damned_institute | Day 37: Sun Room (4th Shift)

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Day 37: Sun Room (4th Shift)

There were still too many things on Armand's mind for him to truly relax. The morning with Alec had been a help. And seeing that TK was going to be well helped him know that it was time to work out something else, but what? He'd already, without success again, tried to reach one of the club leaders about his sole idea of something new and different. Maybe it was hopeless.

There was no way he was going to play with paper and glue like a small child, and he glared at the nurse as best he could until she gave up on the idea. There was a free chair in the Sun Room--in fact, there were many free chairs--where he settled down to see what the new patients looked like. Prisoners, not patients. He felt bad that he had to remind himself. Even if he was crazy, he wasn't going to give in to Dr. Landel's game, not today. He nibbled on an overgrown cuticle and kept an eye on the room. No dozing today.

[for Citan]

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Shiki had to laugh, despite her nerves. "No, it's really not. I can't see Neku actively entering a Tin Pin tournament unless his life depended on it." Even then, it might be a tough call. He'd never been one for trends, and Tin Pin Slammer? Definitely a trend.

She paused for a moment, looking between Joshua and Mr. H. while she tried to figure out how to best respond to the question. "Well, they call most people here by a name that's not their own. I get called Nicole, and other people get called different things, too. I guess it's happening to you, too, huh, Mr. H.? But, well...Neku called me Nicole, but he called Joshua by his actual name. It's weird, isn't it?"

Shiki looked down at the floor for just a minute. "And there was something else, too. I...think you could be right about the parallel version thing. Either that, or the people on the bulletin board were right when they said the 'visitors' had been here in the past and had been brainwashed and released." She would much rather it be an actual parallel Neku. That - though weird - she could understand.

"Sure is: I'm 'Mr. Inouye'- or 'Mr. I', to stick to the trend- to the staff." Sanae shrugged. "It threw me off at first, but really it's just one of those things you have to deal with." Having a different name wasn't too bad, all things considered. It was like having a secret identity, kind of like a superhero, although he wouldn't go that far.

He looked at Joshua. "Still, as far as fake names go, it'd make sense if...nah, never mind. My mind's not thinking straight." Yeah, it was time to switch the subject; it wasn't like Joshua's real name was something that needed to be emphasized anyway.

Parallel worlds and 'visitors' sounded like a nice thing to go back to. "So, did this other Neku mention that he'd stayed in this institute before?" Sanae asked, frowning slightly. "Although I myself would never actually say that I had been in a mental asylum," he admitted. He couldn't see any versions of Neku being in a crazy house, though, although there was always a deviant somewhere.

"That would explain why we're all so powerless here," Yukari said in agreement, crossing her arms. "If that is the case. I wouldn't even know where to begin looking for a loophole in something like that, though."

She paused, mulling for a moment or so, before speaking up again; "If the source causing it is physical, then... It would probably be in a place we can't easily get to, and there's a lot of rooms we still can't get inside. If not..." Yukari trailed off, as she couldn't imagine what it would be otherwise. It was hard coming up with an idea when you had nothing to go by.

Yukari then made an affirmative nod. It sorta dashed whatever idea she was coming up with, but it sounded logical enough. "Only part, huh..." She made a small sigh. "It's troubling knowing they know things they shouldn't have found out so easily... It's like they know everything about our lives, even the secrets."

"Think on it," Renamon responded. "Let me know if you think of anything, even if you think it doesn't make sense."

She crossed her arms in thought. "I'll have to think about my own situation concerning the emotional constructs--it was called Chaos, and the D-Reaper--as well as ask others for details. The only way we were able to make any progress however was to find its tie to the world; its center. It was using a human girl."

But Renamon didn't want to think of Jeri, or Leomon, because that made her think of her conversation with Orihime about what happened to people that died here. And where they went.

"It's safe to assume that nothing about you is a secret to them. Nothing is safe." Something occured to Renamon then, something that had to be broached very carefully if Yukari didn't know yet. "Have you heard the theory of why that is?"

"Okay," Yukari replied. "I'll make sure I do."

Unlike Renamon, it was a little difficult to relate to the theory. As far as she knew, nothing back home was happening because of their emotions, or a single person... and with Mitsuru telling her earlier their plan all along didn't even work, they were right back to square one figuring out the source. A part of Yukari didn't feel very confident trying to do the same thing, here.

"Huh?" She stared in slight surprise, shaking her head. "No, I... I don't have a clue. I didn't even know how much they knew until a few days ago."

Ah... How to go about this? Renamon thought she knew Yukari somewhat by now--the girl was stubborn and strong-willed, and while those were traits that Renamon admired in her, those might make this difficult. Likewise, Renamon remembered the first time they had spoke--Yukari seemed to have trouble grasping things like other beings in human form and alternate worlds altogether. So how to word this correctly?

There were times when Renamon could turn a phrase more poetically than the haiku writer on the board, but more of the time Renamon was Renamon, blunt and straight to the point. Which is what she went with now. "There's reason to believe that most of us here are..." She stopped, paused a moment to think about the implications of the statement that did sound crazy, moreso than anything else she's said before. It couldn't be helped though.

She looked at the girl calmly. "That most of us are fictional."

Renamon was right-- she did sound crazy.

If there was one thing that had changed about Yukari within the past week, it was her willingness to believe and accept a lot of things. She couldn't stop and roll her eyes at the impossible anymore, because as far as this place was concerned it was.

But that? That sort of claim was enough for Yukari to show off one of her finest in contorted faces.

"R... Renamon-san," she began, disbelief at the mere idea apparent in her tone. "Do you really believe what you're saying? It's gotta be one of the..." Yukari trailed off, catching herself before being too blunt with her thoughts. But it was true, it was completely absurd. "I don't believe that."

And she was correct. This would be difficult.

"I don't have an opinion one way or the other," she replied ambiguously. "I was told this by multiple people, people that didn't work for Landel. People that stated intricate facts and secrets of my life, things I had shared with one person, because they told me I was a television show."

Renamon closed her eyes. "There are others who are told that they are from books or video games. Not only Landel and his team of doctors list off facts about them, but other patients as well. There's theories for this."

She continued, hoping that if she talked, Yukari could actually hear her. "There's other worlds; that's a fact. Some would say that every story ever written was a world or universe first, and the creator of that story tapped into a universal truth to make it."

She sighed, realizing she had indeed talked too much. "Understand that I really don't know for a fact one way or the other--other than my personal experience. It's just something else that seems to be a common theory going around."

Yes, Renamon. Point out that you're not crazy, you simply listen to crazy people.

"I don't know," Yukari said half-heartedly. "If they say they are, who knows, but I'm not falling for it." Hrm, but Renamon said someone knew about her? Yukari frowned some, unable to come up with a reason for it that sounded logical enough.

Or maybe there were just some things that were never going to be explained. And seeing how Yukari felt about this particular situation-- and Renamon, as well-- she didn't find herself wanting to get much into it.

"Anyway, people make up weird stuff for things they don't know all the time. I'm sure there's some other reason."

Yukari's black and white view on reality was refreshing. Renamon smirked. "There must be," she replied wryly. "Though nothing else makes much sense. We're probably better off forgetting about this item of interest."

The past fox Digimon thought, trying to think of something that wouldn't make the girl uncomfortable. Renamon did care for Yukari, and making her upset was not something she wanted to do. There was that whole issue Jiraiya mentioned to her... But Renamon wasn't even sure if others at the Institute were moving in real time enough to cause that.... Though there was something else that was irritating her lately.

"Yukari, I was wondering something," Renamon started, "about the human body's reactions. Specifically what the reasons are for a person's cheeks to heat up." Renamon knew the flush of embarrassment, but that wasn't it at all. And if she knew why it was caused, she could work to control it so it wouldn't happen.

Now with that subject pushed aside, Yukari blinked; it felt like an odd question to ask, but on the other hand, it was pretty easy to forget that Renamon wasn't originally a human. Still, wouldn't she know these things, or was it really so different?

"Um, well." Yukari paused for the quickest of seconds to wonder why Renamon was asking, but maybe she'd tell. "Sometimes it's when you're embarrassed or..." Hm, how could she describe this? "Get flustered, and things like that."

"No. Not embarrassment." Renamon frowned. "I was just talking. But I'd rather it not happen again, so I needed to know why it was." She shook her head. Maybe it was a meaningless subject.

She tried to replay the conversation in her mind. She was talking to Orihime, before they had even started talking about the difficult subjects. Renamon had asked how the girl was, told her she made theories with Mello and Jiraiya, and Orihime asked how Renamon and Jiraiya were getting along.

....

"It doesn't just happen for no reason," Yukari further explained, but once she thought about it some more, a playful grin colored her features. This was almost kind of hard to imagine with Renamon, being someone who was usually so serious and rarely ever the casual sort. Regardless, it didn't keep Yukari from asking. "Hey... Don't tell me you like someone."

Renamon stared at the floor, stunned for a moment, as one of her eyebrows started to twitch. She moved a hand up at press at her temple, closing her eyes. This was... ridiculous. She was Renamon. She did not 'like' people, she did not have school girl crushes simply because someone understood her and accepted her, thought the same way that she did, and could intellectually keep up with her as well as having martial skills.... Her eyebrow twitched more. She would blame this on this human body. That's all there was. Because anything else was simply ridiculous.

...Right.

"I'm kidding," Yukari teased, covering her mouth with a hand to stifle a laugh. She felt a small twinge of guilt for it, but on the other hand, it was good to finally be able to lighten up the mood some, especially after her last two conversations. "Sorry, I know it's annoying when someone tells you that. But it's one thing or the other, y'know?"

Continue with the conversation, Renamon. If that's true... then learn about it so you can control it. You seek knowledge, correct?

"Is that..." She sighed. "Is that a normal reaction for humans?"

It was true that she knew more about humans than almost any other Digimon, having lived years in the human world, but having Rika as a partner was difficult at times for learning's sake. Like for this. She wouldn't imagine Rika liking someone enough to react like that. And who would it be? Takato? Henry? Laughable. And the same should be true for her. Granted, she was fond of Impmon, but....

She was putting too much thought into this.

"Happens to everybody," Yukari assured with a casual gesture of her hand. "There's a lot of reasons for it and it's different depending on the person, but... It's not weird. Don't worry about it."

That was way off for Mr. H, and Shiki was most definitely not a Nicole. Yet his name remained the same, so why- oh. The older man's comment made Joshua think of what it had to be... they were saying that 'Joshua' was his real name, what he really was, and not just the name that he preferred for himself. When he thought about it that way, it made perfect sense, and suddenly felt a lot more grating than it had been only a few moments ago. That's how it usually felt with Mr. H- he always seemed to notice those things that Joshua didn't.

At the exchange between the other two, Joshua simply shrugged. "They could both be right," he stated, as he knew more than most how 'parallel' worlds worked and what could happen in them. "Though I don't think he ever said that he had been here. Probably wouldn't want to admit it, knowing him."

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Day 37: Sun Room (4th Shift)

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