damned_institute | Day 29: Cafeteria (2nd Shift)

Nathan had never actually been in a nuthouse before and had only recently contemplated checking himself into one in a fit of sarcastic, self-depricating humor as of late. It was safe to say that he wasn't terribly familiar with the typical layout, even though he guessed it wasn't too hard to assume in this case. Everything was clean and painfully sterile-looking, if you could tell just by looking anyway, and he had to admit that they did a decent job of dressing this place up like a stereotypical, mental institution. They'd probably wait until evening to run whatever tests they wanted after they'd drugged everyone up nice and good.

The former congressman parted ways with his nurse, offering her a fairly sarcastic "thanks" as she let him loose in the expansive cafeteria. The food choices seemed pretty basic: hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza... The sort of thing he'd been living off of for the past, couple of months. Nathan hadn't realized how hungry he was until he actually picked up a plate. Skeptical as he was of the food here, it probably didn't matter whether it was drugged or not; if he was where he naturally assumed he was, they'd have their way no matter what he did. The only thing not eating would accomplish would be to make things easier for them.

With a hamburger and some fries piled on his plate, Nathan scanned the large room for any familiar faces. If he'd been nabbed in his sleep, there was at least a small chance that they might've nabbed Parkman or one of the others too. Unfortunately, he seemed to have chosen the wrong place to get information. It was practically empty.

Great. It looked like he'd be keeping himself company for the time being. Always a fun person to pass the time with. Sitting down at an empty table, Nathan took a moment to stare his hamburger down before taking a hesitant bite.

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Crewmates? What was this guy, some kind of sailor? Regardless, it was kind of disturbing how sure of himself he sounded. He certainly didn't act like the sort of certifiable nut who would believe in monsters, but, then again, Nathan supposed insanity could come in a lot of different forms. He'd learned from firsthand experience that you didn't have to be bouncing off the walls to be considered crazy. He almost shuddered to think about what he saw every time he looked in the mirror. By those standards, he felt a little guilty about automatically assuming Sanji wasn't all there.

Still. Monsters.

"I'll keep that in mind. Just let me make sure I've got it all down." Nathan sighed, his hands falling to rest on the cafeteria table. "I'm in a different world, this isn't actually a nuthouse, and monsters and patients both run around when it gets dark outside." He refrained from making any snide comments about the boogeyman or Count Dracula. Even if Sanji did prove to be off his rocker, any potential contacts or allies in this place would prove useful if they ever planned on escaping.

Sanji grinned hugely. "Oh, I'm pretty sure it is a nuthouse," he laughed, "just maybe not the sort they'd like us to believe. I've heard some theories, but like I said - I've only been here a couple shitty days myself." Nevermind that Luffy claimed he'd been there prior to that. If he had no memory of it then it hadn't happened. "Some people have been talking about experimentations, but I haven't witnessed any of that first hand."

He gestured around to the other patients. "Everyone wanders out at night because the doors come unlocked and the staff goes away," or became monsters themselves, but he didn't like to think of that happening to the nurses no matter what sort of place this was. "It's a prime time to try and escape, but I don't think anyone's managed to find a way out yet." They just disappeared. Nathan was still too new to be dumping that on his just yet, however.

Despite the fact that this place supposedly wasn't his world, it certainly sounded like something a certain group of people from his homeland would dream up. Experiments... People forgetting how they'd come to wake up in an unfamiliar bed in a similarly unfamiliar room... That all fit perfectly with the Company's tactics, at least from what he'd gathered before he'd managed to escape. It was the whole letting them run around unchecked at night that had him worried. Sure, it seemed like escape would be even easier that way, but what Sanji said echoed in his head.

I don't think anyone's managed to find a way out yet.

It left two options, really. Either this whole survive the monsters at night business was a delusion, or there was something keeping them from escaping even when unsupervised. That was where things started to not make sense. It didn't sound like a logical course of action, and it all sounded a bit risky for the Company. Nathan shook his head. He couldn't believe he was really starting to think about this like it was possible, like the blond sailor with the curly eyebrows might actually not be a few grapes short of a fruit salad. Maybe that said something about him.

"Because of the monsters?" Nathan guessed dryly.

The chef shook his head at this. "Not just the monsters. My run-ins with them have been limited anyway." Read: one instance. "Last night my crewmates and I were halted by one of the brainwashed patients. When I woke up I was back in my bed again and it was morning. But you don't even have to be knocked unconscious. At some point in the night everything comes to an abrupt stop and then the day starts over." Sanji shrugged his shoulders. He still didn't understand most of it himself and somehow he thought he could explain it to someone else? "Maybe the Institute just knocks you out."

The Institute itself, he realized he'd said, as though the building was a living entity of its own. Perhaps it was.

The more he thought about it, the more it sounded like some kind of sick test, perhaps to monitor their powers and how they interacted with one another. Would the patients trapped here band together to escape? Or would they fight amongst themselves and spread their efforts too thin to make a difference? If someone on their side was capable of altering their minds to make them see a bunch of crazy monsters, there was no doubt they could keep them in check and get some useful information that they'd otherwise be unable to coax from an unwilling subject without damaging them. He hated to admit it, but Sanji's story was sounding more and more plausible the longer Nathan mulled it over in his head.

Brainwashing didn't sound too low for them either, not when there was precious data to obtain.

"It sounds like quite an operation they've got going on here," he sighed, sounding grudgingly genuine now that it was all starting to click, he hoped, in his mind. He probably wouldn't get the chance to check the bulletin board now, but at least he'd gotten some information, weird and disturbing as it was.

It seemed as though Nathan might really be taking in some of Sanji's warnings now, which was a very good thing. It wasn't too long before nightfall, and he'd want all the advanced knowledge he could get. The more he believed the better he was liable to prepare himself. The Chef nodded sagely. "The guy in charge - you'll hear him over the intercom now and then. Goes by the name of Martin Landel. There's another guy that comes on the radios at night - name's Jack, I think."

How much did he have left to explain? Every time he thought he'd come to a good stopping point he'd remember something else. And when did this shift end? He just wanted to get back to his room and get comfortable with a cigarette before he had to start running around in the dark... "Is there anything you think I'm leaving out?"

Day 29: Cafeteria (2nd Shift)

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