Day 75: DAWN, MORNING, NOON, AND AFTERNOON

[damned_intercom]

As the day started, the weather only seemed to be improving, and some patients might even call it warm. Granted, the climate control in the building meant it wouldn't make a difference until someone chose to venture outside.

For now, though, it was time for breakfast, and the intercom came on to wake up all of the patients from their enforced slumber.

"Breakfast sandwiches... how could you not look forward to something like that, dear patients?" Even as Landel spoke, the nurses started peeking into rooms and rousing people from their beds.

"There's plenty to look forward to today, from the recreational field to the greenhouse. I hope that you all enjoy your days and your lunches."

As usual, lunch would be handed out in a paper bag, offering some fruit and vegetables to snack on, along with a sandwich as the main course and pudding for dessert.

"That's all for now!" Though the Head Doctor would be announcing the different shift changes throughout the day, as usual.

--

Mingle log guidelines:

1. All Day Shift 75 threads will take place in the comments to this post.
2. PROSE!
3. Tag under the proper time of day for the thread. You do not have to stick to one thread per shift, as long as you don't try to do a large total number of threads (4 or less is best, but a fifth won't get you in trouble).
4. Subject line of your opening tag: Location (required), shift (optional), OPEN (if appropriate). Putting "OPEN" in the subject line should make it easier for other players to find open threads, and the nature of this log means that you should be able to pick up an open thread that interests you even if you already have something scheduled for that shift. Threads which are not open can be marked the way they always are, with the names of the other characters in small text after the opening post.
5. Each thread should have its own separate starter, just like on any other DS. The format of threads is not changing, only the format of the log post itself, and the fact that you don't have to strictly stick to one thread per shift.

Comments

MORNING (1st and 2nd shifts)

[damned_intercom]

Cafeteria, 1st Shift [Open]

[nobleman]

Getting the coordinates for Auldrant and for Claude's version of Earth meant that the night hadn't been a complete waste, but Guy found he was still frustrated when he blacked out and woke up in his bed. They'd wanted to put out the word about the device that the rebels had given them, but they weren't given the chance.

The bulletin board wasn't a viable option, which meant that all Guy could rely on now was word of mouth. He didn't know how they were even going to find Landel, but chances were that others had figured that part out already. The only way he'd know for certain is if he started talking to people.

He still had to put up an act for the nurses, though, but that was something Guy could do without even thinking about it. Mainly, all it took was smiling and nodding, and so before long he made it to the cafeteria.

With his plate full, he scanned the mess hall, searching out someone who might be interested in an exchange of information.

[earthling]

Last night hadn't been their most productive night, all things considered, and yet Claude felt like they'd made huge strides in their quest to get out of this place. Truth be told, he couldn't help but wonder if the abrupt end to the night wasn't Landel's way of throwing a wrench in their plans. In all probability, they'd have to fight that much harder to get anything done if they wanted out.

After everything that had happened the past few nights, it almost felt surreal having the nurse escort him to the cafeteria. He kept reminding himself that, if they played their cards right, they'd be out of here soon enough. That was the main thought that kept him going as he loaded his tray up with a healthy portion of food.

Claude didn't really have to inwardly debate over where to sit. Although part of him realized that he probably needed to be talking to other patients and spreading the word, he couldn't help but gravitate toward where Guy was sitting.

"Hey," he greeted, though by this point he felt like he was hardly necessary. "Um, mind if I join you?"

[nobleman]

Before Guy was able to pinpoint anyone in particular to speak to, Claude made it to the cafeteria and headed over. Guy would never turn down an offer to spend some time with Claude, of course, but he reminded himself that he was going to need to work on spreading information after their morning chat.

"Not at all," he said with a smile, motioning for Claude to take a seat. Honestly, he was relieved to see him here, seeing how both he and Anise had slept through the previous day. If all of them could just stay here long enough to finish their mission, then they could find their way home together.

Except that their homes differed from each other's, that was the only problem. Guy was confident that he would find a way to locate Claude (or vice versa) despite that, though.

"The journal with all the coordinates is safe in my room," he said. "I guess the next step is figuring out how to use them."

[earthling]

"Thanks for keeping the coordinates safe," Claude said, rubbing the back of his neck a little sheepishly. Considering how he slept all through yesterday, he felt like Guy was picking up a lot of his slack lately.

"Sounds like the device will play a key role in making sure we get out of here," he admitted. "So I guess the more people know about it, the better." Well, sort of. Claude guessed he didn't want the staff to know about it, but it was at least easy to mask their discussions as products of their own delusions or something.

"And while we're on that topic, um, do you mind if I talk to you about something for a minute?" Claude picked up his fork, fidgeting with it a little, but didn't seem like he was about to dig into his food anytime soon.

[nobleman]

"No problem." Guy didn't feel that there was an imbalance between them at all. It wasn't Claude's fault that he'd slept all day. The institute was probably to blame for that, seeing how common that kind of oversleeping was here.

"Yeah, I was planning to tell as many people about it as I can today," he agreed with a nod. "We can't really use the bulletin, so I guess it's back to the old-fashioned way." They still had three more shifts to do that, so Guy wasn't too worried.

The way that Claude led them into another topic was a little bit out of the ordinary, causing Guy to pause and put his food down instead of taking a bite. "Sure thing." It sounded ominous, there was no denying that, but Guy wasn't too worried. This was Claude, after all.

Recreational Field, 2nd Shift [Open]

[lighthearted]

Sora didn't have any regrets about how last night had gone. He and Link had made a lot of progress, and while he didn't quite know what their next step was, they'd gotten some information about how to get home. That was one huge step in the right direction.

All they had to do was keep moving forward, and they'd figure things out. Sora had always used that kind of strategy during his journeys before being dragged here, so he didn't see why it should change now.

After eating his breakfast, Sora was led out onto the recreational field. Normally he liked coming out here, but today it only made him feel melancholy. He remembered how often he'd seen Tsurugi out here playing soccer, but there was no sign of him today.

Without really thinking about it, Sora started to walk around the field, as if he could get rid of his somber mood that way.

Cafeteria, 1st Shift [Open]

[freewill]

This past night had been a far cry from what Castiel was used to in this place, seeing how half of it had been spent doing research in one room. Though as much as fighting had always been a part of his life, the same went for investigation.

The numbers they'd found, those coordinates, wouldn't amount to anything until they found out where and how to use them, but having them still put them in a much better position than they'd been in prior to reaching the archive.

The Head Doctor was doing a decent job of seeming unaffected by their progress, but Castiel doubted that was the truth. Still, the less that Landel knew, the better.

His main goal for the day was to hand over the information about Ryuuzaki's world (and his friend's), and so as soon as Castiel made it to the cafeteria and got his breakfast, he kept an eye out for either one of them.

[ryuuzaki]

One moment, L had been materializing in the new location, trying to be ready to face what was there once the room stopped spinning. The next, he was waking up in his room as if nothing had ever happened.

He was ready to leave--slippers on, journal in hand--by the time the nurse arrived to escort him to the Sun Room for the day. She was the same one who had escorted him the day after the sleep study. It gave him a tiny, treacherous sense of relief to know for sure that the nurse he and Lana had killed the night before was anonymous to him.

In retrospect, it was easy to chalk their attacker up as another of Landel's victims. They wouldn't have hurt her if she hadn't tried to hurt them, they wouldn't have been prowling around on the third floor if they hadn't been abducted, and they wouldn't have encountered her if she hadn't been placed in their path, which had been laid out for them and seemed to contain very few choices past whether or not to keep pushing forward. It was a rationalization, he understood, but it wasn't inaccurate. What they had done had been self-defense in a situation in which all their options were more or less undesirable ones.

It did raise one question: which form was the nurses' true one? Rational analysis of the situation suggested that it had to be their daytime facade, simply because normal people were something that he knew to exist, and the nurses' nighttime form was like something out of a bad horror movie. It was the same with the people in Doyleton.

As he followed her down the hall, he wondered idly what would happen to those people if Landel's power were to be fully broken. Marc had never said one way or another--might not even have been able to tell him, if the subject had come up.

Breakfast wasn't anything tremendously interesting to him, but he kept to a stricter enforcement of the usual policy: he couldn't afford to be malnourished.

Few people were up and about yet. Of those who had already taken a seat, Castiel was the most familiar to him, and they had business to discuss. It wasn't pressing, but it couldn't hurt to take care of it now. He set his tray across from Castiel's and perched in the corresponding chair.

"You had some success last night?" He kept his voice pitched low: conversational, not a whisper, but not loud enough to carry to the nurses who watched over the cafeteria.

One gave him a dirty look and started in their direction; he shot an attempt at an ingratiating smile in her general direction, sat properly in his chair, and rolled his eyes the moment she turned her back.

[freewill]

That made things simple and straightforward. Castiel was relieved that he wouldn't have to track anyone down. Ryuuzaki had come to him.

Almost as soon as Ryuuzaki took that seat, Castiel reached into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulled out a folded piece of paper, which he slid across the table. That more or less answered Ryuuzaki's question.

Before he could say anything, he took note of the silent exchange between Ryuuzaki and the nurse. Castiel had a moment of confusion -- they'd barely started speaking, why was she eyeing them so sharply? But then Ryuuzaki adjusted his posture. These nurses truly were particular.

The eyeroll was understandable, but Castiel didn't comment on it, instead taking a bite of his food. "Those should be what you need to return to your homes, but how we do that is still unclear. How much further did you travel?"

[ryuuzaki]

The gesture L made to retrieve the piece of paper was uncharacteristic: small, subtle, sliding it towards him with the flat of a fingertip without looking down at the table. He nodded once in acknowledgement as Castiel continued to speak, then tucked the information into his journal.

"Thank you. I'll make a map after breakfast, but I don't know how long it will last on the bulletin board.

"It's become evident that we've been jumping through hoops. The pad in the Archive just leads you to a room that's open to the same hall. I wouldn't bother with it. There's another door at the end of that hall... break the lock, and that pad goes somewhere interesting. But--"

He paused, then sighed, sounding weary and exasperated.

"We were attacked in the next room. Lana was injured. I can't say how seriously."

[freewill]

Castiel approved of the way that Ryuuzaki took the paper and tucked it away while barely even looking at it. The nurses were already watching them, so if he paid it too much attention, it could lead to suspicion. They were only a string of numbers, so he could look at it later in the relative safety of his own room.

A map would be helpful, especially if Ryuuzaki had been able to make some sense of where everything stood in relation to everything else on the third floor. A door at the end of that hall? Castiel would keep that in mind, along with the warning about the fight.

"Lloyd, Kratos, and I are all armed. If there's another attack, then we should be capable of enduring it." Not that he expected all of them to get out of it unscathed, but they had one more person and they were all trained soldiers. He had no idea if Ryuuzaki and Lana (so that was her name) were used to combat. They didn't strike him as the types.

Cafeteria, 1st shift [closed]

[envy_the_sinners]

It was another morning of staring at that unnaturally white ceiling.

Two weeks and a few days, if Scar remembered correctly, since he had first awoken. He treated the morning like he would have any other. He excused himself to the bathroom to wash his face, taking advantage of the luxury of running water. He stepped into the cafeteria and had a look around as he always did. It was sparse. That was to be expected for the early morning.

But when certain people didn't show up after quite some time, that warranted concern. Or at least, a chat with an orderly.

Scar's conscience was already guilty. He had told the Elrics to go out on their own, that it would behoove them to split up. Smaller groups got more done. Breakfast, however, was well underway, and there wasn't a sign of either boy. Dammit, what were their false names? Johnathan? One of them was Johnathan... Delilah, Johnathan...

It would have to be good enough.

He approached an orderly, standing perhaps a little too close, a little too intimidating, a little too ill-intended.

"Two young boys, simimilar in appearance. You call one of them Johnathan. Where are they?"

[damned_nurses]

Being approached by a patient in the middle of a meal wasn't that common of an occurrence, and the orderly quickly shifted his weight onto his back leg as Mr. Matthews invaded his personal space.

The descriptions weren't all that detailed, and Johnathan was a common name, so the orderly only frowned, not exactly impressed with this patient's manners.

"You're going to have to give me a little more detail than that, Mr. Matthews," he said. "There are a lot of patients here, as I'm sure you know."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar's teeth grit. He didn't back up.

"Both are blond, and in their teens. One has a mechanical arm, and is short for his age. The other is tall, and thin. They have only been here a few days, and are inseparably close. Where are they?"

He had gotten himself nervous over nothing before; it wasn't entirely uncommon that a patient would sleep through breakfast. But Scar still found himself growing upset.

[damned_nurses]

The orderly didn't know of any patients with mechanical arms, but he did seem to recall there was one boy who thought he had one. It was just one of the many different delusions that floated around this place, and so he hadn't thought much of it until it was brought up now.

"You mean the two brothers," he said with a slow nod. "As far as I know, they were released yesterday."

He realized that they didn't let the patients say goodbye to each other, but usually that just wasn't possible. Once someone was ready to leave, they had to send them on their way immediately. That was Landel's policy.

[envy_the_sinners]

As the words sank in, two weeks of restraining himself and keeping his head (mostly) down for these bastards finally snapped. It had come to be his assumption, that the people he knew were going to start disappearing. Being released. But now, Scar wasn't thinking. It was his greatest vice, his blinding rage. His violent impulsiveness. And when the Elrics were involved...

His arm lashed out like a snapped cable, grabbing at the orderly's collar and aiming to lift him partially off his feet.

That they had dared to drag those boys here in the first place. Scar didn't care what Lust said: this was a place for the damned. This was a place deserving of only the most depraved of sinners, and the fury that coursed through him at the simple fact that the Elric brothers had been brought here was enough to make him want to tear the freaks who ran this place to shreds. He didn't care how he did it. He just wanted to.

And it was surprisingly rare that Scar actually felt a need to harm. To kill. He had thought he would be through with that upon the Crimson Alchemist's death.

"Don't feed me that." Scar's voice was low and dangerous. This man was nothing. If he refused to tell him, he would become the example, preferably with his head smashed against the floor tiling. Somebody would tell him what had become of Edward and Alphonse Elric. "What have you done with them." It wasn't a question. It was a demand.

Cafeteria, 1st shift [open]

[redcladidealist]

For once when Lloyd woke up in this place, it was with a sense of satisfaction bordering on triumph that he let his nurse usher him out of his room. He, Castiel, and Kratos had made real, measurable progress last night. They'd found the Records Archive and had copied down so many world names and coordinates that his wrists had started to ache. And if that pain was duller than he thought it should have been? So what? That just meant that he was making what Landel did to him work in his favor now.

Grabbing his tray of food, Lloyd headed over to an empty table and sat down. He needed to think about what he wanted to write for a note to put on the bulletin so that people could give him the names of their worlds and not worry about the nurses taking it down. He wasn't particularly hungry - hadn't been for days now - but he ate anyway, chewing distractedly as he thought.

Maybe talk about dreams again...

Re: Cafeteria, 1st shift [open]

[fourstonewalls]

Lana was limping slightly as she entered the cafeteria a few minutes behind the rest of the patients; the nurse had redressed the cleanly-healing slashes on her ankle without a word about what might have caused them. Lana, on her part, had kept silent; had the thing that had done this been a friend, by day? She'd shot something that was, once, a person, and now that she had the luxury of thinking about it, she couldn't quite stop.

She moved through the line, taking fruit and a couple slices of French toast; no meat. She didn't feel hungry, but she also knew that was deceiving; she needed to eat.

One of the other patients who'd been in the archive was sitting at an empty table, looking pensive. She hoped she wasn't interrupting when she slid her tray onto the table across from him. "So...what did you find?"

[redcladidealist]

She was interrupting, but Lloyd didn't mind the break in his thoughts. His mind had been going in circles. How did you say the things he wanted to say without it being too obvious? Not too obvious, but still clear enough that people could tell what he was trying to ask? Argh, if the patients could figure it out, what was stopping the nurses?

He shook his head, trying to clear it as he looked up. Oh. Yeah, he recognized her, too. They hadn't really spoken last night, but he'd seen her with Ryuuzaki. They hadn't been introduced, though, had they? Castiel had been the one two talk to the two while Lloyd and Kratos had dealt with the computer at the radio. Not really sure how to greet her, he nodded in welcome, then finished chewing and swallowing his food.

"Castiel found your worlds." It was pretty easy to guess that that was what she was asking. Lloyd cast a glance at the nurses, making sure they were still well back, then lowered his voice and leaned forward. It couldn't hurt to be careful with this. "Did he get the coordinates to you and Ryuuzaki yet?" Then, because he didn't know her name, he set his pencil down and held out his hand. "I'm Lloyd, by the way. What's your name?"

[fourstonewalls]

Finding their homes wasn't the top of Lana's agenda; finding Ema was, but the two might or might not be the same thing, and if Ema was safely home, that was all that really mattered. But it clearly mattered to this young man, and she wasn't about to pry into why.

She shook her head, and as she did so, Ryuuzaki's shock of black hair caught her eye. A small smile pulled up one side of her mouth. "Not to me, but I suspect he has. He's speaking to Ryuuzaki right now." As she spoke, she took Lloyd's hand. "I'm Lana Skye."

She supposed she ought to return the favor -- they'd left the archives in clearly capable hands, and headed on; whether what they'd found was worth the risk was yet to be determined, but getting more information out than was feasible on the bulletin was important. "We found a security station for the first floor and basement. It was guarded, but it wasn't the last location in the chain." What the next location was was entirely unclear; Lana had a blurry memory of opening her eyes, followed immediately by them slamming shut again as the Head Doctor began to speak. "I'm expecting we'll find the rest of the security areas if we proceed."

Recreational Field, 2nd shift [closed]

[redcladidealist]

With a brief stop in the Sun Room to check the bulletin and to pin his own note up, Lloyd cast a curious glance at the nurses who were definitely splitting them up. Huh. It looked like they were taking the girls somewhere else. Did he hear one of the nurses say the greenhouse? Either way, when his nurse nudged him out onto the recreational field, the only other patients around him were guys. Lloyd shrugged it off. The nurses split them up like this sometimes.

Being on the grassy field reminded him of the soccer game he'd played with Tsurugi just yesterday. Tsurugi had been good. Really good. Lloyd didn't need to be an expert in the game (which he most definitely wasn't, no matter what the nurses told him Nigel did) to know that the dark-haired kid could beat the pants off him if he wanted. He'd be lying if he didn't admit that rankled his pride just a little, but his eyes still scanned the crowd of patients for his friend. The nurses wanted them to play on the field? Well, why not? Maybe he'd have better luck with a rematch, and Tsurugi could tell him what he'd gotten up to last night. Besides, even if he wasn't that good, it was fun.

Goal in mind, he set off in search. Surely Tsurugi wouldn't be that hard to find.

[For Claude.]

[earthling]

All in all, Claude felt like his talk with Guy had gone better than he could have hoped for. With his heart a little lighter, he walked out onto the recreational field, his eyes scanning the area for a familiar face.

When he caught sight of Lloyd, though, he quickly made his way over to him. Lloyd was his roommate, which they'd get to talk to each other during dinner anyway, but Claude knew he wouldn't feel right until he could see how the other boy was doing.

"Hey," he greeted. "It's...been awhile, huh." Wow, it was hard not to feel a little lame when he worded it like that.

[redcladidealist]

Attention still focused on his search for his friend, Lloyd started in surprise when his eyes swept over the face of his missing roommate. "Claude!" Of all the people he might have expected to see, Claude was maybe the last of them - mostly because it had been so long. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you for days!" Days with no hint of what had happened except for trays of untouched food set out on the table each night.

Setting aside his search for the moment, the teen moved to close the distance between him and the blond. "Are you alright?" he asked, searching the other's face. He couldn't imagine any good reason why the nurses would have kept Claude separated from the others for so long.

[earthling]

"I feel like I should be asking you the same thing!" Claude answered, glad to see Lloyd seemed to be doing okay -- well, as okay as someone could be under these circumstances, anyway. "Man, I'm really sorry I disappeared for so long, Lloyd. If I'd been able to get in touch with you, I would have, but..."

It was hard not to ask how his roommate was faring in the aftermath of being taken for experiments. But as someone who had endured the same sort of torture, Claude knew that sometimes it was better not to dredge up those memories. Still, a knot of guilt twisted in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Lloyd sitting alone for dinner, night after night, with no way to know what had happened to Claude.