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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With a raised eyebrow, Yukari gave the man a look; she was familiar with that tone of voice, all right, and she couldn't quite tell if it boded well at all or not. Still, she was curious just what sort of plan he had in mind, whether she intended on rejecting it or not (the former was likely, though).

"'Something', huh?" she echoed, sounding incredulous. "And what kind of 'something' do you have in mind?"

Zex's chatter about 'his' species reminded Teisel of the conversation he'd had on the boards the other day. What had that guy mentioned? Something about people being pulled from different times, which had seemed pretty far-fetched at the time, but now he was beginning to wonder. Had Zex really met an Ancient? Or maybe it had been an older Carbon civilization. History was hard to keep track of when it kept getting reset. His mind was wandering off on a tangent when Zex said something much more interesting. "Wait, you had a whole different body before you came here?" he asked. "They can do that?" Well, crap. If that was true, then his brother could be stuck here after all, and he'd never know it. He leaned forward, waiting for an answer.

Zex's smile changed again. It was like the guy had to memorize his expressions, or something. Bizarre. He must have been one of those eccentric geniuses. Kooks didn't end up as admirals. Teisel decided to let Zex's 'partnership' comment pass. He couldn't trust himself to answer that the right way, so he just nodded and hoped he could agree with the overall sentiment without giving the guy any ideas. Just in case. He could definitely relate to the nerves thing, though. "Yeah, my nerves are pretty much fried right now," he said ruefully. "I'll have to leave the masterminding to you." ...And now he was making himself sound like some brain-dead moron. Oh well, officers liked to order people around, didn't they?

"Exploring sounds great. That's kinda my specialty back home." He grinned. It was true. Not to toot his own horn, but Teisel was an excellent Digger. At least, when no easier target (like an affluent, poorly defended city) presented itself.

"Mm... well, if you must know, the plan is..." The Nobody glanced around with his one eye, as though making sure that absolutely no nurses could overhear what he was about to say. It was a secret, or so it seemed; he even went so far as to lean forward, taking a step closer. Granted, this invaded Yukari's personal space, but really, since when had he ever cared about little details like that.

"...not somethin' I'd tell a chick." Icy. Burn!

"Well, it's," Leon gave a little nervous laugh, "kinda complicated." He'd better simplify the explanation to start off with. It would probably make things easier in the long run. "I'm learning how to incorporate my own world's magic into that of someone else's - to create useful items from base materials." The man had probably heard of alchemy. It was known well enough in the Institute.

He sighed, taking one last look at the bookshelf. It was a given that there'd be nothing useful. Nothing could ever be easy. The process of learning this skill, even given his genius, was still going to take a few days. "Just hoping to find anything I can to speed up the process. I'm probably even going to have to find materials myself, seeing as no one's going to want to waste their time gathering things that'll just be used to practice on and might end up as dust in the end."

Realizing he might have gone on a bit too much, Leon smiled apologetically. "Sorry."

"It's alright. I've only read that one once, so if you want to switch, I don't mind." If anything, Ritsuka's hobby was reading and he didn't care what he read so long as he had a book in front of him. Ritsuka looked down at his place on the page and then held the Inferno out to Yukito.

His hand jumped though when Yukito mentioned the bulletin. That was...had they spoken on the board? Was that where they'd met before? Not certain whether Yukito was one who he'd helped or yelled at, Ritsuka hesitated, almost pulling his hand back. "...yeah? Why?"

In return, Yukari only scooted back by an inch at most; yeah, this guy was proving himself to be a definite weirdo so far. Either he never actually grew up, or this place truly made him go crazy after time. Maybe crazier. She wouldn't have been able to blame him if her second guess was right.

Then as soon as he finished off, Yukari promptly rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated breath for emphasis. "If I'm too girly for your ingenious plan, there's plenty of other guys you could turn to instead."

She really didn't know the half of it. If Sakura thought Kon was strange for flirting with her she'd probably think he was even stranger if she knew he was technically only two years old. Or that just that other day he'd been strapped to a nuke and blown up so that he travel to another reality and find whoever had murdered him. Strange was like a requirement for being a superhero. Strange was also apparently a good thing in this case from the way Sakura was finally checking him out. Kon flexed as subtly as possible so she could better appreciate his amazing physique.

He didn't get why she thought he was strange though true as it might be, or why she'd thought he'd only come over 'cause he wanted something. But hey, what really mattered was she believed he was genuinely interested and was giving him the chance to prove it, which was always fun to do. For being in a prison he was getting - not exactly lucky in the general meaning - but something like it, way more than he'd expected.

"Well, I do have a few ideas when it comes to charming the ladies," Kon replied happily, reaching out to gently grab Sakura's hand. She wasn't as jumpy as Kurt had been last night but from the way she'd reacted to him just putting his arm around her waist he still should go slow. Maintaining eye contact he tugged her hand up to press a soft kiss to the back of her knuckles then, still watching her closely, began to work his way along her arm.

In addition to his late arrival to the meal, Mikami's continued ill-will toward the nursing staff must have contributed to the precious few minutes he was allowed to eat after Crane had been abruptly led away. However, he refused to force down fruit any faster than he normally would have, and eventually settled with leaving before he would have considered himself entirely done. In any case, he was eager to see this library mentioned over the intercom, and to validate first-hand the censorship he was certain would be there.

The first thing he noticed was that the place could hardly be considered a library, due to the selection indeed clearly intended to exclude anything that wasn't fictional. The second was that although everything at first appeared to be in Japanese, the names of the authors were not. They were in English, or at least in the Latin alphabet.

When the man next to him suddenly asked him a question, he was in the process of pulling a title he didn't recognize in order to determine if the lack of translation applied to fictional characters as well. Fortunately, the topic followed what had already been on his mind, and he answered promptly before even looking up.

"If you're looking for history, no. The bookstore in the nearby town also has a lack in non-fiction, although it isn't nearly as thorough as the censorship here." He held Call of the Wild loosely in hand as he regarded the man, then looked away in thought. "There's also some old magazines in the visiting rooms here, although I haven't had the chance to read them. Undoubtedly they have little to tell."

"I couldn't forget," he evenly answered, and it was perfectly true. The light show between the two of them hadn't been something that Roland could easily forget, even if he'd wanted to. Part of him had wanted to stride into the conflict and eat them both, consume their power and make it his own. A part of him still wanted to; the demon that was never satisfied cried out for the flesh of those who were different, special, unique.

But he could ignore it. For the moment.

Instead, he listened to what Peter said, wondering at what could have happened. Meeting with someone as dangerous as his opponent had sounded like something that Peter had been prepared for, but perhaps such was not the case? It wasn't until the last addition that a little bit of it clicked. And if so, Roland knew better than anyone else how that had to feel. "Is 'was' the operative word?" It sounded rough, but it was Roland's way of trying to mitigate some of the difficulty of broaching an obviously painful subject.

Dias' interest was immediately piqued. "A sword of your own?" he inquired. He knew Claude still had Ashton's, but it seemed as though he'd gotten his own - hopefully one more tailored to his fighting style. It was...intriguing news. He doubted either of them really had time enough to waste during nightshift to spar, but the fact that they now could nevertheless had Dias tempted to challenge him...particularly knowing that Claude was from a point in time considerably past his, and had undoubtedly made advances.

...actually, though, that brought a related matter to his attention. After a pause, he finally asked, "What are you going to do with Ashton's?"

Had he ever read either of the books? Yukito honestly wasn't certain, and considering that the majority of his memories hadn't actually happened he probably never would be. Still, he was familiar with them as though he had, so perhaps that meant his other self had read them?

He really did need to stop dwelling on this. Yukito reached over to trade books with the boy, then paused in reaction when Ritsuka suddenly became wary. "Well, I've been wondering who you were ever since then," he replied, with a smile. He hadn't quite expected the author of those notes to be quite so young, but it did make sense. "Is your friend okay?"

"Hey, I'm glad that you see it my way! Good for you!" He couldn't help but grin as he added a bit of applause for emphasis, as twisting words around was a favored past time of his. Perhaps not as fun as doing so with some of the other Nobodies, but he'd take what he could get at the moment. At least this chick was proving to be entertaining; that was about what Xigbar needed, right at the moment.

Still, remembering how Larxene had taken him down with one well-placed kick, he had to amend, "But it's not really 'cause you're a chick, gotta say that. Just... no offense, but I don't think you could hold up too well under pressure. Heck, just a little teasing's already gotten you bothered by me."

"You know a telepath will only allow deflection if they feel like letting you get away with it," Schuldig remarked without looking back at Reno. "Because I'll always know when you're attempting it." That said, however, Schuldig actually didn't feel like pressing the issue. Given that they were making an effort to get along, bringing up a hot topic like Rufus - when neither of them felt like talking about him, for their own reasons - would be counterproductive. Besides, not pushing would appear to be an act of goodwill, at least from Reno's point of view, which would grease the gears a bit - even if Schuldig was making the concession largely for his own selfish reasons.

"Probably considerably more than you missed me," he replied with a smirk. "Which I could probably have accomplished by missing you at all. But how could I not? You, me, and Badou are the only roguish redheads of any particular interest in this institute." After a pause, he added, "I'm not counting the crossdressing murderer, at least not unless there's some very interesting stories you're not telling me."

Such terribly good logic that was. Matt raised a finger and opened his mouth as though to give an answer, but nothing came out. How was that a problem? Wasn't that how relationships worked?

Except he was being thoroughly manipulated, he reminded himself. She looked innocent enough, but she was toying with him. She had to be. And he was falling for her act at every turn. But if he said that again, she'd cry some more - and no one liked the guy that made the cute girl cry. Hell, he didn't like that guy.

He tried to take another calming breath. "It's... not. I guess." He'd just have to figure out how to take things slower so he could get a better gauge on what she was really up to.

"Yep, my very own." Being able to say that to his rival was extremely satisfying. Not only did it mean they could compare their skills if they felt so inclined, but it also meant Dias would be less likely to leave him in the dust at night. It wasn't the fanciest thing in the world, but it was a sword, and not even Dias could call it a sub par weapon when it was compared to the alternative.

He knew he shouldn't have been surprised when Dias brought up Ashton's sword -- he'd half-expected it, really -- but he still had to pause a moment before answering.

What was he going to do with Ashton's sword? Other people facing this situation might have suggested burying it or something as a nice gesture, but that would have been a waste of a good weapon. Ashton himself would have been appalled at the idea of just discarding it or letting it sit around, so that was out.

No, it needed a new owner.

But since it was missing its twin, it wouldn't really do to go finding someone who might have the same sword style as Ashton. Still, it wasn't like it could be called useless by itself, either. That sword was definitely an upgrade when compared to a bat or a knife.

"I guess it isn't good to let it collect dust while we're trying to figure out where he is," Claude said at length. He still wasn't ready to suggest that maybe they wouldn't be seeing him again, even if he was having to tie up some loose ends his best friend had left behind. It made his heart ache, but what else could he do except press on? "What would you say if I wound up giving it to Guy? He's only got a meat cleaver to fight with right now, so I'm sure he'd put it to good use."

Edited 2009-01-12 04:59 (UTC)

Perhaps strange had been the wrong word. Humongous pervert, however, was starting to sound just about right. When he said he'd prove himself, silly her for thinking it would be something like a daring quest, a stunt, or even a poetic proclamation of his heart's innermost desires. Superboy apparently had different ideas.

It was sweet of him to kiss her hand, though it made her a feel a little like she was cheating on her unrequited crush. For about a second she entertained the idea of making Sasuke jealous, but since the boy barely even noticed her now, it probably wouldn't make much sense.

Her cheeks burned red at the gesture, but when he started moving up her arm, she had to bite the inside of her cheek just to keep from yelling out as she pulled her arm back. Just what was he doing?! In public no less! And she couldn't even yell at him properly because she'd asked for it!!

A little voice in the back her mind demanded to know what the hell was wrong with letting a hot guy give her a few innocent kisses because really when was the last time that had happened, but the sensible side said what about Sasuke?

"Okay, okay, you made your point!" she hissed, rubbing her arm as if it'd been acid that'd been spilled on it and not some hunky guy's lips. The blush had spread across her cheeks and she was well and truly embarrassed by the whole ordeal. She moved to take her seat, looking around the room and hoping no one she knew had witnessed that. "Just... just sit down, I'll stay with you a little while, okay?"

Ritsuka relaxed slightly at the smile and extended his hand again, reaching out in return for Yukito's book. Tsukishiro Yukito. The name didn't jog unpleasant memories, which meant he was likely on the people who had been...taken. He was one of the victims of this horrible place.

Eyes downcast, Ritsuka pulled the book into his lap and opened it to the first page. His eyes traced over the words, but his mind refused to register any of them. "No. We're...not getting along right now." Ritsuka really didn't want to think about Soubi. "Are you okay though?"

"Yeah, bounty hunter that works for profit turned princess. Much more interesting than," Falis glanced at the cover of the book she had open, "Anne of Green Gables."

She shrugged then flipped to a page in her journal showing the detailed drawing of the alien thing with notes concerning its anatomy and behaviors and showed it to Scar. "I'm putting together my own of what I've come across. You know, people keep talking about all these other beasties and I never see them - just the really strong ones." She grinned. "At least this place knows to not waste my time killing lizards and shit like that."

Though he seemed to be agreeing with her, his initial hesitation and lack of enthusiasm hinted that he didn't. Not entirely, at least. Still, he'd at least stopped accusing her outright of trying to manipulate him, so perhaps there'd been at least some progress.

Ayumu turned the rest of the way back to face Robin again, but made no move to get closer or reach out to him. Her posture said she was still uncertain, with her head slightly lowered so that she was regarding him through her lashes. "That's good, then, right?" she asked, sounding almost shy.

Even as she dealt with her current issue, though, she was halfway listening to what she could pick up of Mello's conversation nearby, and becoming somewhat curious about who this "Ryuga" person was. If someone was going to try to kill him, he was probably interesting indeed. How many people did Mello know, and why? She'd seen him trying to spread his influence on the bulletin board already; how far did it already go?

"Yes, of course. I'm a VUX, remember?" It has hard to remember at times that there was no physical evidence of his previous form. His mental image of himself and what other people saw differed so greatly here. "I didn't think it was possible myself, really... there's no technology capable of that as far as I'm aware, and the cost and time it must have taken to change me this way... it makes little sense to me. I'm not the only here that has been so changed though." ZEX thought of Fwiffo, and then of Tanaka with less fondness. "It seems that all non-humanoid creatures that come here are altered somehow."

ZEX smiled a bit. "Mm, I don't think I'll mind. I've had some experience with it, after all." Just a war or two. "I was thinking of meeting with someone else here tonight to travel to the file room, so we can get more information about our false lives. Have they told you about yours yet? It seems everyone here is given a story." ZEX tried to keep his voice nonchalant. "I'm very interested in my own... information is almost always useful."

A combat-worthy human, yes. This would make things much easier. "Marvelous. I think we'll work very well together." With a bit of a lecherous grin again, although he was more focused on business than pleasure. For now.

Sheena had caught a sight of her initial target heading to the Sun Room, but she needed to make sure Raine wasn't around to see her talk to the man that had been a little too... friendly with the half-elf the other day. Sure, Sheena should and could be doing other things, but she was bored and when a nineteen year-old girl was bored and she had an older single female friend around that denied having someone when it looked quite clear that there was a someone...

Well, Sheena was bored and prying into Raine's sex-life passed the time. Besides, she was still semi-sorta-kinda-maybe ticked at the half-elf. Just a teeny bit.

Spying Raine heading into the library - what a surprise there - Sheena waited a bit before slipping in after her. The ninja moved around the shelves, appearing to be searching for a book, but kept an eye on Raine. After a while of Raine sitting down and thoroughly engrossed in the book, Sheena silently crept up behind her friend. Standing over the half-elf's shoulder, careful not to block the light or give away her presence, she read a bit of the page.

...Raine was reading a trashy romance novel. RAINE was reading a trashy ROMANCE novel. With guys and their bulging muscles, glistening sweat and their Vesuvian eruptions (whatever the hell that meant.

Oh my... Is she... Is she BLUSHING? Sheena took a covert peak at Raine's face just to make sure.

Considering romance novels generally weren't about established relationships, Raine figured there would be a decent amount of set-up; it gave her time to figure out the things about the setting she was expected to already know.

...she hadn't taken into account a certain literary device. Specifically, flashbacks. Raine raised her eyebrows at a smut scene appearing so soon, but considering it wasn't taking place within the timeframe of the story, it was there for a reason; maybe something about the location would be relevant later.

"Clearly you've never fought someone wielding a meat cleaver," Dias replied with a trace of faint, bitter amusement. Cleavers were small enough to be swung with great force, had considerable heft, and by definition and design were built for shearing through flesh and bone. Well-wielded, one could be vastly more frightening and nearly as effective as a sword...but then a fighter used to a sword would still prefer one, and he didn't begrudge Guy for wanting a weapon he was familiar with even if the one he had was considerably more serviceable than, say, a ladle. "It should be put to good use. And Ashton would be happy if he knew his sword was helping a friend of yours." It hurt even to say that - it almost sounded as though Ashton were dead - but Dias had never been one to shy away from harsh truths.

Sheena caught the eyebrow raise and managed to stop the giggle that desperately wanted free from her mouth without a single sound. It seemed like Raine had no idea she was standing there reading about... some guy wanting to see this chick in the story naked and the manly way he threw her against the wall, ripping her clothes off the the gasp of an offended woman that quickly turned into her pretty much going at him as much as he was her.

...why did writers of this kind of thing always refer to the guy's... you know... like that anyways?

Matsuda wasn't all that willing to offer much information, either, but Mello was actually listening and not insulting the Chief again. He wouldn't admit it, not to the guy's face, but Matsuda sort of appreciated that the guy was giving him the time of day. Sort of.

"Well..." Matsuda started hesitantly, trying to decide how to word things. He'd never been good at beating around the bush like this, but he wanted to make Mello figure the details out on his own. "We talked with someone at lunch yesterday who mentioned that a...couple of people would be better off dead. Then one of them went missing. He was one of those other people." And like hell Matsuda was gonna let someone he knew die or disappear here, especially someone he'd been unable to keep from dying in the first place.

But then there was the Ryuk problem. What did he know about Kira or the supporter, and what did he not? Would he help out that side in a place like this if someone asked him? It gave Matsuda a headache to try to think about; this was usually stuff better left up to people he knew were better, but they weren't around at the moment. If he found L later, he could ask him, but for the moment he was on his own. While he liked being able to prove that he could handle things on his own...this might be out of his league.

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Day 38: Patients' Library

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