[And there's no point giving way to panic, just because anyone could be walking around the mansion, bitten. Light takes a deep breath, and drops back against the wall, crushing the backpack against it. He doesn't notice how uncomfortable it is.
The tea sloshes. Why did he run off? Because he wasn't thinking? Because he was scared?]
[And here's one of them right now. Teru appears from round the corner, holding a black marker pen and looking far more composed than when he left the room. He pauses before reaching the door.]
[Light puts the little cup down on the floor in what, for him, is a tearing hurry. His attention shifts to the black cross on the door, and then redoubles as he looks back to—]
[The way Matt trivialises the situation doesn't sting; the way they don't get it isn't worth noticing.]
That's what we're here to find out.
[Not quite as calm and certain as he'd usually be, Light's watching Mikami unblinking, taking in his appearance, looking for any sign of attack or trace of a lie. He knows that this is pointless, pointless, and yet it isn't his job to worry about whether or not things make sense—]
Ghosts. They were invisible, but I could hear them, and - and feel their hands.
[He takes the seat Matt offered, covering a shiver.]
There were bodies, hanging in the trees. I didn't recognise any of them, except - my own, and Matt's, here. She was on the floor though. Shot, not hanged.
[It's all said in a flat tone, presenting evidence, and he doesn't quite look at Matt when he mentions her corpse.]
[Light would as soon sit if someone was pointing a gun at him. His eyes trail Mikami as he sits; he seems to be telling the truth, and there's no sign of more than stress, but—
His own ghosts didn't touch him. It's for the best; he might not have made it out of the room at all.]
It didn't move? You didn't see anything like that? Nothing physical touched you?
[He nods.] Nothing physical touched me. I didn't see any bodies that moved of their own accord, but - the one that was me fell out of the tree in front of me, and - and I ran. I wouldn't have noticed if it had been moving.
[There's no logical reason to feel ashamed of this. But still.]
[A little crease appears between his eyebrows, and his voice chills as he looks down at Matt.]
It's real. You have no idea what a danger it is. We aren't making this up.
[He means himself, and Mikhail, and the other Matt - the people who get it, who've seen it, who've lived with it. But he stares at Mikami for another second or ten, scrutinising him - then drops to the ground and picks the tea back up.]
Light, I would be a lot more concerned if it had happened to anyone other than you. You have to understand that.
That room, it showed us all the most fucked up things it could. It's clear it was trying to scare us as badly as possible. The infected didn't appear to me, they didn't appear to him,
[Nodding at Mikami.]
They appeared to you. Which is bad- bad enough that we're going to stay here all night, watching the door. But it's also a really good sign.
[Now he rubs at his strained eyes with one thin hand; now he sips the tea, which he barely tastes.]
They could have attacked me, or - [looking at Matt] you. They could have infected anyone in there, and they'd carry it right out into the corridors.
[Another sip of chai in quick succession after the first. What he's seeing - what he's already seen in his own world - is clear in his face, in the quiet passion in his voice.]
And maybe we'd be lucky, maybe the first person they found would be armed, wouldn't hesitate. But I don't trust that. And once they're lost in here? [His lips tighten and purse.] We'd never get rid of them. There'd be no defence.
It matters who they appeared to because it effects how likely it is to be an effect of the room, and how likely it is to carry on out into the halls. Like- it's perfectly possible that an infected person arrives here from your world, and we're all totally fucked, like you said. But it's more likely that a room wanted to screw with you, so made it appear to be happening even though it really wasn't, and there's no danger of contageon.
And the mansion - [He swallows, faintly.] I'm not certain this qualifies as reassuring, but it has to be said. The mansion has an interest in keeping us alive.
[It says a lot that that piece of information actually does reassure Light.]
And if it was going to happen, it would already have happened. I know. But we can't trust that. We can't assume the mansion's good nature, in that regard. Someone could be brought in tomorrow, freshly infected. The place loves trauma. Or—
[More tea. Yes. His hands don't tremble; instead, he becomes even more still, and quiet, and prepared, and now what's left of the defensive brightness in his voice is wholly gone.]
"People involved with the Kira case". My father would certainly have been involved, if Sayu was. He didn't make it out of Japan.
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[It slips out.]
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This is some universe where I'm a barbie doll?
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[And there's no point giving way to panic, just because anyone could be walking around the mansion, bitten. Light takes a deep breath, and drops back against the wall, crushing the backpack against it. He doesn't notice how uncomfortable it is.
The tea sloshes. Why did he run off? Because he wasn't thinking? Because he was scared?]
None of them were distinguishable?
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Oh, someone already marked it.
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Mikami-san. You were in there?
[[OOC: Teru, Light, Blue?]]
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That's what we're here to find out.
[Not quite as calm and certain as he'd usually be, Light's watching Mikami unblinking, taking in his appearance, looking for any sign of attack or trace of a lie. He knows that this is pointless, pointless, and yet it isn't his job to worry about whether or not things make sense—]
"They." What did you hear? What did you see?
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[He takes the seat Matt offered, covering a shiver.]
There were bodies, hanging in the trees. I didn't recognise any of them, except - my own, and Matt's, here. She was on the floor though. Shot, not hanged.
[It's all said in a flat tone, presenting evidence, and he doesn't quite look at Matt when he mentions her corpse.]
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His own ghosts didn't touch him. It's for the best; he might not have made it out of the room at all.]
It didn't move? You didn't see anything like that? Nothing physical touched you?
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[There's no logical reason to feel ashamed of this. But still.]
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It's real. You have no idea what a danger it is. We aren't making this up.
[He means himself, and Mikhail, and the other Matt - the people who get it, who've seen it, who've lived with it. But he stares at Mikami for another second or ten, scrutinising him - then drops to the ground and picks the tea back up.]
This is probably a waste of time, anyway.
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That room, it showed us all the most fucked up things it could. It's clear it was trying to scare us as badly as possible. The infected didn't appear to me, they didn't appear to him,
[Nodding at Mikami.]
They appeared to you. Which is bad- bad enough that we're going to stay here all night, watching the door. But it's also a really good sign.
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[Now he rubs at his strained eyes with one thin hand; now he sips the tea, which he barely tastes.]
They could have attacked me, or - [looking at Matt] you. They could have infected anyone in there, and they'd carry it right out into the corridors.
[Another sip of chai in quick succession after the first. What he's seeing - what he's already seen in his own world - is clear in his face, in the quiet passion in his voice.]
And maybe we'd be lucky, maybe the first person they found would be armed, wouldn't hesitate. But I don't trust that. And once they're lost in here? [His lips tighten and purse.] We'd never get rid of them. There'd be no defence.
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And if it was going to happen, it would already have happened. I know. But we can't trust that. We can't assume the mansion's good nature, in that regard. Someone could be brought in tomorrow, freshly infected. The place loves trauma. Or—
[More tea. Yes. His hands don't tremble; instead, he becomes even more still, and quiet, and prepared, and now what's left of the defensive brightness in his voice is wholly gone.]
"People involved with the Kira case". My father would certainly have been involved, if Sayu was. He didn't make it out of Japan.
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[Watching him, curiously.]
But it's- yellow alert, not red alert.
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[He doesn't know what else to say.]
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