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

[corvus_veritas]

'Butterflies in the stomach' was quite unfunny, wasn't it? But it was also unsurprising to Byrne, sadly. Didn't seem to be beneath scum like Landel to make a joke like that out of this illness.

But anyway. "From what I read, someone actually saw it for themselves." How it was seen wasn't exactly described, just that someone saw it 'intimately'. Byrne's guess... "They probably used the X-Ray machine." 'Probably' because that was more likely than the uh, well. Than the more stomach-upsetting alternative. Literally and figuratively.

"Haven't read about any actions taken beyond that, though. I'd assume it's because they didn't have enough time to do anything else then." The night only lasted so long, after all. But Byrne didn't doubt that people were thinking of solutions as they spoke.

[fourstonewalls]

Lana's eyes narrowed at that probably -- she could imagine the alternative, just as well as he could. Then the abstract was replaced by the thought that the same was true of her own stomach, and she slid a hand over her belly.

It was reminding her of something, too -- a case? Not one of her own, but there'd been something with moths...oh, not a case. Silence of the Lambs.

"Do you think it would be worthwhile to confirm that?" She couldn't just sit around moping for another night, as appealing as a good night's sleep was sounding.

[corvus_veritas]

Confirm it? "I don't know." Maybe? Depended on what she meant by 'confirming'. Hopefully Ms. Skye was only thinking about the X-Ray Machine. Actually wait, check that: hopefully everyone was thinking about just the X-Ray Machine. No patient needed to be that desperate here unless surgery really was the only cure, and even then, it was still incredibly risky. How many legitimate doctors were in the patient ranks, anyway? Probably none. And that didn't even account for supplies and a place...

Ahh, but now Byrne was just going off on another internal worried ramble. The need to confirm it, right. "Many people saw the clue and at least one person claimed they saw it 'intimately'. I don't think there's any reason to doubt them." Yes, people could possibly lie, especially in this sort of situation where panic could break out at any moment, but Byrne was going to put trust in his fellow prisoners as far as this was concerned.

Still...

"But even so, I have to admit I'm curious to actually see it myself."

[fourstonewalls]

"I wouldn't say curious, but I wouldn't mind confirming it. Or whatever, if any, hint Mr. Landel sees fit to give tonight." Letting him run the show wasn't something she wanted to do, but it wasn't quite as weak of a position as many might assume. Not when she had nothing to risk; she could walk into a trap and walk back out...or not.

"Not, perhaps, too intimately," she added, as the possible implication of what she'd said finally sunk in. Slow, Skye, slow. "There's a limit to what I am willing to do for science."

[corvus_veritas]

Yeah, good point - no telling what 'hint' Landel (or another source?) might leave them after sundown today. Who knew, maybe they'd find something that completely contradicted the clue they got last night. In that case, perhaps they should wait to do anything about the first clue until after the night's first intercom broadcast? Just in case a second clue was mentioned at all? It wouldn't do to be too hasty.

Before Byrne could say anything about that, however, he became distracted by someone suddenly approaching him and touching his shoulder. Who was--the nurse? What did she want?

...Oh. It was lunch time, and she wanted him to get up and come with her for a moment. Already? Shoot. Time flew by so quickly around here.

He turned back to Lana and smiled apologetically. "Sorry, but it looks like we'll have to end this here," he said, rising from his seat. "I guess leave me a note on the board if you need me. Otherwise, take care. Oh, and don't act with haste on this."

There, concern shared. Wait--should he ask about Badd, too? ...Nah. Byrne could keep looking for him on his own. No need to trouble Ms. Skye with that. (Plus, the nurse was being a little pushy right now. Wanting him to hurry on up so he could get his meal. Alright, alright! Moving along now. Sheesh.) He waved at his fellow prosecutor before following the nurse to wherever she was taking him to. As if it were so drastically important to cut a serious conversation short... Oh well.