"It talks!?" Auguste exclaimed in absolute shock. He hadn't for even a single moment considered that these moving cylinders could speak. "At least, I think it's talking."

The singular Cleaner before them, standing in the doorway, was speaking in the dialect spoken by the Orcus, the Alvan dialect. It was an old dialect far removed from what was commonly spoken at the time, far older than the oldest form of human dialects. While the grammatical structure remained similar, the words used had since become lost or transformed into something neigh unrecognizable. It might as well be a different language at this point. The same goes for their letters.

"From what you're saying, I assume you speak the human dialect?" the Cleaner began saying something again, this time in a questioning tone. "No... It's somewhat similar but not quite. I don't think the database has a match for this tongue, how troubling. There is much I wish to ask."

"Hey! Get out of the way!" Auguste demanded as he got off of Henrietta. His limbs still feel sluggish, but if he has to move them, he can.

"I don't think it can understand you," said Henrietta.

"I guess not. Do we just go over it?"

Auguste measured the Cleaner's height with his naked eyes. Using the door frame as support, he ought to be able to get over the cylindrical construct. However, he doubted that Henrietta would possess the dexterity necessary to pull off such a feat. Perhaps she could just move it to the side with her raw strength?

"Umm, let's see... We. Look for friends. Let us pass."

Thought in broken sentences, Henrietta tried to convey her thoughts. Her words were spoken in the Alva dialect.

"Wait, Henri, you can speak their tongue this whole time!?" Auguste could not help his surprise and cut Henrietta off.

"Just a little. I can't read their writings though."

"Well, why didn't try talking to them earlier? Like back in the dark room."

"B-b-but that could have been one of the ghosts! I ain't talking to that! A-and you were kinda pissed off then, so I didn't want to do anything that might make things worse."

He was indeed pissed off at the time, that much Auguste could not deny. Well, he did went ahead and yelled at the booming voice himself and it did not appear to be listening to them. On the other hand, this Cleaner here seemed to be responding to what they were saying.

"Friends. I know your friends. There were here. Still am." To Henrietta, the Cleaner responded in kind, with simple, short sentences that Henrietta might understand. "Want to hear more? Let's talk. I mean no harm. I know a place. Rest there."

"Oh, really!?"

"What, what did it say?"

"It said that it knows about the others and it wants to talk. I think it also wants us to follow it, saying that there's a place we can rest in."

Auguste looked towards the Cleaners, looking it in its vertically aligned eyes.

"I don't know if we can trust it."

"I mean, the Cleaners never tried to harm us before."

"True, but we never met one that could talk before. Also, are you sure you know what it's talking about?"

"I think so? It sounded like the same words my mother used to teach me."

"Your mother, huh..."

Henrietta said that her mother was an elf, and having shown that she was able to interact with the strange panels in this Alva ruin, Gladiolus suspected that perhaps her mother was either an Alva or a close descendant of one. In that case, perhaps there's some credibility to Henrietta's words here.

"Well, it's not like we have the luxury of choice here. Better than wondering around randomly I suppose."

Not to mention, Auguste was tired, really, really tired. He wasn't sure if he had ever felt this worn out in his entire life. He could use a nice place to rest.

Having heard Auguste's decision, Henrietta turned to the Cleaner, asking it to lead the way.

Knowing that there will be a place to properly rest, Auguste was able to gather up enough strength to push through the rest of the trip. He also felt somewhat embarrassed to ask Henrietta to let him on her back when someone else was present. Said 'someone' might just be a Cleaner, but it *was* one that could speak. There was also the possibility of there being some kind of trap, but all Auguste wanted to do now was to lie down somewhere and not have to think about anything for an unspecific length of time. He couldn't be bothered to think that far ahead.

After some amount of trekking, the two were led to a room not dissimilar to the one they had set up camp in. Taking a look around the room and finding no apparent signs of danger, Auguste was quick to lay himself down on a bed. Having been taking meticulous notes of the path they've taken to reach this room, Auguste could feel his skull throbbing against the pillow beneath his head.

"The two of you are very strange," remarked the Cleaner just as Auguste's consciousness was about to leave him.

"What's it saying now?"

Being reminded that there was unfinished business, Auguste got up from the bed. He'll have to deal with this first before he can allow himself to rest.

"It's saying that we're strange," Henrietta translated.

"If you ask me, this whole place is the one that's strange."

As if sensing the smoldering irritation in Auguste's voice, the Cleaner backed away with a jerk.

"It appears that you are tired. We can continue this conversation later if you'd like."

Henrietta then translated the Cleaner's words, albeit badly, to Auguste.

"Yeah. Later sounds fine."

There was a desire within him to take care of whatever business this Cleaner might have with them and get the location of the rest of their party member from it. However, Auguste was also quite confident that he wouldn't be able to think straight at the moment. If either Elaine or Gladiolus was here, it'd be a very different situation, but with just Auguste and Henrietta, he was afraid that he might come to a hasty conclusion on whatever he was about to hear. And on the off chance that there is going to be some negotiation involved, all the more reason to do so with a fresh mind, he's pretty bad with those as is.

After the Cleaner took its leave, Auguste let his head fall into the bed, this time not intending to leave it anytime soon.

"That Cleaner sure seems nice," Henrietta commented.

"Sure does," said Auguste half-heartedly.

"A-anyways, go ahead and rest, I'll keep watch."

"Counting... On you..."

It didn't take long for Auguste to fall asleep, though, 'faint' might have been a proper descriptor of what happened.

***

Auguste wasn't sure how long he had slept, but seeing that Henrietta was still awake and keeping watch by the time he regained consciousness, he reckoned that he couldn't have slept long.

"Oh, yer awake."

"Have I been out long?"

"Not really."

It's a habit, probably. Being in an unfamiliar environment, he wouldn't be in that deep of a sleep.

"By the way, that Cleaner came by a short while ago."

"What did it want?"

"It said that it found some stuff upstairs and asked if it's ours. Looks like it's going to bring them down for us."

"Is that so? How nice of it."

That's one worry down. Honestly, Auguste wasn't sure if they'll last another day with the supplies they had on them. Not to mention, if the Cleaner knew the way back to the upper floor, then it surely knows how to get out of this place. Perhaps it was fortunate of them to have run into it after all.

As the Cleaner had said, it came to see them again, this time with the floating heads that popped off the tops of the other Cleaners accompanying it, each one dragging along with it a rucksack with its long, jointed appendages.

"I believe these are yours," said the Cleaner in the lead.

Auguste didn't need to understand what was said to more or less guess what it was saying and gratefully received the baggage. Whether this was meant as a gesture of friendship or not didn't matter, their asses were saved regardless. After this, Auguste was more than willing to hear out what the Cleaner had to say.

"To begin, let me introduce myself. I am the administrator of this section of the ship, which includes the simulation chambers, the medical center, and the archives. If you need anything, feel free to inform me. I'll provide for your needs to the best of my abilities."

Unfortunately for the Administrator, Henrietta was unable to translate all of that. From what he could gather from Henrietta's fragmented translation, Auguste understood that this was the person in charge of the floor and that if they needed anything, they could go to them for help. Additionally, he did not get the impression that the Administrator was mad that they were more or less trespassing on this place. Not at the moment at least.

"In that case, can you help us find our friends?"

Henrietta passed on Auguste's question.

"Gladly. In fact, I require your help regarding that matter as well."

"Pardon?" Auguste questioned Henrietta's translation upon hearing that. "Did you say that you need our help?"

"Indeed."

According to what the Administrator had said, or at least, according to Henrietta's limited translation, *something* had caused the missing party members to wander into this floor with each one occupying a room. Said rooms were the so-called 'simulation chambers' that had been mentioned before. These were the same rooms as the dark room from before as well as the room filled with dolls. Apparently, they were for both recreational and training purposes.

Regardless, the missing members seemed to be trapped within these simulation chambers. While the Administrator had tried to extract them from these rooms, they had encountered a rather bizarre obstacle.

"It would seem that not only had they occupied the simulation chamber, a strange space had also been formed within each chamber. Within said spaces, I had no way of communicating with the occupants and was only able to observe. Even then, it was only for a limited time before I was 'kicked out'. I suspect that it was due to me being considered an unwelcomed guest within said spaces."

Henrietta looked from the Administrator to Auguste, and then back to the Administrator. She was unable to wrap her head around any of what was said, much less translate it.

"Friends. Trapped in strange space."

That much Henrietta could understand.

"So, where do we find them?"

"I'll lead the way. Please follow. I hope you're rested."

Following the Administrator, Auguste and Henrietta were led to a door similar to every other door in this place. The uniformity of the place was almost maddening. It made Auguste feel that he was always walking in circles, never getting anywhere no matter how much he walked.

With a smooth sound, the door slid to the side, revealing an utter blackness behind it. It was not darkness, but what seemed to be a black wall.

"Friend. In there."

It would seem that one of the missing members was just behind this black wall. Auguste wasn't sure what he should expect from the other side. If only Henrietta was better at translating, he'd get a better clue.

"Is it safe?"

"It is safe. Most likely. No way to be sure. Only I had entered and left."

Hearing that, Auguste hesitated. There was a chance that they would be trapped inside as well if they enter. He considered turning back. But, then what? Should he just complete the Orcus's request, regain his freedom, head back to town and get into contact with Albert and have him deal with this whole mess? While that might be too optimistic and far-fetched of a plan, would charging head first into the dark be any better? Even so, do they have time for all that? Can they even make it in time? There are just too many uncertainties.

As he mulled over the possibilities that he had no way to be sure of, Auguste felt something warm in his grasp. Well, warm wasn't quite it. It was actually quite stuffy, sweaty even. It was Henrietta's small hand.

"Oi- I mean, hey, Auguste. I think... No, I *want* to go find them. If we turn back here, I don't know if we'll ever see them again."

"We could be trapped too you know. It's not unlikely that we'll end up just like the others."

"I know, but-" Henrietta racked her small brain, but she was unable to find the words that could convince Auguste. And so, she decided to simply speak from the heart. "You said you liked traveling around with us, right? That you wanted things to be this way for as long as possible, right? Well, me too. I'm like you. I ran away from home too. Ever since my mother passed away, I felt that there wasn't a place for me in this world. But ever since I met you guys, ever since we formed the party, I... For the first time, I felt like there's finally a place I belong. So... So I..."

Auguste was taken aback when tears started flooding out of Henrietta's big round eyes and snot started pouring out of her small nose. He wasn't sure what to say, but he sure wished that she wasn't holding onto his hand so tightly. If she grabbed any tighter, a bone or two might just snap.

Going to Henrietta's side as gently as they could with their cylindrical body, the Administrator pulled out what seemed to be a piece of soft, white paper, wiping away Henrietta's tears and having her blow her nose into it.

"You're such a crybaby, you know that? Are you sure you're forty?"

"S-shuddap!"

"Anyways, I never said we're not going I'm just considering our options, that's all."

"And?"

"Yeah... I guess we're going. For better or worse. God, I hope it's for the better."

"Don't worry about it, this time I'm with you all the way. I'm not running away."

It wasn't very convincing of Henrietta to say it with such red, teary eyes, but Auguste, for some reason, did not doubt her.

"Alright. In that case, let's-"

"Henrietta Company!" Henrietta yelled out, cutting off Auguste.

In turn, Auguste sighed, but decided to play along. Though, he wasn't exactly sure how it was supposed to go.

"F-Forward!"

***

End of Chapter 77