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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"Sensible, that."

High praise from M, that particular phrase. Fitting batteries to flashlight and testing the beam, she allowed that "I hadn't, yet. I was, quite honestly, planning to ride the coattails of whatever roommate I was assigned to, unless they turned out to be a blithering idiot."

With a small and crooked smile, she awarded to the other woman that "I believe you'll do."

"Yeah, I don't know, either," Raiden said with a shrug. Monsters were even pushing his idea of what was believable, and that was saying something. He wasn't going to discount the possibility, but it was also a matter of wanting to see for himself first.

He didn't know why his roommate was so nervous all of a sudden, but he watched curiously when the man suddenly got under his desk in search of pens. Going under the desk in order to look under the bed didn't make a whole lot of sense, but he couldn't blame the man for being disoriented.

"You can copy it, but I need to keep the original." The original was actually a copy itself, but there was no point in making things too complicated. "I'm meeting someone tonight, so I need that to figure out how to get there." While he was at it, he forced out the question he had been meaning to ask since he'd stepped into the room.

"So, what's your name?"

"You're right about that." Luke had disappointed him in the past, but in the end, he had come through. He'd done some idiotic things during their journey, and gotten some stupid ideas in that head of his, but that was what Guy was there for: to set him straight, even if it meant slugging him.

"Same to you," he said with a nod. "I hope you can find whoever you're looking for." Guy knew that wouldn't be an easy task, but Okita seemed to have everything under control -- or he was putting on that front, at least.

"Exactly," Guy agreed. "We don't want to give people the wrong idea, or something drastic might happen." They probably wouldn't be mistaken for being brainwashed or anything like that, but some people would do whatever it took to break up a fight. It would be silly to allow that to happen when they wouldn't really be fighting in the first place.

"Oh, yes!" Mousse brightened up at the mention of Shampoo's name, even if Malik was just repeating what he had said. "I miss Shampoo very much, even though we haven't been apart for that long. "

The second question had him blinking in confusion. "Because I was told that time is stopped by someone who has been here awhile. Is it not?"

If time WASN'T stopped, that meant that Shampoo very well COULD have been walking down the aisle with Ranma Saotome at that very instant. What if Byakko had lied?! Mousse couldn't just sit still and let this happen. That possibility coming to light, the Amazon hopped to his feet and grabbed Malik by the shoulders.

"Please! If time isn't stopped, tell me! It's urgent!"

There was no time for Malik to react to his roommate's strange declaration of devotion to his shampoo, for the man had crossed into his personal space in a flash of an eye, without his permission.

Malik's eyes widened in surprise and then annoyance.

"What th--" Malik smacked away at the grip on his shoulders, quite put off by this trespass. "Get your hands off of me! How should I know? I just got here! You're the one who said it."

"Don't be foolish." Hiei rolled onto his side, facing away from Edward. "I've got no desire to talk to you. I just don't want to have to deal with your pitifully blatant attempts to ignore me."

Ed could ignore all that he pleased, so long as he was subtle about it. Hiei just didn't want to be able to tell Ed existed.

It made it harder to hibernate.

Mousse let go, but pointed an accusatory finger at Malik. "YOU'RE the one who didn't know! Has no one said as much to you?"

Surely someone would have mentioned something to the other man if this was the case. Was Byakko the only one who knew? Or had it been a lie? Mousse REALLY hoped time was frozen or else he had wasted precious time waiting for night.

"Awwwww," Rhode pouted at the negative response.

No chocolate was an unfair nightmare! The only she'd seen had been the tiny specks in the pancakes, and that had only been once! It was proof though, proof that there were sweet things here. She had to find a way to get at more sugar than she was receiving, otherwise the withdrawl would make Rhode's subsequent anger difficult to subdue.

Would asking the nurses do anything? Probably not.

The pout turned over to confusion at Dairine's latter words and made her cock her head. "What're 'reecees cups'?"

"ME?" Malik gasped with exasperation, standing up as Mousse pointed his finger at him. He set his hand on his hip proudly, which could be seen a flair of arrogance on his part.

This roommate of his was beginning to piss him off! How was he going to accuse him of anything? It's not like Malik enjoyed being in ignorance, but he figured most people were in the same boat, here.

"I'm not some all-knowing news source! I've barely been told anything at all!" With a frown, he continued, with some forced calm. "Just that some crazy doctor has pulled people in here against their will.. from all over."

"It's... uh... it's Mason," Mason mumbled from under the desk. He banged his head rather badly getting up, but grinned widely at his roommate and showed off the pen and notebook. "Look, a pen under the bed. Who keeps fucking pens under the fucking bed, eh? How bloody fucking ridiculous is that?" He laughed half-heartedly as he sat down at the desk and began to copy out the map.

"So what's your story, mate?" he asked, bending his head over the map, making sure he got all the details. It would probably come in handy in the future.

The demi-god had suspected it, but the confirmation was what he was after. He'd never encountered a brainwashed patient before, nor had he seen the torture that took place. But he was hardly finished, Ken's glare having as much effect on him as a dust speck.

"And do you remember that? Fighting for them." Again, Homura had another suspicion, based on Ken's anger. But his voice was more serious, thoughtful now. A subtle difference, but real.

The power to control minds. It was a frightening thing, and something that went against Homura's morality. Heaven would pretend they offered a person a choice, but here they simply stripped it all away.

He would fight much harder if they came for him.

Again with the doctor. Maybe killing him really was the only way home. Mousse scratched his chin and mused about this. "But no one has said anything to you about time? At all?"

This was the more important matter at hand, anyhow.

"...." Malik hesitated for a moment, not sure if he should be all too forthcoming with the guy. But upon further thought, he decided to tell him what little he knew, since it didn't seem to be a secret anyway. In any case, even an annoying roommate could turn out to be useful later.

"Someone told me that we've been brought in from all different times and places," he said, remembering Kougaiji's words. "But I haven't heard anything about time stopping."

And then he asked the question about what Mousse said earlier because it didn't quite sound right-

"Are you sure getting out of here is as simple as jumping over a wall?" Sounded much too easy.

A curse? Like juuin, perhaps, or was this also thoroughly different from Sasuke's experience?

"Does this curse impart some ability?" He was hazarding that it was closer to juuin than the curses of little kid stories, if for no other reason than because that kind of curse seemed to be to the opposite side of Innocence.

Possibly notable was the fact that Sasuke didn't particularly care what Allen had done to deserve it. Kids did things they shouldn't all the time, and frankly, Sasuke didn't care. The consequences were what mattered, anyway.

“Yes yes a very pleasurable experience indeed Hideki Ryuga.” Appeased by being addressed by such a manner, the sword gave on sharp nod of his head before his amber gaze regarded the other patient after their question. While he was the only sentient sword in his realm and often the locals were surprised that he could talk – he could understand that being a rather abnormal situation – the Star Dragon Sword wouldn’t have thought that the image of a sword would have been something to unknown to people.

He was going to keep his tongue in check for there was the slight possibility that this human had never seen a sword before, “You mean to tell me that you do not know what a simple sword looks like? What kind of backwater town are you from boy?! Do you even know what a bastard sword is?” but he found his mouth saying otherwise to what his mind was trying to order.

“If your mind can handle the feat I will try to explain it in terms your mind can handle - since obviously you’re having some difficulties.” With a huff, the Rune incarnation placed his food to the side before sliding off the bed to stand. Gesturing from his waist up as if he were talking to a child, the sword didn’t bother hiding the annoyance he felt in his voice as he explained. “From my waist up to the top of my head imagine a thick blade,” With an absent flick to indicate his short legs, he continued. “A grip extended down like any other sword, and in the area between the grip and the blade, my face is set within the pommel along with the guard.”

Clambering back up onto the bed now that his little demonstration was over, he found his arms crossing back over his chest – for lack of better things to use them for – before he added. “If you still find the description difficult to comprehend, I am certain some nice and easy diagrams can be drawn up for you.” He’d never drawn before, and he hoped that this bag of flesh was at least intelligent enough to use their imagination to form their own image.

Obi-Wan listened to Schuldig speak in silence, carefully taking in every word. It sounded like a lot of the alliances his roommate had forged here were shaky at best, especially if people were trying to get at him because of his powers. He didn't imagine Schuldig was the easiest person to work with, but then he doubted he was relying on the most trustworthy people to begin with.

Either way, he couldn't help but feel a little empathetic to his situation. Obi-Wan had felt used before (albeit not nearly to the same extent as this), and he knew it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

"If you let your abilities define who you are, then, yes, that's all people will see when they look at you," Obi-Wan said. "But I imagine preventing that is easier said than done. With other people's thoughts coming at you every second, it's probably difficult to maintain a strong sense of self." If he felt angry or afraid about something, who was to say he wasn't just feeding off of other people's emotions? Obi-Wan figured it was a lot like his own experiences in picking up other people's feelings, except magnified ten fold, and much more difficult to control.

"Still," he added slowly, "I don't think it's impossible. Aren't there other things about yourself that are unique to you as a person? You aren't really being fair to yourself if you measure your worth based on your abilities. Everyone here has been diminished somehow, but people are still helping each other anyway."

"No one at all?" Ururu had known about that for as long as she could remember, but then, it didn't mean much even if Edward-kun didn't know. Normal humans didn't, just like they couldn't see Hollows or Shinigami. So someone probably did know. Just not the people Edward-kun knew.

"I don't know if it's spooky. I haven't been there." Ururu chewed a bit of her meal thoughtfully, trying to decide if Kisuke-san had ever told her anything about it that sounded scary. "The only bad dead people are the Hollows, and they aren't in Soul Society."

They went to Earth, which was worse. But Ururu didn't want to scare her new friend, so she didn't say that part.

At this point, the better question would be what wasn't bothering him, but still. Damned if he did and damned if he didn't, so to speak, which, considering the situation at hand, was perhaps not the best expression to be thinking of.

Still, he had to stay focused. He might be able to get out of this be being clever enough to stay a few steps ahead of hell.

"I'm in a mental institution I don't remember checking myself into. That would be a good place to start. Apologies if I directed it at you - your name threw me for a moment. It's similar to the name of someone I know, and I'd never heard a name like his before."

That wasn't even a lie. Technically speaking, he knew Satan, and people didn't go around naming their kids 'Satan' or 'Lucifer' or 'the Beast of the Bottomless Pit' much, so to hear a name like it had been a surprise. (Excepting, of course, the naming habits of some Satanists, but the less said about those groups the better.)

Crowley looked at the clothing and materials by his bed. "There's a name written on these things by me - 'Alexander Blake.' Was that the name of the person who used to use this room?"

Again, the Amazon was confused. He had been told as much, so why wouldn't it be so? "Well, either that or killing the head doctor," he admitted, "But I don't see how killing the man who brought us here would send us home. Don't we need him to get back?"

...actually, if he needed the head doctor to send him back, why WOULD going over the walls get him back home? It wasn't as if the doctor was there.

"So can I," Rinali answered, feeling the weight of the lie as she said it. It wasn't exactly a lie. She could take care of herself, but there had always been someone there for her. Komui, mostly. She needed her friends, she knew. That was just the way things were.

"I have a friend where I came from," she snapped back, "They called him a monster too. But I'm going to trust my friends, who've told me that the things out there aren't misunderstood. They work for this place that holds us captive, whoever they are!"

She took a deep breath to calm herself. Her roommate's anger was contageous. "I don't like this any more than you do. Maybe I can keep an eye out for your friends, though. What do they look like?"

"...I guess," Malik muttered. He sighed and took a seat again. Different possibilities were running through his mind. He could try the wall tonight...or maybe conserve his energy and try to break free tomorrow, during their 'field trip.'

If what lay beyond the wall was a town, how was he going to find his way back? This was all too weird and disturbing. And neither did he forget that there were supposedly monsters and swordsmen who roamed the halls at night..

He picked up his fork and stabbed some green beans on it and took a reluctant bite.

This talk of killing people was making him a little uneasy.

He shrugged when the boy didn't move to take the meal. "I've already eaten," he answered nonchalantly, pulling himself from the bed to explore the closet that he hadn't had the time to go through yet. Ah, a coat - that might at least come in handy because of the large pockets. Hopefully Heiji would manage to find some sort of weapon. If not, it was time to explore the bathrooms. Or find them.

"You've heard about the monsters, I assume?" Edward asked, despite his nose shifting through the clothes on the lone rack in the closet. He hadn't expected to find much, if anything at all, but not even giving a weapon to defend themselves with seemed to be rather counterproductive to the "experiment" theories he'd heard.

"Hey, if I had any, I'd share," Dairine said ruefully. Already she was craving things other than hospital food - while it was good, the nutritiousness got a little bit boring after a while.

Oh, right. Not being human, her roommate wouldn't know what Reese's cups were. "They're little discs of chocolate about this big," she said, making a circle with her thumb and index finger, "and they're filled with peanut butter." She paused. "Uh...do I have to explain peanut butter, or are you familiar enough with human culture to know it?" she asked.

Harry ate a bit of his own meal, but he didn't think he would be taking his roommate's. He nodded despite the fact the other occupant of the room couldn't see him.

"I have," he said. "A man called Renji had been communicating with me over the bulletin board all about them." He paused. "There's not really anything useful in this place," Harry offered as his roommate was looking through his things. "I searched through the room earlier today."

He had been looking for his wand, but as things stood at the moment the only person to know he was missing his (despite the people who had taken it away) was Snape, and Harry preferred to keep it that way.

"No, neither of us were injured to any appreciable degree," Adelheid assured his room mate, finding the concern rather gratifying. Normally only his dear sister showed any real concern about him, and while that had started to change as a result of being in the Institute for so long, Adelheid still took what he could. Especially from someone like Larsa. "...thank you for your concern."

It was a shame that Larsa hadn't gotten any further than before, but at least he was making more contacts, or so Adel was sure of. Larsa was the sort of person who could make people trust him easily; if he had gotten Adel that way, then surely he could get almost anyone on his side. "A pity that you hadn't gotten any further, however; I think I'll need to check with others and see what kind of progress has been made."

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Day 27: Intercom, Evening

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