damned_institute | Day 37: Sun Room

Joe had read some of the larger notes stuck up on the bulletin board when the announcement came on the intercom. All things considered, this Landel guy didn't even seem so bad. Even if these people were held here against their will, he was certainly nice about it.

Apparently, the new patients - including Joe - were to hang around in the Sun Room or go to Arts and Crafts with the kids. Well, there was plenty of information on the board, including maps and descriptions of monsters, for Joe to prepare for the nighttime, when he could seriously get going on fighting his way out. He could look for where the boss would probably be waiting, or where his V-watch might be, and figure out how to fight the monsters. In fact, he had plenty of time to work all that out... but this the first time he'd had to really relax since he got his powers. So it couldn't possibly hurt to enjoy the calm period, could it?

The red-head stepped back from the board, and hopped back onto a comfy-looking couch to digest in the sunlight. He reached up to pull his cap down, and sighed when he realized it wasn't there. "Oh well, nothing's perfect. I still wouldn't call this hell."

[free!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I can imagine so," the wizard said, still feeling like this was quite surreal. Willy Wonka, for the Powers' sakes! This place truly was like The Crossings, only run by some twisted madman, and for all universes, fictional and otherwise.

Oops. Maybe she should have thought that through. Pesky reservation about lying, that. "There've been some conflicting accounts of what you look like, really," she said. Nothing like Gene Wilder at all... "But, well, given the note on the board...and you matched the best description. I guess I was just lucky," she said.

Moving on. "So how did you end up here? Do you know?"

For a split second, Wonka was confused by Dairine's statement, unsure what part of his bulletin note had given her an idea of what to look for. But then, he remembered the description that he had posted for Kio, and giggled at his mistake. "Right! I quite forgot about that particular post," he said. At least that cleared up the question of how she knew how he looked, if they were from the same place.

Wonka furrowed his brow at Dairine's question about his arrival, thinking back for a moment on his last memories before waking up in the hospital. "It's odd, really," he finally said. "Last night, as far as I can recall, I was in the White House, having a very nice dinner with President Gillygrass and his friends. I can't say I actually remember being taken here, though... I fell asleep in one of the guest rooms, and the next thing I knew I had woken up here." He shook his head. "Quite disconcerting, although I suppose I've had it better than some of the others. Why do you ask, by the way?" he added, looking at Dairine curiously. "Do you remember being brought here?" That would certainly be news... the Primer had implied that most people had no idea how they came, so any hint might help reproduce the phenomenon.

Dairine shrugged at the candymaker's question. Nobody seemed to have any leads, not even Wonka, who'd always had all the answers in the books. "That's how it worked with me, sort of," she said. "I fell asleep at home one night...I woke up here. I know for a fact this isn't even the same world I'm from," she said. "Things are too different. And of course, the why...that's even harder to answer, sometimes." I know why the Lone One would want me out of commission...but why would Dr. Landel want me here, unless Landel is Its puppet? Wouldn't surprise me.

She wondered for a moment if there were Vermicious Knids stalking the hallways at night. She hadn't seen any, of course, though that didn't mean they weren't there..."Has someone already told you about what happens here at night?" she asked, trying to get all of the business things out of the way. It wouldn't do for Willy Wonka himself to be eaten by some dreadful monster his first day here. Painfully ironic, but definitely not the way to go.

Wonka was just as uncomfortable with his being this stumped as Dairine was... but thankfully, he wasn't starting from a totally clean slate. "Actually, yes. There was a fellow named Ryuga with whom I spoke at breakfast; the charming fellow filled me in on the basics. Ah... monsters in the hallways, lights go off, but somewhat free to roam about?" He figured that those were the most pertinent details; the things about time had been interesting, but not really something that he could do anything about until he understood this place better.

Which was an ordeal in and of itself. "I agree, though, about the strangeness of the whole thing," Wonka said. "They've gotten robots, and aliens, and spirits of ancient Japan... but also regular old humans, like you and I. Hardly any pattern to it at all, unless..." Wonka stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly getting that strange, manic twinkle in his eye that always accompanied his strokes of inspiration. Looking straight at Dairine, he asked, "My dear, did you lead a normal life before coming here? Or something more exciting? I think I've had an idea."

Dairine nodded. "That's the basics, just about." It seemed so simple when it was being explained, but living it was so much more brutal and terrifying.

And then...it seemed that the great candymaker got an idea, and the wizard immediately began paying more attention. Under normal circumstances - that is, not here - she would have denied anything overly special about her life. Stating that you saved the universe on a regular basis was often a conversation-stopper. But this place was as astahfrith as any she'd seen; not specifically confined to wizardry, but there was plenty of weirdness to go around.

"Relatively normal, actually, but I don't think that anyone here could reasonably be called such," she began. "I go to school and all that, but I'm also a wizard. That is, I travel to other planets in the line of duty, hang out with aliens, and fight entropy and evil however I can." She grinned ruefully. "Haven't been able to do much traveling recently, though. My powers are restricted here."

Wonka's smile faded a bit after hearing Dairine's old situation. As amazing as it was for her to be doing "real" magic, it seemed awfully unfeeling to have such a young girl out battling evil every day. Then again, this place didn't sound like it was much of an improvement. "I'm getting the feeling they do that for everyone, in his or her own way... you without your powers, me without my kitchen, and all those others on the bulletin board besides."

His smile began to return before long, however, and he continued, "But that bit about nobody here being quite normal is exactly what I think the key to all this is. Maybe what they're looking for is a variety... one example of every kind of character under the sun, human or nonhuman, wizard or candy-maker, the only pattern being that each one of us has something unique to add to the collection. The question is," he added, putting his hand to his chin again, "what's going to happen when they complete the set?" As he stood in thought, a worried look passed over his face, but he shook it off and said, "Well, all the more reason for us to find a way out of here, eh?"

"Yeah, I've noticed that," she said. "Still, at least there's a kitchen here, though I don't know how well-stocked it is." Did it matter? If Wonka got in there, he could make a bonbon into a bomb-bon if he so chose.

His question was a little disturbing to contemplate, actually. "Well, I don't think there's any danger of that happening anytime soon," Dairine said, though it was more to reassure herself than anything. There could only be a few hundred people here, tops - there had to be more variables than that.

But maybe they're just picking and choosing the ones they want...

"Agreed," she said. "I'm not exactly inclined to hang around and wait to see what they've got in store."

Day 37: Sun Room

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject