damned_institute | Day 37: Sun Room

[I can has Xelloss? <3 ]

Lugnut still felt unbalanced and dull when the announcement system came online and another human female, with the assistance of a large, glowering male, coaxed him to his feet-- away from that traitor-- and led him to the next room (though he sullenly balked and had to be tugged not-so-gently along; he didn't trust the humans, not at all, not when he'd woken up in a human body, not when they'd done something to him to incapacitate his processor and alter his emotional core).

However, though the human female showed some exasperation at his vague struggles, she made no move to restrain Lugnut any further, instead leaving him to sit like a small, confused mountain on some of the bright room's soft seating.

After a few moments, his processor began to work at half-speed, and he looked around, trying to see if this room contained some kind of prompt for what he should do.

He saw nothing.

Lugnut began trying to figure it out without prompting. He would destroy whoever did this, yes, and return to his true form, and return to Megatron, and then they would take Cybertron, yes!

So, the first order of business: destroying whoever had caused the transformation, ripped him away from his lord's side. He could do that. He was Lugnut.

Breakfast had left Kakashi with no lack of things to think about. Though he still had some instinctive reservations about the situation as described, what the woman had said was too easily refuted to be a decent attempt at a lie, so Kakashi accepted it. At least as much as any person in his condition could. To go from the battlefield in Konoha, from what he had done to eating french toast and talking about the finer points of manipulating space and time...that was something of a leap, even for him.

The nurse wouldn't let him go to the showers, which was disappointing. It meant he'd likely have to wait to speak to Jiraiya, though chances were good that if they weren't co-ed showers, the sennin might emerge in time to discuss some things. The nurse also wouldn't let him go to the library, but after careful manipulation, did at least agree to get him a book.

Which was how Kakashi found himself sitting on a couch staring at White Fang. Somehow, he doubted the author thought the same things about that name as Kakashi did. And he definitely knew it wasn't Icha Icha Tactics.

But it was something, at least. Which was why Kakashi began to read it.

[For Jiraiya]

Dean Winchester woke up with a headache the size of Texas.

That sonuvabitch, was his first groggy thought, the hunter wincing a little as he gingerly reached up with one hand and ran a hand through his hair. Yup, there it was: a nice, painful lump when Company Man KOed him, and he didn't even need a mirror to know he'd have some nice bruises after slugging it out with him. Sitting up, Dean wasn't too surprised to find he was no longer upstairs but instead was back in his cell's bed. Probably had dragged his ass downstairs once he was out cold. He had no idea what happened to Tokito. Hopefully the kid was okay, but considering he was against Company Man, Dean didn't exactly have high hopes for him.

And that wasn't even the worst of his problems.

Sammy was still missing. And he was still no closer to finding out where he was.

Dean took a deep breath. Swung his legs over the side of the bed. Marched over to the door and tried the knob. It jiggled but didn't give much. Locked again. Maybe last night had been a fluke and he was gonna have to pick the door with something. He'd told himself he'd treat this like any other job but there was always that little voice in the back of his head that said he'd screwed up again somehow and he should've done something that could've prevented this. He couldn't see how he could've stopped some demonic bastard (if this was even Yellow Eye's work in the first place) from kidnapping him if he didn't see him coming, but Dean couldn't shake the feeling this was somehow his fault. Still, nabbing a guy out of a moving car with witnesses, a pretty damn reliable one not even two feet away? That was something.

His head was still killing him as he went about rifling through his stuff, then his absent roomie's stuff for those pens. The intercom provided a few more clues, but not as much as Dean would've liked: just something about breakfast (which he'd apparently missed, to top things off), "new" friends (probably more people taken, like him), and now he knew there were children here. That him stiffen for a second. So whoever this joker was, it wasn't enough he was taking adults - he had to nab kids for his kicks too.

Dean was in the middle of helping himself to his roomie's pens when he heard that click of the lock again. Automatically he closed the drawer - slid it closed quietly, not slammed it - and turned around as the door swung open. A woman who was unquestionably a nurse stepped inside, heels clicking as she glanced up from the clipboard in her hands to him, a professionally friendly smile on her face. She wasn't super-hot, but a lifetime ago he would've cheerfully screwed her. But things changed and he just glanced at her rack for only a second before wondering if he could take her down and try to book it outta here and find Sam. That was before the big orderly came up behind her, shadow filling the doorway and easily outweighing him: unlike Hello Nurse, Lurch wasn't smiling, just staring at him as if just daring him to do anything.

Artemis didn't want to be separated from Haku, but also didn't want to cling too much and cause a scene. Certainly, he felt they could hold hands in public now, but anything more than that might earn them some unwanted stares and leers. Namely... from Zabuza. Haku could take care of anyone else who thought their relationship was 'inappropriate'.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only thing on his mind. And he felt that any other thoughts he was having would accompany ones of Renji for a while now. The boy stood at one of the windows in the Sun Room, looking out at the sky. He hoped Renji wasn't here anymore--that he had gone back to where he belonged.

Artemis pressed his hand against the glass of the window, as though that would help him escape, too. This whole business had him feeling very trapped, suddenly.

(For Badou!)

The intercom had beeped into life over breakfast, nearly making Kio jump and spill his juice over Leon. As things stood, none of that had happened and instead, the nurse with the plastic doll-like smile had come to take 'Akatsuki Shinro' (whoever that was) to the Sun Room. He'd thought Leon would follow, and have even motioned to his nurse to wait.

"I'm sorry Mr Akatsuki, but your schedule is rather different. The Head Doctor said so himself. Your friend is going to the showers and you can go to Arts and Crafts." She smiled again, but met Kio's rather blank face.

"I'll just go to the other place. And my name is Kio."

The nurse kept on smiling as she motioned for Kio to follow. He tried to keep an eye out for Soubi, but in the throng of people heading this way and that, there was nothing he could see. Well, there were a few blonds, but no one like Soubi. Kio despondently entered the Sun Room.

For one thing, it was huge. He felt lost in it already. A few people lounged on couches, but Soubi was missing again. Kio walked towards the bulletin board. Leon and Siegfried had both mentioned it. He stood before it a full ten minutes before he could bring himself to write a message (http://community.livejournal.com/damned_bulletin/309705.html). Kio could feel his spirits sinking. But that was the wrong approach to this whole mess. They wanted him to give in and accept that he was crazy. Well, he wasn't. He was Kaido Kio and he'd try his damned hardest to find Soubi.

For now, though, a brief respite on one of the couches might do him good. Sitting down, he took out another piece of paper and his pen and started doodling tribal features on it. To waste some time.

"A shower sounds really good right about now." Well... as good as anything could be when you were stuck in a weird place, full of a bunch of people you didn't know. Kimberly had to admit, though, that a shower did sound like a wonderful idea. Least of all because she was positive it would help her relax, and being relaxed would help her gather her thoughts so she could start making sense of this whole situation. Turning to the nurse beside her, she asked, "When can I get one?"

"There's no need for that today, all that was taken care of when you arrived," the woman replied, and suddenly her smile seemed a whole lot creepier.

Kimberly stared for a few seconds, and then shook her head quickly. "I... I'm sorry, what?"

"Just what I said, dear. Everything was taken care of when you arrived here." The nurse gave her shoulder a pat. "Now, would you like to stay in here, or visit the Arts and Crafts room?"

Oh... kay... Yeah... The creepy factor just went through the roof with that one. The Ranger suddenly wanted to make a hasty retreat, so she pointed to an empty seat and began inching her way towards it. "Um, you know, this is great right here. It looks comfy, and it's really bright and... sunny... So, yeah, I'll just hang here. Okay? Okay." Without waiting for a response, she turned and moved to the seat farthest away from the woman, then plopped down.

After a few quick glances to make sure the nurse hadn't followed her, Kimberly breathed a sigh of relief and leaned her head against the back of the couch. "Way, way creepy..."

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/510994.html?thread=41273106#t41273106)

Miku did just what she'd planned to do. The little photographer had dressed and was given a cheaply bristled hair brush to comb her hair out. Not for the first time, Miku considered cutting off all that long, dark hair of hers. It would certainly be helpful she had to spend three-fourths of her time trying to detangle it.

A kitten had wandered over to her side and mewed plaintively, then not-so-patiently crawled into her lap, apparently uncaring of whether or not drops of chilly water dropped on it's fur. Miku sighed, amused, and kept working on her hair.

[For Sheena]

[for falis]

Today was going to be a good day.

That's how Yukari was feeling, at least, as she was pulled away from yet another conversation and into the next thing of the day. It was kind of disappointing, if anything, as she was beginning to realize she was really liking talking to Kagura. Perhaps some other time she would have to try to find the other girl again.

Feelings aside, she hoped it was going to be one-- Yukari firmly believed she deserved one after yesterday starting off bad and only got worse. It didn't sound like anything "special" was planned today on Landel's part, though, so she tried not to worry about it too much. Instead, Yukari headed off to her usual choice during these optional shifts-- arts and crafts wasn't her thing, and that sounded so childish anyway-- plopping down on a couch somewhere.

... Although, maybe if she got bored enough, she'd go.

[Cuddlehime. ♥]

If Shana was gone (and it looked like she was damn it damn it damn it), Keman didn't know how he could function. Breakfast with Shadow and Valyn had felt vaguely dream-like and as he was lead into the Sun Room for the next shift, he realized he didn't remember if he'd actually eaten or not. But it didn't matter. He wasn't hungry.

Keman felt, quite literally, lost with out her. He'd spent the last sixteen years of his life taking care of her. When she was banished, he ran away to find her. She was his best friend, and his closest confidante, and now they'd taken her from him.

They took her.

It was then, finally, that it really began to sink in. They'd taken everything away from Keman. His body, his family, his foster sister. They'd taken his whole identity away from him.

Did that mean that he was going to be the next to disappear?

Ophelia had raised an eyebrow when the voice from nowhere announced the end of breakfast. She saw no platform above from which someone could be shouting, and even if there had been, the voice had merely sounded as a normal speaking voice would, only amplified. Was this an example of the kind of magic that might have stolen her power in this world? Ophelia frowned, making a note in her mind to ask someone about it later.

As for what the voice was saying, she knew very well that she did not want to be in the company of children. She was curious about what these "showers" were that the other adult humans were being escorted to, but the interest was not particularly burning. Thus, she grudgingly allowed her two human escorts to lead her to the Sun Room, which turned out to be the room they had passed through earlier to get to the meal area.

She hadn't paid the room much mind when they had passed through it before, not really having snapped out of her earlier daze at that point. Now that they came back to it, she decided that she liked it much better than the other areas of the building. As the room's name implied, all the light streaming down to the people below was natural, not the harsh, artificial human lighting of the other areas. The decor, while still unfamiliar, was less overtly foreign as well. If she squinted, she could possibly see this being a room belonging to human royalty or to one of the organization's elite council. There were many things she preferred to see twisted into drastically different states compared to what was natural (living bodies being one of them), but in this case, it was a relief to find at least one area of this strange new place that was somewhat similar to the world she knew.

One of the first specific things in the room that drew Ophelia's attention was the large board covered in papers off to one side, where several humans were already gathering to read, write, and pin up new papers. So Arlene hadn't been kidding when she had said that this world relied heavily on the ability to read and write. She grumbled to herself, knowing that she would have to swallow her pride at some point and acquire someone willing to help her learn those skills if she was to maximize her chances of regaining her power and escaping.

Ophelia's gaze eventually fell upon the people themselves as they milled into and around the room. Her eyelids half lowered as she wondered what might happen should she suddenly select one of them and attempt to strangle them with her bare hands. She could almost see the lovely bruises blossoming on her victim's skin beneath her fingertips as she imagined it. Soon enough, though, she knew her human escorts would rush in to stop her. Probably some of the other humans would too. Would that kind of confrontation be a good chance to test her strength now that she was aware of her new limits? No, probably not, unfortunately. If she really were down to a human level of power, it wouldn't really be an accurate first test if a whole group of opponents ganged up on her at once. She had to find a way to take someone on one-on-one first, much as she was itching to take out her frustrations on someone right now.

For the time being, she settled for leaning casually against a wall near the board of written messages, hoping to pick out someone ~~gullible enough~~ to help her with this whole literacy thing. Or at least someone willing to give her more useful information.

Depth Charge left the cafeteria feeling even emptier than when he had entered it, and not just because he had barely touched his plate. The idea that X could be around any corner, watching, waiting, and with him in this stick-man excuse for a body he'd be scrapped in an instant. The walk to the 'Sun Room' or whatever the female (a nurse, apparently) escorting him had called it, had been a long one. To be honest, he'd rather have taken a shower- perhaps out of some latent calling from his time spent at the bottom of an Earth lake- but that would have involved removing the flimsy garments he'd woken up in. They were hardly titanium plating, sure, but they were all he had. As if he needed to feel any more exposed.

Fortunately, the room was quieter than the cafeteria and large enough to give him room to think. It would be easier to try and get his thoughts together here- or at the very least, arrange them into something he could process over the thudding bass line of his own anxieties about X. He took a seat under a particularly archaic painting of docks and tried to focus. He failed.

The next ten minutes were spent pacing back and forth uncontrollably, unable to contain the desire, no, the need, to track X down. He'd left a message at the board on the back (http://community.livejournal.com/damned_bulletin/318066.html), but somehow he doubted it would produce anything worthwhile. Meanwhile, a creeping sense of disgust was building in the back of his mind- disgust, he realised, at himself. At his own inability to find X and kill him and, more disturbingly, to function without him.

His pace quickened anew. Somehow, he hoped that stamping out his frustration would help a little- it wasn't like there was anything else he could do. For now, at least.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/510359.html?thread=41270935#t41270935)]

Satisfied that the "Violet" was more likely to lie down and take a nap - a problem, for sure, since she would rather the woman socialize with the other patients - than start trouble, the nurse left her in the Sun Room, going back to fetch the other new patients.

Yukari, however, had no real intention of falling asleep. She'd already tried to sleep the problem off and while it was possible that expecting it to go away in an hour was a little optimistic and a better course of action would be to find somewhere to hibernate for a couple decades, now her curiosity was perked.

Violet Cloud. That was what the nurse had called her. It was no simple mistake; the bilingual play on her own name, Yukari Yakumo, could be no coincidence. Which meant someone was playing a game with her.

Well, if this was a game, then why not have a little fun? The first objective, of course, would be to figure out the rules. The purest method would be observation, which she would be doing, but in the meanwhile, there was that large communal board that people appeared to be using to communicate with, posting paper messages. Something obsoleted by the internet, but perhaps more on the level of Gensokyo and its human village. But most people would rather just meet in person to communicate. Seeing as this was only a single institute, the need for the board must mean either there were things that needed to be communicated to the entire population or, as Yukari guessed was the case, seeing as how the nurses, including her own, treated them, the schedule and movement was tightly controlled, preventing people from always being able to meet who they wanted to speak with.

The hypothesis were easily answered by just checking it. It was surprising to see that, despite every indication that this was a Western institution, everything was written in (somewhat) perfect Japanese. This was explained in a note about languages.

Most interesting, of course, was the set of "rules" posted by some "M.E." Curious that, despite laying out procedures, there was no stated goal. Since "M.E." seemed to be a patient, she guessed the goal was escape. Obvious enough considering it seemed the patients were here without their consent.

Of course, it could all be lies - unlikely, considering that most of the posts seemed to go with the same story despite being by multiple people, but there was still a chance - so further investigation was warranted. Who looked like a good target to pump for information? And, barring that, who looked the most interesting?

[Free]

His conversation interrupted by the man on the intercom, Wonka soon found himself being being led away from his (yet unfinished) breakfast by another one of the Institute's nurses. However, once he'd heard the options from the Head Doctor's announcement, he remembered what his breakfast companion had said about a "bulletin board", and was quick to answer the nurse's question of where to go with a cheerful, "To the Sun Room, please!"

Arriving in the room just south of the cafeteria, Wonka had a look around, and soon found the bulletin board, where he began to read the various posts about the nature of the Institute with rapt attention. Whoever was behind this place had really paid attention to detail - the duality that kept any of the staff from knowing this place's true nature, the various tricks the place could play, the language thing (how did they do that, he wondered), all of it pointed to a meticulous operation. But why? Why go through all this trouble? None of the usual explanations for human... ugliness... fit the bill; there was no money to be made in kidnapping people without a ransom, and getting dozens of folks with strange powers angry at you was not exactly a good way to extend your lifespan.

Well, whatever the reason for this mess, his first order of business was still to help get everyone out of here, which meant figuring out how they were taken here, which meant tinkering around in a kitchen. Wonka quickly jotted down a note which he figured should cover the things he still needed, and then sat down on a couch near where he had posted it, watching to see if anyone would reply.

[for Dairine]

The last place Kvothe wanted to go after last night was the Arts and Crafts room, so when the nurse gave him the option of staying in the Sun Room instead, he gladly took it. He scratched his bandaged upper arm as he sank onto one of the couches. That was another mystery to him about the place, he knew he hadn't wrapped it and he didn't remember anyone else doing so, but at least it wasn't free to bleed anymore. That meant someone had to have messed with his arm at some point in that blank space between mysteriously blanking out in the courtyard as he had the first night, and waking up in his room. He hated the trapped feeling he got here, cornered and watched. He sighed and pulled one leg up onto the couch under him, looking around at the others in the room with determined curiosity.

[Free]

Even though Matsumoto had told him at lunch and he believed her, there was still a lurking sense of doubt in his mind. But as they were pulled away from the mess hall and into a larger room with tall windows, he found himself staring numbly at the bulletin board people were tacking notes to, staring at one with familiar handwriting. It was Captain Hitsugaya's.

Renji really was dead.

He took a step back as someone else approached the board, but continued staring from afar (less focused now, more simply staring in that direction). Gin was here. Renji was dead. Matsumoto claimed there was an alliance among the Shinigami. And Hinamori was ...

Kira turned away from the bulletin board and made for one of the windows. He rested one hand against the cool glass and closed his eyes, momentarily lost within himself as he tried to settle the turmoil in his mind. There had to be answers to this - ways out, ways back to ... hah, ways back to normalcy.

Masaru was not happy as he was escorted elsewhere. He briefly considered making a break for it, but the nurse seemed to read his intent and made sure he had no opportunity to do so, leaving him to slump into a random seat and scowl. Not that it made much of a difference - as soon as he saw a good moment, he was getting the hell out of there.

The only reason he was waiting at all wasn't because he thought it would be a good idea to slip out unnoticed, but because he wouldn't be much of a man if he had to bust through some innocent nurses. Even if his had been a little irritating, it wasn't like any of them were going out of their way for a fight, after all. Besides, it'd be better just to go to whoever was in charge and convince them of their mistake.

Of course, waiting even a moment only made Masaru even more irritated. To hell with waiting for an easy way out! He'd just make one himself. It wasn't like getting around the nurses without a fight would be hard. He pulled himself out of the chair, and not bothering to hide the obviousness of what he was doing, made his way for that.

Logically speaking, it would better to wait until he could actually figure out where exactly this 'Dr. Landel' guy was located, but luckily for Masaru, logic need not apply. He'd find it with his own spirit! That's what a man would do!

Hanatarou was very pleased when the nurse arrived to lead him away from the strange and scary red-haired shinigami and his confusing questions. When she mentioned, however, that it was time for arts and crafts with "the other children" his enthusiasm quickly vanished again. The previous day the room had been fairly empty, which was probably the only reason his craft project had been as uneventful as it was. Usually when he attempted to make things, especially when other people were around and could see it, things...became unpleasant. Or at least messy.

When he suggested that maybe he could pass on the activity and go somewhere else, the nurse gave him a sympathetic look and allowed that he did look a little tired, and could go take a nap in the Sun Room instead. That seemed about the best he was going to get, so the healer nodded his agreement and quickly found a spot on a couch off in a corner of the room away from everyone else, unoccupied but for a kitten dozing on one of the cushions.

For a second he thought he saw Kira-fukutaichou on the other side of the room, but finally shook his head a little and decided he must have been imagining things. Hanatarou curled up a little against the arm of the couch, watching the dozing feline and wondering if he dared disturb it. Or if maybe he should just take a nap, like the nurse had suggested. He wasn't tired at all, though, and wondered why everyone kept asking if he was.

[for Farfarello]

Ayumu's talk with Okita had left her with just as many questions as answers, though at least she had some direction now. Upon being led to the Sun Room again, this time to stay for a shift (however long a "shift" was, in this place) she drifted over toward the bulletin board with an expression of vague curiosity. Others came up to read and post while she stood there, ostensibly taking her time poring over the slips of paper and sounding out words as though she were barely capable of reading at all, while at the same time doing her best to read over all the messages she could.

A couple of the posts were especially interesting, such as the "primer" and its attached maps (which she promptly memorized) and the list of monsters that Okita had mentioned in passing. The fact that he'd specifically brought it up it at all told her that it was significant, and once she'd read it over she understood why. This was, again, difficult to believe. But still, she'd best be prepared for anything.

She posted a couple of inquiries of her own about different clubs and couldn't help but add some other notes in various places, careful to keep up her pretense of being almost uneducated should anyone be watching. Okita had a definite presence on the board himself, she noted, mildly amused by some of the exchanges she'd found there. But it would be best if she could find a group to attach herself to by evening, though if it came down to it she'd not be averse to exploring on her own.

Once finished she remained standing by the board, examining the post about a "Crossdressing Club" and silently mouthing the words to herself as she went over the comments on it. Perhaps Susumu would have been interested in something like that, if he'd been here...

[for Shito?]

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/510994.html?thread=41307154#t41307154); waiting for Valyn!]]

Raine looked around, not quite as antisocial as she'd been, but still sat down alone and opened her book. She wouldn't mind if someone came to talk to her, though.

[Harley?]

Breakfast flew completely from Frey's mind once he saw the message on the board. The Star Dragon Sword, gone? He was all alone now, the one and only person here who knew the land of the 27 True Runes? No one here could understand about the Sun Rune and what it had done to his country. For the first time since meeting the irascible Night Rune, Frey felt completely and utterly alone.

It was nearly a crushing blow. Only thinking of what would happen to Takaya if another roommate flaked out on him kept Frey from wanting to curl up and cry. Someone here needed him, in some small way, and he would keep himself together for that.

[from showers]

The Bride, fresh from her shower after a quick duck into the restroom to redo her hair properly, settled into the Sun Room for the rest of the shift. She choose a spot adjacent to the others, opting to watch the room's occupants. More importantly, she settled down to watch (and listen in on) Ophelia and the man she was talking to. Was the bitch going to manage to make allies? That was the question.

[free]

[for Chidori]

That had been interesting, Akihiko thought as he walked into the Sun Room. He had asked his nurse for permission to go running or do some kind of training, but had been shot down again. She had offered the option of doing Arts and Crafts instead, but he'd refused. Popsicle sticks, glitter, and glue were not his kind of thing - they were a waste of time.

So was sitting around the Sun Room, he thought, settling on one of the couches with a heavy thud.

[from here... and free! if you want an extremely wet fox Digimon. ^^;]

There. Done. She had survived it again. It was even easier... okay, it wasn't easier, but she handled it better at least. No bruises. No catatonia today. Success.

Renamon sat down on a couch by herself, not seeming to notice the water dripping off of her in a steady flow. She let out a breath, and attempted to meditate.

((Free!))

Adelheid was rather tired, he had to admit. Alchemy was draining, and he had so many thoughts in his head that he had to think through. The plans for the party, for his deliveries to be made, for everything else... he thought he had it now, but it was hard to be sure. He had so many things...

For now, he sprawled out on one of the couches, resting a hand on his head and gently massaging his temples. No fights in the previous night either; that was aggravating. He had wanted to get some of his frustration dealt with, but that didn't seem like it was going to happen. Ah well. He wasn't a child any longer, he had to be a man and do what he was responsible for. Perhaps, in time, it'd bear fruit. He could only hope so, and continue going for as long as he could.

Breakfast had been nice, but after reading the message board, those feelings drained away like so much water down the drain. Renji was dead? He hadn't even seen the man for a couple of days, but he always seemed so strong. He was nice, if a little harsh sometimes, but to think that he was gone, that was just... it didn't seem right.

He wiped his face, unable to keep at least a few tears from falling. This place just kept taking away all the people that were important to him. How was he supposed to just keep going when people were dying and disappearing all around him?

Arts and crafts would be a waste of time, so he just stayed in the Sun Room, finding himself a quiet place to sit, knees drawn up near his chest as he laid his head on them. People died on their missions all the time, he told himself. He just had to keep going, to keep moving onward.

[free sad puppy]

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