damned_institute | Day 27: Breakfast

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Day 27: Breakfast

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

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That was of absolutely no help whatsoever. Unknown planet, and he had never heard of the place this... ah. He didn't know the civilian's name. It wasn't usually on the top of his list of priorities. "What's your name? And what do you know about this facility?"

Phibrizzo dodged the first question by answering the second with childlike exuberence. "I don't know too much, Mister! All I know is that they tell us where to go during the day and make us play games, and shower, and feed us sweet things and not so sweet things, and then at night, there are scary monsters. I saw one when I first woke up here, it looked like a lady but it wasn't, and then last night, there were bats!"

"I...don't really like it here," He added, "I just want to go home."

"'Monsters' inside the facility?" Well, that certainly didn't line up with what the nurse had been trying to convince him. Bats... like mynocks? Was that what this kid was talking about?

And the kid hadn't answered his question. He was getting really tired of people trying to talk around him. "And I repeat, what is your name?"

The Mazoku lord grinned widely. "Phibrizzo."

There, he'd given it. Now what did this "TK-622" intend to do with it? It didn't really help him any.

Might as well see what use he could be to him. Hellmaster took another bite of food and cocked his head. "So, what is it that you do, Mister?"

"I fight for the Empire." That was it. What did he expect? "And what about these things you called 'monsters'. Do you know anything more about them?" He really wished he was dealing with a young clone, instead of a civvie. Then he'd get a timely and actually helpful answer to his questions.

"What kind of fighting?" Hellmaster pushed the envelope, curious as to what he was dealing with. "And as far as the monsters go..."

He "hmm"-ed, looking upwards with big eyes as if thinking something over. "I think someone had something about them somewhere, Mister...maybe on that note board?"

"Infantry. Standard Stormtrooper kit." He didn't feel like explaining further. "Where's this note board?"

Ah, he was a simple soldier. Not exactly the greatest catch Phibrizzo could have made, but he would work with it, assuming this man continued to hold his interest.

"It's in the big room with the high ceiling and balcony."

He wasn't certain on the room names yet, so that would have to do.

This was incredibly irritating. "Where is the room?" He asked for directions, not a description. Brainless civvie.

Oh, this one was impatient, wasn't he?

"Where is it? Hmmmmm...." Phibrizzo scratched his head and feigned thinking. "Where is the room...where is the room..."

He smirked at TK. "I'm sure I know. Just let me remember...the room with the note board...where was it aga~ain..."

Well, while this little annoyance was 'thinking', he was going to keep eating. He'd find the place eventually, anyway.

Why did people always seem to think that clones were completely brain dead?

"Oh!" Hellmaster held up a finger as if it had just come to him. "It's the large room we walked in here through! Now, how could I forget that?" He smiled. "I've always been a bit forgetful."

He folded his hands, stopping the inhalation of food momentary. "Why are you interested in monsters, Mister?"

"Because I don't want to be running blind into any engagement." Especially when he didn't have his armor or weapons. It seemed doubtful that he was going to be released in any timely fashion from a place that let creatures loose on its 'patients'. Some sort of testing facility?

Phibrizzo put his hands to his face and did his best to look awed by the man. "You're plannin' on FIGHTING them, Mister? That's..."

Now, how would a little boy feel about such a declaration. Hmmm...

"...so COOL!" He giggled and looked TK over. "I thought you looked like one of those swordsmen fighter types! WOW! Have you faught lots of battles?"

"If it's necessary, then yes." Only the idiots went looking for fights.

The enthusiasm was unexpected and... slightly unsettling. It was just his life. What was so spectacular about that? "Yes. I was created to be a soldier." Which made this whole situation slightly more confusing. If they wanted to test a trooper, then why just him? He didn't even know how many Stormtroopers there were in the galaxy, but it was more than enough to keep millions of deranged scientists busy with intelligent lab rats for years.

Phibrizzo continued to beam. "I hope you kill all the monsters here! It's really scary here at night with them running around. But if you're good at it, then you should have them dead in no time, right?"

He punched the air enthusiastically and laughed. "Go for it, mister!"

"I'm good enough to know my limits. When I have to fight, I can kill efficiently. But I'm not going to go around mopping up every hostile here. You never get anything done that way, and you'll get yourself killed." If he had his armor and his old squad, then he'd consider it. But there was no point in wishing for what he didn't have.

"Still," The child-mazoku picked up his fork, keeping his lips curled upwards the whole time, "You're the first person I've met who doesn't seem frightened by the monsters! I'm gonna call for you if I run into any tonight, ok?"

He put another helping of pancake on his tongue. "Oh!" He added, as if he had considered what he had just said. "Unless you don't want me to call for you."

"I'd recommend just staying in a secure area. I'm not used to defending civilians." He had guarded Commander Akobi, but he could fight, and fight well, for a non-clone. If only he hadn't been too thick to figure out in a timely manner who the spy had been, then Akobi would still be alive.

But as before, there was no point in wishing for it to be true.

Phibrizzo pouted. "But I wanted to see you fight something. You seem so cool, Mister!"

Hopefully this guy fought better than Excel had. Not to say randomly flailing with a pillow HADN'T been fighting, but the Mazoku lord hadn't be especially taken by it.

"Unless you can fight, you'd just be a liability." He was not going to be looking after baggage, especially without his normal kit. And no orders to do so.

Phibrizzo sighed, outwardly pretending to be slighted, but all the while plotting in his head. "I guess you've done this a long time, huh?"

"My entire life." He was hatched from a cloning vat on Kamino thirteen years ago. He'd trained for nine years, then gone to war. That was it.

"Woooooow!" Hellmaster continued to act interested. "What did you parents think of that?"

"I never had any." He hardly had a concept of what a parent was, really. The definition seemed to vary.

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