damned_institute | Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

Hitsugaya woke with a start.

His entire body ached, but the pain was nowhere near as bad as it had been the night before. His injuries had been tended two with clean gauze and bandages, and he found every movement wasn't agony. He wasn't in the best of shape, but thanks to the miracle of landel's strange time distortion, he had mostly recovered from the vile poison without having to waste anyone else's talents.

And in his hand, still...there was the key.

He dressed quickly, sliding the key onto the key ring from his desk drawer and stuck it into his pocket. Whether the key stood to gain them anything or not, it stood as a vital reminder that they could succeed in this place. There was hope, as insignificant as it often seemed. They could beat this place.

That small shred of hope made getting up worth it.

The nurse who escorted him to breakfast was cheerful, and commented idly about how wonderful it was to see young Tommy Winters up and about again after his unfortunate run-in with a bad case of food poisoning. He smirked slightly, knowing that any lies the institute forced into their heads were only that: lies. He wouldn't buy it for a second. And on top of that, the concept of muffins sounded almost appetizing. While he still preferred his authentic Japanese cuisine, the food here was slowly becoming more and more bearable. He would have preferred a warm bowl of sweet nattou over rice over the mufffins, but they would do. The plain yogurt and fruit, on the other hand, was excellent. He piled his plate high with fruit as usual, and got several small bowls of yogurt as well.

Finding the most convenient table to the end of the food line, he took a seat and scanned for the new arrivals. New arrivals meant people who would be lost and confused. Renji did a good job of making a bulliten post last time...he should recommend abarai-fukutaicho do the same again this time.

[Waiting for Angel]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I don't have a key, unfortunately--I only know others who do. What I have is a map." Everybody gets little pieces of the puzzle doled out to them bit by bit, hm? "But it is a full map of the upstairs. The furniture and other notes are labeled, but not the status of the doors." Which would have been useful, but beggars couldn't be choosers... "I'll need to post on the bulletin board and speak to others, but if you don't mind giving me your room number or meeting at one of the stairwells, even if no one else is agreeable we could try tonight without a key and see how far we get." The blind young man had traveled enough last night to get those injuries, but wasn't dead--which meant he'd been in at least one fight here blind and survived. Mark himself wasn't helpless, even if the idea of fighting those monsters still gave the part of him that was simply Lord Mark some chills. Killer would take care of that.

Doyle and Landel's interactions? "Doyle certainly had control of the cat in his room. It behaved like a pet. How one gains control or loyalty of the creatures here is still beyond me; something might have been hidden within the jumble of radio transmission parts, or it may simply be recognition of one of its creators. Doyle drew the map for me from memory, and said he needed no key in this place."

"I'm in M58, but it will likely be faster for us to meet in the hall outside the patients block," Sasuke said. So he finally had a concrete goal for a nightshift -- that was a damn sight better than the past few nights had been.

Now that he thought about it, Doyle had been claiming parity with Landel for a long time, and the two men (if that was what they even were) had some kind of history as partners, although if Doyle could still get around in the Institute, that made their history more recent than Sasuke had imagined. The fact that Doyle was that intimately tied to the Institute also made him a good deal more suspect than before, but his information had been good so far. Only so far, though.

"The monsters here are probably the results of experiments as well," Sasuke said thoughtfully, remembering his fruit a bit late and picking up a piece of apple to munch. "If Doyle very recently working with Landel, he might have some control of the animals, but then who exactly orders the attacks on the patients at night?"

"My room number is M97," Mark answered, more out of fair exchange of information than any belief Sasuke would find his way there at some point. "I'll meet you in the last area of the patient's block, near the hallway that leads to the Sun Room."

Mark's food had a way of being eaten despite himself, particularly when distracted, and so he didn't take much notice of the vanishing act his muffins had performed. "The only reason we have to believe that they are even opposed to each other is that Doyle and Landel argue over the intercoms at night. True, Doyle gives presents... but I find the circumstances strange. If they aren't partners now, they certainly were at some point in the past. Why that's changed, if it's changed at all, is a salient question." It would be useful if bargaining, like playing the Houses of Jackson's Whole against each other, but no patient here had anything to bargain with which Landel or Doyle would want. So far as they knew.

Yet they had to want something. "Why they built this facility in the first place... again can only be guessed at. The animals at night may simply be acting on instinct, feeding. The nurses... some other kind of instinct, but no less insensible."

Sasuke nodded, committing Mark's room number to memory along with the handful of others he had and noting the location to meet. There would be a fair amount of traffic in the area earlier in the night, so Sasuke would have to move fast once the doors unlocked.

"The radio messages aren't always exactly supportive," Sasuke said, tone just a bit dry, but frowned again as Mark summarised the oddness of the situation. "There have been some messages that imply that Doyle ultimately disagreed with Landel, either on ideology or methodology. There seems to be some sort of rivalry, that much is certain."

And rivalry could be one hell of a dangerous thing. Sasuke knew that better than most.

"The animals do seem to be acting fairly naturally, but what of the humanoid monsters, and the mind control?" The equation got more complicated as more factors jumped in, and Sasuke was getting to the point where he was starting to remember why he didn't like math. "I've met humanoid monsters who seem perfectly capable of thought and self-direction."

A pause, and then: "I've made a deal with one before, and it kept to its word." It might be possible that alliances could be made.

Mark couldn't help being impressed with that confession. "You can Deal with them..?" That didn't fit very well into his neat mental image of the monsters as uncontrollable, unnatural beasts... then again, being oddly shaped and even being hostile didn't mean one was stupid. How many of the Dendarii's enemies told stories about the wild beast in their ranks, unaware that Taura was far more intelligent than most of her opponents could dream?

"What sort of bargain did you make? And what sort of... individual... was it?" You of all people ought to know better than to think, just because something is created, it's under the complete control of the creators.

Sasuke hadn't mentioned the deal with the girl he'd made earlier mostly because he was concerned about making enemies, but Mark was new and the situation seemed to have come to a point where it might be useful information.

"I haven't seen her since, but I met a child my first night here," he explained, remembering the fog and finding himself unable to quite describe the way the place had felt. "She offered to trade me safe passage to my destination in exchange for information on the location of patients, and kept her word when I told her what I knew.

"She definitely looked human," he added, but scowled a little dubiously. "Then again, that doesn't necessarily mean she is."

It was a simple deal and it had happened only once, but if there was a possibility ...

Was Sasuke saying he'd sold out other patients for his own safety? As though you've never done worse. And a little girl? Information on the locations of patients? It raised more questions than it answered.

"A little girl promised you safety? What did she want to know about the location of patients?" Mark asked. Surely not where to find them in general--they seemed to always be milling about, here and there. "What makes you think the girl did do something to ensure your safety, that she wasn't human?"

Granted, it didn't sound like a Deal to be offered from a normal human little girl, but there was no telling. Besides, maturity was relative; there were plenty of worlds where Sasuke would be considered a "little boy."

It was hard for the vampire to leave his room, perhaps harder than any other morning in this hellhole. It was the second morning waking without the insistent agony of that phantom witch's touch, and so it was easy enough to say that the disheartenment he felt was all his. Upon immediately checking the closet and reassuring himself that everything was in place, he pressed his forehead to the wardrobe door.

Behind him, the second bed was mussed; there was a different scent in the room.

Wonderful.

Tired, nauseous, hungry, and deeply, deeply frustrated, Aidou strode into the cafeteria like he was the most confident creature in the world. Any hint of his characteristic childishness was eclipsed by the grave mien--he had to force himself to stay awake, because he needed to eat, because he needed to check in with a variety of thorns in his side, because he still hadn't found a clue regarding Akatsuki. Carefully surveying the cafeteria, Aidou made for the breakfast line and fetched multiples of everything, what seemed like far too much food to safely balance on one tray.

By the time he was done, he'd put today's task into order in his mind as well. And with that, he approached Uchiha Sasuke and the unknown he was sitting with, at ease with bluntly interrupting. Aidou didn't fail to note the irony of walking in on a conversation involving creatures that looked human, but were not. "Uchiha," he started, dropping his tray at the table and sitting down. "I have a proposition for you when we can speak alone, later today." Mark's presence was unfortunate, but obviously he wasn't dwelling on it. "So, have anything recent to share?"

Put that way, Sasuke supposed it sounded more than a little questionable, but he wasn't much with words and there was no way to really describe the sheer creepiness of the little girl. That, and at the time he'd been much more concerned with simply finding a weapon and breaking out than the formation of alliances.

"She just wanted to know where she could find the most," Sasuke said. "I assume she wanted to attack them."

He was about to try to wrestle together an explanation for how he'd decided that she wasn't human when a familiar voice cut into the conversation. Aidou. Sasuke felt a quick flicker of relief -- though he had to wonder who that body was, then -- that he shut down and nodded briefly at Aidou's words.

"I ran into a blond corpse a few nights ago," he commented casually. Actually, it was more like he'd been run into by a blond corpse. Or fallen-on. "Looks like it wasn't you after all. I've fought a few creatures since then," With quite a bit of help from Aidou's advice, although Sasuke wasn't about to admit that.

Sasuke indicated Mark, whom Aidou had ignored in typical bitchy style, with a nod of his head. "This is Mark. He's an ally and has good information."

Mark was slightly grateful for the interruption as well, since it spared him any duty of making moral judgements about Sasuke's action. Besides, if you were unarmed, wouldn't the better odds be with the crowd anyhow?

Depends on the crowd.

"Hello." Mark commented neutrally to the newcomer, not offering to leave and give them the privacy that the blond man apparently wanted. He'd sat here first, after all. Uchiha and not Sasuke? How odd, but perhaps the older boy was more formal than Sasuke himself. Plate emptied, he eyed the overflowing bounty on Aidou's tray, but didn't comment.

You don't need any more.

Aidou pulled a cinnamon roll into halves, facing Mark. "I'm Aidou Hanabusa. I put a high value on good information." Being a vampire had a multitude of advantages, but it also meant signs of exhaustion or fatigue were absolutely minuscule--vampires did not develop bags under their eyes, thank the gods. Turning his head slightly to regard Sasuke, he continued with, "And that's precisely why I'm here, though I'm going to ignore how utterly insulting that comment was. Visual identification isn't your strongest suit anymore, and I'm still far from helpless."

He ate neatly, a trick of the trade for all nobles, but fairly quickly. He'd need to feed tonight, and thoroughly. His appetite was becoming insatiable again--sweets helped, but couldn't take the place of blood.

"Something was obviously off in the theatrics last night. Anything you noticed yourselves? I'm also particularly interested in the disappearances amongst the prisoners, if there's anything to be said on the subject."

Sasuke resisted the urge to snort and make some variety of disparaging comment at Aidou's reaction. Even the dig at his sight was sort of more amusing than genuinely effective, and Sasuke had to pause to be surprised at that before moving on.

"I'd hoped you weren't so weak as to fall off a balcony," Sasuke said, and found another piece of fruit, munching on it as Aidou continued to speak. He frowned when Aidou spoke of the disappearances -- so it wasn't just Sasuke. "Several of the people I knew seem to have vanished as well.

"We've been talking about the argument between Landel and Doyle," Sasuke said. 'Argument' was one way to put it; it sounded more like a senseless and increasingly immature catfight. "It sounds like Doyle's got access to most of the place, but he's not handing it out, so it can't be assumed that he's genuinely out to help us.

"I didn't get to meet Doyle, but Mark did." Sasuke left space for Mark to interject information if he wanted to do so.

"Yes, I did. Good information seems quite valuable in this place. But with so many patients, it's easy to become buried. Disappearances and deaths alike go scarcely noticed, apart from forlorn notes that never receive a response on the bulletin board." Well, that had been flowery. Perhaps Aidou's delicate way of eating had brought out the Vor blood in him.

"As for Doyle and Landel... Doyle supplied me with some information, but was not entirely forthcoming either. He's obviously been deeply linked with the creation of this place, both the building itself and some of the creatures which inhabit it. At least, a monster cat was with him as his pet. For Landel's part in the production, I don't believe we can trust either side enough to make conclusions. It hardly takes effort to turn on an intercom and pretend to be distressed."

Sasuke's initial response stopped him cold, hand paused midway in reaching for a muffin. A few nights ago, and a blond corpse being dropped off a balcony? All at once, he carried out the motion and began eating again like nothing had happened. Only this time, there was a sharp smile at the corner of his mouth. "Yes, well, it certainly wasn't me, but I admit to having a hand in it. That happened to be my victim. Shame about the surprise it gave you."

The vampire, of course, had heard every word of the intercom announcements all night, but it was painfully obvious that for once something important had been shared by the radio. The one he had decided to forego.

Unforgivable.

"So he came again," said Aidou. Although his focus remained on Akatsuki, that was indeed something vital to consider. Word that he was also toying with the creatures was something new, also. His gaze flicked to Mark, having been somewhat won over by this show of information. Appearance wise, Mark was indistinguishable from any other slovenly human, but if he had a sound mind, then that could be respected. "Let me guess, he wouldn't commit to revealing anything of importance. What was he peddling, small items for favours, riddles in place of common sense answers?"

Sasuke blinked when Aidou admitted to having helped kill whoever it was. And 'victim': did he mean that in the sense that he'd taken blood from the person, or was it just a turn of phrase?

"It fell on me," he said a little irritably, annoyed at the suggestion that he might have been caught off-guard otherwise, and then frowned again. It was true that he'd noticed that Aidou had no problems with keeping vendettas, but still -- "You've killed another patient?"

He left the other question for Mark, since he was the one who'd met Doyle. Frankly, Sasuke also wanted to know if the man on the radio made any more sense in person.

This was the first time he'd heard of in-killing directly, although he'd read about it a bit on the boards and it matched his theories. The idea that this Aidou had killed more than once wasn't particularly palatable, but Mark could only be a moral critic to a certain degree when he'd spent the first part of the last night trying to pick a fight in order to work out some misplaced aggression. Lucky he hadn't, considering John didn't have the key on his body.

"Yes, Doyle spoke in his own circular fashion. But he did deliver some solid information along with some small objects, as you say." The urge to mention the pornography just to see the way Aidou would react was strong, but resisted. "Most notably, he mentioned some things about his own ability to travel within these walls... cryptic, but interesting... and gave me a map." There were plenty of maps floating around, full maps of downstairs and nearly-full maps of upstairs. Perhaps a few 'full' ones with the exception of locked doors. But the downstairs was easy to navigate and the upstairs was filled with locked doors.

Mark folded his hands, since he'd finished eating, and looked between Aidou and Sasuke.

"It wasn't a patient," said the noble, voice even but iron-hard. He flicked crumbs away. "I suppose I should elaborate: it did look like me, but it was merely one of those creatures that mimics appearance. So I killed it and disposed of the body. End of story."

Aidou didn't refute the idea that he'd been killing the real, true prisoners, because although he hadn't yet, he was certainly inclined. It all came down to how badly his dignity was slighted. As for Alec Doyle or whatever his alias was, Aidou didn't believe in accepting help from melodramatic, annoying outside sources--as far as he was concerned, the man on the radio only just barely differentiated himself from Landel, and certainly didn't warrant any kind feelings from the vampire.

The enemy of their enemy was just another person who deserved to die.

The cafeteria was, at best, turning into a circus already--people screaming, brawling, and as Aidou noted sourly, the little ex-human scum seemingly reuniting with someone from his own home. New prisoners were easy to spot. Putting a pause on his own breakfast, Aidou turned on Mark again, a sigh caught in his throat. And to think of the sight the three of them made, sitting together. It was almost laughable. "What kind of map did he give you? If you're interested in comparing, I have the most updated versions from the Arts and Crafts people."

A creature that mimicked appearance -- huh, that was news to Sasuke. And Aidou spoke as if there had been quite a few reports of these things, so it seemed as if they were common enough monsters. As far as disposing of it off a balcony went, that was a little less common, but probably something that could be expected from Aidou.

The terse way Aidou ended the story was fine with Sasuke; he'd gotten what he needed to know.

"So if Doyle can travel freely and knows the layout of the place, he presumably knows what is contained in each room or area," Sasuke commented, forgetting the second half of his breakfast in favour of one of the most successful conversations he'd had in a while. "And he's handing out keys, we can probably assume that the locked doors he's not letting us into contain things he might not want us to see."

As for what those were, though ... more experiments? Monsters? Whatever they'd used to capture all of the patients? (What they'd taken from the patients?)

And if there was information Doyle was withholding for some reason, there was a possibility that the his rivalry with the Head Doctor could be useful to the patients.

Ah, one of the mimics. That was rather different, assuming the story was true. Mark had to wonder how he would handle walking down a dark hallway and meeting himself--either he'd reaffirm his mental stability and give himself a firm pat on the back, or have some sort of breakdown, but either way he'd certainly wind up with a Mark-shaped corpse as a remnant of the fight. Whether it was his corpse or the mimics'. Although, didn't they usually appear as persons one cared for..?

He smiled at Aidou's suggestion of map comparisons, although he didn't bother trying to appear friendly in that smile. "That's all right, thank you, I believe I'll pass. I'm satisfied with what I have at the moment." Sasuke's questions were more to the point. Though, "Keys have been found on the bodies of killed nurses as well. That would indicate to me that both sides are playing us towards opening doors if we can. The doors which he does not want us to open may be less obvious than simple locks. For example, the basement which everyone is so enthused over was apparently an unnoticed entrance until he began pointing it out. There may be other examples of doors hidden away for some reason, until they've prepared a set of games for us to play there as well."

Keys for the locked doors, eh. How ludicrous the thought still was to Aidou, someone who'd hardly ever come across something he couldn't overpower, out manoeuvre, or simply scare away with a glance.

Aidou was definitely zoning out at this point; nothing either of them said was terribly surprising to him, not even the pigmy's reluctance to part with knowledge. For a creature with a genius IQ, none of the points hadn't been thought of at one time or another, and verbal hypothesizing was normally something only done with other intelligent members of his race. The fact that keys came from the nurses (allegedly) was about the only thing that tugged at his attention. A vampire's ego was a magnificent thing to behold.

Reaching out for Sasuke's tray without preamble, the noble silently stole a helping of the boy's breakfast, bright blue eyes almost absently gauging Sasuke's face for a reaction. Had he gotten any better?

"On a different note, have either of you been to the 'kennel'?"

"The monsters behind the doors I've broken down have so far mostly been defeatable," Sasuke noted. "With the exception of the humanoid ones, I mean. By handing us more doors and, potentially, opponents, it's basically as if they're training us. That only supports the theory that they're preparing to use us for something."

The humanoid ones had all -- with the exception of the girl he'd met the first night -- been defending something as well, Sasuke recalled. Even that girl had been blocking the way to something. Still, all of it was uncomfortably reminiscent of a particularly nasty training exercise.

There was a whisper of air on Sasuke's other side that was closer than it should have been and Sasuke glanced sharply in Aidou's direction, tensing. He wouldn't put it past Aidou to do something dumb -- the first time they'd met, the vampire had attacked someone -- but Sasuke hadn't provoked him much ...

"I haven't," he said, still a little suspicious despite the fact that he hadn't felt anything land. "What sort of place is it?"

Mark watched Aidou take from Sasuke's plate and Sasuke's glance without comment. It wasn't his place to defend Sasuke's food, and it seemed Sasuke's senses were still sharp enough. Sharper than one might expect. It was good to know.

Training, perhaps. Weeding down, perhaps. Mark hadn't bothered asking the radio man about any of those questions; he knew they wouldn't be answered, or would be answered in riddles. Without more information, it was still guessing.

Even the door he wanted to enter was a gift from one of those two men who ruled their fates here. Something important to keep in mind.

"I don't know what you mean," Mark answered honestly to Aidou's question.

Eating the spoils made the most logical sense, and that's exactly what Aidou did. Then, flicking his fingers clean once again, he pointed his index finger and began to slowly move right back into Sasuke's personal space, aiming for his cheek.

He shot a glance at Mark, one that clearly said 'watch, but don't interfere.'

"If you have a map, why don't you know about it?" Aidou questioned, bringing his other hand up to cup his cheek. "There are a multitude of cages that all reek of abomination, let's put it that way." Literally, with a sense of smell like his, though they could take that how they wanted. "Doubles as an experimental lab, too." Leaving it vague seemed best.

A lifetime of training to know everything he could about how to use his body as a weapon meant that Sasuke had to know its status and location at any given time, and that coupled with his natural disinclination for touch meant that he was finely tuned to the presence of other people. Mostly because he hated it.

Just a few days of being blind had only made the irritating prickle of someone in Sasuke's space even more annoying -- Aidou's first move had made already Sasuke suspicious. The second faint movement of air came even closer and Sasuke reacted before he could think about it, left arm snapping up to defend against even the potential of an attack.

So maybe a blind Sasuke was also a paranoid Sasuke, but the defence collided with what was definitely Aidou's arm, and Sasuke directed a vehement glare in Aidou's direction. Whether it was an intended attack or not, there had been a deliberate movement towards Sasuke's face, and that was not something necessary outside of combat. (Unless it was River, but Aidou was weird, not completely unbalanced.)

"The hell?" He demanded, voice flatly annoyed. Kakashi testing Sasuke was one thing -- the man had a right and likely moved more subtly than Aidou any day -- but Aidou being a brat and interrupting a useful conversation was another.

Mark had rolled his eyes at Aidou's look. Had he interfered before? When it became clear that the young man meant the animal testing area by the kennels, Mark decided not to bother commenting, because watching Sasuke's reaction to Aidou's invasion of privacy was more entertaining.

Would serve the little prick right if Sasuke at least bruised him a little. Even Mark knew there were limits to insufferability. "Hmm." He couldn't help the amused noise, even though it wasn't quite a laugh.

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