When the intercom came on for the second time that day, interrupting people's meals and conversations, it was punctuated by what sounded like a flurry of movement, mainly the shuffling of papers and the noise of things being shoved around.

And yet it was Lydia who spoke. She sounded just as firm as usual, but there was something in her voice that betrayed how tired she was. "Hello, patients. Now most of you will be escorted from the cafeteria into the Sun Room to relax for a short while, though a few select patients will be taken to see their therapist. Also, as Dr. Weaver has had to leave us, some of her patients will make it up with some group therapy."

The loud noises continued, and a grumbling could be heard in the background. "... I apologize for the noise," the head nurse added. "The head doctor has decided to clean his office."

She coughed and sighed. "In any case, have a good day."

The intercom clicked off.

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he could have thought of something!

As much as he didn't like to admit it, it was unlikely his former roommate was still within the Institute's walls at this point, though the Scarecrow wouldn't know for sure unless Kaiji returned to visit him as Dorothy had, encouraging his supposed recovery. There was still the concern that Landel, despite his vile methods, was actually right and he was suffering from the delusion of having been a scarecrow in Oz. After all, that movie had been a pretty elaborate trick. Would he have planted it in town on purpose, knowing the Scarecrow would be taken there the night of the enchanted doors? And how could he guarantee that once he did find it, he'd take it and actually watch it? There was so much guesswork involved- it seemed the Wizard Landel either liked coincidences or he had more power on his side than any of the patients could have guessed.

The Scarecrow stopped by the bulletin board before heading for a seat, considering writing a note to his friends to check on them. He'd heard from Depth Charge, Remy, and Kibitoshin within a day's time, so he figured they were probably fine (as fine as Depth Charge could have been after last night, anyway). He'd seen Mele and Scar the day before. He put a finger to his head, thinking- he'd not heard from Abe or Sangamon in a day or so, but being professionals, they were probably very busy. Perhaps a note would be best for them.

[Kibby]

Venkman had a headache today. Sleep hadn't come easily last night, a rare thing for him. He had spent a while staring alternately at the ceiling above his bed and the insides of his eyelids, head filled with a mix of thoughts about Tuesday's sessions. By themselves, they hadn't been all that fruitful, but they had raised some niggling questions, Jimmy's in particular. The kid's bruises on their own shouldn't have been that notable; it was very possible Jimmy had fought with another patient and denied doing so. But then the nurses had to explain the bruises away with a suspiciously weak explanation like sheets. Sheets? Seriously?

Taking a quick look out at the patient population during fourth shift had yielded a look at even more bandages, far more than there should have been for just a mental hospital. Were the patients really that violent with each other? That clumsy/unaware of their surroundings? If he had to judge based on the sample of patients he had talked with so far, he doubted that. And even if they were, that made the staff look pretty bad for not being able to do more to stop it.

Then, as always, there was the prospect of looking up the file of Ingram's hole-in-the-head friend, whoever that was. He doubted that anything even close what Ingram described had occurred, but stories like that often had at least some grain of truth to them. In his own messed-up way, Ingram might have been trying to warn him about staff abuse of some kind. Combined with bizarre scheduling and quick patient releases, Venkman wondered.

By morning, though, the lack of sleep had really hit him. On top of that, it looked like one of the first shifts of the day was going to be with Danny Boy. Now he was just cranky. Staff abuse conspiracy or no, this was going to be a miserable day, Venkman could tell. And that was why he had put in a special request to the nurses. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to do two full sessions in one shift today. He needed to compress things, give himself some extra time for lunch. Whatever it took, he just wanted to do what he had to do and get it over with. Thus, Daniel, along with his new friend Harry, were going to be doing double-time with him today. Who knew? Maybe being able to split his attention between Daniel and this new guy would make the frustratingly bug-eyed man easier to deal with.

[L and Indiana Jones]