. Lunatics, Lobotomies; it seemed to be closely related with the institution.
"Orientation will clear up your queries. We are almost there now. Your friend has been waiting for some time. After orientation we can give you two a check-up and… well, I suppose you'll be after the Viceroy then. You will need the access code to the Astrowall if you wish to purify the Fountain."
Purify? Why did the doctor believe they came to purify the Fountain? Was she so lost in desolation that she was deadset on them solving this world's problems?
Or was it a test? They recalled how the woman seemed to spin everything back to them; Kris, how are you, tell me about yourself, here's how I can help you, here's the plan for you to progress.
She was acting suspicious but it was hard to separate what was curiosity, what was the prophecy, madness, or her acting off. It may have been a little pretentious of them to assume that she was focusing on them for a specific reason. Maybe she was just being friendly and helpful.
The other stayed quiet as the two stopped in front of a normal wooden door. It had a slit for a window and Kris could see a regular tiled room just beyond, with chairs lined in rows and facing some sort of projector screen. Detter waved them onward enthusiastically.
"Orientation room! Please, take a seat next to your friend and we shall begin." They opened the door to the room and instantly recoiled at the soothing, deep, rich scent of chocolate. The ambrosial scent almost brought a tear to their eye before they spotted her.
Purple, spiky, sitting with one leg crossed and closed off from the world with a bitter scowl, she sat, strewn over her chair. Her axe rested next to her, covering the two nearest chairs as she seated herself in the front row, the furthest seat to the side.
Detter brushed past them and began clicking at the projector in the back of the room, sitting down behind a desk as they made their way forward, inching closer to Susie. As soon as she caught them in her sight, she huffed gruffly, spinning away indignantly. They put themself down next to her axe, rubbing their thighs through their armor in a soothing attempt.
The projector sputtered to life and then promptly died as Detter exhaled frustratedly.
Kris turned toward the bang, almost flinching as Detter slammed one floating hand onto the machine. They watched the hands swim through the air slowly, still seeing even as the doctor dug her book-face into her sleeves. The cover crumpled like a bird rustling on the ground for worms. Click, click, tap, the hands busied themselves with messing with the projector, a small, boxy square that looked more like their brother's first gaming console than a projector. Tap, tap-bang, they struck it again.
The scientific integrity of this Darkner is currently in question.
Detter hissed out a long sigh, "…oh, this equipment is older than I am."
The other collected that knowledge and cycled it deep into the depths, letting it flutter aimlessly like a butterfly bouncing from red-texted flower to red-texted flower.
Kris glanced back toward the screen with an internal sigh, eyes widening as they caught Susie staring. She yanked back the second after, clicking her tongue and looping her arms into a tight knot. Kris simmered with unspoken words and directed their attention back to the screen as the projector finally hummed to life, casting a translucent cone of dust and shaking images of a blank slide over the screen.
Detter slumped over on the desk, closing her book. It tumbled from her nonexistent neck and slapped against the metal.
The video began.
"Hello! Welcome to the-" the video hit a bit of static. "-mental institution! Here at - we value our rules and guidelines above all else! With that in mind, your warden has instructed you to watch this orientation video on what life is from now on. We will go over the rules you will be following after your rebirth."
The slideshow changed, showcasing a broad, emphasized number '1'.
"Rule Number One: Please follow all safety guidelines and regulations of the facility to the letter. We find them reasonable and just, and if you wish to converse over the specifics of them, please locate the nearest supervisor to give them your thoughts. They are posted for our safety. Thank you."
The slideshow changed again, flashing to a large '2'.
"Rule Number Two: Violence will not be tolerated. Our facility is the top-rated in doctor safety standards due to a rigorous and harsh treatment of violence amongst our patients and staff. Failure to maintain this status quo will result in prompt punishment and further treatment for mental issues and frustrations. Such treatments may include (but are not limited to); stress balls; scheduled exercise; mood-enhancing music; mood-enhancing medications; surgical cranial-pressure alleviation procedures; corrective procedures; fixing torture; blood-letting; ear swelling; teeth-filing; finger amputation; purposeful insertion of magic into- for all legal intents and purposes, the staff are not at fault for any accidents, incidents, or fatalities stemming from these corrective actions given to our property. Thank you."
A flash of text exploded at the bottom of the slideshow, wavering, flickering, disappearing too fast for Kris to even make out the first word. But the other scanned them much quicker, filtering Kris a translated memory of what it meant. It was a string of garbage noise and letters. It vaguely resembled 'in-chains.'
"Rule Number Three: Here at our facility, there is room enough for everybody. Every patient should be granted a spacious dwelling and every doctor should enjoy a well-lived room for them to rest and relax. Relaxation is not guaranteed for patients. Please understand that is for a good reason. Thank you."
"Rule Number Four: Space here at our facility is limited. Every patient is expected to share their living space with others and to be respectful of each other and their privacy. Patients should maintain a four-cubit distance from each other at all times except for when sleeping. When sleeping, an eight-foot or single-cubit distance should be kept. If you can feel your roommate's breathing, you are fine. If you can touch their arms fully stretched, you are in danger. Thank you."
"Rule Number Five," Kris took a moment to absorb the information. The presentation seemed… more than a little odd, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it. Detter's hands skittered along the desk as she sat, book closed, shoulders hunched, staring blankly at the wall as though asleep. "curfew begins at 3:17 A.M. following the incident during the first rounds of testing. No more, no less. Infractions shall be punished or forgiven at doctor's notice. Thank you."
"Rule Number Six: Do not forget. Every instance should be properly cataloged and reported to hospital staff. In the event of forgetting, please remember to file a report detailing - to the best of your ability - what has been forgotten. Thank you."
The slideshow changed once more to the final slide.
"Rule Number Seven: In the event that patients feel unwell or 'not themself', proper procedures should be taken. If the patient should give into their urges or to manipulate others' into doing their bidding, they should be put down like the dogs they are and suffer an agonizing death." Kris shook their head. Surely, they had just misheard the presentation, right? If they didn't… they felt strangely like it was talking to them.
They wondered what Noelle was doing right now. What Toriel was thinking, with her car gone and Kris and Susie with it. They wondered if Berdly would ever be found in the closet of the computer room, deceased, and if they would come home to the police questioning them. Toriel would be befuddled but defending them staunchly and Noelle… Noelle wouldn't be strong enough to keep it in. But that was all a backdrop to the real mysteries swimming in their mind. What was the Coalition and why was it seeking the Fountains? Who was this Cairo Aster character? Things were moving along at a steady pace but they still found more questions than answers. Was this Fountain connected to the Knight like the others? Most importantly, where exactly was Ralsei? They half-hoped that the Asylum Fountain was too far split from the Castle Town Fountain. Yet even if he - and the other Darkners, they supposed - remained in familiar territory, they weren't exactly 'safe.'
The probability of the Fountain and subsequent child Dark World becoming breached and invaded upon before the mission status updates favorably is surmounting. Every second wasted represents an inverse rise in potential for spatial breaching of the Fountain. With the current variables taken in account, the chance value extrapolated of the sanctity of the Castle Town Fountain maintained falters to procure a sizable portion of reasonable prevention. It is inevitable. Remove it from misplaced worry. The predicted situation resulting from the theft and repurposing of the motor vehicle is low and nearby negligible to override the maternal instincts of your surrogate mother. While it would likely be cataloged in the event of questioning, it is no outlier to typical teenage human behavior to cause trouble and seek extensive, unnecessary freedoms.
They forgot the other's stance on humanity and expression as a whole.
Woefully unnecessary. Expression is useful in gaining holistic accounts of character meaning but is not significant nor explicit to the mission.
The other always sees things as whether or not they are assets or not.
Precise calculation is proven to increase the efficacy and ensure the continued progress of the mission in a positive direction for the operators. Precision is based on the accuracy and breadth of information provided, however an overabundance of information or variables can lead to reproachful elaboration needed. A simple, unhindered method is to the fervent success of this course. Now, focus.
They glanced back up at the slideshow and the pit of their stomach dropped. It had gone through many slides when they were in their stupor, and now, just now when they refocused, the sight was ghastly and sent shivers through their body. Two eyes; one tinged light-purple, one yellow. For a second, they saw it, staring down at them with a shimmer of the lenses, flaying them with some sort of attempt at a smile with no mouth. It slid back to the crackling transition slide before they could blink, leaving them with a barbed, nasty feeling burgeoning in their chest and beating heart. It shimmied up along their spine until their head swam with intense, bursting pressure, a sharp pain that they rubbed their gauntleted palms against in a frustrated (scared) attempt to quell.
Susie laughed at their side, pointing and snerking mirthfully at the screen, slapping her knee as they turned, catching the sight of Detter's hands crawling along the floor like a spider toward the chairs before freezing and flopping over, dead. The monster continued to double over in laughter as the slideshow, blank as a white canvas, seemed to pause.
"Hahaha, damn! I remember that! So damn weird how that turned out, huh? Queen was just being stupid while Berdly was being annoying and, and Noelle! HA! Ah, good times."
Kris chuckled nervously in response, bringing an odd quirking frown to Susie's face as she turned and gave them a side-long glance.
They shut their eyes and hummed.
Odd. Sensors indicate a blank screen yet you both seemed to react to it; in much different ways.
That was strange. The other couldn't see what they saw? It must not have been real, then. It must not have.
The projector steepled quickly to a stop, curtly and derisively, the screen losing the artificial, faintly bespeckled glow. They turned and watched the doctor. Her hands dangled across the floor and desk, skittering, crawling, pottering up the side of the desk up to the seemingly sleeping doctor's form, roughly yanking at her bookmark and cracking open the cover. They jumped away in surprise as she jolted upright, her body somehow pulling her head back to its place. She rotated her book, scanning the room as pages flew like a machine gun, eventually opening to a page with a broad, bold question mark.
"Ah." She said.
She recovered, hissing with a disembodied voice for her hands to return to her arms and just below her sleeves. They floated toward her and attached roughly where her nonexistent wrist would be and Kris could swear they saw a wisp of flame lick from between the spine of her open pages and from underneath her sleeve, wrapping around and within the holes of her hands, filling them in and solidifying. And there they floated, as though they were never a separate part of her.
"…it seems I drifted off. Oh well." She shrugged nonchalantly. "I assume you all had a fun time with the presentation. Quite humorous, I would say. It informs of the rules while also actively synthesizing jokes aimed to tickle you pink. Quite a painstakingly made invention."
Kris jutted their lip and stared, eyelids droopy, at the doctor. They didn't trust her; something about how easily she brushed over everything seemed odd.
She is hiding something.
They agreed.
Figure it out. Be subtle.
They assented, silently reminding themself to be attentive to those around them.
Attention given gleans precious variables. Do not attempt to calculate mathematical equations.
They weren't planning to, thankfully.
"Now that orientation is finished, I believe it best to introduce you both to your temporary residences. While usually an examinar is required to determine which ward fits a patient best, seeing as you are both guests and not residents, you will be housed with the doctors and safe-designated patients."
"Cool." Susie commented. "Do we get soda?"
"Water is provided at all times for those who require liquids. Soda is granted to those prove themself-"
"So I just need to beat up the strongest sucker in here? Hehe, bet."
Kris figured it would be hard to glare at someone without eyes, or a face, or anything resembling skin, but Detter pulled it off by simply crinkling her cover and staying quiet for a few seconds.
"Perhaps I should put you in the unsafe-designated ward."
"Yeah, unsafe for them!" Susie chortled and threw her head back. Detter twisted her book back and forth, as though shaking her head. "…this is a lot less funny without Lancer."
0-0-0
The institution was massive.
Detter led them both through the halls, eventually up to the upper levels where everyone seemed to coagulate. Kris froze like a deer in headlights at the sight of a Lunatic, standing, warbling, but Detter simply waved as she strutted forward, long coat dragging in the air behind her as her hand split, giving a curt wave. The Lunatic was wearing a gown.
"D-D-Doctor!" It called. "N-N-Nice day out today!"
"That it is, Sixteen! That it is! Say 'hello' to Kris and Susie!" The Lunatic waved. Their hands weren't strung up in a straitjacket, oddly enough, and simply appeared like feathery wings at their side. It swung with the excitement of the movement.
"H-H-Hi, Kris and Susie!"
They saw quite a few more, each named a number. There were about twelve in the ward. Detter introduced them to a few Lunatics, and there were a few other Darkners; what looked like a statue made of manilla folders, some chalk-like textured lion doctor (apparently a roarthodonist), and a few reptile or snake Darkners arguing over a tree branch. They hadn't seen a single tree since entering the Dark World.
Past the rooms where people gathered, the doctor led them silently across a concrete threshold to where wood fell underneath their feet in clean, sparkling boards. The walls were pretty and plastered with photos of children's drawings and toys scattered distantly in corners and around little mats glowing with fresh washes, where little trinkets and tchotchkes hung from door knobs and dangled close to stepping stools. A faint giggling could be heard and that about summed up how they would describe the first Darkner they met there.
Another Lunatic, albeit much smaller, and - to Detter's grand pleasure - called a Lunatyke. The Darkner was sitting quietly in a corner, inspecting what appeared to be a rock picked up from somewhere outside - a lustrous and blue pebble - with strikes of it against the metal leg of a chair. The doctor cleared a throat she didn't have and the Lunatyke held up one small, inexpressible wing, as though silencing her. The doctor huffed, aggravated.
"Zero, come now."
"Do you hear that, doctor?" 'Zero' tinked the rock against the chair again. "Click. Click. Click. Just like you. Clicking. Searching. Seeking. It strikes home and makes waves-"
"Zero, we haven't the time for this nonsense. Get up and introduce yourself to the Lightners."
Zero craned their head up to stare at Detter, cocking it innocently, gazing up at her with a philosophical calmness and a solemn, resigned apprehension that only a child addressing an elder could have.
"…do I have to?"
"Yes, now," Detter reached down, leaning, gently cupping Zero's shoulder. "Please greet them. I'll count it as your quota for today, okay? Does that sound good?"
The Darkner sighed but nodded their bulbous head, slowly swinging their limbs about until they could push off from the floor. They were about Kris's height.
They stretched, fabric tightening and clenching with a sanguine yawn as they extended their arms out. Two little protrusions jutted out around their waist and they vaguely resembled something familiar to Kris.
"…that looks like the Delta Rune." Susie remarked oddly, as though she was simply attributing it to a simple coincidence or stupid thought. Kris thought much the same.
Zero twisted and stared at them, fiddling with the rock in their wing.
"Say 'hello', Zero. It's rude to stare."
Zero merely glanced at her before returning to staring. "Lightners. Hi. Welcome to…" Zero flinched, as though being analyzed. Detter glared at them from out of sight. "…welcome to our home… don't die."
"…sufficient, I suppose." Detter assented. The doctor stared down at Kris next, beckoning them, idly ignoring the piercing look Zero gave her. "You next."
Kris met gazes with Zero. The Darkner barely reacted.
"…I'm Kris."
"Can you be any quieter, freak? God. Fine, I'll do it." Susie shoved them moderately hard, stomping in front of them and leaning back with her hands behind her head. "'Sup. I'm Susie and this is Kris. They're a bit of a weirdo, so don't mind them."
Zero whirred and returned silently to banging their rock against the chair leg. Detter drew a hand along her covering as though face-palming.
"Your rooms are over there," she pointed to the far wall, where there were four rooms evenly spaced. Small but big enough for whatever use they would have of them. "feel free to acquaint yourself with this space."
Kris was released. Susie instantly went for the bedroom doors, leaning against the wall and waiting with her arms crossed. As far away as she could get from Kris.
You are being allowed to explore your new home. This world is off-putting and dangerous but there is a place for you. The power of hospitality shines through you.
Was that a pun?
No.
They decided to begin making merry with their new acquaintances. And while the doctor was the clear choice for figuring out information and gaining some precious knowledge on the Dark World, something told them to seek out Zero first, some in-born intuition or maybe a kinship with the seemingly disinterested Darkner. Maybe they both were freaks, after all. Maybe that's why they broke away from the doctor, sending her a deliberating glance - to which, her book appeared to nod at - and they approached the Darkner in the corner.
Zero paid them little mind, halting the banging of the rock for a moment to take Kris in. They kneeled next to Zero and watched the Darkner's odd activity.
"…why'd you come here, Lightners? Don't you know there's nothing here worthwhile anymore? It's all just… just dust and bones left here. No voices to cry suffering. No mind to think."
"Everyone here is lost, alone, afraid. Those outside the gates are the ones freed from worry. They are happy, you know? Detter says I was happy when she cured me but… I didn't really feel anything at all."
"Are you planning to seal the Fountain or purify it? I don't think it's different but I wish you would seal us again. We were sealed for a few minutes, I remember, recently. Then, the Fountain cracked the earth and lit up the core complex. I was so happy to not exist."
This Darkner appears to be the one referenced by Doctor Rnd. Doctor Scrubs cured a Lunatic. This must be her one successful subject. It explains her affectionate interactions.
Like her child. They could see that, they supposed.
The child's wording is unclear. Question them on what they meant while describing nonexistence. Focus on the Fountain's creation.
"…did the Knight create this Fountain?" They started. Zero uttered a barking laugh.
"No. No Knight. The dark whispers the name of the Knight but no Knight here. Our Fountain was made accidentally. Some Lightner in anguish or something. It doesn't really matter."
Have them elaborate on the time before the Fountain was created. An interesting hypothesis fabricated from the supplied material may be vital to the acumen of the situation and may grant perspicacity. Careful percipience may shine truth through the confuddlement present in your mind.
As much as they would like to take that as an insult, it was neither wrong nor something they could rally against.
"…were you alive before the Fountain was created?" They started lowly, carefully, probing as innocently - or as boredly - as they could muster. The Darkner paused for a moment and they could see gears turning to understand the motive of their questioning.
"Before the Fountain, nothing was alive. Not me, not Detter, not the siblings beyond the gate or the fancy ones. I meant when the Fountain was sealed for the first time."
Kris blinked.
The first time? The Fountain had been sealed before? It certainly was possible, considering how quickly everything seemed to be assembled, but they remembered that the Cyber World had been opened that day - still technically today - and the city had already gone through the paces of history. If this Fountain wasn't new, then… were the others new, or were they the same as this one? Were they chasing something that happened in the past? No, the Roaring still hadn't happened yet. The prophecy made it clear what would happen with too many Fountains active. It certainly complicated matters if older Fountains could be reopened.
"Who sealed the Fountain?"
"The creator did." Zero responded simply, as though it weren't something incredibly odd. Clearly, everything was pointing away from the Knight. "After we were made, the creator came back and decided that we didn't deserve life. The plague was everywhere and sealing the Fountain saved us all some trouble but… here we are, again, and it's still so scary outside. Is it this scary in the Light World?"
Not too far off, with much less hurtling, animalistic Darkners. But there were still some animals out there.
This information is sufficient for revisions to the equations. Testing alternative actions is planned. Decrease the gravity of the questions and seek to placate and insert a friendship.
"What are you doing, there? That's a cool rock."
"'s my rock. Had it since Detter did the procedure. Makes the same noises she does when her hands clap together."
Kris leaned closer, whispering their next question so as Detter could not hear it clearly. Zero whipped their head up at them.
"I know, right? It's a book! Detter's a book! How is 'she' a female? She's a book !" No tact, no muted voice, just high-pitch and fawning.
Detter sighed. "I was penned by a female and I once took her name before making my own. My creator, my author, a wizened woman of prestige. But I am now my own person and my own self. I am what I want to be."
"You're a book, Angel-dammit!"
That led to another question they had burning on their mind since they woke up in the chair. And for this one, these ones, they instead approached Detter Scrubs to converse.
"Thank you, Kris, for entertaining Zero. I'm glad you two can be friends. It warms my heart to see it." Detter flipped to a page with the image of a heart with sparkles. "Now, enough of that. You have questions?"
"Why do you…" they rephrased, "how do you all know of the Angel?"
"There is a prophecy spoken within this world, Kris. A prophecy that, one day a winged-creature would come falling from the heavens and into our world. With a heart brimming with the magic encapsulated within the Fountain, they would draw their open hand forth and carry us to a new land, free from our troubles now and reunited with kin."
"I have forgotten the precise wording after the long sleep but I recall the specific wording used for the so-thought paradise following the Angel's appearance: Peaceful, sprawling, a metropolis of all dark, a bastion - a safe-place against the dangerous light where we could find our purpose serving a Lord."
"A myth, I believe, but one that found roots in our despair and anguish. The Angel represents our hopes, our tears. The prophecy says that they will eventually find purpose, that eventually, our efforts will help the world for the better. And as a doctor, I wish for nothing else, so while it is a dream, it certainly is a pleasant one."
Interesting. There appears to be a parallel between Constellationism and this world's prophecy being drawn. Despite the univocal conjunction of the Angel at the root of both prophecies, no clear deposition is given to suggest these two figures are the same. Further variables required. Question the origin of this-
"You worship an Angel?" Detter replied smoothly with a question of her own, voice warbling in the air of the room. "Interesting. Very interesting."
Prepare for interrogation. Reveal that which she asks without unveiling all.
Yet, Detter did not continue, and Kris was left with the other, waiting, watching, bubbling with a congestion of anxiety and irreverent annoyance aimed at her - the book - and sweetly divided between her head and clothes.
Kris blinked at her, waiting, clenching their armored hands at their sides vindictively. They glanced away from her shyly, raking their eyes over Zero before turning to proceed to Susie.
She scoffed at them.
"Done?" She pushed off the wall and scowled over them, bearing down with a weighty, discontent gleam, shooting them an almost disgusted glare as she pressed her lips together, pursing them with a little growl. "Stop staring, weirdo. Let's check out the rooms. 'Bout time we get to sort our shit out, huh?"
Susie reached for one of the doorknobs.
Click, click, "That's mine."
"My bad."
She went for the other one, kicking the door open with a passive-aggressive flourish, pushing right past them into the yellow-walled room and finding the bed. Kris waddled behind her, antsy about her, a little uncertain of her mood.
You leave a foul taste in her mouth, as the idiom goes.
They knew. They didn't care.
Cease worrying if you are certain of your apathy. It serves no purpose. It undermines your position of leadership in the group.
Not like she could disobey them if it really came to it. There were always magic bindings.
Do not mistake control over Noelle as control over Susie. Your childhood friend is easier to manipulate than your childhood bully.
That made sense but they didn't realize there had to be an emotional connection for the magic.
To insert control and sovereignty over an independent entity is no small task. The wasted energy could be subverted by simple assumption of social dominance and echelon of power. Hierarchy dictates the relationship between two, making it much more efficient to become the mediator between controlling and manipulating her. Example. Noelle defers to you without the strings. Ralsei may exhibit more freedom but still refers to you for decisions. Susie begrudgingly follows you. Maintaining that is an important sub-objective to the mission. Your survival relies on those affectatious relationships.
And if they were to sever those relationships, to go alone, like they do to confront Spamton?
Your chance to be vanquished increases exponentially. Ralsei proliferates the evincements of such variables. His healing magic and sedation methods prove valuable for showcasing an effective method of survival without the need for violence. Susie's constitution is formidable and puissant. Her physicality and efficacious strength make those scenarios where magic fails pithy and simplistic. That which cannot be crossed must be broken down. Noelle's combined magic output far outweighs the importance of either, especially Ralsei. She is capable. She is malleable. Melding her into a subordinate is proving easy. Her spells avouch possible polarity for pacifism and assorted violence, depending on the situation, to be proxiest to the other. Substitution of her with the other two is frowned upon but ultimately a solution should she be disposed of.
Disposed of?
Not all experimental periods will be successful. Eventually, the chance of betrayal is evident and unavoidable. Said scenarios are interesting but void to the significance of the mission. Avoid these scenarios or allow them to be cataloged for further evasion.
Are there plans to kill every group member?
Before they could even face the other , Susie shook them out of their stupor, tossing them onto the bed. They sunk deep into the mattress.
"Feel that? I fucking love these beds. Not enough spikes to stab myself on, though."
Rest is advised. The world outside requires the full amount of attention capable of application.
Wouldn't they be in danger if they both slept in an unknown place?
You have already been at the mercy of the Darkner residents. Any further show of vulnerability is unwarranted for exploitation. Yet careful consideration of this is justified. Choose.
They could choose?
It does not matter in the procedure. Death means little. The universe will be corrected in the event. Choose. Data must be cataloged.
They were a bit tired despite the sleep they had only an hour before. The gas - they assumed it was gas - still clung to their eyes and their limbs felt sloggish and slow as they splayed out onto the soft, inviting covers, feeling the lilt of drowsy darkness tug warmly at them, and they almost fell to it without so much as a stray breath, but fate had other plans.
"The hell you doing? This is my room. Don't tell me you can't sleep by yourself. What are you, a fucking toddler? Get your own room."
Kris groaned tiredly and rose to their feet. Perhaps it was the explicit absence of the other or perhaps it was the comfortable air in the room but they were hesitant to leave so soon, yet they did and they found their own room.
Susie watched them go with conflict in her eyes, still awkward and unsure of their friendship.
There was obviously something wrong with Kris. The entire day they had seemed distracted. The entire day they had stumbled through the vast new world. The entire day… they seemed to be vulnerable, to be fallible, and Susie wasn't sure how to handle that change of pace. Even when they seemed sad, even when they let the attacks of enemies swerve close enough to whip at their clothes, they never faltered. And yet… the Lobotomy made her question them. The presentation - where she laughed and they looked horrified, or even before when they seemed almost startled by her purposeful blocking of the seat next to her - they looked lost. And just now as they left the room…
She saw nothing but a dam of words blocked behind their usual blank face.
She wasn't even sure if she should worry about them anymore.
But something still stayed alight in her chest.
Maybe they just needed a friend. Maybe their stupid, idiotic exterior of… unfeeling confidence was just their excuse for pain or something. Maybe their rudeness was… a front.
They reminded Susie of herself.
