Zero (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
dividedby) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
damned_institute2012-06-12 12:04 pm
dividedby) wrote in damned_institute2012-06-12 12:04 pm
Day 64: Patient Library (Fourth Shift)
... ... ... ...
It was shock, like failing to recognize some heavy injury following a traumatic accident. Zero's mind was reeling, still trying to accept the fact that Ciel - or else, someone who looked and sounded exactly like her - had been standing right before him, calling him by a different name. She'd spoken untruths, supporting the Institute's idea that he was mad, but her face, her voice, her mannerisms...! It had undeniably been Ciel!
No, his mind couldn't accept that. Not yet. The so-called superior thinking power of the human brain couldn't do anything to help him.
And so the once-Reploid slowly walked out of the visitation room as if in a trance, following behind his forever cheerful nurse. She, of course, thought that there was nothing wrong and began chattering to herself about how healthy that visit must have been for him.
'Healthy'.
On any other day, he would have let out some sort of displeased grunt or, better yet, some rude remark about just how 'healthy' such a visit had been for him, but any sort of response became impossible when his brain was too busy just trying to process simple facts. So he simply stared past the nurse instead, only vaguely aware that she even existed. (Not that she seemed to notice. In fact, she probably took his lack of rudeness as a good sign. Wouldn't be surprising.)
Thankfully, it was only a very short walk back to the Sun Room and, therefore, only a short amount of time spent with that woman. Zero abandoned her and then slipped into the library in order to find some peace and quiet. He could sit in a chair somewhere and try to think about what just happened...
...He ended up standing in front of a random bookshelf mindlessly staring at the rows of paper-made novels in front of him rather than sitting, but oh well. His mind was in the same place either way.
[Long Hair Brigadiers UNITE!]
It was shock, like failing to recognize some heavy injury following a traumatic accident. Zero's mind was reeling, still trying to accept the fact that Ciel - or else, someone who looked and sounded exactly like her - had been standing right before him, calling him by a different name. She'd spoken untruths, supporting the Institute's idea that he was mad, but her face, her voice, her mannerisms...! It had undeniably been Ciel!
No, his mind couldn't accept that. Not yet. The so-called superior thinking power of the human brain couldn't do anything to help him.
And so the once-Reploid slowly walked out of the visitation room as if in a trance, following behind his forever cheerful nurse. She, of course, thought that there was nothing wrong and began chattering to herself about how healthy that visit must have been for him.
'Healthy'.
On any other day, he would have let out some sort of displeased grunt or, better yet, some rude remark about just how 'healthy' such a visit had been for him, but any sort of response became impossible when his brain was too busy just trying to process simple facts. So he simply stared past the nurse instead, only vaguely aware that she even existed. (Not that she seemed to notice. In fact, she probably took his lack of rudeness as a good sign. Wouldn't be surprising.)
Thankfully, it was only a very short walk back to the Sun Room and, therefore, only a short amount of time spent with that woman. Zero abandoned her and then slipped into the library in order to find some peace and quiet. He could sit in a chair somewhere and try to think about what just happened...
...He ended up standing in front of a random bookshelf mindlessly staring at the rows of paper-made novels in front of him rather than sitting, but oh well. His mind was in the same place either way.
[Long Hair Brigadiers UNITE!]
no subject
At least she had a back-up place to go in situations like this: when in doubt, head for the library. Where had she left off in A Little Princess, again? She could barely remember after the excitement of the past couple of days. Rapunzel entered the library and tread along the aisles, heading for the shelf she had been frequenting lately.
As it turned out, there was a person already in the aisle she sought. This wouldn't have been a huge deal (though, Rapunzel probably would have said hello anyway), but for the person's hair. She knew she had seen that head of hair around in passing, but had never consciously picked up on it until now. It was almost as long as hers was, maybe the same length even, she thought. Never mind that it was a man sporting that hair. From the way Mother Gothel had always described men — thugs, ruffians, brutes — she never would have pictured one that looked anything like her before. Then again, she never pictured anyone like Eugene before he'd showed up, either.
Beyond just the hair, however, Rapunzel noticed the look on the man's face. By now, that look was getting to be familiar — a melancholy blankness, unsure of how to deal with the world around in the moment. She couldn't be sure if that was exactly what the man was feeling, but for Landel's, dulled trauma was never a bad assumption to make.
"Hey, I think I've seen you around," said Rapunzel quietly after a few moments, walking into the aisle toward the shelf where The Little Princess sat. "Need help with anything?"
no subject
Oh... Apparently, he was being spoken to. By a young looking girl, another prisoner with...hair. Unusually long hair. About as long as his own, in fact. (Hm. How often did one see that?) He could have sworn he'd seen that hair from a distance, it being so out of the ordinary to see, but he wasn't going to think about where or when. Too much information he was trying and failing to process already...
... What had the girl said to him, again? ... Or did it even matter.
No, it didn't matter. Everything in him wanted to tell her to go away. Leave him be, he had more important things to think and worry about than meaningless conversation with a stranger. But...for some reason, he couldn't bother to say something rude. He couldn't bother to say anything at all, really. It didn't help that he felt like he was thinking five times slower than usual...
So Zero stared quietly at the girl instead, torn between responding or just turning back to the shelves and ignoring her. Either way, he wanted to be left alone.
no subject
"Did I say something wrong?" she asked, hoping she hadn't offended him in either case. "Sorry. You just look kind of lost."
no subject
Zero continued to stare at the girl quietly for a few seconds longer before his urge to say something finally won out in the end. When he spoke, however, his voice was toned down and came out sounding much like a long sigh.
"...I'm okay." And that was all. Out of all the rude remarks he wanted to say, he could only assure this girl that he was okay. Maybe a blatant lie like that would be enough to make her leave him alone...