damned_institute | Day 57: Cafeteria

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Day 57: Cafeteria

Edgar's charming company had raised Anise's spirits enough that not even the Head Doctor's voice could bring them back down. Besides, she was feeling pretty sure that Landel wasn't actually around. To begin with, it wouldn't make sense, and secondly, his announcements sounded suspiciously like ones she'd already heard before. While Anise wasn't very familiar with Earth technology, she'd seen the little devices in the Music Room that could play recordings of people's voices. This had to be something like that.

It wasn't long before Anise was escorted to the Cafeteria, and then to the section where edible food was being served. As she filled her plate with waffles, fruit, and sausages, she looked to the other side of the counter with a look of sympathy. It was hard to enjoy her own meals while knowing what the other patients had to suffer through.

She wasn't about to refuse her meals just out of guilt, though. Anise needed her strength for tonight. There was still a bit of a nervous twist in her stomach whenever she thought about what could happen down in the basement... but she wasn't going to back down. Not after promising her friends they'd go together.

With her tray in hand, Anise seated herself at an empty table in the middle of the room. She preferred to have company while eating, but it looked like she was one of the first patients there, so there was no one to sit with. Maybe if she minded her manners and tried to look her cutest, she'd attract someone handsome! Holding her utensils delicately, she began to cut her waffles into smaller pieces.

[For Battler.]

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The potential that she wasn't crazy, or at least wasn't in the Doctor's view (not that that was saying much), gave Donna a little bit more confidence for the day. She was still curious enough to want to check things out herself though, so after leaving a nice little note on the bulletin board, and praying that should wouldn't have to berate too many idiots who got after her for what she'd asked, she was taken off to the Cafeteria for a much needed breakfast - which she'd still retained from her bet since the Doctor hadn't said either way whether he suspected the Chapel statue of being ~alien~.

She took her pick of the real food on the line, thanking God (yeah, it was all right outside of the Chapel) that she didn't have to take any of the pink gruel that some patients seemed to be getting, before turning and giving the room a once over.

Might as well pick someone new to sit with. She'd gotten to meet Luke Skywalker by chance, after all; maybe she'd get lucky and meet someone she'd actually want to this time. One could only guess just how closely the ones in charge followed Hollywood.

Though no one looked as familiar as her nightly rendezvous, she did pick out a fairly good-looking young man to try and make friends with this fine morning. "Mind if I sit here?" she asked to get his attention, being nice enough to wait for an answer before sliding her food onto the table.

As was usual around here, not much time passed before Guy was joined by another patient. He glanced up to see a woman standing there and quickly noticed a few things about her. First was the color of her hair; red like Luke's, but a lighter shade. Second was the tray of food that she was holding, which was decidedly absent of gruel. That meant that she'd paid her dues here and then some. Last was the accent. He'd heard it a number of times in this place, though it seemed rather rare. It was always interesting to come across people who spoke a little differently, though not to the point that he couldn't understand them. He still clearly remembered how much he and Claude had struggled that night that the auto-translator had been disabled.

He still didn't know how that worked. Was it a form of technology or some sort of magic?

Well, that was something he could ponder later -- or maybe ask Claude about. He smiled at the woman and gestured to the seat across from his. "Go right ahead. I'm not expecting anyone."

Where to start, then. Well, manners dictated that names should be exchanged first, and so that was what Guy did. "The name is Guy Cecil. I'm a little surprised that we've never spoken before, seeing how we've both been here long enough to earn the good food," he remarked with a small smile.

"Thank you," Donna grinned and had the seat he motioned to. Not everyone here had the best manners - whether because they didn't know better or otherwise - so it was nice that she'd found someone courteous to share brunch with.

Though with a name like "Guy", as he provided, she might have to tease him just a bit in return. When his name was the more important matter. For his words though, Donna found herself much more interested in his interpretation of her food and pointed at her muffins and eggs. "Wait, you mean this is earned?"

That was the first time Donna'd ever heard of good food being something you had to earn, though she had seen a lot of other patients being served the gruel. She'd been thinking that if you got gruel, you had done something wrong. Which, in retrospect, didn't make all that much sense since she'd kicked out a soldier during roll call and had still been given her food anyway.

"And here I thought gruel was for when you didn't follow the rules," she frowned, suddenly feeling a little bit bad for the realization that hit her. If it wasn't for being in trouble, then the patients with gruel hadn't really done anything to not get good food, right? "How's that work, then? Oh, and I'm Donna, by the way. Donna Noble."

Donna Noble. That was a nice name. It seemed dignified, and yet it wasn't as over the top as Gailardia Galan Gardios. Honestly, he didn't know what his parents had been thinking with that, but most of the names assigned to nobles on Auldrant were real mouthfuls. He wondered if Donna was a noble of some sort, or if her name was just coincidental. Maybe he'd ask her later.

Her comments about the food caused him to tilt his head up to the ceiling as he thought it over. "Well, I guess no one's ever explained it for sure, but as far as I can tell it's the people with high ranks who get the good food, and you can only get to a high rank through how much time you've spent here."

In other words, anyone who was a so-called veteran of this place now stood out like a sore thumb due to the fact that they got the old food. Guy didn't mind being labeled as such, but he was sure there were some secretive types out there who were more bothered by it.

He gave Donna a teasing smile then. "That being said, I wouldn't be surprised if they took away those privileges if you misbehaved." He wasn't going to test the theory, but he had also never been the sort to get in trouble. This new regime tested his patience sometime, but Guy generally had a good hold on his temperament. Figuring he should make the best of what he had, he took a bite of his toast.

Donna had to think a bit when Guy spoke of ranks before remembering about the name tags. She'd been more irked over having to wear something that had labeled her as "Jane McAvoy", but she had remembered seeing the lettering for her being classed as "A". Whatever that meant.

"You mean those tags, right? That had class or whatever on them? Well I for one am happy to be rid of 'em," she huffed out before sighing at her plate, "But I guess that'd make sense either way. Come for the crazy, stay for the food?" Actually, that made even less sense. She shook her head and returned his smile with a confident one. "I would not be against testing that out, you know. I already gave one of those soldiers a piece of my mind when they overran the place, and I'm sure some here wouldn't mind another food fight."

Donna had never done solitary herself, but some things were worth it. She'd be sure to find one of the original offenders to check before causing any commotions though. Oh, and avoid the Doctor.

"The dog tags, right," Guy replied with a nod. They hadn't had to wear them since that first day, but he was curious to see what would happen when tomorrow came. They wouldn't be interacting with the outside world in any way, so his guess was that the uniforms and the dog tags would come back. "Though I wouldn't assume we're rid of them for good..."

He wasn't really sure what Donna was getting at, seeing how none of them had come here in the first place, but it was probably just meant as another joke at the military's expense. What grabbed his attention more than that was her suggestion to start another food fight. Guy's eyes widened then as he realized that his comment may have just backfired on him.

"I'm... not so sure that's a good idea," he said as gently as he could. "They gassed everyone last time. The punishment would probably be worse if it happened again. You'd put everyone in danger just to test a theory, so..." If she really wanted to act out, then she should at least make it be a contained incident, right? Something that only she was going to get punished for.

Guy hoped that she'd just drop the idea entirely, though.

Donna raised her fork and twirled it at him. "Hey, don't spoil the moment! No tags is a good thing; there's no constant reminder that a crazy man wants me thinking my name is "McAvoy" and that I'm apparently married."

That she was quite serious about. The rehashing of a rebellion meanwhile... with his reaction, she could guess that he wasn't that keen on either having another food fight, or understanding aggravated sarcasm.

"Oh, you don't have to worry. Anything I take out on this place will be coming from me, and I'll gladly take what comes with that because it will be so worth it," she announced as she took an intense bite of her eggs. After swallowing, she added, "I don't really have any plans other than planting a stiletto in Landel's rear though. And whoever else in in charge now, whatever his name is."

This Donna woman was pretty -- what was a good word for it? -- intense. It seemed like everything she felt, she felt strongly. It was almost like talking to a more outspoken version of Natalia, and that was saying something. Granted, Guy was used to being around strong-willed females, so her attitude wasn't too out of the ordinary for him. So long as she didn't try to grab his arm or something like that, all would be well.

"Oh, it's Aguilar," he said after a pause, even though he doubted that Donna really wanted to know. He couldn't help smiling at how fiery she was, though. Everyone wanted a piece of Landel, but he hadn't seen someone express it to this degree in a long while.

"Did you hear the radio announcement last night? It sounds like Landel is still in the area." Guy had no idea where Marc broadcasted from, but it couldn't be that far away, could it? He had little understanding of how that radio equipment actually worked, though he would have loved to learn. His guess was that it had to be somewhere nearby, though it was one more thing he should probably ask Claude about if he got the chance.

"Aguilar?" she repeated, making a face, "Weird name, but I'll get him on the list." Putting the name to memory, Donna made sure it came in just behind Landel's own. Aguilar was new, so Landel would still be taking the first licking as soon as she found him. "Got a foot for each though, don't I?" she added, smirking.

Donna was glad she'd found someone that was good looking and informative at the same time. That wasn't easy to do in the real world, so she could at least give Landel some credit for that. The man did seem to have a thing for getting good looking men in this place.

Maybe she shouldn't think too much on that.

"Nah, I usually miss the radio messages - too much of a hassle to carry that thing around, you know? - but I thought someone else ran the radio. Don't tell me Landel got to that guy too?" Great, so they had two crazies fighting each other for power now? Fun times.

The name did seem kind of odd, so Guy was glad to know that he wasn't the only one who thought that. While he realized that Donna had to be kidding about taking them both down single-handed, it was still nice to see that there was another patient who had been here probably as long as he had and was still holding onto that belief that they could give people like Landel what they deserved. It was all about patience and perseverance.

It seemed that Donna had been getting by without carrying a radio around, which wasn't too surprising. It had been a while since they had been given concrete hints for places to go and find items, but Marc tended to have interesting information if nothing else.

Well, it seemed only right to share what he'd learned with her. "Yeah, he got to him. It seems like he's forcing Marc to let him stay with him, wherever he is. He gave out a message to the patients last night... something to do with the basement." Not that he would be able to tell her too much about that, even if he'd wanted to. His mouth was literally sewed shut on that whole issue.

"Anyway, I guess the real message is that he's not gone for good. I wonder if we're going to be witness to a power struggle soon..." Would Landel be willing to fight back against a whole army? And what if the patients got caught in the crossfire? It was an interesting (and worrisome) thing to consider.

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Day 57: Cafeteria

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