“That’s... that’s fair.” Sigh. He’s still staring at the floor but the scowl is gone. “I don’t— I’m sorry.”

"...yeah," she says, somewhere between acknowledging and sympathetic.

"Anyway. I would like... food and some assurance that I will sleep under a roof tonight and an explanation of the difference between 'hire yourself' and 'Martin (whoever that is) sneaks you onto the payroll' and whatever other options I have for hanging around."

(Basira heads off to get food.)

“Martin is—an assistant here. Like Melanie and Basira and Daisy. Since Elias was put in jail, Peter Lukas has been running the Institute. He serves the Lonely, which is approximately what it sounds like, and he’s taken a special interest in Martin, which is why you haven’t met Martin. He’d be—better at this, he was always the best of us at—comfort. 

He might be able to get you on the payroll as a secretary or just an unnamed expense or something, something that doesn’t tie you to the Archives, which means you can quit or leave any time. The downsides of this are that Elias or Peter Lukas might notice you, and also that Martin is... More distant. Than before.

If you hire yourself then all you have to do is go into an office and sign some paperwork and you’ll start getting paid. But you can’t quit and if you try to go on vacation for too long you’ll start getting sick, wasting away.

You can also just stay without making money. The downside of that is that money can be exchanged for goods and services. I’m perfectly happy to give you enough money for food—not like I’m using it—but the Archives has a high enough turnover rate that relying on the goodwill of its employees is... risky.”

Food! 

“You forgot to give her the assurance that she has a place to sleep tonight.”

“What? —Oh, right. We don’t have a spare bed yet but you can pile up my blankets, I haven’t been able to sleep with them since the coffin.”

"Since the... okay. Sure. It sounds like I don't want to go near any of your spooky bosses past or present, but being a miscellaneous expense doesn't sound so bad? I really am not gonna sign any paperwork that means I waste away if I stop working at the haunted prison, that sounds like a terrible idea. Especially since I've already been kidnapped by extradimensional monsters once in my life and I'd rather the second time not kill me. Or, I guess I shouldn't assume, do you guys already know whether you end up having problems if you like physically can't come into work? How long has your boss been in prison and is he wasting away in there?"

"I was kidnapped for a month and didn't do particularly poorly apart from the part where I was kidnapped. I also spent six months outside the Institute, but that was--special circumstances, I was in a coma and I don't even know that I can get sick for the same reasons. Martin was fine for a couple weeks of not coming into work without telling anyone--I was away from work for two and a half months when I was with Georgie, but I was still doing work for the Institute, and I'm pretty sure Elias filed paperwork allowing it--I don't actually know how long Tim managed to stay away before he started getting sick, it was while I was with Georgie and the tapes he recorded don't have dates on them--Elias is doing fine in prison but he's Elias, he's almost definitely watching us from in there. My guess is that you'll be fine as long as you're not trying to leave, but I don't technically know, maybe Tim did fine for a month before he started feeling ill."

Melanie winces a little. "I didn't pay attention, I just thought he was being an asshole, trying to dump all the work on me while I was still new here. I think he was gone for about a month total?" Then she glances at Jon. "You forgot to mention Elias's threat about Archives employees. He says that if he dies, we all die too. I don't believe him, but nobody except me is willing to risk it, hence the sending him to jail. But he's not young, I wouldn't want my lifespan tied to his even putting aside all the people who want to kill him. Word of advice, even if we can't find Martin, the pay's not worth being a prisoner here."

"Wow, yeah, good to know. Note to self: never ever work for the Archives."

"Yeah. Good plan. --D'you want to sleep in an office or in the tunnels?"

"...are the tunnels the ex-prison part of the building, because I can't say I'm thrilled about that, but on the other hand I think my actual answer might be 'whichever place feels less watched'."

"Yep, they're the ex-prison part. They are less watched, though. It's--better is maybe an overstatement, but." Shrug. "I don't like it up here."

"I don't like it up here either. I'll go for the tunnels."

The tunnels are beneath a trapdoor in the office! They are vaguely mazelike; there are several levels. Melanie and Basira have cots set up on the second; Daisy can't join them in the tunnels at all because her legs are still too weak for that to be safe, and Jon stays with her, but they get several armfuls of blanket to take with them for April. Nobody's sure how far the tunnels extend. Melanie's pretty sure they go past the boundaries of the Institute. Basira just says "Far." and leaves it at that. They're totally dark except for the light of the flashlights ("torches") that they've brought; the sleeping area has a few candles set up as well. They're definitely unsettling, although it might just be the fact that they're creepy underground tunnels, but the feeling of being watched is almost entirely absent.

April is happy to haul the lion's share of her blanket nest around; it seems only fair.

Once she has them piled up on the floor a little ways away from the cots, she turns to Melanie and says, "So what is watching us up there, anyway?"

"Elias, mostly. The--it's called the Eye? Some sort of--weird fear god--about knowing things you aren't supposed to. Elias and Jon both have powers from it. This whole place is--about it. Like a really fucked-up temple disguised as an office building."

"Well, now I'm extra glad I didn't mention up there that my first thought when I heard you all die if Elias dies was 'feed him to the Cave Things, I think they like keeping people alive'."

Dry snort. "I'm in favor."

"Probably a bad idea and also I don't know that we have any way to do it, but it would solve at least one problem, so..." Wry shrug.

"Anything that hurts him can't be that bad an idea."

"Whatever they were trying to make me into, it sounds like he'd be a nastier one."

Shudder. "Fair enough." Pause. "He doesn't just--watch. He can make you know things, make you experience them, make you live your worst moment over and over until you break."

"Sounds like fun," she says, in the tone of one who very much does not think it sounds like fun at all. "Dare I ask how we know that?"

Melanie raises her hand and waves it. "I tried to kill him. Twice. He let me go with--well. I suppose it qualified as a warning, for him."

"My instinctive response here is 'holy shit, are you okay' but I'm starting to get the impression that nobody around here is ever okay."