When the intercom finally came on, the quality of the broadcast wasn't as good as it usually was, as if the Head Doctor had been forced to use some unorthodox means to return power over the speakers back to himself. It seemed that his idea had worked; despite the intermittent static that made his words harder to hear than usual, there was no interference or old tapes from a faceless saboteur.

And it seemed he'd made another change to the broadcast system as well. His voice not only came from the speakers inside the Institute but from the radios as well, a sudden and jarring change from the helpful voices that the handheld radios had afforded the patients until now.

"Haa ha haaa..." The Head Doctor laughed with the tone of a man who had lost a battle but who had not yet given up on the war. "I concede, Jill, or whoever you are, that you are triumphant tonight. Bravo, bravo!" He clapped slowly. "You've allowed the patients to escape past the walls of Landel's. They're out! They're free! But...."

The sound of him shifting in his seat could be heard, as if he was leaning forward towards the mic. His voice was low in tone, amused.

"...But they aren't free at all, are they?"

He chuckled again, and an intermittent squeaking could be heard as if he was rocking back and forth in his big office chair.

"No, no, they aren't, and in fact, you've done more damage to the poor, pitiful psyches of my patients than I could ever dream. You see, Ms. Radio, I keep them caged, and in that cage, they are safe. Why, yes, there are threats within that cage, but they are merely a diversion, a distraction from the cruel truth of the outside world. Why? Well, you, Ms. Radio, should know why they will be so, so very disappointed come morning, but... I don't want to spoil the fun, now, do I?"

The Head Doctor cleared his throat and snapped his fingers.

"Bedtime, my prisoners."

The sun broke over the horizon, casting its light over the areas that patients had newly discovered just hours before. The entrance to the mine, the old town, the lake... they all looked less sinister in the early morning glow than they had by the light of the moon, but none of the patients would know this because none of them were there to see it.

They might have fallen unconscious out on the grassy ground, but no longer were they there due to the strange power that the Head Doctor wielded from his safe seat at the Institute. As they woke up, they were in their beds, warm, clean, bandaged, and perhaps with sudden realizations that an escape from Landel's Institute meant an escape through the very fabric of time and space.

"Goooood morning!" The Head Doctor called cheerily, the intercom speakers broadcasting his voice as clear as crystal. Clearly, he'd called in some hi-tech repairmen between his announcement the night before and now. "I trust you all slept well last night, and I do hope you've replenished enough energy for the exciting events taking place today! ...Well, not exactly events, but we do have a new batch of patients for you to all meet and befriend! We'll be introducing fifteen of them during breakfast, so I want all of you–as always–to give them a warm welcome!

"As far as breakfast itself... well, today, we'll be having the ol' classic of buttermilk pancakes! Yum! We of course have butter and maple syrup to put on them, as well as fresh strawberries and blueberries. As sides, we have sausage, scrambled eggs, and tater tots; for drinks, we have regular milk, chocolate milk, orange juice, and water. Oh, and of course, we have assorted cereals available for anyone who wants them.

"And... that's all for now! I hope you all have a good meal."

The intercom clicked off.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. (Have your new character wake up in a random empty room, as we aren't yet able to officially assign rooms.) Since we know it's probably really weird for new characters to get thrown in the showers on their first day: it's perfectly okay if brand new patients (and new patients only) hang in the Sun Room or if they end up in the Courtyard with the other age group. (The nurses will say that they were already cleaned up upon their arrival.) This isn't applicable until the next shift, but we thought we should give you guys a heads-up. Thanks! ]

[starting off in M13]

The last part of the night was little more than a blur in Homura's mind. The men had rushed in, but not joined them, instead staying off to themselves. Before any of them had a chance to react, however, a voice sounded through the air, mocking some other person Homura had never heard of, and the patients themselves.

To Homura, whoever that man was, he sounded a great deal like a god.

But before he could ask questions, the demi-god found himself no longer in the chapel, but some strange room on a bed. Is that what Kenren had meant from his earlier warning? Homura sat up, glad at least that the world didn't spin when he did so. Then the same man from before began to speak again, with a completely different tone. It was confusing to hear him talk that way, calling them patients instead of prisoners as he had before. Homura listened quietly as the announcement was made, then got out of bed.

Maybe he wouldn't have to go anywhere yet. It wasn't like Homura knew where to go anyway, and that meant he had time. If this was his room, and if he had been here as long as Kenren had said, there was a chance he could find something with answers. The Taisho had even told him that Homura had seen Rinrei. Certainly he would've written something down, made a map, something that could let him find her again! He started with the desk at the end of his bed, first finding a small stack of notebooks. Picking up the first, he flipped through, turning the pages with quickening desperation as he found each one to be blank.