damned_institute | Day 66: Sun Room (4th shift)

Seishin was content with staying in the Sun room for now. He had never been any good at most games, so it was probably best that he didn't bother with them.

He paused at the bulletin board, glossing over the newly added messages. Someone had already died as a result of the illness, it would seem. Was Landel-san getting his way, then? He could only hope the death count wouldn't rise any further, but it seemed inevitable...

It was before long when he walked over to a secluded seat in the corner.

[Free!]

The Game Room sounded...uninteresting. He'd already peeked in there, anyway, and if it were up to him, Ryusei would rather be in the Library. The nurse apparently either expected him to go to the Game Room himself, or she'd forgotten to come. Ryusei had gotten up and was halfway there when he noticed that not everyone in the Sun Room was getting up.

Well, then. His strict nurse wouldn't do anything but yell at him, right? That settled, Ryusei headed to a corner. Now how had Nakatsukasa approached before? "Uh, hello. Mind a little company?"

Seishin had been too lost in thought to notice a stranger approach, so he couldn't help but to be a little startled when someone spoke up. He blinked, looked up in mild surprise before regaining his composure.

He should have expected for someone to approach him, after all.

"Ah-- No, I don't mind," he offered, a polite smile forming on his lips.

"Thanks. Sorry for startling you." He took a seat.

Nakatsukasa hadn't answered his question about the Sun Room after all, but with the way she had reacted, Ryusei wasn't sure he wanted to hear her answer. He didn't know what had been wrong with the way he had phrased the question, anyway. Generic topics, then?

"Have you been here long?" Hopefully it wasn't an incensing question; Ryusei was not having a good track record with those. "How is it so far?"

Seishin shook his head, indicating that he was not particularly bothered by being startled. "A little over a week," he answered to the question.

The second question made the former priest pause, however. It was not a strange question on itself; at least, not for someone who was new here. "It's--"

He trailed off, uncertain how to continue for a moment. It was probably best to eliminate any misunderstandings, he supposed. "Pardon me, but you have not been here very long, have you?"

What mistake was Ryusei making?! There were no common threads in his exchanges beyond the niceties that Ryusei could see; maybe he should comment on the wallpaper next time, but he wouldn't know if that was a lie by the nurses, too. Maybe his mistake had been trying to reason at all, but his nurses seemed to want the residents to socialize, so he had to—

"—Is that a problem?" Ryusei responded, the wavery smile from before making a small reappearance as he folded his hands in his lap. "I got that question a lot today," he added. He leaned in conspiratorially. "Is there something I should know...?"

Well, that confirmed Seishin's suspicions. This stranger was the second one he had met today, wasn't he? How many people did Landel-san drag into his cage on a daily basis?

At the young man's wavering smile, Seishin tried offering a reassuring one of his own. He could hardly blame a new arrival for his ignorance, after all.

"Then, I take it no one has told you about this place yet?" he asked. That would be...problematic after sunset, and he had to wonder why no one had. "I don't mind informing you, but you might not even believe me..."

Edited 2012-09-29 19:09 (UTC)

_[Aigis!]

Normally, the day creeping along into the last few activity shifts was a good thing--nightshift was the best opportunity to get to one's business, and there were only a few hours to go before sunset. But with the infection stirring up all sorts of anxieties within the prisoner population... well, there was ample reason for trepidation.

Once the moon rose, more could transform. More could die. And who knew what kind of lunacy a bunch of scared prisoners could get up to in the mean time?

The noble ventured into the Sun Room, the bulletin board his priority; any updates or new information he saw, he filed away for future reference. The main issue was, however, that Aidou just wasn't in a very good position to unravel the twisted web Landel had spun around his infection experiment. With more information, he didn't doubt he could figure out what Landel had done, but it went without saying that Landel wouldn't simply reveal those details. Neither could he go hunting for answers inside someone's stomach like some knife-happy people had already done.

He didn't like waiting for new variables to emerge, but he didn't have much of a choice.

Once again, the intercom sounded for a shift change and Aigis was still not willing to leave the Sun Room. Her stomach still hurt on occasion, and she had failed to eat any of her lunch beyond a few nibbles. It felt like it was getting worse.

Still, Aigis didn't allow herself to lounge all day. She very firmly insisted her feet carry her to the bulletin board to check on the notes. Nothing new to see there. But there was at least someone familiar she could talk to nearby, making her light excursion worth the effort.

"Afternoon, Aidou-san," Aigis greeted him, not even trying to suppress a shudder brought on by a sudden case of chills. She wrapped her arms about herself, hoping to rub a little warmth back into her body.

Aidou looked over at the sound of a girl's weary voice. It was certainly depressing, that most of his company that day was suffering from an injury or affliction brought on by the hospital. First Sasuke, and now Aigis?

Oh well, perhaps it was for the best he saw Aigis before the day was done...

"That's not resting," he said, picking up the thread from their last conversation. Beneath the wry observation, Aidou couldn't help a twang of guilt, a vestige of his earlier discussion with Sasuke. Aigis had been the right, hadn't she? While she'd been noting the strangeness of the boy's lateness, Sasuke had been enduring another experiment. Aidou had noted it, too, but neither of them had been able to do anything, not when time slipped so easily through their fingers.

He didn't really want to dredge up the whole story, but with her standing there he thought he owed it to her to at least say something about the boy's condition.

"Sasuke's around, by the way," he added after a pause, hand on his hip.

She hummed, understanding that he would likely never take her for resting unless she was lying in a bed. Which meant he probably didn't want to see her. No matter. Her nurse, while worried for her, also thought it better if she got some activity out of the day. Better than her wasting a whole afternoon asleep, in Aigis' opinion. Not that she'd been able to do much so far today.

She moved onto the next subject quickly, hoping he would drop the resting part. It wasn't likely going to happen today.

"I am..." She paused. What sentiment did she wish to get across? "... I am glad he did not fall to the institutes lies." Until she knew some people were honestly returned home if they went missing, Aigis would continue to hope they stayed. Better than thinking they were not who they truly knew themselves to be.

He turned his attention back to the bulletin, expression still and flat. Like the calm before a storm. "No, just to other things," he replied with an edge of bitterness. It wasn't the lies and the illusions that plagued Sasuke. Rather, it was steel and blood, and the knowledge that the Institute had once again carved its name into his body.

But that was neither here nor there. Sasuke could choose to confide the whole story if he chose.

"Anyway, I've been thinking about this latest experiment of Landel's," the vampire continued, glancing back to Aigis. "The infection and the transformations. It seems that for those who had a device in their stomachs, removing it improved their condition. If that's indeed the case, the idea of surgery as a solution might need to be taken more seriously." Not that Aidou hadn't been taking it seriously to begin with, but he also had a healthy amount of skepticism, too. "In your case, I have the skill and the knowledge to accomplish such a thing. Of that, I never had any doubt. But..."

He sighed and lifted his hands in a small shrug.

"There would be too much blood involved, simply put. Honestly, at this point I would do it tonight if I could, but that would be a foolish thing for a vampire to attempt. I felt I should tell you that."

Aigis had never asked for his help, not in that way, but he still felt the urge to explain the circumstances. It wasn't like he enjoyed seeing the sick prisoners living in pain and fear.

"Mnn." Even if he hadn't been brainwashed, it was likely other things had happened to Sasuke. And it wasn't bound to be anything good. Aigis was not very imaginative, but she knew the dangers this place posed. It wasn't hard to guess what might have kept him away.

Aigis perked up at mentions of the infection. Now that was an interesting tidbit. "So, others have actually tried the surgery..." She shouldn't have been surprised. She had been interested in the idea, and there were several more people here far more impetuous than herself.

The offer to handle the surgery himself, though retracted immediately, was somewhat surprising. Aigis glanced up at Aidou's eyes, her gaze softening. "I understand, Aidou-san. And... I greatly appreciate that you would offer, even if it is not possible with your nature."

She never would have thought to ask Aidou of all people to help with a surgery. It was just absurd, but... still, he had offered. He was honestly much too kind. A kinder soul than she would ever had imagined.

"You needn't worry about tonight, though. I shall likely be staying in my room..." She felt it best to tell him her plans, since he had shown her enough kindness to worry about her. Aigis didn't think she would have the energy to do much in the night, let alone find a way to extract the device in her stomach.

"How are you doing? Have you been able to eat lately?" The question was an earnest one. He had preyed on the patients before but she hadn't heard of any recent surprise attacks. Surely he had a source of blood somewhere...

"According to the bulletin, yes," he answered. Talking about the details of the surgeries was certainly less discomforting than discussing his capability or incapability of performing one for Aigis.

It was exactly what Landel wanted--emotion, extreme measures, panicked thinking. All because a handful of experimentation victims twinged one's sympathies. The oldest trick in the book, that. Playing on sympathy.

He lifted his shoulders in a shrug, acknowledging her thanks silently. "Staying in might be best if the symptoms are progressing," he said in response to her explanation. "I can check in on you again early on." Naturally, Aigis saw fit to turn the subject back onto him with little to no preamble, however. Although the question was an innocuous one, it still made him feel somewhat ill-at-ease, as if he himself were another sick prisoner that needed checking on because of his "condition."

To some, maybe he was. Landel's didn't exactly offer a dignified environment for vampires to thrive.

"I'm as fine as ever." He suspected some of his discomfort extended out of the fact that he hadn't been eating; he knew telling as much to Aigis would likely only get her into a tizzy. "Don't worry, I haven't been rampaging in the halls."

As shocked as he was by Yuri Petrov's presence, Barnaby knew now wasn't the time to let himself get distracted. They would need to make the judge's safety a high priority, but they couldn't allow it to interfere with their efforts to save the ill patients and find an escape route. As things stood now, taking the man along was out of the question. The situation could certainly change, but projecting too far into the future did him little good at this point. This place was just too unpredictable for that.

For now, he needed to meet with Anise. To be honest, talking with her was the last thing he wanted to do, but he had no intention of impeding efforts to collect more information. Besides, she already knew his secret. His refusal would only make him look ungrateful at best and suspicious at worst.

True to her word, the girl was waiting for him in the Sun Room. Barnaby wheeled over to her, making an extra effort to keep an upright, confident posture despite how miserable he felt.

"Hello," he politely greeted once he'd reached her. "It's good to see that you're well, considering the circumstances."

A wheelchair…?

Anise tried not to overreact when Barnaby wheeled over to meet her, but her mouth was left hanging open for a few moments. “Barnaby! What happened!?” she gasped, but soon remembered where they were. “Oh—let’s go somewhere quieter first.” A quick glance around the room, and she spotted just the kind of quiet, out-of-the-way corner they needed.

She gave a light gesture in that direction, and asked, “Do you want a hand?” From what she could see, she couldn’t tell how difficult it was for Barnaby to get around in that chair. Anise had never really used one herself, and she couldn’t tell if he was hurt or if his sickness had gotten worse. She wasn’t sure which of those would be worse, either.

Maybe he should have given some warning about his condition ahead of time, but Barnaby hadn't particularly wanted to write about it on the bulletin board. When Anise offered to assist him, he shook his head with a neutral smile. "No, I'm all right, but thank you," he said, hating every moment of it.

With that, he began to move toward the area she'd gestured at. Since he couldn't wheel himself terribly fast, he had no doubt Anise would be able to keep up. Once they'd arrived, he deftly maneuvered himself until he was facing away from the wall.

"How is this?" he asked.

Anise walked alongside Barnaby as he wheeled over, watching his movements to see if she could figure anything out about his condition. It was probably best to just ask directly. Hopefully he wasn't the secretive type.

She nodded at his question, managing a small, friendly smile. "This should be good!" There was a chair facing him, and so Anise took a seat there.

Given the urgency of their conditions, Anise supposed she had to get down to business right away. Barnaby seemed kind of smart, so he probably already knew she didn't call him over just to flirt, as much as she wished they could just do that. "I kind of wanted to talk to you about... this," she began nervously, running one hand over the rash-inflicted one. She thought for a moment, then leaned in closer, her voice softening so as not to attract eavesdroppers. "First of all, um... how have you been feeling?"

It was as he'd suspected, then. Barnaby's calm expression didn't falter as the girl motioned at her rash.

"The symptoms have persisted," he quietly answered. The severity of a lot of them had lessened in the wake of his transformation, but that was hardly any consolation, nor was it something he wanted to bring up right off the bat. "My current condition isn't related to the illness, though. I'm still recovering from the injuries I took a couple of nights ago."

Barnaby had a hard time believing that she was asking after him simply for the sake of checking up on him. Considering the fact that she knew what his X-Ray would reveal, he didn't blame her for trying to piece more things together. "And yourself?" he asked, turning the question back onto her.

"So... it hasn't changed much from before?" she asked. So far, it didn't sound like there was anything too different between him or Claude... or herself. Was this a dead end?

It was a small relief that the illness wasn't what left him wheelchair-bound, but those had to be some serious injuries. A couple of nights ago... Was that the night Anise and her friends met him in the X-Ray Room? He'd been seriously injured then. Considering how fast people usually healed at Landel's, he had to have been hurt worse than Anise thought. Or the illness made it harder to recover...

In any case, it was Anise's turn to answer questions. "I, um... not so great, but it's nothing really serious." Yet. Anise didn't know how fast their sickness could escalate, and she didn't want to endure it long enough to find out. Maybe Barnaby didn't know enough to help, but maybe he just needed to hear about the full picture before he could give the kinds of answers she was looking for.

"Actually, I kind of had a special reason for wanting to talk to you. You know how we used that x-ray machine before? Well... my friends tried again last night, with someone else who's sick. They found something in his stomach too, but... it looked different. It didn't have wings."

He wasn't going to outright say he'd started changing. With how easy it would be for patients to start turning against each other in this kind of environment, Barnaby wanted as few people as possible to know about the extent of the infection. It was nothing against Anise personally; however, the fact remained that he could count the people he trusted on one hand.

When Anise further explained her situation, though, her questions made more sense. She was likely trying to pinpoint key differences between his symptoms and her friend's. If the object in the man's stomach lacked wings, Barnaby didn't have any difficulty making educating guesses without outing completely outing himself.

"I see," he said, pausing a moment to think. "There's a note on the bulletin board depicting the life cycle of a butterfly. You may find it interesting if you haven't looked at it yet."

Folding his arms over his chest, he shifted his gaze toward the board in question. "The shape of the object may determine how far along the illness is. In other words, a patient with a 'cocoon' could be at less of an immediate risk than someone with a 'butterfly'."

The life cycle of a butterfly? What Barnaby was saying kind of made sense. A cocoon, and then wings… If that was the order, then Claude was still safe for a while! But Anise didn’t know what it meant for herself.

“Really!? I didn’t see it.” Anise glanced over her shoulder, back in the direction of the bulletin. She’d have to give it a thorough look-through before going back to her room for dinner. “So having no wings is a good thing…?” She lowered her gaze a bit as she mulled those facts over in her head, realizing what this had to mean for Barnaby. He probably didn’t have much time left. How could he be so calm? Maybe he was just used to keeping cool under pressure, but maybe he already had a solution in mind.

“So, um… have you figured anything out about a cure?” she asked after a bit of an awkward pause. “I’ve been looking into getting surgery, but it’d be nice if there was a better way.”

"That would be my best guess, yes," Barnaby said with a nod.

Part of him wondered if her questions about her "friend" were, in fact, about herself. Her illness had progressed since the last time they'd spoken, that much was obvious. Though Barnaby didn't know much about Anise, and even suspected she was a little more savvy than she let on, her young age was difficult to completely disregard. He'd never say it out loud, but infecting children with such a disease only cast Martin Landel in an even more despicable light in Barnaby's eyes.

"I'm still investigating avenues that don't involve surgery," he answered in response to her next question. "Assuming the planted 'clues' are reliable, they might point towards a river or similar body close to the institute grounds." Judging by some of the bulletin notes, he wasn't the only one thinking that. "Do you know of any places like that?"

Anise had to bite her tongue to keep from asking, do you really think you have time for that? Guy seemed to also think the clues pointed to a river, but from what Anise knew of the clues themselves, it seemed like a stretch. They had such little time left. Anything they explored, they might as well be betting their very lives on it.

Still, he'd asked her a question, and she knew the answer. Anise hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah... I know where you can find one. If you jump the north wall and walk east, you can't miss it."

It was hard to hide her doubt, however, and in the end she had to ask, "Are you sure about this? I mean... about the clues pointing to a river?" Anise wasn't even sure they should be trusting the clues in the first place. Maybe they were right about the bug in the stomach, but their 'allies' on the outside didn't exactly have a good track record overall.

Today had certainly been a roller coaster of emotion for Ilia. Things had started out great, then Claude had shown such vulnerability, and last shift had proved that Anise was sick. It was frustrating because as much as Ilia wanted to help her friends there was very little she could actually do herself. Not without stepping on toes or working some sort of medical miracle.

Feeling the need to let off some steam, Ilia moved to a corner of the Sun Room and cleared herself some space. Having already stretched earlier this morning, Ilia took only a little time to re-stretch her muscles and tendons before she set to work on simple kata. She controlled her breathing and followed through with each punch and kick with a careful precision that spoke of years of practice. Soon she wasn't thinking of anything institute related at all, her mind clear except for the determination to move as seamlessly as possible.

[Nina~]

Day 66: Sun Room (4th shift)

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