damned_institute | Day 72: Breakfast

They had made it. It had required leaving Tsubaki behind to deal with her brainwashed roommate, but they'd gone all the way up the escalator, and this was it, the third floor--

Good morning, patients.

Sora shot up in bed, eyes wide, and let out a huff of surprise and aggravation. That wasn't fair! They'd made it all the way up, only for it to end like this? He fell back onto the bed and slammed his fists into the mattress to vent his frustration before he realized that Link was still asleep. Whoops.

It was hard to know what to do from this point on. He needed to go back to Farwell, but the third floor was important too. He could probably rely on his friends to handle things here while he traveled back to the rebel city, but he just didn't know.

He dragged his hand down his face and then slowly sat up again, as the door opened and his nurse came to get him. On the way to the cafeteria, Sora realized that the Head Doctor sounded kind of down. Was he upset because so many people were trying to go to the third floor now? Well, that was what he deserved after everything he'd done!

Sora stood in line for his plate of french toast and then peered around the cafeteria, looking for any sign of Tsubaki. He wanted to check in with her first.

[Tsubaki.]

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As disappointing as it was to wake before they made much headway, Landel's obvious irritation (discomfort?) was an excellent thing to wake up to. They were getting closer to a solution, and it was only a matter of time before they could get home.

...home. Did Scar and Lust even still have a safe place to go back to, there? The idea of leaving them behind made Al's stomach turn in knots, but it was a real possibility they just wouldn't be able to go home with Ed and Al--not without it being a death sentence.

He followed the nurse to the cafeteria as he pondered that, and poked at his breakfast without much gusto.

[Free!]

Landel's brief message rang in Lana's ears; the intercom switching off lacked the gravitas of the gavel coming down, but something sounded final about it. Like he'd made a choice, and something had ended. There was nothing particular about the words, but still, her stomach was tying itself in knots. Had someone managed to accomplish what she and Ryuuzaki had been talking about, and the notes had suggested? She didn't think so; he didn't sound either smug nor harried enough.

Perhaps he was just dropping the last of the pretense. Which also meant the game was afoot for real; there would be no mercy if he was no longer amused by granting it. Lana turned down the French toast in favor of some fruit and water, and picked a table with one occupant. It was a kid, though a good look put him older than her first assumption -- about Ema's age, maybe older, or maybe just too serious for his age.

"Morning," she said, not attempting to call it a good one. She slipped into the seat across from him. "Is everything alright?"

Al glanced up when the young woman sat down, nodding in greeting as she took a seat. He poked at his toast a bit more before finally starting to actually cut it up to eat. "By some definitions, I guess. I'm just thinking about some friends, and where they're gonna go after all this."

Lana blinked. It wasn't the boys' fault -- but that had been exactly what she'd been talking about with Ryuuzaki when night had ended, and she hadn't expected it to be the first thing out of someone else's mouth.

"Did one of them visit? Or are you talking about people who are still here?" She knew where Gant and von Karma were going, after all -- and Byrne. He was out there, brainwashed and, if what Ryuuzaki had seen in Lunge was universal, somehow less than he'd been. "You're not Sora, are you? I, ah, know that's an odd question, but he said he'd met one of my friends somewhere outside of here."

Al shook his head quickly. "No, my name is Alphonse. My friends, they're people stuck here with us--Brother and I haven't gotten any visitors yet." And he hoped they never did--he couldn't stomach the thought of seeing his family and friends trotted out like that.

He bit his lip, "It's just that back home they're...well, dead. And one of them would be hunted by the government if they found out he was still alive." Lust probably would be hunted, too, but that was a much more complicated situation. "I don't want to be separated from them, but I don't know how they could go home with us and stay safe."

Brother. Ema's absence was a constant hole in her life -- even if it was better that she'd been sent home, Lana missed her. And refused to contemplate her being here-but-brainwashed; she'd done Ema a terrible wrong by trying to protect her at home, and she wasn't going to do it here. Even just by hoping for it.

"That's very much like what happened to my friend. He's been dead for years, back home; in fact, we'd never met until we came here. I knew him only by reputation." That it was a good reputation went unsaid by anything other than the smile on her face; she wasn't going to get into the other people who'd arrived here from either a life sentence or Death Row. "Sora saw him somewhere outside here -- and not brainwashed. I don't know if that's true for everyone, but there might be another option."

Alphonse nodded reluctantly and looked down. "I guess if it comes to it they can find a new place or...world to live in. It might be better for them, really." It would hurt to lose them again, but if it was for their own happiness, who was he to stop that for his own wants?

He looked up again at her, raising an eyebrow. "This Sora--you said he's gotten out of here before?"

Day 72: Breakfast

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[ugh I am not getting notifs]

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