The Arrow of Time

Something

Kirby knocked on the door again. "Magolor, no one thinks you did anything wrong. Please, come out. I'm worried about you." No response. "Magolor, I know you're in there. I heard you." Nothing. "I know you. The real you. If we leave you alone, you'll get really sad, and I can't stand the thought of one of my friends losing themselves when I could've helped."

The door opened, and Magolor emerged, face soaked from tears. "Thank you, Kirby. You're too good to me."

"C'mon! Taranza's making your favourite soup in the kitchen! You want some, right?"

Magolor patted Kirby on the head, and gazed fondly in the direction of the dining room. "Yeah, I do. It's almost ten in the evening and I haven't eaten in more than a full day."

Kirby giggled. "How do you even do that?"

Magolor's ears stuck out sideways. "Childhood thing. Did you hear that just now? There was a weird sound."

Kirby tilted his head. "I didn't hear anything. You look really tired, I think you should go to sleep soon." He led Magolor to the hallway as the door to Magolor's room closed behind them.

The soup was delicious. Taranza downed three bowls, Magolor had four, and Kirby had nine. It was amazing that no one showed up the entire time. "Ranz, I'm really tired. It's been great, but I need to go to bed."

Taranza got up alongside him. "I'll come with you. Someone needs to make sure you actually sleep."

Magolor grinned. "Even if everyone else does think I'm an OSO, I'm not worried. I have you two in my corner. ...Uh, usually, Kirby, you're supposed to look at people when they talk."

"Huh... oh." Kirby turned around, seemingly trying to blink himself awake. "I think I need to sleep too."

In the dorm hallway, Taranza led Magolor into his room. Kirby entered his own room, collapsed onto the bed, and the weight of his actions felt as if it could crush him to death. In order to muster the will to keep going, he decided to wait. Hours passed. They must be asleep by now, I should go. He got up and went to the hallway. Good. Everything was the way it should have been. He went to Dedede's room and knocked on the door. Then he knocked again. One more time... "It's three in the morning. What do you want, Kirby?"

"Shh! I don't want to wake them up. You know how everyone was thinking about Magolor being suspicious?" Kirby whispered.

Dedede quietly stepped into the hallway. "Yeah, why?"

"So we should, you know, look harder."

"Kirby, what are we doing?"

He started tugging Dedede's arm down the hall. "We'll look in his room."

Dedede stopped them. "How are we going to do that?"

"It's easy. We'll go over to the door, open it, and go in." After saying that, Kirby walked up to Magolor's door, opened it, and held it open for Dedede to pass by.

"How did you do that?" Dedede looked incredulous.

"This is important. I'll tell you later. We need to search this place quickly." Kirby ran into the room and let the door close behind him. "Let's start with that desk."

There were a few sheets of paper spread out on the desk. Dedede scanned them. "I'll read them out loud, okay? Whispering, of course." Kirby nodded. Dedede began reading.

Ｍａｇｏｌｏｒ：　

Ｔｈｅｓｅ　ａｒｅ　ｂａｓｉｃ　ｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎ　ｓｈｅｅｔｓ　ｔｏ　ｄｅｔａｉｌ　ｙｏｕｒ　ｍｉｓｓｉｏｎ　ａｔ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｓｉｔｅ．　Ｙｏｕ，　ａｎｄ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｔｈｅｒ，　ｗｉｌｌ　ｂｅ　ｒｅｆｅｒｒｅｄ　ｔｏ　ａｓ　"ＯＳＯ"　ｆｏｒｔｈｗｉｔｈ．　Ｍｏｎｉｔｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ａｃｔｉｖｉｔｙ　ｏｆ　ｔｈｅ　ｅｉｇｈｔｅｅｎ　ｏｔｈｅｒｓ，　ａｎｄ　ｉｆ　ｎｅｃｅｓｓａｒｙ，　ｓｅｐａｒａｔｅ　ｔｈｅｍ　ｆｒｏｍ　ｔｈｅ　ｏｔｈｅｒｓ　ｉｆ　ｔｈｅｙ　ｇｅｔ　ｔｏｏ　ｃｌｏｓｅ　ｔｏ　ｔｈｅ　ｔｒｕｔｈ．　Ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ　ｆａｉｌ　ｔｏ　ｄｏ　ｓｏ．．．　ｙｏｕ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｗｈａｔ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｈａｐｐｅｎ　ｔｏ　ｙｏｕ．　Ｙｏｕ　ａｒｅ　ｏｆ　ｃｏｕｒｓｅ　ｇｉｖｅｎ　ｐｌｅｎｔｙ　ｏｆ　ｍｅｄｉｃａｌ　ｅｑｕｉｐｍｅｎｔ　ｔｏ　ｅｎｓｕｒｅ　ｔｈｅｉｒ　ｓａｆｅｔｙ，　ａｎｄ　ｙｏｕ　ｎｅｅｄ　ｏｎｌｙ　ａｓｋ　ｆｏｒ　ｈｅｌｐ　ｕｓｉｎｇ　ｉｔ．（１／３）