♞ tsurugi kyousuke (
knightspirit) wrote in
damned_institute2013-04-10 02:45 pm
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Day 70: Bus 3
.... Day already. Kyousuke stared up at the ceiling, and in the absence of any people, he was unable to suppress a sigh. Night somehow seemed shorter than usual, with more time spent lingering in the hallways than accomplishing anything. But at least he had a bit more to go on, so he supposed it hadn't been a total waste. Between the Head Doctor's mention of the third floor, and something about a "surprise" at the end of the night, he had a good idea of where he should be looking, even if it was pretty obvious they were being baited.
It wasn't long before one of the institute's male nurses entered with a bright, "Rise and shine!" before shoving a little cardboard box of clothes into hands. "We're going into town today, so you don't have to put up with your uniform today. They're not anything anything special—just some donated items—but I bet you're pretty glad for a spot o' color, right?"
"...Not really," Kyousuke muttered. His real thought was whether or not they were worried anyone would try to make a break for it once they were outside the walls, until he bitterly remembered that they could pull them to and from worlds as they pleased, so a neighboring town was hardly any security threat. At least the clothes were decent; a purple jacket, ill-fitting black pants, and a pair of white boots. The jacket especially was something he might have worn normally. But then he discovered the shirt he was supposed to be wearing, which sported some kind of mascot and the words HUG ME in bold white lettering.
He turned back to the nurse. ".... You must be joking."
"Sorry, I'm not the one the one who picks," the nurse responded sympathetically. "I'll bet one of those old hens thought you could use some cheering up. Don't know how to deal with boys, the lot of them. It's just for one day, so try and bear with it, yeah?"
.... Great. At least the jacket seemed to cover it mostly, although the word HUG was still pretty clearly visible. He guessed as long as nobody took it as an invitation, it was fine for now, though knowing this place, he might not get so lucky. After the that, he was provided with a few items, which he shoved into pockets, and was herded onto a bus with a small breakfast. It looked like he was the first here, so he claimed himself a window seat and waited for the bus to fill up more.
[Lloyd!]
It wasn't long before one of the institute's male nurses entered with a bright, "Rise and shine!" before shoving a little cardboard box of clothes into hands. "We're going into town today, so you don't have to put up with your uniform today. They're not anything anything special—just some donated items—but I bet you're pretty glad for a spot o' color, right?"
"...Not really," Kyousuke muttered. His real thought was whether or not they were worried anyone would try to make a break for it once they were outside the walls, until he bitterly remembered that they could pull them to and from worlds as they pleased, so a neighboring town was hardly any security threat. At least the clothes were decent; a purple jacket, ill-fitting black pants, and a pair of white boots. The jacket especially was something he might have worn normally. But then he discovered the shirt he was supposed to be wearing, which sported some kind of mascot and the words HUG ME in bold white lettering.
He turned back to the nurse. ".... You must be joking."
"Sorry, I'm not the one the one who picks," the nurse responded sympathetically. "I'll bet one of those old hens thought you could use some cheering up. Don't know how to deal with boys, the lot of them. It's just for one day, so try and bear with it, yeah?"
.... Great. At least the jacket seemed to cover it mostly, although the word HUG was still pretty clearly visible. He guessed as long as nobody took it as an invitation, it was fine for now, though knowing this place, he might not get so lucky. After the that, he was provided with a few items, which he shoved into pockets, and was herded onto a bus with a small breakfast. It looked like he was the first here, so he claimed himself a window seat and waited for the bus to fill up more.
[Lloyd!]
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To his surprise, though, she'd handed him a different set of clothes than the normal drab shirt and pants with the yellow smiley face. They were plain, but still different from what he was used to. The pants were some kind of sturdy blue denim that were just roomy enough to need a belt to hold up (he would have preferred suspenders), and the shirt was a faded blue with white paint that might have been a picture at some point but was now flaking too badly to make anything out. The shoes were a dingy white with odd, rubbery soles, but comfortable enough. The prize of the bunch was a jacket. Sure, the elbows were nearly worn out, and it looked like there had been at least one mended tear, but he thoroughly approved of the colors and the buttons. It was almost as good as the news of what they were doing today.
Going into town? Lloyd had no idea where Doyleton was, but it was clearly outside of the Institute, which meant there might be opportunities and chances to escape, or find someone who'd be willing to help. Buoyed by this though, Lloyd let the nurse usher him out of his room and lead outside to where huge... covered wagons? were parked. He recognized the area from where he, Flora, and Lee had broken out a few nights back, though there was no sign of the damage they'd done to the door.
Some part in the back of his mind vaguely wondered where the horses were, but he didn't think to ask before he was nudged onto the bus. Absentmindedly rubbing his sore, bandaged hand, he made his way down the aisle between the seats until he spotted a familiar face. Not bothering to wait for an invitation, he dropped down next to the boy he was quickly starting to think of as a friend.
"Hey, Tsurugi."
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He was pulled from his thoughts when he caught sight of Lloyd rubbing at his hand from the corner of his eye. It wasn't very visible with the sleeve of the other boy's jacket mostly covering it, but Kyousuke was sure that particular bandage hadn't been there the last time they talked. "... Is that alright?" he asked.
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Not that messing with it could do much worse than it was already doing by itself. The thought made Lloyd sink a little more into the bus seat, and his stomach to sink even further. And what was he even supposed to say? He didn't want to say anything, would have preferred to ignore the false Key Crest's existence, at least until he could do something about it. But what if he started changing before he had that chance? It would be horrible if no one knew what was happening, if Tsurugi didn't know how much danger he was in.
Lloyd's voice dropped, not quite a whisper, but definitely an unhappy low tone. "It's... " How could he even explain? "It's not okay, but I don't think there's anything anyone can do to fix it. Not yet. I..." He swallowed. "I'm... It might not be safe to be around me."
...maybe he shouldn't have sat next to Tsurugi.
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As it turned out, Lloyd decided not to put it aside after all, but Kyousuke wasn't entirely sure what to do with what he heard. He didn't like where this was going at all, especially with how similar it sounded to a conversation he'd had with Sora not even a week prior. "... What do you mean?" he asked carefully. He almost didn't want to ask, but he couldn't not after being told something like that.
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"Last night..." He stopped, started, tried again. "It's... hard to explain. They did something to me last night that- It has to do with stuff from my world. But they didn't do it right. They... He... gave me something that won't work. Not forever. I don't know how long it'll last, though, before I... before I..." He had to force the final awkward words out. "Before I turn into a monster."
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... But he had to keep calm. Lloyd already had enough to deal with on his plate without Kyousuke drilling him for answers he probably didn't have. Instead, he tried to grip at a pant leg to steady himself, but it didn't help much; when he spoke again there was a cold, angry edge to his voice. "There has to be something that can be done."
There had to be. .... He'd already seen on person die. There was no way he was letting that happen again.
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"I'd need my Key Crest back. Or a new one, but I'm not sure if we can find one here. If I had a forge, I'd say maybe I could use inhibitor ore, too, but I don't, and even the doctor said they couldn't get inhibitor ore." Wait. Tsurugi probably wouldn't know what a Key Crest even was. Key Crests, Exspheres, Exbelua... It still felt so surreal to be in a world where people didn't know any of that. Not everyone in his world knew about them, either, but he'd been around the people who did for so long now that it had been easy to take it for granted.
"Do you remember the thing I wear on my hand?" He held up his bandaged hand. He had no idea how much attention Tsurugi might have even given to it. "The... the stone and the metal plate around it?" If Tsurugi didn't... Could he get away with taking the bandage off here? His nurse had scolded him for picking at it before.
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Putting that aside, he at least remember what Lloyd was talking about, if a bit vaguely. Some kind of accessory on the back his hand... He'd assumed it was just there for decoration and hadn't cared enough to ask about it, but apparently that wasn't the case. He shook his head and motioned for Lloyd to put his hand back down. He didn't know what happened to it, or how bad the wounds were, but bandages were usually there for a reason, so it would best to let it be.
"They took one of those, and that's what you need back?" he asked, trying piece together everything he'd just heard. What that had to do with Lloyd turning into a monster, he had no idea, but that was fine. One thing at a time.
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The thought of what they'd done to Kratos made Lloyd's stomach turn. They hadn't even given him a false Key Crest to temper his Exsphere's power. If Lloyd was a bomb that could go off at any moment, what did that make him?
"I have no idea where they're keeping them, though."
Where did he even start to look?
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...Until the rest of what Lloyd was saying made it even worse. "Kratos?" Kyousuke repeated, dumbstruck. That Kratos? .... It had to be. That didn't seem like the type of name you'd see people sharing. "He had one too?" Kyousuke normally had a sharp eye, but in this case, he honestly couldn't remember. The times they met during the night, Kratos had been wearing gloves, and the one time they'd spoke during the day, too much had happened, and he hadn't been able to bear looking at him.
So not just one, but two friends were falling victim to this. Maybe that wasn't quite the right word in Kratos' case, but leaving it 'acquaintance' seemed like a disservice, at this point. Hadn't Sora been enough? Him, and how many others died because of that monster sickness they'd concocted? And now this... He was so pissed off he was beginning to feel sick.
"...If we don't know where it is, we'll just have to check everywhere," he said firmly. It wasn't the best plan. In fact, it was a total fool's errand. He knew that. But still... "We can't do anything if we give up before we try."
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He shook his head. Tsurugi was right, of course. It wasn't going to be easy, but... But he was right. Lloyd couldn't give up. Not that he'd considered doing that, but having someone else voice the same thought, with the same grim determination, made it feel somehow more possible. More important, Tsurugi's words made him feel not so alone in this. We. We don't know. We'll have to check. We. Him and Tsurugi - and Kratos.
It still unsettled him to think about Kratos too much, still made something inside him curl at the thought of who Kratos really was, but thinking about Kratos as an ally was familiar and easier to deal with.
"We can do anything if we try," he murmured, more to himself than anything he'd meant to voice out loud. It gave him something solid to latch onto, to pull his thoughts back into focus and into the present again. "Damn, I wish I'd been able to see when I got out of the room they had me in. I have no idea where I was, except I think it was on the second floor." There'd been stairs next to him when Kratos had found him, providing some light to see by. "It might not be there, either, if the doctor's keeping it somewhere else, but... it's a place to start?"
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The rest of the conversation drew him back. 'We can do anything if we try,' huh... He knew Lloyd was just turning his own words back on him, but that ridiculously optimistic way of phrasing it made him snort. There was something almost irresponsible about it, but maybe it just reminded him so much of Tenma he was imagining it. Either way, that thin little thread of hope was all they had, so they had to take care of it.
"It's something," he agreed. "I can ask around and see if we can't narrow it down. I won't let anyone know about what happened or why I'm looking, so you don't have to worry." He was hardly about to tell anyone about something he'd been told in confidence, and it was probably better that way anyway.
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Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to ask. Tsurugi didn't need to hear Lloyd's bitterness and doubts.
"Thanks," he said quietly, focusing on the other boy's offer to help. And he was grateful, he really was. The other boy had listened patiently to Lloyd's disjointed explanation, and despite the danger he was still willing to do everything he could. The offer to keep a lid on it, though... Was that really the best thing to do? "Shouldn't you be warning other people, though? I mean, at any minute, Kratos or I could turn into a monster. We could hurt someone."
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He shook his head. "Even if we told them, if we don't know when it's going to happen, we still can't protect them. ... All it would do is make people scared." Fear and avoidance with no real benefit to it, serving as a constant reminder of what might happen. ... That sounded too cruel, if you asked him.
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"But wouldn't it protect them if they didn't get close?" Except for cases like the bus they were on, where there wasn't anywhere else people could go to avoid being close to him. Maybe a few seats away, but that wouldn't do much if he turned into an Exbelua.
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But that wasn't the full of picture of what bothered him about it. How could he explain it...? "... You're not the one who did this," he said carefully, looking the other boy in the eye. Maybe he'd catch on to what he was trying to say. Maybe he wouldn't. Either way, Kyousuke had no intention of elaborating, so he turned away for now. ... Some things were best discovered on your own.
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...but no reason to cut himself off. It was a more pessimistic way of looking on the bright side than Lloyd was used to, but oddly, it... helped. Lloyd leaned back, feeling... maybe not better, but at least not quite as discouraged as before.
"Even if it's not my fault, I still have to deal with it. I'd feel better knowing that someone knew that something might happen, someone who could go and get help." Technically, Tsurugi already knew.
But did he want that responsibility?
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"...If it's someone to keep an eye on you, you don't even have to ask. Kratos, too." It was something he already would have done from a distance anyway—someone had to make sure everything was okay. To watch over them, not just for signs of shifting into something else. That was probably one of the best things he could offer: the sort of quiet support people never quite realized was there. The kind of favors they never even knew about. That was just how he did things.
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"Thanks," he said solemnly, meaning every bit of it.
With that deal with as much as it could be, his eyes drifted to the passing scenery. "So, this place we're going. Have you ever been to it?"
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He glanced back to the window, at the trees and the mountain terrain. "Not yet," he responded. "I wasn't expecting them to let us out." But then, by the looks of things, they didn't have much of anywhere to run. "I guess they're not too worried about it."
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"If they're not worried about it, maybe this would be our best chance." The biggest problem with that plan, though, was the fact that he'd be abandoning both his Exsphere and his Key Crest, and who knew if he'd find anything that he could replace them with? He bit his lip, indecisive. "Maybe we can get someone in the town to help."
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"They can pull us to and from worlds as they please," he pointed out bitterly, still sore from getting so close to home, only to find his way back here. What was wandering around in the middle of nowhere, only miles away and with no sense of direction, compared to that? "And even if we talk to someone, they'll just think we're insane."
That was reality, and they didn't have a way to fight off those problems. Of course, that didn't mean he was resigning himself to it. There wasn't a chance he was giving into this place. "... I heard there's some kind of device on the third floor that limits our abilities. If we break that, we might be strong enough to fix the rest." Either way, running away didn't seem like much of a solution.
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But this talk of a device that was limiting their powers... Lloyd's interest stirred, and he quickly glanced around to make sure none of the nurses were listening before leaning closer to Tsurugi. "I'm pretty good at busting things up. Did you hear anything about where on the third floor it is? Or anything about what it looks like?" Maybe they could just break anything that looked like... well, like a machine.
...that could be an awful lot of things.
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As for the device... "Sorry, I don't know anything. Apparently, the entrance to that floor is hidden, too." That wasn't the biggest problem in the world; someone had to know something. Even if it wasn't complete, they might be able to fit the rest together. "If we can find our way there, a lot of the rooms around the institute are labeled, but if not—" he smirked "—I'm pretty good at busting things up too. We could always go redecorating." What did they have to lose, really? Even if it didn't work, it'd relieve stress, if nothing else.
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He couldn't help but offer Tsurugi a crooked smile, though, a shared moment of camaraderie between two teenage boys. "If it comes to that, what do you say? Wanna team up to go break some things?"
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Yuri wasn't as hopeful that he could find an escape during the trip. He knew they would probably be closely monitored throughout the outing to prevent any slips. What institution would let their patients roam free anyway?
And so he sat down near the back of the bus, looking tired as always no matter how much sleep he endured. He kept everything to himself, but would that invite somebody to bother him anyway?
[free]
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She shuffled her way onto one of the buses they had lined up. It sure didn't look like any Satomobile she'd ever seen.
Not that anything here made sense, anyway.
Korra shot the nurses a skeptical glare as she took her seat. A little trip, huh? Apparently this was a normal thing. It was just a matter of figuring out if this would even be worth her while. She did hope, though, that they would be allowed some level of freedom. She was going insane cooped up in the Institute.
[Nina!]
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Nina was one of the last patients to board the bus, and seats were already filling up. Not wanting to hold anyone else up, and hence without needing to be prompted by a nurse, Nina chose to dive into the first empty space she saw, beside another young woman who looked less than thrilled with the situation. Her irritation provided Nina with some internal amusement, but Nina tried not to show it. Instead she offered the other girl an apologetic, sheepish, "Hi."
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"Hey! ...Any idea where they're taking us?" Doyleton, they all told her. That was hardly a good description. And how was Korra supposed to believe them, anyway?
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But to Korra's question, Nina could only shake her head. "Not really. Some town, I think." At least, she had heard the nurses mentioning 'going into town', in reference to Doyleton. "That's really all I know."
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"They don't tell us anything. I'm Korra, by the way." She managed a smile for Nina. She didn't seem as comfortable with the whole situation as Korra.
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"Hi, Korra. I'm Nina. It's nice to meet you." She extended a hand for Korra to shake if she wanted.
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"So uh... How long've you been in the Institute?" Because really, what else was there to talk about?
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Conversational topics were indeed sparse. "A few weeks now," Nina said. She admittedly, a little solemnly, "It feels longer and shorter at the same time, though. What about you?"
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"Yeah, three, I think. It's hard to remember." She huffed, glancing out the bus window again to see the trees flying by.