damned_institute | Day 58: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

Peter's lunch meeting with Tear had gone far better than he could have even expected. It was a good thing that he wasn't the sort of person who judged by age, seeing how the girl had proved herself to be very capable despite the fact that she was only a teenager. Not that Peter would ever admit it out loud, but Tear was a lot more mature than his own niece. He could only assume that Tear's circumstances had forced that onto her, though, which was the downside to the whole thing.

Or maybe it had something to do with her being a healer. She'd probably seen a lot of horrific things in her life already, things that some other people would never experience. Then again, Claire had seen her own body mutilated, so personality might have something to do with it too.

Either way, they had a basic plan. He was going to try and look into safe areas while Tear was going to work on their alliance with Search and Rescue. He wasn't too worried about the latter, but the former might be a pipe dream. Seeing how he had no interest in playing with beads and glitter, Peter chose to remain in the Sun Room.

It didn't take him long to draft up a message with his question, and once he'd posted it up (covering a few other replies in the process, but at the end of the day the board was low on real estate) he went ahead and found himself a seat. This way he could keep a careful eye on the replies that he got.

While he had already agreed to meet with Max tonight, Peter realized that the earliest this paramedic group could get going was the following night anyway. That was something to aim for, at least. Even if it was just him and Tear taking care of things at first, that was a start.

[For Haruno Sakura.]

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That didn't answer the question, and the fact that he was avoiding it stood out to her. What did he have to hide? Granted, she personally didn't know what he was here for, what had made him stand out. Perhaps he'd assumed that she did, but now she actually was curious.

His final comment caused her to halt, the heels of her boots clicking together as she eyed him. Did he truly believe that, or was he just looking for a reaction?

"...Sorry, but I find that hard to believe. Why would anyone willingly come to fight a war that has nothing to do with them? And seeing how a lot of the candidates aren't even from this planet..." No, she couldn't believe that anyone was that selfless. Not even some of the people here. If he could prove to her otherwise, then he was welcome to, but...

Honestly? He was just attempting to get the subject off of himself. When it appeared to work, the grip on his arms softened and he turned to fully face the woman.

He shrugged at her question, voice refusing to betray anything other than a strange ease. Had she even been here for more than a day? "You'd be surprised what the people here would do for complete strangers." He still was. As someone who had spent most of his life in the darkness, being suddenly surrounded by people so willing to turn on the light was... uncomfortable. While he couldn't claim to understand it, being trapped for as long as he had had illuminated just how much the people here could bond together over their mutual sorrows. They formed teams, blindly banded together to run into the unknown, and somehow managed to gain odd friendships in the process. These were people who were far too nice. These were people who would probably die for one another.

He didn't particularly want to join in (be it due to plain misanthropy or fear of history repeating), but he wasn't going to stop others from doing so. That was their business and something this soldier had evidently missed.

Besides... "Your people have gone through incredible lengths to drag all of us here, put on a facade to keep your civilians from worrying, and refuse to divulge what it is you're all afraid of. Whatever you are fighting must be something incredible and there are too many good Samaritans here for them to not want to help."

It was then that the ease in his voice lessened and was replaced with something more acidic. "However, I personally can't sympathize with anyone who's committed the crimes your government has." Not after what they'd done to Master Zato. Not after what they'd forced him to do to Ms. Littleton. "I cannot imagine the rest of this prison's populace feeling any different. As far as I'm concerned, you're on your own."

He made it sound so simple when he put it that way, but she wasn't convinced. It was true that many of the prisoners in this place were extremely strong-willed and kindhearted. It was impossible to miss, with the way that the higher-ranked tried to share their food; even the sheer fact that they all chatted amongst themselves rather than sitting in stony silence stood out. Part of that was out of necessity, of course. Considering the situation they were in, they were more or less forced to band together.

Perhaps that was part of Aguilar's goal. If a camaraderie was formed, that only made them stronger fighters. If they trusted each other in a battle, then they would be even more useful as soldiers.

That, of course, was all speculation, but it was interesting nonetheless. "You seem to have more faith than I do," she said after a pause. "It's true that all of you are kind to each other, but that's because of your shared situation. Given the choice to go fight a war on foreign land or remain with one's own obligations and friends and family, the choice is simple.

"Perhaps a few would have agreed, but I think Aguilar needs more than a few." Her tone was matter-of-fact as she did her best to keep her own opinions out of the conversation.

His last comment wasn't acknowledged. She didn't seem to be looking for sympathy or anything of the sort, and she didn't need to indulge or provoke him.

In regards to his anger, the woman kept silent. Without anything else to feed into it, the emotion left his voice just as easily as it came, leaving each word sounding faintly tired. "I wouldn't call it 'faith.'" That would imply it was a positive thing. It really wasn't. There was nothing positive about those kindhearted people constantly being betrayed.

His right hand went to his forehead, finding a way under his hair to rest its palm against his temples. That feeling, the one where he knew someone was watching him, was only growing stronger. Opening his eyes would only proved Ms. Littleton was still there, so he kept them closed.

He couldn't look at her right now. Not when he was working.

"Why won't they tell us what it is we're supposed to be fighting?" He didn't mean for it to come out as exhausted as it did.

It was a valid question and one that should be answered carefully. It should have been a simple matter, just brushing it off as Aguilar's decision, and yet for a long while the soldier simply stared at the man. The look on her face was a conflicted one, as if she was trying to make her mind up about something.

But then the intercom came on, causing her to stiffen to attention as she glanced around the room. She watched as her fellow soldiers got to work in gathering up their charges; soon this patient would have someone coming to collect him as well.

They had run out of time, but in this case that came as a relief.

"It seems that we're done for now," she said once Harrington's voice had cut off. She turned away from him, her posture rigid and professional. "Good luck," she muttered before striding away from him.

Day 58: Sun Room (Fourth Shift)

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