damned_institute | 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.

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"Really..." Shiki went quiet, thinking it over. If they had brought her back...but that made no sense! If they had really brought her back, she wouldn't still be in her best friend's body.

The whole situation was becoming more worrisome by the minute, particularly the idea that they might have brought her back to life within her friend. That would mean - no. Shiki didn't want to think that the girl who had been her best friend was gone, or in a different body.

"Do you have any idea how they do it?," she finally asked, after a long pause. "It's...it's important."

What did she take him for? "No idea. No one knows." As if the patients had access to that kind of information. And even if he did get his hands on such precious knowledge, he wouldn't be inclined to share it. As far as he was concerned the Z-LOAN system was the only one worth using, since it was limited to those with extraordinarily strong wills. If just anyone could bring back whoever they wanted, the world would be full of even more useless ingrates wasting their precious lives!

But. Since she brought the topic up... Shito really had to think about that. Landel could bring people back to life. If he couldn't find a way out of here soon and get back to fulfilling his contract with Z-LOAN... he wondered if there was a way to make a deal with Landel.

Shiki nodded. "It's okay. I had just wondered - you're probably going to think this is too much information, but. I was part of what's called the 'Reapers' Game'. When some people die, they're given the option to participate. If you do, you have 7 days. One challenge is given every day. If you pass all 7 challenges, you earn the chance to be brought back."

She took a breath, and continued. "My partner - you remind me of him, but that's neither here nor there - Neku and I passed. I was told I'd earned more points than he had, though, and Neku...he insisted I come back, and that he would play another time."

Shiki's mouth was dry, and she took a long sip of her juice before she finished. "I'd just wondered if there was some similar way of doing things anywhere here. Or anywhere else, really."

"Hmm. Not here. Alive or dead, everyone's equally screwed around here." This Reaper's Game sounded a little like a Z-LOAN contract, though. Though one didn't have to fight or 'pass challenges' to fulfill one's contract, it was certainly the fastest way to make enough money. Maybe this girl wasn't as pathetic as he'd thought right away, if she'd had the will and the guts to fight for her life.

"I see. Thank you for being straightforward about it," Shiki said. She started to speak again, but her nurse tapped her on the shoulder. "Making friends already, Nicole? That's good. And you finished your juice and a lot of the food. Good girl. Now come along," she said.

Shiki stood, and waved to Shito. "Thanks, Shito-san. I appreciate that." With that, she followed her nurse out of the cafeteria.

Day 34: Breakfast

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