Day 65: Sun Room

[fallenbeanpole]

His nurse had whisked him away from breakfast as soon as the intercom’s voice faded.  Surprisingly, she didn’t take him to the shower rooms, instead bringing him to the Sun Room (as she called it), explaining that since this was his first day he would be allowed to skip the showers.  Besides, it would be good to let his injuries heal a little more.

 

He’d passed through this room on the way to breakfast, but hadn’t really paid much attention to it the first time.  Now that he was standing here, the Once-ler understood why it was called the Sun Room.

 

Despite the fact that it was cloudy outside, there was still far more natural light coming in through the ceiling windows than he had seen in a long time.  The Once-ler stood still for a few moments, simply staring up.  It seemed almost like a dream, really.  The valley never got brighter than twilight, even at noon.  There was too much smog in the air to let any more light through.

 

After a few minutes, he shook his head.  Anybody who saw him just standing in the middle of the room would probably have questions about it, and he did not relish the thought of explaining himself to a stranger.  He glanced around the room itself, spotting the bulletin board Soma had talked about during breakfast.  The Once-ler decided that was a good place to start, and hobbled on over to get a closer look.

 

[For Nina, I believe?]

Comments

[timedork]

The x-ray room... Well, if whoever had investigated the clue had been ill—or had an ill mate with them—then there was the possibility that something may have shown up if they had made use of the equipment there. If they could make use of the equipment there. Evidently he'd have to find someone who knew more.

But in the meantime—the boy's question was a bit alarming. "Well... no. Not exactly; not usually—I wouldn't jump to the most deadly conclusion, but it is always a possibility; that can't be ignored. You can't just assume that you'll be safe. Not here; not anywhere."

He wished he had something more positive to tell the boy—but short of lying, he just couldn't.

...Well, except for...

"But... The 'clue' is meant to hint at a cure," the Doctor added suddenly, his now-chipper tone a sharp contrast to his earlier one. "So even in the worst case scenario, it shouldn't kill anyone—well, unless death is the only answer. But death is never the only answer."

[knightspirit]

The boy sighed, leaning back and listening quietly, or pretending to. A lot of it got filtered out as useless noise; he was too preoccupied with everything to pay much attention. To think that he'd ever have to worry about things like this... Underneath the outrage, it was a strange and uncomfortable feeling that he wasn't quite sure what to do with.

... Handle it like usual, he guessed. It wasn't like there was much of a choice.

But the sudden change in tone cut through, and he regarded the man with a raised eyebrow a moment, before snorting.

"That's never an answer at all," he responded plainly. It was possible there were people here who thought differently, but he'd never allow it.