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Marino launched herself across the table to strangle Dynamo. His eyes widened in surprise before his body was finally able to react. He made it away from the table with only a single scratch. Everyone else immediately went on the defense as well. Alia and Zero went to hold back Marino, while Axl and X used themselves as shields to protect Dynamo.

"Let me at him!" Marino screamed. "Let me kick that bastard's nuts so hard that he'll be crying into next week!"

Absolutely no one let her do it.

(even though quite a few wanted her to)

"Maybe I'll go explore the new floor too." Dynamo decided. "Just to get out of everyone's way."

"That would be the nicest thing you've done all morning." Zero sneered.

Nodding, and slinking away from X and Axl quite a bit, Dynamo gave them a two-finger salute before leaving. His gait was more than a bit hurried- as if he knew Marino was still wishing for his guts to be spilled on the floor, and had no doubt she'd follow through.

Alia and Zero let Marino go once they were sure that Dynamo was far enough in the clear. Marino's body immediately sagged. All the fury that once crossed her face not moments before was replaced with emptiness.

"I'll be in my room," she mumbled to the others- her voice cracking slightly. Her walk out was slow and sluggish- more zombie than living person.

"I'm just… gonna go back to sleep." Axl also said. "Stress is hella tiring, apparently. Good night."

With that, Axl got up to leave as well. Alia and Layer took it as their cue to start exploring, and so they left the cafeteria with a wave to the remaining four.

"What are you going to do today, Aero?" Iris then asked. She wanted to be polite, but Marino's threats were clearly rattling her. "Are you going to explore the third floor too."

Aero shook her head.

"I wanted to spend time in the science lab," she admitted. "It's been so long since I've done a good string of code. I like the challenge. Besides, I think there's something in there I need to check. You're free to join me if you want. The more the merrier."

She gave them a thin smile before leaving.

X, Iris, and Zero looked at each other. The air around them starting to charge with the same question.

"Let's just head to the third floor," Zero said first. "Get it done and over with.

X and Iris gave him equal nods, and away the trio went.

. . .

The three passed by Alia and Layer on the staircase.

"Did you find anything interesting?" X asked.

Alia and Layer looked to each other, then gave a shake of their heads.

"Not really."

Zero, Iris, and X soon understood why.

The first room they found and explored was the library. Tall oak shelves reached to the ceiling, completely filled with tomes and novels of knowledge and fantasy. There were a few desks for private studying as well. It really didn't look too out of place or held anything notable.

Across the hallway was a nurse's office. There wasn't much that felt out of place there either. Blank nurse charts and simple bandages were kept in a drawer. A fridge containing blood for transfusion was nestled in its own little corner. There were even scales and various medical check-up equipment placed around that none of the three wanted to mess around with.

Next to the nurse's office was a door that certainly did stand out from what they had seen so far. It was a double door, constructed of solid steel. Its polish was so clean that the trio could see faint, distorted versions of themselves reflecting back. Beside the door was a black placard with golden text indicating what the room was. Or, perhaps, who it belonged to.

"The Professor." X read. His face scrunched a bit before repeating, "Professor? Who's that?"

Zero came over and also inspected the placard.

"Could be whoever Lumine is working for." he offered. "We're in an experiment, after all. This professor must be conducting it."

"Let's… not go in." Iris nervously said, putting a hand on Zero's elbow. "The door is probably locked anyway."

Zero stepped forward, gently shaking her off in the process, and gave the knob a hard shove.

"Yep. It's locked." he declared in monotone.

Iris looked horrified.

"Why would you do that?" she questioned. "If the Professor is in there, and we're not supposed to…"

"Then Lumine will come for us?" Zero finished for her. "I doubt that. He only appears when it's time for our debates, and even then , he doesn't do a lot of moving. Have you ever seen him outside the auditorium?"

"Well… no…"

"We still shouldn't brush them off easily." X said, trying to defend Iris. "They're capable of dangerous things, even if they never move. I think that's even more terrifying."

"You're right." Zero sighed. "You both are, I guess."

"Let's go see what else is on this floor." X offered. His suggestion was agreed on unanimously.

However, the last door they got to was just as mysterious. The placard beside it gave the room a single designation.

"Surveillance." Zero read. "Not surprised, but still unnerving how accessible it is."

Iris nervously wrung her fingers together. "How often do you think they're watching?"

"It's best not to think about that."

After saying this, Zero still gave the door a hard look.

"Zero." X said, more as a warning.

He didn't get an answer as his peer went to the door and tried to open it anyway.

"No dice. This one is locked too." Zero informed.

"You expected it not to be?" X questioned in disbelief.

Zero simply shrugged.

The three walked around the floor some more before coming back to where they started.

"Looks like that's everything." Zero decided, folding his arms in thought. He let out a rather bored sigh before asking, "It's not even noon yet, is it? Now what crumbs are we going to scrape at in this hellhole?"

There was a small silence before Iris softly offered, "Can we explore the library more?"

The boys looked to each other, shrugged, then said to her, "Sure."

Iris gave them both a grateful smile and led them back to the library.

They started to explore the rows of books a bit closer than they had on their first visit. Every so often one would pull out a book and show it to the others. Otherwise they didn't say much. It was a quiet bonding experience, but still a fairly intimate one.

Iris had drifted over to the botany books, with the boys not far behind. Her thumb gently brushed against the spines before one finally caught her eye.

"The Language of Flowers." she read outloud.

"I bet your name is in there." Zero gently teased, giving Iris a little elbow nudge.

Iris laughed. "I would hope so!" she remarked. "Let's check."

Gently, Iris pulled out the book and started to go through its pages. She stopped when she found the right one.

"Iris- message." Iris. She hummed in thought for a moment before entertaining, "I wonder what kind of message."

"Kindness," X replied at the same time as Zero's, "Beauty."

The young woman immediately flushed a bright red. The boys each gave their own small blush, a reflection of their pure honesty toward her.

The trio remained near the flower focused books for awhile. X pulled out another book that claimed to have the definition of flowers, but this one was a bit more clinical than the other. It even brought up the etymology and history of the flower itself.

"The Persian iris, Iris persica ." X found himself reading. "It's the flower to a patroness of Paris, who is celebrated around January third."

"Oh!" Iris jumped. "My cousin's last name is Persica. I wonder if there's a connection."

"What's your cousin's first name?" asked X.

"Juno."

"Then I doubt it." Zero disapproved.

X tapped his finger against the book in thought.

"Juno is the name of a Roman goddess, right?" he mused. "Maybe we could find a book on them next."

"Oh! I like that idea!" Iris agreed with a clap of her hands.

And off they went. From the Roman gods to building techniques both new and old- X, Iris, and Zero had a rather relaxed afternoon. Zero and X ended up having a serious debate over the adventures of Reynard the Fox. Was he a villain, or a hero that only gave others their just due? Iris kept watch. There wasn't even a thought in her mind to stop them. This wasn't a fight, this was two folks who could see and appreciate the differences in each other. They were friends.

It did get a bit boring after they managed to drag it out to 30 minutes. She drifted back to the shelves and carefully looked over the cooking manuals. None of the actual cookbooks interested her. The titles for some of the tea making books did cause some curiosity.

The books on how to brew tea led way to the history of individual teas themself. It was a smaller volume that she ended up pulling out.

"Teas to Know: Millennium Edition." Iris read out loud.

"Which millennium?" X asked without skipping a beat- stopping the Reynard debate in its tracks.

Iris giggled a bit as she opened the book up.

"Which tea is it that Aero likes?" Iris then asked.

X immediately went over to Iris. Zero rolled his eyes.

"Rooibos." X answered, once more without conscious thought. "Sometimes she calls it red tea."

Iris nodded, skimming through the book.

"Aha!" she declared once she found the right page. She moved over a bit to X so he could see the page as she said it out loud. "The leaves of the Aspalathus linearis are used to make a red tea called rooibos. It does not contain caffeine when brewed, but has a high amount of polyphenols."

"What does that mean?" X wondered, looking to Iris. She gave him a shrug back.

"It means that shade of red Aero has isn't natural." Zero smirked.

"I don't think Aero is a flamingo, Zero- her diet isn't going to change the color of her hair." Iris pointed out. "Besides, she's human. That's not how that works."

X let out a short chuckle. The idea was so absurd, yet he could see it so perfectly. Aero, looking into the mirror, tilting her head side to side while deciding on what color she'd make her hair that day. A bright pink? Nope. A deep red that brought out the green in her eyes? Nah, too much. Then she'd scale it back, to the same shade it always was, before smiling at herself and going on with the rest of her morning. The ability would have come in handy if any of them could do it. X personally like the way his hair was now. He was almost afraid to say that it wouldn't grow back if he did cut it any shorter.

But that was silly. He was human just like everyone else, which meant it would- eventually.

Right?

Zero's hand on his shoulder made X jump in surprise.

"We were thinking about getting lunch." the man dressed in red said. "You wanna join us?"

"U-uh? Yeah. Yeah. I'll join you guys." X stammered, his mind slightly confused now. Zero must have seen this as his eyebrow raised slightly. If he had any thoughts, he kept them to himself.

Walking back to the cafeteria helped bring X back to reality- absent hair-touching aside. Iris decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches for the three of them. Zero decided they couldn't just have a sandwich as an only course, so he found a can of tomato soup for them to warm up. With everyone else making something, X felt like he had to pull in his share too. After some thinking, he put together a caprese salad that all three ended up using to flavor the soup some more. It was one of the best lunches X had enjoyed yet.

The trio went their separate ways after lunch. Zero had wanted to dig through the library some more, while Iris was thinking about doing some free drawing in the art room. X decided he needed a nap. The morning in the library had been fun, and lunch had made him happily full. It was the perfect combination for anyone's brain to say 'okay, we deserve a break'.

No one else seemed to have planned an early afternoon nap too. The dormroom hallway was clear and silent. That is, until an odd sound caught X's attention.

At first he came to recognize the sounds of a female weeping, then he heard Aero's voice.

"What happened wasn't your fault, or hers. You know this, no matter how painful it is. And that's okay. None of this should have happened, and you should grieve. It's healthy to miss her. Honest."

X found himself drawing close to where Aero's voice was coming from. It was Marino's room. Now that he was closer, X also realized that it was Marino crying. X tried to stay out of sight as he peeked around the slightly cracked door and into the room. Both Aero and Marino were sitting on the latter's bed. Marino was scrunched so tight that it was hard to imagine that it was the same collected woman he had met at the start of all this. Aero sat close, but was not touching Marino- not even for an assuring rub on the back.

"I miss her." Marino wept. "I just… I didn't get to tell her…"

"I know," Aero softly said. "I know. Just let it out. It will get better eventually, but for now you're allowed to mourn. Take all the time you need."

Marino continued to cry. X could feel that pain as if it were his own as he moved away from the door. He could still hear Marino's despair as he entered his room, and firmly shut the door behind him.