"Bar, can you get us books from where he walked in from?"

She can!

And it's an Arda. "Well. That explains it. I'm so sorry, Cam -"

"What are you apologizing to me for?"

"He's not listening."

"We've seen a fair few of these."

"Not the - whatever he just did, that's unusual.

No two people come out broken the same way but - I don't think he's going to be okay."

"What's the - flat version like?"

"I don't know. You heard him say this would be easier if he was on fire -"

"People don't believe they're out and so they are really reluctant to say what happened, that being something that would provide information about what left an impression," he clarifies. "Injuries significantly more severe than his are standard but perhaps they're more careful with humans -"

"There haven't been any human 'escapes' or rescues."

"We know he tortures them, obviously, we know he breeds the orcs, we know that pretty much everyone comes out and asks you to kill them - or they don't, they're fine and then a month later murder forty people in the middle of the night -"

"...any clues why?"

"It's possible they're sworn to it - they won't swear they aren't, which makes sense because if you don't think you're really out it's categorically a horrible idea to swear to anything - we think he can tamper with memories, maybe he sets them up to believe it's somehow the right thing to do -"

"Well. New Bell can't be sworn to it, I imagine. And seems to think catatonia is the right thing to do."

"It's one way to be useless to your presumed captors, I suppose."

"I mean... yes, but it seems like it would come less naturally to me than sarcastic commentary."

"I can't help. People who 'escaped' had only the memories of Angband he wanted them to have anyway."

"Timothy, do you have any Veritaserum around?"

"- yeah -"

"Give him a while to decompress - see if he'll eat or if I have to get nutrition into him - then maybe try that, he'll be able to account for what he says, it's not like mindreading."

"Okay. Should we get him a room, move him upstairs - new Bell, do you want company -"

"Might as well. Especially if he's going to yell like that."

Nod. Float. "Bar, can we get another room -"