damned_institute | Day 32: Intercom, Evening

The intercom clicked on and the Head Doctor spoke with his usual fervor.

"Good evening, patients and staff! I am pleased to announce that the arrival of nearly all of our new patients will conclude this shift. In addition, we have a very delicious dinner in store for you: carved Turkey with a side of mashed potatoes and steamed, seasoned vegetables. For drinks, we have our usual assortment available, and as a dessert included with your dinner, we will be serving a slice of warm apple pie with each meal.

"I trust that those of you enjoying the company of new roommates will give them a warm Landel's welcome, and I also hope that those of you who participated in therapy today were able to find a productive time with their doctors.

"That's all for now! Enjoy dinner, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off again.

[ Please respond to this post with all dinner shift threads between roommate, putting your character's respective room in the subject line. While we have none scheduled for this shift at this time: all introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post; the introduction may then continue on to be a regular roommate thread. ]

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Lia looked swiftly up from her meal as the door opened, though the sharp wariness with which she responded faded beneath a more muted curiosity as the blonde woman was ushered through. She offered a polite smile, reserved but not entirely lacking in warmth, and straightened.

"My name is Lia," she replied, forgoing formality for the familiar in an unconscious match to the other woman's demeanor. "I...don't think my story is much different from anyone else's here." It wasn't the truth by a long shot if taken to cover her circumstances in general, but she thought it would fit well enough if applied specifically to her current situation.

"I woke here, uncertain of where here was, and knowing I should very much be somewhere else. It...seems to be a common theme. At least, no one seems willing to admit they belong." Lia frowned thoughtfully, studying the other girl for a moment. "Have you been here long? You seem more...comfortable than some."

"I just woke up here this morning," Elle said, rocking her chair back a little. Maybe she was used to it after living in the facility most of her life, but she should probably keep that information to herself. For now at least, until she figured out what this woman knew.

"It's so weird, everyone I've talked to today seems to have some kind of superpower." She kept her voice light and casual. "Do you? I mean, do you think that's what they're doing here: collecting people with powers?" By Elle's tone of voice, it would be easy to think she'd never heard of such a thing. Best to keep Daddy's job a secret.

Lia looked momentarily startled, but she nodded, smiling a touch ruefully. "I suppose I assumed anyone not near panic would have to be an old hand at this. My apologies."

She frowned slightly, brow furrowing and head cocking as she considered the question. "Superpower?" she repeated, as though the concept, if not alien, was also not entirely familiar. "No, there are those with power far beyond mine. Though from a certain perspective..." Her eyes lit with realization. That might explain it, too; if the other girl had no inborn power of her own, she would at least not be fighting the internal discord that came with having it stripped or crippled.

"I've heard another venture the same theory. That they're collecting people with powerful abilities, for some reason they've yet to disclose."

Cagey. Definitely hiding something. Geez, you'd think people wouldn't be so uptight about sharing the fact that they had awesome powers and were way cooler than normal people!

Elle smiled cheerfully. "I hardly think anyone would consider me powerful," she lied easily. "So I guess there's a hole in our theory. But who knows, maybe they messed up and grabbed me by accident."

God, she was hungry. She hadn't had much to eat at breakfast or lunch. There had been... distractions. The Haitian pills might be ground up into the potatoes, so Elle carefully picked around those, and took a bite of turkey. It didn't taste too bad.

"How does this power-limiting thing work, anyway?" she asked. "My dad uses a special kind of medication to dampen people's abilities, when they're dangerous, but people here don't seem to know anything about that. Do you think there's a person here who has the power to take others' abilities away?"

If it turned out the Haitian was behind this, he was so totally dead.

"Perhaps it's a matter of perspective?" Lia suggested. "As I said, I'm not as powerful as others, myself. Certainly nowhere near as powerful as the other members of the Blood I've met here..."

Black and Ebon-gray. It was a testament to the power of these people that they'd been able to hold the two. Or to the power of whatever they were using to limit those they kept. She shivered a little at the thought, free hand rising to chafe at her opposite arm as though to force in warmth.

Her gaze snapped up, eyes sharpening as they focused on Elle. "He does? That..." She bit the inside of her cheek and shook her head. "I think if they were using drugs or poison to limit us here, they would be very careful to ensure that we never found out. It would be all too easy to avoid it, otherwise."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Elle agreed, sighing. Still, better to be careful.

"But how long has this place been around? I mean someone must have found a way to use their powers by now. And a couple of the people here are very powerful." At least Sylar was powerless now. Otherwise they'd all be in trouble.

Or maybe... the virus? They had, apparently, taken Sylar's cure, although how he'd gotten sick she didn't know. The virus took the abilities away. But that would kill them, not just leave them powerless.

"It can't be recent. Not given how well set up they are," Lia replied, voice gone quiet and thoughtful. "But of the people I've encountered, I don't believe there have been any here longer than two weeks. I don't know if that's the typical duration..."

If it was, it raised several questions. One of the foremost being: where were any of the patients who had been there previous to that? Lia's expression darkened as the most obvious answer offered itself, all unwanted.

"I've not heard yet of anyone being able to slip the shackles. But...a man of my acquaintance did mention that they were able to temporarily return the full use of his abilities, albeit at a cost. Which means either the method they use to hamper us is selective, or there's something that can counteract it."

"Cost? What cost?" Elle inquired innocently. Even if there was a cost, it might be worth it to take Sylar down.

The fact someone had managed to regain their powers - if only briefly, by the sound of it - suggested that it was a person limiting the abilities, rather than meds or the virus. If it was a person, Elle would kind of like to meet him - whether he was the Haitian, or someone new. She'd have a fun time playing with him. Unless she decided to kill him straightaway.

Day 32: Intercom, Evening

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