damned_institute | Day 63: T&M Electronics (Late Afternoon)

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Day 63: T&M Electronics (Late Afternoon)

Having the chance to share a meal with Claude and just relax in a setting that was more interesting than that cafeteria back at the institute had been refreshing. Guy couldn't shake his worries about Claude, but he tried to push it from his mind, knowing that his friend would speak up if there was anything serious going on.

After their meal they parted ways to do some last minute shopping, although Guy was reluctant to leave the Twin Pines with the way that the wind was only increasing in strength. Still, he didn't want to be holed up there for the rest of the day, and so he endured it, heading across town as quick as he could for the electronics store.

While he had been thinking earlier about how he'd been there so many times already and wanted to see something new, Guy had a practical reason for returning, which was to stock up on fresh batteries. The last thing he wanted was for his flashlight to go out when he and his friends were in the middle of exploring those caverns, after all.

He took a moment to arrange his hair and clothing after escaping from the wind, and then went about searching the store. While he knew where the batteries were by now, he couldn't stop himself from getting distracted from the various gadgets as he made his way to that particular shelf. There was nothing wrong with that, was there?

[For Leanne.]

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Having managed to get some food down, Harvey took his leave from Ryuuzaki not feeling much better about the fact that Jones and Peter were gone. Not that he would have expected someone like Ryuuzaki to take the edge off of something like that, but meeting acquaintances just reminded him that a lot of the people he actually trusted were gone now.

Not that he could really complain about that. He wasn't all that trustworthy himself, and he'd kept a large number of things from Jones. Now that man would never know, at least. In a way, that was a relief. It didn't make him any happier about the fact that someone so competent was off the team, though.

He wasn't interested in staying in that restaurant all day, and so Harvey stepped out and endured the wind in order to hoof it all the way over to the electronics store. His reasoning was simple: he needed some more batteries. It was a small thing, but not being able to see two feet in front of his face at night was something he wanted to prevent.

On the way over the wind almost blew the bandages clear off his face. Normally he wouldn't have even cared -- he would have embraced that, if only to see how the nurses reacted when his deformity was on display for all of Doyleton to see. But with how the wind was whipping around, he really didn't want any dirt blown into an open wound, and so he made sure to keep the gauze pressed firmly to his face until he made it inside.

Finally free of the wind, Harvey took a moment to compose himself and then started moving through the store, looking for the batteries he needed. He had to make sure to get the right size...

[For Klavier.]

After lunch, Klavier took to wandering the streets again. He had had his moment of rejuvenation and had checked in with Skye. It wouldn't be long until they were rounded up and sent back to that accursed place all over again. He needed to take advantage of what few hours he had left. Unfortunately, he was out of money, so unless he wanted to try his hand at shoplifting, searching for supplies was more or less a dead end. For now he was limited to investigating what areas of town he was allowed to venture into and searching for familiar faces.

It was getting to be a little worrisome, actually. He hadn't seen any sign of Yomi today. Nor had he seen the children. His note to them had also gone unanswered thus far, but the bulletin was in a less than convenient place. Judging by the low activity on it, most people weren't even looking at it. It was a little annoying, but he supposed it couldn't be helped. He'd at least gotten some interesting responses with regards to this supposed illness sweeping the institute. He would have to collect his thoughts on the matter more completely over dinner. Perhaps Brooks would have some opinions worth considering as well.

Klavier sighed to himself, then straightened up and entered the store he was closest to. It didn't much matter where he started, specifically, so this was as good a place as any. But he couldn't help but feel a little comforted by the semi-familiar atmosphere. He liked these stores. He liked them more when he actually had money.

A big smile was flashed at any employees (or patrons) who turned to look at him as he entered the store. For the most part, the reaction back was less than welcoming. Most just turned back to what they were doing, resolved to ignore his presence. Ah. Right. He was a lunatic on a field trip. Not everyone was going to be as welcoming as Frau Antiquität. Or other patients.

Speaking of which, he quickly spotted Dent wandering through the store, scanning the wall as he walked and obviously searching for something. It was a relief to see he was still here and seemed to be the same as usual. And a little amusing to run into him again like this, he had to admit. So for the sake of completing the irony, Klavier approached him coming up behind him casually and looking at whatever Dent was looking at.

At the exact moment of his approach, Dent happened to be walking by the headphones. So he just decided to play along with that. "Hmm. Sony... or Skull Candy? The eternal question."

The voice behind him was familiar, but the words that came out of his mouth less so. Harvey turned around to face Klavier, taking in the man's vaguely amused expression as he tried to piece through what he'd just heard. "Skull..."

His gaze darted to the side as he realized that Klavier was just talking about some headphone brands. Not that Harvey had been looking at them in the first place, although he got the sense that the man was just teasing him. It wasn't something he was in the mood for, so much, which meant he ended up just brushing it off.

"I'm looking for batteries," he said with a shrug as he continued down the aisle, figuring that Klavier would follow him if he wanted to. "Are you also shopping, or did you have something else to say?" Overall, Harvey had a decent opinion of Klavier, so his hope was that the man had come here for a reason rather than just to pester him.

Indeed, Klavier followed along after him, trying to resist the urge to put his hands in his pockets. (Suspicion from the staff was the last thing he wanted.) His smile quirked up briefly at the question, but as tempting as it was, he decided against poking further. It was a bit of a shame Dent wasn't in a more playful mood, but it's not like he could blame him for that. This place had that kind of effect on everyone. He really did hope, though, there was nothing in particular that had happened to Dent to help spur that mood along.

"Something like that," he said simply. He glanced around them as they walked as though shopping himself. He was actually trying to see if any of the clerks were hanging around close enough to hear their conversation. Hm, were they?

"Seeing you made me want to drop by and say hello. I've been feeling so very lonely lately, you see. All this therapy makes it hard to catch up with all my old friends. Don't you just hate it when you lose touch with people?" He turned back to the man, tone still light but expression a little more serious. "So tell me, Herr Dent. How are you feeling?"

It was clear almost immediately that Klavier wasn't being serious, that he was speaking in hyperbole and probably trying to throw the nurses off or something along those lines. He hadn't been this way during their past conversations, after all, and it was only when he asked his question that Harvey understood what he was getting at.

There was an emphasis put on that last word, and considering the talk that had been circulating around, Harvey didn't have to question why. He shot Klavier a glance as they reached the area with the batteries, picking up a pack and looking it over before he responded. It was better not to let anyone know what they were discussing.

"Other than oversleeping yesterday, I feel just fine," he said. He was pretty sure these batteries were the size he needed, so he held onto the package and tucked it under his arm as he turned back to Klavier. "How about you?" He wasn't going to let the other man squirm out of answering now.

He smiled when Dent turned his full attention to him. The man wasn't an idiot, so of course he would understand and go along with it. Klavier appreciated that. And it was somewhat of a relief to hear he was unaffected by the illness so far. Not to say it would have changed that much if he had been. Unlike how some might react to this, Klavier had no issue with the idea of interacting with the sick. Everyone was trapped int he same building together anyway; acting like people had the plague and putting a few extra feet between yourself and them wasn't going to change much in the long run. Chances were, if this wasn't solved quickly, everyone was at risk of contracting it. So no need to act paranoid about it. ...No need to go rubbing your face against anyone either, but nevertheless.

No, he wasn't asking so he knew who to avoid. He asked so he knew who he should be watching over. And who he could talk to about what.

"Fit as a fiddle, as the saying goes." Ignoring the usual, anyhow. "I suppose then we are fortunate. Not everyone can say the same, it seems." And here there's a sigh as he moves aside so Dent can move past him if need be. "I wish I could think of some way to bring the others out of their funk."

So the two of them, at least, seemed to be safe. Although now that Harvey thought about it, he didn't know how many sick people he'd interacted with today, if any. Most people weren't quite as forthcoming as Klavier was being now, which was suspicious on its own. But it wasn't the sort of thing he was going to be able to avoid regardless. If he hadn't exhibited any symptoms yet, then he was probably in the clear.

When Klavier moved out of the way, Harvey started for the check-out counter, setting the batteries down and then digging in his jacket for his credit card. He handed it over to the employee, not even paying much attention to the uncertain look on the man's face, as he turned back to the other lawyer.

"Well, you can't really blame them for being upset, if what Landel's hinting at is actually a reality." Having that sort of fate hanging over your head was bound to put a kink in anyone's mood. "It's not exactly an easy situation. We have to keep an eye out for everyone." Hell, one of their roommates could be infected, and then they were locked up in a room with that person. It was clear that Landel was trying to inspire paranoia and distrust among the patients, and Harvey didn't really know how to deal with it. Giving into it would be the same as giving Landel what he wanted, but if he didn't make some sort of preparations then he could end up paying for it.

Sometime later, Leanne couldn't help but be glad that Tsubaki had found her, that she'd gotten a chance to speak with her. Regardless of everything else, just seeing another friendly face had been almost reassuring, had made the situation seem just a little brighter. Whatever was happening to her and the others, they could get through it. They just had to. She'd survived before, hadn't she? She wouldn't let something like this, something completely unknown, keep her down.

She'd taken some time to herself to get her thoughts in order-- and to finally take a better look at that lunch bag the nurse had given her, though she couldn't quite make herself eat even half it-- before wandering back to the shops. Aside from the one shop with the bulletin board, she hadn't really had a good look at any of them and there was really no reason not to spend the money she'd been given, wasn't there? Something useful might show up, after all.

Spotting one that claimed to be an electronics store, Leanne ducked into it and out of the wind. It didn't take long to spot someone she thought she recognized there, seemingly going around and examining... what looked like the entire shop, at the rate he was going. "Guy?" she asked, slowly moving closer. "Is that you?"

When someone spoke up from behind him -- and more than that, a female voice -- Guy slowly turned himself around to see who it was. When he saw Leanne, he realized why he hadn't instantly recognized the voice. They had only spoken once, after all.

Nonetheless, their first conversation had been pleasant enough, even if it had mainly consisted of him explaining things about the institute to her. She hadn't struggled too much with the information or fought him on anything, and overall he had a good impression of her.

"Oh, hey there," he greeted, though he couldn't quite bring himself to move away from the display he'd been examining. It was better if they kept their distance from each other anyway. "This must be your first time in town. Any thoughts?" There wasn't too much to say about it, although maybe someone who was just seeing it for the first time might feel differently.

Leanne smiled, relieved to see she hadn't messed up and called out to the wrong person. She still didn't know most of the people in this place, after all, and learning all the faces and names was taking a while. At least she'd only recently met Guy, the meeting still fresh in her mind.

"Hey!" she returned the greeting, briefly raising her left hand in a small wave. He'd been nice enough to her when they'd spoken before; willing to answer her questions and explain what he could. The very least she could do now was to stop and chat for a while. ...And she couldn't deny that the idea of spending a few more hours by herself wasn't the least bit appealing.

"Actually..." She laughed, crossing her arms in front of her. "I was here a couple nights ago. But it's really different during the daytime," she continued lowering her voice. There was a lot she still didn't know, but Leanne got the feeling that certain particular things still weren't completely safe to say in Doyleton. "It's... It's pretty nice right now."

It looked like Leanne was in a decent mood, which probably had something to do with the fact that they weren't cooped up in that building for once. Guy had to admit that this trip, as pointless as it usually turned out to be, was probably good for their mental health in the end. Guy swore that being stuck in that place was actually making them insane rather than helping them.

Leanne's answer to his question took him by surprise, since Guy didn't imagine that it was common for a patient to see Doyleton by night before coming during the day. There was definitely a story behind that, wasn't there?

"A couple nights ago? How'd you manage that?" he asked. He was doing an admirable job of keeping his attention on her and off of the gadgets surrounding them, something that Leanne herself wouldn't be able to appreciate it. But his manners beat out his obsession, and ignoring a lady was downright rude.

"Well..." she began, shooting a glance around them before turning her full attention on Guy. "Somebody took me here! She used this weird ring and..." Leanne trailed off, still not entirely sure just how to describe that experience... besides nauseating, of course, but her stomach was something she was trying not to think about too hard. She settled for a shrug, her smile turning sheepish. "It was really... weird! But it got us here."

In the end, it had been a pretty uneventful trip too, though in that particular case, it really had been for the best. The less they could run into monsters in this place, the better.

"But you've probably been here a lot more times than me, huh?" she asked, remembering what he'd told her of how long he'd been in the institute.

So it had been one of the portal rings? That was really the only explanation that made sense, unless they had stolen a car like he and Claude had talked about earlier, and Guy figured that was something that would have earned some attention. "Right, of course. It's definitely different at night. I don't know if anyone ever told you, but one time we all got stuck here at night and... well, the townspeople turned into those things that you probably saw your first trip here."

It was still strange to look at the people working in the store, for instance, and realize what they really were. Then again, just because they turned into those things at night didn't mean that their personalities during the day were completely fake. Guy hoped that wasn't the case, anyway.

He turned back to Leanne, nodding in response to her question. "Yeah, this is my fifth time here. Kind of crazy, when you think about it." He'd been here for well over a month by now, and was still working on escape. But something had to be said for persistence, right?

Leanne couldn't quite help a wince, remembering everything that Renamon had told her about that particular event. That night had been a lucky one, she knew, in that they hadn't run into any of the townspeople while they were out. What she'd been told about what happened to them every night, about how they likely had no idea of what they did then... It was just one more thing in the list of Landel's atrocities, one more reason there just had to be a way to stop him.

"Yeah, she told me about it," she answered, breathing out a sigh. "It all sounds so horrible... I almost can't believe what happens to them."

But, just then, the sun was out and the townspeople looked... entirely normal, almost painfully so. Focusing on anything else at the moment would get her nowhere.

So she turned her attention back to Guy, flashing him another smile. "Five times, huh? So you've gotta know a lot about it by now, yeah?"

It was pretty hard to imagine when he looked at the people here now, but Guy had seen it with his own eyes. It was one reason while he'd always get a little paranoid when the day got closer to the end on these trips. There was always a chance that it would happen again and they'd be fighting for their lives against the people who had just been selling them things.

He tried to drag his thoughts away from that, shrugging when Leanne made her next remark. "Not as much as you think. There isn't a lot to know about it, and the people here aren't... that willing to tell us things. They don't seem to know much about the outside world, either." Or they were brainwashed not to talk about it. Anything could be possible, really.

"Still, if you had some questions, I could try to answer." As he spoke, Guy started to wander through the store, figuring that they could at least look around while they chatted. Not that he hadn't seen all of this before -- and the stock here didn't seem to change much from week to week, either.

That was unexpected. Sure, back in Basel people didn't know that much about life outside their towns either, but it was hardly the same situation. It wasn't like they could just pick up and go anywhere else they wanted, not without the right papers. Leanne herself had never even been outside of Chandelier until, well... everything. But this? This was the Outside World. Wouldn't living in the Outside World, away from the Cardinals, give people more freedom, the liberty to move from place to place as they pleased?

Then again, so far, the Outside World hadn't exactly been how she'd expected. Landel likely had a hand in more than just nighttime events in Doyleton too. Whatever the truth was, she doubted even Guy knew.

"Thanks," she finally answered, following Guy at a short distance. "It's kinda weird how none of you know that much about this town. But I guess I don't really know that much about how normal towns are supposed to work." She shrugged, still smiling. "What kind of things have the townspeople told you guys?"

While Leanne was following him, she wasn't close enough that it was making him nervous. So long as she didn't try to move any further into his personal space, things would probably be fine. That was a relief, at least.

The comment she made was strange, though. Why would any of the patients know about the town? It wasn't like they lived here, after all. But as he thought on it a little further, Guy was hit with a realization. Leanne was pretty new still, so was it possible that she didn't know about the idea of different worlds yet? What she said about "normal towns" made it sound as if she was sheltered somehow. Like Luke, maybe?

"Well, hold on a second," he said, pausing and turning back toward her so that he could explain. "There's a reason we don't know much. This place... it's not the world I come from at all. Most patients here are from different places, so this whole world is foreign to us. It's probably the same for you." He blinked and tilted his head at her. "Did you not know?" He didn't want to make her feel bad, but this really did need to be cleared up before he addressed anything else.

Leanne frowned, silent for several moments. Renamon had said something like that, though she hadn't quite understood it then. All this talk of different worlds, it was almost beyond her. In the end, she was outside Basel. Absolutely anything outside it was a foreign world, as far as anyone living there was concerned.

But if this area was unfamiliar even to people like Guy and Renamon, if even they couldn't understand it.. Maybe...

She huffed, shaking her head. This kind of complicated thing had never been her forte. She wouldn't even know where to begin to make sense of it all. "It's just kinda' weird, I guess," she said at length. How could she possibly explain this to Guy? "Where I'm from... We're inside and everything else is outside. So I kind of thought..." Leanne shrugged. "It's like everything's a different world to us."

So what was how it was? Guy didn't quite get what Leanne meant, but either way it seemed that his instinct that she seemed sheltered had been right. Of course, it wasn't that surprising that he was able to recognize it, seeing how he'd spent a good chunk of his life taking care of Luke.

"So you have no way of getting outside where you live? How big is the place you're from, then?" Was she talking about a single city or a whole kingdom? Leanne hadn't struck him as particularly naive -- most of her uncertainty could be chalked up to the fact that she was still relatively new here -- but now Guy had to wonder if she was just good at hiding it.

They'd reached the shelf with the batteries on it and Guy started looking around, trying to figure out which pack would be the best to get. He could probably never have enough batteries and he could always pass out extras to his friends, right?

"Really big! I mean... It was practically the whole world for us!" And wouldn't that have sounded like a strange way to put it to anyone from the outside? But what other way could she possibly put it? Growing up, all Leanne had ever known about the Outside World was that it was impossible to go there, impossible to live outside of Basel's walls. "Till I got here, I didn't know people could even live outside of Basel."

"But I guess it's gotta sound really weird to you, huh?" she said slowly, her gaze straying to the shelf that had captured Guy's attention. What were those... Batteries? Those could come in handy, couldn't they? She wasn't exactly sure what they'd need them for, but she couldn't exactly see any of the nurses just handing some over.

The whole world...? Guy tried to think of being confined to one area, never able to see what else was out there. While he'd lived on an island as a child, his whole life had opened up as soon as his family had been slaughtered. And while it had opened in a bad way at first, obviously, Guy had still become very worldly as a result.

Not that his knowledge about Auldrant helped even the slightest bit while he was stuck here. In fact, he was behind people like Claude who understood more of the technologies here. Still, he'd been getting by well enough, and he was sure Leanne would too.

"It sounds a little weird, yeah, but not as much as you'd think," he said as he picked up a 20-pack of batteries, wondering if he could afford it. He wasn't sure how much this stuff cost. "My best friend, he wasn't allowed to leave his father's manor until he was seventeen." Of course, there was way more to it than that, but Guy didn't need to be telling people Luke's secrets.

His father's manor, huh? Leanne could almost relate to that, thoughts of Aetersyl rushing back. But regardless of how everything had ended there, she'd been... happy, had lived a perfectly happy life in Aetersyl. Not being allowed to leave your father's home though, what could have possibly led to that? "But he now he doesn't have to be in there if he doesn't want to, right?" she asked, voice tentative.

It could have easily been nothing serious, nothing more than an overprotective father, but she knew well enough what kind of other reasons there could be for that, just what kind of people could be behind it. (Though even she could tell it was unlikely her particular situation would be repeated.)

"Maybe some of us just come from worlds that are a little weird, huh?" she added after a moment, her eyes still on the shelf. Just from speaking to other people, it hadn't taken Leanne long to realize that Basel wasn't exactly a normal place, not when compared to some other worlds.

"Oh, yeah, that all ended a few years back." Although Guy had to wonder -- if it hadn't been for Tear, how long would Luke have gone on with that before he'd finally gotten sick of it and left? Would he have waited until he was twenty-one, or would something else have forced him out? The Score had predicted certain things, but Guy didn't want to believe in something like that.

While he was surprised that Leanne didn't ask more about the whole situation than that, Guy had to admit that it was probably for the best. He shouldn't be revealing too much about Luke, even to someone who was a complete stranger with no connection to Auldrant.

"I think that anyone's world that isn't your own is going to seems kind of weird," he remarked with a shrug. "Ahh, but..." It looked like they were going to have to head back to the buses soon, and Guy still wanted to buy these batteries. "I need to pay for this, so I should probably head off. It was nice talking, though." He sent her a winning smile.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said with a smile and a slight shrug of her shoulders. "It almost sounds like all of our worlds are way different. I don't know if I could get used to a lot of them. But it's still kinda nice to be out of Basel..." The last Leanne said almost to herself, not sure she really wanted to get into that particular topic. This world, Basel, the Outside World... It was enough to make her head spin.

The moment Guy mentioned leaving however, she stood up straighter, casting a glance around them. Right, of course. She didn't know when exactly it would be, but the nurses would probably not appreciate them hanging around the town after a certain hour. It was hardly an appealing thought, but they'd have to go back soon. "Yeah, you too!" she answered, raising her left hand in a small wave. "See you around!"

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Day 63: T&M Electronics (Late Afternoon)

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