damned_institute | DAY 37: MEN'S SHOWERS (4th Shift)

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DAY 37: MEN'S SHOWERS (4th Shift)

There had been an awkward air left between him and Tyki after their conversation. Yuuri knew he wasn't the best at explaining much of anything, and for the tenth time he wondered why Murata wasn't here to answer the difficult questions for him. Everyone had been herded out of the cafeteria after that, and Yuuri had simply followed along in confusion as he headed towards the showers.

Yuuri still hadn't seen Wolfram yet and the young Maou was wondering if the blonde Mazoku was alright. Stretching his head up higher, Yuuri attempted to look over the heads of the other patients around him in an attempt to catch sight of Wolfram. Unfortunately, though, he was unsuccessful.

"Where are you, Wolfram?" He muttered to himself while stepping under the shower's spray. Maybe a shower would help clear his mind.

[Waiting for Wolfram]

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Brainiac 5 slowly followed suit, sinking down to sit against the wall beside Clark. He could tell he was taking the information badly, but Brainy couldn't afford to tell him anything that would reassure him. It would raise too many other questions and end up doing more harm than good.

"If there were any calls for help, no one heard them," he said, but knew that he was lying despite how steady his voice remained. There hadn't been any calls for help; the first Brainiac would have made sure to prevent any such transmissions, to keep the death of an entire planet as sudden and unexpected as he could. "What we do know is that Jor-El did try to warn the people of Krypton, but as their..." the pause was only minor and easily overlooked before he continued. "...highly advanced computer systems didn't detect any such problems, they disregarded his warnings until it was too late."

He didn't answer the clearly rhetorical question about the Kryptonians, it was something that Brainiac 5 couldn't have been expected to know and something Clark would have to find out on his own.

Instead he sighed and turned to study Clark, a careful look of interest in place as he remembered to act as though he didn't know the other boy at all. "If you don't mind me asking, why are you so interested in Krypton and its past anyway, Clark?"

So Jor-El had tried to warn them. Thinking that name sent a shiver up his spine as he remembered that night when he stepped into the storm cellar and saw a bright, unreal glow and heard a voice speaking to him. He'd heard it too right before he woke up in Landels, heard it say that same name. Now he knew what the name meant. But he wasn't sure how he felt about it. On one hand, at least Jor-El tried to warn the others but his warnings apparently fell on deaf ears...but on the other hand, Clark just couldn't shake off that message in the ship. He couldn't tell Brainy about it either because that would give away who he was and while Clark had been on the verge of admitting to Claire his abilities, he wasn't ready to go that extra step and spill everything.

Even to someone who might have more in common with him than anyone he'd ever met before.

Clark wondered how long ago this was for Brainy. Years according to what he said, but how many? Glancing at Brainy, who sat down next to him on the wet tiles to join him, Clark was surprised to finally notice he sounded kind of...well, kind of regretful. Not like been-there-regretful, but like he might've known someone who died on Krypton. That or he was really a big history buff and this was even longer ago for him than he thought and he still cared what happened to a long gone planet. When asked about his interest in Krypton, Clark gave a vague shrug, wrapping his arms around his knees and lacing his fingers together.

"I heard about it," Clark said grudgingly, not wanting to reveal more but knowing he had to say something. "This man said he was watching the stars for signs of life and he said Krypton was gone. I just wanted to know if it was true."

He hedged around the real question, pretending like he misunderstood it. Even if they were both aliens here, he still didn't feel comfortable admitting what he really was. Not only was he an alien on Earth, but he was probably the last one of his species anywhere and he still didn't know what would happen when he grew older. It scared him even more than he admitted to his Mom and Dad because he had no idea what else was ticking inside him like all his other powers. Dad said he had a choice, but the truth was he didn't know anything about Kryptonians or his "destiny" more than his son did. Clark had always lived with a part of him knowing he was different, alone even with this friends and family, but it felt even heavier now as he sat on the wet floor with Brainy next to him.

Brainiac 5 didn't respond immediately to Clark's grudging answer, despite how clearly wrong he knew it to be. Saying anything to that effect without thinking on it carefully first would just make Clark more suspicious of him; he would have to wait and allow Clark to come to trust him of his own free will.

But the news that Clark had spoken to someone on Earth who had known about Krypton and noted its destruction, that was interesting. "He was watching the stars for signs of life?" he asked, an oddly playful tone to his voice. "If you don't mind me saying so, he appears to have missed a few things." Even if Clark had known that Brainiac 5 wasn't from his time, the statement was still true. From what he recalled of Earth's history that had survived the Great Crisis, Superman had hardly been the only alien on the planet. And unless this stranger had some uniquely advanced technology at his disposal, there was no possible way he could have been keeping an eye on every single planetary system. It just wasn't feasible.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Clark," he said carefully. "He was clearly mistaken about some things, not to mention that Krypton's destruction, while tragic, doesn't have much of an impact on our situation here. I understand you might find it... interesting in a way, but I don't understand why you would be so upset by the it."

The statement came across harsher than he would have liked, but he needed to remember that from Clark's perspective he didn't know that the other was the last son of Krypton, so would have naturally been curious about his questions.

"I'm not upset," Clark said. Even he didn't believe himself when it came out like that, but it was automatic to deny anything was wrong or in any way different about himself. He'd had to lie so long that it was a reflex to protect his secret, even a half-hearted attempt like right now. "It's just that he seemed pretty sure. Maybe Colu's too far for him to have detected anything, but he knew about Krypton."

His butt was getting wet from the tiles. It was actually a pretty uncomfortable place to just sit down like this: whatever daydreams he might've had about finding the truth about where he was from, spending the reality of it sitting on a damp floor of a fake mental institute with a robot alien next to him wasn't exactly how he pictured it. Something niggled at the back of his mind, telling him something Brainy told him wasn't adding up and if only he could place his finger on it, it'd answer all his questions about what happened to Krypton. But try as he might, Clark just couldn't pinpoint it. He gave up, not really feeling up to trying to go over Brainy's words with a fine tooth comb. Maybe he was imagining it.

Sighing, Clark shifted his position on the floor, glancing at Brainy. It surprised him a stranger was willing to sit here and answer his questions about what had to be old news to him. He was right, though. To be brutally honest, what happened to Krypton was over a decade ago (at least to him, maybe it was actually longer for all he knew) and it didn't matter in Landels just how the planet died. Surviving every day was what did. If Brainy was as new to Landels as he thought and new to being human, than he really should be worrying more about protecting Brainy than what he couldn't change.

Didn't make it any easier.

Changing the subject, Clark got to his feet, brushing unconsciously at the seat of his pants as if it'd pat away the water. "Look, it's nothing. You're new here, right?" he asked. He held out a hand to help Brainy up. "It's not safe at night here. I don't know if anyone told you, but it's safer to travel in groups."

"Well regardless as to if your mysterious friend knew for certain or was just guessing, he did come to the right conclusion. Krypton is no more." Brainiac 5 wasn't sure he trusted this person Clark spoke of; he seemed to know too much about things that he just... shouldn't, couldn't, have known. Like how he knew the planet's name was Krypton and how he'd learned of its existence in the first place. While Brainiac 5 far from enjoyed or approved of what his ancestor had done all those centuries ago, he did know that Brainiac 1.0 was thorough and would have tried to prevent as much information on Krypton's destruction getting out a possible. That a human scientist on Earth had managed to find out the planet's name and that it had been destroyed was decidedly suspicious.

But asking too many questions about that now would only result in attention being drawn to himself and why he was so interested. Better to leave it until later and try to find out more once he'd gained Clark's trust. Hopefully it was merely a strange coincidence, perhaps a small message had managed to escape after all and had been picked up by this human by chance, but it was more likely there was more to it than that.

His thoughts were interrupted as Clark rose to his feet and offered his hand to assist Brainy in standing. For a moment, the Coluan boy only looked at it, seeming surprised by the offer, but then he took it with a faint smile. Clark's hand was surprisingly warm, he realised, warmer than he would have expected even with the absence of his dermal plating. But the contact was appreciated, both because of who had offered it and what it meant. On Colu, social contact was kept to an absolute minimum and it had taken Brainiac 5 some time to get used to what was considered normal contact among the Legion. So even though he was mostly used to such thing, sometimes he was still taken aback by something as simple as an offer to help him up.

"Thank you," he said warmly, both for the reassuring touch of Clark's hand and his offer of advice. "I had heard something similar from others here, but the data I tried gathering earlier on the board made it difficult for me to learn much about what was going on. A lot of people seemed to be intent on cluttering my data with false information about the existence of magic and gods." He sighed heavily.

"But I did manage to arrange to meet up with someone else in the hopes of taking a look at the laboratories here. I want to learn more about what was done to myself and others to make us human."

That and the bulletin board was monitored by the staff. You really had to watch what you said there, so it wasn't like you could get the best information off there. It explained why that primer kept getting posted - the staff must be removing it when they noticed it was up.

Clark's lips pursed as Brainy told him about his plans for the night. Good. He wasn't going alone but he had to wonder just how successful he'd be. Landels was a whole bigger beast than just finding people who could control bees or whatever back in Smallville and he wasn't so sure if they'd find out just how, exactly, you could turn someone from a cyborg alien to a human. Nothing on Earth that he knew of, but he decided against pointing that little fact out.

"Be careful," said Clark. "Especially if you go upstairs."

Clark's own most vivid memory of being up there hadn't been good. He'd been practically chewed up and spit out by some kind of freakish monster and while he'd thankfully blacked out for some of it, he'd been still awake for more than he remembered. It wasn't something he could forget any time soon. Neither was that nurse he'd burned days ago. Sometimes he wished he could talk about stuff like this but there was no one here he trusted enough to tell all the details to.

"I'll be fine, Clark. I'll have company and while I may be without my natural abilities, I should be able to look after myself well enough." Of course, his company was Grell, so if anything Brainiac 5 would be looking after him and neither of them were armed, but telling Clark those minor details would only make him worry and that would serve no purpose.

Before he could think of something, anything, else to talk about - because talking with Clark was always enjoyable and he wanted to put off stopping for as long as possible - the intercom chimed again and the nurses began moving around, collecting up the patients to take them back to their rooms for dinner.

A look of annoyance crossed Brainiac 5's face, he didn't want to have to bow to the whims of this facility, to allow them to decide what he did and when. But with the number of nurses and orderlies around, trying to argue would only cause trouble and be an ultimately childish gesture. He'd have to try and be patient, to bid his time, learn more about where he was and how he'd been brought here, then use that knowledge to leave. And until then at least he knew he'd have Clark's company to rely on and look forward to.

"Can I see you tomorrow?" he asked hopefully. "Perhaps over lunch or something?" He'd already agreed to meet someone else earlier, but having Clark's company to look forward to later in the day would make things decidedly easier to cope with.

Clark nodded, a small smile on his face. "Sure, that'd be great. I've so many questions," he added, a little bit in a rush. "If you don't mind."

Despite the shaky start, Clark thought maybe they could be friends. He felt a little bit less alone now that he knew someone who seemed to know about where he was from, if not who he was. Clark was dying to know what Colu was like and what Krypton had been like before it died. It felt like a door was opening. Clark waved good-bye to Brainy as he was ushered out by one of the nurses.

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DAY 37: MEN'S SHOWERS (4th Shift)

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