damned_institute | Day 38: Patients' Library

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Day 38: Patients' Library

The intercom rang out, disrupting what had turned out to be a rather pointless breakfast conversation, at least in Brainiac 5's eyes. He couldn't wait to put more distance between himself and Scar's blather of how logic, of all things, might not work the same way in this dimension. It was almost enough to make him believe that the man may very well have been a lion originally after all, as he'd never heard anything so very... ignorant and uneducated.

He quickly finished up the fruit he'd been nibbling on - he was no longer as hungry as he had been - and looked around automatically to see where Clark was. Unfortunately with the press of people around, some being led off to the library and others to the mentioned 'therapy sessions' - if that was what they really were - he had lost sight of the Kryptonian. Still there wasn't many places he could go, so Brainiac 5 would be able to catch up with him eventually to check on his condition and try and learn more about what had happened last night. That the Chapel had healed him - admittedly by passing his injuries to another - was interesting, but far more important in his eyes was what had happened to Clark and his powers. They hadn't been working correctly and that worried the Coluan boy more than he would normally have admitted. Without Clark's abilities... he wasn't sure what they would have to rely on in order to escape.

Another problem he would have to deal with was Grell... or, if he was to believe the notes on the bulletin board, the person pretending to be Grell. But that was going to require more careful planning before he made a move. Come to think of it, he had agreed to meet another in the library today on that same post that had sparked this whole mess. At least then he would have something of interest to look forward to, as he doubted any of the 21st century books were likely to be worthwhile to someone of his advanced intellect.

Following the nurses led him to what must have been the library; a reasonably large room filled with a range of archaic books on tall shelves, a few tables and chairs interspersed around the room. The Coluan boy couldn't refrain from wrinkling his nose in distaste as he entered the room, not liking the cumbersome books and the dust that he knew would have gathered on them; he much preferred the clean arrangement of his C.O.M.P.U.T.O. systems back in the Legion headquarters. It was much more practical then shelves and shelves of books on fictional worlds and dated information.

Trying to avoid as much of the room as possible, Brainiac 5 settled himself down on a chair to wait, keeping an eye out for a tall, dark-haired man with a red... something on his forehead.

[for Homura]

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The sad part was that Raine had liked these as a teenager... and had read her share of them, since she'd certainly had the time. Now... things were suddenly much the same in some respects.

Well. Again, the scene's location was interesting, if nothing else.

Sheena couldn't take it anymore, she leaned forward just enough that her words, barely audible, would register to the half-elf without her realizing Sheena was right there.

"The steam from the shower cloaked their presence from the others in the room. Buck grabbed Lila's ass with both hands, his muscles bulging with the strain, as he lifted her up and thrust deep into her," Sheena read when the fresh pager started. "Lila cried out at the flood of sensations, feeling the heat from Buck's throbbing member as he moved in a steady rhythm."

Clark's smile was a little embarrassed, "Actually, I love reading," he admitted. He'd always been reading up in the barn's loft or in the Talon, something that Lex had commented on in amusement before; he never figured a Smallville farmboy for a bookworm too.

He smiled in return as Sora introduced himself, reaching out and shaking the younger kid's hand. Used to being tall, Clark still felt like a giant when he looked down and noticed his hand almost enveloped Sora's.

"I'm Clark Kent," Clark said. He asked the next logical question, "You new here or it's been awhile...?"

Raine meeped, slammed the book shut, and whirled around to see who was there.

In retrospect, she should have known.

"Very funny." She had a feeling she was NEVER going to hear the end of this, and considering Sheena already thought she had a love life, she could imagine hurting the ninja over it.

Forte didn't care if Starscream was dishonest, as long as he was useful.

"Dishonesty, I don't care about. We're trying to find the same thing. But cowardice is unforgivable."

The boy wasn't an expert on humans, but despite Lugnut's size, he didn't look well. Forte considered suggesting food, but plenty of people had been trying to convince him to eat, and it wasn't Forte's job to nurse a potential ally to health (apparently, that was Blitzwing's job). But the injuries were interesting.

"How did you get hurt? Did you get into a fight?"

The grin on Sheena's face when Raine turned around was so wide it threatened to split her face in two. This was too good to pass up. She was going to get hit, she knew this, but it was going to be worth it. So very, very worth it.

The ninja shifted to the side where she ran her hands down both of Raine's arms, as if she was hitting on her friend, and said in a husky, overdone sensual voice, "Now, now Raine... Don't you want to keep reading about how the sweat on his back mixed with the steam in the air, clinging to his back as he picked his pace up to the cries of 'Take me Buck! Oh god, give it to me hard! Harder!'?"

Amusement danced plain in Sheena's eyes as she finished her teasing up by adding in a little sexy growl. "You're blushing, by the way. So cute."

"...ah. I'm sorry to hear that." And he really did sound sorry, like they weren't just empty words. Yukito glanced down toward the book without really looking at it, absently riffling through the pages. He wasn't really in the mood to read anything at the moment, no matter what book he was holding; he didn't think he could focus.

He looked up again and smiled brightly in response to the question, though, trying to be reassuring. "Oh, you don't have to worry about me," he insisted. "I'm all right, really." Not that he looked entirely all right, not with how stiffly he was holding himself, but he hadn't sustained those injuries on that night and didn't see the need to mention them.

The fact that Sync was so convinced that he could kill Guy, especially considering what the God-General's eventual fate had been - it was enough to make the swordsman clench his fists as he did his best to exhale his anger and keep his cool.

Because he did have to acknowledge that he had been severely injured by Sync just a few nights back, and death really could be a possibility when he was so ill-prepared.

Glancing at the book Sync picked up with narrowed eyes, Guy examined the cover for a moment before shaking his head. "No..." He couldn't help wondering if Claude had, but he buried that thought, not wanting his friend to be connected to Sync in even the slightest way.

"Why do you ask?" He doubted that he wanted to know, but part of him was curious about the book as well. And maybe if he went along with Sync's conversations more readily, the boy would get bored of it and stop bothering him.

Raine didn't drop the book--she used it to discreetly hit Sheena in the stomach. Hard. With that, she stepped out of the girl's reach and said, "The genres I choose to read are also none of your business."

If this had any relation to Raine pushing her too far the other night, she was sorry for that, but enough was enough.

"Hey, I never said a meat cleaver was obsolete," Claude said with a dry smile, "but I think he'd really appreciate it just the same." And anyway...it wasn't like he wanted to give Ashton's sword to just anybody. Maybe it was selfish, what with the lists of people wanting swords for themselves. But Guy was technically one of those of people, so it wasn't like he was being irrational about it or anything.

Either way, Dias sounded like he was all right with his idea, and that was what mattered. Claude hadn't wanted to argue about it, especially considering the circumstances.

"I'll talk to him about it later today," he quietly added.

"Oof!" That one hurt. Usually Raine didn't hit her that hard but... Well, she did deserve it.

Sheena rubbed her stomach and laughed. "Do you have any idea how long I was there? I think you went through half a chapter before I decided to start reading out loud." She grinned. "If you're so worried about people seeing you reading one of those, maybe you should read it in the...privacy of your room." The sparkle in the ninja's eyes was unmistakable. It clearly said I win.

Maybe it was rough, but for someone who was related to a man who was called a shark by the media, it seemed downright gentle. Peter was grateful for that, since while he would have been even more of a mess if it had been someone he'd really known, Elle's death was still overwhelming.

"Yeah," he responded, tone strained. His throat still hurt slightly from being strangled last night, but the pounding in his head made it a little less noticeable.

There wasn't really any way to respond to that, and Peter wasn't looking for condolences, but now he had at least given an explanation for the state he was in. Not wanting to dwell on the subject any further, he leaned back in his chair and glanced over at Roland. "So, you got a weapon? What is it?" He knew the subject change would be painfully obvious, but he had never been particularly discreet.

Showing no recognition at the name, Sora just nodded amiably and then pulled his hand back. There was nothing wrong with loving to read, but Sora did have to admit it wasn't his cup of tea, even though he was wondering if he should change that. On the other hand, he was who he was.

At Clark's question, he gave a quick shake of his head and then started to move to a less crowded part of the library, since people kept trying to get by them as they searched for books. Hopefully Clark would know to follow him.

"A while," he responded as he walked. "I actually think I'm one of the people who's been here the longest," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head. He realized it wasn't obvious just by looking at him, but hopefully Clark wouldn't underestimate him just because of his age (or his size!).

"I wasn't expecting anyone to read over my shoulder like a toddler." Genis had been known for that frequently when he was very young, and she thought it might shame Sheena into silence.

Yes, it was wishful thinking.

"Then don't get upset about it," Sheena replied, that grin still on her face. "You know, it could have been someone worse stopping to read over your shoulder, like Kratos or someone who's opinion you actually care about."

She took a small step back just in case Raine got the idea of hitting her again. "Lucky you got me instead. Honestly, Raine, can you be any more oblivious when you read? No wonder nothing apparently went anywhere with you and Reinforce; you were probably too engrossed a book to catch any signals telling you to make a move or something."

Okay, she deserved getting hit again.

That certainly was a mouthful, Yukari had to agree. What was it, Spanish or something? It'd been a long, long time since she'd had anything to do with the Old World, so her knowledge of those trivialities was fuzzy at best. Ran would probably know.

Tyki Mikk, on the other hand, didn't have any particular outstanding connotations she could recognize.

"Well, Tyki, while they do seem to be a bunch of stick-in-the-mud's, it can be relatively fun to do what they say," suggested Yukari. "After all, I imagine it's much less fun to spend a shift sedated than playing along with their game, at least a little bit. Have you ever had that opportunity? I could be wrong; maybe they give us the fun kind of drugs when they do that."

Well, half-sedated patients certainly were fun, but that was from an outside perspective.

Raine twitched; it was very tempting to hit Sheena again, but the nurses were watching as closely as ever and she had something of a history of being violent. She settled on giving the ninja a glare that promised pain later. "If you know what's good for you, drop it."

At least Sheena hadn't brought up Valyn. Yet.

Oh, so Vux was a species, not a place. Well. "Oh. Are they very different from us, then?" Maybe that was why Zex couldn't smile quite right. He thought back again to what he'd seen of Yuna and Sera, how their expressions never really seemed to change. "I didn't think anyone could do something like that, either. And there are others?" Troublesome. Poor Bon; Teisel hoped he was safe at home. "Not just the non-humanoids. I had, er...different eyes before I wound up here. Maybe the same thing that put you in that body replaced my optics...?" It'd be nice to have some kind of explanation for that, even if it didn't actually explain anything.

"Ah, good," he said, "then you can take care of the brains and I'll take care of the muscle. A nice fair split." He wasn't sure he'd be any good at taking direction, since he was used to calling the shots back home, but under the circumstances he'd do whatever he was told if it might help him get out of here. As long as the admiral was reasonable, of course.

"Story? I had no idea they'd gone that far with it." Teisel didn't quite see why they'd come up with some elaborate character that everyone was supposed to be, but why not? Stranger things had happened in this place. "You're right, though. That might be good to know." Hmm.

Taking solace in the fact that Zex just didn't know how to grin, Teisel grinned back, minus the lechery. "Me too. I'm looking forward to it." He was going to go do something useful, and he might even end up beating something to a pulp. Teisel wasn't a vicious man, but last night on top of four days' worth of frustration... He needed to lessen the tension somehow. If not, he really would go crazy.

"Okay," Sheena replied with a well-timed pout. "Spoilsport."

Her lip twitched and she started toward the library door. "Enjoy Buck and Lila's Wild Bathroom Adventure," she said with a laugh, shooting Raine a grin back over her shoulder before disappearing into the Sun Room.

Mission accomplished.

[to the Sun Room]

Ophelia raised an eyebrow when she noticed the second journal fall out of the first one. Secret notes? Perhaps he kept some on all the women he watched. This guy really was a creeper if that was the case.

She snorted slightly when the man protested against her accusations. Even if he wasn't perverted, he certainly didn't react well to someone implying that he was. The game now appeared to be "How Much Blood Can I Get to Rush to His Cheeks Before He Bolts?" and she was more than confident that she could rack up a good score. She would have much preferred a game where the blood rushed out of her opponent's body rather than through it, but she would take what she could get in her current state.

"Oh, and why might that be?" she asked, leaning in another inch or two closer. "You'd rather watch than talk? Understandable. Some men are quite into that sort of thing."

It didn’t show on his face, sure, but Yuffie still felt it when he tensed. Only her supreme self-control stopped her from actually saying ‘tee-hee!’ out loud, or, better yet, letting her famous evil chuckle slip. That was reserved for special occasions, like pulling off a grand heist. “Nothing is as fun as being shepherded around like a bunch of lame-brained idiots,” she corrected.

She held the book out to him, reaching out with her left arm to grab another one for herself. “No way; this is a work of art! It’ll never fall down.” Kenshin did have a point, though… if she wanted to build up, she’d have to build out. Damn, where was Reeve when she needed him?! Wasn’t this stuff his area of expertise, when he wasn’t pretending to be a spazztastic little cat robot? He could probably turn a book-fort into a mini version of Midg--

Yuffie cut off that thought so fast it almost gave her whiplash, and for the briefest of moments, her smile thinned. A nanosecond later, she’d cranked up the ‘cheerful!’ right back to where it had been; to where it should be.

Edited 2009-01-12 07:12 (UTC)

Homura had been able to tell that someone was approaching, and he turned to the person when addressed. He was no more than a boy, but age often meant little when it came to these things. Nataku had been younger, after all. He nodded slightly. "I am. My name is Homura."

Careful of his ribs, Homura motioned to the seats where Brainiac 5 had just been before heading towards them. "You and I were going to talk about the differences in our worlds, I believe. It seems you've received quite a bit of negative response due to your views."

That explained it, then. Having someone lost like that, especially from a known quantity that Peter had been wanting to curb anyway, was always going to be rough. Of course, Roland couldn't help but feel a twinge of irony... if things really went to hell in a handbasket, Peter could wind up feeling exactly that way towards Roland himself. Perhaps even worse considering that Roland would not just massacre but brutally dismember whatever he killed.

Not a pleasant thought. He shook it, and the previous conversation, off with a smile and one last phrase. "I understand." And he did, too; perhaps better than most. At least the guy had made what he wanted so painfully clear that even Roland knew what he should be doing next?

His smile took on a slightly sharper slant as he explained, "I went digging down in the old mines outside of the Institute. Found some pick axes, pretty heavy but not cumbersome. The way I figure it, anything that can chip through solid stone should be able to do some damage to anything floating around here." More to the private point, it would keep him from having to use his own powers when confronted with danger.

"Yes, we're very different." ZEX smiled at the thought. Marvelously different! He really didn't see why people couldn't appreciate that. "That's part of why this human body has been so difficult for me... humans have many pieces that I'm not familiar with." As if to emphasis his point, ZEX squeezed Teisel's hand again. They were such a bizarre adaptation. "Hopefully my real body is still here, and the process can be reversed." Surely that had to be the case.

He paused for a moment in thought. "Yes, there are definitely others. Optics... that's an interesting word for eye..." Who did he know that used the word "optics"? The Chenjesu didn't have eyes, but the Mmrnmhrm did have eye-like equivalents, and from what he could remember of his conversations with HK... "Were you robotic in nature before coming here? There are a few others here in a similiar situation." Perhaps that'd explain his larger body!

"Yes, a fair split..." Still rather pleased at finding a pseudo-bodyguard so quickly. How well this lined up for his potential plans tonight! Although at his other question, ZEX sobered a little. "I'm not sure why they would create stories for our false lives, but they've also employed people that are supposedly from our old lives to corroborate them. I suspect it's another effort to wear down our defenses, or break our will." Not that ZEX would ever let something like that bother him... "Or perhaps just truly drive us mad..."

But he had better things to think about anyway, like how to best use the human in front of him to his advantage. "Hmm, I think this should be very interesting. Did you do this sort of thing before you came here?" It might be worth getting some more information on his new companion if he could.

"Huh." Pieces? Zex squeezed his hand again, and while Teisel was squeezing back it clicked in his mind that maybe that wasn't some random cultural gesture after all. "What, you don't have hands?" How did they pick things up, then? His mind conjured up people with awkward, useless stump arms. No wonder Zex was so weird.

Now he felt kind of bad for not believing Forte before. He'd have to apologize the next time he ran into the kid. He was amused at Zex's assumption about him, though. Apparently Vux didn't have bionic parts...? "Uh, no. I'm not. I went blind about eight years ago, so I had my eyes replaced with optical implants." They weren't pleasant memories. "Do Vux have anything like that?" Apparently, a lot of places didn't, which struck Teisel as sort of tragic. He couldn't imagine losing an eye or a limb and having to go without for the rest of his life. "But here, I've got my eyes back, just like I'd never lost them in the first place." It'd been a rude surprize, and it still bothered him.

Teisel listened as the admiral mentioned the actors this place brought in. "That's..." He struggled to find the appropriate word, and failed. "That's pretty sick. What's the point of all that? I mean, you're an admiral, at least, but most of us probably aren't even all that important. I know I'm not. Why bother?" Of course, why bother corralling all these people together at all? Maybe they didn't even have a reason. Maybe they were just cruel. Or bored.

He kept repeating to himself that Zex didn't know how to work his face properly, but Teisel still couldn't help blushing a little at the focused stare he was getting. Zex's tone of voice really didn't help, either. With effort, Teisel forced himself to listen to the words and ignore everything else. "Oh, yeah. The institute building and the monsters aren't too different from the sub-gates I work in back home. Uh, fundamentally, that is," he added, rubbing the back of his neck. That needle mark was really starting to bother him. "Monsters can only bite and scratch, as far as I've seen; they can't shoot at you like a reaverbot can. And I haven't found any traps in the building yet." He smirked. "Though I wouldn't be surprized if is had some. Never hurts to be cautious, right? I mean, if I get maimed here, I can't just replace what got crushed or cut off." He laughed. That was a concern, though. He'd have to be especially careful of his eyes.

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Day 38: Patients' Library

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