Scene 2
[Neil and Eva looks around. It seems that they are still in Ib's room, but the watch dictates that they are currently eight days in the past; the day the two of them visited the house for the very first time. Ib and Mary on the floor, playing with plush toys. It seems like there is something wrong, but they continued to play with each other in deafening silence.]
Neil: So, they're just playing with bunch of rabbits, right?
[Ib stares at Neil and Eva in surprise. Eva nearly jumps back from Ib's stare.]
Eva: Oh! [exhales] Sorry Neil. Gimme a sec, I forgot to turn the cloaking device back on.
Neil: Okay. Turn it on, and I'll reset the memory.
[Eva whispers under her breath, and a floating screen appears in front of Neil. He taps the screen in an almost rhythmic pattern. The room quickly flashes a brilliant white light, and the scene is replayed, with Neil and Eva being partially transparent.]
Eva: [sheepishly] Sorry about that.
Neil: [chortles triumphantly] So it's true! You're the bumbling one! Good to know.
[Eva glared at Neil. Neil ignored her.]
Eva: Wait, only Ib looked at us. Wasn't Mary supposed to look at us as well?
Neil: [flicks his wrist] Nah, I didn't touch the MIPS yet. Calm your Pegasi!
Eva: Pegasi?
Neil: Multiple of Pegasus.
Eva: Is that the pluralized form? I always thought it was "Pegasuses."
Neil: [shrugs] Pegasuses, Pegasi, Pegasissies, Pegs. It's all the same to me! Anyways, we'll use MIPS when we need to, at a different time. For example, if Alaric gets here.
Eva: I- [pauses] Oh, forget it.
[Neil leans in to Ib and Mary, who are still quiet.]
Neil: [clicks his tongue] I can't hear a thing- Volume raise by fifty percent.
[The dead air in the room remains as dead air, though the reverb amplifies the undisturbed air. Ib's and Mary's breaths are barely noticeable, and even the soft impacts of cotton toys hitting the wooden floors are just audible. Eva walks around the room, examining the plush toys on Ib's desk closely, while Neil leans in closer to the two kids, trying to discern any words coming out of their mouths.]
[All of a sudden, an excessively loud knocking is heard on the door. Neil cups his hands over his ears in pain.]
Eva: [shouting] Gah- Volume lower by fifty percent!
[The volume in the room normalizes. Ib gets up, taking the white rabbit plush with her, and pulls the door open. Alaric stands on the opposite side.]
Alaric: Hey Ib. Is Mary in your room?
Ib: Yes, dad.
[Ib motions her father to walk in.]
Neil: Ow... my rings are earring.
Eva: Your rings are earring?
Neil: [looks away] Whatever!
[Alaric steps in, and tenderly smiles and waves at Mary.]
Alaric: Hey Mary. You two are playing with those stuffed rabbits I got you?
Mary: Yeah, but I don't think that Ib wants to play.
Ib: [softly] Yes... But playing does take my mind off of things.
[She places down the white rabbit upright on her bed.]
Alaric: Well, I heard from your mother that the doctors came. They'll help you remember.
Neil: Hey, that's us! Sweet! Now's the perfect time to-
Eva: [interrupting] Don't you dare activate MIPS, or I'll hit you. [sighs] Let the memory play out first, at least.
[Neil deflates, nearly falling on the floor dramatically. Ib moves closer to Alaric.]
Ib: [lights up] They can? Really?
[Mary drops the mint green bunny in her hands and runs to Alaric, clutching the base of his suit jacket. The bunny rolls onto its side.]
Mary: But Daddy, they can't help! They're going to hurt Ib!
Alaric: They won't hurt her! I promise you that, Mary.
[Mary loosens her grip on him. He lifts up her face for her to meet his gaze.]
Alaric: I wouldn't hire them if they'd hurt Ib. [frowning] But, I have to have a meeting with them. [looks at Ib] And I need to take you with me while your mother and sister prepares the house for a couple of house guests.
Ib: Okay. If they can help me out, then I trust them.
[Eva smiles to herself.]
Neil: [scoffs] Leave it to a little girl to grow insanely attached to us.
[Neil sighs, looking at Eva expectantly. She remains silent, but she stops smiling as she holds up a finger to her mouth.]
Mary: You mean I can't go?
[Tears begin welling in her eyes. Mary completely lets go of Alaric and takes a step backwards.]
Alaric: Mary...
[Their father begins to flip his hands back and forth, trying to grasp at the words to defuse the situation.]
Alaric: You need to keep your mother company. It'd be good for her to get some help with tidying up. She'll... like having you to be here, with her.
Mary: [shaky] But there was a time before me and Ib! Was Mommy lonely then too?
[Ib walks towards her, and gently holds her wrist. Mary glances at her.]
Ib: [softly] Everything will be alright, sis.
[Mary looks back to her father, who leans down to talk to her face to face.]
Alaric: Mary. [sighs] Before, I could stay at home with her all day long. But now, things aren't the same anymore. There's a lot of responsibilities that the grown-ups have to take care of, and one of those responsibilities I have is to make sure Ib is well taken care of, and that means going to this meeting with her. So, the least you can do for me, your mother, and especially Ib is to stay at home, stay with your mother. Understand now?
Mary: [defeated] Okay...
[Alaric claps his hands together.]
Alaric: Good. Now then, we'll be having dinner. I brought home some sandwiches, and your mother has made some soup. It's the type of stuff you could find in a café, and I know how much you two like cafés, right?
Ib: [smiling] Yes!
[Mary does not answer him. Regardless, he turns around.]
Alaric: Come on, you two. Let's go eat!
[Ib and her father walks out of the room, but Mary stays inside the room, her body drooping towards the floor. A tear manages to escape, slowly rolling down her face. Mary lazily closes the door. As Mary begins to speak, her voice becomes increasingly muffled and soft.]
Mary: No... Then it's only a matter...
[Mary's voice becomes inaudible, and she begins to fades out, turning transparent.]
Neil: That looks like it's the end of the memory. And this all happened on the day that we met them? Man, this sucks...
[He sits down on Ib's bed.]
Eva: It seems that Ib wasn't able to hear the rest of what Mary was saying. I think Mary might know where she comes from, and she's keeping it a secret from everyone. If only Ib decided to stay near the room, we wouldn't need to be here... [sighs]
Neil: I don't know about you, but I'm still thinking about why Alaric and Sherry were so defensive about how Mary entered their family. They better really not know. I don't want to do this case knowing that I wasted my time here.
Eva: My thoughts exactly. We'll tell them what we know as soon as we find out. For right now, let's look for memory links.
[Eva and Neil sifts around the entire room, looking for something that would be of value to Ib. Neil picks up the lime green rabbit. Upon his touch, a blue ball forms around it and enters Neil's body. Similarly, Eva picks up the white rabbit, and a green sphere enters her body.]
Neil: Huh. This is a memento. Must be a gift from Ib to Mary, or something. Why would Ib also have fond memories of this green rabbit as well as the white one?
Eva: [putting down the white rabbit] I don't know. We'll figure it out soon enough. The white rabbit already gave us a memory link. With that green rabbit, we got two. What else is there?
Neil: You know, there's a lot of rabbits in our cases lately.
Eva: Really?
Neil: Yeah. I mean, disregarding this case and Johnny's case, there were also that Drevis woman and her lost bunny, Snowball. And how about Tamashii, that gamer chick that wanted to change a game character's design, from a womanly bunny, to a... regular bunny? That was a silly case too! [laughs]
Eva: Ugh... You're right, wow. I never realized exactly how many bunnies there are.
[She glances towards Ib's bed.]
Eva: Anyway, I think the pillow's a memento.
Neil: Really?
[Aside from the rose-patterned design, the pillow is just that: a pillow. But, when Neil tries to pick up the pillow, a red aura surrounds it.]
Neil: Yup. That's the link.
[Ib walks in. Mary reappears, jumping up and off of the floor. Neil lets out a small, high-pitched squeak. Mary does the same.]
Ib: ... Are you okay, Mary? I just wanted to check on you.
Mary: Oh... Yeah!
[She forces out a smile. Eva is trying to stifle her laughter.]
Eva: Neil... Are you okay?
[She giggles intermittently. Neil's face begins to redden.]
Neil: [waving his hands around] Never mind that!
[Ib nods and turns around to the exit. Mary reaches out her hand towards Ib.]
Mary: Wait! Ib...
[Ib pauses, and looks at Mary dead on.]
Mary: I...
Ib and Mary: I want to stay with you, sis. I want us to stick together.
[A loud gong sounds in the distance.]
[Ib walks closer toward Mary, heavily examining her eyes. Mary looks away, but Ib holds Mary's hand with her fingers, timidly smiling.]
Ib: Together forever.
Mary: [giggle] Right. Together forever.
[She gives Ib a quick hug.]
Mary: I won't lose you.
[Ib returns the hug, and the two let go of each other.]
Mary: Let's not keep Mommy and Daddy waiting!
[Mary darts out of the room beaming with happiness, Ib following. A yellow orb enters Neil's body.]
Neil: Another gong, huh?
Eva: I'm not sure what's up with that. [clearing her throat] Back on topic, Mary seems so insecure about her and Ib.
Neil: [sighs] And this moment meant enough to be another memory link. Figures, we're back to the cheese fest again...
Eva: Yeah. Let's continue to look for these memory links, so we can figure out what happens before this. And hopefully, another thing can scare you. It's karma, you know?
Neil: Shush. I don't need to hear any more of this.
[After Eva laughs a bit more openly, the two doctors begin the search. After some searching in Ib's room, Neil looks underneath Ib's bed. There is a jar underneath. He reaches for it, and takes it. Upon opening it, he sees that there are lemon-flavored candies inside. An orange and purple ball comes from opening the jar, and enters Eva's body.]
Neil: [pulling one out] Ooh. I love these candies!
Eva: If it's unhealthy, you gravitate towards it, no matter what. Is that right?
Neil: No! More like...
[While Neil was wondering what to say in response, Eva throws the orbs into the pillow, shatters the aura surrounding it. The pillow begins to glow underneath her hand.]
Neil: Hey, wait!
[Neil extends his hand to Eva. The two of them disappear, and the room fades to white.]