damned_institute | Day 56: Intercom, Late Evening

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.

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Jessica's own gaze turned to the plate of slop and there was a moment where she wondered what exactly that was and what was in it. It looked like something they used on prison shows and even when she was training with the CIA, she had better meals than that. So what kind of military training base was this then, that they just gave whatever to their soldiers?

"A privilege?"

It was an idle question, one that didn't have a lot of commitment behind it. That made sense, but it seemed relatively ridiculous to her so she just sat down on her own bed, finding that she wasn't very hungry anyways. She was silent again, thinking of what could be said or asked, before deciding to just generalize it and take whatever Erika gave her, before she went out to find her own answers. By no means did she trust this girl, but it was easier than just guessing wildly.

"Is there anything else you can tell me?"

That was good enough for now.

Perhaps Erika should have clarified that they were test subjects, not soldiers, but that would require her to be psychic and she didn't quite reach that level of perception yet. Either way, she only nodded when Julia echoed her own words back at her. It was probably terrible news to receive, and Erika was decent enough to let Julia collect her thoughts on not being able to eat real food every day. That truly was the worst of the news that Erika could deliver...

That was also all she felt like delivering, since Julia asked such a crappy question. Well, with a lazy question like that, Erika didn't feel like filling in any more blanks. She thought for a moment, wondering if she should even grace that question with an answer, but in the end, the detective shrugged. Perhaps now was the time to at least give her a fair warning before she went running out into the unknown, but that would ruin the surprise and fun, wouldn't it?

"The doors will unlock soon. Then you'll be free to go." She left it at that, finally prodding her fork into the slop and hesitantly raising it up to her mouth. She was still feeling ... not full, but content from her meals at Doyleton, but it was best to get to know her dinner for the next week sooner than later. Finally, after some nose wrinkling and a mental promise to never soil her chopsticks with this filth, she put the fork in her mouth.

... Hmm. Tasted like oatmeal. Really stale oatmeal. Perhaps a trip to the kitchen was in order, and she could grab some sugar to make it halfway edible.

Unlock soon? But when? When was the exact time and how long was that from now? But no matter. Once the doors unlocked, she could escape and get out of here. She didn't plan on sticking around forever, eating this crappy food and being a little plaything for the bigwigs. No, she was done with the men in white coats and the shady rooms.

However, she figured her question wasn't satisfactory and honestly, she didn't blame Erika, but as curious as she was of what's going on, she wasn't in the mood to contemplate or analyze things. She just wanted information and then spend the rest of her time trying to figure out how to get out. For now, she just settled back on her bed, trying to keep her anxiety on low. She was freaking out bad, the longer she stayed here. Even if it wasn't showing, in her head, she was irrational and antsy and crazy. It had been a long while since she was like this and she was jittery.

She just stayed quiet, watching Erika eat the slop, frowning at the girl's rather dissatisfied expression. Gross.

Julia said nothing more after that, and Erika wasn't the kind who tried of person who couldn't handle awkward silence. Rather, she should have been concentrating on what was going to happen tonight. She trusted that Sync would have a third person available, but if not... She would have liked to think that she had a suitable person right here in this room, but there was no point asking someone who just woke up. Erika could already tell that this girl didn't trust her and while that was fine with her, it also limited this girl's usefulness for now. Oh well, they would just have to figure something out.

The detective was also very aware that she was being observed, but all she did was shrug when she saw Julia frown at her frowning. There really was nothing she had to say about the state of this terrible food. Poor Julia, they were practically pampered before the military came. Now, she couldn't even have the luxury of real food. Ah well, that was the new way this place worked.

"It could use some sugar. Or any kind of flavor," Erika noted, finally deciding to eat all of it anyway. She would have preferred if her roommate had touched it so that she could observe any ill effects, but with there being no one else, she'd have to try it herself. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any interference, like last... time. Ah.

"I'd get used to it, if I were you. It's for breakfast, lunch, and dinner."

Oh, Erika was speaking up again. Jessica was quite fine with just sitting in silence, but apparently she wasn't allowed that. Not that she minded, she was just feeling rather touchy since, hello, she'd just been kidnapped and taken to a military training facility against her will. She was letting her gaze travel the room again though, taking in any details that she missed when Erika did speak up, chewing on her lower lip once more.

"It's fine."

A pause as she contemplated why normally, she would be a chatterbox, even when she was stressed, but here, she didn't really feel like talking. It was probably because escape was still on her mind and she was still feeling rather alarmed and of course, completely irrational and prone to freaking out. She hesitated before continuing.

"It's not like I expect anything better."

Yeah, that was good. But there was a lack of quips and she just really wasn't in the mood. The longer she was in here, the more paranoid she felt she was getting. And the angrier.

"That's good, because it's not going to get better."

Erika had been through the same thing herself, so it's not like she couldn't make a guess as to what Julia was thinking. It probably was some grand plan for escape once the doors unlocked, because any reasonable person would probably think along those lines. Well, there was no harm in asking, she supposed. After shoveling down a few more gulps of the stale pink oatmeal (why pink? Erika had enough sense to realize this wasn't supposed to be oatmeal, so what exactly was it?), she stopped and stared at her roommate again.

"What are you going to do?"

It was an innocent enough question, phrased hopefully in a way that wouldn't offend or make her roommate suspicious. Not that Erika could blame her for thinking such things, but unfortunately, the girl was more interested in how she could exploit that for her own gain then feeling sympathetic.

Despite how innocent the question may have been, Jessica wasn't a trusting type and had never been that way. She was used to darting and avoiding questions, making up lies and stories to get where she wanted, and just generally never being honest. Even when she was Peter, that was how it was so she could hide her identity. Nonetheless, she turned her gaze towards her "roommate", lips moving to a thin line and eyes narrowing ever so slightly.

"Take a nap."

She responded immediately, despite the fact that she wasn't moving. She could feel the quip and sarcasm bubbling back up, even if she wasn't really in the mood for it. It was like second nature, at this point.

"Maybe play a game of cards afterwards. You know, I really need to get some more practice in poker. Tired of losing my underwear all the time."

Her reply didn't have much emotion behind it, and she was immediately moving her gaze away. She could be friendlier because she would be here for the long run, but she didn't want to think that was true. She refused to believe it. So whatever mood she was in, Erika would have to deal with.

Day 56: Intercom, Late Evening

JUSTASKEIKAKU.PNG

O-OH I DIDN'T KNOW YOU FELT THAT WAY.... o////o

/TOUCHES....................

/TOUCHES BACK.......... ;u;

U-UGU..................

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