damned_institute | Day 55: Cafeteria

Entry tags:

Day 55: Cafeteria

A night spent inside his room had done nothing to ease his jitters. Peter couldn't stop worrying. Over Brainy, what he thought of him now that he knew about what he'd done to Grell, and where he was going for the night. If he'd be safe. If Indy and the others would be safe, trucking on down to the basement. (Not frigging likely, considering 'basement' was synonymous for 'giant ass doom pit'.) If that ominous intercom announcement had meant anything. Peter had spent hours staring into the dark after that, his stomach churning his supper into butter over the horrific possibilities. Whatever punishment that arose for the food fight was a mystery. It didn't seem to infect him, unless it was a particularly trying case of insomnia. No matter how badly Peter tried, he couldn't find the will to sleep. Much of the night had been spent making notations and doodles in his journal by flashlight, peppered with long stretches of staring at the dark.

Honestly, he'd rather be taking another crack at the Hall of Hallucinations instead of rolling around in his bed. Paranoia was his only company the whole night.

Morning felt like a blessing by the time it came. He wasn't sure when sleep had finally overtaken him, but as he blinked his way into life he couldn't help feeling a bit...off.

It was really quiet. Peter's face scrunched under the light, and he stretched underneath the covers. There was a zip of cotton on cotton, and his shirt half dragged itself out from under the belt.

His eyes shot open. Belt? The covers flipped back, and Peter gaped down at his form on the bed. ...Belt?!

What the frigging hell was this? Peter jolted to his feet, patting himself down. He looked like some kind of air cadet. There were freaking epaulettes on his shoulders (was that even what they were called?), boots on his feet and a beret on the dresser. A single pin was nestled into the front, looking freshly polished as it glinted in the light. Peter snatched the hat up and stared. Two letters were inscribed on the pin. Nothing more, nothing less.

"SC..."

Special Counseling? Peter's expression took a turn for the frantic. What else could it stand for? He tried to run through a few candidates, but nothing stuck. Nothing applied so neatly without being ridiculous, because it clearly didn't stand for Super Cuckoo or Spider Cadet. Was he supposed to wear this like some stupid badge of honour? God, just brand it across his forehead, why don't you? My name is Peter Parker and I totally snapped a guy's arm for Mother Landel's. Hail the Smiley!

Peter pressed the beret against his face and groaned into the fabric. This was it. They weren't playing games anymore. They were finally turning this into death match boot camp and sending them off to war. Shit. Shit he was going to be in the frigging army in some messed up alternate universe, and he didn't even know what the frick they were fighting against or why they were fighting. If they were pulling magical whatsits out of every book and TV show known to man, then who knew what wacky threat they were up against. Aliens? If it was aliens, he was quitting. He was going to curl up on the ground hugging a grenade and pull the pin. Just no. No. This was not happening. This could not be frigging happening.

Except that it was. The person who whipped open the door that morning wasn't the affably sour Nurse Rachel, but a hulking, thickly built man who looked like he consumed a toddler a meal solely to fuel his pecs. Peter couldn't even find the breath to argue as he was told to tuck in his shirt and put on his boots and come to the cafeteria. He left just as another soldier brushed past them to collect Brainy, and Peter abruptly realized that in his confusion he'd forgotten to check if the boy was okay.

Too late for that now. Peter tried to match pace with the burly man, fumbling to put his snazzy new beret on and watching with wary eyes as other patients were dragged by. Things seemed even bleaker as they hit the cafeteria. The buffet was empty. The scent of food was lacking. Soldiers packed along the borders of the room so neatly you would think they were part of a particularly tacky wall paper. And worst of all? Buckets. Mops and rags and brooms, all piled in the center of the room.

The lady officer's speech was entirely unnecessary at that point. Peter withered where he stood as she told them their duty. It was like a scolding from Aunt May, if someone gave her a gun and a license to use it. Except the joke only made things worse - now he just wanted his Aunt. The force of his loneliness bowled him over like a wrecking ball. He might never see Aunt May again. Peter's gaze fell to the floor and he clenched his fists.

Was this it? Was his life really over? Escape never seemed so far away.

There was no protest from him as they were sent to work. Ashen and queasy, Peter stumbled towards the cleaning supplies and selected a bucket and a rag. He couldn't even bemoan his lack of breakfast. His nerves were making it impossible to even think about food.

They needed to get out tonight. Everyone. Somehow...

[Lion!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Ax looked up at the young human male, then pushed some of the hairs away from his eyes to get a better look. This head covering was restrictive and annoying, and served mostly to remind him that he only had two eyes now. He did not like the feeling that anyone could sneak up on him from behind.

"I was not," he told the human. "I do not understand, stan-duh, the purpose of this punishment." He stopped moving the sponge across the floor to consider the human. He appeared to be older than Ax, and not yet an adult, but Ax was still not a reliable judge of these things. "The ones who caused the disturbance should be the ones cleaning-ing." He had little information from which to determine the purpose of this place, but causing humans to resent each other didn't seem productive.

Perhaps there was a reason for it he did not understand. Ax recognized that it was possible he was unable to think this through due to his embarrassment and worry over being stuck in this body. Human emotions were not, in general, pleasant. They affected the entire system in ways he was unused to.

Brainiac 5 tilted his head, brow furrowing both at the boy's odd method of speaking and his answer to the question. He set his mop on the floor and pushed it around a little in a way he calculated would imply he was working without putting out too much effort. It likely wouldn't work for too long, but it would be long enough, theoretically.

"I don't think they really took a list of names on who was directly involved in the disturbance yesterday," he answered after a moment. "This is likely a tactic to show dominance, since the general's only just taken over."

He doubted it would be entirely effective, however; at best all it would do would show the patients - was that even the correct term any more? - the extent of the general's forces and if there were any problems with them that could be taken advantage of. Which was something he was intending to keep an eye open for, but he didn't imagine everyone else had the same ideas.

There were so many ideas swirling around in Ax's brain, he wondered if the human mental capacity were not as efficient as its Andalite counterpart. Foremost among them was the thought that his friends must have noticed he was missing by now, and would be on their way to find him. If he had not been incarcerated, and had had his morphing abilities, he would have taken this as a given, but right now, it made his human throat feel sore in that odd way again, the one that seemed to mean his eyes might leak water soon. He tried to ignore that, and to push his fear, not befitting a warrior-cadet, away, and focus on the human's words.

"There has been a coup?" he said. "I do not know where I am at all. A-tall. I have no memory of being-ing transported here."

Marco had once told him to restrict his answers to human conversation to simple "Yes"es and "No"s. Ax felt a more proactive approach was called for in this case, and at any rate, Marco was not his prince.

"Something of the sort," Brainiac 5 affirmed. "And you're not alone there. In fact, my research indicates that no one here is aware of arriving beyond waking up in their rooms."

He allowed that to sink in for a moment, taking the opportunity to look over the new arrival carefully. While visually he didn't seem that unusual, the way he spoke seemed very unusual and the Coluan couldn't think of a single time he'd met someone who seemed to enjoy repeating sounds and words as the other boy did.

Of course, speech problems didn't tend to be common in his own time, so it was possibly something like that.

Filing the thought away for later, Brainiac 5 spoke up again. "Since you're new, I'd be happy to supply information that you may need. You can call me Brainiac 5."

Ax was concerned for a moment by the numerical designation, but when the human stopped at only one digit, he relaxed. That was not the system the Yeerks used, but neither did it sound like a human name. "Brain-ee-ack five," he repeated, quietly. "That is an unusual name. Mine is Phillip, Phil-lip-pah." He used the name Prince Jake had given him for his day of school, and couldn't help but emphasize the last syllable. The P sound was so satisfying to say with human mouthparts, almost as good as Z. "I am from out of state." He felt certain this explanation would account for any small lapses in his excellent imitation of human behavior.

There were many, many questions he wanted to ask, but Ax began with the most important. "Why are we here?" He stood up straight, careful not to become unbalanced (two really was an inefficient number of legs), and showed the human the metal pieces on the chain around his neck. "And why do we have these? I tried to explain, plane, that this is not my name."

"It's Coluan," Brainiac 5 answered. "So it's understandably unusual when compared to human names."

If he was entirely correct about things, then it was actually more of a title than a name, but it was difficult to explain to those unfamiliar with Coluans in general. And he was certain that Phillip would far prefer to hear more about the institute itself than Brainiac 5.

He moved to automatically assume his preferred stance for delivering information, but caught sight of the soldiers watching them a second later and, with a faint sigh, resigned himself to trying to appraise Phillip of the situation while cleaning the floors instead. He hardly wanted to attract undue attention, after all.

"As near as anyone seems to know so far, we've been brought here for a largely nebulous purpose. Judging by the changes today, we're being trained to participate in something, but as to if it's someone's private army or something else is difficult to tell. Almost everyone seems to come from different times and universes, so it's hard to say which world and time we're in exactly. Either way, I'm afraid you're unlikely to be seeing anyone you're familiar with any time soon."

He should likely be more sympathetic about that, but as he saw it, it was simply a fact that everyone had to deal with, so trying to make it easier on the boy would hardly change anything. Instead Brainiac 5 glanced at the metal identifiers, similar to his own.

"We're also given false names here by the staff. I'm not certain as to why, but there likely is a reason to it all."

Even if that reason was only to confuse and keep them off-balance enough for them to be less effective against those in charge.

While Ax had not strictly paid attention to xenobiology lessons, that species was entirely unfamiliar to him. He thought he would have remembered hearing the name, if nothing else. Besides, the Coluan looked exactly like a human, and Ax was certain (pretty certain) no other species had evolved so bizarrely.

Different universes should not have been possible, unless the Ellimist had disrupted the order of things, and this did not feel like his doing. Ax distrusted him on principle, but he was not random in the ways he chose to interfere, and whatever his reasons, something on this scale did not seem to be his preferred method of interfering.

He considered again that this place was for creating Controllers, and rejected that idea again. Once humans were their prisoners, it was not like the Yeerks to attempt persuasion, or waste time preparing the hosts for something else.

Ax also had no reason to doubt that Brainiac 5 thought what he was saying was true, nonsensical as it seemed. "Are you saying-ing," he said, slowly, "that even if I found the means to contact my friends, it is possible, si-bull, I would not be able to reach them? And, it is not that I don't be-leeve you, but you appear completely human."

"It's highly likely that, yes, if you found a way to try contacting anyone outside of this institute, you still wouldn't be able to contact your friends. Not unless you're extremely fortunate and this turns out to be your own world and time, but that's not statistically probable."

Yes, it was likely harsher than he should have been, but, again, he saw no reason to break things slowly when the truth would be painfully apparent (in more ways than one) later.

Besides, it stung a little that the boy felt the need to point out that Brainiac 5 appeared human here.

"Everyone does," he answered flatly. "Regardless as to what we looked like before. Anyone who isn't normally human or at least appears human does here. It's rather... unsettling."

Emboldened by that admission, Ax decided a calculated risk was called for. It made him feel flooded by human adrenalin, which was always disconcerting, but his need to know the extent of the danger he was in was greater than a primitive system's chemicals. Perhaps, too, the news that Prince Jake and the others were out of reach was making him somewhat reckless.

"I am not human, either," he said, with more boldness than he felt. "I lied about my name before. I am Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill. Ist. Isth-ill. It is not so easy to say with human mouthparts." He took a breath, because his human body seemed to demand it, before revealing the most potentially dangerous fact, as if the name were not enough to make it clear. "I am an Andalite."

He watched Brainiac 5 carefully for a reaction to this. Outright violence would be impossible here, Ax judged, but this did not help him feel less uneasy about it all.

He very, very carefully avoided pointing out that the fact 'Phillip' wasn't human was not exactly surprising. While initially Brainiac 5 had been willing to assume he simply had a very strange speech pattern, this answer explained a lot more.

"I'm assuming then that you're rather different in appearance from humans?" he asked dryly, with a hint of amusement. At the very least he apparently had a different vocal system, if 'human mouthparts' were so odd to him.

Catching a glimpse of a soldier frowning at them, Brainiac 5 sighed and pushed the mop around the floor more while he considered Aximili's revelation. Much like Brainiac 5 himself had initially, he was waiting for a sign of recognition or something of the sort. He doubted it would happen much in the institute, however. There were too many people from different worlds interacting here.

"I'm unfamiliar with the species, much as you are with Coluans. But since I've been here for longer and had to get used to being trapped in organic, human form, I can empathise with your difficulties. Are Andalites vastly different?"

The aftermath of the adrenalin rush was almost as strange as its arrival. Ax felt his shoulders slump in relief, felt a sudden odd weakness, and his human mouth turned up in a smile without him consciously trying to make it.

"Yes, we are very, verr-ee different." Ax also noticed the armed human looking their way, and knelt down to rub at the already-clean floor with the sponge. This made conversing somewhat easier, because he was not preoccupied by keeping his balance. "My human friends tell me I look like a blue deer, crossed with a scorpion. Ee-on. And I do not... did not... have a mouth." He looked down, the smile gone. He would have traded the fun of human speech and the wonders of being able to taste to have his tail back. "I was also able to change forms. Form-zuh." He had never had to explain this, having always been able to assume someone knew the moment he said 'Andalite.' It was unpleasant to have to use the past tense. "But I cannot anymore."

Something the Coluan had said was interesting and distracting, fortunately, and Ax looked back up at him. "You are not organic in your usual state? I have encountered androids before."

A shapeshifter who wasn't as fluid as Durlans tended to be, perhaps. At least the power set wasn't anything Brainiac 5 was unfamiliar with, so there wasn't even a flicker of surprise on his face at the revelation.

"That's an extensive level of difference, so I can understand at least a little about how difficult the change must be for you."

Which linked back neatly to his own situation and Aximili's comment. "No, Coluans are... well, androids are likely similar enough for the purpose of explanation. I was at least humanoid, however, so the shape differences aren't as much of a concern for me, however the emotional side of things..."

He smiled slightly, expression softening to match the other boy's. "It's very disconcerting initially."

"I have been human before, but now I am stuck." Ax didn't like that word. There was a finality to the harsh sound that nothlit lacked.

"And I have had the same experience. Human emotions are more distracting-ing than what I am used to." He appreciated Brainiac 5's calm attitude about all of this, finding that it helped him to maintain his own calm. "As are the sounds they can make with their mouths."

He would have mentioned taste, as well, but though this room looked similar to the one in which the teenage humans had eaten at Prince Jake's school, there were obviously not going to be any delicious foods served here for now.

"Are Coluan emotions also very different from humans'?" Ax could not help but think of the Chee, and of Erek, who had cried from his simulated human eyes tears that had seemed real, but had been a holographic expression of a true emotion.

The word 'stuck' seemed to hold a particular emphasis to Aximili, and Brainiac 5 felt an odd pang of sympathy for him there. He'd felt much the same way initially; trapped in an organic body that, while something he'd always wondered about, had been thrust upon him with little warning or consideration for his own comfort. He imagined being a shapeshifter that was incapable of change would be equally disconcerting.

His smile widened at the comment about the sounds mouths could make, choosing not to pass judgement there, since while it was unusual, he couldn't see what harm would come from it. People hadn't targeted him for not being human, after all, with the worst he'd gotten in regard to that being some disbelief. He didn't see why the Andalite should be too worried about blending in there.

Instead he focussed on the question asked. "In a way," he began. "Generally speaking, Coluans don't feel emotions. My people like to think they eradicated such so-called pointless things some years ago, relying instead on pure logical thought and reason. I, however, disagree with my people's chosen path. Where they seek to move away from the organic world Coluans used to be a part of, I seek to understand it, maybe even be a part of it. For that reason, I created many complicated programs and subroutines that were designed to mimic human emotions."

He smiled wryly. "But this experience has taught me that I may need to make some adjustments to my programs, assuming I ever find myself back to being Coluan again."

"It is not entirely, lee, different for us," Ax said. He paused for a moment, to concentrate on looking behind himself without falling over, making certain no one would overhear him. Despite what Brainiac 5 had said about the different worlds people came from, Ax did not want to broadcast his species and take the chance that Yeerks were unknown in all of those worlds, or that none had been brought here.

Satisfied that no one was paying undue attention to them, he went on. "We Andalites are inherently optimistic. Miss-tick. And we are peaceful in our hearts, but we have been at war for longer than I have been alive." His expression darkened briefly at that. The war would never be a comfortable topic. "We have had to learn to temper these qualities with logic and pragmatism. Ma-tizz-um. I believe we have done this admirably, but the necessity is... regrettable."

His sense of kinship with the Coluan was growing stronger, and Ax returned the smile. "I also have been trying-ing to study and understand humans. They are so backwards in some ways, and so surprize, prize-ing-lee, advanced and complicated in others. They are not a species one should underestimate."

For an 'inherently optimistic' species, Aximili seemed surprisingly paranoid. However, the mention of war was likely the explanation for that. While the Legion had never really been involved in anything of the sort, the conflict with Imperiex had come close and the following battle with Brainiac 1...

He ended that thought abruptly.

Regardless, the point was that he supposed there was reason for the Andalite to be paranoid, and he'd be certain to keep that detail in mind for future exchanges. While he doubted it would really matter much in the long run, he found he didn't want to potentially upset Aximili either.

"Agreed," he said, smile strengthening in regards to their shared views on this topic. "In comparison to my people, humanity isn't especially advanced, yet they have such a... range of abilities and complexities, I think they likely would surpass even Coluans given time."

Of course, it didn't help that his people tended to be suspicious of advancements they didn't like as well. Humanity was at least willing to try things more freely.

"I have found the same to be true. They progressed from barely any, an-ee, controlled flight to manned space missions in less than seventy of their years." Ax looked down at his cleaning work, in hopes of masking that this was something of an affront to his pride. It was much, much more quickly than his own people had advanced.

"And yet, they invented the book before the computer." Remembering that made him feel better, and Ax still found it amusing, and somewhat baffling, that humans considered their computers so much more advanced than books.

The human female leader appeared to be examining the work of the prisoners, and Ax took this as a sign that the time allotted for this pointless task was almost complete.

The information Brainiac 5 had shared was not comforting, but Ax was grateful he had been so forthcoming. The more a warrior knew about the threat he faced, the better prepared he was to confront it. Ax even thought the Coluan could become a friend, in time, which made the prospect of being stranded here long enough for that to happen seem a little less thoroughly discouraging.

"I appreciate your help. I hope it will not be too long until we can re, regain our real bodies."

Brainiac 5 managed, just barely, to keep his face carefully neutral at that comparison. Not ever species was capable of advancement at the rate that Colu had advanced, though in light of their progress in more recent years, he wasn't certain how much further into the future they would be able to call themselves the most intellectually advanced in the galaxy.

Regardless, it hardly changed the fact that Aximili's people and his own were from different universes, so comparisons would be unfair. That, and he'd found he didn't mind the other boy's company, so perhaps it would be prudent to think of what someone like Peter would do here, and avoid the topic.

...though that comparison between books and computers was unusual.

Fortunately, before he could open his mouth and say something that could potentially undo the small amount of friendship they had established, the senior soldier in charge of this room announced that they were finished for the shift. Time to move onto what, if his memory was correct, would be the showers he disliked.

He nodded at Aximili's words. "I hope for that as well, but I'd caution against assuming it will be easy. And..." He hesitated a moment before continuing. "I... enjoyed our conversation. I wouldn't object to continuing under better circumstances some time."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 55: Cafeteria

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject