damned_institute | Day 32: Sun Room (4th Shift)

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Day 32: Sun Room (4th Shift)

It was rare that Homura's nurse try to persuade him to a scheduled activity, but then, it was rare that Homura didn't go. But the demi-god had plans, and the poor woman had little other choice but to leave in a huff as he once again settled himself near the bulletin board in the Sun Room.

His conversation with Kenren the previous shift had left the demi-god with a lingering sense of anxiety. Perhaps it was something only those from his own world could do, but none the less, he was all the more ready for night to begin now. Goals and memories, the truth of his past and the possibility of the future: all thoughts lingering on the forefront of his mind, more than enough motivation to move forward.

Impatience was something of a rush for an immortal, he'd discovered. Homura liked the feeling, the excitement even before he had arrived in this prison. And now while he waited, he savored it again, a yearning that shone so much brighter than the boredom of Heaven.

[Waiting for History Club Q&A time.]

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Though he would never admit it, checking up with Fullmetal had been relieving. While he knew that he hardly had to worry about Edward, it was an inclination he couldn't kick so easily. Ed was still a child, after all, and there were certain things he probably still wasn't mentally prepared for. And this institute had a tendency to be mentally taxing, sometimes even more than physically so.

In any case, he now had yet another appointment set up, though this time he was going to have to wait for whoever it was to find him. Roy figured that sticking around in the Sun Room would be his best bet, seeing how all the patients would have to pass through it to get to the Music Room, anyway. He didn't mind the Music Room, necessarily, but sometimes it was difficult to focus on a conversation with all the extra noise (other than other patients' talking, which they were all used to blocking out by now).

He found an empty couch and sat down, making sure to watch the other migrating patients in hopes of picking out whoever was looking for him.

_{[BAW mun fails for forgetting this. D:]}

The conversation over lunch had left the doll thinking--not so much about Landel's Institute and practical information like that, but Daemon Sadi himself and the terms of the relationship Ren had seemingly built with the other man. It was normal (debatably) for someone to worry over a girl like Ojou, since she looked like a tiny little girl that needed a certain amount of care, but Daemon appeared to be the type of person who offered a more genuine protection than most.

Nice that he worried about him and Ojou so much, however... Ren didn't know precisely what he hesitated over. Most likely it was probably experience that told him friendships would wind up causing some trouble down the road.

It wasn't something that worried him so much that he couldn't put it aside for another time. He'd only been in the "music room" once before, but he headed for the Sun Room alongside his nurse--grabbing one elbow behind his head and stretching out his back--with the intent to stay. The guy named Roy Mustang had agreed to meet with him, after all, and keeping an eye on folks was kind of Ren's specialty: he kept in mind the physical description he'd picked up here and there.

"Hi," started Ren, approaching the older man where he sat. The doll was relatively sure he'd found the right guy and didn't bother to hide that assumption. Dipping his head a little in greeting, he said, "I'm sorry I'm a little late. I'm Ichimoto Ren, the one who wanted to meet with you."

While Roy didn't have to wait too long, he couldn't help thinking that whoever it was might have forgotten or just couldn't find him, which would have resulted in a waste of time.

However, it all worked out in the end. Roy didn't know that he stood out that much compared to some of the other patients here, but somehow people were usually able to find him regardless of that.

"Yes, I was waiting for you," he said politely, gesturing to the empty space on the couch. Luckily the furniture was big enough that two relative strangers could sit on it with minimal awkwardness. "What did you want to discuss with me?" He could only assume the man had an interest in the Cooking Club, considering the bulletin post he had responded to.

The doll took a seat, comfortable just about anywhere, so long as there were no other guys trying to hang off of him. One of the more distracting obstacles when he was trying to deal with an investigation.

“Thanks,” he said perfunctorily, then cut straight to the reason for meeting. Ren felt it wasn’t a time to be waffling around with small talk, all things considered. “I’m interested in getting to know the Cooking Club--I don’t know much about it, and I know there are risks involved with passing information along the bulletin board. I figured it’d be better to talk in person.”

This particular group was probably the least well known out of all three, and perhaps not as aggressive as Homura’s group seemed to be.

As he had expected -- this should be easy enough, then, and a nice way to end off his day. It had been relatively productive, though he still didn't know what he was going to be doing in the coming night. Since Jade had never gotten in contact with him, Roy thought he might forgo staying in his room this time around. It would be best if he could hold a balance between nights he spent in and nights he went out.

"Sounds good. What would you like to know about it, exactly?" It should be simple enough for him to give the full explanation by this point, but he wanted to be sure that the man didn't have any specific questions first.

“I haven’t gotten to know all three well enough yet, but the History Club seems to set itself apart from both of the others. I’m guessing you must have different motives, or at least a reason, for not being a part of the Arts and Crafts group as well?”

From what he’d seen so far, the Arts and Crafts group appeared to be more well-rounded than Homura’s group in what their aims were and who they considered unofficial members, but that assumption was based off what the servant had gleaned from secondary sources like the bulletin board. And that had shown that the Cooking Club was definitely involved in making a lot of the weapons, though he couldn’t tell the specifics behind those abilities… and he didn‘t get the feeling the Cooking Club was terribly picky about members, either. What, exactly, set those specific groups apart was the most vague question to him at that point.

"Yes, I would say that I don't know as much about the History Club or its leader, but Hitsugaya and I do what we can to keep in touch. We are more or less working toward the same goals, but I believe that both of us started these groups off with our close companions working under us, and it just grew from there. We try to have different assignments to give the group members to avoid overlap."

Despite the fact that they were supposed to be working together, though, Roy couldn't help but feel competitive sometimes. He knew better than to act on such feelings, but he did have to admit that he felt like it was a small victory when one more patient expressed interesting in the Cooking Club rather than Arts and Crafts. He imagined some of it was a matter of Arts and Crafts getting too large for one person to effectively run, and it did make more sense if the two groups came to more of a balance.

“Hitsugaya-san’s group does seem to be a bit bigger,” Ren agreed. And with more unofficial leaders, he supposed. “Are there many differences between the groups? Like, what kind of assignments are given out, or how much value is put on offence?”

Ojou had expressed interest in these ragtag organizations, probably because of how Ren had spoken of them, but he couldn’t imagine her wishing to cooperate with a group that was as… fighter-oriented as Homura’s.

“I’m also pretty curious about how you guys are making weapons, but if that’s not open information…”

"I don't know very much about the History Club, but Arts and Crafts focuses on exploring and sending out rescue parties for those who are taken for experiments. My group gathers metal, follows radio clues, and also does exploring. I've been considering sending those who are capable and willing to take out Special Counseling patients, but I'm not sure about that yet."

It wasn't an idea he had forgotten about, though. As dangerous as it might be, it could cause there to be less damage done in the end, and since sometimes the Special Counseling patients had weapons that could be taken and kept, it might just be worth it.

"Oh, I'm the one who makes them, for the most part, though there are a few others who can also do it. It's using a science from my world called alchemy. Apparently some other worlds have forms of it, but it's a specific area of study where I come from."

The part about trying to stand up to the brainwashed prisoners struck the doll as pretty risky, in and of itself, having tried to do so with a group of three once already. That would be something to keep an eye on.

"So that's why a lot of people have been collecting metal," Ren said thoughtfully, touching his chin. "I've heard of alchemy, though not at that level." Even though he'd had his suspicions, it made sense once laid out in front of him: unrefined metal could go into weaponry, even the crappy kind. And when come kind of weapon was sometimes needed just to get from hall to hall at night, Ren had no place frowning on that kind of ability, but just considering the ease and potential those guys must have when not having any powers repressed was...

He shook his head a bit, clearing his thoughts and considering another question. "Does your group have a lot of returning volunteers?"

Ren's response in regards to the alchemy was a common one, and it made Roy wonder why it had developed so much in Amestris while it remained more primitive and hardly believable in the worlds of most of the people he encountered here.

Then again, with so many different worlds, it was to be expected that they would develop in varying ways just due to chance. Still, it was interesting to think about.

At the next question, Roy paused before giving a small nod. "Not a lot, but there a few loyal members, though it's to be expected that sometimes they need to take a night off for their own purposes." Speaking of which, he hadn't heard from Hughes all day. Roy knew better than to get too worried, though - he and Hughes were some of the people who had lasted the longest in this place, so he didn't see why his friend would disappear all of a sudden.

Ren nodded too. So there was a good chance the Cooking Club had more comers-and-goers than the Arts and Crafts, who seemed to retain the same basic leadership structure. He couldn’t say that all three groups worked utterly smoothly, just from a bit of experience and foresight, but it wasn’t worth criticizing a game plan that could generally be more productive than the same number of people working solo.

“I think I’ve got the basics. Thanks for talking with me.” Especially later in the day, when everyone was counting down the few short hours until sunset and making plans. And although he had an interest in getting to know the specifics of the impromptu organizations growing in the prisoner population, the servant never forgot the broad picture. It was why he continued by adding, “Looks like a fair number of people have gotten down to the basement already, but I’ve got a good map of the first few areas if you need it--it got passed on to Abarai Renji in Arts and Crafts. I’ve got a knack for mapping places out, locked doors or not, so I can lend a hand for that stuff if there‘re still unexplored areas.”

Generally speaking, Ren thought was in everyone’s best interests to make use of what helpful abilities could make things easier and simpler, and he didn’t have much of a problem lending himself out to anyone who needed him. And even with his second sight, there were still a lot of places that refused to let him through, so he didn’t think of it as the best asset. Every little bit helped, though. No harm in passing it along.

While it sounded like there were already some maps circling around, Roy had never gotten his hands on one for one reason or another. While he wasn't entirely sure what Ren was implying, it sounded to him like he might have more information than some of the others who were offering up copies of maps.

"That would be a big help," he replied with a small smile. "I've never gotten around to getting myself a copy, and it sounds as if you're well-informed. I've done a good amount of exploring myself, but I'll admit that I don't know where all the doors lead." He doubted that anyone did, really.

"So, do you not ally yourself with any group in particular, then?" Roy wasn't sure if Ren had just been looking for information for the sake of it, or if he was actually interested in joining. It sounded like he would prefer to just provide information without actually volunteering, though Roy had to wonder why he would be so generous. Then again, some people were just like that.

"Sure, I can drop copies off sometime--probably not today, but tonight or tomorrow if you’ve got a preference," replied Ren, thinking that with a little time he could put together the different second floor maps floating around, adding in any blank spots he could fix.

And with any luck, there wouldn’t be any fatalities between now and then, either.

He cocked his head, demeanour clearly saying he didn’t mean any offense to Roy or his group regarding his answer about alliances. "I’d prefer working with everyone on the same level, but sometimes it’s hard for bodies of people not to get secretive or suspicious with each other," the servant confessed. Having seen the ugliest side of humanity, Ren could still say he was pretty realistic about how people could get under pressure. Although he wasn’t big on the idea of explaining exactly who or what he was, at least not as openly as some of the others, Ren wanted to help more than he would have had this been home.

"I’d rather stay out of it and try to help where I can."

"I'll be staying in my room and working on some things tonight, so you could drop it off then if that's enough time to get it all in order. My room number's M1... I think I've seen you around that hallway, so hopefully it's not too far for you." It was odd how he would see different patients around and then ended up meeting them for some reason or another. It was even stranger to think that there were a good amount of patients that he would never meet, mainly because they would be gone before a reason for them to talk ever presented itself.

While Roy didn't think there was much bad blood between the groups (though he knew very little about the History Club's opinion), he could understand why someone might want to stay neutral and help where they could. He also knew that some people didn't exactly like to be ordered around.

"I do appreciate the help, though I'm not sure what I can do in return." He didn't think Ren had ever asked for a weapon, which was strange enough itself. Maybe he had powers and didn't need one? It was something to think about, at least.

“No, not far at all. I can get them there, no problem.”

He was only at the end of the hall, which made things easier. It shouldn’t take too long to finish that stuff up (dinner was a quiet affair these days), and it wasn’t as though he would be in a rush to meet anyone after that. Ojou hadn’t gotten in contact with him, so Ren figured she was doing her own thing again.

Waving his hand dismissively, the servant smiled. “It’s okay, it’s my pleasure.” He had no need to add his name to the list of people expecting a weapon from these… alchemists, no matter the circumstances. It wasn’t in him to use one, not after being one.

While it was surprising for someone to make such an offer without any sort of price, Roy knew that he had done the same thing himself for quite a few people; he remembered the shocked looks of those he had made weapons for when he'd told them they didn't need to give him anything in return.

Still, it wasn't something he expected from others, and yet he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Instead, he smiled to Ren and nodded. "Thank you very much, then. I promise I'll do my best to make sure those maps go to good use. And if it ever turns out that you do need anything, please let me know."

He'd been lucky to avoid any major trouble so far, not enough that he'd needed to burden others by being unable to take care of himself, and Ren hoped it'd stay that way for a while. A few favours, trades, that sort of thing was normal, but Ren would rather not get into deep beyond that. It wasn't the idea of relying on others that bothered him, just being idle and ineffectual enough that he'd need to.

"That's great. It'd be nice to get them out to the newest prisoners, considering how out of sorts they must be," said Ren. Not to mention that the best scenario would be everyone having an up-to-date copy, though new areas popping up made that hard. He got up, giving a polite bow. "And I will, thanks. I won't keep you, then."

Looked like dinner was coming up on them fast, anyway.

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Day 32: Sun Room (4th Shift)

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