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damned_institute2011-03-09 12:03 pm
tightsofmight) wrote in damned_institute2011-03-09 12:03 pm
Entry tags:
- aidou,
- alaric,
- albedo,
- anise,
- ax,
- badd,
- battler,
- bella,
- brainiac 5,
- byrne,
- canada,
- claire bennet,
- claire littleton,
- claire stanfield,
- claude,
- damon,
- dean winchester,
- dexter,
- edgar,
- edward cullen,
- erika,
- firo,
- franziska,
- goku (dragonball),
- gren,
- gumshoe,
- guy,
- guybrush,
- ilia,
- japan,
- kairi,
- kaworu,
- kenshin,
- kibitoshin,
- kinomoto sakura,
- kirk,
- klavier,
- kratos,
- l,
- lana skye,
- leela,
- lightning,
- lion,
- lunge,
- matt,
- maya,
- mccoy,
- mele,
- mello,
- minato,
- nigredo,
- peter parker,
- peter petrelli,
- prussia,
- rapunzel,
- renamon,
- rita,
- ritsuka,
- roxas,
- ruby,
- s.t.,
- sam winchester,
- sasuke,
- scott pilgrim,
- shinji,
- snow,
- sora,
- soren,
- spock,
- stefan,
- sync,
- taura,
- the doctor,
- the flash,
- the scarecrow,
- tsubaki,
- two-face,
- venom,
- yue,
- zack,
- zevran
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!]
no subject
"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."
no subject
"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."
no subject
"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.
no subject
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."
no subject
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."
no subject
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.
no subject
"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."
no subject
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."