The Intercom (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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damned_institute2012-07-18 11:42 pm
damned_intercom) wrote in damned_institute2012-07-18 11:42 pm
Day 65: Intercom, Dawn
The intercom jingle signaled a new day. Although clouds blocked a good portion of the sun, making the cold morning seem that much colder, the Head Doctor's voice was as cheery as always.
“Rise and shine, everyone!” he greeted, and those listening to him could hear the smile in his voice. "We've got a scrumptious breakfast waiting for you all – french toast! Doesn't that sound delectable? Or maybe that's because I'm really, really hungry right now..."
The Head Doctor gave a self-depreciating laugh. "Anyway, we have a few new patients here with us today, so be sure to give them a nice, warm, Landel's Institute welcome when you see them! Ta-ta for now! Enjoy your breakfast."
“Rise and shine, everyone!” he greeted, and those listening to him could hear the smile in his voice. "We've got a scrumptious breakfast waiting for you all – french toast! Doesn't that sound delectable? Or maybe that's because I'm really, really hungry right now..."
The Head Doctor gave a self-depreciating laugh. "Anyway, we have a few new patients here with us today, so be sure to give them a nice, warm, Landel's Institute welcome when you see them! Ta-ta for now! Enjoy your breakfast."
M79
.......
What happened last night...
The memories came back to him as disjointed, vague hints, but it wasn't long before he could piece them all together. There was fog...the sensation of pain, and of being thrown back by some force...a child with an older man, both looking like they were being threatened by something...the sound of gunfire - his own Buster Shot's fire - and familiar faces...
Mechanical limbs.
Zero withdrew his hands from his face and stared at them; he shivered.
He had been in his original form. With his own weapons, even. How that happened, and why he was human now, he had no idea. All he remembered after dinner was being dragged from his room, being strapped to a table, and the sound of a drill. Nothing else. But he did know that in his Reploid body, the one thought he remembered having most was...
Serve Dr. Landel. Subdue the prisoners.
The prisoners, whose faces he could recall now with little trouble. One had definitely been a child; another, an adult man with a chair. And two looked unnervingly familiar, and had claimed their names were...
No...
For the second time, Zero had a disturbing realization that the previous night's events were not a dream - only this time, what that revelation meant was far worse than he would have liked. (It couldn't be a dream, no...there was proof. He'd been kicked by that kid, and the place where it'd happened was sore now. Not to mention, the memories were too vivid to be something imaginary...)
To think, he had managed to have his original body back for one night - one night - and the time he'd had it had been spent being forced into Dr. Landel's service. That he had tried to harm a child and succeeded in harming others he knew that might be prisoners here now.
Forget however it had been possible. They'd used him. They'd used him to nearly kill people he considered his allies. And now Zero was left with the memories and this useless excuse of a body and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. Just when he thought he was making progress, Landel proved to him that he was still nothing more than his prisoner here. That he was subject to being brainwashed beyond his own will. And that stung worse, far worse than when he'd failed to protect Zex and Ema.
The hands curled into shaking fists.
Re: M79
It didn't take her too many steps to notice that her charge was somewhat out of sorts. Seeing the angry look on Yūdai's face, a look of concern took over her own. "Something wrong, dear? What happened?"
[Eryn]
Re: M79
But that didn't mean her words failed to catch his attention.
That cheery voice, as grating as Landel's...the way she greeted him and asked if something were wrong, so sweetly and innocently - as if she were mocking him! As if she knew!
(Maybe she did. Maybe they all did. Maybe they knew it would happen beforehand, too. Hell, maybe some of them had helped turn him into Landel's guard dog. How was he supposed to know? As far as he was concerned, as employees of that man, they were all guilty in some way. Even the woman standing before him, who pretended to care so much about him, had no excuse. None.)
Zero stood up slowly, his tightened fists falling to his sides. Any other day, he would have muttered something rude to her and left it at that. Or else, passive-aggressively remained silent and glaring, hoping she would take the hint and leave him alone.
Today was not any other day.
Today? He'd had enough. He was sick and tired of this. He was sick and tired of being treated like a child, being mocked by Landel every hour of every day, being too powerless to help himself and being knocked back fifty steps every time he took two forward.
...Hmph. Maybe it wouldn't get him anywhere, and maybe he was about to foolishly target someone who was innocent for the most part, but at least he wouldn't be able to say he'd never tried to put up a fight.
There was no hesitation when the once-Reploid finally snapped, turning to his nurse with as much speed as his weakened body would allow and reaching for the woman's arms to grab and retrain her. No words as he did this, just a look of barely controlled fury on his face. The words would come, but in a moment.
Re: M79
"Yūdai! That's enough!" she snapped while struggling to get a hand down to the sedatives in her pocket. Her voice and the sounds of violence in the room brought more bodies in. Two burly orderlies grabbed for Yūdai's shoulders, ready to pull him off the poor woman and restrain him in any way possible.
Re: M79
"You knew, didn't you?! You know everything he's up to!" His voice and face, normally so calm and quiet, were expressing a level of rage that was almost unnatural for him. It was more intimidation than an actual attack in his eyes, however; his face hovered merely inches away from the poor nurse's and the grip on her arms was tight, but he had no intention of drawing blood. (At least, not from her. Not from someone who (from what he could see) was unable to fight back.) "And you think you can just keep pretending nothing's wrong?! Tell me the truth!"
No time for any other words-- back-up was quick to arrive, as the sound of two larger people rushing into the room and the feel of hands roughly seizing his shoulders informed him in mere seconds. Luckily, Zero was just as quick to face them and with less hesitation, as these were people who could clearly put up a fight. He released the nurse and turned tightened fists upon the orderlies behind him as hard as he could, not caring where they landed as long as they hit something that belonged to one of Landel's servants.
They wanted to stop him? He'd make sure they'd go through hell first.
Re: M79
The orderlies bought her the time she needed. As they held off Yūdai's surprisingly vicious attacks, the nurse scrambled to get a needle ready. The men took a few punches, but with their bulk and with the poor angle of attack that Yūdai was restricted to, the hits barely fazed them. They strengthened their grip, taking hold of the patient's arms more securely once they had the opportunity to.
The nurse sighed. "The truth, Yūdai, is that you're still very sick — and worse than we thought," said the nurse with genuine disappointment as she flicked the end of the needle. An orderly held out the young man's bare lower arm for her. With reluctance, she took Yūdai's wrist and plunged the needle in.
Re: M79
As further proof of his uselessness, his arms were quickly seized and held still. Then the nurse muttered something - still insisting he was sick? Did she really believe that? - and she pricked his wrist with a needle, pumping some unknown liquid into his body. What liquid? What was it going to do to him? It wasn't whatever they used to take control of him before, was it?
...It was, wasn't it?
And here he was doing nothing, letting the same thing happen again so easily.
NO!
A short-lived wave of adrenaline hit him as the needle was withdrawn, and Zero retaliated with the only body parts he had free - his legs. He swung one at the nurse who just injected that unknown substance into him, then he kicked backwards, throwing his weight forward at the same time as he (almost desperately) tried to pull himself away from the men holding him secure. "No!" he shouted as he struggled, "I'm not letting you use me again! Let me go! Let me..."
...unh. Dizzy... His aggressiveness died all too quickly as his short, rapid breaths became heavier and slower. What was that medicine? He could feel it affecting every part of his body, slowing him down, and he couldn't...couldn't fight it. Limbs felt heavier, focus was slipping. Augh... No, snap out of it! He had to keep fighting! He couldn't let them make him into their servant again! He had to fight...somehow...
But the substance was too fast, too strong. It wasn't long before his protests became unintelligible mutters, his body went mostly limp, and his mind fell into a state of calm confusion. He couldn't fight it any longer...
He'd lost.
M??
Lee put a hand to his head, hoping to clear away the cobwebs left there by sleep. It was when uncovered flesh met his forehead that Lee realized his bandages were missing. In fact, his usual spandex suit was missing as well. Not that he slept in it, but usually he slept stripped down to his boxers. Oddly enough, even the hospital clothing he was wearing hardly seemed like a normal hospital garb. It was two pieces, for one. And grey. Not the most comforting of colors.
Before Lee could even think of what may have become of Sai and the others, let alone Naruto or his beloved sensei, a young man, looking a little nervous but eager, entered the room and offered Lee a smile. "Morning, Bruce. I hope you managed to sleep well. But it's time for breakfast and I'm sure you don't want to be late!"
The ninja blinked owlishly at the man, uncertain how to proceed. He opened his mouth, then shut it. Then opened it again. "Where am I?"
"Oh! Right! Um," the man stuttered a bit, but seemed to regain confidence quickly. "You're in Landel's Institute! And I'm sure you're going to make a lot of friends, but you can't do that lying in bed all day. C'mon, Bruce! Let's go eat!"
"But I am not--" Before Lee could correct the man, he was already talking again, seeming to want to block out whatever Lee had been meaning to say. "Oh, you'll be okay, Bruce! And I'll be there in case you start to feel uncomfortable! So c'mon! It's french toast~" He said the meal's name as if it were a mystical and rare artifact.
Still confused, and tired, not to mention disoriented, Lee gave in and decided to just sort it out after he had eaten. He was pretty hungry, after all. Once that was done, he could find whoever ran this institute and ask them to reassign him to the front lines. He wasn't all that badly injured, after all. He just needed to rest, and now that that was done, he would be all ready to go!
As soon as breakfast was eaten, that is.
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