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

[idolism]

Accepting Landel’s little gifts and exclusive luxuries as some kind of privilege worth aspiring to was a foolhardy way of thinking, that Aidou knew. But he had to admit, the chance to use his hallway rights and escape the general population, even for a second, did wonders for his focus.

There was no way he as participating in the usual shower shift if he could avoid it (without getting sedated). So when night gave way to day in its usual hasty manner, the noble went straight to the showers to beat the rush.

He needed time to think, anyway. Catching a glimpse of what else lay underneath the Institute had sparked his wariness as well as his imagination. “Down is the way you want to go if you want to uncover the secrets of this place,” Landel had said once. More than simply down, Aidou was beginning to think there was a whole other world underneath their feet that Landel intended to have them explore. Another elaborate hoop to jump through. The fact that he and Sasuke had been the only ones able to step foot in the new territory was at the forefront of his thoughts, as well. What set Aigis apart from them? Was it really because he and Sasuke had “progressed” farther than her?

Why did he think it had something to do with the archaic blood match Landel staged in the depths of the basement? Probably because you know better, he thought to himself.

Besides the caverns, there also remained the problem of the infection--which, given the news circulating around the bulletin board, was really turning out to be more of a freakish hack-and-slash science experiment. When Aidou entered the Sun Room for second shift to check in on the bulletin, he had the so-called “clue” on his mind. Thanks to the Rapunzel girl’s note, he had a general idea of what the X-Ray Room business had been all about, but there were still a lot of unanswered questions afoot. If people actually started gutting each other to get at the truth, well… that was certainly one way of answering them, he supposed.

He stood for a moment, reading the latest notes with a hand to his chin, before sitting down out of the way of the sun roof, journal in his lap.