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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So he had been captured! How terrible for his new human! He hoped he hadn't suffered too much. ZEX tried to look sympathetic, in that he hoped somehow the emotion would translate to his human features somehow. "My roommate was also taken one night... I never did find out what happened to him. I hope you didn't suffer unduly." It would be a shame to have his human hurt now.

ZEX waved a hand in an odd looping pattern. Human bones made gesturing so difficult at times. "They were very boring, believe me. And not very receptive to being told so, either." Or being compared to a Carousel Beast and found wanting, but no need to mention that for the moment. "If your people were human, though, I doubt that they'd get along very well with mine. It's such a shame that they can't get past appearances..." They'd never know how nice it felt to have a human massage their back, for example. Their loss.

As for exploring differences... ZEX returned to fondling Teisel's hand. "Our species' unfortunate warring against each other made it difficult to truly understand each other, I think. How the other works..." Touching along the inside of his wrist, with a familiar smile. "How our bodies function, what makes us so different from the other... how we can overcome these differences to join together..." His voice trailing off, lost in fantasies of just what he was describing. "Mmmm, your smooth, hairless skin..."

Smiling lecherously at Teisel before catching himself at the next question. "Mmm, if you'd like to come see me, I wouldn't refuse." ZEX was still smiling.

She would hope she hadn't hurt him any. "Yeah, I was looking for something a little more... well, modern you know?" Or that didn't look as though it had come out of the stone age, either or.

When he complimented her, she waved a hand, blushing only slightly. "Oh shuush you, I don't even know your name." But even so, she didn't mind being called a lovely lady. It wouldn't kill the Doctor to pay her a compliment once in a while, but here she seemed to be getting them from total strangers every other shift.

Even with her head lowered a little Ayumu could see the blush on Robin's face. Even if he didn't entirely believe her, then, even if he still had suspicions remaining, it seemed that for now what she was saying was striking the appropriate nerves.

She did wonder just what he was thinking about, though, or what he thought it was that she was trying to get. It wasn't as though the patients had possessions worth stealing; even the items in the room upstairs didn't actually belong to them from what she could see. Did he realize that she was interested in what Mello was up to? Or was he up to something himself? No, she doubted that, on second thought.

When he stepped forward she made no motion to protest or move away. Though she kept the book in front of herself so that her arms crossed across her chest still provided a barrier of sorts between them, she relaxed at the hug, her eyes closing briefly as though she were trying to squeeze back tears. "I'm sorry, too," she replied softly. "I didn't mean to upset you at all. It's just...so different here."

Reno snorted softly. "You know, you make me look humble. That's a pretty damn amazing feat."

He tucked an arm behind his head and shrugged a shoulder. Were they actually having a civil conversation? That was also a pretty damn amazing feat.

"What do you take me for?" he asked, deadpan. "Lack of intriguing sexual positions, more like."

"Hmm." Sora had worried about that same thing himself, but after seeing a few of his friends from home here and then catching word from some of the other patients, he wasn't sure it worked in quite the way that Clark thought it did.

"I think that time might be stopped here. Uhh, I mean... the people back home, they probably don't know we're gone." It was a comforting thought, wasn't it? After seeing everyone at Destiny Islands again after being gone for so long, he didn't want them thinking that he'd left once more, without even a word of goodbye.

Once he did did get back, chances were it would be right at the time that he left. That's what he was guessing after everything he'd heard, at least. And while that would be a bit disconcerting, it was probably for the best.

"It's all right," the taller boy answered, shaking his head to show that he didn't mind. Well... he did, kind of, but there was no point in holding grudges about things like that. Ed was his friend, and besides, it wasn't like Adelheid had gotten anything done in the previous night either. So how could he complain?

[Sorry for the re-post; I'd posted my draft by accident!]

"Well that's a shame," the Doctor commented. "It's a big world out there; you ought to see more of it! You said you were a former butler… If you're not in anyone's employ at the moment, it could be a good time to do a little travelling. See some more of England if not the rest of the world."

He studied Grell for the briefest moment as the man played with his hair. For him not to have done much travelling could mean that his mistress had gone with other servants (perhaps her maids) while his duties left him at the estate, or that she simply did not leave the London estate often. Having a butler had been fashionable in several centuries, but they weren't completely unheard even in many other eras when they were less popular... The Doctor wondered when, exactly, Grell had been stolen from.

"I just... I don't stay. I never stay," he said in response to the former butler's question. "Maybe I would if I was on a holiday, but travelling is what I do. There's so much out there that still needs to be seen!" And it was true: he never stayed, and there was always something new just a short trip away. But Grell didn't need to know the full reasons for the why's and wherefore's, and the Doctor only rarely spoke about them anyway. Generalities would suffice.

"Isn't it?" she agreed with a smile. She herself was a little like that, living both inside Gensokyo and in the Outside World, slipping between the two effortlessly, almost like stepping between the past and future thanks to Gensokyo's timeless state. Trying to explain that whole situation seemed troublesome though, so Yukari left it at, "A dual life is certainly more fun than a single one.

"The trouble's when the two intersect," she continued, though she seemed more amused than troubled by the idea. "Though there's a certain rush in trying to keep it straight while it all falls down around you."

Even better when it was falling down around someone else and Yukari was causing the falling.

Brainiac 5's eyebrow quirked up at that. "I'm hardly insisting that you are incapable of whatever abilities you may have, only that saying such things are 'magic' or possible because you are a 'god' isn't logical. There's always a scientific explanation to everything, using terms such as 'magic' just clouds the real force behind it." Of course, it seemed those like Grell weren't willing to accept that, insisting that he just mindlessly believe their claims and thinking that by attacking him they would somehow prove him wrong. That was even less logical than claiming to be a 'death god' was.

But there was little point getting into that too much now. While it might be frustrating to encounter so many individuals who clung to such dated beliefs, he needed to concentrate on learning as much as possible in order to return home and undo whatever had been done to him here.

As such he managed to maintain relative silence as Homura talked of technology, gods, and mortals, though he privately believed that it was a poor god that knew little of technology. Or at least one that wasn't going to be a god for much longer.

"That's hardly much to go off," he observed. "After all, with little idea of what level of technology you're used to, I don't know if I would be going out of your depth just to describe archaic devices such as cars or if you would be able to follow an in depth discussion on the finer points of transdimensional theory." He shot the older man an amused look that may have been a little smug. "Besides, while I can discuss some points with you, certain advances and information in relation to my homeworld are... more private."

Brainiac 5 smiled faintly. "I don't want to give my people any more reason than they already have to come after me."

"Well, I am pretty damn amazing," Schuldig countered lazily. If the Turk wanted to surpass him, then clearly he had some work ahead of him; Reno couldn't have gotten an ego bigger than the telepath's without a bicycle pump.

At Reno's remark, he couldn't help laughing. "Intriguing sexual positions? Well, why are you resorting to a book when you're in the presence of an expert, anyway? You could just ask."

"I wouldn't advise holding your breath, but if I do find something, I'll let you know," the pale man affirmed, getting the general idea of what Peter was looking for. It was a shame that there were such slim pickings, but... he got the impression that Peter came from a different kind of world, perhaps one where God hadn't gone mad. For Roland, finding anything that helped even the odds was a tremendous thing; perhaps that was a benefit of living in the world he'd been cursed with. By contrast, a place like this wasn't so bad.

Even still, hearing the latter part of Peter's story brought Roland's attention back to the conversation he was currently in. "You have a brother?" That was interesting information, and Roland had to admit that he didn't know much about Peter either. The files he knew a very little about, but... at least he'd found someone else to get the file for him. It was rather surprising, considering how selfish most of the patients seemed to be.

It was at that point someone like Black☆Star would jump onto the table and demand to know what had happened and who to beat up, but Tsubaki only curled her fingers around the book and moved closer so that she could still be heard while keeping her voice down.

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," she said, dipping her head. No use pretending she hadn't, or that she wasn't the slightest bit concerned. He definitely looked more rough around the edges than he had the day before. "I won't stay long. It's just... I saw you last night, in the disciplinary therapy corridor." And I wanted to see if everything was all right was normally something one would say, but the situation obviously wasn't, and so Tsubaki left the words unsaid.

The question came soft, but unwavering: "You were taken up there, weren't you?"

Modern huh? "Honestly, I don't recognise most of these books myself, so I'm no help there. I could go for a couple of good histories myself. Maybe something on military tactics." So that he could laugh when he recognised a maneuver which didn't work half so well in real life as it did on paper.

Kenren smiled warmly at her, offering her a polite bow. "I'm called Kenren, my lady," he replied, sounding like he meant every word. "And yourself?"

Takaya glanced over and placed a name to the face. Kind of. "Yeah. Sorry. You look familiar, and I know you're Tony's friend and all, but I don't remember your name."

He didn't really care either, but he didn't say that out loud.

Logan's boast that he couldn't be killed was confusing - did he mean he was literally immortal? It seemed too much of a stretch to believe. But whatever his secret was he'd survived more than any normal human could have so there had to be some truth to the statement. More importantly, Logan was just as interested in taking another stab at Brock as Harry was which he could certainly respect. "Sure, soon as I can walk properly again we can see if round two goes any better," he offered with a rueful smile.

Harry was feeling a lot better about his injuries already thanks to Logan, though that could simply be from seeing how things could be worse. If he had seen Peter looking so run down Harry would've tried to cheer him up and while he considered trying to do the same for Logan he didn't know him well enough so he moved onto the next bit of business.

"Did you see Peter at all the day of the field trip?" he asked abruptly. He'd spoken with Peter the day before that and the day after was when they'd first noticed he was missing. Hopefully Logan had seen him at dinner that night. It was something to start with, though if no one had seen Peter at all during the field trip it was going to be a problem. Harry himself had been with Peter the night before and hadn't seen anything odd the entire night. He wasn't expecting anyone to have a seen a pile of bodies or anything else like Brian had mentioned but surely there should've been a sign.

He should also see what plans Logan - and his pal Statesman - had for tonight. He didn't want to spend the night sleeping again when he might be able to do something useful instead. He also didn't think it was a good idea to be out on his own in case he ran into Brock again or something else equally dangerous. One thing at a time though. If he got any leads on Peter his first priority was going to be following them and everything else would have to wait.

Teisel shook his head. Zex's concern was...sort of nice, but this particular topic had already gone farther than Teisel would have liked. "No, not unduly." Hopefully, the admiral would get the hint and let the matter drop.

Watching the admiral's gesture, it almost seemed like the guy was trying to get his hand to bend in a way that it clearly would not. Okay, that had been different. "So much for that idea," he said, sighing theatrically. "Guess they'll have to miss out on all the excitement, eh?" Like they'd care.

Belatedly, Teisel thought that maybe he should have reclaimed his hand, since now Zex was back to...feeling it. If they had to do this during every conversation, people were going to get the wrong idea. "Yeah, I can see how a war would kinda put a damper on friendly conversation." Speaking of, it was less than easy to follow this conversation with that almost-tickle on the inside of his wrist. He fidgeted a little. As for where skin came into the equation, hairless or otherwise, he wasn't going to ask. No sense in asking for trouble.

"...Okay...? I'll come to your room, then." This guy had a strange way of phrasing things. Once he got to know him a little better, maybe Teisel would have an easier time translating.

Uh-huh. Reno cocked an eyebrow, mildly amused now.

"What, you're gonna demonstrate right here in front of me? 'Cause I'm sure the nurses can find you a blow-up doll if you ask real nice, yeah?"

Hm. Live step-by-step porn. Like an educational video, emphasis on the educational part. Actually, not exactly a turn-on because Reno was generally more about, you know, the real thing, but it sure as hell would be entertaining. And his thoughts were really running nowhere at this point, but whatever.

Mello didn't immediately answer the question, focusing instead on the confirmation that Light was no longer in the institute. "If they said he was released, he's gone," he said, his voice unaffected. "The circumstances of his disappearance are what's important."

Vanished, Mello was certain. Light was too smart to make enemies of the other patients, but the timing couldn't have been more convenient for him. Yagami had been only intermittently present for the last few days, and Mello considered the possibility that, for some patients, vanishing seemed to be the last step in a slow process. It had been true of L's roommate as well, and might be a counterpoint to the theory that patients were more likely to die or vanish after a traumatic event. That much was irrelevant unless a way could be found to either prompt or avoid it.

It was better for Mello's plans that Matsuda believe he'd been killed, though, so the option was left open and Mello's expression showed a hint of concern at the question of L's safety. Not too much, of course--Matsuda surely thought of him as heartless after what had happened to the senior Yagami--but because he'd been identified as L's heir, it would be suspicious to not show the slightest bit of worry.

He tilted his head in false thought, mimicking habits that Matsuda might consciously or unconsciously associate with L. "Not anymore," Mello finally said. "If he had been in danger, there's a 96% probability that he would have met his fate at the same time as Yagami." He delivered the fact with his predecessor's calm but mildly detatched authority, clearly not expecting it to be questioned or challenged. Mello made no effort to keep his voice secretive; if any unknown eavesdroppers were listening, he wanted this to be heard by them as well.

"I'm well enough." It was the most honest thing she could think of to say.

As for Soubi's own concern... Raine replied, "I'm aware. My healing spells don't do much for pain, if you're concerned about not taking the easy way out." Maybe it was a little brutal, but she didn't see any benefit in softening her words. "But, she said you're not healing well enough on your own. May I see?"

He didn't recognize them? But these were considered the classi-- oh! "Are you an alien?" she asked without then thinking, then corrected, "I mean... you're not from here, are you?" she said more carefully, pointing at the ground as though she knew what she was doing, "this year, I mean."

Oh good job there, Donna.

"I'm Donna," she introduced herself, leaping at the opportunity to go beyond her mess up.

Peter was surprised with himself - had he really not mentioned Nathan to Roland yet? He had even told the man about his possible visitation, so he would have thought he'd have gone into details, but maybe there just hadn't been the time for it. He nodded slightly, not wanting to move his head too much unless the throbbing got worse.

"Yeah, an older brother. He's the one who visited me. He was here, but... well, the institute made him really think that he was who they said he was." And while that was painful to deal with, it meant that Peter had a goal, and he'd also had things put in perspective by last night's events. He still wished he could take them back, that he could go back in time (which wasn't such an impossibility for him) and do something differently, but that wasn't doable not here.

He wasn't sure what else to say about Nathan. There was a lot to say, but at the same time he didn't want to dwell on it when it was just going to make his mood worse.

The "good kid" comment gave Bruce pause; the smirk disappeared, replaced by a more thoughtful, considering look.

Bruce caught the change in Stark's attitude, as well as the hint in his acknowledgment. It seemed Wally had, for once, picked someone to trust that could keep secrets. This was but their first meeting, and yet Bruce was already starting to get a sense of Tony Stark as a person. The way Stark could observe and focus was in itself indicative of a persistent nature. He was evidently cautious, but either trusted Wally enough to tell him about his "second job," or had enough of a sense of fairness to tell Wally one of his secrets having found out Wally's own.

All that would have to be good enough. For now.

"Paris," replied Bruce, equally meaninglessly.

"In my defense, it was going fine until she called me her 'petit maquereau.'"

Of course, the last time that they'd met, Peter had been thinking a great deal about Sylar and the threat that he posed... ironically enough, talking about whether Peter should or should not post his warnings to the general public. It seemed like the choice had been made already, hadn't it? A shame, but that was just how it was; at least he was going to get some kind of information out of this. More than just dry facts and suppositions.

Still, he hadn't thought that the Institute would go so far as to turn someone's brother against them. That was just hitting below the belt, so far as Roland was concerned. Even moreso, because it was a tactic that he himself had used previously. The demon nodded slightly, then offered, "They did the same to me. An old friend of mine, someone I trusted with my life. ...it's ironic." Especially considering what had happened between the two of them in the end.

Roland's eyes adopted a more distant look as he thought about that. For most people, this place was hell on earth, a purgatory of suffering that seemed impossible to escape. But if he was a demon, then wasn't 'hell' the perfect place for him? In the end, he asked, "...I know this is a stupid question, but you want to go back to your own world, don't you?"

While Wally might have been a bit skeptical about how Joe got his powers - if he was telling the truth about them after all - he couldn't deny that his own stories might have seemed just as odd in comparison. And besides, he seemed like he had the right idea about being a hero anyway. "Yeah," he said softly, almost like it was more to himself. "You shouldn't give up even when faced with stuff like this. There's always a way out..."

"And anyway," he said more confidently, glancing back up at Joe. "There's lots of others here with powers or magic or who are really smart, so it's not like we're all alone here." And he did have allies, one in particular that he trusted more than anyone to actually be able to find a way out of here. Of course, he couldn't tell Joe that it was all going to work out eventually because Batman was around, but that didn't change the fact that it would. It had to.

If only Grell could travel the world! He'd love to see anything outside of London, even if it meant temporary reassignment. He'd take anywhere - well, almost. He wasn't all that interested in, say, Greenland for instance. Not enough death there to go around, he suspected. The poor fellows assigned out there had to be bored out of their immortal minds. "Ah...just one problem, Mr. Smith," Grell pointed out, hands twisting in his hair again. "We're, ah...stuck in here."

Which was really the worst way to spend a vacation. Certainly, he was supposed to be on administrative leave or some rubbish like that, but he looked at this as a sort of demented holiday. He didn't have to reap, William wasn't making him fill out forms, and he was pretty much left to his own devices. While he would have preferred his powers and weapon restored to him, he couldn't argue with the little bit of down time.

Letting out a sigh, Grell untangled his fingers from his hair and murmured, "Oh, well, if traveling is your business..." Just how suspicious was this man? First, lying about his name. Next, his aura. Now, the fact that he never stayed anywhere? What was the Doctor? Why didn't he stay? The mysteries surrounding him were intriguing and, combined with his somewhat boyish good looks, Grell was finding this shift to be rather delightful. He always did love a man with a few skeletons in the closet. It made it more fun when he tore the Record out of the guy's broken body. "How many countries have you visited, sir? Which would you recommend?"

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Page 17 of 24

Day 38: Patients' Library

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