Day 72: Sun Room (4th Shift)

[lighthearted]

[From here.]

Sora wandered back over to the bulletin board after leaving the showers, hoping that he might run into the person he'd talked to over it yesterday. He remembered the description Sechs had given him: tall, dark hair, yellow eyes. That was the sort of thing that should stand out...

But if Sechs was over eighteen, there was a good chance that he would be in the Arts and Crafts room instead. Sora could try and beg one of the nurses to let him go check, but he didn't know if they'd be all that happy with him after he'd slept most of the day.

Well, he'd wait around for just a little longer. If Sechs didn't show, then Sora was going to ask a nurse anyway. The worst thing they could do was say no, right?

[For Sechs.]

Comments

[sixth_attack]

Eating his lunch outside helped ease Sechs' aggravation over his heated discussion with Zero, but it didn't stop him from having a grouchy reaction towards the nurse who interrupted his time outdoors.

"I don't wanna do arts and crafts!" Sechs complained loudly as he was escorted back inside. "It's all stupid and you don't ever let me do what I really want anyways!" Like restoring the bold "6" he used to have on his forehead with a permanent marker. Last time he attempted that he was sedated by the orderlies...

"Keep your voice down and act your age, Cody!" the nurse chastised as she herded Sechs into the Sun Room. "Doing some art therapy won't hurt you, it could actually help you feel better!"

Sechs rolled his eyes with a snort. "You kidding me?" And like a stubborn bull, the Replica halted on the spot with his arms folded across his chest, unwilling to take another step forward. "The only way some stupid finger painting is gonna help me is if I get to paint Landel's head on a bloody pike!"

The nurse stopped as well, silent for a moment as she mentally reminded herself that her patient was just very ill. Deciding to ignore that description of such a violent finger painting, the nurse turned to face Sechs. "You've been keeping to yourself in the Sun Room too much lately," she retorted with a grave tone, knowing her patient's short-tempered reputation. "So unless you have someone waiting for you here, I'd suggest you follow me to the crafts room or else a timeout for you will have to be arranged..."

Sechs snorted, his eyes narrowing at the thinly veiled threat of needles and sedation. Just thinking about those damn syringes made the scars on his spine twinge and his blood simmer with adrenaline. He was so sick of being pushed around here--!

"Arrange anything for me," he snarled, "and I'll arrange a ruckus for all of you...!"

[lighthearted]

At first, Sora didn't realize that the commotion had anything to do with him. It wasn't that uncommon for patients to have outbursts for one reason or another, and Sora couldn't blame them either. This situation they were in could get frustrating, and some people didn't have very good tempers...

Which seemed to be the case with the patient who was arguing loudly with his nurse. Was going to Arts and Crafts really that big of a deal? At first, Sora tried to ignore it all to be polite, but he ended up glancing over once more and then he realized...

Tall, dark hair, yellow eyes. That was Sechs?

Sora scooted away from the bulletin board and rushed over, though he tried to make it seem like he was obliviously walking in on the conversation.

"Oh, hey, Sechs!" he greeted. "It's Sora." He risked a glance over at the nurse and managed a smile. "Would it be all right if we spent this shift together?" Sora didn't care where they ended up, so long as he was able to keep his promise.

[sixth_attack]

Sechs' hands were clenched, his nostrils flared and his teeth ready to show through his parted lips. He was more than ready to send his fist flying at the first orderly who dared approach him with a needle. Any moment now...!

Yet to Sechs' surprise, it wasn't the usual hulking figure in uniform who approached him, but a shorter and friendlier stranger who for some reason knew his name. That unexpected voice popped Sechs' hostility like a bubble. "Huh?" Blinking, Sechs turned his glare away from the nurse and down to the spiky-haired boy, dubious by the stranger's unexpected greeting. Sora? Who...?

A second later and Sechs' perturbed expression changed into amiable recognition. Oh! It was that kid he talked with over the message board! Damn, after his falling out with Zero, he had almost forgotten about their meeting today!

The nurse on the other hand appeared less than convinced, even concerned that such a good patient like Matthew would want anything to do with hoodlum like Cody...(It didn't help that Matthew wasn't using their real names either...!) For a moment she looked about ready to refuse the younger body's request, but then decided against it. Perhaps Matthew could calm Cody down? Considering Cody's reputation, it was better than risking injury for the staff and spending another whole syringe of expensive sedatives...

Finally, she let out a quiet sigh. "Alright, Matthew. You two can stay here if you want," she said to Sora. "Just take this time to relax and don't get too excitable..." And with that warning, she shot Sechs a leery scowl before moving on with her duties.

Once the nurse had moved out of ear shot, Sechs' let out a satisfied snort. "Heh, thanks for getting her off my back," he said, greeting Sora with a nod and a smile. "I'd be no more than happy to have a fun little tussle with the staff here, but they never play fair..."

[lighthearted]

If Sechs hadn't figured out who he was in time, that could have ended really badly. Sora was glad that he'd picked up on it before the nurse got too suspicious, and while it still took her a moment of contemplation before she came to her decision, she eventually decided to leave them to their own devices.

Sora nodded to her as she left. "Don't worry, we'll behave!"

They were just going to have a friendly talk, right? No need for outbursts or sedations or anything like that. If anything, Sora was glad that he'd arrived in time to make sure that Sechs didn't get himself in too much trouble. It looked like he had something of a temper...

"It's no problem," he told Sechs with a wink and a smile. "You're probably better off just ignoring them, though, right? I've only been sedated once, but that was more than enough." That hadn't even taken place during the day, either. Sora had just been unfortunate enough to get attacked by one of the nurses at night...

"Anyway, did you want to take a seat?" Sora led them to the closest couch and gestured to it.

[sixth_attack]

"I would ignore them, if they didn't screw me up so much..." Sechs answered, his tone somewhat bitter. The staff here never allowed him to express his justified rage over what the institute did to him, two of the worst cases being when he was tortured and manipulated nights ago. The way they would silence him only added insult to injury! Just thinking about such times got the bone-deep wounds in his spine twinging again. It was an awful recollection he would rather forget for now.

Bringing his focus back to the present, Sechs followed Sora and promptly picked a seat. "Don't mind if I do!" he said, heavily dropping down on the couch with a grunt. Once he made himself comfortable (and checked for one particular kitten that always seemed to be around to pester him), Sechs cut right to the chase of the conversation. Ever since his talk with Sora over the bulletin he had been very eager to get the full story. Any information about the world outside of the institute was valuable in Sechs' book.

"So, tell me about what happened after you, uh, well, y'know..." he asked, trailing off a bit over the topic of death before getting back on track with his questions. "Where did ya end up? And how did you get back here?"

Furthermore, why did he come back? Sechs himself would have stayed the hell out of the institute if he could help it, but he figured he would ask that later.

[lighthearted]

So even this Sechs knew about what had happened to him. Sora had to wonder just how far the news had spread. Then again, from the sounds of it, Link was a friend of Sechs', so that was how it had come up. Sora didn't really mind in that case, since it meant that at least his roommate had found someone to lean on while Sora had been gone.

He made himself as comfy as he could on the couch, fully prepared to answer all these questions. He'd gone through it a few times by now, after all.

"Well, after all that, I woke up on a cot in some place I didn't recognize. There were two other people with me, Locke and Byrne." He had no idea if Sechs knew them, but he decided to mention their names just in case. "We were in an abandoned city called Farwell. The rebel group is holed up there, trying to work on getting us home."

Just knowing they were still out there trying to get things done made Sora feel better about their chances. "And... I walked back, actually. Through this secret underground railroad track." How could they have ever even known something like that existed?

[sixth_attack]

Sechs nodded but showed no recognition of the two names Sora mentioned. He did, however, start to lean forward towards the edge of his couch with growing interest, clearly on tenterhooks to hear more.

"Farwell..." Sechs felt an emotional wave of relief and excitement wash over him. The world wasn't just a giant bubble which no one could escape. There was more out there, and better yet, it wasn't all under Landel's control! "Do you know how you got there exactly? What with what happened before?"

He couldn't help but picture Farwell to be like the Scrapyard either, still homesick for that damn junkyard even after all these weeks. "What's that city like?" he asked, "And how big is the rebel group there?" He could only hope that those faceless people were doing a better job now compared to before...

What Sora said next nearly sent Sechs teetering off the edge of his seat. "An underground railroad track?" he nearly blurted out loud, eyes wide with surprise. Once that new bit of information fully registered in his head, Sechs grinned to himself, greatly encouraged by such news. If this underground path was connected with the basement, he and his allies were surely on the right track! He was going to have to tell them -- or just Aigis -- about this!

"Is this track connected to the basement in anyway?" he questioned next, "Is there a way we could use it to get out of here instead of just in?"

[lighthearted]

With so many questions being asked all at once, Sora didn't even know where to begin. He'd do his best, though, because he wanted the other patients to be as informed as possible about everything that was going on outside the institute.

"I think that it's underneath the institute, but I don't know exactly how to get there. The night ended right after we got back here." Sora had that bracelet that the ferryman had given him, so he would never have to find that place the hard way. He hoped that the other patients could uncover it for themselves, though.

With Sechs getting so excited, a few people were looking their way now, and so Sora made a small shushing motion with his hand. They had to be careful and not alert the staff.

"Farwell's pretty big. I didn't even see all of it, but there's a river that connects the different areas. Most of it's abandoned. I don't know for sure how many rebels there are, but I'd guess at least twenty. Maybe more." Sora wished that he had more detailed answers, but he hadn't been there long enough to get a complete idea of what Farwell was like.

[sixth_attack]

Sechs blinked at Sora's cautious gesture, turning his head slightly to the side like a dog confused by a command he didn't understand. A second later and it clicked. "OH! Uh..." Sechs blurted out -- then stammered to keep his voice lower. "Right..." Being quiet wasn't exactly a strength of his. Meanwhile, he could see the same nurse who bothered him earlier giving him the stink eye from the other side of the Sun Room. Hopefully she hadn't heard too much because of him...

"Me and a couple others have been exploring the basement lately," Sechs explained, ignoring the fact that it was only going to be just him and Aigis without Zero next time. "If that track is under the institute, there ought to be a way to it through the basement..." He rubbed his chin in thought. "We'll be keeping an eye out for that track for sure!"

Even though Farwell didn't sound like the Scrapyard, the rebels described were somewhat reminiscent of the Barjack group who fought against Tiphares. All those rebels needed now was a giant robot with anger issues like the Barjack's leader Master Den and they would be set! "Twenty rebels sounds a tad small, but then again, I've seen groups with numbers like that pack a huge punch against tyrants," Sechs remarked, "Let's hope things work in their favor." (And that they don't meet the same fate as the Barjacks did...)

Mentally digesting all this new information, Sechs moved away from the edge of his seat and leaned back against the couch. Even with all the answers he could get from Sora, there was still one more nibbling question Sechs had to ask. "So you found some freedom at Farwell, huh?" he said, appraising Sora with a curious perk of his eyebrows. "Why come back here when you finally escaped? What if you can't get out again? Why bother?"

[lighthearted]

Well, that was convenient. If Sechs was already exploring the basement, then maybe he and his friends really would come across the underground lake at some point. It would be useful if Sora knew the actual way there. His own bracelet was going to be helpful in his case, but it wasn't like the rest of the patients had that. And he didn't know if dying just to get to Farwell was really the best option, either. Who was to say that would even work again? It was too great of a risk.

"Your first clue should be this huge underground lake. There's someone down there you can take you across, and then you can hopefully get to the part that'll take you to the railroad tracks." He didn't know how it would work if someone was trying to do it the other way around, but it was definitely worth a shot.

Sora wasn't worried about the fact that the rebel group was fairly small. He and his two friends had stopped all sorts of ill-meaning people, so it was definitely possible for a group that large to take down Landel. Besides, they would have help from all of the patients too, which would probably make a huge difference.

At Sechs' next question, Sora glanced over and shrugged his shoulders. It had been a simple enough choice for him, but Sechs wasn't the first person to ask him this. "I couldn't just let my friends think that I was dead. I had to come back and tell everyone about what had happened." And considering how many people had asked him for information since he came back, Sora could tell that he'd made the right decision.

[sixth_attack]

Sechs nodded, mentally noting Sora's tip. "Right, underground lake, gotcha. We'll keep an eye out for that." Scratching the back of his head with a puzzled frown, he added, "Geeze, just how much stuff does Landel keep under this place anyways...?" If there were so much weird places underground, who was to say that the whole damn building wouldn't suddenly be swallowed up by a sinkhole? The thought of the institute meeting such an end was amusing -- as long as everyone but Landel were safely out of the place first of course!

What Sora said next was met with momentary silence from Sechs. The Replica crossed his arms across his chest as his brows furrowed together in thought. The kid should did care about his friends, huh? Weeks ago Sechs wouldn't have been able to comprehend something like that, even outright scoffing at such an idea. Now he couldn't help but wish that some of his own lost friends could come back to show him that they weren't dead either...

Avoiding those disheartening recollections, Sechs shook his shaggy head a little as his frown relaxed into an amiable smirk. "Heh, good thing you did then. Link must've been happy to see ya back. Nothing I did would get that guy to stop moping over it..." he said with a soft chuckle.

"Coming back to tell us what you learned outside is a huge help too. If we all work together, I'm sure that trip you took to get back here will be all worth it in the end." He then gave the boy an appreciative nod, "You've got my thanks, kid."

[lighthearted]

"I don't know. Sure seems like a lot, though." It made sense, since Landel had been so fixated on keeping the true nature of this place under wraps. It would be pretty easy to do that if you had a secret basement that was only accessed by finding a random off-color tile in the kitchen area. And then there was the third floor, that they could only get to by pulling out a random book in the library. No wonder it had taken them so long to find anything...

But now they had people working at exploring both areas, the basement and the third floor. Sora agreed with Sechs. They all just had to work together and rely on each other -- if they did that, getting home might really be possible. Finding their friends who'd been brainwashed might really be possible. This wouldn't all be for nothing.

"Don't worry about it!" Coming back had been the natural thing to do, and so Sora had barely thought twice over it. The only thing that had caused him to hold up was knowing that Byrne would be staying behind. Sora hoped he was all right. "And you have my thanks for keeping an eye on Link while I was gone."

Even if Sechs didn't feel like he'd been able to cheer Link up at all, the fact that he'd been there to offer support was important all the same.