damned_institute | Day 26: Intercom, Evening

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Day 26: Intercom, Evening

The intercom clicked on with its usual jingle, the Head Doctor clearing his throat before he made his last shift-changing announcement of the day.

"Well, now that everyone is clean and having fun, I suppose it's time for everyone to be escorted back to their rooms for dinner! Yes, yes, I know the game room can be entertaining and doctor sessions can be fulfilling, but we only have so much time in the day, don't we?

"Ah, and speaking of dinner, tonight, we'll be having an old favorite--seasoned steak, a baked potato, and peas! Yum, yum. You also get a choice of vegetable soup or caesar salad--just tell your nurse which you'd prefer--and may also choose from our usual variety of drinks."

He made his usual pause, perhaps contemplating what the night would have in store once the sun fully set. Now, however, wasn't the time to reveal such musings, and so he ended on his usual cheery note:

"That's about all for now! I hope you all enjoy your suppers."

And again the intercom turned off.

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Roommate? It made sense, as there were two of everything, but this meant that he wouldn't be getting a moment of peace and would have to keep his act up all the time. That was going to get annoying and tedious FAST.

Refusing to let his irritation show through, he greeted Quatre with a huge smile. "Oh, hello! I'm Phibrizzo!"

"It's nice to meet you Phibrizzo," Quatre said politely with a slight bow to his head. Then he sat down and examined his meal more closely.

It was possibly drugged. He wasn't sure he should even try any of it. He poked at it with his fork and frowned.

He didn't meant to ignore his roommate, but he wasn't sure how open the other boy (or at least he appeared to be a boy to Quatre) would be to being questioned. Quatre figured he would find out more about what was really going on tonight, when he would finally be able to speak to Relena.

His thoughts were consumed by what he was told would happen at night. He was worried about his friends. He needed to find a way out. He didn't completely let his roommate's movements go unnoticed (after all he might be an assassin or something equally dangerous) but for the most part he gave Phibrizzo some peace.

Of course, if there was a conversation started in the room, Quatre wouldn't have protested joining it.

Hellmaster noticed that his roommate didn't appear to be eating anything. He wasn't exactly taken with the meal himself, but so far all the humans had at least tasted their food. Was there something wrong with this meal that he had somehow failed to notice with his new sense of taste?

"Is there something wrong with dinner?" He asked, setting his fork down and pushing it away. Hopefully only having a few bites wouldn't be enough to kill him ~~again~~ if there was something major he had neglected to recognize.

Quatre looked up and seemed a little startled with the question. "Oh no," he said. "At least I don't think so. I noticed people eating lunch today so I doubt the hospital poisons their food." That seemed reasonable enough to him. That and his roommate was eating a little bit, so if it was poisoned then he would be feeling it by then, wouldn't he? "I'm just not very hungry."

Hmmm...that sort of response called for a "sympathetic" reaction, didn't it?

"You're not hungry? Why not, Mister Quatre? Are you not feeling well?"

Quatre's smile was a genuine response to his roommate's concern. He considered Phibrizzo for a moment.

"Do you mind if I ask how old you are?" He didn't mean to avoid the question, but he was curious and if they were going to have a conversation...

Phibrizzo mused over this. He couldn't very well say "young" and expect the other to believe him. Then again, when you were only using the form of a boy to prevent those around you from recognizing that you were, in fact, a several thousand year old Mazkou lord, you didn't put a whole lot of thought into personal details (you tended to have more important matters on your plate).

So, he needed an age or a dodge. Might as well try the latter.

He hung his head and looked away, feigning embarassment. "I'm not...I'm not actually sure. I don't really know. I think I'm about 11 or 12, but I don't know myself," He turned back to Quatre. "My parents died when I was young and no one else really seems to know. I'm sorry."

Quatre frowned and felt truly sad for the story. "That's horrible," he said. A lot of children were without parents because of the war. Or at least, the war where he was from. The bulletin board had mentions of other worlds and places, Quatre wasn't sure he what he really believed just yet.

"Both of my parents are dead as well," he mentioned, trying to relate to the person he believed was a couple years younger than him. "How long have you been here?" he asked, with a frown still on his face. He didn't like the idea of an 11 year old being stuck here. Then again, he hadn't been much older than that when he had joined the war. The difference was that that had been his choice and this place didn't seem too keen on giving it's 'patients' choices.

Phibrizzo put a finger to his mouth and "hmmm"-ed.

"I woke up here last night. It was pretty dark and scary. And then I met Mister Claude, and then we met Mister Claude's friends and..."

Hey, he still had that newspaper to look over! He had intended to do it when he had a moment alone, but with arrival of Quatre, he didn't feel this was the time to dive into trying to decode the ways of the people of this realm. If nothing else, it would put his pretend naïveté up for questioning.

He could always sequester himself in a tree come nightfall and look it over. He still had ONE power left...

"...and there was a monster," he finished, going quiet. After a moment of "remembering" this, he spoke up again. "But Mister Claude and his friends killed it so it can't hurt anyone anymore! They looked really cool doing it too!"

Quatre's frown deepened. Monster. It was hard to believe, even though he couldn't think of a reason so many people would lie about it.

"What did the monster look like?" he asked carefully.

"Well," the child said, "It looked just like another girl in the room. Only it had sharp teeth and was biting people and there was blood. Maybe they were sisters?"

Quatre didn't like that idea at all. It sounded like some horrible scientific experiment to him. He didn't want to press Phibrizzo about it anymore and instead went back to picking at his food, though now he felt even less hungry.

He wasn't sure what else to ask the boy. It felt wrong integrating him. Quatre couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed. He would have to make sure to get to Relena as quickly as possible.

His roommate going quiet again, Phibrizzo felt as though he should say something. "Uhm...so, where are you from, Mister Quatre?"

It was simple and generic, but it would create the atmosphere of caring that the Mazoku lord lacked.

Quatre looked back over to his roommate. "I'm from a Space Colony. Do you know about them?" There was hope that maybe the boy did know and that they were from the same place and there wasn't really different worlds and places.

Space...colony?

Phibrizzo knew about all the towns inside and out of the barriers. He knew about alternate dimensions and alternate worlds. But he'd never heard of anyone who lived in SPACE.

"What's that?"

Quatre couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. "Where I'm from, about two-hundred years ago, humans gained the technology to move to space. A Space Colony is sort of ... a habitat out in outer people live and work." He was trying to word it as simply as he could, considering the apparent age of his roommate. "With technology we are able to almost match the gravity and atmosphere of Earth. There is even a weather control on each colony so that it rains and snows during the appropriate times of the year." Though admittedly the change of seasons were strictly monitored and controlled, so there was little to no chance of getting caught in a surprise storm like there was on Earth. "Mostly people moved out there for the natural resources we could find, then after a long time it became home. My family was one of the first to move into space. We live in the L-4 Colony Cluster."

The Winner family had a long history of being in space and helping the citizens there. He had given up his birth rights as the only male child of the line to fight in a war, against the total pacifism that his family taught. After the war, however, his family had welcomed him back. He didn't mind. He loved being about to help and the Winner family was rich and influential, even after Quatre's father had died defying the colony citizens. Quatre wished that his father could lived long enough to be able to enjoy the peace he had loved so much. The peace that Quatre had helped bring, along with so many others.

How had humans learned to live in space? That was absurd! Quatre's technology must have really been something, Hellmaster decided, if they were populating places had no oxygen and food, seeing as humans withered and died without.

"Wow," Phibrizzo said, looking genuinely impressed. "That's...pretty amazing."

He beamed at Quatre. "So, Mister Quatre, since we're gonna be roommates, do you wanna be friends?"

Quatre chuckled a little at the question and then nodded. "If you want to be friends then I have no problem being friends, Phibrizzo," he said with a smile.

Phibrizzo continued to beam at him. "I can't believe my luck! There are so many nice people here...and I thought it'd be dark and scary all the time!"

Quatre shook his head. "Even in the darkest and scariest places, it's nice to have friends," he said with a smile. He still felt a little worried that someone that seemed so young and innocent was put into this situation, but if he could make it better for his roommate he would.

Hellmaster pressed on. "Do you have any friends here, Mr. Quatre?"

So far, this guy appeared to be buying his act. Maybe that would give him some more able-bodied (and unknowing) puppets to manipulate.

Quatre thought about that for a moment. So far, his roommate appeared to be perfectly innocent, but he still wasn't sure if he should give away Duo and Relena's names yet. "A few," he said. "Perhaps you can meet them. Do you have someone to go with you tonight?" He wasn't sure it was a good idea to drag the boy with him, but if he was going to be alone then Quatre couldn't help but offer.

Did he have someone to go with tonight? Well, he'd need a moment alone to speak with Xelloss; the last thing he needed was this roommate overhearing his conversation with his subordinate. And yes, he had to speak with Xelloss. If he put it off too long, he wouldn't be able to give him the proper orders or hear accurate reports.

"I think I'm going to take a nap. I didn't get much sleep at all last night," he lied, smiling sweetly "Maybe I can meet them in the morning? Or maybe I can meet up with you later?"

Quatre nodded. "Is it safe in our rooms?" he asked. All this talk about monsters had Quatre worried. He liked the idea of his roommate getting rest if he needed it, but what if Duo and him were able to escape with Relena tonight? Could Quatre really leave this kid behind? There was no way, he realized. He had to find a way to get him out safely too.

"Oh, I'm sure it is!" Hellmaster said, waving his hands and trying to convince Quatre that really, it was in his best interest to just forget about him and leave as soon as possible without seeming too suspicious. "I mean, they were running around in the hallways, but I haven't heard anything about in the rooms! I'll be fine, I'm sure!"

To further emphasize his desire to sleep, Phibrizzo moved from his desk to his bed and pulled back the sheets. "I'm sure I'll feel much better once I'm rested, so don't wait for me, Mister Quatre!"

Day 26: Intercom, Evening

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