[RL with Junpei]

[screwloose]

Stein's laboratory was...impressive, and rather creepy. It was an oddly-shaped building, like several huge stone boxes all jumbled together with small windows. The largest part was shaped like an arrow, thrusting upwards towards the sky. Lines of what looked like stitching crawled across the face of the building, each 'stitch' at least a foot long.

The building was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence, the top a forest of points, and there were several scraggly trees planted around the grounds. The trees were devoid of leaves, and each branch ended in an arrowpoint.

A whirring sound could be heard by Junpei's foot and he might look down to see a mouse scuttling by, but the mouse looked and sounded mechanical, its skin formed of random patches of fabric all stitched together roughly.

Welcome to Dr. Franken Stein's Laboratory.

Comments

[screwloose]

Stein wondered in curiosity whether Junpei would attack him now. He almost hoped he would, but he stood carelessly, pulling out another cigarette and lighting it as he waited for Junpei to figure out if he was pissed off enough to attack his doctor.

"Trismegistus," he echoed with curiosity. "Can you control its movements, Junpei?"

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

He hadn't even managed to think about controlling the Persona, as his mind was still reeling from the pain of having the creature forcefully summoned. Instead, he simply gawked at it blankly, willing himself to move, to do something other than sit there defenselessly.

All at once, he felt as though he'd been wrapped in a warm blanket. The heat seemed to ease the hurt, at least the physical side of it, and the ache seemed to melt away as though it were nothing. While he didn't recognize Trismegistus' Spring of Life ability, he knew that the feeling had something to do with the odd summon.

"I... I dunno," he mumbled, slowly climbing to his feet. He placed a hand on its smooth back, tracing his fingers over the grooved metallic 'skin.'

[screwloose]

Stein saw the magic glitter over Junpei's body. "Remarkable," he murmured.

He watched from a short distance away, not wanting to intrude further just now. Junpei didn't seem drained by maintaining the creature, and it seemed solid and powerful. He smoked unconsciously, his entire being focussed on the creature and almost quivering.

"Truly remarkable." He took a slow step forward. "May I examine it?" he asked quietly. "I won't push again, I promise you."

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

It would be a lie to say Junpei wasn't hesitant to trust the doctor, but the appearance of Trismegistus had done a lot for his sense of safety. With something like that inside him, he had to be safe, right? There's no way that it would let something happen to him while it was standing... er... floating right there?

"Yeah, go ahead," he said finally, his hand still resting on the Persona's back. It was like the world's biggest, pointiest security blanket.

[screwloose]

Stein stepped forward upon receiving permission. He reached out carefully, but without hesitation or fear, and touched a broad metallic wing. It felt warm to his touch.

"It's quite amazing," he said, looking up into its eyeless face, searching, assessing, but holding himself back from actually prodding.

"Does this jog your memory at all?"

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

That was a good question. Trismegistus certainly looked familiar - his presence was comforting, though there was a touch of sadness along with it. He felt like he was forgetting something important about him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"It's weird," he said, stepping out from behind the creature, standing beside Stein to look up at its bird-like helmet. "I feel like... I know him, but... I still don't friggin' remember."

He didn't bother to hide his frustration, staring intently at the Persona. There had to be a way to make him memories resurface. After all, his power was clearly still there...

[screwloose]

"I see," Stein said, lowering his hand away from the creature and raising it up to the bolt, rotating it as he thought. "So it appears that your powers are not sealed. The amnesia doesn't appear to be directly related to your powers, either. Maybe you just forgot you had them. They do seem to be working just fine, though I don't think we activated them the usual way." He chuckled wryly at this.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Junpei grimaced, a hand automatically moving to his chest. He still had an unsettled feeling, as though he'd just been touch somewhere he shouldn't have been.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's not the way it's s'pposed to work," he said stiffly, lowering his head.

His immense discomfort at the memory was enough to make the Persona stir, lowering its head again to look at Junpei, flaring its wings. Junpei blinked, glancing up at Trismegistus curiously, wondering how he'd managed to trigger the movement.

"So... How can I get my memories back then?"

[screwloose]

"I don't know," Stein mused softly, still turning the bolt. It made a clicking noise and he lowered his hand. "I still need to gather more information. We don't yet know the way you lost the memories, so I don't know if they've been changed, blocked or removed. I'll need to run some more tests to discover that."

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

"M-More tests?"

Junpei felt as though the bottom of his stomach had dropped out. So far, he hadn't been enjoying Stein's tests in the least. The first one made him feel like he'd been trampled by a pack of Sanada fans at a school boxing match and and the second one felt like his mind had been both molested and had the crap beaten out of it at the same time.

So yeah, he was scared of what the man had in store. Was remembering some stuff really worth it?

Trismegistus, sensing its master's agitation, flared its secondary set of metal wings defensively, making a bird-like noise. The sound caught Junpei off-guard, making him flinch.

"... Uh..."

... Was that thing sensing his thoughts? It definitely felt like it.

[screwloose]

Stein didn't think that Trismegistus was sensing his thoughts so long as merely manifesting them. After all, it was a part of Junpei, even though it was outside of him right now.

He was eager to perform more tests, though he didn't intend for them to be quite as intrusive as these had been, and they could go inside. It seemed Junpei was pretty nervous, and he couldn't really blame him, but in his zeal he didn't want him to go before he could pin down the problem or at least generate some data he could analyze at his leisure.

"Yes, why don't you pull Trismegistus back inside yourself and come back inside. These tests won't be nearly as difficult, I promise," he said heartily. "It was a lot of fun knocking you about, though!"

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

"... Err..."

He blinked and opened his mouth to ask how to return the Persona, but before he could even ask the question, it seemed Trismegistus was one step ahead. Just as quickly as it had appeared, yet thankfully more comfortably, the creature vanished, back inside Junpei.

"O-Okay," he said slowly, more than a little weirded out.

Junpei took a step back towards the building, but stopped, spinning back around.

"... Wait a sec, you what!?"

He scowled and crossed his arms. Of course it was fun, when you weren't on the receiving end! He should have told Trismegistus to skewer him on one of those spikey wing things!

"... Not cool, man. Not. Cool."

[screwloose]

Stein wouldn't have had the faintest clue how to tell him how to return the Persona, but it seemed the boy figured it out without them having to run any more tests.

He raised an eyebrow as Junpei started to head inside, then seemed to change his mind. "What's not cool?" he asked, bemused.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

"You liked beating the crap outta me, that's what!"

At least he'd said that the following tests wouldn't be so terrible, but it was still hard to believe after taking what felt like a cement block to the gut. And worse, hearing that the doctor had actually enjoyed doing it. What the heck kind of physician liked watching people in pain? Wasn't the whole point of their job to fix it?

"... The next tests aren't gonna be like that, right?" he grumbled, hoping for some solid reaffirmation. He didn't feel like getting his ass kicked for a third time that day.

[screwloose]

"Oh that," Stein said without a hint of repentance. "Well it was fun. And you aren't hurt at all, are you?"

He headed for the door, moving towards Junpei. "I said they weren't going to be like that. But maybe you need a break first. You sure you don't want me to make you something? I'm sure there's stuff in the fridge, actually, since Mary's grocery shopping for me."

Living with a woman was cramping his style a bit, but not in the usual way. It was necessary, though, under the circumstances.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

"... Trismegistus fixed it," he said irritably, tightening his arms across his chest. "But it still friggin' hurt. I don't know what the heck you did to pull him out like that..."

But what? Don't do it again? Junpei didn't know where his complaint was going. Stein's method, no matter how perverse or awful it felt, had worked in the end. He'd managed to make Trismegistus appear, and it hadn't left any permanent damage on either of them.

"No thanks. I'm not really hungry," he insisted finally. "I just wanna figure out what the heck is wrong with me."

[screwloose]

"You fixed it," Stein corrected him. "Trismegistus is your soul, Junpei. I could see it inside you from the moment I saw you, and all I really did was pull it out by force. I was trying to get you to push it out yourself, get you angry or scared enough to make it happen, but that wasn't working."

He patted Junpei on the shoulder as he walked by. "And what a very powerful soul you have, just as I said. But let's see if we can figure out what's going on with your memory, if you're sure you don't want something to eat first."

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

"You coulda warned me..."

Then again, it probably wouldn't have been near as effective if he had. But Junpei was never one to pass up an excuse to complain. He had to wonder why Trismegistus couldn't do that weird healing thing all the time, if it was just a part of him... But maybe it had to manifest itself to be able to use its powers? Who knew?

"Thanks."

Well, it looked like there was something special about him after all, he thought, unable to hide his grin. He'd definitely be telling Shito about it when he left... Mostly because... he really didn't have anyone else he could trust with that kind of secret. It was weird, that someone from another world had become the only person he could talk to openly, but if he told Yuka-tan or one of his school friends, they'd look at him like he was crazy...

He quickly followed the doctor back inside, not particularly wanting to be left alone in the strange city. If the physicians were this creepy, he didn't really want to meet its shadier inhabitants.

[screwloose]

Stein led him back into the sitting room, but turned right and took him through another heavy metal door. They walked down another corridor and up a flight of stairs into a room with a large metal examination table dominating the room.

There were heavy leather straps with buckles at the sides and bottom of the examination table, for restraining recalcitrant subjects. They hung open right now.

"Hop up," he said cheerfully, patting the examination table. "Let me just get some equipment." And he turned to leave Junpei alone in the room.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Junpei followed a few steps behind the older man, looking around nervously as he went. The stitches made him wonder if the house was actually sewn together or if they were simply decoration... With all the other oddities of this world, it seemed like a valid question.

When Stein patted the examination, Junpei didn't move, staring wide-eyed at the leather straps. They were for decoration too, right? He wouldn't have any reason to tie him down to the table surely... He said these tests wouldn't be bad ones... It was just higher than a chair... right?!

"Uh..."

There really wasn't any point in asking, because he doubted he'd get a straight answer from the doctor anyway...

Hanging his head with a sigh, he nervously complied with the request, sitting on the table top. He made sure to keep his legs hanging over the side - at least then he'd have a good chance of escaping, if he did decide to try and make him into some kind of weird experiment.

Man, this place was totally wigging him out. Trismegistus better have his ass covered, that was all he could say.

[screwloose]

Stein was well aware that his lab was creepy, but that was the way he liked it. He departed, closing the door behind him and locking it - just to make sure the boy didn't go wandering off if he decided he changed his mind. It wasn't that he was a prisoner, but he'd rather escort Junpei in and out personally, rather than let him get a look at some of his more esoteric rooms by accident.

He was back within a few minutes, though, carrying a small leather case. He unlocked the door and entered.

"Here we go. I thought we'd try hypnosis, first," he said, seemingly quite oblivious to Junpei's discomfiture.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Had Junpei noticed him locking the door, he might have been more worried - however, he was too busy staring around the strange room to notice. Well, there didn't seem to be any circular saws or giant axes or Chinese Water Torture devices...

The sound of the door made him jump, a reaction which he quickly covered up with a weak grin. Leather cases weren't scary. Well, their contents could be if they were hack saws or guns or giant syringes... But on their own? Not so bad.

"Hypnosis, huh? That doesn't sound so bad," he admitted, perking up a bit. "What do I have to do? Watch a swinging watch or something?"

[screwloose]

"Something like that," Stein said with a smile. He set the case down and rummaged inside it, withdrawing a candle. He struck a match and lit it, then moved to the wall and lowered the lights to almost nothing.

"I want you to look at the flame, Junpei," he said. He had a feeling this would be better than a clock. Either was a perfectly valid method anyway. "And try to think of who you are. But don't worry about it too much. Just think of Trismegistus, and tell me what comes to your mind."

If it didn't work, well, perhaps he'd come up with a more drastic method.

[iori-junpei.livejournal.com]

Somehow, that didn't seem near as interesting as the watch, but Junpei shrugged and stared at the candle anyway. If that was all it took to hypnotize people, then why didn't people lose their heads at birthday parties? Then there were lots of candles.

He stared at the flame and waited for something to happen, trying to think about himself. He sucked at math. And English. And Composition. And school in general. But he remembered that. He liked baseball. Wait, he remembered that too.

Did Trismegistus like baseball? Or maybe he had that thing do his homework...

... He didn't think that was relevant to his missing memories.

"Uh... How do I tell when this is working?" he said finally, still staring at the flame, tilting his head slowly to the side. "'Cause so far, I don't think I've got it, dude."

[screwloose]

Stein chuckled. "Stare at the candle," he said in a low, soothing voice. "Relax, and try to just let whatever thoughts you have move through your mind without really looking at them. Just stare at the candle, and watch the flame flicker. Let it fill your vision."

He continued to talk in low, hypnotic tones, hoping that Junpei was actually susceptible to hypnosis at all. A lot of people probably weren't, in Stein's presence, because they were nervous. And Stein well knew that some people weren't susceptible at all - he certainly wasn't. He didn't have the personality type.