Day 66: Game Room (Fourth Shift)

[knightspirit]

The game room, huh... In normal, everyday life, it wouldn't have sounded too terrible, but as things were, it seemed like more of an annoyance. Games were fine, but priorities.... On the other hand, Kyousuke seemed to have hit a block in figuring out the clues to the the illness, and just thinking without getting anywhere wasn't very productive, either. At this point, it may have been best to push it aside and come back to it fresh. He had his reservations about it, especially since the end of the day was rapidly approaching, but... Frustration wasn't going to get him any closer.

He poked around what games were there with resignation, still half wondering what he was even doing and trying not feel guilty for needing a break. After a while he came across an electronic device marked "Game Boy Color" and picked it up out of curiosity. He'd heard of those before... If he was right, this thing was older than he was, by quite a bit. Flicking it on confirmed his suspicions; the sound and graphics from it spoke for themselves.

Shrugging, he took it a random seat, wincing at the pain in his ribs as he sat down. He guessed it wouldn't kill him to mess around with this thing for a little while.

[Lloyd!]

Comments

[lighthearted]

Having managed to get through conversation without spilling his plans for the night to Tsubaki or Lingormr, Sora entered the Game Room with a sense of relief. He and Kratos could handle things tonight and then he could tell everyone what he'd done after the fact. Concern from his friends gave him strength, but that didn't mean that he needed to get them all involved in his problems.

While Sora still felt pretty sick, it wasn't to the point that he was unable to enjoy himself, which was why he'd elected to come to the Game Room in the first place. He spotted Tsurugi and waved at the other boy, doing his best not to think about what the two of them would be up to tonight.

As for fun, his default thing to do in this room was play one of those Game Boys, and so Sora went searching through the shelves and was lucky enough to find one not in use. He plopped down into an armchair and powered it on. It looked like today he'd be playing something called "Donkey Kong."

[For Facilier.]

[doctor_voodoo]

Silent and smooth as darkness itself, Facilier entered the game room with the same deadly sense of purpose as the approaching night. Oh, he looked just charming and cheerful on the outside, giving his usual grins to the staff around him, but his eyes were not so true to his outer appearance. Facilier was searching for one of Landel's infected "lambs", and his plans for such poor individuals wasn't to shepherd them to safety, but quite the contrary. Here he found one of the targets he had been searching for, sitting by himself with some sort of toy in his hands. The boy's message on the bulletin board was concrete evidence to the Bokor that he was plain-as-day infected. It was time to swoop in and set his "doctor" plan into motion.

As he approached his target, Facilier noticed the object in Sora's hands to be some piece of rectangular plastic. Another "televised vision box" perhaps? Just how small could this world's technology get?

Technology aside, Facilier gave the boy a friendly greeting. "Good evening, Mr. Sora!" He gracefully took a seat next to the boy. "Feeling any better today I hope?"

[his_legacy]

The boss on the intercom had said to have the patients come into the game room, so he figured he ought to simply stay here. He had already spent a good deal of time in the Sun Room, and felt no need to spend time lounging. He gave Sora a nod and a smile as he entered- He could speak with his roommate at dinner.

Link had already taken a good look around the room, so he settled into one of the chairs and kept a keen eye on the door for someone he recognized.

[Sechs!]

[sixth_attack]

Sechs gave out a great big yawn, ignoring the nurse's admonishments for him to cover his mouth. He didn't care; he was feeling a bit better for once today. His talk with Aigis certainly helped him wake up from his afternoon stupor. He felt a bit more energetic too as he walked into the games room. That little "power nap" of his really seemed to have done the trick for him. He may still be sick, but he was at least back up on his feet and feeling ready for the night that would soon be upon them.

He didn't care much for the "games" this room offered, all of which were boring, primitive and inexcusably devoid of any battles. But a quick scan of the place brought Sechs' attention to a face he was just starting to get to know.

"Hey! Link!" He approached the blond youth with a wolfish smirk, his head tilted as he carelessly rubbed the sleep out of his eye. "I see you're still in one piece so far! Did ya hear about the new clue last night?"

[envy_the_sinners]

As much as Scar would have preferred to relax in the Sun Room once again, he figured he ought to at least take a look around the rest of the institute. If he was going to stay awake during the day, he ought to take what little advantage of the time that he could.

He cut through the Sun Room, lumbering into the so-called 'game room.' It was hardly different from the Sun Room, save for the board games scattered about. As expected, the doctors had been careful to keep nothing of use lying about during the day.

Grumbling quietly, he settled into one of the chairs, trying and (still) failing to ease his aching head and the cramps in his stomach. He had spoken with Frank about setting out together tonight... Scar's best bet would be to make his way to the X-Ray Room, considering that he now had no way of performing the surgery.

[The happiest little robot~]

[maverickhunterx]

X had the same thoughts in mind; not only because it was beneficial for him to know where everything was so he wouldn't have to rely on maps, but due to honest curiosity. He'd seen a few rooms in the Institute, mostly settling his thoughts to contemplation or to concern for his friends.

In his travels, he had tried to spot Harpuia or Zero in the mass of patients. No such luck.

But there was something eerie, almost...unnatural with a room like this. Perhaps it was the inclusion of something that was meant for play (X had never seen such things before, but upon further inspection found that they were, in fact, games. Games? In a place like this?), or maybe the false front that Landel cared enough about the patients to honestly include something for their recreation.

Or just...

Last night, he'd seen monsters. Real monsters. He'd been injured both nights, and so many things about this place were beyond understanding.

And yet...this.

"It doesn't feel right."

It was spoken entirely to himself, even if he was in the close vicinity of one of the other patients. His brow was furrowed with obvious discomfort, even as he sat down near an occupied chair, seeming to almost stare out into space.

[redcladidealist]

[Tsurugi]

He would have preferred to talk to Guy longer, but when lunch ended Lloyd wasn't given much choice in the matter. Still, he tucked away what he'd learned from the blond, promising to bring it up with Claude the next time he saw his roommate. He followed his nurse - he still hadn't learned the man's name, and grumpily he decided not to ask. The nurse still insisted on calling him Nigel, despite Lloyd's repeated reminders that that wasn't his name. If he wasn't going to acknowledge Lloyd's real name, then Lloyd wasn't about to ask after his.

Not entirely certain what to expect from this "game room" he was being led to, he looked around when they arrived, trying to get a feel for what it was.

"Why don't you join one of the other patients for a game?" his nurse suggested, nudging him forward and away from the door to keep them from blocking the entrance. "You might enjoy yourself."

Under normal circumstances, the suggestion would definitely have held some appeal. Lloyd enjoyed games, even ones that other people might think were too childish for his age. It didn't matter to him what other people thought was "appropriate." Fun was fun! That was all that was important! But in a building where he and so many others were being held prisoner, when people were sick and hurt, when his own arm and ribs were bandaged from an attack the night before, it was hard to think about having fun.

Before he could voice any of these thoughts out loud, though, his eyes landed on a somewhat familiar face in the crowed. That was the boy he'd met yesterday, the one who'd tried to warn him. If Tsurugi hadn't warned him...

Without a second though, Lloyd started forward, leaving his nurse behind as he made his way to the younger boy's side. "Hey," he said, stopping a couple feet away. "Uh... Tsurugi, right?" He hoped he wasn't tripping over the other boy's name.

[knightspirit]

Kyousuke hadn't really been expecting to hear his own name, since he hadn't told very many people, and had made no real effort to bother correcting any of the nurses. he looked up to see a somewhat familiar face—this was the guy he'd talked to in the courtyard the other day.

"Yeah," he acknowledged. "And you're Lloyd?" ... He'd looked better off the other day, from the bandage on his arm. "I guess things didn't go well last night?" he asked, indicating the bandage with his eyes. Not that he could say much about it, since he'd gotten himself pretty beaten up, too.

[repelling]

Lunch ended and with it, Uryuu found, went his headache. His numerous unsatisfied questions threatened to stir it once more, but whatever remained from his groggy stirring the night before, and from his face being half bashed in with a baseball bat, had finally gone. Eating a solid meal probably helped.

The Head Doctor's cheek remained consistent, he noted while listening to the shift change announcement. Loath to do as suggested by the man, yet disinclined to not wash his hands after eating, Uryuu stopped at the bathroom. Then at the bulletin board, observing no further notice from Kratos-san. After looking around for Inoue-san, he moved next into the Game Room, curious as to who had proceeded there, and if anything in it had changed.

As if by magnetism, his eyes fell to the televisions. He forced himself to properly scan the room, seeing that some of those already present had busied themselves with what looked like Game Boys. Bulky, older models. Sora-san sat with one and Uryuu didn't bother nodding, thinking him not bound to notice. Instead... he found himself taking one step, then another, toward the chairs in front of the televisions.

Uryuu knew he should continue to jot notes in his journal. Ought to solidify his plans for tonight and make certain that Inoue-san understood. Only, she seemed to understand. It felt wrong to indulge in such frivolity when... Only, there he was, kneeling in front of the machines. He'd blame it on playing as Gerard. Sure.

Though he'd neither owned nor ever had the chance to play either one, Uryuu recognized the Nintendo and its successor, the Super Nintendo. "How retro," he murmured, dangerously close to cheerful as he sifted through the small stack of games. After a minute, he selected for the Super Nintendo and switched it on, taking a controller with him to one of the chairs positioned in front.

Retro, yet so new to him. The screen loaded in pastels and he obediently pressed 'B' until presented with the character selection screen. Were there any pluses or minuses? Did any car or character have particular attributes? Uryuu pursed his lips, moving the selector among them. It made sense to choose Mario, right? Super Mario Kart.

[ swimming pool-san ]

[albuquerquesnorkel]

Riley had walked around in a bit of a daze most of the day, his head filled with images of AI's stuck in human bodies and monsters and other random bits of insanity. Not the good kind of insanity, either, where you got to meet the President of the United States right after kidnapping him, get personally pardoned, and then given your awesome car back. No. This was the kind of insanity where you couldn't even tell what was supposed to be the lie. Riley's nurse kept trying to tell him not to listen to the other patients, that everything was absolutely fine as long as he focused on trying to get better. She still wasn't letting him talk to anyone in authority, though, and completely ignoring Riley's increasingly desperate pleas that he shouldn't even be here. The girl from breakfast, Aigis, belonged here. So did Ishida. So did almost everyone who was posting notices on the bulletin board. But not Riley.

In an effort to cheer him up, Riley's nurse had suggested going to the Game Room after lunch. Riley visibly brightened at the prospect. And when Dr. Landel confirmed it over the intercom, it was only thanks to the slow and insistent manner of the nurse that Riley wasn't the first person in the room.

It didn't look like there was anything good, but at least it wasn't just board games. Someone was playing Super Mario Kart over on one of the televisions. Riley wandered over with a slowly growing smile, hesitant and nowhere near a good mood yet, but... getting there. This would all get sorted out. Sooner or later, someone would realize their mistake.

"Oh, come on," he said from behind the chair as he watched. "No one chooses Mario. He's the title character. That's just asking for bad luck."

[forsworn]

His nurse was very adamant about him heading to the game room because apparently, he needed more variety in his life. "You can't stay in the sun room all day, Kurtis. You need to move around a bit!"

As if that was reasonable justification for anything.

Kratos had initially chosen to stand off to the side by the door, arms crossed, while he tried to figure out exactly what he could do, but eventually, his nurse lost her patience and shoved a deck of cards into his hands before sending him off to find a seat. He neatly avoided the one already occupied by his son - he wasn't ready to face Lloyd again yet, and it looked like he was wrapped up in talking to someone else anyway - and ended up at an otherwise empty table.

He still had no idea what he was going to do; he did know one game, but unfortunately, it required two people. What was he even...Kratos flipped a few of the cards over in his hand as he glanced around, wondering if he was really going to have to do this for an entire shift.

[for Loki]

[complicatedliar]

Loki had to do a bit of searching to find Kratos, since the man wasn't in the Sun Room as expected. Thankfully, he was able to talk a nurse into showing him around.

He really needed to start writing down the false names. It would be a much better way to find people during the day.

He saw Kratos immediately and walked to the table the man occupied, sitting after giving the man a polite nod.

[impudentsongbird]

There had been no ingredients suitable for smoothies in the greenhouse, but the visit there had been more than worth the effort due to the herbs he'd found. There were only so many leaves he'd been able to pick, and he didn't know if he'd get any opportunity to use them even in tea, but at least there was the option.

Besides, it meant Gabriel had been able to meet Lee in person, and that had most certainly been worth it! It was nice to see someone else with genuine hope and enthusiasm, even if Gabe couldn't blame others for finding it difficult.

Those herbs were now in his pockets as he walked ahead of Rachel, scanning the game-room with a furrow in his brow. He'd just had the chance to see the note on the bulletin board. A glance around told him Murphy wasn't present yet, but Gabe hadn't been in the game-room before, so he spent a few minutes taking a wander around.

When he found the cards he had to stop and pick them up, smiling nostalgically as he fanned them out with the practice of an expert. The Archangel couldn't help but wonder what was happening back home. Had his Master been asking Rafe or Michael to play? Or was He just visiting the casinos? It had been months since Gabe had played with Him at all, even as a dealer, thanks to Lucifer's harassment and the need for the Lord to take cover. The Archangel missed it with an unexpectedly sharp clench in his chest.

Gabe took a deep slow breath, let it out equally slowly, and then took the cards over to a table. There he sat, shuffling, cutting and fanning the cards like a pro while he wondered what to play and kept an eye out for Murphy, making sure to keep rosary around his neck on display so the man would know who he was.

[for Murphy!]

[stop_the_rain]

It was hard to believe it was the same place, from day to night. Murphy had some experience with warped, nightmare realities, but...

Not quite like this. Hell, he thought he'd be more comfortable if it was always creepy.

And speaking of being comfortable...

He still had his doubts. Murphy would have given anything for a proper confessional. To be able to kneel in that comforting darkness as he had so many times as a child, to unburden himself and be told he was forgiven. And to believe it.

He didn't know what he believed anymore. But when he was shuffled into the Game Room and saw the younger guy with the rosary, he knew he didn't have any more choice in the matter of talking to someone. Maybe it was better that way. He couldn't get out of it now, not really.

Hands hooked in the waistband of his pants - he hated the lack of pockets - Murphy approached who he assumed was this Gabe guy with the demeanor of a beaten dog.

"Uh...I think we're supposed to meet?"

[survives]

During her stay at the Institute, Leanne hadn't yet had much of a chance to take a good look at the game room. Sure, she'd heard nurses mention it before, as an alternative to staying in the Sun Room, but she hadn't paid them much mind, usually more interested in staying near the Bulletin Board.

It was simple curiosity that brought her there this time, however. It wasn't like she felt any less tired, any less exhausted, than the day before, but she felt somewhat cheered after the morning she'd had, a little more like she could face anything that came her way.

Which was how Leanne found herself leaning back on a chair, having settled on a deck of cards, one of the only things in the room that was actually familiar to her. She couldn't say she knew what that weird console hooked up to the television was supposed to do, besides being something like an interactive movie from what she could tell, but this, at least, was familiar.

[Zero!]

whoops, I seem to have created wordbarf.... ._.

[dividedby]

Doubtlessly, the most frustrating part of being here (beyond...everything else about this place) was how quickly and suddenly the nights ended. How one could go from actually accomplishing something to sudden darkness, with sunrise and another 'fun' day in the Institute following shortly after. No way of predicting when it would happen. Such was the case this morning: Zero went from helping his injured allies find weapons to waking up in his bed with practically no warning once again. Grumble. Getting used to this routine seemed like it would be an impossible task...

This morning was a little different from other mornings, however. Usually the once-Reploid was at least willing to get the day over with, but this time that motivation was practically nonexistent. He kept half-opening his eyes, glancing up at the ceiling for no real reason, then closing them again for several minutes. No attempt was made to get out of bed. It felt like all of his energy had been sapped from his body, and he was left to be nothing but a lethargic heap of bones and meat.

Eventually, the nurse came into the room to fetch him, probably hoping her sickeningly cheery voice would convince him that having a fun, educational time with Dayshift activities was far healthier for his mind than being lazy in bed. If only he had enough energy to retort that the Institute's activities would sooner make him go insane than sleeping in would...but whatever.

"Yūdai? Come on, wake up." The nurse gently put a hand on his shoulder, since simply sounding annoying wasn't enough, apparently. Either way, he wasn't going to budge. Too tired. "Wake up. Come on, sleepy head! You've already missed both breakfast and lunch. The day's almost over now! You shouldn't spend the rest of it sleeping."

As if that was going to change his... Wait. The day's almost over? It's not morning?

That little detail was enough to spark a whole wave of motivation. Zero sat up at once, much to his nurse's surprise, and begrudgingly submit himself to his nurse's plans for him...whatever those were, now that it was apparently 'fourth shift' and he'd slept through everything else. How in the world had he managed to sleep so long? He hadn't intended to, nor could he remember ever being so tired in the morning before.

Well. He was awake now, and that was what mattered. He could check the bulletin board...on which he'd missed a lot, but better late than never. Getting information from there was the most important thing, the only reason to be around during the day beyond checking on allies. And then after that he could be taken away from the board to...sit in the Game Room. Because his nurse thought it was more important to be useless than it was to actually get one step closer to freedom. Wonderful.

At least he managed to spot a familiar face once he walked into that room. Leanne...someone he cared about, even more so now that he knew she was infected. (It didn't help that he'd run into another infected patient last night, one who had actually transformed. That was not something Zero wanted Leanne - or anyone else, for that matter - to go through, too.) The once-Reploid made his way over to her at once. And of course, the first words he said to her were almost the opposite of pleasantries. (Hopefully she was used to this by now.)

"Leanne. What's going on?" If he looked and sounded grumpier than usual, then oh well. Who wouldn't be after discovering they'd slept through most of an entire day?

[longlivetheking]

Scar's lunch hadn't consisted of much more than picking off the moderately edible parts of the so-called 'sandwiches' on a bench in the courtyard, which had suited the former lion just fine. It was before long, however, when the former lion was ushered back inside into what was the game room.

Unfortunately, games were hardly different from any other activity Landel chose to bother them with during the day. Other than the fact that he had no idea how most of them worked, he was no longer some dimwitted cub. He dropped into the first chair he could find, barely paying any interest to the items arrayed in front of him. Instead, boredom was written all over his face.

[Free!]

[thisisyourgod]

Games? Who ever played games like this anymore? This whole building was so technologically challenged it was ridiculous. Unfortunately, Karkat was learning quickly that arguing with the nurses would get him absolutely nowhere.

Not that this would stop him from trying, of course. He had to argue with someone about this mess.

The woman eventually found him something she referred to as a 'gameboy' which bore some resemblance to devices he had in his own world. ...But only on the surface, really. The device was ancient, with graphics that were hardly any more detailed than what he could scratch out himself with the graphite stick he'd been using on the bulletin board earlier.

Sitting by himself was just asking for one of the other patients to come up and mess with him, so he found someone to sit by first instead. He wasn't looking any more thrilled by the situation, so perhaps they at least had that in common.

[age_of_kings]

Gods, he felt miserable. The nausea had passed, but he was burning up and everything ached. And the scratches from last night still ached. But he had to hold on to hope. They'd gotten through last night! And they could get through another.

And it would give them time to figure out how to reverse this. Without killing Locke in the process.

This was, of course, assuming nothing further happened to him.

He sunk into a chair in the game room, wanting to do nothing but curl up and sleep.

[free]

[madeinthehrl]

[hope you don't mind? :D;]

"You've been reading all day, Maria! You and Alex can't spend all day cooped up in the library! You should get out more!"

"I've already gotten out," said Soma, but it was clear her nurse had stopped listening. She found herself parked next to a young man about her age who looked like death warmed over.

"Why don't you make friends with Arthur?" said the nurse. "You can play a game with him!"

Arthur didn't look like he wanted to play a game. He looked like he wanted to be left alone and possibly given a blanket and a hot mug of tea. Soma had felt ill enough last night; the thought of how much worse someone still sick might feel today was worrying.

That was another thought--why were they still dragging the ill patients around during the day? Surely if they thought it was contagious, they should have put all of them in isolation. Soma of all people was precisely aware of just how much of a facade the entire business was, but it was still a little eyebrow-raising to see so many sick people forced to participate in daytime activities.

Of course, telling her nurse that would have been pointless, and besides the infuriating woman was already gone. Soma hesitated for a moment, then started setting up a game of chess on the table beside them, placing each piece on the board neatly and methodically.

"You don't actually have to play," she informed probably-not-Arthur quietly as she fished a rook out of the box. "I figure they'll leave us alone if it looks like we're doing something."

[showmeyourwreath]

It was hard not to be angry at the intercom annoucement. The nerve of that man! How could he have this done to everyone, and then just pretend it was a cold going around? He knew what he was doing, and was probably getting a laugh out of it at everyone's expense. It was disgusting, and left such a bad taste in her mouth.

Flora reached into her pockets, feeling the herbs there. The texture of the plants did something to reassure and calm her, a little. They were something she knew and was glad to see here, but more importantly, they meant she was on her way to meeting one of her goals: helping others. The hardest part hadn't happened, yet, but it was one less thing she had to worry about, now.

She wanted to go back to the Sun Room, she didn't feel up to playing any games, but her nurse insisted that she "really get a better feel for the place." It was her first day, after all! There didn't seem to be any point in arguing, so Flora relented and followed. Well, if that was where they had to be, it meant others would be there. She could learn something that she hadn't yet, maybe.

Feeling a little better about it, Flora entered the room and sat down one of the chairs. She carefully opened the pages of her journal--she put more herbs in both the front and back of it--and made a notes and little diagrams of what she saw outside and where before shutting and getting up, again. Might as well have a look around, while she was here.

She poked around boxes all sorts, until she came upon a pack of cards. Finally! Something that she recognized. It was a little strange and funny how she could find a deck of cards on Earth, if this was Earth. Guess they had them, too. Who knew? Curiosity got the better of her, though, and she picked up a box that said "Monopoly" and brought it back with her, as well. She took the board out and unfolded it. There didn't seem to be any electronics in it at all, and the pieces didn't do much of anything. They had board games back home, but she'd never seen or heard of anything like these, before. There were a few that didn't look like all the little house pieces, though. Hmm, looked like she'd have to play this with others. She couldn't make heads or tails out of most of this, though. Maybe Bloom or Roxy knew something about it. Earth had strange games, but maybe they were fun. Some of the pieces were really charming, too.

Flora put the game back in its and got the cards, dealing a game of solitaire for herself. For now, she'd stick to what she knew while she thought about how much she didn't.

_{[For the awesome girl-robot :D]}

[faeth]

There was the doctor and then there were the nurses, talking to them all with cheery falsetto voices, and it was all in all very difficult not to raise much of a fuss. Ishida-kun had warned her about the needles, about the futility of it, but still, the temptation was there. If she could, she would -- she'd lead a hostile takeover, tie her hair up into a ponytail and rip her pillowcase into a headband that she'd wear over her forehead. She's stand on top of a table and scream at the top of her lungs, viva la revolution. Instead, she was herded into the room without any fanfare, no guns blazing, no warhorse beneath her seat.

It was with great restraint that she didn't attempt to hop onto a table, anyway.

The first thing she noticed was Ishida-kun (or his old haircut, rather), sitting in front of a television further into the room. It wasn't too much of a surprise, given that she'd been looking for him, ready to tell him that it was a lot to take in but that it was okay, we're going to be okay, and more than prepared to insist that she was going to heal his shoulder and eye tonight.

It took her fifteen steps into the room and a casual glance to side later for her initial plan to go flying out the window.

"Oh!" Orihime's voice was as close to reverent as it could get. "Is this-! It is, isn't it??" She stood at the side of the table, holding up the Monopoly box as if it were some prized jewel, an ancient relic, excited yet oddly dainty in the way her fingers were carefully carrying the box, arms reaching out before her.

Needless to say, her volume was not very conducive to solitaire.

"Ah, um..." Tentatively, she regarded the girl playing cards on the table -- with her indoor voice, this time. "Were you looking for someone to play with you?"

[purgatio]

Well, that had been slightly amusing. In all honesty, however, the interaction was placed out of his mind. Albedo's focus was for his brother, and this shift would be the last chance to see him before tonight. They needed to speak. Of what, Albedo couldn't put into such simple words, but he had a perfect need to--

See Nigredo. To make sure he was all right.

The white-haired Variant was desposited in front of a board game, and he instantly sent for his brother. {Nigredo. Do you want to see me?} An open-ended question all the same.

His gaze dropped down to the game, and he idly spun it with a finger to face him. 'Sorry'. The boy raised an eyebrow. Unlikely.

[ for the brofriend. ]

[atrabilis]

Time passed in its unfettered pace, and Nigredo recalled the details. He could form the happenings in perfect sequential order--every thought, observation, experience known to capacity. Known as torture, due to obvious circumstances. His head pounded with an unnatural rhythm while nausea graced every waking moment. Living degenerated into a chore, a machination to overcome.

Thus, when Albedo called to him from another room, Nigredo dallied long enough to recover from his latest spell, to swallow the bile close to his throat. {Sorry,} he prefaced, hand pressed against stomach. {Of course. Give me a moment.}

A "moment" proved to be a beat longer than wanted, but eventually, the boy traversed from the Sun Room to the space in front of his brother. Green eyes immediately narrowed in on the box in Albedo's grasp, but it was the person he questioned. "What's up?"

[fallenbeanpole]

He must have been talking with Soma for longer than he thought, as his nurse steered him into the Game Room while informing him that no matter how good it was, he couldn't spend all his time reading. The Once-ler responded an eye-roll and dry agreement; the only reading he'd done had been the titles on the spines of the books.

The man would have liked to continue his conversation with Soma, as her nurse had also brought her to the Game Room, but she was parked by another patient. His own nurse directed him to a different table, adding that he 'should let his young friend socialize with others as well.' That had caught him off guard.

Friends? He didn't know if he and Soma were friends. True, he liked her, but at least part of that had to do with her being the first person he'd met here, in addition to being the first person he'd interacted with in a year. He grabbed a pack of cards and began shuffling idly.

He'd only known her for two days. That was hardly enough time to become friends. Or was it? The Once-ler hadn't exactly been a social butterfly as a child. Of course, there were the animals of the Truffula valley, but that was different. They had acted more like pets that roamed free.

And what of the Lorax? a small voice in his mind asked. The man frowned. What about him? They had not gotten off on the right foot, that was for sure. But they had come around, and the Once-ler had eventually considered the guardian to be his friend. And it had stung much more harshly than he had let on when the Lorax claimed they were only acquaintances.

The Once-ler bit his lower lip. If there ever had been friendship there, it was gone now. He'd seen to that. The man's shoulders slumped as he recalled the last he'd seen of the forest guardian, the disappointment and sorrow on that mustached face burned into his memory.

But he was trying to repair what he had destroyed. Or he had been, until he'd been dragged here. Several cards slipped from his hands as the Once-ler's face paled. The seed. The last Truffula seed. It was still in his Lurkim, unguarded, easy enough for anyone to pick up (if they got past the traps). That thought alone scared him, but an even worse one took its place. What if Landel had taken the seed as well, knowing its value to the Once-ler? What could he possibly want with it? Would he run tests? Dissect it?!

The last two days had been such an upheaval that the Once-ler hadn't even given a thought to the precious seed. Now it was like the floodgates had opened, and he could think of nothing else. More cards slipped from his hands as he stopped shuffling, staring off into space. Outwardly he managed to remain fairly calm, only a hint of worry on his face. But inwardly, he was terrified. If anything happened to that seed....

He would have truly lost everything.

[for the formerly dead skeletal detective who has been rather rudely brought back to life by Landel]

[skeletonenigma]

Today had been a day of frustrations and minor victories.

Eating breakfast, for the first time since arriving here, was one of the best things Skulduggery could have done. His headache cleared up instantly; he could feel himself thinking more clearly. He could also - and this was the important bit - get properly curious about small details again, and motivated enough to do something about that curiosity. As a skeleton, his thought processes had been limited by nothing more than his mood on any given subject. It was so very jarring how much those same thought processes now depended on Skulduggery having food in his stomach. And, presumably, enough sleep.

So he'd examined the library after breakfast and found, predictably, absolutely no sign of the damage from last night. The book he'd set on fire was back where it had been and looked exactly the same as it had the day before. It was like there was a reset button, sending everyone back to their beds, the monsters to their nests, and the fights to vague memory. It was all very unsettling.

A long talk with his nurse in the Sun Room later had Skulduggery completely convinced that none of the staff here had any idea of what was really going on. That made them victims, too. Brainwashed and taken from other realities? Or were they local? The atmosphere of the Institute, and the level of the technology, made Skulduggery fairly sure this dimension was some version of his own. What that meant, he had no idea. Not yet.

Ironically enough, his nurse's name was Stephanie. Skulduggery quietly chuckled at the revelation. Landel really did plan out every detail, didn't he?

Lunch was also another success, and much easier to handle this time. It seemed like the effects of the hair-monster from two nights ago were finally wearing off. Feeling refreshed, finally understanding exactly what feeling refreshed meant, and only mildly frustrated over the inability to discover anything useful, Skulduggery wandered into the Game Room a few minutes into 4th shift and noticed the Once-ler in the corner.

Ah. Yes. There were a few things he needed to ask the fictional businessman. First and foremost, he was getting sick of the smiley faces on all his clothes.

"Shuffling can be annoying," Skulduggery nodded as he stopped in front of the man. "But I'm sure the cards have learned their lesson. Tell me, do you still enjoy knitting?"