damned_institute | Day 65: Intercom, Evening

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Day 65: Intercom, Evening

As some of the clouds from earlier began to clear, the intercom jingle sounded over the intercom once again.

"Hello, patients!" came the Head Doctor's cheery voice. "I hope you're all feeling fresh and clean this evening! To top it all off, we've prepared a scrumptious herb chicken dinner for you to eat before bed. Of course, we have vegetarian options available, so please don't hesitate to ask the nurse if you're interested in that.

Also, since we have the pleasure of welcoming a few new patients into our family, some of you will be receiving new roommates. Let's do our best to give them a nice, big Landel's Institute welcome, shall we?"

The Head Doctor gave a friendly chuckle. "Well, anyway, enjoy your dinner!"

With that, the intercom shut off.

[Note: All dinner threads are posted in response to this entry. Be sure to check the Roommate Assignments if you're not sure what room/roommate your character has! Thanks.]

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Another day gone, and little to show for it. Zero had more or less recovered from that drug by now, but it was one of the only good things to happen to him since yesterday. If he'd been wise and not attacked the staff, he wouldn't have had to deal with the drug at all. But he had to have a point proven to himself...he had to have his uselessness thrown in his face once again. Then Harpuia - who, along with X, was dragged here for seemingly no reason other than to add salt to an open wound - had to make it worse by giving him the possibility that he was still under their control, that Ciel might be under their control...asserting Zero's inability to fight this, just like everything else. Like last night... ... ...

Fortunately, Zero wasn't the type to sit and mope. (Or at least, not for very long.) The daylight hours gave him time to bury the negativity and self doubt under a need to do, to recharge his fighting spirit. If he couldn't fight Landel and his monsters on his own, then he needed to either find help or use the human brain loaned to him rather than the strength that was mostly taken away from him to fight. If there was a way to bring Landel down, he would look for it. Something needed to be done about this Institute-wide sickness, and if he could help with that, he would. If his best friend and former enemy were here, then he needed to do whatever it took to protect them, whether it be steering clear of them thanks to last night's events or becoming their shield.

Somehow, some way, he needed to keep fighting. And he needed a plan for tonight. None of that involved sitting around and feeling sorry for himself.

He could consider plans while he ate his evening meal; his body had gone without food all day, and the noticeable discomfort in his abdomen was punishing him for it. Woody wasn't present when he reached his room, but there was a strange box on his own desk that Zero had never seen before. Briefly ignoring his food to investigate, he walked up to his desk and opened the box to find...the first aid kit and that handgun he'd stolen two nights ago inside. Hmph. How generous of them to give these back to him... Landel must be feeling cocky.

The kit... Wonder if he could put it to some use. He pulled it out of the box and started looking through it, though half of the kit's contents were unfamiliar to him. Perhaps some of whatever these were could be useful for a sick patient? He wondered...

[from here.]

The fourth shift had been oddly enjoyable--or at least as enjoyable as it was possible to be. Gabriel had managed to keep in mind his Master's advice, to be less anxious, and the combination of speaking with Skul and stringing rosaries for the other residents of the Institute had helped greatly in keeping the Archangel calm.

After having left most of the rosaries he'd made on the bulletin board for the other patients to take as they willed, aside from the one he looped around his own wrist, Gabriel had reluctantly submitted to being led to his new room. Which had Castiel said was his? M39, that was it. The Archangel craned his head to search the door-numbers, but Rachel, his nurse, only hustled him onward, chattering ceaselessly.

Ordinarily Gabriel would have been happy to listen, had been happy earlier in the day. Now, he was more than a little distracted, a fact of which Rachel was aware, because when they came to his door she patted him on the arm in a motherly sort of way. "Cheer up, dear," she said kindly. "You'll adjust soon enough. Eat well and have a good rest."

On Lucifer's staff or not, Gabriel wasn't so distracted as to deprive the possibly-brainwashed nurse a genuine grateful smile. "And you," he said, obeying the firm but gentle push to go inside.

Gabriel turned, taking a deep breath to try and shunt aside his anxiety so he could greet his room-mate properly. He hadn't quite been expecting anyone he'd already met, however, and he brightened noticeably when he recognise the man he'd spoken to in the sun-room that morning. "Oh! Hello again."

Zero was just examining a bent piece of metal inside the first aid kit (what was this doing here? What was it for?) when the sound of someone entering the room caught his attention. No need to panic or look right away, though; it was only Woody. Deciding he was done with the kit, he closed the bag up and returned it to the box in which he found it, and then he calmly glanced toward the door...

...only to find it wasn't Woody standing there.

In fact, that cheery face and voice were two things Zero least expected to see again, especially here and now. Gabe - the man who bothered him earlier this morning out of persistent, silly pity. Great.

"What are you doing here," the once-Reploid responded after a moment's pause, although, despite the frown on his face, his voice (miraculously) lacked the general grumpiness it'd had during their previous conversation. Why are you here, and where's Woody? Don't tell him Woody got reassigned to another room and now this guy was his roommate...

The frown wasn't exactly inviting, but 'Job' seemed to be in better spirits than this morning, and he didn't look as sick besides. Gabe let the man's expression pass and glanced around the room. "I think this is the room they've given me."

It was small, to be sure, and somehow felt even smaller given how much smaller Gabe felt. His companion had obviously claimed the desk to the right, so Gabe moved for the left-hand side of the room, opening the journal with interest and peering in the drawers. He glanced up at the other man with a smile. "You're feeling better now, I hope?"

.... So. Yes. The unwanted was true then. Zero couldn't help but wonder if this roommate reassignment was more than just coincidence, given everything else that seemed to be going wrong for him lately...though perhaps that thought was merely an excuse to make him hate Landel more than he already did. (Which was fine by him.)

What did this mean for Woody, though? Where was he now? Hopefully he was alright... He hadn't been in the best of moods the last time Zero had spoken to him, and on top of that, he'd been sleeping a lot...

You know that sleeping a lot is a sign you might disappear soon, right?

... It might be worth it to leave a note on the board about this tomorrow.

As for his current roommate... He decided to ignore Gabe's question and watch him explore his side of the room instead, though he had every intention of sitting down and starting on his evening meal in a few short moments. "You said you were new here, right?" the once-Reploid questioned first, still frowning. "How much were you able to figure out about this place?"

The torch Gabriel spotted under his pillow was going to be useful; he inserted the batteries he found in the drawer, then clicked it on and off several times to make sure it worked. The journal could be as well. Gabriel leafed through it for a few moments, wondering if Lucifer honestly expected people to write in them for his demons to read, then decided that perhaps he might anyway. Just because.

"We're subject to Landel's whims and the monsters he releases onto the grounds," he recited, examining the radio. It was an interesting addition, and absently Gabriel wondered if he'd be able to pick up a game or two on it before deciding that was highly unlikely. "And there's a zombie of some kind in the sun-room at night, apparently. A number of people have also some kind of illness they've been told will turn them into monsters."

He paused in the process of pulling several of the pens from the rubber-band and stashing them at several different places around his person. Surely sigils and wards would still hold their power, even if he had none of his own? Otherwise, they at least had sharp points. Glancing up, the Archangel asked, "Are you ill?" His brow was crinkled and the concern in his eyes obviously directed toward 'Job's' wellbeing rather than his own. "You look better than you did, I have to say, but I can't imagine that necessarily means a lot."

Well, well. Someone did their homework. Gabe seemed to be taking it all seriously from the way he was searching his room for supplies, which was good; it would make things that much easier for him when the night began. The only fact on Gabe's list that seemed off was something about a zombie in the Sun Room...but Zero wasn't going to ask about it. Though he'd never seen zombies in the Institute before, he'd seen them in Doyleton, and he'd seen the nurses change into something like them. Some other prisoner probably recounted their attack to Gabe, and that was probably (hopefully) all it was...a random monster attack. Not some new threat.

... And, of course. After reciting what he'd learned today, Gabe continued to be bothersome by questioning the once-Reploid's health yet again. What did it matter to him, anyway... It wasn't like Zero's health was the most important issue in the Institute.

"I don't have what's going around," he finally answered, sitting down in his chair so he could start eating in a moment. (He was hoping answering would get Gabe off his back about this.) "I was only sick earlier because the nurse drugged me." Which was his fault, he was willing to admit to himself. He'd asked for it by picking a fight with them.

“Do they do that often?” Gabriel asked, his brow crinkling in thought and concern both as he glanced up from his last sweep of the desk. “I’d think it would make their job more difficult.” Unless patients were being difficult themselves, in which case—

“Ah,” he murmured, his expression softening from curiosity to understanding. The Archangel glanced away to set down the heaviest of his things in an easily accessible place, ready for whatever was awaiting him this evening, and then took a seat at his desk. Then he looked back with a gentle smile. “From all I’ve heard there are any number of things to rebel against around here.”

Another good thing: this guy caught on to details quick. No need to explain Zero's...incident with the nurses this morning (fortunately), for Gabe guessed it on his own before the once-Reploid could bother to reply. Hm. Once again, the man showed something that made his chances of survival here go up a little more. Good for him.

"There are," Zero confirmed after a small pause, though he was no longer staring in Gabe's general direction; his food was the focus of his attention now, as he began prodding it with his eating utensil. "...But it's not worth it to fight them during the day," he added a moment later. ...Understatement.

But he'd leave it at that. He wasn't exactly eager to recount a personal failure to a stranger. Getting energy back in his body...higher priority. And so he started to slowly cut his chicken up (as he'd seen the humans here do to their food plenty of times) for consumption.

Zero’s attention on his food redirected Gabriel’s attention to it, though the Archangel took his utensils to it with far more enthusiasm. Food had always tasted good as an angel, but as a human there was a new weight to it, a necessity, which made it feel more meaningful.

“Things seem very … regulated during the day here,” he said delicately. “But chaotic at night.” He supposed it made sense; the regulation to break their spirits, followed by monsters in the evening. “How many of the staff here know about the head doctor’s—proclivities?”

Regulated during the day, then chaotic at night - obvious statement, and sadly, something one was forced to get used to. But Gabe's next question...

...That was one of those many things here that no one seemed to know the answer to. However, Zero was beginning to form his own theory, supported by events from this morning. He considered his answer as he chewed a piece of chicken and swallowed it - carefully. (Yes, the memory of choking on food the first time he tried swallowing was still fresh in his mind, and he would love to avoid any repeats of that if at all possible, thank you very much.)

Then, his answer. "It's hard to say. They all seem to believe we're sick and Landel's just another doctor...so either they're innocent, or just really good liars. Doesn't help that they turn into monsters at night, too." Something he'd unfortunately had to witness the night they were all stranded out on the road. "In my opinion, they're brainwashed." That theory made his opinions of the nurses a little...tricky, though. It didn't feel right to not consider them enemies, but if it really wasn't their fault that they were like this, then...

Zero continued to eat slowly, thinking hard about it.

If only Gabriel had even some measure of his true powers; he should be able to tell whether they were lying or not. Of course, that wasn't much help if they were victims themselves, and Gabe paled a little, looking away. "I hope they don't remember it, then."

He was getting chills down his spine. It wasn't a welcome sensation. The things happening here--naturally they would mimic his own trials. They'd mimic the time Lucifer almost got him to Fall.

"That would make sense," he said instead, suddenly finding he wasn't in the least bit hungry. On the contrary; his stomach was rolling unpleasantly. Still, he took a small bite. He'd need the food. "But it would make it hard to oppose them, if they're innocents."

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Day 65: Intercom, Evening

M79

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