Day 56: Intercom, Late Evening

[damned-intercom.livejournal.com]

Despite the rough start and the heavier snowfall, the buses managed to stay on route and on schedule. With minutes to spare, they arrived at the gates of Landel's Institute, back to the waiting arms of the military. All pretenses seemed to drop at this point, and the soldiers again took on their patented gruff exteriors. Patients were filed out of the buses in an orderly manner, eventually being escorted to their rooms for dinner in much the same. There, as promised by the personnel, well-behaved patients found their purchases among their returned possessions. A few even found new faces, though whether they brought as much joy as bought goods remained unseen.

The woman manning the intercom seemed to have missed the notice about the day's trip as her announcement remained no different from the usual. "Attention all subjects and personnel," she said. "Lights Out will commence within the hour."

A pause.

"I repeat, Lights Out will commence within the hour. All personnel: please report to your stations. The General will begin his address once preparations are underway. Thank you."

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. ANY NEWLY ACCEPTED CHARACTERS MAY POST TO THIS SHIFT (but are not obligated to if you would like to wait for Nightshift or Dayshift); please refer to the new room assignments before posting. Thank you! ]

Comments

[kings_thief]

When he saw the man he assumed to be his 'roommate' walk in, Locke was a bit disappointed. Not that he had anything against this stranger, but he'd really been hoping to see Edgar, Celes, or any of his friends, instead of this guy he didn't know. Granted, he didn't look bad, not like the guard had, but, Locke knew better than to be anything less than cautious in a place he didn't know.

He nearly said something to the guard on his way out, something akin to 'asshole' ran through his mind, but he decided last second it wasn't worth keeping the guy around any longer than it was necessary. Instead, Locke chose to be left alone with the new arrival and his severely analytical stare that quickly put Locke off. The thief was just beginning to wonder if he'd need to say something to break the ice when his cloths came into question.

"'Fraid not. That ass woke me up and I was wearing this thing, in fact, he was really very unhelpful. Don't suppose you know where they stashed my clothes? 'Military' isn't exactly my style."

[the-prosecutor.livejournal.com]

...it's strange to be on the other side of the coin, Edgeworth thought before he turned away from the other man, his gaze focusing on a bowl of some sort of...odd liquid (was that intended to be food?) that was sitting on his dresser. Frowning, he moved over to the bowl, picking up the spoon sitting inside of it and stirring the mush in a semi-circle before he glanced back over at his roommate. "...I'm afraid I've no idea where they have taken your things," he admitted, dropping the spoon in the bowl, the soft sound of metal clanking against metal filling the room. "Nor do I have any idea what they've done with mine either. Do you know where you are right now?"

[kings_thief]

Locke followed the guy with his eyes, watching as he messed with a bowl of...something Locke couldn't identify. His stomach churned a little at the thought that it was supposed to be food and decided he wasn't going to be hungry for a while.

"No, I have no idea, I was kinda hopin' that asshole would tell me, but he wasn't in a talking mood. Do you know, Mr....?"

He hoped the guy would give him a name or at least a title so he'd know what to call him, Locke liked to have names for faces, even if he didn't expect to know their owners long.

[the-prosecutor.livejournal.com]

"Miles Edgeworth," Edgeworth finished reflexively, his attention returning to the gruel before he gingerly picked up the bowl from the table. "I...barely have any idea where we are either, but from what I've gathered today, it seems that we are both victims of a mass abduction. This is an institute for the insane."

Casting a glance at Locke's military uniform, Edgeworth arched a brow, his right hand idly toying with the spoon in the bowl of gruel as he scrutinized the details of the uniform and its accompanying dog tag. "...the reasoning behind that uniform and the presence of soldiers here are a mystery to me, however."

[kings_thief]

Locke looked over his uniform again, finally taking notice of the dog tag resting against his chest. The name didn't look right. He grabbed it and held it out to get a closer look at what was written.

"A military insane institute...that misnames it's 'patients'. This isn't my name, in fact, I've never even heard of an 'Alex Swanson'."

He dropped it, letting it fall back into place, he looked back at Edgeworth and crossed his arms.

"Don't suppose you've got the same problem with yours?"

[the-prosecutor.livejournal.com]

Moving his right hand away from the bowl, Edgeworth looped his thumb into the chain holding his dog tag, pulling it up from inside his shirt and offering a glimpse of it to his roommate. "Mine identifies me as James Harrison," he said, letting the chain fall from his thumb. "For whatever reason, it seems that separate identities have been created for us, though I haven't the faintest idea why."

Taking a step back, Edgeworth moved to sit on the edge of his bed, the bowl remaining in his hands. He knew that he needed to eat - night shift awaited them, and Edgeworth had a feeling he would require all the strength he could get - but the meal was less than appetizing, and it left him toying with the spoon a moment longer. "Would you mind telling me your real name?" he asked, moving his spoon to skim the surface of the gruel.

[kings_thief]

Locke mirrored his movement, going to sit on the bed he'd awoken in, though, without the gruel. He didn't know when he'd eat next, but he'd faced that before and it was a more comforting prospect than eating whatever that was in the bowl.

"Sorry; guess that was kinda rude of me. Locke Cole."

Between the name tags, the uniforms and the guards with a stick-up-their-asses, Locke was finding this place to be more and more unsettling. At least his roommate didn't seem so bad.