damned_institute | 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]

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He could tell it had taken something inside of him for Hisoka to continue revealing the darkside of Landel's. Even if he tried to shrug it off something had happened to Hisoka.

So they took people from their rooms and performed sick experiments on them. Archer's mind wandered to all the posibilities. He knew from the Matous the horrible things people did to one another, especially to the innocent.

"I see."

People being brain washed was something Archer had also witnessed first hand. It was nothing new to him, but at the same time it stirred some righteous fury inside of him. Inside of him, the child who wanted to be a hero for justice cracked open an eye in awareness.

"It sounds like the Institute enjoys their sick little games. Experimenting with people's bodies and their minds?"

There was work to be done here in Landel's. Regardless of whatever force brought him here, Archer knew his mission. He was going to shut down Landel's for good. It wouldn't be easy though. He was going to need help. Usually he worked alone but if his powers had been reduced there was only so much he could accomplish against such an overwhelming force. Would Hisoka be a possible ally?

"If what you say is true, then someone needs to tear this place down."

Shit, the lofty ideals of that naive, little brat were coming back to haunt him. Despite his fluxuating emotions Archer kept a mask of calm on his face.

Hisoka frowned somewhat. "There's an organization here already that's been trying to do that," he replied simply. "They haven't gotten far, but that's a given."

But they were getting damn far, much farther than Landel would have liked. Or at least Hisoka hoped as much, it would have been nice to make that bastard squirm.

There was already an organized resistance? That was good news, but at the same time he wondered exactly how successful they really were. In the face of such a power what could they hope to accomplish?

"Tell me about them. What do they do for weapons? What about their powers, have they devised any means to counteract our enemies means of dampening our powers?"

This was all vital information that Archer wanted to get out of the way, before asking Hisoka some questions about himself. He seemed to tense up as he spoke of patients being brainwashed. Archer was willing to bet their was a lot more to it.

"The only way to counteract the dampening of the powers is to be brainwashed." And Hisoka would rather die weak and useless, again, than to deal with that. "But they still have what remains of various abilities which they use to their advantage. And there's various places to get weapons here."

"Well, that's a really easy choice. Succumb to the Institute's brainwashing and be used like a puppet. Not too much of a decision."

Archer mirrored Hisoka's feelings. He'd rather die again than become someone's puppet. Although, it could be said his current situation was that of a pawn. Hunting down people and ruthlessly eliminating the threat they posed in order to save the world. It definitely wasn't in the advertisement brochure when he signed up to be a Counter Guardian.

"Where do they get weapons? I can't believe the Institute has them just lying around, or do they set up shop selling them? It doesn't make sense that they would arm patients, but then again the people running the Institute sound like they belong here."

On the other hand, perhaps other people had abilities similar to his own. Because of the magecraft he specialized in it was nearly impossible to truly disarm Archer.

Not too much of a decision, right. Hisoka didn't bother to reply to that, instead the boy merely went on to the next set of questions with a smail shrug.

"Depends. Some are creative and find items lying around, others go to the alchemists so they can have something made." After a small pause the boy rolled his eyes. "If you think they sound insane now, just wait until it gets dark."

The idea that the staff just left weapons lying around for the patients sounded ludicrous, but on the other hand, it reinforced the idea that some overwhelming power was doing this just to mess with them for it's own perverse enjoyment.

"I'd like to get in touch with the alchemists."

Archer was familiar with their practice. After all, the basis of his own powers stemmed from alchemy. Usually, he had absolute confidence in his own abilities, but after Hisoka's comments he felt hesitant. He tried reaching for his mana reserves but even without trying he could feel they were diluted to only a fraction of their original size. With his powers reduced he'd have to consider working with others. Usually he operated alone, but... Oh the joy. I'm already looking forward to it.

"Do you know what they barter for their services in this place?"

Whenever bargaining or negotiating it was always a good idea to have something the other wanted. Otherwise the customer would be left at the complete mercy of the supplier. It was simple economics. In a place like Landel's money was probably useless. Not that he had any.

Archer's eyes were momentarily drawn to the figure at another table, past Hisoka.

"Saber?"

Hisoka shurgged, now wishing he had kept something from his tray. He hadn't eaten since the night before and with all the panic it hadn't done much. If the food he had been given wasn't so horribly sweet...

"You can find them through the bulletin board." Beyond that, Hisoka wasn't sure if they would have liked being approached by everyone demanding weapons--maybe that was the reason for their anonymity. The boy shook his head.

"Other people barter, but the alchemists only require the material needed to make whatever weapon you want," Hisoka replied, instinctively thinking back to the pathetic amount of metal he had managed to get. That wasn't going to be nearly enough. The other man's exclamation of surprise quickly drew the boy from his thoughts and he raised a brow, turning in his seat to see what Archer was talking about.

Day 30: Cafeteria, Breakfast

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