damned_institute | Day 24: Intercom, Dinner

The intercom jingle rang out both inside and outside the institute on speakers loud enough to broadcast clearly across the recreational field.

"It's been a busy day, hasn't it? Well, fortunately for all of us, it's nearly over, and we can all look forward to some rejuvenating shut-eye--that is, after dinner, of course."

The Head Doctor chuckled.

"Supper for tonight is going to consist of individual servings of chicken pot pie, with mashed potatoes and peas as sides. You may ask your nurse about the usual selection of drinks, and... Oh! Some of you might find that you have some new guests in your rooms belonging to... Group 5, I believe...? Please see to it that our new patients spend their first night at Landel's Institute as peacefully as possible!"

He paused, then added:

"Oh, and Nurse Hondor? Could you please report to my office? Thank you."

The intercom clicked off.

[ OOC: Remember how dinner shift works--everyone posts to this post with individual threads for each room. New characters waking up during this shift will do so in their respective threads, though if your roommate's player is unable to play with you during your intro, feel free to work something out so that your roommate is taking a nap or something. XD; ]

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Ken didn't have to wait long before Homura came in, thankfully with a steadier step as the sedative at last began to fade from his system. He wasn't entirely surprised to see this new person in the room, with the additional patients that had been coming in during the day. Perhaps it was only luck that had allowed his privacy to last for as long as it had.

"Well, hello. I suppose this means you're my roommate. Are you one of the new ones here?" Homura asked actually, though the look of wonder on Ken's face was enough of an answer. He moved to his desk, curious to see just what a chicken pot pie was. They did serve such interesting food here, didn't they?

They did indeed. Ken is staring at his, wondering if it actually is edible.

"I guess so, since I don't recognize where the hell I am," Ken responded. "The nurse said something about Landel's Institute, which really isn't much of an explanation. Last I checked, I was in some shitty hotel in New York City, not a mental hospital." Ken gives Homura a once-over. "So if we're roommates, I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Ken."

"Homura." At least the thing looked more appetizing than the sloppy joes had at lunch. Homura took a tenative bite, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that he actually enjoyed the dish. Mortals and their innovations.

"You must have just woken up then." Only three days, though it seemed longer to Homura, so much that he had to keep reminding himself of it. But compared to Ken, and all the things he didn't know, Homura was a veteran. And it was a nice feeling, wasn't it, that sense of knowing what the other couldn't? Perhaps because it was as close as he could come to the power he once held.

At least so far.

"Doubtless you'll hate being here as much as anyone else. This place is a prison that pulls people from different worlds and different times. Just before I woke up here, I died."

A bit too crazy for the new person? Maybe. But Homura knew Ken would see for himself soon enough. There was no harm in having a little fun now, while he could.

"Nice to meet you and all that." Deciding that since Homura hadn't dropped dead and therefore the 'pot pie' was probably safe to eat, Ken takes a bite. He hadn't eaten since before he departed Narita.

"You got me. Anything I should know, 'sides don't piss off the people in charge, keep your head down, and don't drop the soap? Not that I'm good at any of those 'sides the last one."

The comment about dying gets his attention. "Huh. Sure you're not supposed to be here, then? 'Cause I know I wouldn't be too out of place in a nuthouse." He seems to be taking it all in stride, but then again, his life was one big basket of weird.

Homura turned his head, an eyebrow raising curiously at Ken's list of guidelines for Landel's. "Don't drop the soap? And legend have you mortals created that spawns that bit of advice?"

But there certainly were more valuable pieces of advice to give. For a moment, Homura was tempted not to tell Ken anything, to let the man face his first night completely unaware, simply because he seemed far to accepting of the forceful imprisonment. Yet Homura couldn't know who Ken might know in this place, and ultimately, patients were not the enemy, even if they might be annoyances.

Ultimately, it didn't matter what Homura said. From his final question, it was doubtful Ken wouldn't believe him anyway.

"I no more belong in here than anyone else. This isn't an insane asylum, as they want you to believe. During the day, we're treated more as prisoners. During the night we're toys, mere entertainment for those in charge. They send out their creatures against us, monsters as you have likely never seen."

Homura grinned, thinking of his still injured side, the dull pain that promised sharper stabs should he move foolishly.

"And we are left to struggle for our lives against them."

Despite all appearances, Ken was worried about showing up here so suddenly--he should have been able to fight off anyone who came to abduct him, the fact that he couldn't remember anyone attacking him was something that set him on edge. According to any legal resources, Ken simply did not exist, and while he had plenty of enemies, none of them were the type to imprison. He'd be dead outright if any of them got their hands on him.

Of course, his way of dealing with his concern just might antagonize some people. "Tokyo Prison," Ken stated simply, explaining slightly where his off-color remark came from.

Ken listened quietly to what Homura had to say, and thought it over. He'd heard and seen some strange things, and fought even stranger. And though it seemed far-fetched (for all he knew, Homura was insane,) it was somehow believable, especially when combined with the fact that Homura looked like a fighter. Ken was more inclined to believe him just because of that.

"...wonderful. Just so long as that Takatori bastard doesn't show his mutated face around here," Ken muttered. For all his bravado, he wanted out. He wasn't supposed to be here, he was supposed to be looking for Aya. Then it occurred to him to ask. "You've been here longer than I have, obviously. I don't suppose you've run into anyone named Fujimiya Aya, Kudou Yohji, or Takatori Mamoru?" The last name is stated with just a small bit of venom.

"That term means nothing to me." Homura shrugged at the utterly unhelpful explanation of dropping the soap. It likely wasn't important anyway, and Homura wasn't going to spend a great deal of time on idle curiosity, particularly not when the night shift would start soon.

What was interesting, however, was the quiet acceptance with which Ken took his words. Perhaps he was from a world where such a thing was more common? If so, he could potentially be useful, if only as an additional fighter.

"I believe I saw a name or two on the common board." Homura thought over it a moment before he nodded. "Kudou, and Aya, I believe. I can't say I know any of them personally, however." Of course, the maliciousness that bled into Ken's voice wasn't missed, and Homura smiled to Ken.

"It's better not to focus on old grudges." So said the pot to the kettle. "They're a distraction on the battlefield."

Ken shrugs. If Homura wants him to explain himself more, he can ask. As it is, Ken isn't about to launch into an explanation--there are far more important things to discuss than what he's been up to the last few months, especially with someone he just met. Not that he would have been able to go very far into the matter anyway.

"Well, then this place is obviously fake. Aya would never be in a mental hospital, and Yohji wouldn't be too keen on the idea either. So how do we get out?"

Ken blinks slightly, then realizes that his natural distaste of the Takatori name is starting to make itself known. "He's an ally." He wouldn't go quite so far as to call the renamed Omi a friend, not with the way the Takatori name had changed him. "Tsukiyono Omi is one of his aliases."

Day 24: Intercom, Dinner

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