Day 64: Waiting Room/Lobby 1 (Third Shift)

[dividedby]

The idea that a friend from home would be coming to visit him today was something that had never crossed Zero's mind before now. For one thing, everyone he knew was definitely in another world as far as he was concerned, and he'd long since accepted that he'd probably never see his home or his friends again. (Or at least, not for awhile.) A familiar face suddenly showing up out of the blue was highly unlikely, if not downright impossible, to him. For another, he'd never heard of this 'visitor time' before to begin with, so how could he expect it to happen? No prisoner had ever told him that sometimes recognizable people might show up at the Institute on a certain day of the week to completely shatter one's understanding of this place and the way it worked.

(...Although. Knowing how Landel loved to screw with people's heads, it probably wasn't such a shocking idea. But still.)

So when the time to change shifts came and Zero was suddenly taken away from the other patients by his nurse, being led to a room he'd never been in before while being told in that damned cheery voice that Someone's coming to see you today! Aren't you excited?, the once-Reploid felt tense and confused by the whole thing. And understandably so. Who in the world could be coming to visit him? Why in the world would someone be visiting him? And how, if this really turned out to be someone he knew?

Moreover, would Landel really allow someone from his home world to just waltz right into this place without holding them hostage, too? That seemed kind of strange for a guy who got a laugh out of torturing people on a daily basis. Then again, said familiar face was probably brainwashed like everyone else. No harm done in that case...

...Well. Whoever it was that was supposed to be meeting him (brainwashed or not), they weren't present when Zero arrived at the designated waiting room. His nurse wasn't fazed by this, though, and she gave her patient an encouraging nudge toward some chairs. "They'll be here shortly," she said, as if trying to reassure him. (Was she seriously expecting him to be thrilled about this?) "Why don't you take a seat while you wait, Mr. Suzuki?"

Zero stood perfectly still and frowned at her. "No."

"Oh, this is not the time for one of your moods. Please sit down."

"I refuse."

"Mr. Suzuki--!"

He was defiant. There was no way he was going to sit while feeling so uneasy, especially if his nurse was going to complain about it. Why should he give this obnoxious woman any breaks, anyway? If he didn't stick up for himself like a stubborn old man, then she wouldn't stop bothering him. And the less she bothered him, the better.

Thankfully, she wasn't in the mood to press him about this. She opened her mouth as if to go off on another one of her scolding sprees, but then decided against it and shook her head. "Suit yourself," she sighed, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving him alone. (Finally.) Now he could wait anxiously in peace, without that bothersome woman pestering him every second. He moved off to one side of the room but stayed standing, subconsciously clenching his fists out of habit, watching other people (prisoners, nurses, outsiders) enter the room. No one he recognized yet.

He kind of hoped no one would show for him.

Comments

[damned_visitors]

Michael relaxed as John directed them towards a pair of chairs without making any of the comments or asking questions that he'd honestly been expecting. So many of the people here had been convinced that visitors like himself had been brainwashed or whatever horrible thoughts their delusions turned to, he'd prepared himself for the chance of something similar happening here.

Admittedly John had said he could never forget him, but Michael was optimistic that he could potentially recognise that the boy he'd known had been flaw-- ill. (Not flawed, he wasn't a machine, never had been, and he was much better at remembering that now.)

Settling down into the chair, he smiled at the older man, his friend, and did his best to relax and enjoy himself as he might have before. "My recovery has been enough that I was allowed to return, John. Admittedly I've still some way to go and these things take time, but the delusions that brought me here are behind me now."

His cheeks coloured faintly with genuine pleasure as he continued. "Grandfather has even agreed to seeing a psychologist with me, and we're both working towards a mutually beneficial arrangement in which we're both happy.

"I've been keeping contact with Tyler as well, in fact," he added with a shy smile. "What about you, John? How have you been?"

[timedork]

That feeling in the pit of his stomach was growing worse, and his smile faded with every word that Brainiac 5 said. He looked happy about the things he was saying, but it was wrong—off—all of it. And being addressed as 'John' just drove the meaning behind the boy's words home. He wouldn't have minded, if it weren't for the fact that Brainiac 5 knew that it wasn't his name.

The boy in front of him wasn't quite Brainiac 5 any longer. (And who was Tyler?)

The Doctor swallowed, and there was a definitely moment of hesitation before he forced a smile back on his face. "Well... I'm alright—getting along; you know me," he answered. He was coping—he was good at coping, but it was never easy. Brainiac 5 didn't need to know that, but there was one bit he was willing to admit. "I've missed talking to you, though; I don't know that there's anyone else around here who'd be able to keep up." Well... Maybe the mathematician who'd been leaving posts on the bulletin, but even that was a long shot.

He reached up, starting to rub the back of his neck. There was also one thing he could add, one thing that he could really use to test how much of Brainiac 5 remained. "Speaking of which, I never quite managed to get you those schematics for the screwdriver. I've been carrying them around in my journal, so if you'd still like them...?"

[damned_visitors]

Michael suppressed a sigh as John hesitated for that brief moment before smiling again. He might not be a disturbed teenager who believed erroneously that he was a super-intelligent robot from the future, but he was still very smart for his age. He noticed things like that, even if he wasn't exceptionally good at body language. That was probably why he had difficulty hiding his own reactions to the idea that John didn't believe him or something of the sort (what had he thought when visited by his own great grandfather, again?), casting a sympathetic, if frustrated, glace at the older man.

But it softened into surprise at John's words, and Michael had to wonder if he'd misread the situation entirely. Again.

"I've missed talking to you as well," he confessed. "It was nice, having someone I could talk to on a level that suited me, even if it wasn't about real situations, but who didn't treat me as though I was strange or like a child. People like you and Tyler, you helped me get to where I am now. I wouldn't be this person without you, John."

He smiled then, a gentle, genuine one that felt new and free somehow. "Thank you. For everything."

There, he'd said the one thing he'd really wanted to when he'd come here to see John again and it hadn't been as bad as the images his mind had conjured up. Michael was still reminding himself of this when John spoke up again, mentioning the... screwdriver...?

"Oh, you mean the toy you were always talking about?" he asked, surprised. It made sense when he thought about it; John, still caught up in the illusions his mind created, wouldn't think of it as a toy at all. "It was just a light and noise effects, wasn't it?"