damned_institute | Day 66: Breakfast

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Day 66: Breakfast

What Guy had seen on that scan resulted in some mixed feelings. While he had expected to find something in Claude, seeing how he was sick, it hadn't been quite the same as what they'd seen when they had scanned that other ill patient two nights ago. What did that mean? It was possible that the shape of it just looked different because of where it was in Claude's stomach, but Guy couldn't help but feel that there was a deeper meaning to it.

Yet another thing that he didn't understand, then. With a sigh, he got himself up out of bed and went searching immediately for the single leaf that he'd taken from the X-ray room last night. It was stored carefully in his possessions box, which meant that he didn't have to worry too much about that.

While he wanted to quickly sketch the leaf's general shape to post on the bulletin, Guy wasn't given that chance, as his nurse showed up before he could even grab for his journal. He had to relent and let her lead him to the cafeteria for breakfast. While Guy considered stopping by the bulletin to leave a note, that could wait until after he ate. He suspected that Anise or Luke would try to find him as soon as possible to tell him about their findings, so leaving a note for them would be redundant.

He did need to ask about the clue from last night and see if anyone else had further insight on it, but that might be something Claude wanted to do, seeing how he had a better idea of who that baptist was and what it all might signify.

After collecting a small amount of food onto a plate, Guy took a seat near the cafeteria's entrance, keeping an eye out for any of his friends so he could flag them down as they walked in.

[For Anise and Claude.]

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Vriska’s first morning at Landel’s came as a shock to her system. The unusual surroundings themselves were the first thing to set alarm bells off in her head. She realized that she was kidnapped somehow, without even the single clear remembrance of exactly when it had happened. But it was undeniable that it involved knocking her out.

The contraption underneath her was less comfortable than the slime she remembered having slept in. It only further begged the question of where she was. She expected nothing that was forthright, should she have her answer given...

Vriska looked down at her hands, one prosthetic and one pink--

The train of thought halted immediately upon her notice that her right hand was no longer the grey color it should be. Instead, it was kind of pink, and softer than the hand she was used to. It was as if it had been wiped clean of any calluses whatsoever, which would have resulted of her work in her tough life. With that in mind, she had brought her right hand up to examine it closely. Then, she brought it up to her face and she could feel that it was soft as well, maybe even softer. At this, Vriska frowned, which eventually evolved into a scowl.

She roused herself from the bed, and searched for a reflective surface to see what she looked like. The interruption of her inner freakout at the sudden species change came when she heard the door of her room open. Her instincts screamed at her to reach for a weapon of some type, and that is what she tried to do. Except, she soon discovered not even her inventory was on her.

Nothing was.

There was a woman standing in front of her in some lightly colored clothing that seemed close to white but not quite. The woman’s hair was black, tied into a bun, and her eyes were a dark green. She had the similar skin color as her.

Vriska viewed her with suspicion, was already tense, with hands ready to do some serious damage. She heard the woman say, with a pleasantly fake smile, “Good morning, Viktoria. I’m glad to see you’re awake. Now, I’d like for you to come with me--”

Vriska kindly interrupted with, “--Wait a goddamned minute. Where am I?”

The woman titled her head at the girl, and said, “You’re at Landel’s Institute. Don’t you remember, Viktoria? Or is this another one of your ‘moments’?”

Vriska narrowed her eyes, as she didn't like the answer. She considered socking the nurse in the face just then. But, something about the reply made her think a bit more. It was only because she was sure she would probably get nowhere with an enemy so powerful here. She needed to think like Mindfang did to get out of ridiculously stacked against odds, and make the right gambles.

With that in mind, Vriska relaxed her tensed fists, and uncurled them. She stood straight up, instead of crouching like she was about to leap at someone without any restraint. She found it was easier to hold back than it usually was, and it may have to do with this kind of new body she had. She asked, “Oh yeah? That’s my name now? The hell is with this kind of body?”

The woman seemed even more perturbed and replied, “Now you’re saying even more strange things. I do hope it’s not your fantasies getting out of control.”

Vriska quite literally had to bite her tongue from lashing out at her. Maybe that’s exactly what this woman wanted, and she couldn’t give her the satisfaction of getting her to that point. Instead, in her mind, gears turned of a sort of yet unpolished, imperfect plan. It would be a test, a gamble, to see if she would benefit from this.

Vriska allowed herself a fake smile to make its way upon her lips. “Really now? You know, you have been looking over me for a while. Some things just end up becoming easy to forget, and I know you would know that of me. So, while you’re taking me wherever, tell me all about this place...”

Vriska added, in a quieter tone, “...bitch.”

Somehow, the woman doesn’t even seem to notice it or pay attention. Instead she beckoned her to come to breakfast, and on the way there, said, “It seems like you did manage to forget. Maybe I’ll tell you everything later.”

Vriska gave up the act and instead showed the woman the double bird with her two middle fingers. She said, “Yeah, fuck you too! I’ll be making you eat your shit soon enough.”

With that, she headed straight off, and not bothered to even check back to see the look on the woman’s face. She was looking for answers, and someone here would have them.

Vriska was absolutely rowdy and rude when she got her food. She casually bumped into other people, stole some of their food, or just tripped them for kicks. Then she looked around until her gaze settled on the black-haired boy. She finally decided to plop herself down right across from Lee. She snapped, "Hey, you. I don't usually sit next to doofy-looking people, but I thought you might be a bit different. Are you a fighter or what? Did you get your ass kicked by these nurses?"

While Lee was not often called out on his look anymore back home he did understand that his tastes in style did still often draw attention. It usually wasn't friendly either, but he believed he could turn any frown into a smile! Unwilling to let her less than chipper greeting get to him, the Leaf shinobi gave her a grand smile.

"Good morning! You are correct in assuming I am a fighter, but this," Lee gestured to his broken arm with his unbandaged hand, "is not from the nursing staff. They are a very friendly bunch!" His nurse was, anyhow.

"Actually," Lee leaned in close, lowering his voice a bit but not by much, "this is an injury I acquired during an escape attempt. We made it out the door, but a terrible wolf-like monster attacked." Luckily, no one was fatally wounded, though that very well may have been the end result had not they all held some fighting skill.

At the smile, Vriska knew he was definitely one of those gooby goober types. It was just a question of how long he'd be able to keep it up in here. Especially around her. Although, she supposed she should attempt to gain an ally here or there first. In order for her plan to be successful, she couldn't execute it all by herself, or without help. When he mentioned the nursing staff was 'friendly', Vriska couldn't help a huff here or too. Then, a look of general disbelief to go with it. She said, "Yeah? If they were really friendly, they would actually tell us shit when we asked them questions. Instead of, you know, dodging like they're some kind of sneaky and clever bunch of assholes."

For his other answer, it caught her interest, and there were still raised eyebrows. But, she believed it. "So, there are monsters here? When the hell does that even happen? And did you guys actually beat it or end up running away?"

"They seem to be under the impression that we are not who we truly are, and in order to get us to remember the person they want us to be they are avoiding overloading us with outside information. For example, they believe I am someone named 'Bruce Stern' but no matter how much I denied it they would not believe me." He gave her another smile. "My name is Rock Lee, by the way!"

"There are, but they are only unleashed at night. The very institute itself changes as well." Not only had it been too dark to see, but the walls had seemed dilapidated. The doors were just as sturdy as could be expected, but the overall quality of the institute fell several levels compared to how it looked during the day. "And we did managed to defeat it! Not with my usual speed and efficiency, but it was acceptable."

They didn't die. That was always a win!

"Hmmmmmmmm. Is that why they called me 'Viktoria' instead of my real name?" At the name, there was finally a smirk. But whenever something was other than a frown with Vriska, it didn't exactly mean it was because of friendly reasons. "So, someone named you after a stone? Good for you! As for me, I have a better name. Vriska Serket. You're lucky I even decided to impart my name off to you. Maybe it's because you don't look too hopeless, and you sound like an actual capable fighter."

Vriska inwardly wondered why there would be monsters randomly roaming around at night. It sounded like to her a grand experiment was going on though, and they were all its test subjects. Mostly unwillingly, she guessed. "So...after doing all that you're still stuck here. Sounds like a waste! Maybe if the people with you hadn't been such losers you would have advanced faster. I advise you to trim down the dead weight before you end up dead!"

"Rock is my family name!" He grinned then stuffed some more food into his mouth. He was starving after all the fighting he did the night before. It was somehow more of a workout than normally it would have been back home. He wondered if it was the result of having such dampened chakra.

"Vriska-san! It is a pleasure to meet you!" And he glowed a bit! She called him capable! And while it was said in a backwards way, it was still a complement in its own fashion.

He did frown, however, at her use of the word 'loser.' That word he could never like, no matter the context. "They were actually very capable themselves! But our powers are greatly reduced here. As you can see, my arm was greatly injured in our escape attempt, and that would normally not have happened. Also...!"

Lee had his mouth open, but he couldn't give an explanation for why he was back here this morning. Not a full one, anyway. "Also... we should have escaped easily. We had made it out onto the road and were headed away from the building. But... I suppose whatever brought us here in the first place somehow brought us back here again when morning came."

Now the former troll was leaning towards the black-haired male being relatively new in some way. There was no other reason or way he would be so bright. He just probably hadn't had life kick his ass hard enough, or that was what Vriska assumed. After all, she couldn't imagine even the most cheerful of people she's met ever decide to face this situation like they were on candy mountain. She wondered if it was like some disease. "Yeah, whatever."

She rolled her eyes. "I know that's true. It was kind of obvious when they forced me into this dumb pink...form like the same you have. It's a real pain in the ass. I don't know how you can go around with something that feels like it can be easily bruised. Anyway, if they're capable in battle then maybe they're not so bad. Maybe! You could just be covering their sorry asses because you're some dumb nicey nice guy."

Well, Vriska had an idea that it wouldn't be easy, but that sounded really frustrating. She flicked some piece of her food off her tray, and didn't even care where it would land. "That's fucking dumb. Was this the first time you actually tried to escape?"

That wasn't quite the boisterous greeting he had given, but he would take it. Most people were not nearly as enthusiastic as Lee. He had grown used to thinking of others as lack-luster.

He tilted his head, curious. "You did not have skin like me before coming here?" That was interesting, though Lee had to admit he only had met a very few people with skin any darker than his own. The darkest had been Facilier-sensei, and before him would have been Killer B. But he let the thought drop when she continued on.

He grinned, giving her a Nice Guy Pose. "Of course! I am always a Nice Guy!"

"You should eat," Lee insisted, eying the spatter she was making on their table. He took a bite of his pancake to show her. "It is good for you and will give you energy to seize the day! And it is better not to let food go to waste."

The shinobi nodded emphatically, eyes turning a bit serious. "I was only brought to this place the day before, so my escape attempt last night was the first I could ever have had here. I do not know what system they used to bring us back to our beds this morning, but it was quite effective. Perhaps the strongest jutsu I have ever encountered!"

Vriska placed her chin on her hands. "Yeah. It was all grey. Oh yeah, and I had horns too. I'm not whatever this species is, but originally a troll."

When he made such an outrageous pose, she thought it was a bit ridiculous. For some reason it kind of pissed her off, but at the same time she thought it made him look dumb. When he mentioned the food, it was probably true he had a point, but at the same time she had also thought that these people might have slipped something into it. Not to mention, she was still angry about being stuck in this whole situation, and that seemed to pretty much kill her appetite. "So, if I threw it on your face, that would be a waste?"

She also thought of what kind of ability they must have used to simultaneously knock out and bring patients back. Even if they happened to have made it outside. "It sounds to me you work fast. Faster than maybe your companions. Maybe they probably have something to instantly knock us out and drag us all the way back. But, while we're talking about this, tell me what a 'jutsu' is."

Lee's large eyes widened even further. Grey skin, and horns. Sounded like some sort of oni from a story, but Vriska did not seem scary enough to be an oni. "That is amazing! I have never heard of such a thing! I am a human, though! And that is what you look like now!"

He nodded emphatically. "It would certainly would be a waste. Go on! Eat! It is good!" She would surely not be making such a mess if she actually tried it. And he was honest before when he said she should eat for energy. With how much activity he had done the day before, plus fighting the monster that night, he hadn't gotten even a wink of sleep in.

"I am known for my speed and efficiency back home," he gushed, beaming at her compliment. He liked being fast at everything he did. Haste could often lead to problems down the line, but at the moment it always seemed like a good idea. He took a sip of water, clearing his throat before he explained. "A jutsu is a skill! Where I come from, we shinobi have three types of jutsu we are taught to manipulate; ninjutsu, attacking skills that require chakra and manipulate various elements, genjutsu, illusionary skills meant to befuddle enemies, and taijutsu, attack skills that rely on one's own physical strength and speed. I am a taijutsu master!"

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Day 66: Breakfast

is this okay

lol works for me o/

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