damned_institute | Day 27: Intercom, Evening

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Day 27: Intercom, Evening

The intercom gave its cheery jingle just before the Head Doctor's equally buoyant voice rang through the halls.

"Ah, and finally, our day is coming to a close! Rooms and roommates have been reassigned with care, though what great partnership can start without a good meal? Ah, yes, after the nurses escort all of our patients, new and old, back to their proper rooms, everyone will have the chance to enjoy a savory chicken pot pie, full of peas, carrots, potatoes, and of course, chicken. On the side, we'll have buttery corn on the cob and green beans, and to drink, you may choose from the regular slew of water, milk, or assorted juices, which your nurse will bring to you.

"I believe that's all for now! Phew, long day, huh? I know I'll be happy to get some sleep, and thank you to all our vigilant doctors and nurses, although Dr. House seems to have gone AWOL... Hmm... Well, in any case, have a good dinner, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began organizing the patients for the small trek back to their rooms.

[ OOC: Remember, room threads go in response to THIS post, and please put your respective room number in the subject line of your first post. Thanks! ]

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"Just tired," he said automatically. He'd given the same response several times already today and he'd really rather not have another break down like he had at the breakfast table. Once was humiliating enough.

He wouldn't have minded the quiet. Maybe a moment or two to regain his strength and composure before he headed out. He'd have to find Rinali and Rukia and-

And they'd know. It would be obvious. They'd want to know what happened, why he'd been so foolhardy. Why he hadn't gone with the Arts and Crafts group in the first place last night. There were far too many questions that he just wouldn't have answers to.

"That's good." He should have said more. Should have asked if Sasuke had been able to find his friends, if he'd done alright, found anything... but the words didn't come.

She? What the hell was going on?

"I don't know!" Naomi repeated. "Fuck!" She tripped when the punch hit her thigh and began to topple, grabbing the desk that was now behind her to keep herself on her feet. It had been a while since she was in a knock down, drag out fight like this. She got both feet under her and tried to wrench her arm out of the woman's grasp.

This was crazy! She had things to do, she was on the verge of losing her tenuous grip of reality, and she was trying to end this without a broken limb. How the hell had she ended up in this situation?!?

"This is a prison! We're all here against our will! We don't know how we got here.... Stop fighting me, you crazy bitch, I'm not your enemy! I don't even know who you are!"

Desperate, she lunged down, biting at the hand the woman was holding her with.

Sasuke didn't buy it, but left it alone. If Allen believed he could work under whatever his circumstances were, Sasuke had no ability to enforce a rethinking of the situation. Besides, if the boy had combat experience like he claimed, he'd know.

The short answers made Sasuke even more suspicious. It was clear enough that Allen didn't want to talk -- about anything, looked like.

Well, Sasuke had planned to ask him what he'd accomplished last nightshift, but it looked like something similar to what had happened with Aidou. Aidou hadn't talked about specifics either, but he'd shared information -- but Aidou also struck Sasuke as tougher material than Allen.

"Are you going with a group tonight?" Brief question to make sure the kid hadn't gone stupid, then, and Sasuke would leave the room to silence. This place involved too much talking, anyway.

Obi-Wan watched the orange-haired man carefully as he took neat bite of his pie. He had to admit that he was rather impressed Schuldig had managed to get a hold of an item like that, what with the staff constantly watching everyone. Given that smuggling items into the institute was virtually impossible, he couldn't help but wonder if one of the doctors had secretly given it to him or something of that nature.

He almost snorted at the juma juice remark. "It's probably just as well," he said. "Juma juice isn't an alcoholic beverage anymore where I come from." He paused, regarding Schuldig with an odd mixture of concern and curiosity. "Where did you get that bottle?"

The short answer was "yes," he was. Though he was already trying to think his way around any possible way he could avoid a meeting. But, if he didn't go, Rinali would be on her own, with no weapons and no way of even knowing where to go or how to get there. He knew he couldn't do that to her.

"We're going after the ones that... get captured tonight," Allen said, his voice still quiet. With any luck, he could use that as an excuse should the others question him. Hurry along, no time for chit chat, that sort of thing. It was true, afterall. "Did... your friends come last night?"

"I stole it from the office of a cannibal," Schuldig said levelly, taking a private and rather wicked sort of delight in knowing that for once he wasn't embellishing the truth in the least. "A cannibal who happens to be one of the therapists here. Nothing's too good for us patients, is it?" He opened the wine and took a long swallow before he was forced to stop in order to breathe again. "I wonder who he's having for dinner tonight?"

'Bitter' was too mild of a word to describe Schuldig's mood.

Eating as she listened to Ami speak, Anise finished the pot pie and again turned her attention to the corn. The idea occurred to her to pry the kernels off with her fork, but the buttery vegetable proved too slippery, sliding across the plate when she attempted this. Grr.

Her attention was snapped away from the food at the word 'brainwashed,' but before she could ask about that, she found herself more interested in Ami's second bit of information. "Healers? Really? Like, Seventh Fonists? I ran into one before, but it didn't seem like she could use any artes..." Even though the colonel had told her Cyrille was a Seventh Fonist, that girl hadn't been good for anything but flirting with His Majesty!

--Oh, and hitting that monster with a table. Anise had to give the girl a little credit.

At any rate, if there were people here with working healing artes, this was great news! M35, was it? She'd have to tell the colonel.

As for what Anise had learned... "Nothing too concrete," she admitted after a long pause. "I tried to find out about the memory loss that, uh, a lot of patients suffer from. Everyone's convinced that we traveled in time or something." She threw up her right hand in a gesture resembling a one-armed shrug. "But it doesn't sound like there's proof either way." What a waste of time.

"You have no idea what insanity it," Beatrix said darkly as she returned to a standing position.

Obviously they were in a prison. Obviously she was here against her will. Obviously this woman was lying to her. How could someone take to being held captive so complacently that she didn't attempt escape when there was nothing but an overweight aging nurse as a guard?

The Bride had decided to use the same technique Pai Mei had first used on her to get submission, twisting the arm so much that even the lightest hit would shatter it. The pain the hold alone would get her the answers she needed. She'd started to twist when the woman lunged forward and bit her hand!

"Arrgh!" Beatrix called out in pain as the woman's teeth cut into her hand. She let go, jerking her hand away, and grabbed Naomi's head. She head-butted the woman hard, her own head turned to the right just enough for the impact to be on the metal plate in her head.

"You will tell me where my daughter is."

"Having at least one magic-user on hand at the station makes sense. If people about it, there's a good chance of serious cases finding their way there." She'd supported having wandering healers as well, but she thought the best should stay where their location was known to those who needed them.

"No real plans. They're new and want to help people, so I'm making sure they live long enough to adjust to the conditions here." She could think of no better use for her effort than safeguarding those who would in the future safeguard them all. And people like Statesman especially she wanted to see succeed here.

"Ow! Fuck!"

Naomi's hand went to her head, her ears ringing and spots in her eyes. God, that hurt! It was like slamming into a metal pole!

"I told you! I don't know! I just woke up here this morning and I've had a really bad day!" Her daughter. This woman was looking for her daughter. Who most likely wasn't here. Hell, maybe she was. Naomi didn't know and she didn't care. This woman was crazy and was going to hurt her so badly she wouldn't be any use tonight!

"If you'd calm the hell down I could tell you where you are!"

The dinner tray? This was getting pretty wild now, and therefore, exciting.

Though Larxene could’ve rolled out of the way, she instead put her arm between the tray and her face. As her limb took the brunt of Claire’s terrible teenage anger, the Nobody used her other arm to reach into her pants’ pocket.

Having been in the room for a while now, she had taken the time to prepare for her coming Nightshift activities.

From the pocket, Larxene took out one of her scalpels and threw it straight at her roommate’s face with the kind of accuracy and skill she was capable very of.

"It is unlikely they'll have another healer," Raine admitted, reluctantly. "I'm just so used to being on the road that it's hard to stay in one spot, even if the alternative is only going through a single building." She'd spent weeks or months running from the Imperial Research Academy, traveled a fair amount to look at archaeological sites, and then set out to accompany Colette on what was supposed to be her last journey, and instead seen it turn into something else entirely. Besides even that, the Church of Martel advocated journeys of discovery.

She wasn't just trying to run away from her problems. Really.

Regardless of his height, the detective felt very small in the eyes of his nurse, arms stiff at his sides and expression conveying an unrelenting state of uncertainty. When the intercom announced dinner, the one thought he gave to it was:

But I just woke up...

The coat seemed to serve as a comfort, however slight. He didn't want everyone seeing the stupid logo on his shirt, and he felt much more at home, somehow, with the sleeves on. His nurse was apparently hell-bent on making him smile, her own a constant to her face, but... well, Gumshoe was a man who couldn't - would not – smile in times like these, even if he tried. Any attempt would devolve into a bleak grimace.

He ruffled his hair as he sat rather squarely on the mattress, gazing at the tray placed beside him. They hadn't fully explained where he was, or why, and they were giving him food.

He didn't understand.

[posting with Fey's permission]

Beatrix pressed her advantage and grabbed Naomi around the throat, her nails digging into the skin as she pushed the woman backwards.

"You've had a bad day?" Beatrix laughed sharply and narrowed her eyes. She raised her other hand up, fingers hooked like claws, as she readied a strike.

She paused, though, when something in the woman's eyes caught her attention. Maybe it was fear she saw, the realization that Beatrix outclassed her, or maybe it was desperation - perhaps a little of both. The Bride's face suddenly went from furious to deadly calm. She did not release her grip on the woman's throat not did she lower her readied strike. She did ease up just enough so she wasn't cutting off the woman's air supply.

"Then tell me," she said, her voice very, very calm.

"He was probably just looking for something to make sure the room was really mine," Ritsuka said, trying to dismiss the fact that Soubi smelling his pillow actually was kind of creepy. He'd have to talk to him about that later. Sometimes the Fighter went a little far with this 'master' business.

How to explain their relationship though when Ritsuka himself didn't fully understand it? He couldn't exactly tell Tamaki that he was a Sacrifice. He hadn't admitted that to anyone - not Yuiko, not Alfons, no one. It was too weird to say that he was mixed up in spell battles and intrigue and that he and Soubi shared a bond that went beyond just friends. If Ritsuka couldn't understand, he couldn't expect anyone else to get it either.

"He's not a horrible pervert! He just... takes things a little far sometimes." At least he started out sounding strong. Ritsuka sighed and set his fork on the tray, settling back into his chair. "...he knew my brother - that's how we met. Things just moved on from there. He's no longer just my brother's friend, he's mine, too. He's helped me out a lot and I know I can trust him. He wouldn't do anything to hurt me, Tamaki, so don't worry."

Ritsuka hoped that was enough to get around having to explain that he and Soubi fought together in spell matches that involved what amounted to bondage, and that he gave Soubi 'power' through kisses. God, he hoped he died before he had to explain that particular gem.

And now she was held by her throat, with the insane woman threating to gouge at her face or some other horrible act.

Naomi took as deep as breath as she could and tried to get her thoughts in order.

"Yes," she said, her voice as calm as she could make it. "I've had a bad day. This place is a prison that fronts as a mental institution. Every patient here was kidnapped, without their knowledge, and brought to this place. There has been no discovery of why or how. To my knowledge, no one has yet escaped. We're cut off completely from the outside world and attempts are made to brainwash us through careful conditioning - repetition, isolation, drugs, positive and negative reinforcement, application of negative stimuli for rule breaking or inappropriate behavior." She hoped that would get the woman to release her. She just wanted to be left alone, unmolested, and allowed to compose her report in peace.

She didn't want to be arguing with an irrational and crazed violent mother.

When L arrived at his room he noticed that Mr. Doe was not present, instead, there was another person occupying his space. Had something happened to his roommate? L looked at the man with a worried expression that was lost as quickly as it had been formed.

Once the nurse was gone and he was sitting at his bed, he pulled off his sock and removed the packet of sugar he had hidden within. What a shame that this and a candy bar were all that he could acquire today. He had only managed to delay the headache that had been developing during lunch, and there didn’t appear to be the slightest trace of coffee within this institute. Without an acceptable amount of caffeine in his system, it was only a matter of time before he became useless.

At the moment there was little he could do about that matter. Perhaps the trip outside of the institute tomorrow could produce some opportunities. Despite how suspicious he was of the idea, L had decided to attend. It was almost as if they were daring the patients to attempt an escape or attack the head doctor. He normally wouldn’t risk himself in such a matter, but by his participation he could possibly gain some valuable information.

As he stuffed everything under his pillow, his thoughts returned to trying to figure out what had happened to his former roommate. Did Mr. Doe change rooms? Or had something happened to him during the night shift? And was there a reason the patient been put here in his place?

Once L finished stashing what he had collected, he sat quietly on his bed, observing the new face thoughtfully.

Now that was something new. Instead of the quiet, somewhat frightened man he'd been having dinner with the past few days, there was now a much larger and very different man sitting across the room. Was he new? Where was Naoe? Gin couldn't say he cared too much what had happened to the other man, so long as he didn't follow suit.

The man wore an almost baffled look on his face, as though he wasn't even sure what to do with the food in front of him. Gin smiled a practiced smile, one that rarely left his lips. "Evenin'," he called over. "You must be m'new roomie. M' Ichimaru Gin."

"Well, you weren't really... around for a while," Guy explained as he sat down and started to pick at his food. He wasn't all that hungry, most likely due to still being excited about his conversation with Claude. He wasn't a huge fan of chicken pot pie, anyway.

"I've been good, though. And not really good news so much as I had a nice talk with someone." He could go into further detail if Okita ended up wanting it, but he didn't want to start blabbing only to get eyes rolled at him. He knew that not everyone had the same enthusiasm that he did, and now that he had an outlet for it, he figured it would be easier to keep it under control around others.

Beatrix forced herself to listen carefully to the woman's words, remaining still and steady in her readiness to kill this woman if she decided to. A mental institute front? Unexplainable kidnappings... brainwashing... It really wasn't Elle's style. It was Bill's.

She'd killed Bill.

Though this woman did confirm the usage of drugs. But it didn't explain the complacency this woman had with the nurse earlier.

"Are there children here?"

"There are teenagers," Naomi said, wishing this damn woman would just let go of her. "I haven't seen any children. I haven't been here long, I just woke up here today. I can't answer your questions."

There wasn't anything else she could tell her.

Gumshoe's sights were immediately on the man across the room; as though he'd only just noticed he had company. He couldn't return the smile, emphasised by his frown that (if possible) deepened.

"Hullo," he said quietly, carefully poking the peas around on his plate. "Uh, the woman outside said I was Roderick-something. But I'm sure that isn't my name, pal. ... Where are we, exactly?" The change in tact was that abrupt it sounded almost juvenile.

Rein frowned to hear that explanation. It was too... frivolous. Nothing they'd done before or were used to mattered here. She liked Raine, and even if she hadn't she was sure that her role as a supporter of humanity meant she should respect the choices of others, not try to coerce them.

But could she not yet instruct, as had always been her calling? Raine was not bound by duty, but surely she was of a good and kind heart. An ethical appeal...

"It isn't. Now that the name of the group has been spread further, it's even more likely that more like that boy from last night in need of magical aid will arrive. You're needed."

"She's almost five, with an angelic face - long dark brown hair, skin tone like mine and her father's eyes, deep and brown. She has a smile that warms the coldest of hearts," Beatrix said. "And her name is BB."

She wasn't going to get anything more from this woman and she didn't seem like she was part of this new conspiracy to keep her separated from her daughter. So, she lowered her arm and released her grip on the woman's neck. A moment later and she stepped back.

"If you see her, or know anything of her whereabouts now, or in the future, it is in the best interest of your survival to tell me," she said as she picked the napkin up off of Naomi's tray and wrapped it around her bleeding hand.

"There people are fools if they believe separating me from my daughter will make me compliant."

When Logan walked in, Peter found that he still looked pretty crappy. He seemed like he was tough as hell, though, so he wasn't going to express too much concern for him since that might just serve to irritate the man. He got the feeling he could take care of himself just fine.

It sounded like he had done a lot more with his day, and Peter tried to see that as an advantage rather than feeling that he had come up short in comparison. "My day was kind of boring," he admitted with a shrug as he took another bite of food. "I met some new people, but didn't really learn much or make any plans."

Hopefully Logan would be open about whatever he had accomplished and set out for the night, since Peter didn't want to be forced to ask if he could come along with whatever he was doing. Logan apparently knew him, so hopefully he would understand.

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Day 27: Intercom, Evening

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