damned_institute | Day 61: Intercom, Evening

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Day 61: Intercom, Evening

Like clockwork, the intercom came on at the end of the hour. And like clockwork, the Head Doctor began the first of his concluding daytime announcements with abnormal levels of cheer and good will.

"Good evening, everyone! What a fun-filled day we've had, hm? You must all be tuckered out and ready for bed."

Why, the man seemed unwilling to say.

"Never fear. We're nearing the end." He paused thoughtfully. "The main course of our dinner menu tonight is gourmet spaghetti topped with our signature marinara sauce. We have garlic bread and Caesar salad for your sides as well as your choice of vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate ice cream for dessert. As usual, we will have our assortment of drinks and vegetarian alternatives. If you're partial to that little extra omph, we have parmesian cheese available upon request."

There was another pause, this time with papers rustling in the background. "Take care not to stain your letters now. Bon appétit!"

The intercom clicked off.

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Yeah, the whole 'fake life' business the staff were trying so hard to make the patients believe in was still getting to Byrne, especially after that 'therapy' incident from earlier today. Zex was right. What was the point of it all? There was no longer any doubt in his mind that every person held captive here was completely sane, and he was sure that everyone who'd been here at least a week would also understand that.

As proof, the admiral's frustrations at being changed from an...alien thing into a human were believable and real. And as further proof, well, everything Renamon said ever proved that this place was just full of lies. "It really is frustrating, and I don't get the point of our so-called real lives, either," Byrne agreed, shaking his head. "It's just something there to piss us off." Seriously. Beyond making the staff and the nearby town believe this place was full of crazies, it made no sense. They could just as easily leave this as a secluded military operation and leave it at that.

And--wait. Did Zex really just say 'umgah'? Umgah?? Oh--there it was again. Having to cough to cover another grin. This not being offensive thing was really, really hard to do. "You're telling me. I'm still trying to get used to the idea that there are actually people from other worlds here." Just because he'd agreed that there were definitely other dimensions out there didn't mean it was any easier for him to truly accept that fact. But...maybe he'd get used to it. Eventually.

The false lives apparently only irritated Byrne... the complexity and depth of the false life created for ZEX had left him feeling all too doubtful. It made ZEX curious. "Have you had any visitors from your 'other' life yet?" ZEX said. "Their... attention to detail is... astounding."

He thought about his encounter with DAX, the identity crisis that came with it, and hopefully that wouldn't show too much in his tone. Byrne didn't seem terribly upset so far, and lighter conversation could improve his mood. ZEX tried to smile again.

"Such an odd idea to me... it's been difficult for me to adjust to people not being from other worlds. A vast coalition of species united against each other all across hyperspace... the idea of humans not knowing any of the species I'm familiar with... it's like going back in time. Very strange." No harm in glossing over the War for now.

Visitors from his 'real life'? He remembered Dr. McCoy once talking about meeting his daughter here, but Byrne himself had never met someone from his 'real life'. He looked at the man--or rather, used-to-be-Vux, with curious interest. "No? I mean, I've gotten a letter in the past from my daughter - or who they'd like me to believe is my daughter. But never a visitor. You had one?" Byrne figured the answer'd be yes because after all, why was Zex asking if he'd never had the experience of meeting one?

Then Zex went on, briefly mentioning something about 'a vast coalition of species' across space all 'united against each other'. Now that sparked up a whole different kind of interest. "You mean there was a huge space war where you came from?" Byrne asked, blinking in surprise. ...And there he was staring dumbly again. It was hard not to, though, after what his roommate just said. Aliens, space travel, and now an intergalactic war? Zex just...just popped right out of a typical sci-fi movie, didn't he? Goodness.

"A letter?" ZEX had yet to receive a letter from DAX, although, perhaps that wasn't necessary since he'd visited him personally. "I see... maybe they haven't found an appropriate actor for you yet." Interesting that he had a daughter. ZEX hadn't encountered many humans here with families. "I was visited by my Sub-commander. He was in a human body as well, but his way of speaking... it was unmistakably him. I wonder if they brought him here and wiped his mind, or..." ZEX still didn't have an explanation for the entire matter.

Byrne seemed to show some interest in the War. Understandable, it did involve his species after all, and if they hadn't been involved in this reality, surely there'd be no reason to hold any of his actions against him. "Yes, there was a war some time ago... almost twenty years ago." If his sense of time hadn't been completely ruined here. "The Ur-Quan Hierarchy against the Alliance of Free Stars. In the end, the Hierarchy was victorious, and sealed the surviving members of the Alliance underneath slave shields on their respective home worlds." A slightly awkward moment. "Unfortunately, your species was a member of the Alliance. As a result, I didn't have much chance to speak with humans until I was brought here."

Zex described basically what Dr. McCoy had described before about meeting his daughter. Both were convinced that the person they'd met was actually that person, but their familiar's story was whatever the Institute had come up with rather than what should be right. Were they the real thing, but brainwashed? Or were they (using the word Zex used) actors? Who knew. Perhaps Byrne should feel lucky that all he'd gotten from Kay(?) thus far was a letter...he didn't know how he'd be able to handle actually seeing her(?).

"My last roommate told me a similar story," he said, frowning. "It all sounds so suspicious, but I have no clue why it's all happening." No matter how he tried to find reasons for the whole 'real life' thing, it still made no sense.

Byrne also had no clue how to respond to this war Zex was telling him about. So in his other...dimension-like place, humans are slaves to this Hierarchy group? Should he at least be glad to hear humans decided to join the side called Alliance of Free Stars? Should he be wondering what happens to those under these 'slave shields'? Besides, y'know, slavery. Whatever - point is, what was he supposed to say to that, anyway? 'That sucks' didn't seem like the proper response here, as much as he just wanted to just leave it at that. How to word this...

"I...see. So it's safe to assume that humanity is in a, um, bad situation where you come from, then?" There. That was a more roundabout and polite way of saying 'that sucks'.

"Really? Who was your last roommate?" ZEX was idly curious; he might as well ask. "Although, it seems that the odds are against you seeing each other again at this rate."

ZEX leaned back a little, not entirely sure how to express the gravity of the situation with human features. They jumbled them up in such strange ways, it didnt make any sense.

"Yes, you could say that. It really was such a shame... I'd always had such a fascination for your species, and after you went under the shield, I thought I'd never see another human again." Until his Captain had appeared so suddenly, and what a delightful surprise that had been! "Coming here where everyone is human, or appears human at least, was something of a shock at first. So many beautiful bodies to admire..." He was trailing off slightly near the end.

"Oh...Dr. McCoy." Byrne wondered if Zex would even know him. Probably not. In any case, his new roommate was right, unfortunately; odds were he likely wouldn't see McCoy ever again. If that also meant McCoy was dead, then that was even worse, especially since the poor guy was a father.

But it wasn't so great to think too much about depressing details like this, so Byrne went back to thinking about that intergalactic war and the other depressing fact that apparently humans were in a terrible situation in Zex's dimension-place. At least it wasn't a fact that specifically applied to him and someone he'd come to know, right? Instead, he could be content to listen to another non-human person talk about his world (a place that Byrne would never see), how humans fascinated him, how it was strange being human, andandahwnahohawoahwoahwaitwait what did he just say about bodies?

Byrne's eyes shot over at his roommate again, and this time the staring was for a damn good reason. No doubt about it. Zex seriously just said something about admiring beautiful human bodies. Uhhhh. Awkward, much?

"You're, uh..." Uh. "Um..." How the hell was he supposed to even respond to that? "'Admire', you mean...?" Yeah, just what did he mean, exactly? Because Byrne could only think of one meaning for that, and it wasn't a very clean meaning at all. (Even though perhaps he shouldn't think like that because the guy was supposedly an alien, so maybe it meant something...different to him? Uh. Hopefully.)

McCoy! ZEX didn't know enough about human emotion to know how to hide the striken look on his face, and he probably would not have made the effort either way. After he'd given him such advice before... he'd been so helpful to him. Another of his meager contacts vanished from this terrible place... such a shame. Perhaps he was back wherever he'd come from and was alright. ZEX preferred to think of that option.

"Oh... that is sad news," ZEX said eventually. "I'd spoken with McCoy before... I didn't know something had happened to him."

However, something else he'd said apparently had bothered Byrne in some way, as his expressions and speech patterns changed. ZEX ran over what he'd said in his mind and couldn't find anything objectionable. How peculiar! He might as well elaborate either way.

"Yes, admire." This topic did always brighten his mood somewhat. "Your species is so different from mine, so marvelously varied and strange! Your odd patchworks of hair, your tiny double eyes, your calcium protrusions, your gaping mouth holes, it's all so wonderful to behold." ZEX sighed fondly. "You really are such works of art... it's a shame more of my people don't see things the same way."

Oh, so Zex did know McCoy after all? Small world. "Yeah...let's hope it's not as bad as it seems. For both our roommates' sakes."

The pained look on the apparently-was-once-an-alien's face made Byrne feel rather bad for telling him that it was a friend, even though he'd had no way of knowing that Zex was familiar with McCoy until now. (This was why he always let the detectives do that whole 'breaking the news' thing to families during murder cases. He'd never found it easy to tell someone such bad news...) He still felt bad, even after Zex apparently said that one thing that was um. Yeeeah.

Well wait. After Zex's explanation, it made more sense. In a 'different cultures, different mindsets' way. So admire did mean...oh. O--okay. Ha. Ha ha. He thinks humans are aesthetically pleasing because he doesn't know much about them or something. Not...yeah. Ha ha. Byrne knew what he meant. Meant that all along. Yep. Yep...

"Oh." He laughed, trying to shake his awkward feelings off. Wasn't really working so well, but at least he was trying. "I understand..." Aaaand leaving it at that. Before this topic got any more awkward. Sheesh.

"Yes..." ZEX didn't have much hope; too many of his former roommates had just vanished, and he was fairly sure he'd never see them again. So many people lost here. "Perhaps they did get lucky, and they are well." The odds were against it, but who knows?

There, it seemed that Byrne had been eased by his explanation! Really, there was no reason it should have alarmed him in the first place. Humans were such silly creatures. "Ah, I'm glad. I've had so much trouble with people understanding my... unique viewpoint before. My countrymen in particular disagreed with me strongly on several points. Their loss, really."

ZEX turned back to his food to try and eat a little more. Dinner wouldn't last much longer, and McCoy had told him to eat more. He could at least do that much in his memory.

"Yeah, I can, uh, imagine." And not know exactly how to respond to that except with an awkward smile and holy geez can we get off this topic now. Thankfully, Zex turned to his dinner after that, and so Byrne would do the same. Not just to find an excuse to end that particular thread of conversation as quickly as possible; he might as well finish eating before the night settled in - which didn't feel like it'd be much longer now. Looks like he'd gotten too caught up in conversation to worry about eating or otherwise again...he really needed to quit that.

After finishing one bite of spaghetti, he glanced back over to Zex and said, "Well, ah, try to eat as much as you can and be careful when they let us loose, okay?" Not that Zex needed the warning, he being here longer than Byrne, but the prosecutor wanted to be polite, and even if his roommate seemed a little...weird, he didn't seem like a bad guy who deserved to get eaten by something out there.

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Day 61: Intercom, Evening

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