Night. In an abandoned office wing of the school, most of the rooms were quiet. Empty. Devoid of all activity. Except one. In that one, a common seeker of adventure - and more often than not, danger - was busy with a single hairpin, fiddling with a doorlock. How she learnt to do that was anyone's guess, but... Saira was picking the lock of a school office. But she needed to know. She needed the information that she hoped was hidden here, hidden somewhere in the school - provable documentation on the monster infestation at the school. She didn't know if she'd even have a hope of finding it, but she had to try.

While she was doing this, the dull, reflected light of the hallway fell on her form. This time she wasn't wearing her 'adventuring outfit', instead clothed in a thin red-and-orange blouse with what almost looked like a fire pattern to it, and a... modest, but not too modest deep-brown skirt.

Abandoned? Not entirely. Antipode watched from a distance, silent, invisible, observing the young girl as she fiddled with the lock. He could capture her at any moment, without any difficulty. Indeed, he was probably going to, in the end. But for now he was merely curious. Curious to know what she was after; curious to know why the girl had taken the ridiculously dangerous step of going, alone, into the classrooms at night.

The inter dimensional being watched on, tentacles silently hidden in plain sight. She was surrounded by the silent appendages without any ability to know it. If she moved close to them, they'd move away, giving her a completely unobstructed path.

To be sure, Antipode was curious why she was doing this. But the answer wouldn't bother him much. First of all, he didn't really care about the school, or the monstrous faculty. He cared even less for the other monsters, who he stayed separate from almost entirely. His encounters with them were rare, if they ever occurred at all.

Furthermore, he wasn't much concerned, even if she did succeed. If she did, it wouldn't affect him much at all. Due to his nature, he could leave almost immediately, and probably would, if his existence was known. To be certain, it really affected him very little. But he might be amused, nonetheless. He was rather bored, after all, and needed something entertaining to deal with. Well, that and he knew he'd enjoy bringing this girl the pleasure he was so skilled at bringing forth.

Antipode's measures to remain unseen were successful for the most part, as Saira finally cracked open the door, and slid it open softly, nearly striding into the office. Finally clicking on a flashlight, she held it close to the desks, filecabinets, and other assorted office furniture. The Egyptian then slunk further around, eventually deciding on a cabinet to look through. Pick, open. Pick, open. So the process went on for a number of laborious minutes, as she pulled each drawer open and paged through the contents.

A look of disappointment was on her face for most of the time, as it was just dirt on the students, really old files for students no longer in attendance, detention slips... Junk, by her eyes. But it was when she reached the desk drawer that she noticed something more... anomalous. The lock wasn't pickable! No matter how hard she tried, the pins didn't seem to respond. She wasn't even sure it had pins. The girl actually muttered to herself, briefly breaking the illusion of stealth.

"Urgh, what's with this one? Unless... it's in here. But how..."

And so she stood puzzling over it, trying to think of a way to get into the desk without making a ruckus. Of course, she was still blissfully unaware of Antipode's waiting presence...

Unfortunately, that would soon change. Antipode was watching what the girl was doing with great interest. Undoing locks with such primitive means! Sifting through things with such an intense mission. He wanted now very much to know what it was she was doing... and he'd find out, in a moment.

For now, Antipode looked through her mind, trying to find the interesting bits. Now it was nearly unconscious, looking through minds... and now, he found something interesting. So many languages! He was impressed... normally, the girls on this island only knew one or two. Her level of knowledge, for a human of her age, was astounding. He intended to make use of this... perhaps enjoy himself by delving into the "humanities" with the young girl, before delving into her humanity.

She would hear words, then, entering her mind. Not sounds, but words, nonetheless, without any physical component whatsoever. They weren't in her voice, however. Not that internal voice everyone uses... but it was the voice of someone else, someone completely unrelated to her. Someone with a tinge of... not accent, for the accent was perfectly in line with her own. But instead... an alien tinge, that was very hard, no, impossible, to precisely place.

Bonus vesper , tener mulier. Quis es vos effectus , cerno per res ut pulvis vestri?

Most intriguingly, the voice spoke, of all things, in Latin! The Latin that she knew, using words that she knew. Even so, his grammar was almost certainly better than hers. (And better than the Latin I used in representing it. ^^; sorry if it's bad. Translators do that.)

The words translated, roughly, as follows: "Good evening, young woman. What are you doing, sifting through things that aren't yours?"

The hairpin suddenly dropped to the floor! Saira turned around with surprise, still at least for a moment thinking that the person was physically in the room with her! Or at least, that their voice was carried by air. But... in a second, it dawned on her. If monsters can exist... magic... then why not telepathy? She had heard it in her mind... So obviously, she needed to respond mentally, too. And since it spoke to her in Latin...

Quis? Quisnam es vos? Est non vestri res!

...Which translated, roughly, to 'What? Who are you? This is none of your business!'

But... Saira, despite her response, was still on edge, her body tensed up visibly, sweat starting to form and shine in the minimal light...

Antipode was certainly amused. So, she would be nice, and start responding back in the language he had used with her? That was good! She wasn't too scared to use a language that wasn't native to her. A good sign, at least. He waited a long moment before responding. His thoughts entered her mind again, once again in that long-dead Latin tongue.

I'm mereo quispiam curiosus. EGO operor non utor a nomen ut reddo puteus in Latin , miser. Vos teneo , vos operor non postulo ut respondeo per sententia. Lacuna mos opus iustus pariter.

The words entered her mind with the skill and fluency that she had heard only a rare few able to manage with the dead language. For now, though, he was only speaking to her. He didn't want to frighten her.

The words translated, roughly, as "I'm merely someone curious. I do not use a name that translates well into Latin, unfortunately. You know, you do not need to respond with thought. Words will work just as well."

Saira was now... she didn't know whether to be intrigued or frightened. Possibly both, considering that it wasn't a regular human that communicated in that way. Even so... She planted a hand on the desk, as if to steady herself, before looking into the darkness.

"Vos... You... Do you speak English? Volo oro English... Est paternae lacuna."
("You... [English words] I wish to speak English... It's my native language.")

It was unsure if Antipode could tell or not (probably), but Saira felt a little nervous, since there was a lot left unexplained about this encounter. It made her worry...

Antipode decided he might as well switch to English, then. At least for now. She seemed a little worried, a little uneasy, but even so, she was acting curious. And he was curious too, what she was doing. And everything else, as well, of course.

Yes, I do speak English. I understand it, and can speak it quite well, actually. As it is, I suppose I'll give you what you wanted before: Call me Antipode. It isn't my real name, but then again, my real name wouldn't be translatable into human language in the first place. Anyway, don't be alarmed. I was just in the neighborhood, and saw you snooping around. You're lucky, because I'm one who has no affiliation with this school. So I really couldn't care less.

Saira stepped back, at any rate. Even though the admission was meant to reassure her, she nodded slightly at her own conclusion - yes indeed, a monster. Even so... he seemed... polite. So she, likewise, became polite, if a bit guarded...

"So... Antipode, then... You're not affiliated with them, hm? Well, that's good. I'm looking for some kind of proof about them - I know none of the 'normal' girls will believe me, and I haven't found too many of the others who've met them yet... but if I can get documentation, I'll know what's out there at least. It's... it's a struggle for survival."

Antipode noted her words, and thought for a moment. She seemed... quite honest, which was an interesting response. He didn't mind, and was quite happy. This way, he wouldn't have to fight to get her to tell him what he wanted. Still... he wasn't going to be a jerk!

Hmm. I would recommend girls such as Violett Small, Yaeko Maita and Karen Hinase, if you want to encounter girls who would know about the monsters... Then again, he seemed to be listing ones who he, himself, had encountered. Oh, well. She'd know what he would want from her soon enough. Why push it yet?

As it is, you should be aware that none of them will try to kill you while here at Shokushu. It's against the rules for the monsters to do so. After you graduate, though, things get a little more dicey. Most likely you do not have the power to defeat this island. The school administration is, indeed, a part of this, or did you already know that?

He didn't mind, telling her some of those secrets. She wasn't the first he'd told anyway. And besides, why not? She wanted information, he might as well humor her a bit. It wasn't like she was going to escape. And it wouldn't hurt him even if she got the information out.

Saira shook her head, somewhat surprised at how... honest the monster was, as well. This was new. Yet she still seemed to carry herself as if she were holding her ground.

"I see. So... I suspected it but it seemed like a conspiracy theory, a pipe dream as it were. But... Then again. Death isn't the only fate, after all. even if what you say about graduation isn't as..."

A pause, and a slight shudder. She already knew what the monsters did now, and she didn't want to consider what they'd do without some kind of conspiracy keeping them subtle.

"...threatening as you say it is, what's happening here has effects. Will I ever be a normal person again? Whether I grow to love these... disgusting encounters, or whether it breaks my resolve and makes me someone I'm not, I won't leave here the same, or even similar but improved by learning. It's... It's hard to describe. And it's almost sickening, to be violated. Strange, soberly terrifying, to get used to it, the fear of realizing that you will never get back what you once where. Maybe now you know why I put it that way?..."

The girl seemed disturbed, worried, and her mind was obviously undergoing a number of different struggles. It made sense, though he normally didn't observe the psychological effects these events were having on the girls, that they would start to become damaged. And that was the fear that this Saira had, it seemed. That even if she didn't die, she'd end up becoming something else, something she was not. He understood, to a certain extent.

However, fascinating as that was, the monster continued watching her. It might be amusing to change her in the way she feared. At least, the part where she started to actually like the encounters that were happening. He'd found a few who didn't mind too terribly much... but to witness such a significant change in mindset would be... worth the cost, he believed. It'd make a great experiment!

So, then. Are you afraid you ARE getting used to it? Getting used to being, ahh... captured, and I suppose you would call it raped, by these things?

Words for now of course. He'd eventually take her. But he didn't mind conversing with her for a bit longer.

No, you almost certainly won't leave here the same. After all, the experiences you have change you, are accumulated, create changes in world view, what you like and dislike, and everything else. Even if you survive, the you who will come out of it might become unrecognizable. It's not completely unfortunate, because sometimes the person who comes out is unrecognizable in a good way. Then again, the experiences on this island do tend to push more towards insanity than anything else.

Silence, for a long moment, before he added something a little more... concerning.

As for growing to love those encounters. They aren't all bad, now are they? I ask out of curiosity, as it's something rather... interesting to find out, for personal reasons.

Saira blushed deeply at the questions about liking the... events with the monsters. Red adding to tanned skin made Saira's cheeks look downright intense colorwise. But even so, she responded, she made sure to! She just... wasn't very well prepared to.

"Y-wha?! I... No, no, even if I were why would I tell you? It... it's not even right!"

She was definitely embarassed! The question was, was it because she knew that the monster was starting to hint at his(?) intentions, or was it because Antipode may have been right?...

Technically, gender in the sense that living beings on Earth and most other planets with lifeforms, didn't exist for Antipode. His species was a kind of thing vastly different, even from the basic mechanics, and the form he had taken was almost more an avatar as opposed to a real form. His real form? Something almost beyond comprehension. But then again, male was as good a distinction as anything else. He certainly wasn't very maternal, and the voice he projected ended up sounding distinctly male, though that was mere aesthetic choice on his part.

As it was, he was quite curious. Which was it? Was he right on the mark? Or was she getting a hint as to what he was?

Oh, come now. No need to be quite so guarded. After all, we are sharing secrets today, aren't we? Both fellow searches of knowledge, you of entities like myself, and me of entities like you. As we search for knowledge, it might be useful, for once, to ask things of each other.

There was laughter, then. Good natured, it seemed. Almost affectionate, as it entered her mind. It wasn't like the urge to laugh. It was just... noticeably laughter, and it was coming from the same outside source as the voice. It was his laughter, clearly.

As it is, you could tell me because I'm another alien, from your perspective. Because it might be of benefit to you to tell me the things I ask. Maybe even because you're... nice? But regardless, no, I can't really make you, at least not without being horribly rude. And I don't want to be too rude. Besides, the things I could do, you might be curious about as well. I am psychic, after all, and I've gotten quite good at delving into the human mind.

Saira backed up, backed up into the wall, starting to get a little nervous - or scared. The girl was shaking her head slightly, and this went on for a few seconds until she finally regained the courage to speak.

"B-but I... I don't... It's terrifying, and it might feel good in the body but it feels wrong... in the mind. Sex without love... That's the only thing that's even offered. And... and it's not even just sex, it's violent, disgusting, harsh rape. It's shameful to feel good after that..."

The excessive pauses belied the difficulty that Saira had even saying that, knowing that the unusual personality this monster had might actually mean that it was right in saying she might have gotten some benefit. Maybe. That and she had been spending a lot of time alone lately, she didn't even know any other students to talk to, much less about this. This may have even been the first time the girl herself acknowledged these feelings.