damned_institute | Day 34: Breakfast

Entry tags:

Day 34: Breakfast

[starting off in M13]

The last part of the night was little more than a blur in Homura's mind. The men had rushed in, but not joined them, instead staying off to themselves. Before any of them had a chance to react, however, a voice sounded through the air, mocking some other person Homura had never heard of, and the patients themselves.

To Homura, whoever that man was, he sounded a great deal like a god.

But before he could ask questions, the demi-god found himself no longer in the chapel, but some strange room on a bed. Is that what Kenren had meant from his earlier warning? Homura sat up, glad at least that the world didn't spin when he did so. Then the same man from before began to speak again, with a completely different tone. It was confusing to hear him talk that way, calling them patients instead of prisoners as he had before. Homura listened quietly as the announcement was made, then got out of bed.

Maybe he wouldn't have to go anywhere yet. It wasn't like Homura knew where to go anyway, and that meant he had time. If this was his room, and if he had been here as long as Kenren had said, there was a chance he could find something with answers. The Taisho had even told him that Homura had seen Rinrei. Certainly he would've written something down, made a map, something that could let him find her again! He started with the desk at the end of his bed, first finding a small stack of notebooks. Picking up the first, he flipped through, turning the pages with quickening desperation as he found each one to be blank.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wesker hadn't spoken to her lately, though he had seen her around the institute and was fairly certain she was well. But he didn't have much of a chance to say anything before the topic went to a less comfortable area.

"I always wear sunglasses. I was wearing them on the bus too, if you recall," Wesker wasn't sure if Logan had noticed his glowing eyes then. "I have a bit of an eye condition, the staff here was kind enough to let me keep them."

It certainly was a condition, but nothing problematic, and he probably saw more clearly than any patients that didn't likewise have enhanced sight. Wesker still wasn't sure why he had been allowed to keep his sunglasses, but he felt no desire to actually question a nurse about it.

Having almost entirely finished his breakfast, Logan smiled wryly at the man seated across from him, not missing the fact that Wesker had avoided his question regarding the young blonde. Perhaps he was just being protective. No matter.

He cast his mind back, and did recall the man wearing those glasses on the bus. And thinking about it further, wasn't there something...odd behind them at the time? He hadn't paid it much heed in the heat of the battle, but in hindsight...yes. There was a definite...glow. It reminded him of Remy in some ways. Even now, as he scrutinised the man more closely, he could just barely make it out. Interestin'.

He gave a soft chuckle in response. "Eye condition, yeah righ'. An' I'm tha Pope." His tone was light, good natured, almost conspiratorial. Like they were old buddies talking about a guarded secret. "So, I'm guessin' yer not jus' one o' tha...'normal humans' kickin' 'roun' here? I been findin' more an' more as tha days go by." From his experiences on the bus and just this morning, he doubted he'd get any further insight as to just how 'abnormal' this man was from him, he seemed too curt and secretive, someone who liked to play things close to the chest. Still, it made for amusing conversation.

The comment about being an abnormal human earned an arched eyebrow but nothing more than that. With Leon running around to spread what he believed to be the truth, Wesker felt he might as well say something, since the man didn't seemed bothered by his lack of complete humanity. His ability to heal wasn't common knowledge, but it wasn't a secret, at the same time Wesker wasn't just going to hand out information.

"There are very few people who are normal humans around here. Though I believe many people here are accustomed to hiding their talents," There was a chance that the man he was talking to was himself not a 'normal human' as he put it. If so, finding out was more than worth admitting to the fact that he was unusual.

"My name is Wesker, and yours is?"

Logan smiled again in response to the arched eyebrow. He himself was never particularly secretive about his abilities, had never really bothered, since most of the world's governments were aware of who he was and what he could od by know. The smile cracked into a straight-out grin at the thought of just how badly they'd be panicking once they found out he finally knew what they'd been up to all these years. The smile faded quickly however at the sudden sobering thought that they had already, and that was why he was now here.

He considered Wesker's response thoughtfully. "Yer righ' in tha' observation. I figure they been roundin' up people with...'special talen's' for whatever sick experimen' Landel's got in min'. Makes sense ta me. I seen it before." The jury was still out on precisely what Landel wanted with the patients here, other than to mock them for his own amusement, but Logan was determined to try and piece it all together.

"Pleased ta meetcha." He tried to make it sound as genuine as possible. "Been known by many names over tha years, but mos' people know me as Logan. So...what'choo do? 'Fore comin' here, o' course." The man seemed elusive, like many of the government agents and scientists he'd 'worked' with in the past, and Logan doubted he would get a straight answer. Still, there was no harm in asking, at least from his perspective.

"As have I," Wesker said to the comment of having seen it before. Granted, it hadn't been exactly like this, but the concept was similar. In fact, it was beautifully ironic in a way. Trapped with a bunch of fellow test subjects capable of such incredible things, where those with the powers where the test subjects, rather than the end results.

"Before coming here I did a number of things, though I suppose the most relevant would be my work as a researcher," Wesker really would need to deal with his Leon problem before it got out of hand, thankfully it didn't seem like the false information was spreading, but that could change if he wasn't careful.

Meal now finished, Logan sat back slightly as he eyed the man across from him once more, picking his teeth with his fork again. The curt reply was about as much as he expected, but he could tell there was more going on in this man's head than he let on. Still, it wasn't like he could just outright interrogate the man, nor would he particularly want to. Everyone was entitled to their secrets, after all.

However, he almost, almost outright scoffed at the 'researcher' remark, but managed to hold it in. This guy looked far too buff to be a mere scientist or librarian, and Logan could pick the military type from a country mile away. Besides, after the way Wesker had finished off the orderly on the bus that night, Logan had the impression that this man would be far more comfortable on a battlefield than stuck in a stuffy room full of books or test tubes. But, he would play along. It wasn't as though he couldn't have some fun with the man, of course.

"Researcher, huh? Ya know, fer someone who seems ta wanna keep wha' ya do under wraps, ya ain' very good at it." He smiled warmly. True, most people might believe Wesker's line, but most people couldn't read the 'tells' like Logan could. "Wha'dya research? Exit wounds?" He was almost laughing aloud now, enjoying himself, although in the back of his mind he supposed that wasn't really fair. But hey, if this guy was in the kind of work Logan suspected he was, he'd be trained to deal with this sort of thing, right?

"Well, it's best to have the truth out in the open," Wesker found it interesting that his breakfast companion was so amused by the conversation. He could guess at some of the reasoning behind it, though he was certainly no telepath.

"In this place, it doesn't matter much. I've come to believe I'm not even in the dimension I came from, perhaps for the best... You clearly don't believe me, but it is quite true. Though my research is often interrupted by the need to visit and shut down facilities similar to this one. Who better to stop such things than one such as myself?" Wesker asked rhetorically, though it was possible that Logan was the type that liked to answer such questions.

Logan was still in high spirits, although Wesker's next comment dampened them a little. "Tha truth? In my experience, tha truth is whatever line ya get fed ta'day. Changes like tha weather." He said sagely. One man's truth was another's carefully constructed lie, as far as he was concerned.

"Yeah, we're almos' definitely not in Kansas anymore, Dorathy." He smiled again at his own reference, one which perhaps gave more insight into his age than he'd let on. Damn, thinking back, he'd been in his forties when he'd first seen that movie, not like it had had felt as such at the time, of course. Dismissing this thought, he pondered what his new companion had just said. This guy sounded like a cleaner, and probably a top-secret government one at that. Well, well. Sure soun's familiar.

"Soun's like ya ain' too far removed from wha' I used ta do. Perhaps between tha two o' us n'..." he paused to sweep a casual arm across himself to indicate the rest of the room. "Whoever else here tha' migh' know a thing or two abou' tha' sorta work migh' be able ta sor' this place ou', once n' fer all." He gave a conspiratorial smile and wink, knowing full well that it would be a lot harder than he'd just made it sound.

"The truth is what the truth is, though I find that people rarely are willing to believe or accept it if they find it hard to swallow," Wesker commented. It was interesting, the references to consuming things that accompanied their little discussion on truth.

The reference to Wizard of Oz was a bit odd in a man of Logan's age, though it did perhaps add a time-frame to when he may have been alive. It wasn't something often referenced by adults in the modern day, but back then it was likely more common.

"Of the creatures that are here, quite a few of them are similar to those I've researched and dealt with in my own dimension. In fact, and quite unfortunately, it appears as though they have one of the more advanced projects a friend of mine created before he was killed... though the more common things here are certainly not created through the same procedures that are used where I am from, despite the similarity in appearances," Wesker said, carefully observing Logan to see how he reacted to all the information.

Logan watched the man just as carefully in return as he listened to the response. It was curious, in a way. The man gave off a clear impression to Logan that he was, or at least had been, a government agent, or perhaps an independent contractor for them. And yet, he didn't seem like he was inclined to toe the 'party line'. There was an...honesty about him that belied such an idea. "At tha en' o' tha day, bub. Tha truth is nothin' more than what ya can see, hear, smell, touch n' taste. Anythin' else's gotta be taken with a grain o' salt."

He almost choked at the man's next line however, and in fact actually involuntarily bit off two prongs of the plastic fork, nearly swallowing them in the process. He lurched forward, voice suddenly raised, yet deep and gravelly. "Waitaminute. Yer sayin' ya know about this? Ya in on this?!?" It was all he could do to keep himself from grabbing the man by his shirt-front and spitting rage in his face, demanding to get some answers. Was this guy part of this madness? So help him, if he was, then Logan was fairly sure he'd have no trouble in giving the man a good look at his own insides before the orderlies got anywhere near either of them.

Wesker scowled at Logan. "Don't be dense. I am not involved with this, but I've seen enough of this happen in my own dimension. I'm as much a prisoner here as everyone else. If I were running this, I would not be down here with the prisoners, especially considering just how dangerous quite a number of them are even here. All I'm saying is that they do have research from my world, though they are far more advanced than anything I have handled before," Wesker continued on, undaunted. He spoke more quickly than usual in a display of agitation, but his clear enunciation continued on.

"I know the type, and perhaps more about what's probably going on here than any other patients," Wesker's voice had lost it's casual tone from earlier and was quite a bit more serious now. His eyes flashed, a brief light of gold and red from behind his eyes to accentuate the point and communicate his anger. "But do not for a moment think that I would ever work this these people." There was quite a bit of genuine hate in Wesker's voice, Logan was apparently more difficult to trick than the average person, but everything Wesker had said was true.

And oh, how Landel was going to suffer when Wesker finally managed to get his hands on him.

Logan sat back again, somewhat deflated, and angry at himself. Of course this man wasn't a part of it, well, no moreso than as a fellow victim. He sighed loudly. This place was really starting to rile up his animal side, something that could become costly if he wasn't careful.

"No, o' course ya ain'." He didn't sound condescening,merely acceptin the man's words. "So yer sayin' tha' you observed some...experimen's? Creatin' tha kind o' monsters tha' Landel's got runnin' 'roun' this place? Care ta share, bub?" OK, so there was a good chance that this guy was the sort of man that would, say, take a mutant with a preternatural healing factor and turn him into a killing machine, but dammit, there were bigger fish to fry here, and whatever he knew might prove invaluable. Logan didn't react to the flare of light behind the other man's glasses, but it didn't go unnoticed. Nor did the anger of his tone. Wesker was telling the truth, and he was just as pissed off about being here as Logan himself, it seemed.

"Most of the creatures in this place were at one point something normal, I would say that there's a good chance most of the creatures here can be switched back and forth between monster and normal, as evidenced by the nurses, and a good number of the animals," Wesker said, he wasn't quite sure how that was accomplished, but whatever changed them also effected the entire hospital and everything in it.

"I would feel very confident in saying that there are things here that never have a normal appearance, that are permanently what they appear as at night, and may never have been 'normal' in the first place. As for the experiments they're performing here on the patients..." There was a pause where Wesker gathered his thoughts, his headache was fading, but still there, and still irritating.

"Clearly, they understand the abilities to some extent, the fact that all entities are given human form and weakened here has interesting implications," Either all abilities were related in some way, or it was possible to create something that would interfere with everything. "Without interviewing each patient that has been taken, I can't say anything more specific about what they're doing, though the most useful research would be that of duplicating or modifying the abilities of patients here," This might actually be a good time to make an ally, someone useful.

"I'd venture to say that destroying the monsters here is more important than the process of their creation, but if there are specific creatures you're curious about, I can give better answers," Of course, he would expect things in return, but Wesker considered himself to always be very reasonable with his request. With Farfarello and Schuldig now entrusted to him, and his own abilities, he had no real need for Logan on a nightly basis, but it would be nice to have favors to call on, and people who would be somewhat on his side.

[Single-post backthread, just to wrap this up. Might not be too inspired, I've been pretty vague recently]

Logan had calmed down considerably as he listened to the man talk. Most of what he said made a lot of sense. "Interestin' theories ya got there, Wesker." He said, trying to sound sincere. His brain worked furiously at inputting and processing the information he'd just been given. So, from what the man across from him was saying, Landel was not only taking patients from other worlds, but monsters as well. He only hoped that Landel never got his hands on something like the Brood.

"Yer righ', an' yer not really gonna be able to achieve much by way o' interviewin' other than by keepin' a close eye on whatever gets posted on tha' boar'. My experience here tells me tha' some people jus' don' wanna talk unless they're sure they c'n do it anonymously." It was foolish in his mind, but it seemed some people, like Parker, just preferred to keep certain things to themselves. Not that there was much point in a place like this, but he was damned if he could do anything about that.

"I've got a few questions, sure, but they'd prob'ly take more time'n we got righ' now." As if to confirm this, the intercom sounded loudly. Logan grimaced at the sound of Landel's all-too-cheery voice. He was really starting to hate that voice. "Thanks fer tha infermation, bub. Anythin' specific comes up, I'll be sure ta give ya a message on tha Sun Room's board. An' if I happen ta come across somethin' ya migh' not know 'bout yerself, I'll pass it along." After all, information sharing was going to be one of the key weapons in shutting this place down, he was sure of it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 34: 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