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damned_institute2014-02-03 05:54 pm
damned_intercom) wrote in damned_institute2014-02-03 05:54 pm
Day 75: DAWN, MORNING, NOON, AND AFTERNOON
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.
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.
AFTERNOON (3rd and 4th shifts)
3rd shift, Sun Room, Closed
Lunch was forgotten, untouched on the coffee table in front of him where the nurse had left it for when he was 'feeling better.' Some distant part of his mind scoffed at the irony of the statement. His head was in a thick fog, something worse than waking from a long nap, but not so miserable that he couldn't sit up on his own. There was something he was supposed to be angry about... It took a long moment for him to remember that the Elrics were gone, and his mind clumsily went to work trying to sort out the possibilities, what he should do next.
But he was nearly certain he knew what had happened.
He shouldn't have let them go. Why the hell had he let them go? Something must have happened, and he hadn't been there. It made the most sense, in Scar's mind. He groaned as he tried to force himself to sit up straighter, a crippling sense of guilt quickly flooding his thoughts. It didn't matter how irrational the thought was. It was his fault. With such a reckless, smart-at-the-time choice, Scar had, in his twisted conscience, undone what he had thought to be his one triumph. He had given all that he had left for those boys.
And there was almost nothing he wouldn't give to know that they were okay.
He lifted himself, off-balance, to lean against the side of the couch and look around the Sun Room. Scar knew who he was looking for without thinking, fumbling through his thoughts and trying to recall if she had been at breakfast. Not that he would even consider that she could be gone, too.
[Lust... :'|]
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The losses were striking, come daylight. It made the place feel eerie, even though the facade was well in place. And it was so easy now, to scan a room and note the missing faces.
In all truth, there was only one person she honestly cared about left in this place. At least on any deep and meaningful level. One could be saddened by a loss without wounded by it.
Thankfully, Scar was easy to spot. Though he looked...unwell. It was the kindest way to put it. She didn't need to guess too deeply as to why - like her, how much did Scar have left that could wound him?
"Scar?" She approached cautiously, uncertain as to his state of mind.
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"I... told them that they should go out on their own." It was like a confession of guilt, not unlike what had happened two weeks ago in Lior. But then, he had spoken of his brother. That entire day, his injuries, his death, all felt like a distant dream. She had been there then, too. The defeated feeling in his chest was the same as it was now.
But it wasn't his life he had thrown away. For all he knew, it had been the Elrics'. God must have been mocking him. It didn't matter how much innocent blood was spilled, or how much was taken away. Any scrap of pride or self-worth Scar could find in himself was snatched away. She would be gone next. He knew it.
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He was subdued. Lust reached for him, a hand on his shoulder, to ease him back down onto the couch. She knew what this had done to him, how deeply he was cut right now. Comfort had never been a great skill of hers, and offering to to Scar was more challenging still.
But he was subdued and his pain hurt her, so she laid her hand on his shoulder and made her voice quiet and soft.
"You don't know what happened. You know what this place does, the power it has. You can't shoulder every burden, Scar. You can't protect everyone."
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"What else am I supposed to do?" Scar was a man without a purpose. His rage had driven him for a decade. When that was complete, he had been dragged here, and his purpose was to get those who were innocent out.
How could he even do that when he couldn't protect the one good thing he had ever done with his life?
"I can't even-" His voice broke. He grit his teeth, half-focused eyes still glaring at the floor.
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"Why do you need some big something to do?" she urged, gently. "What do I do? I don't know, whatever comes along. It doesn't matter. It's alright to just be for a while. You're just a man, Scar."
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"I don't need something big. Just something." In that way, his selflessness wasn't at all. His constant need to protect, his angry spells... It was all because he needed something in the nothing. That was how it had been since the war, and he was finally burnt out of it. It was only for so long, that a man could exist in such a way.
"It doesn't matter either way. The Elric brothers are gone."
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"But you're not. Do you think they'd want you to lose yourself in misery? Of course not. If you must have something, isn't your own future enough? You have one now, at least for the moment. Fight for it. Fight for yourself."
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He would be fooling himself if he said that he hadn't strode into Lior with every realization of what would probably happen to him.
"They were my chance for something, even if I didn't deserve it." He hid his face in his hands. With or without the drugs, there was hardly an ounce of tact in Scar's being. Else, he would have stopped there. What came next was dry and nearly inaudible. "I was a fool to ever think that I would be allowed the luxury of someone to love."
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It had always been stupid, of course, to think that he could ever feel anything for her. Anything real and deep and meaningful. But she wanted it and she hoped for it and it hurt her to hear those words, to be dismissed so easily and preemptively.
Her voice was quiet, as well, and colder now.
"You aren't the only one still here."
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Scar was stuck in silence for a long moment as he tried to pick out the words to make her understand. To maybe fool himself into understanding, but nothing came. Nothing of any value, anyway.
"I didn't-" He wished he could take it back. He had been telling himself time and time again that he would be better to her, and he still fell back into his old habits. Ignore her. Or anything she was and did that mattered, anyway. It had been easier, before.
But it didn't work anymore.
He had nearly forgotten what it was like, to wish he could take words back.
"That's different." He spoke as if it was obvious. Something that could go without saying. Yet he internally cursed himself for being too much of a coward (why?) to even properly address what he had truly just said.
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But the people who understood that were all gone.
"It's always 'different' when it comes to me. But it's not, not really. I'll miss that, you know. Alphonse never treated me any differently. Not here."
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"Do you truly think this is easy?" He looked over to Lust, his brow still heavy in its permanent scowl. He couldn't not explain. Not when she couldn't even look at him and he knew that it was his fault. Honesty spilled out before he could even give it proper words in his mind. This was the most difficult thing to say of all, for Scar to even come to terms with.
"Do you know the last thing I thought before I was killed here? Because I bled to death knowing that I had left you behind again and that there wasn't even a reason for it. I had still failed to even properly speak to you. I still don't even know how to see you and not somehow blame you for everything that has happened when you never asked for any of it. Of course I was surprised when the Elrics showed me mercy for what I have done to them. But you? I have lied awake at night wondering if this is all some divine joke. If my brother... mistransmuted. How could you not expect that I would see you differently?"
Scar paused. He felt vaguely sick to his stomach, and it wasn't the drugs.
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Greenhouse, 4th Shift [Open]
There had been a few posts that showed up on the bulletin board, including a very useful map, though Sora didn't have much need for it when he and Link had been through most of those areas already. It did hold a warning about getting attacked by a nurse, though. He and Link would need to be ready for that.
Lloyd had also asked for the names of worlds, but seeing how Sora had already gone through that, there hadn't been any reason to reply. Which meant that Sora was left to feel restless.
It was for that reason alone that he chose to actually do something in the greenhouse. He was digging through the dirt so that he could plant some seedlings, though he glanced up from time to time to see who else decided to show up.
Sun Room, 3rd Shift [Open]
A map showed up on it, and it was detailed enough that Guy decided to copy it down to the best of his ability, and also leave a question about it. It was clearly a map of the third floor, but that wouldn't help him much unless he knew how to actually get up there. The others must have figured it out while he was in Farwell...
Not wanting to drift too far away from the bulletin board in the event that he got a response, Guy decided to spend his free shift in the Sun Room. A lot of people would be wandering through here, so hopefully he could flag someone down and let them know about the device.
Until then, Guy focused on his sack lunch.
[after a few minutes and L's replies on the bulletin]
There wasn't anything else to add, but there wasn't any good reason to go very far from the bulletin, either, since the nurses weren't trying to herd her out, and her leg was throbbing. She limped away from the board, looking for a chair nearby.
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While he had no clue whether he could trust her or not, at this point they were all going to have to rely on each other. They didn't have any other choice. Guy couldn't help but notice that she was limping, too.
He stood up from his seat on the couch and gestured her over. "Hey, are you all right?" He would have helped her to sit, but that wasn't really an option for him, unfortunately. "You can sit here if you want."
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"I'm Lana," she added. There weren't that many people here she hadn't spoken to before today, but this young man was another of them. Seen, yes; spoken to, no.
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"I'm Guy," he said with a nod. It was surprising that they'd never spoken before, but there wasn't much point in dwelling on that now. Instead, Guy lowered his voice, though he couldn't actually lean any closer toward Lana. "I'm guessing you got that injury while exploring the third floor?" It didn't seem like people were focusing their efforts on any other part of the institute at this point, after all.
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"I did. We were attacked just after we stepped off one of the teleporters." She wasn't sure how much Guy knew, but he was only a few feet from the bulletin; if he wasn't reading it, that was his problem. "If anything, I'm surprised we weren't ambushed earlier."
"Have you been up there yourself?" Are you going to? was the obvious follow-up, but if there was something else he felt was more important, she wanted to hear it.
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"I haven't yet, no." He'd only just found out how to get up there in the first place, and from the looks of things it was quite the journey. He, Anise, and Claude had a lot of work to do if they hoped to catch up with the others.
"Up until a couple of days ago, I was in Farwell with two of my friends," he explained. Hopefully Lana had at least heard about the city, otherwise he'd have a whole lot more explaining to do. "We got a pretty important item while we were there, though."
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She wanted to ask if he'd seen Byrne Faraday, but interrogating him on what amounted to the latest chapter in a multi-generational soap opera in the LA court system seemed counter-productive. Either he was still out there, or he wasn't, and if they could really get Landel out of power, they'd sort out who was still here then.
Besides, the conversation had taken a turn for the intriguing. Lana leaned in, and dropped her voice. As subtlety went, it had none, but the staff didn't seem to mind. "An item? Care to elaborate?"
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"Yeah, the rebels are out there and they built something that they claim will be able to disable Landel's power," he said. It still seemed too good to be true, but they didn't have any other options and so they were going to have to give it a try.
"My friend's got it, but the tough part is actually getting it to Landel. I guess people have been making their way through the third floor, but I don't think anyone's found him yet." That was the sort of news that would have been spread around, right?
Greenhouse, 4th Shift [Open]
But he'd never done particularly well with an excess of free time and no solid way to make use of it, which meant that he'd been at something of a loss for what to do. Out on the recreational field, he'd done some idle walking around. For an angel who had lived for eons, it wasn't too difficult to tune everything out if he was left alone.
For the free shift, he went to the library and did some reading, and was for once left to his own devices, getting through a decent portion of one of Shakespeare's plays before he was interrupted.
And now, there was the greenhouse. Castiel had no true urge to dig his hands into the soil of this place. He might have back at home, but he'd been trapped on this unknown world for long enough. He didn't need to commune with it in that way.
Instead, he found a bench at the far side of the greenhouse and took a seat there to observe the others.