Chapter Text
Hypothesis: Physical contact between Sides will cause traits of each to influence the other, similar to the effect observed when one Side spends time in another’s room.
Method: Naturally, I plan to test this by instigating physical contact with each of my fellow amicable Sides in turn. To reduce the risk of confirmation bias, I will not tell any of them the true reason for the contact until the test is complete. I will instead find plausible alternative excuses. During the contact, I will seek to determine whether I am being influenced by traits not originating with me. I will also note any signs of the other Sides becoming temporarily more logical. I am aware of the inherent flaws in such subjective data gathering, but trust myself to remain as objective as possible.
* * * * *
Virgil was sitting on the living room sofa, which made things easier. He was wearing his big headphones and had his eyes shut, either meditating or deeply engrossed in music. Or perhaps that was the same thing, for him. Logan stood directly in front of him, touched him gently on one arm, then stepped back to avoid startling him too much. Virgil’s eyes snapped open and he visibly flinched, but he relaxed when he registered Logan standing there. He took off his headphones.
“What’s up, Teach?”
“I require your assistance with something, if you have a moment.”
“Yeah, I was just chilling. What do you need me for?”
Logan took a deep breath, mentally bracing himself for the string of falsehoods he was about the unleash. He disliked lying, but this was necessary. This was for science.
“I’ve been reading about how to lift someone up if they’re injured or unconscious. The physics of it interests me and I’d like to test it with someone.”
He’d crafted the lie carefully. Its logic wasn’t flawless, but he only needed to fool Anxiety, not himself. Even so, Virgil didn’t look convinced.
“Why don’t you ask one of the others? Why me?”
“Because Roman sees picking up princes as his job. And because Patton...” He broke off, trying not to picture it.
“...Because Patton would treat it as hug time”, finished Virgil, giving him a half-smile. “Yeah, I get it. Logical.”
Logan sighed inwardly with relief. That was the first hurdle safely surmounted. Now for the second.
“If you’re willing to cooperate”, he said, “Please lie down on the floor, on your back, trying to make your body as limp as possible.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Please, Virgil. You’re the only one rational enough for me to test this on. I’ll be very careful, and I’ll stop if you’re uncomfortable.”
“Fine, whatever.” Virgil sighed. “At least I get to pretend to be asleep.” Lethargically, he shifted from the sofa down onto the floor.
It might have worked, had Logan not been so distracted by what he was really testing for. Or maybe it wouldn’t. In any case, after several excruciating minutes of fruitless grappling he suddenly felt Virgil grab his arm and pin him in place.
“Got you. Now tell me what this is really about.”
Logan could feel himself starting to sweat. He’d always had, thankfully, more subdued emotions than the others, but even so he felt nervous. Or perhaps that was due to the physical contact with Virgil?
“Wh… What do you mean…?”
“The truth, Logan. Right now, or I’ll call the others.”
“No! Fine, I’ll explain.” Logan sighed. “But let’s get out of this position first.”
A few minutes later they sat side by side on the sofa, Virgil turning the truth over in his mind.
“So you have a theory...”
“A hypothesis. I don’t have enough evidence yet for a theory.”
“...a theory that if we touch each other, we’ll start to act like each other?”
“Essentially, yes.”
Virgil considered this. “Seems pretty vague for all that stress and effort. What gave you the idea, anyway?”
“Just an observation I made”, replied Logan, trying to sound nonchalant. “I’ve considered several possible explanations for it, but on balance this one seems the most plausible. After all, we’ve both previously experienced the influence other Sides’ rooms can exert over us.”
“Uh, sure…” Virgil grimaced, but his tiredness overwhelmed any curiosity. “I guess if you don’t mind all that work testing it, that’s up to you. I would be kind of interested to hear if it works.”
Logan adjusted his tie. “I appreciate that. If I manage to achieve significant results with the others, I shall certainly let you know.”
“I’m the first one you’ve tested it on?”
“Indeed.” Logan gave him a wry smile. “I have yet to fully devise tests for Roman and Patton. As we established earlier, there’s a greater risk of them misinterpreting any request for physical contact.”
Virgil raised his eyebrows. “So you’ve gotta think up different excuses for touching them? Good luck with that.”
Logan sighed. “I have an idea that might work with Roman, but it won’t be easy getting him alone. We generally avoid each other.”
Virgil went quiet for a long moment, and seemed to shrink into his hoodie. When he finally spoke, it was barely above a whisper. “I might know a way. I kind of have a theory of my own we could test.”
“Oh?”
“I could write him a note.” Virgil compressed himself further into the seat and wouldn’t look at Logan. “If I ask him to meet me, he might come.”
* * * * *
Experiment 1 Results: Either Virgil is smarter than I gave him credit for or he was being influenced by my reasoning skills. Results of this test were inconclusive, so I will definitely need to test the others before I can draw any conclusions. I hope Virgil’s idea for getting me alone with Roman will work. I must admit, I’m intrigued that he even believes it might.