damned_institute | Day 37: Intercom, Evening

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Day 37: Intercom, Evening

"And I believe it's time to start wrapping up the day," was what the Head Doctor said after the intercom's initial jingle. "Now that everyone's all cleaned up, I think it's time for some... that's right, dinner!

"Tonight, we're serving some scrumptuous rotisserie herb chicken, seasoned with rosemary, lemon juice, and other delicious seasonings. On the side, we have cooked asparagus with bits of grilled onion, as well as small roasted potatoes with garlic and butter; for dessert, we'll be serving vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on top. Our normal assorted drinks and specialized diet alternatives are available.

"Some of you might find that you have new roommates since your old ones were fortunate enough to recover and leave us. Hopefully, you'll be able to see them again the next time we have visitors if you wish, but in the meantime please treat your new bunkmates kindly.

"I believe that's all for now. I hope you had a wonderful day and that you have a delicious dinner! ...Well, you'll definitely be having a delicious dinner, but there's nothing surprising about that, is there? Hahaha..."

With a seemingly good-natured chuckle, the Head Doctor turned off his mic.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. Find your character's room assignments here.

All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you! ]

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Well, this was... timely. Was this the news Hitsugaya had planned to offer Daniel? In a way, Vlad felt an intense relief at the news, because it meant he knew how the doctor was to be found now, and was sure Daniel wouldn't kill another for the chance to possibly gain revenge. Risking himself, perhaps, but convincing him of the foolishness of that act shouldn't be too difficult.

If he believed Vlad at all. He might just assume it was a lie to keep him from the basement. Perhaps a less open way of keeping Daniel redirected... Realizing he was staring at Qui-Gon without answering, Vlad shook his head once, frowning quietly. "I see. Thank you for telling me. I'm sorry to hear that--you've been a very pleasant roommate." For once, Vlad was entirely sincere.

"I'm sure you realize that any doors opened by that supposed 'doctor' are sure to be a trap of sorts, but there may be an answer past that. Good luck to your group." And if none of them returned? Well, that was an answer of sorts as well. "Your news is actually... quite conveniently timed for me as well. My younger acquaintance here, I believe I mentioned him before, has been posting on the boards, trying to find information about where to meet with Dr. Landel, and even received a response though no answers yet. I'm relieved he didn't receive directions possibly without warnings. In a situation like that, I'm certain he'd die."

Considering, he added, "I assume that you haven't advertised this widely because you don't want to encourage others to run down in that direction blindly, possibly sacrificing each other for the good doctor's entertainment without gain." Whether there would be gain or not would be determined tonight.

"I will not spread this and simply do my best to redirect my young friend for now, then, and hopefully tomorrow you'll be able to tell me something more of what you've discovered?" The last was with a faint hopeful smile and raised eyebrows. Assuming Qui-Gon survived, he was of course under no obligation to share his discoveries with Vlad. Vlad wasn't the one risking his life--he doubted he would, given the chance to sacrifice another, even his quiet but calming roommate. But he also didn't think Qui-Gon or Sanzo were inclined towards self-sacrifice without thinking of the Institute's good as a whole. Otherwise, why keep their dangerous discovery a secret?

The corner of Qui-Gon's mouth quirked up in a dry smile. "It most likely is a trap," he said, not particularly surprised that was one of the first conclusions Vlad would jump to. "But if he tries to manipulate us like he did back in the arena, he'll find he won't succeed twice."

Qui-Gon had no intentions of fighting Obi-Wan. He would fight by his side but no matter what games Martin Landel tried to play, he would never turn on his friend. He did regret having to lay this on Vlad's shoulders, though, especially since they had not talked as much as he would have liked. But listening to his roommate's words and probing with the Force as much as he was able, he believed Vlad would stand by what he said. He would use this information carefully. It did concern him that his young friend was already trying to find out more information, but hopefully Vlad would be able to guide him somewhere else.

"Thank you," Qui-Gon said simply, meeting Vlad's eyes. "If I'm here tomorrow, I'll tell you what I found out. If not, then you'll know just how dangerous it was. My friend and I didn't want this spread because of exactly what you would predict would happen: one life was already lost to get this far. There's no need to lose more."

He didn't know what happened to Sanzo's body. He assumed it had been taken to the morgue, but there was a chance it'd been transported or cremated or whatever it was, exactly, that Earthian humans used to take care of their dead. Qui-Gon was surprised to find out he didn't even know that simple fact about their culture, despite his attempts to learn more about this planet. Getting to his feet, Qui-Gon headed to where he had placed some of the medicine he'd picked up from last night from the pharmacy. The majority of it he would have to take with him tonight but the rest he would entrust to Vlad. The Jedi Master turned back to Vlad and handed him two small bottles, some kind of pills inside.

"I found these last night. I'd like you to have them," he said. He didn't add "in case", leaving it unspoken. Eventually someone would have to investigate the South Hall and while Qui-Gon didn't expect that person to necessarily be Vlad, he hoped he would be able to guide whoever was next and warn them about the dangers the Jedi would be walking into blind.

There was also the option of giving Vlad one of his commlinks and using Obi-wan's twin...but he would have to think about that. If he got separated from Obi-Wan beyond the North Door, he would need to keep in touch with him and those makeshift commlinks were the only options...even if they were mostly untested.

That was, the individuals going tonight would not kill each other, even for the sake of learning more about the Institute? Vlad interpreted Qui-Gon's words that way, but wondered if it would be as simple as that. After all, it was easy enough for the Institute to brainwash patients into turning against friends or strangers. And waiting the night out rather than agreeing to fight might not be so easy once the focus of the doctor's attention was fully on them. Or more unusual, more dangerous monsters than the ones found commonly here might be waiting...

Vlad watched Qui-Gon's eyes in return, curious, not quite sympathetic but at least appreciative of what the other man was going through. He hadn't thought about his roommate's origins much beyond general acceptance that 'fiction' and 'reality' seemed to blur here, but now he thought he recalled something about Jedi being able to read minds. Or was that control minds? Vlad didn't consider himself as comically evil as Daniel liked to imagine, but he also wasn't in denial that many of the things he did were at best morally questionable. Was his roommate simply desperate, or could he genuinely tell that Vlad had no intention of spreading rumors about where to find Dr. Landel and the blood sacrifice required? Vlad had nothing to gain from it, and even if he wasn't personally revolted by bloodshed, he didn't especially feel like helping the doctor get his jollies.

And someone would need to know what had happened, should Qui-Gon not return. What kind of responsibility was he actually being left with, apart from an agreement not to explain where to find Dr. Landel in person? He took the pills, glancing over the bottles with only momentary concern. If he'd been strictly the businessman he claimed to be and not the scientist he was, he'd likely have had little use for the medicines inside, unable to dose himself or others, but as it was he simply nodded.

"And if you don't return... I would assume that you were dead, but some would assume it meant you had been granted freedom for jumping through the proper hoops, a one-way trip." Vlad pointed out mildly, raising his eyebrows. "Either way, silence or a simple message that you have left like any other patient seems insufficient response if you aren't here in the morning. Was there anyone in particular you would prefer I did speak to in that event?" But, if there were, Qui-Gon had likely already spoken to them during the day, Vlad supposed. It would be rather anti-climactic, but helpful, if the Jedi managed to survive the night instead.

Qui-Gon sat down on the edge of his bed, the mattress giving under the tall Jedi's weight. He was as ready as he would be: what he would need was some rest before he set off.

"It would most likely be because I was dead," Qui-Gon said mildly. "My goal isn't to escape."

He had known that within his first couple of days here. What was happening here was big, on a much larger scale than he anticipated and what was a threat to Earth would sooner or later be a threat to the Republic, the Jedi and the Force itself: Martin Landel was a living void in the Force and he would have to be dealt with before any escape would be possible. Martin Landel had the ability to steal people from different times, across space and even from death itself, it seemed. There was nowhere safe from him. Qui-Gon turned and lay down on the bed, closing his eyes and listening to his breathing. If he kept his eyes closed and stretched out with his senses, he could feel Vlad's presence in the room, calm and collected, with curious swirls of black.

"If I'm not here tomorrow, seek out someone called Obi-Wan Kenobi," Qui-Gon said, eyes closed. He appreciated the effort Vlad was willing to put, though they were still very much strangers. "If he's still here as well. He'll be a young man with cropped brown hair and a ponytail in the back," it was still a fairly noticeable hairstyle to Qui-Gon, especially with his Padawan's rank braid removed. He'd gotten so used to seeing it hanging over his shoulder than it still took some getting used to seeing it gone. "If he's missing as well, then..."

He didn't open this eyes. There was really no one else he would trust with this information - what he did need was any information to get back to the Jedi Council on Coruscant, but he suspected they were several galaxies out of reach.

"Look in the desk's drawer for my journal. It'll have everything I've learned. Keep it safe and watch out for any others like me," Qui-Gon said. There were some personal entries he'd made with Obi-Wan in mind but he would have to let those go if it came to this. There was a possibility Obi-wan would see this before he intended it to but that, too, was something he would have to accept. "If you find any other Jedi, give it to them."

<font size="1>[Something unfortunately came up. Qui-Gon will take a brief nap and I have to go on hiatus for him beginning nightshift until maybe next nightshift, but I'm not sure how long it'd last. He'll basically be missing until then even though he won't be able to make it to basement tonight. Really sorry to have to do this. ;___; Also sorry for the gajillion posts, I had to go back and fix mistakes]</font>

"And I'm sure the goal last night wasn't to have one of your friends slain... it seems to me that this place is not oriented towards granting us what we're looking for. You might be sent off with protest," Vlad pointed out, before adding, "but I doubt it." No, death was the more likely outcome, that was sure.

His roommate seemed to feel that as well, or simply fatigue, laying back on his bed and closing his eyes. The description would at least help, even if the name Obi-Wan Kenobi was familiar. Vlad wondered if the other Jedi would have some plan of what to do in the event of Qui-Gon's death, apart from probably mourning his friend. Vlad himself was still trying to decide exactly what to do. He certainly had information now, more than enough to make up for the nights where they'd exchanged only light pleasantries and well-wishes before heading off to their own night's work. What would be in that notebook?

From what Vlad had read on the boards, those who 'disappeared' or who died had all of their things confiscated by the end of the evening. Then he would start the evening by taking the notebook out of its hiding place. Whatever he did with it, and whatever it contained, letting it simply vanish overnight because Qui-Gon had done the same would be unacceptable. His own notebook was light, only with map copies and a few mildly helpful comments from the boards, nothing that couldn't be replaced. Qui-Gon must have had something more.

"If Obi-Wan Kenobi is still within the facility after your own exit, you mean, I should give it to him?" Assuming they weren't both going to be vanishing tonight. "Otherwise, I'll simply keep it with me, then, and keep an eye open for others from your own realm of experience." And browse it. But surely that was understood simply by handing it over.

That was true. But somehow he didn't think it would be so to just get out of here and somehow be pardoned and granted leave to just walk off the premises.

"Yes," Qui-Gon said. He wasn't sure if that would be necessary, if Obi-Wan was with him: if the basement was going to be as dangerous as he suspected, if he got killed, there was a good chance Obi-Wan would be in mortal danger as well. There might not be any survivors. But if by chance Obi-Wan did survive, than yes, he would want Vlad to give it to him. Of course he would have a look himself but Qui-Gon knew it would be better if his roommate peeked inside instead of no one knowing about its contents. What he learned shouldn't be lost. "Thank you again for understanding and doing this for me."

[No hurry! ^^]

"Well, I suppose I could refuse, but that would be rather petty of me, wouldn't it?" A bit brighter than the tone so far, but the other man seemed to understand his circumstances, and Vlad wasn't particularly one for maudlin exchanges of emotion. Having things settled before one died was better than many people got--Vlad had personally met a few like that, and it could be messy, working around whatever missing piece in life had followed consciousness into death.

"I'll care for your notebook and look for Obi-Wan or another of your kind," he repeated, "and attempt to discourage others from seeking the doctor by the path you encountered before. Or rather, discourage those inclined towards it, avoid spreading the subject altogether if I can." The first part he stood to benefit from, the second was a bit more charitable, but still not exactly pure in motives. Spite at the doctor wasn't pure, was it? Even if it was more than earned.

"Good luck this evening, then. If we do see each other tomorrow, I'll have your notebook for you."

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Day 37: Intercom, Evening

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