damned_institute | Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

Entry tags:

Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

Sylar's gears were still turning as the nurse and a burly orderly escorted him down long halls and through a strange, sunlit room. He'd been forced to drop his pen when the orderly had seen it, and since then, he'd realized that this place had better security than he'd originally anticipated, as well as a large population of patients. It looked like he'd have to bide his time for now, pretending to be this 'Zachary Blaine' and trying to figure out how the hell he'd gotten here.

His mind went over and over the events in Mohinder's lab, tracing every second that led up to his unconsciousness. According to the computer logs and the decked-out loft, Mohinder was working for the Company now, so had that woman with the electricity been an operative? Was this all a Company front? Even so, it didn't make sense for them to drop him off somewhere without any close supervision. They knew how dangerous he was. How special he was.

But right now, his abilities had been nullified and he was left only with the option of playing along. It was a very good thing that it was something he excelled at, even with his sudden loss of the cure clouding his thoughts and telling him to do something drastic.

Still, it was fun to take ahold of strings and let someone think they were pulling him when in fact he was the puppetmaster. Who knew? Maybe he could find a new toy now that his last one had worn out.

Sylar took his syrup-covered waffle to a table and tried to keep track of both the security and the people flooding in. Soon, he'd find an opening, a weak link he could exploit. It was only a matter of time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The wait for her own introduction didn't bother him in the slightest, though her tone was a bit odd. Had this woman not sprung from his own strange mind, Crane might have thought that she would absolutely fascinating to study. But as it was, he was more perplexed with the name. 'Genetic Lifeform'? 'Disk Operating System'? So she was a walking computer? That might explain the movements, as well as the voice, but...

No, he needed to stop second-guessing everything like that. It would do to be cautious, but analyzing a dream at this stage was pointless, even if it was an incredibly lucid dream. He needed to see if he could find out more, and it never hurt to verify a conclusion.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, GLaDOS," Crane said after a moment. "If you don't mind my asking...does this mean you're a computer of some sort?"

"That would be an understatement." GLaDOS ignored him for a moment to finish off her plate of food, then wiped her face with the napkin again. "As my full name states, I am an operating system all of my own. I was wired into the Aperture Science Laboratory and controlled all aspects of it: security, electricity, and subject observation being the foremost among my duties." So long as she was able to maintain the power lines, she could keep everything else running smoothly.

Including the development and dispersion of neurotoxins.

"My main objective was to ensure the safety of the test subjects as they progressed through a variety of test chambers while using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device." Of course, she had long since stopped completely ensuring their safety. It was much more fun to watch them struggle to get to safety and fail. She had always offered at least one path that didn't end in failure, after all.

Interesting. And all this from a fairly normal-looking woman with jerky movements. Crane was impressed; or rather, he would have been. "Fascinating," he replied. "I'm certain you were excellent at what you did." If she was a operating system, she would have to have been.

The former doctor paused for a moment, reflecting on what he'd just heard. He was interested in this Handheld Portal Device, but another thought had entered his head. It couldn't hurt to try and find out if something was going to happen in this dream.

At least Crane knew that his imagination was still active. "Is this, by chance, one of the tests that you oversaw?"

"No."

She stared hard at Crane, her gaze like a laser. This place was not an Aperture Science Laboratory. She was not in her proper, computerized form. There were no psychological tests to this level at Aperture Science; they dealt solely with the development of weapons.

"The tests I oversaw involved the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device and its uses in escaping otherwise impossible situations as well as attaining goals that would be impossible without the device. This is a dual-dimensional mental hospital, which may be the work of Black Mesa, but even that is highly unlikely." GLaDOS's voice fluctuated on the last two words almost mechanically. "I assume you are a new patient if you are not already aware of this."

"I see." He returned her stare, even though it was starting to creep him out. He'd rather have avoided thinking the obvious, but there was something very inhuman about her. Which made sense, since she was a computer.

Neither company name sounded familiar to him, but Crane was overlooking that and focusing more on the part about the hospital itself. He'd understood as much about it being a mental hospital. It was hard to avoid understanding that much when the nurse herself had said so, but since it was a dream, anything could really happen here. It wasn't one of these tests that GLaDOS had mentioned, but he didn't know what exactly else it could be. While he would also have rather dreamed up a normal hospital, he didn't really want anything to catch him off-guard. Perhaps this computer-woman could tell him more.

"Dual-dimensioned?" he echoed after a moment. "Yes, you could say I'm new here. How is this place dual-dimensioned?"

"During the day, we are presented with this facade." GLaDOS didn't bother to point out the room; he could glean that information for himself, and if he couldn't, he wasn't worth her time. "As soon as we are put away to sleep for the night, the doors unlock and we are granted full access to all the floors of the hospital. At the same time, the Head Doctor taunts us over the intercom, a voice aids us over the radio, and monsters flood the halls to kill or maim anything they run across." She paused, having nearly run out of breath. Her lung capacity was not at its maximum. "Most are mortal; some are not. Those that aren't typically protect key rooms or items. Our own mortality is frank during the night, and anyone who believes they are powerful enough to walk through without harm is almost certain to be killed."

... she still had another plate of food. GLaDOS detached herself from the conversation and went back to eating.

What? was the only word that came to Crane's mind at first. "...I see," he said after a moment, then turned back to his food while he thought over what she'd said.

He could see the day's 'facade' clearly by himself, but at night? Even in a dream, the former doctor had no wish to die, and he had none of his gas. Not that it would have done him any good against monsters, when he didn't know what kinds and what their cerebral makeup was. Crane knew he wasn't the burliest person in the world, and even though he could put up a fight if he needed to, he'd certainly need to proceed with caution.

...This was turning out to be a horribly lucid dream.

And yet some small part at the back of his mind kept wondering at why they would be let out at night to begin with, if it was so dangerous. She'd said the doctor taunted them, so it had to have been an experiment or test of some sort. Crane wasn't fond of the idea of being a lab rat, but if it meant getting more in touch with his own psyche...well, perhaps he could deal with it. Perhaps.

Finally, Crane looked back up from his food and gave the computer-woman a small smile. "Thank you for being so helpful, GLaDOS." He wanted to ask her for more information on the monsters, but he'd asked enough of her thus far without revealing any information about himself. It was best to stop there before he had to.

His smile was unusual. Unless he was used to this kind of situation - and he very well could be - he wouldn't be reacting so calmly to the realization that he was trapped in a mental hospital that inverted itself at night.

"Perhaps I failed to inform you," she said between bites of breakfast, "but there is no way out of here. And if there is, it hasn't been found yet." No, there were no broken panels here, no balconies or hidden staircases that lead to the gritty insides of the building. What they saw was what they got. There was the basement, yes, but it was supposed to be found.

She was sure they would all know when someone got somewhere they should never have touched.

She had failed to inform him of that, but it wasn't bothering the former doctor terribly. Even if no one had found a way out yet, Crane was fairly certain that he had an escape method. After all, in a dream there was always the luck of waking up if you thought you were trapped or about to die.

He chuckled softly. "There isn't? But all we have to do is wake up, correct?" he asked, before taking another bite out of his food.

As soon as she had finished her second plate of food, GLaDOS gave Crane another hard stare.

He thought this was a dream. GLaDOS could never have a sudden existential crisis where she wondered if she was real or fake; she was so sure of her existence that the only way to upset it was to hack into her central programming and change that. As such, the idea that someone else believed this was all just his dream was almost irritating.

She held out one hand, fork gripped tightly in the other.

"Give me your hand."

Something had changed after he'd said that, but Crane wasn't quite sure what it was. He'd worked around other people enough to get an idea of when things might turn dangerous, especially when he was in a mental institution. The stare that he was getting wasn't helping it, either.

Crane began to reach out, but pulled his hand back after a moment, eying the fork. "What for?" He'd seen what certain crazies were capable of with simpler items. A person asking for his hand, while holding a fork, worried him slightly.

"I want to test a theory." On the fractional chance that he was right and this was all a dream, lucid and even applicable to computers, this might wake her up as well. She noticed that he was staring at the fork suspiciously, an in order to alleviate suspicions, she loosened her grip, even going so far to make it look like she was going to set it down on the plate.

And waited, hand still extended.

It looked like she was putting down the fork, at least. Maybe this theory of hers had something to do with dreams, but Crane was still a little suspicious. And then again, it was for a theory. She hadn't specified what the theory was, but...he'd wake up and go to work as usual, anyway, so what could it hurt?

After another moment's hesitation, he nodded and gave her his hand. "Very well."

The second his hand met hers, GLaDOS's grip closed like a vice over his wrist. Her other hand gripped the fork tight again, then brought it up.

And without any hesitation, brought it back down, the tines slamming into Crane's hand.

There was blood, but she was still a human. She hadn't returned to her proper form.

"Can you feel pain in dreams?" she asked, refusing to let go of his hand.

Looks like he had an answer: it hurt a whole lot. He had had his suspicions, but he just couldn't contain his curiosity, could he? Crane cried out in a mixture of shock and pain and tried to jerk his hand back, but GLaDOS held onto it tightly.

"Apparently," Crane replied, gritting his teeth and stuffing napkins around the fork in his hand. Even as he said that, though, he did start to wonder. They could feel fear in dreams, certainly, and it was possible that a person could feel pain, but to this degree? Even in that nightmare before this portion of the dream, there had been the taser that had left the little scar on his face. Not to mention he wasn't waking up like he thought he had the last time.

But now wasn't the time to be worrying about that, regardless of the woman's question. He had a more immediate worry of how much blood the napkins would hold, and whether or not any nerves had been severed.

Her grip tightened on his wrist momentarily before she jerked the fork back out and released him. He was still quite convinced he was in a dream.

"Lucidity can only go so far. This is not a dream. Many people here would be insulted to hear you say they are just part of your selfish subconscious." She eyed the blood on the end of the fork. "You are real. I am real. The monsters you will see will be real. The pain is real. The bloodshed is real. Learn this quickly, or you'll die of carelessness."

Carefully, GLaDOS set down the fork. It made her a little happier to see someone suffering because of her.

Even though there were so many other patients to keep track of, the nurses had sharp eyes (and there were quite a lot of them), so this attack was noticed almost immediately.

All things considered, the assault wasn't as severe as some other fights patients had tendencies to get into, so a nurse headed over on her own, posture straight and expression stern.

"Now, Ms. Lancaster, you should know by now that you can't treat your fellow patients like that," she warned. She had pulled it out, at least, so hopefully it would stop there.

Crane was trying to think up a good response, but concentrating on stopping the bleeding was taking his attention away from what she was saying. Thankfully, though, he didn't have to worry about it before one of the nurses showed up. He had never placed much on their ability to help the patients as well as doctors could, but he was surprisingly glad to see this one.

The former doctor was even tempted to play up the injury to more severe than it was, in hopes that something would happen to GLaDOS as punishment and a way to get back at her for it; but on the other hand, she had been helpful in some twisted sense of the word. Finally, Crane decided to just grit his teeth, remain silent, and see how she reacted. He glanced down at his hand, and continued to try to nurse his wound while he listened.

GLaDOS gave the nurse a flat look, clutching the edges of her tray stiffly.

"I was testing a theory," she repeated. "My theory was incorrect. If I am going to repeat those actions, I would do so under altered circumstances. I do not repeat anything unnecessarily."

She looked back at Crane, her eyes still emotionless but with a strange smile curling on her face.

"Unless the subject has proven themselves particularly durable."

While the nurse could hardly follow what the woman was saying, she could at least figure that she wasn't planning to do that again. She reached forward to take the fork, just in case, and then sent a smile at the male patient. What a terrible thing to happen to him when he was brand new!

"I'm very sorry about this, Mr. Finch. The shift is about to end, so how about you come with me so I can wrap your hand up before taking you to the Sun Room, hmm?"

There was a lot of blood, but hopefully the wound wouldn't bother him too much with proper care given to it. It was the least she could offer for the poor thing.

Crane gave the nurse a small smile in response, pointedly avoiding GLaDOS's look. He had no idea what 'particularly durable' was supposed to mean, but he did know that he would rather keep the use of at least one of his hands for the time being. Hopefully the wound he did have looked worse than it was.

At least the nurse took her fork away. "That might be best," he said after a moment, getting up to follow her out of the cafeteria.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 32: Cafeteria, Breakfast

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject