Day 65: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

As some of the clouds from earlier began to clear, the intercom jingle sounded over the intercom once again.

"Hello, patients!" came the Head Doctor's cheery voice. "I hope you're all feeling fresh and clean this evening! To top it all off, we've prepared a scrumptious herb chicken dinner for you to eat before bed. Of course, we have vegetarian options available, so please don't hesitate to ask the nurse if you're interested in that.

Also, since we have the pleasure of welcoming a few new patients into our family, some of you will be receiving new roommates. Let's do our best to give them a nice, big Landel's Institute welcome, shall we?"

The Head Doctor gave a friendly chuckle. "Well, anyway, enjoy your dinner!"

With that, the intercom shut off.

[Note: All dinner threads are posted in response to this entry. Be sure to check the Roommate Assignments if you're not sure what room/roommate your character has! Thanks.]

Comments

M5

[awokentospring]

"... But I would like to incorporate healthy eating into my diet if possible!" Lee argued with his nurse on the way to his room for the night. So far all of his pleas had fallen on deaf ears, but Lee was not the type to give up! Unfortunately, neither was his nurse.

"We just can't let anyone use the kitchen, alright, Bruce?" Nurse Todd sighed and opened the door to a room, Room M5, and led Lee in. He motioned to one of the desks, where a fresh meal had been set out. Lee noticed another similar tray was on the other desk, but to whom that belonged Lee could not guess.

"Just try to enjoy what you have now, okay?" Todd smiled, giving Lee a gentle nudge towards the desk chair. "If you stay here long enough and remain on your best behavior..." The man shrugged, smiling. "Who knows? Maybe you'll get special permission to use the kitchen. But let's not think about that. Just worry about your recovery." And with a quick goodnight, the male nurse left, leaving Lee to his own thoughts.

The shinobi, having been trained and forewarned enough to remain idle, did not immediately sit down for dinner. Instead, he began examining the room and determined not to leave one corner untouched.

Sorry I'm so late!

[maverickhunterx]

"I'm really all right, please. I can step in on my own--"

"No, Alex. I insist, let me help you--"

"I'm okay, really. I've handled worse, and you probably have other things you need to do...I can take it from here."

"Alex--"

The door swung open, and X limped inside, waving a pleasant but firm goodnight to his nurse through the crack in the door before closing it behind him. He'd had enough on his mind to last a thousand lifetimes; the feeling of dull pain in his leg and hand, and being able to walk and muscle through it kept his mind alert, focused on what was around him rather than what was on the inside. It kept him from losing himself in his thoughts...

...Thoughts which at the moment, he didn't really want to get into, thank you. He'd had enough for one day.

The scents of food wafting inside caught X's attention almost immediately, though not as quickly as the other person in the room with him.

A roommate...?

More like a fellow prisoner.

Noting the plate of food sitting on his desk, X hobbled to it, his stomach growling and his mind weary.

"You're staying in this room, too?"

Ahhhh, sitting down felt good after all that walking! Maybe he should have used the wheelchair, after all. He leaned back in his seat with a sigh.

M73

[ryuuzaki]

Today was much like yesterday had been, except for the happy addition of abdominal cramps. L took a moment after the nurse left to stow the most conspicuous and sensitive items that had been returned to him either in the closet or in the desk drawer. When he had finished, he cast a glum look at the tray on his desk.

Herb chicken.... Could he eat? He tried to skip meals as little as possible, even when it was hard for him to choke down whatever was on the menu: when it came to weighing eating food he disliked against the idea of being too weak to defend himself at night, the choice was obvious... even if the pink porridge had tested his resolve. But if there was a foreign object in his stomach... was it causing problems with digestion? Would adding food to it now make the situation worse later? At lunch, he had already considered the idea that the cramping could be caused by some kind of digestive blockage... but if that were the case, he probably would have vomited up what he had consumed earlier in the day.

He decided to compromise: he'd eat a few bites of everything. Enough to tide him over, enough that hunger wouldn't be a distraction, but not enough that he'd be trying to move around on a full stomach, or dealing with the possible consequences of having eaten so much. There were already the ramifications of moving around at night at all when he felt the way he did. Desperation was a good motivator. It would be better to push himself than to die for lack of trying.

He sighed, still skeptical, now resigned. Lifting the fork by the end of its handle, he then inserted the tines delicately into the chicken breast and peeled away a small strip of meat. It would be irritating if this turned out to be his last meal.

Re: M73

[complicatedliar]

Loki was deep in thought already as he let the nurse lead him to his room. He made a few appropriate noises as she nattered on, but was otherwise uncharacteristically silent.

This was a difficult question, one that he did not like. He had no choice but to try to help Soma, but of course, would he really help? Or would he take that opportunity?

He didn't want to. It was an awful, grinding feeling.

He nodded to his roommate as the door shut, then went immediately to the closet to retrieve the medical books, which he set on the desk. He thought he had most of the necessary supplies for crude surgery, but he wanted to be certain.

M3

[knightspirit]

That meeting had certainly been.... something. Kyousuke was glad to be escorted away, both for the fact he wouldn't have to listen to any more nonsense, and the fact this meant night was that much closer. Just a bit longer, and he'd finally get to actually do something about this instead of keeping his head tucked down like a good patient. Day may have been good for exchanging information, but it still wasn't proactive enough for his tastes, a fact which had been aggravating him the entire day. But it was the most logical approach, so he supposed he'd just have to bear with it.

He noticed the room the nurse was taking him to was different than the one he'd woken up in, and he made note of the halls they passed so that he wouldn't have any trouble when he left. He also noticed one of the doors he passed was the number Sora had given him, which was good. That made keeping an eye on him a lot easier.

He was only half-listening when his nurse left him in the room with talk of getting along with his roommate, and opted to roll onto his bed instead of touching the tray of food left for him. He could always eat it later, after all, and right now he wanted to try and enjoy a single moment of peace, even if it lasted only minutes, or even seconds; apparently, this place didn't believe in alone time. He didn't have any animosity towards socializing, exactly, but it could definitely be draining, and he could use some time to recharge.

[lovesthepain]

By the end of the day, Harpuia was starting to get a good feel for this place. It didn't surprise him too much when his nurse had informed him that he had been assigned a room -- and a roommate to go with it. The news was met with indifference; it made no particular difference to him whether he was alone or with someone. If all nights went as the previous one had gone, they likely wouldn't spend much time in the room to begin with.

His nurse gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder as she ushered him into the room, whispering a helpful "He's new too, Hayato. Try to be nice to him, okay?" before she parted. Harpuia had to admit he was a little bit curious; maybe some tenuous little part of him hoped that if this was a newcomer, they might be another reploid -- maybe even someone else he knew.

No such luck, from the look of it. It was nobody he recognized, as far as he could tell. He wasn't that good at pinpointing human ages, but he could tell his roommate was young -- whether he'd use the term "child" or not, he wasn't sure, but it was a little uncomfortable to think someone that age was in a place that was proven to be dangerous. Harpuia crossed over to his side of the room, doing his best to ignore the meal waiting on the desk. He wasn't sure whether his new roommate was in the mood to talk, but it never hurt to be civil, did it?

"...The nurse informed me that you're new here," Harpuia began, perhaps a little bluntly. "May I ask your name?"

M44

[redcladidealist]

That was the second time he'd heard the head doctor's voice over the... intercom? That was what Tsurugi had called it. This time he hadn't been busy talking to someone when the intercom had turned on, so while the doctor spoke he'd tried to search for the source of the man's voice in the room. Maybe that would help give him a clue about how to find the man. Even if it didn't, trying was better than just waiting around for the nurse to take him to dinner.

Unfortunately, he'd had no luck finding the source before his nurse found him. Lloyd had eyed the man, seriously debating resisting going anywhere with him. Still, it was just dinner. It couldn't hurt to eat before he set about making a serious attempt to do something about this place. So, he'd followed along cooperatively enough, peppering the nurse with questions.

"What part of the world is this place in?"

"When can I see the doctor?"

"Can I get my things back?"

The answers didn't leave him feeling any more satisfied than before, and his notable confusion when the nurse had answered the first question was still hanging there in the back of his head. Granted, geography wasn't really his strongest subject, and even more so if they were talking about Tethe'alla, but he'd still looked at maps when they were travelling, and the name of this area didn't sound at all familiar to him.

The minute he'd starting asking about the things Tsurugi had told him, though, about being held prisoner, about patients being brainwashed, being turned into monsters, his nurse had given him a very stern look.

"Nigel, I understand that you're confused, that you're still not feeling well, but you need to remember that some of the other patients here are just as confused as you. It wouldn't be a good idea to take everything they say to heart."

Lloyd had hesitated at that response. "I... hadn't thought about that." The admission had come reluctantly. It hadn't felt like Tsurugi was confused at all, but maybe...

He didn't know. There was too much he didn't know.

His nurse had smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder and guiding him into a room. "This place and its staff are only here to help, Nigel. Just remember that. Now, go in and enjoy your dinner. You can meet your new roommate, too."

Roommate?

The door closed behind him, cutting off any more questions. Lloyd looked around, taking everything in. The beds, the closets, the two trays waiting...

...the chicken smelled really good.

Re: M44

[earthling]

After such an exhausting day, Claude was kind of glad to spend the last shift in peace. He needed to brace himself for whatever happened tonight, and he knew by now that dinner wasn't usually a good time to keep to himself. Not that he minded Firo, of course. He seemed like a good guy, and they had always gotten along together well enough.

Of course, that hardly mattered the moment his nurse opened the door for him. Considering how long Claude had been here, the new face shouldn't have surprised him. Still, every time he was confronted with the prospect of meeting a new roommate, he felt his heart sink to the bottom of his chest like a heavy stone. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy meeting new people -- far from it, in fact. But in these instances, he couldn't help but wonder what had become of the person before, and a cold sense of dread always washed over him.

But this guy, whoever he was, couldn't help that. The moment his nurse told him goodnight and closed the door behind her, Claude did his best to offer a smile despite how crappy he felt.

"Hey," he greeted. "Um, I guess you're new?" Taking a moment to study the patient's face, he noted the distinct brown hairdo and continued talking. "Haven't seen you around before, so..."

M2

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar finally left the Sun Room. He had been sitting there for nearly the entire day, but at least he had managed to get something done. He was still very much on edge about Lust coming to his room tonight, but he didn't really have a rational reason for that. She'd done nothing but try to be helpful since he had woken up in this damn hospital.

But old habits died hard. There would just always be an uncomfortable sort of unease associated with the homunculus.

First, though, he would be going with Tsubaki to be rid of his wounds. The cramps in his stomach still persisted in addition to his aching head and nausea, but at least he would be rid of his wounds.

And hopefully by the end of tonight the sickness would be gone, as well, and the looming sense of doom would go with it.

Re: M2

[unpriest]

His roommate was already inside when Seishin entered. He offered him a polite bow of his head in greeting before taking his seat. The man did not appear to be the talkative sort, so it was probably best if Seishin wouldn't initiate needless conversation. He didn't particularly mind the silence, in any case.

But the silence was a double-edged sword, in a way. His mind couldn't help but wander off to tonight's plans, his eyebrows knitting together in mild concern. The remaining part of the basement...The former priest couldn't help but experience a sense of dread as he wondered what would be lingering behind the last door.

M7

[his_legacy]

Well, now Link was back where he started yesterday evening. He practically wolfed down his dinner, (The food here was so much better than anything he'd ever had in Hyrule, never mind when he had been traveling.) taking another good look around his room before Sora returned. He wanted to speak with his roommate about the girl who could supposedly heal people. He couldn't quite remember her name from the scramble last night, and Link wished to know the extent of her power. If they actually did resort to cutting the bugs out, Sechs was right. They would need immediate healing magic on the spot.

Maybe the goddesses would send a fairy? Link glanced down at the Triforce mark the back of his palm. What good was divine power he could call his own when it couldn't save the innocent people here? He'd never failed before...

And he wouldn't. A determined smirk slipped onto his face when he found that knife from last night sitting in his closet. So the king of this torture house liked to give his bait a little chance of a fight. Where Link had been given iron, he would make steel.

No one was going to die.

[lighthearted]

The day had been hard to get through, and Sora wished he could be glad that it was over, but it was more or less the opposite. Heading back for dinner meant he was one step closer to nightshift, and he had no idea what was going to happen at that point.

Trying to get anything done when he was feeling sick was definitely an uphill climb, but he had possibly secured some medical supplies through Soma and Lingormr, and that was a start. The question was if it was enough, because depending on how things went it might already be too late.

Right now, his stomach was struggling between the cramps he'd been feeling this morning and a hunger that was getting more difficult to deny. Maybe he would have to try and get a few bites of his dinner down, at least.

When Sora entered his room, Link was holding onto the knife that they'd found in the medical wing last night. It was good to see that his roommate would be making use of that. "Hey," he said wearily as he moved to his desk where his dinner was set out, even though he was tempted to just aim for the bed.

M39

[freewill]

It seemed like with each passing day, Lingormr grew more worthy of suspicion. It was clear now that the man was hiding something, between being able to wield some sort of magic and somehow understanding Enochian. The odd thing about it all was that Lingormr hadn't seemed to realize it was a different language in the first place.

Mere humans didn't have the ability to look at a language and simply know it, and Castiel didn't care what Lingormr said. He had to be supernatural in some way.

But in comparison to everything else, that was a drop in the bucket. Castiel had to deal with his own illness first, and at this point he'd at least planned things out. He had all of his pieces set in place, and he felt he could trust Kratos and Rapunzel.

The figure claiming to be Gabriel was a different story, but he would find out about that soon enough. It was really the last thing he wanted to deal with right now, but if it was true that the impostor could help him in some way, then he wasn't going to refuse. Hopefully there would be enough time to sort all of that out and then also go through with his surgery, if it could be called that.

Castiel returned to an empty room and realized that he'd need to inform Kobayashi of everything. With any luck, his roommate wouldn't need to be involved beyond that. Seeing how Kobayashi's friend was also ill, he probably had enough on his hands already.

In a small act of stubbornness, Castiel continued to avoid food, moving to sit on the edge of his bed instead. He couldn't say if he felt nervous, exactly -- right now, he was simply doing what needed to be done, and he'd endure the consequences no matter what they were.

[oyaji]

Wild Tiger entered not long after, one hand over his stomach and the other in a soft sling, but an easy smile brightening his dark face. The last of the day had been hell with his new stomach pains that had started during lunch. Fearing another embarrassing scene of coughing up hair, the older man just stopped trying to eat. It was for the best. He had a target literally painted on his rashy skin already, the last thing he needed was more instances that showed just how screwed he was. They were supposed to be symbols of good and bringers of change, not invalid and disease-stricken!

Still, like hell he was going to let it get him down. There was always hope and Wild Tiger had to project that in his attitude, so when it came to meet with his roommate again, he kept his mood light and pleasant.

"Hey!" he greeted, taking a seat on his own bed and ignoring his dinner as well. It wasn't worth the risk. The position helped alleviate the strain on his stomach, though, which he appreciated. It had been a rough day all things considered and he couldn't help but blow out a big breath of air as he combed a few fingers through his hair. They snagged the elastic string of his mask and, for a moment, he hesitated in taking it off until he realized it was a moot point by now. Castiel had seen him change more than once and knew his civilian alias already. Hooking his fingers through the string, he pulled it off with ease and dropped it on the bed.

"Ah, so I want to thank you for helping last night. Things sort of got... out of hand," which was beyond the understatement, but it was hard enough having to admit he had needed help, a few erroneous word choices were negligible in the scheme of things.

M27

[corvus_veritas]

Landel sure seemed excited about having new patients here. Of course. More toys for you to play with, eh, Mister Tyrant? I'll bet you're excited, you goddamn devil.

Even though he'd heard and dealt with this sort of thing every day for the past twelve days, Byrne still managed to feel sickened by that intercom broadcast. Well, more sickened than he already felt, anyway; those cramps were not going away, nor were the occasional aches and pains in his limbs. Sigh.

Perhaps he'd never get used to this. The cheery broadcasts, the taunting, the torture. If it meant he'd be keeping his humanity as result, though, fine by him. Why should he have to accept this hell? It wasn't right. He just hoped he was not one of the few who would be having a new roommate this evening; losing more people he knew here was definitely one of those things he didn't want to have to get used to.

...It felt a little strange to think of it like that when death was a real part of his job as a prosecutor to begin with, but in this environment? It had little meaning, only experience to help him cope a bit better than others. It wasn't like here he could easily find the guy responsible and lock him away for his crimes. Not to mention...

Ah. Thinking too much about this might just drive him crazy. It was dinnertime now, wasn't it? He should eat and consider his game plan for tonight, then. Worrying wouldn't help him any.

Once again, Byrne found himself without much of an appetite thanks to his illness, but he was going to force himself to eat anyway. Better to have food in his system than not. He sat down at his desk and started on his dinner, but after a minute he stopped, took out his journal and got to work on a new entry, now that he reminded himself to do it. Had it really been three days since the last time he updated this thing? Too much had happened in that short time span. He really needed to remember to keep up with this...

Re: M27

[timedork]

By dinnertime, the Doctor had found his thoughts wandering back towards the clue that had been found last night. Other than what he'd heard secondhand (or third-hand, or fourth-hand), there had been a little talk of it on the bulletin board—but all of it made him wish he'd followed the mention of it on the intercom, to have a look for himself. It seemed unlikely that it would still remain tonight—surely Landel and his people had cleaned up any trace—but unless there was some new lead to follow, having a quick look around might not be a bad idea.

And if there was some new lead to follow, well... He'd be sure to chase it tonight.

He was brought from his thoughts by the arrival at his room. Byrne had already arrived, he saw when the nurse let him in, and looked to be in the midst of writing. "Alright?" the Doctor greeted briefly. He paused for a moment at the door, and then headed straight for his closet.

M52

[idolism]

As the noble sat down to start wolfing down his food, he did his best to tune out the sound of Landel's voice. Infuriating bastard. 'Family', really? Some family.

The fact that there were new prisoners to welcome into the fold wasn't really much of a surprise, though. There always were, though they were so far down Aidou's priority list that he didn't spare Landel's message too much thought. He had better things to do than get involved with newly kidnapped residents; there was enough to occupy him with the current residents.

Speaking of... Aidou let his chin rest against his hand. He hadn't seen Sasuke in person, but at least he knew the boy was paying attention, since he had responded to his bulletin message. If all went well, Aigis could be left to her own devices for a night and they could combine forces to resume exploration in the caverns...

If all went well.

[ippo]

A groan came from the other bed as the lump underneath the bed sheets began to twist in its sleep. It eventually stilled after a deep stretch and a head eventually popped out, bleary eyed and particularly miserable. Ippo noticed the lights that were mercilessly beating down on him and quickly rolled back under the covers until he could come to his better senses.

Then, slowly, he sat up and slipped the sheets off his head and brought them around his shoulders, still conscious even in this lethargic state of the horrible stitches that covered most of his appendages. So far the young man had kept them secret, except from Jesse.

"Uhm," he said a bit weakly, his voice not yet back in full effect as his squinting picked up the shape of his roommate. "W-What time is it?"

F15

[thecamellia]

There was so much to do that Tsubaki couldn't wait to get back to her room to see Rapunzel. From her notes on the bulletin board, the other girl had already made up her mind about healing Scar and the others, but Tsubaki would feel better if she could check with Rapunzel one last time. And if there was something she could do to help before the sun set...

When she arrived at their room and realized it was empty, she looked around before wandering toward her supply box. After a moment, she pulled Black#&9734;Star's letter out of her clothes and knelt down to fold it up and set it inside. She didn't want to risk ruining by carrying it around with her after dark.

Getting together her other supplies could wait until after dinner. Tsubaki took a seat at her desk, where her camellia was still sitting in its little cup of water. Looking at it was... almost peaceful this time around. Strangely. She realized the sense of grimness she'd felt yesterday had dissipated, and she cocked her head, letting her eyes trace the soft petals.

"It smells good," she noted.

[hairraising]

She was going to have to pace herself. That was what Rapunzel kept reminding herself as she walked back to her and Tsubaki's room. If she was going to be doing a night of healing, she had to make sure that she got as much out of it as humanly possible. The harder she pushed herself, the faster she was going to get worn out and the less she would be able to do for people.

She especially had to hold out for Castiel, who was going to have the most difficult (not to mention vomit-inducing) wound to deal with. If she didn't have enough juice left in her hair by the time she got to him, he was going to be the most likely one to...

Thankfully, the sound of Tsubaki's voice was there to take her mind off the uncertainties of the coming night. "What smells good?" she asked, closing the door behind her quietly.

M50

[dualistic]

It had to be a miracle. He'd gone the whole second half of the day without having to talk to a single soul, and while the alone time was good to gather his thoughts and just have a break, even Harvey had been experiencing some boredom by the time that the day ended.

Of course, that wasn't bound to last long, since the nights were never boring here, and he knew that he was heading back into the underbelly of this place to find out exactly how Landel wanted to try and almost kill them next.

Sangamon had made a good point via the bulletin board earlier today, which was that he might need to give up his voice tonight and should bring a notebook along in case he had to write things down. Not that he would necessarily have all the time in the world to sit around and scribble out messages, but it was still worth doing.

He went searching through his desk for his journal, something that he hardly ever used except to store his maps.

M63

[nobleman]

As it turned out, Guy's conversation with Ilia hadn't been that much of a reprieve from the rest of the day. Still, he had wanted to hear about her basement experience to make sure that she knew she wasn't alone in it, even if that had meant revisiting old memories that he was hardly fond of.

Still, Ilia had made it through and while a bit worse for the wear, it was over now. Guy wished that it hadn't happened in the first place, especially since kids had been involved, but there was nothing to do about that now. He wondered if they would all be going through the caverns as well. If Ilia decided to do that, it wasn't as if he could judge her.

Of course, the caverns were the last thing on his mind at the moment. Guy just wanted Claude and Anise to be cured at this point, and he wasn't going to rest until that happened. Unfortunately, there wasn't too much to do at dinner, and entering the room still felt like a slap to the face because Okita was gone.

He should have posted on the bulletin about that, come to think of it. His mind had just been all over the place -- or rather, focused singularly on one thing.

Guy realized he didn't have much of an appetite, and so instead of eating dinner he decided to finally get started on making his sheath to pass the time. He grabbed for the piece of leather he'd been working on periodically, along with the needle and thread he'd taken from Arts and Crafts, and sat down at his desk to start sewing it all into the right shape.

F1

[she_is_ruin]

Almost time.

After her nurse had escorted her back inside her cell, Yomi turned and watched the woman leave, listening for the click of the lock. It wouldn't be long before Landel opened their cages and let the zoo animals run free for another night--she found herself looking forward to it, the promise of action.

If not action, at least a little excitement. Some prisoners were supposedly turning into animals in a physical sense as well as a mental one. That would be fun, right?

Moving over to her closet, Yomi pulled her shirt over her head and let it drop to the floor. Aigis... she had really augmented the sesshouseki's power, hadn't she? The penetrating wound on her chest had faded to no more than a knot of red, raised scars. She stretched, testing her upper body's range of movement. Practically back to normal. As for the gash on her hip... She lowered the waistband of her pants to run her fingers over the injury. Much the same. Neither wound was going to hamper her that night.

She smiled faintly to herself. Now I know how long it takes to recover from dying. Not long at all.

F21

[no_dont_go]

Aigis returned to the room, a little less distracted by her worry than she had been earlier, but she could feel it returning to her. Would Rita be safe? Or was Aigis bound to change soon? She couldn't let her guard down.

And her stomach was now aching consistently with painful cramps. She knew she wouldn't be able to partake of her dinner, no matter how much she wanted to keep up normalcy in her schedule. Eating was essential to gaining energy, but she couldn't risk the pain that would follow if she did.

Sitting up on her bed, Aigis made a grab for her stuffed Schrodinger and stroked the plush cat's head with her hand, willing the pain away.

F16

[avengingfists]

Ilia had touched base with two friends and made a new one today. Not bad. A wonderful day for Landel's standards, anyway. But one thing did bug her. Rose had never responded to her note. That wasn't typical of the girl, though Ilia hadn't worried overly much. There was always the chance that Rose wouldn't see it until she was on her way to her room and simply didn't have time to reply. And Ilia knew where she was rooming, so she could always go check on the girl first thing after night hit. With that in mind, Ilia moved to take a quick few bites of her food before hitting her closet.

Inside the closet, Ilia let the homemade brew breathe a little, then retrieved one bottle for herself along with the black box of possessions. She tossed the box onto her desk and sat down, ready for a drink and to tuck into her dinner seriously this time.

[fourstonewalls]

Despite feeling the worst she had in several days, Lana walked back into her room with the same poise with which she walked into courtrooms. She knew little more than she had before; she was flying blind into a trap, and she was ready for it.

Ilia, on the other hand, was heading for the booze. The corner of Lana's mouth twitched. "Good day? Or a bad day?"

M79

[dividedby]

Another day gone, and little to show for it. Zero had more or less recovered from that drug by now, but it was one of the only good things to happen to him since yesterday. If he'd been wise and not attacked the staff, he wouldn't have had to deal with the drug at all. But he had to have a point proven to himself...he had to have his uselessness thrown in his face once again. Then Harpuia - who, along with X, was dragged here for seemingly no reason other than to add salt to an open wound - had to make it worse by giving him the possibility that he was still under their control, that Ciel might be under their control...asserting Zero's inability to fight this, just like everything else. Like last night... ... ...

Fortunately, Zero wasn't the type to sit and mope. (Or at least, not for very long.) The daylight hours gave him time to bury the negativity and self doubt under a need to do, to recharge his fighting spirit. If he couldn't fight Landel and his monsters on his own, then he needed to either find help or use the human brain loaned to him rather than the strength that was mostly taken away from him to fight. If there was a way to bring Landel down, he would look for it. Something needed to be done about this Institute-wide sickness, and if he could help with that, he would. If his best friend and former enemy were here, then he needed to do whatever it took to protect them, whether it be steering clear of them thanks to last night's events or becoming their shield.

Somehow, some way, he needed to keep fighting. And he needed a plan for tonight. None of that involved sitting around and feeling sorry for himself.

He could consider plans while he ate his evening meal; his body had gone without food all day, and the noticeable discomfort in his abdomen was punishing him for it. Woody wasn't present when he reached his room, but there was a strange box on his own desk that Zero had never seen before. Briefly ignoring his food to investigate, he walked up to his desk and opened the box to find...the first aid kit and that handgun he'd stolen two nights ago inside. Hmph. How generous of them to give these back to him... Landel must be feeling cocky.

The kit... Wonder if he could put it to some use. He pulled it out of the box and started looking through it, though half of the kit's contents were unfamiliar to him. Perhaps some of whatever these were could be useful for a sick patient? He wondered...

[impudentsongbird]

[from here.]

The fourth shift had been oddly enjoyable--or at least as enjoyable as it was possible to be. Gabriel had managed to keep in mind his Master's advice, to be less anxious, and the combination of speaking with Skul and stringing rosaries for the other residents of the Institute had helped greatly in keeping the Archangel calm.

After having left most of the rosaries he'd made on the bulletin board for the other patients to take as they willed, aside from the one he looped around his own wrist, Gabriel had reluctantly submitted to being led to his new room. Which had Castiel said was his? M39, that was it. The Archangel craned his head to search the door-numbers, but Rachel, his nurse, only hustled him onward, chattering ceaselessly.

Ordinarily Gabriel would have been happy to listen, had been happy earlier in the day. Now, he was more than a little distracted, a fact of which Rachel was aware, because when they came to his door she patted him on the arm in a motherly sort of way. "Cheer up, dear," she said kindly. "You'll adjust soon enough. Eat well and have a good rest."

On Lucifer's staff or not, Gabriel wasn't so distracted as to deprive the possibly-brainwashed nurse a genuine grateful smile. "And you," he said, obeying the firm but gentle push to go inside.

Gabriel turned, taking a deep breath to try and shunt aside his anxiety so he could greet his room-mate properly. He hadn't quite been expecting anyone he'd already met, however, and he brightened noticeably when he recognise the man he'd spoken to in the sun-room that morning. "Oh! Hello again."

F8

[ninelivesonce]

Taura bounded into her room, pulled a limb off her roasted chicken, and munched on it while she rummaged through her box. It almost felt normal to eat in front of other people without apologizing or trying to look nonthreatening; she pried meat off the bone with blunt teeth and licked grease off her fingers without looking up to see if Nina was bothered.

Her arsenal had gotten a little out of hand, hadn't it? She looked at it for a moment. Could there really be any such thing as too little firepower? At least in the right hands? And she, at least, considered her own hands to be the right ones. Her and every would-be Baron, Emperor, and whatever Beta had voted to call their elected officials this week.

M6

[dispersive]

Luke clambered through his room without much thought of other people, which was just as well since no one was in the other bed. Dinner could wait, for now the young man was content to plant himself face first into his bed in a most dramatic fashion. He could feel a headache coming on which really sucked! This whole day had sucked after everything that had been unloaded on him. Not to mention the fact he hadn't even seen Tear! The replica hoped she was simply not feeling well and that she would be easier to track down tonight, or tomorrow at the latest.

None of his questions had been answered, they had just been expanded. He felt like such an idiot and so useless after all this crucial news just passed him by as he slept. He needed to help his friends! it should have been top priority over sleeping clearly!

His bed ate up most of the grumblings and moans that came out of him until he grew tired of wallowing in self-pity and rolled over to face the harsh artificial light of his room. He may not have had a very effective game plan, but at least he could work his hardest to help Anise find a cure one way or another. Surgery was just not an option the redhead wanted to consider seriously!

[vstheworld]

Scott was so not used to this whole M6 thing yet. Even after however many days it had been since he was marched down a new hallway at dinner, and Guybrush was mysteriously replaced with Nameless Redhead, he still found his nurse catching his shoulder to keep him from plowing straight on past the 1-A hallway. Funny how deeply entrenched habits could become, even after only a few weeks.

And it had only been a few weeks, hadn't it? Sometimes Scott could swear he was going on three years in this place, but nope: he had to keep trading out words like "months", "years" and "fortnights" when he really took stock of his time in Landel's Institute. Only three weeks? Bull. Honkey. He was still convinced they were all living in some kind of bizarro time bubble where up was down and quarter pounders were Royales With Cheese, and nobody realized it because they were all too busy noticing how much this place sucked.

That all said, today hadn't been half bad.

It was the first day in months days that Scott hadn't spent feeling sorry for himself and everyone whose presence had ever graced the Institute. He was actually interacting with the world, smiling, being bros with new people, etc etc normal people stuff. Was it weird to think that he had fake!Peter to thank for that? Really, it had been his visit that had been the spark for all this newfound determination. Fake!Peter had been the ultimate proof. The proof that the people who disappeared were not necessarily lost. They might have had their minds messed up worse than the stock room at the Gilded Palace of Flying Burritos, but hey, it was better than oh, say, death. Plus it explained how people could come back and not remember having been around before. All Landel had to do was pop a person in the de-neuralizer or whatever and they were back to normal and ready for re-traumatizing. So really, all they had to do to bring everyone back was take Landel down, get to his brainwashing machine-y thing, round up all the former patients from Doyleton or wherever, and presto chango, everyone goes home happy. Only slight trauma

Heck, that kind of thinking even made Scott hold out hope for the uncomfortable situation with Ramona. Who knew? If they fiddled with the knobblies on the brainwashing machine in just the right way, there was always a chance they could just have people... conveniently forget a few unpleasant memories...

Man, he hadn't eaten since lunch. What was for dinner?

One thing he couldn't fix just yet was the continuing awkwardness with Nameless Redhead. Who Scott realized he probably ought to have asked the name of a while back, but... Yeah. Things. So as it was, their time as roommates had been spent alternately sleeping through each other's company or outright ignoring each other due to moping/grumping/spiting and such. And yes, Scott had felt a little bit of spite in between bouts of feeling sorry for himself. Was it Nameless Redhead's fault that he wasn't Guybrush Threepwood, Mighty Pirate™? No, of course not. But he still wasn't, and he never could be. And Scott hadn't been able to help but hold that against him all the same.

So, the million dollar question of the day was: am I feeling good enough today to try some attempt at making amends for the past few days of being a total dickweed?

The answer? Eehhmmmaayybably...?

Scott opened the door to M6. His nurse closed it behind him. Nameless Redhead lay in grumbly mode on the bed. Scott crossed the room toward his own bed, gaze shifting and half-shifting back and forth between his roommate and the delicious chicken dinner on his nightstand. Scott didn't say anything.

He sat down on the opposite side of the bed, not facing the guy. He poked at his chicken, took a few bites. Then he paused, fork resting on the plate.

"...Hey."

M13

[doctor_voodoo]

Facilier arrived back in his room feeling just a little let down by the lack of promising replies to his advertisement on the bulletin board. He found it rather odd. Back in New Orleans, messages like that would always trap a good handful of naive customers! Perhaps the prisoner population here wasn't so easily fooled... He would have to take a different approach next time.

For now, Facilier took out his unused journal from his desk and began writing down notes on his progress. As he nibbled on his dinner, Facilier jotted down some names on the page. He knew for sure that Sora was infected, and he had seen others exhibiting symptoms but so far he hadn't gotten their names. He would be sure to add more to that list. He also had Rapunzel and Lee recorded as steady "allies" beneath his wing. If he could just recruit more useful suckers...

Speaking of Rapunzel, Facilier grasped his battered edition of The Crimson Fairy Book he managed to borrow from the library. He carefully turned the pages until he reached the chapter that was more like a vague biography of Rapunzel herself than just some harmless childhood fairy tale. Rubbing his chin in thought, Facilier narrowed his eyes at the chapter's first picture: the iconic tower with the recognizable rope of hair dangling down from a single lone window. He had to get this whole story removed from the book if he were to protect Rapunzel but at the same time have added leverage against her if things didn't go to plan. He had a pair of scissors after looting the Arts and Crafts room nights ago, even though they weren't as sharp as he'd like, they would have to do...

[vinesofregret]

Hakkai had not been in any particular hurry to get back to his rooms, so he wasn't surprised to see his roommate back already, engrossed in a book.

"Good evening." The greeting was vague, perfunctionary - he wasn't even sure if the other man was paying attention, and he didn't really mind.

He'd drifted through most of the day lost in his own thoughts, and right now was no different. He sat down at his desk with a decided slump. He knew he should eat something, but right now his stomach felt too tied up in knots. And he didn't want to risk seeing that face again in his dishware. So he took his glasses off and buried his face in his hands instead. He'd given up trying to hide the spreading rash - it was most of the way down his arm, now. Something was wrong, and he knew it - it was only a question of how bad it was going to get from here.

M55

[sixth_attack]

Today sucked.

Sechs' day-long cramps were still clutching into his abdomen by the time he was escorted back to his room. The fatigue and constant pins-and-needles sensation from his nagging nervousness didn't help his mood much either. It seemed all that Sechs had done was hear bad news from others and get his hopes repeatedly lifted and slammed down throughout the day.

Finally, to add to this stinker of a day, he had a talk with his new roommate Ritsu to look forward to. It wasn't that he didn't like him, he barely knew him at all so far. The only time they had spoken was when he found out that Kibitoshin disappeared... Sechs needed to know what happened to his friend, and so far Ritsu seemed to be the last person to have spoken with the Kaioshin. It was something he had to do, but he dreaded the emotional pain he was bound to get from it...

Yet once Sechs arrived he found the room to be empty, but he could wait. He forced himself to sit at his desk and eat as much chicken as his pained stomach would allow. As long as he didn't end up throwing it all back up, he couldn't afford to starve himself and pass out again.

[oneman_onekill]

The worst possible scenario had come true: Shiina hadn't replied at all to his notes. She hadn't been around all day, and now all Niikura could do was assume that he would only be able to find her at night, presumably trapped in the form she'd been forced to assume the previous night. This was going to be tough; where was he even going to start? One thing he did know was that he was willing to scour the entire institute to find her, with or without Mike's help.

In spite of that determination, though, he knew that it was going to be a long and thankless task unless a miracle happened, and the thought of it was enough to put him in a worse funk than he'd been in earlier--plus, he'd made all those promises to help some other people out by offering up his medical expertise. It was starting to become a bit too much.

The bright side was that maybe things could only get better from here, since it seemed like he'd hit rock bottom.

"Eh?" Niikura blinked as he entered his room. He'd totally forgotten that he had a new roommate with all the other stuff screaming for his attention. "Oh. Hey there." He waved. "I'm Niikura. Nice to meet ya, I guess." This wasn't awkward at all.

M99

[brokensmolder]

Eugene had barely even ventured out of his room (his new room; why had he been taken all the way over here?) all day. He just couldn't face the other patients. Not after Martin Landel had approached him with an impossible proposition, one that drove any thought of eating or sleeping entirely from his mind.

Landel wanted him to kill people. It didn't matter if he killed them directly or indirectly; someone still had to die for Rapunzel to stay safe.

He couldn't do it. He couldn't protect her if he didn't take part in Landel's little witch hunt, and he couldn't protect them if he did. The rock and a hard place cliche certainly applied right about now.

Miserable, the thief put his head down on his desk and waited for night.

Re: M99

[fallenbeanpole]

While the events of lunch still remained fairly fresh on his mind, the Once-ler's stomach had chosen to let him know that he hadn't eaten much all day. Rapunzel's healing offer was something to look forward to, at least.

He honestly had not been paying much attention to what room he had awoken in that morning, so he had noticed no difference in which room the nurse led him back to for dinner. What was new was the presence of another man sitting with his head down. The Once-ler guessed the man was his roommate, as was mentioned on the intercom.

He sat down at his own desk and stared at the food in front of him. He was hungry, but at the same time he had no desire to eat at all. The smell of food proved to be too much, and his stomach gave a very audible growl. Hunger was winning out.

The Once-ler started cutting the chicken provided into very fine slices; if there was anything unpleasant in this food, he was going to find it before putting it into his mouth.

M20

[forsworn]

He didn't feel perturbed in the slightest when he returned to his room, but as soon as he sat down and stared at his chicken, Kratos could feel his heart begin to race. In just a matter of minutes, he would be attempting a non-fatal evisceration. Evisceration alone was easy; he knew at least five different ways to accomplish that from a variety of angles. Making it non-fatal was a shade more difficult. He did not lack for skill or control, as he continued to tell himself, but somehow, that small voice of doubt that claimed he would slip in the most important moment continued to pound away relentlessly.

Closing his eyes, Kratos pinched the bridge of his nose as he attempted to rein in his thoughts before starting in on his dinner. It wasn't as if he didn't have room to spare; Rapunzel would be there too, and he had his own magic to patch things up if they got particularly messy. Still, he didn't want to strain that safety net, and that meant he'd have to be perfect.

...easier said than done, but he'd do it somehow. He had to.

F9

[madeinthehrl]

The dull stomach pains had only increased as the afternoon went on. Soma grimaced as she entered her room, doing her best to ignore her nurse's sympathetic glances. That was the last thing she needed right now, considering who was responsible for all of this.

No eating or drinking, Lingormr had said. It made sense, considering her impending invasive surgery. She regretted not having the foresight to skip breakfast as well, but she hadn't touched her lunch. It would have to be enough.

She pushed her tray aside and instead concentrated on taking inventory. She trusted Lingormr, but even if things went wrong tonight, she'd just have to hold on until morning. Easier said than done, she supposed.

[survives]

Not feeling any better than she had all day, Leanne followed the nurse back to her room, completely tuning out every word she said. She was even less in the mood than usual for the nurse's chatter and, if she were completely honest with herself, she could barely concentrate on anything around her.

Soma was already in by the time she entered; not eating, but she couldn't exactly blame her for that. Leanne didn't feel much like eating just then either, or for a long time if her symptoms kept it up.

"Hi, Soma..." She attempted a smile, even as she moved over to her own bed.

M12

[rocksthecourt]

Dinner was possibly the worst hour of the day. It was a time full of anticipation and anxiety for the coming night, trapped in a room while waiting for the inevitable and wondering what precisely would be happening this time. A very thorough way to kill one's appetite, if he were to be honest.

But tonight he was more anxious than usual. The bulletin messages regarding what was found yesterday had him nervous... not of the institute but of the "patients" within it. This illness that had been going around had been a hot topic of paranoia for several days straight now, and it was going to get to people. Especially since they all got a firsthand taste of what it meant on the buses. That odd scribble discovered in the medical wing, however, didn't really bode well. A... butterfly in a stomach, was it? He'd copied the picture put up into his notebook.

Judging by some of the bulletin reactions, some people were taking it to mean they should be cutting into other people's stomachs in order to... what? Kill patients who have been turned into monsters effectively? Cure them? They didn't even know that basic fact for certain, did they? It was a disturbing thought, regardless. If he were to be optimistic enough to believe it was an honest message about a way to help those afflicted, then he was more willing to believe that picture was only the first clue amongst several to be offered. He certainly wouldn't jump to the conclusion of cutting someone open. But others were a different matter.

Klavier sat at his desk, ignoring his dinner, and opened his notebook to the page with the copied picture. ... A random clue, given for no discernible reason other than possibly making people come to the conclusion of vivisection. Was it even worth trying to read other meanings into this message? It might not even be legitimate. Maybe it was all just another part of the game.

Re: M12

[baniichan]

No one had approached Barnaby during the last shift, nor did the nurse try to find him a conversation partner. The show of mercy in that regard was unusual for her, but it was possible she recognized how miserable he felt, even if he tried not to advertise that fact. Either way, he appreciated the peace and quiet, even if it was short-lived.

When the nurse finally wheeled him back to his room, Gavin was already seated at his desk and looking over his notebook. Neither of them had found the opportunity to speak much over the past couple of evenings. As research-oriented as his roommate was, Barnaby had no doubt that he'd be keenly interested in the latest events.

To be honest, it was the last thing he wanted to discuss with someone he barely knew, but Barnaby realized they couldn't avoid the elephant in the room forever.

"Enjoy your dinner, gentleman," the nurse told them before shutting the door behind her.

Barnaby, who was parked in front of his own meal, politely nodded to his roommate in greeting. If he remembered right (which wasn't always a guarantee these days), Gavin had been asleep yesterday evening. It was good to see that he was up and about today, if only because that meant he was probably in decent health. Not everyone was so fortunate.

M4

[heroesdontshave]

Between his fever and everything else, the world around him felt like it was going by in a blur. It had been like this on and off ever since he'd gotten drugged by those bastards on the bus. He was starting to wonder if they had put something else besides the usual in him. Even now, he felt like his head was swirling. And it was pounding with a horrible headache. As soon as Snow got back into his room, he had to sit down pretty much immediately.

Damn it. He'd never been sick for this long... or this badly, that he could remember. Not since he was very little. So why here of all places? And why now?! This was the worst possible time to be sitting still. He still needed to find where the people who were disappearing had gone to. That and... he needed to think of some way to get people out of here. A better way than last time. Several people had gotten really upset with him for that whole bus thing. Even though it hadn't been his fault, some of the comments people had shot at him over the bulletin really hit hard. Especially the one about how people had been put in danger because of him.

It had been days, but that still ate away at his conscience. His chest felt tight just thinking about it. Yeah, there was no way... no possible way he could just sit around and leave things like that. He had to make it up to everyone. But how? What could he possibly do? There had to be something. He just... had to find it was all. And until he found it, he'd just have to keep pushing forward.

...So there was no way he could continue wasting time just sitting around and doing nothing. Forget his head. It's not like a little illness was really going to keep him down. Just get your head back in the game and keep moving. Right? Yeah. People were waiting for him. Who was he to disappoint, right? ...But for now, he'd just rest a little bit longer.

Re: M4

[propheteer]

Izaya had, for the most part, kept a low profile throughout the day: monitoring discussions on the bulletin board and slinking around the corners of the sun room to observe—but he'd kept to himself all the while, aside from a few exchanged words via the bulletin with another of Landel's conspirators.

It was a funny thing, to be kept in the dark about the identities of the other four... While a part of him was quite curious to see the faces of those 'comrades', keeping himself hidden seemed the better choice—at least until his business with Landel was concluded. It wouldn't do for one of those four to turn against the others after having learned their identities, after all; morals could be bent, as he'd said to Landel last night, but there was also the possibility they'd snap after too long. He could ferret out the identities of the others later, when it was more convenient.

So while today had been spent monitoring the atmosphere and general disposition of the patient body, it would be straight to work tomorrow for getting a plan or two underway. He'd have to pay special attention tonight for anything he could use to lay some groundwork for it...

But first: dinner. His new roommate hadn't stirred before Izaya had slipped out of the room last night, but it seemed that wouldn't be the case tonight. The nurse let Izaya into the room and then locked the door behind him, and he adopted a smile.

"I'm glad to see you're up and about." Or at least awake and seated.