One [VIDEO]

[inspector_link]

[A rather severe looking man in a black turtleneck addresses the network, oddly calm for someone who has just found out that his world was destroyed. He's a bit battered, having spent only a few moments on dressing and a hasty cleanup before heading for the nearest network terminal. There's quite a bit of dust in his hair, along with bruises and faint smears of what might be blood on his face and neck.]

My name is Howard Link. If there are any members of the Black Order present, please state your status and location. Anyone familiar with the facility, I would request your status as well. [Because last he checked? The station was pretty broken. Or well on it's way there, at least, and if he was pulled to this place? Well, there have to be others here.

He hesitates for a second or two before speaking again, glancing down briefly at something near the floor.]

... If there is anyone here familiar with the construction or repair of mechanical prosthetic limbs, please contact me at your earliest convenience.

Comments

[whiteblackknight]

It's been destroyed, but not by me. There are people here that are stronger than anything I've ever seen before.

[He remembered the darker Saber. Someone even more expressionless than Link who took up an evil, magic sword and nullified the Akuma all together with one mere swing of her sword. And to Allen, it would've been a tough fight just to get rid of one.]

...My cursed eye also isn't working here so I can't tell if the Akuma were taken from our world or if they're just made by the Tower.

[inspector_link]

[Raising an eyebrow. Well, that does impress him a bit. His previous "home" held some very powerful people, but none of them had the ability to destroy a level four. Or any akuma, for that matter. Battle it, yes. Blow it to pieces, yes, but not destroy it outright. That final blow always had to be left to the exorcists. Strange.]

I don't suppose it matters very much as long as they're destroyed.

[whiteblackknight]

You know how it works, don't you? If an Akuma is slain by anything other than an Innocence-type weapon, the human soul inside it dies!!

[His throat ran dry. Allen was barely conscious at the time, but he saw Saber obliterate the Akuma with one shot from a magic sword. It was a small mercy by the administrators to limit his eye's curse. Otherwise, he would have had to bear witness to the soul evaporate into nothingness.]

....I'm sorry.

[inspector_link]

[Link's actually a bit taken aback by the outburst, but he recovers quickly. Such things had never been an issue in the facility. Even so, as a CROW? The human element within an akuma has never been his focus. Destroying the threat and protecting innocents comes before the fate of someone already dead.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't understand Allen's distress. Far from it.]

It's alright. I wasn't thinking.

[whiteblackknight]

It's...ok.

[Allen holds his left hand in front of his face, forwards and outstretched. It was a curse everyone on Earth (and beyond, as evidence would show) was blessed not to have.]

So were there Akuma um...."up there"?

[inspector_link]

Only on two occasions. The Doctors in charge enjoyed dropping us into artificial environments. One of them was modeled after London and infested with Akuma.

[whiteblackknight]

That's...

[Hard to imagine, to say the least. London, infested? Not that he's had fond memories of the place, being a foundling, but that would be missing the point.]

Sounds tough all around. Putting it mildly, of course. I don't think this tower will be much better for you and Lenalee.

[inspector_link]

[Link shrugs a bit, less concerned with the dangers of the tower than he probably should be. He is concerned, of course, but the facility has a way of desensitizing people, and Link was not immune.]

We're alive. That's enough for now.

[whiteblackknight]

[Allen nodded.]

Yeah.

[Timcanpy finds its way--one way or another--back to its original master's shoulder.]

You might even find some others here you recognize.

[inspector_link]

I've seen a few already. [No one he knew all that well, but other's from the facility, at least.]

[whiteblackknight]

[Allen has a sort of pause in his question-and-answering mindset. He seems a tad lost in though as Tim tries to get his attention.]

[...]

...everything seems in order then, don't you think?

[inspector_link]

[The inspector nods, eyes on Tim for a moment before he continues.]

I'm not here to observe you, if you're concerned over that.

[whiteblackknight]

Don't know how you'd report to your slimey boss inside of an evil tower, Link. I wasn't going to blame you for trying.

[Tim shakes its head at this.]

[inspector_link]

[That didn't stop him in the facility. >>

In spite of all he's been through and everything he knows about "home", Link still can't suppress a slight eye twitch when Allen insults the Chief Inspector. It's just too deeply ingrained to shake off.]

... Even if he were present, there would be no point.

[whiteblackknight]

Right, right. He'd be grilling me himself.

[He smiles innocently at this.]

Apartment rooms are free of monsters, luckily.

[inspector_link]

[Not what Link meant, but whatever. Let Allen believe what he wants.]

... Good. I'm in 5-04 if you should need anything.

[Not that he knows what Allen could possibly need from the guy he's always trying to get away from. But the offer's there.]

and now i must sleep for work. toodloo~!

[whiteblackknight]

I will. Although sometimes it's just as easy as following where the noises are coming from. I'm in room 3-02, so if you actually feel like floor exploring, let me know.

[Tim clambers its way up to the top of Allen's head.]

*Sigh* ...you'll get the heads up for the floors I never got.

sleep well!

[inspector_link]

... Are there any I should avoid outright?

[whiteblackknight]

Only the obviously dangerous ones.

[Such as the ice glacier one. It's a laugh and a half in the worst way possible.]

But there's actually a few fun ones. Such as the library, the media room, and the meadow.

[inspector_link]

Do you remember the numbers?

[whiteblackknight]

I remember the library is...the third floor.

[Allen seems to strain his effort a little bit. Timcanpy lands on his shoulder, looking almost concerned at him as he gains a thinking position.]

And I'm pretty sure the media room is the fourteenth floor. And the Meadow floor is either the twenty-fifth or the twenty-fourth.

[inspector_link]

[Allen. Allen. In a tower with a small amount of safe places to be, why do you not know them by heart?]

... How many times have you gotten lost?

[whiteblackknight]

A lot, but just early on. I haven't been lost in over two months.

[It's because he frequents unsafe floors. Tim flaps its wings once or twice, as if it were part of the conversation.]

I don't really see you getting lost that easily.

[inspector_link]

[Link sighs and shoots Tim a questioning look, almost as if asking for confirmation sorry, he's had full conversations with other Tims in the past because Allen not getting lost doesn't sound like a thing that can happen.]

Hopefully not.

[whiteblackknight]

Long as you know where the staircase is, you'll be alright. It's just the floors you need to know.

[And there's 100 of them. Allen has traversed perhaps one tenth of them in total, not counting the times he's gotten lost. And when he was lobotomized.]

Any idea where Lenalee is now?