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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Riddick glanced at Jade; he'd figured the guy would attempt some sort of conversation. At least tact had been more or less abandoned. Works for me.

Between mouthfuls he answered quickly, "Personal affair." He'd toyed with the idea of openly discussing another patient's hopefully-impending death, but his dark mind wasn't interested in trading words right now.

Unfortunately for the other man, Jade was thinking more or less the exact opposite, humming loudly as if outwardly pondering if he should press Riddick further. After all, if it was something that would surely get the man killed he wanted to know what possessions he'd be able to keep for himself before another patient replaces him.

"Oh? I'm sure it isn't personal enough to be kept a secret from a curious old man." He responded with a smile. It would be a while before the doors unlocked, so it wasn't as if he'd be able to rush out any time soon.

Old? Riddick let that one slide... after the shit he'd seen on the message board today, nothing much surprised him now. And he'd made enough headway on his food, maybe he'd humor the guy. Maybe.

"Someone has a death wish." He let that thought hang for a moment, as it sounded an awful lot like a threat to Jade himself. Then he finished with, "And I'm gonna make it come true." Happy? He returned his attention to the food.

Instead of showing any fear, (like he ever would anyway) Jade eagerly waited for the moment of silence to pass before Riddick continued. Ah, it was almost poetic in a sense, or at least for someone who seemed to speak with his fists. He simply nodded, pressing another forkful of potpie in his mouth while he did so.

"Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but wouldn't the goal be to gain potential allies instead of fighting them? That is, unless it works differently from where you come from."

Riddick smirked as he answered, "That's putting it mildly. 'Where I come from,' allies usually only get you killed." Or die on you.

He was actually a bit surprised at where the conversation was going, and Jade's reactions, or lack thereof. Can't judge a book by its cover. Cliché or not, it certainly fit this instance. He'd hardly had a chance to talk to Jade the previous night, and so much else had happened since then.

"Well then, I can see why you wouldn't want to take any chances. But even if that's the case, I suggest you save some for the rest of us." Whether Jade was talking about forming allies or saving their corpses for target practice no one would know.

In any case, the conversation was gradually opening itself for greater opportunities, but he would hold off for now until he was certain he had the man's ear.

"Did you actually bother to know this person's name?"

I am trying to eat here. "I don't need one." Not like he hadn't tried to find it out, but no one he'd talked to had any idea either. And the ponytailed freak hadn't offered it during the brief moments when Riddick wasn't trying to kill him last night.

Considering the way Riddick had been wolfing down his dinner, Jade was honestly surprised that he wasn't finished yet. Maybe it was just a simple trick of the eye, but there was something almost disheartening about being interested in another man's eating habits.

"Of course, and how do you intend to find them? Unless they already saved the trouble and gave you their room number, that'd be quite generous of them." He mused out loud with a smile.

Riddick grinned, devouring the last few scraps on his plate and pushing back from the desk. "I know where he lives. And it's close enough that he's pretty much fucked." I can hope, anyways. He wasn't really looking forward to chasing the asshole all over the complex. If it came to that, he'd probably default to his other plans.

At the very least, he was feeling a whole lot better than expected. In fact, as he quickly assessed the way his ribs felt under the bandages, he'd say he'd healed half the damage from meeting that hulking mystery person in the courtyard last night. Beautiful. Haku hadn't been kidding about the healing powers of this place.

The time had come to put one of those godawful shirts on again; it'd been rather nice going without today. The Furyan rose and walked to the dresser, yanking a clean shirt out of a drawer and pulling it over his head.

Again with the derogatory metaphors. "It's good to see that confidence and arrogance are hand in hand in your motives."

Nonetheless, Jade was feeling as chipper as ever, glancing down at his partially eaten pie and then mentally guesstimated the time that remained before the doors unlocked. He paid no mind to Riddick when he prepared, focusing his attention on his food and took those minutes of silence to finish his plate. After all, his roommate wasn't the only one that needed to prepare for the night.

He could trust his friend to stay put in his room until he arrived, but it'd be best not to dawdle on tasks that should've been accomplished much earlier. With his plate now empty, Jade quickly set it aside and walked over to his designated desk, rummaging through the drawers.

Riddick had everything he needed now, other than slippers... which he'd come back for later. Traction in those things wasn't as good as bare feet on asylum floors, and that's where he'd be for his initial venture. Beyond that... what he wouldn't give for a good pair of combat boots.

So Jade appreciated a solid ego? That or he was a damn sarcastic bastard. Riddick didn't give a shit, it came down to skill. And there were no problems on the Furyan's side when it came to that, other than whatever the institution had done to weaken him. He missed his normal strength and speed, but he was learning to cope. And what he had left was nothing to sneeze at.

He sat on the edge of his bed and waited, silent. Patience was, perhaps, one of his only virtues.

Jade had reached for a pair of pens, carefully twisting the item around his hair until it was properly secure before making his way to the closet. He'd been adamant about bringing a coat with him, but if this evening were anything like the last then there'd hardly be a difference. Said article was hanging near the end, and Jade quickly pulled it out and slid his arms into the sleeves. It was a bit large, but it would have to do for now.

"Do tell me you have other plans after your little manhunt." He spoke up in a humorous tone, deciding to sit at his desk rather than return to his bed. Jade pulled out the notebook from the waistband of his pants and set it on the smooth surface, feeling the stethoscope shift underneath his weight as he did so.

Riddick grunted in mild amusement. Hmm. He couldn't really think of any good reason not to give Jade a hint at his plans... beyond being generally antisocial. He didn't care about the risk of being told it was a stupid idea. He knew what he thought and that was all that mattered.

"Gonna see just how hard it is to ditch this shithole. Would'a done it last night but..." he shrugged noncommittally.

"I'm afraid I don't have a shred of confidence that you'll be able to." As usual, Jade chose to sway into a more disappointingly predictable presumption. If several of the prisoners had been stuck for weeks, then it was only common sense that two days worth of knowledge would hardly cut it. It was a remarkable feat for this Institute to contain so many people, both once extremely powerful and otherwise.

Of course, it provided him with an even greater nuisance, but he was willing to play along. For now, anyway.

With nothing much else to do other than wait, Jade chose to make a few copies of his map to keep at hand. He pressed the top of his pen until it clicked, and then proceeded to mimic the lines he’d drawn on his original.

Riddick kept his goggled glare on the wall opposite him. "Hasn't been a place that can hold me yet."

Of course, he hadn't been to a place quite as fucked up as this before either. But he wasn't exactly going to sit around and play nice. And Krauser had nailed the point on the head when mentioning that with so many groups getting cut up, a solo escape might have better odds.

"I'm sure the same can be said for others here." Jade hummed along as he continued on with his work. Unlike his roommate, the Colonel had others to worry about, so the idea of a solo escape had already been out of the question. There was always the thought of returning with aid, but he was only willing to expect the worst-case scenario.

The first floor was completed in practically no time, and Jade quickly set out to finish the second floor along with it.

Obviously the doors weren't opening yet. Conversation wasn't his thing, but Riddick had just found an irony he felt like voicing. "Heh. I don't really know where anyone else is coming from." Or much care. "Fucking Star Wars isn't real, but there's a guy running around claiming he died on the damn Death Star. Still," he cracked his knuckles as he continued, "the shit I managed to pull hasn't been topped back home."

Home. That word had been unexpected. And he didn't like the idea of thinking that his own world might not be real to others here... not a thrilling concept at all. Though the anonymity was nice.

"If this Institute has the ability to revive the dead along with their memories, then I'm sure that the possibilities are limitless." As being rather infamous for his intelligence, Jade knew to keep an open-mind on anything and everything. That included the inner-workings of this Institute and what exactly their motives were for keeping them here.

But the sooner he found out, the better.

"Home?" He repeated, looking up from his work and graced his roommate with his usual smile. "What exactly is your home like?"

Riddick made a mental note not to bring shit up around Jade. Too late. He sighed internally and looked at the man... the journalling type, apparently. Riddick had no use for his own book. Pointless waste of time.

"Civilized," he growled.

"Civilized is an awfully vague response." But it was one he'd been expecting. Either way, Jade didn't appear to be disappointed with it, and even if he were, he wouldn't have shown it anyway. The Colonel was certainly in no hurry to find out any time soon, especially when it didn't look like either of them will be escaping for a while.

"Regardless, I'm surprised you even answered." He readjusted his glasses, laying his pen on top of the notebook and rested his hands over his lap.

"Do you mind explaining what you meant?" Jade pressed, already knowing the answer, but it helped pass time.

"I can go with 'fuck you' if you prefer," replied Riddick before turning away and looking at his hands hanging off his knees in front of him. He didn't wait for a response, expanding on his previous statement mostly because any reason to diss the establishment was good enough for him.

"Lots of planets, space travel, that sort of shit. Authority, order, control. Not the sort of place for a murderer on the run. I never really fit in anyways, and frankly I wouldn't know how to now." God, that sounded familiar. The last person he'd said those words to... he'd killed not long after.

"Well, a 'fuck you' certainly wouldn't aid me with anything useful." Jade quickly quipped in after Riddick was finished talking, rather pleased with what he managed to 'coax' out of the muscular man with enough prodding.

Most people would've been rather weary of the thought of Riddick confessing that he was a murderer, and a violent one if one relied on appearances. But Jade was the type that could never be fit in the norm, as with anyone else who have had their fair share of homicide. He was about to reply when the intercom finally went off, signaling that the night had finally loomed over them.

"After you," Jade offered with an ecstatic smile and a simple wave of his hand towards the door. "I do believe cold-blooded murder takes priority in this case."

Riddick smirked at that, but his expression changed to one of deadly concentration in the second to took before he was out the door.

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Day 27: Intercom, Evening

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