damned_institute | Day 38: Game Room

Depth Charge arrived at the room with his vigour renewed in spite his conversation with Blitzwing- not that the ‘con had been any less infuriating than he’d anticipated, but at least their conversation had been... interesting. And, as much as he hated to say it, having something solid in his stomach really seemed to aid his concentration. But reflection wasn't on the agenda. He had work to do.

It seemed strangely perfect that the games room would be where he could finally unmask X. No, not ‘could’. Would. Now wasn’t the time for doubts. If he wanted to get around X this time he’d have to give it his all.

The messages on the bulletin board… they looked about right. For a while he hadn’t been convinced that X would bite at all, but looking back? The first response had been too eager, the second not eager enough. As for the third… a reluctance to meet, the simple elegance of the script, the physical description: all of it seemed to fall together into a kind of twisted jigsaw puzzle, with X’s face plastered all over it. He may have had to force politeness in writing to keep the answers coming, but in person? No dice.

His hands balled tightly into white-knuckled fists. Oh, yes. Depth Charge was ready alright.

Sanosuke had been a bit quicker to leave the cafeteria today, but not only to get away from the damn unnatural rice. He'd seen a certain ninja dart out early on, and he still had a few words to say to her. So he said a quick goodbye to Akihiko and Kenshin before following after Yuffie, setting a quick pace into the gaming room.

It didn't take long to spot the girl walking around, and with as much subtlety as the chickens he was so often compared to, came up behind her. "So, were you trying to drop some hints on the bulletin there, Ninja Girl? Cause I might just end up asking you something you don't want to hear."

Sano really should ask her. Just to make her freak out.

The game room wasn't his favorite of the 'activity' rooms, but it wasn't awful or anything. After letting out his paranoid burst on the bulletin board, and subsequently being reassured that at least most of his crewmates hadn't disappeared yet again, Usopp was ready for some time to sit back and relax. There would be time to get stressed again tonight, especially since he had the bad feeling that tonight was going to involve a lot of moving dangerous chemicals and/or parts of trees.

Since most of the games in boxes were completely foreign to him, and he didn't have a partner anyway, he took a deck of cards out and decided to start building a little card castle on one of the tables. It wasn't a useful thing to do, but something about concentrating on the balance of each card against card was soothing.

[Free]

After nearly two whole days of incarceration, the Commander was sure he understood the pattern of this place. During the day, they were asked to sit, do unimportant things, and eat. Guards, who were called nurses or orderlies, would make sure that those things were done, or at least no one walked away from the chosen areas. There was also the fact that he was called by a name that wasn't his and treated as though he were a little boy, but he didn't care what they called him and those attitudes were quickly being filtered away as unimportant as well.

At least there was the board, so patients could communicate during the day. Not that it had many interesting or important things, either. Most of the messages seemed to be insults back and forth, or people looking for friends, or people asking questions. He didn't linger in front of it for long after lunch, letting the nurse guide him into the 'game room' instead.

It wasn't what he'd expected. If King P had created a room called the "game room" it would have been extravagant, bright, maybe a little tacky or ridiculous. He hadn't even realized he'd had expectations until he walked in and saw a room not much gaudier than the Sun Room, possibly even less, with dull colors and neatly stacked sets of games on shelves. Board games, card games, video games...

He didn't have any interest in games anyway. Instead, he sat still at an unoccupied table and stared out at the room, waiting for the nurses to announce that it was time to return to their rooms. He'd have to remember to check for more information on the History Club on the board, but that was all he had left to accomplish today.

[Free]

Okay, the one thing Kio had not been looking forward to was the meeting with Red. Leaving Ophelia behind, he almost wished he could shirk it all and find Sou-chan again. Although, from his friend's words, Ritsuka was his top priority. It made him feel slightly more... aloof than most days, mainly because he was in a different place, where he knew no one and where no one knew him.

But he had promised the Sullen Silent One that he would help Red. Of course, this only would work if Red wanted to be helped. And although he hadn't been here long, Kio had figured out that a lot of people were sorry miserable fools. They wouldn't accept help if it paid them to. Stubborn, friendless people. Sure, Sou-chan had been pretty much the same the first time around, but he'd mellowed out. A bit. If you squinted really hard and the sun was in a certain alignment with the other planets.

Entering the Game Room, Kio spotted one of the couches and sat down. "Mr Akatsuki, please, enjoy yourself." Kio glanced up at his nurse and sighed. Taking one of the Game Boys, he sat down again and started fiddling with it. Not a big gamer by any stretch of the imagination, at least it would provide a distraction until Red came.

Edited 2009-01-18 18:18 (UTC)

Lunch hadn't done much for his stress level, but at least it had turned out interesting. The next place the nurse dragged him to wasn't any room he'd been in before. After instructing him to 'have fun,' she patted him on the shoulder, presumably because she couldn't reach high enough to pat the top of his head, and left. Have fun? With what? Grumbling in irritation, Teisel flopped down in one of the chairs. Board games? Seriously? "More like bored games," he muttered to himself.

He was getting more uneasy the closer it got to nightfall. It was plain that he wouldn't get out of here without help, but damn it all, Teisel was just no good at taking direction. What was he going to do if this admiral had the wrong idea, or didn't know what he was doing, or... Too anxious to sit still, but also too anxious to find something to do, Teisel started making little braids in his hair. If he was going to fidget, he might as well do something that took a little concentration.

Homura had found himself in interesting conversations over the course of the day, but he was looking forward to the fourth shift the most. His time with Okita was infrequent, particularly alone. But he enjoyed the company of the other man when he had it, be it in the presence of others, or even on the bulletin board. Though he was still curious about the man's insistence that they call their meeting a playdate rather than a date. It seemed almost odd, considering how much they flirted.

Regardless, however, the game would continue in the game room. Okita seemed more himself lately, and certainly the same could be said of Homura. Though things still needed to be finalized for the coming night, the demi-god had little doubt that he'd enjoy the time he spent there. He found an empty place, claiming a seat as he waited for Okita to join him.

[Taken]

Ururu knew she'd promised to take care of herself, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to eat lunch that day. She'd apologize to everyone later, but finding out about Renji and Hitsugaya had made her feel worse than she had in days. Even now that she was in the game room, Ururu didn't really feel like playing too much.

But the nurse said that was where she was supposed to be, so the girl went, picking a chair and sitting in it. Instead of finding something to do, though, she just laid her head on the table, trying not to be sad, and not doing a very good job. She couldn't help it, as much as she wanted to. Ururu would have to soon though, since she was going to get Kurt that night.

It wasn't night yet, however. So maybe it was okay if she was sad right now.

[Reserved]

Lunch had been incredibly uneventful, but thankfully there was the game room who could make up for that. Not that Tyki was all that interested in board games, chess or things he had never seen. No, one of the Noah's vices happened to be gambling and a man couldn't do so well enough without a deck of cards. Or maybe card games just so happened to be his favorite.

Snatching the first deck he could find, he began shuffling as he took a seat at one of the tables. He wondered if he could get someone aside from a certain Cheating Boy to play a 'friendly' game of poker. That would be interesting enough.

But as quiet as it was now, it would probably end up being a game of Solitaire. Too bad...

[Free!]

The only reason Scar found himself entering the game room was because his nurse appeared to be under the impression that he'd enjoy himself. He had to wonder how he should enjoy himself by attempting to play games he didn't even knew how to play.

As it was he was placed next to what was called a 'deck of cards'. For the lack of anything better to do, he began studying the images drawn upon them. He couldn't even begin to comprehend what each of them meant, much less how to play a game with these.

Humans even made 'playing games' rather complicated (not to say that he would resort to something as childish as playing a game. It was what a cub would do, not adults). How tiring...

[Free!]

Cards. They had card games here. Senna, of course, had never played, but she knew about them, and had always wanted to try. 'Go Fish' sounded so fun and normal, like what a human girl would play with her friends growing up. Senna stood in front of one of the tables looking over the deck she held in her hands. She wished....

But she had existed, hadn't she? Ichigo had told her, told her that right before she.... A part of Senna, that part that questioned, asked if that was really the case.

Had she existed? She stayed frozen like that, thinking, and staring at the cards.

[Hokuto]

It'd been nice to have lunch with his friends and seeing Takashi a little more than he had the last few days made it easier to relax too. Usually the two were almost as inseperable as the twins, but here it wasn't quite as easy to arrange.

At least the next shift sounded promising. The game room had to have some fun things he could play, right? Honey held Usa-chan in one arm and looked curiously around for someone to play with.

[Free]

Sheena's conversation with Soubi had taken a lot out of her. It was like she had this irritating brother that didn't understand stuff and yet... he understood more than he should. It was frustrating but, well, it was endearing. Maybe he had a point about only normal people being able to make normal friends. What was normal anyways?

Slipping into the Game Room, Sheena looked at the selection of items and her eyes lit up when she found a couple pack of cards. Now these would make better spell cards than the flimsy notebook paper. Selecting a set with the most uniform design on their back, the guardian sat down on the floor, her back against the wall and practiced twirling the cards in her fingers, appearing to make them disappear and reappear at her whim, fanning them out and twirling them in what was probably an interesting show to anyone who was watching.

[Toboe-wolfy!]

"Game room" called to mind a pool table or two and perhaps a well-stocked bar, but of course Indy's usual set of expectations didn't apply here. He surveyed the offerings, not pleased to find that he'd never heard of a lot of these boxed games. As much as he'd like to avoid being biased, right now he wasn't in the mood for anything that lent weight to that kid's crazy theories about time travel. Well, at least he recognized Monopoly, even if the box was unfamiliar. And chess; that was at least a thousand years old. A little better.

But what the hell were those things?

He picked up a gray box, about three and a half by six by one inch, he guessed. Several buttons of various colors and shapes adorned the front, along with some sort of panel about two inches square--a display screen, like a miniature television? Underneath the screen were the words "Nintendo GAME BOY." It looked like it was designed to be held in both hands, with your right thumb working the two reddish buttons and your left controlling the cross-shaped black key. But what the hell were you supposed to do with it?

Turning the device over yielded a small switch on the top, which Indy slid to one side. He watched, fascinated, as the screen came to life, revealing a black-and-white image--a blank field labeled to the right with "score," "level" and "lines." As he continued to examine the display, shapes made of connected squares began to descend from the top of the screen. Indy tapped the right arm of the cross button experimentally and found that he could make the shapes move.

Hell, might as well learn what it was people did to amuse themselves in 2009. He began to play.

[free]

Lunch had been pretty quiet, which was probably for the best. He hadn't felt much like talking to anyone after his visit with Dr. Disraeli. It was easy enough not to think about the past when there were other things going on, but when you were forced to take a long, hard look at it, well, it hadn't been what he'd expected.

He did manage to finish at least some of his lunch though, if only to avoid the large eyed looks and questions from the younger ones in their group. He followed the nurse to the game room though, and picked a seat. He didn't recognize all of the games, but he did remember a few. Maybe someone would come along that wanted to play. He could use the distraction.

[Free]

The last shift had been somewhat unsettling, even if in terms of information, Sanzo hadn't gained anything. Other than what Goku had reported, it looked like Obi-wan didn't know much more. That, or he just wasn't saying. Sanzo didn't usually have much faith in people telling the truth, and certainly not the person who'd run him through.

Sanzo paused at the doorway, letting his eyes roam the patients' faces. He recognized a few, Homura's especially. But there wasn't any sign of the monkey.

Where the hell was Goku? Was he going to sulk this long?

After having a good lunch and meeting someone new, Sora was in a much better mood than he had been this morning. He couldn't deny that some of his friends were still gone, and he couldn't deny that he still hadn't seen Kairi in what was starting to feel like too long, but at least there were a few good things in this place.

No, that was the whole point. Because there were such good people here, he ended up hurt when they were taken from him. But he wasn't one to regret befriending someone if it ended up leading to loss, so he was just going to have to work through it in one way or another.

Messing around in the Game Room was a good way to get his mind off of things. There were already a lot of other patients there, which he wasn't used to since he tended to come here on a "free choice" day, and it wasn't the most popular room. Unfortunately, the large amount of people also meant that all the Game Boys had been grabbed already.

But that was okay. Other people should have a chance, and so Sora started to wander around in search of something else to play.

[For Junior.]

It was disappointing that he hadn't been able to speak with Grell for long, nor had he been able to go and bother the other shinigami last hour. Lunch had gone by a lot faster than anticipated and it was really a pity. Not much could be done for it though, and Gin waited once again to see if perhaps he would be taken to the doctor again today, but it looked like that was not to be. Interesting.

Not that Gin would have enjoyed seeing Muraki again, but for the fact that he'd love to stab the man in the face and watch his blood spray over the walls. Another day maybe.

There weren't many games Gin recognized, but he didn't mind watching people for a while either. It'd been one of his hobbies back in Soul Society and that much, at least, hadn't changed.

[for Schu]

Lunch had been horrible, to say the least. He was still quietly seething over Sync's final remarks to him, though Claude knew that he was letting it get to him more than he should. It'd really touched a nerve for some reason, but that didn't mean he needed to sit and stew so much about it, right? And why was he even worrying about it, anyway? It's not like he cared what Sync thought of him.

The whole thing still pissed him off, though.

Well, it was a new shift now, which meant he could hopefully spend his time in a more enjoyable way. Claude had been in the game room before, but this was his first opportunity to actually browse around in it. Some of the board games were actually pretty charming, a far cry from the gadgets the people of Earth used for entertainment in his own time, and for a moment he considered pulling one out and reading the instructions. He was a little envious of the people who'd already taken the hand-held consoles, but it didn't look like there were anymore for him to look at. After grabbing some kind of card game, Claude sat down on the floor. He furtively placed the stuffed sea-horse he still needed to deliver next to himself. It was sort of embarrassing, but Claude was afraid that if he sat too far away from it, some ass or even a well-meaning kid would take it.

As tempting as it was to get totally lost in a game and forget life for awhile, though, Claude made sure to keep an eye out on the door, even as he idly shuffled through the cards. He needed to talk to Guy before the day ended if he could manage it. There was the chance his friend had gone into the sun room, or was even in a therapy session, but he figured Guy would at least have a small look around in here if he got the chance.

[For Guy!]

Edited 2009-01-18 22:24 (UTC)

Brainiac 5 had, for once, been left to his own devices over lunch. But while he had welcomed the chance to sit and work through what he had learned so far and what it all might mean, he couldn't help feeling rather put out that Clark hadn't come to find him. He'd been certain that they'd arranged to meet then, but when he'd finally spotted the Kryptonian, he'd been on the other side of the room with someone else. And it hadn't helped that seeing that had set of a surge of a new, unfamiliar emotion through his body. It was another reason that he looked forward to finding a way out of this place and to his rightful home. Even if his theory was correct in that they were all copies and clones of the 'originals', that was hardly anything unusual for him and would be easily resolved.

His thoughts were interrupted by the intercom announcing the change for the next shift, as well as an interesting fact about new patients - Brainiac 5 himself had only been here one day, and there were already others arriving shortly? That seemed unusual if nothing else - then the nurses were moving amongst them. He finished his salad with a sigh and rose as one approached him. "All alone are we, Michael?" she said with a disapproving sigh. "You won't make any friends if you keep to yourself all the time."

"I believed I was here to be 'healed', not to make friends," he answered despite knowing it was pointless.

"Michael! We like to think that you can do both here," the nurse scolded. "And making friends will help you a lot more than keeping to yourself. Now, why don't we go over to the games room and see if we can find something that you'll enjoy."

Brainiac 5 could have told her there was nothing he would find even remotely enjoyable about archaic Earth games, but it would have been a futile effort, as the nurse clearly wasn't going to allow him much choice in the matter. And so it was that he found himself settled down on a couch and given an ancient, handheld, electronic game to play with. He stared at it with obvious distaste. It probably even ran on batteries, so it wouldn't even be worth sneaking away for parts.

The closing remark over the intercom was unremarkable enough, Tony knew he wouldn't usually have given it even a second thought. Coming close on the heels of his brief discussion with Bruce as it did, however, it drew his attention. So there were going to be even more prisoners admitted in the not-too-distant future? Maybe there was a pattern to it after all. He resolved to keep an eye out, grimacing as he realized just how close that came admitting maybe, just maybe, he really would be there for a while.

He didn't bother to protest as the nurse steered him into the games room, offering cheerful noise about how social enrichment would be good for him, and how it was good to see he was making friends. Nonsense, of course. He wasn't exactly a recluse when he was at home, unless there was an interesting problem to work on; even then, there was Pepper. And Jarvis.

His interest fell first on the few game systems on offer, though the nurse steered him none too subtly away. He wondered if it was doctor's orders (which doctor, though, since he hadn't actually spoken to one since arriving?), or if she was savvy enough to recognize the gleam of someone more likely to dissect the thing than play with it. Possibly she just had something against the idea of grown men playing video games. He didn't ask, just made a note of their presence for future reference.

At least cards proved allowable. He claimed a seat and a deck of cards, the latter of which he shuffled idly. It was something for his hands to do while he watched the door for either one of the other patients he'd come to recognize, or an unfamiliar face interesting enough to draw his notice.

Her talk with the boy from the other night hadn't been long, she hadn't even gotten his name, but at least she was starting to get a better idea of what went on in this place and who was well equipped to handle it and who just... wasn't. Honestly, didn't some people think before putting their lives in danger?

The answer was a resounding 'no.' Naruto was all the proof she needed of that. But he at least, knew how to fight. The same couldn't be said for all of the patients here. She tried to remind herself that it wasn't her problem, but weren't they all in the same predicament? Wasn't it everyone's problem if their numbers were thinned too far?

She let herself be led to the game room, where it looked like most of the others were already engaged in either socializing or playing games. Strange how this place tried so hard to keep up the illusions during the day, only to turn everything around at night.

[Kenshin :D]

This was more or less what Marcus had expected from a game room. He wasn't interested in playing anything, really, but it would be at least better than sitting around in the sun room doing nothing.

Out of the available games, Marcus decided on chess. Unfortunately, that required an opponent. Marcus had the feeling he wouldn't have to wait long for one, though, not with the looks Stefan had been giving him at lunch. Marcus set out the board and began putting the pieces in their proper places. It was tempting to set the white pieces up for Stefan just to see if he'd comment on it, but Marcus put them on his side instead.

[One evil overlord from the Rogue Isles, please]

Game Room? That sounded interesting. The teenager hurriedly stuffed the last of his taco into his mouth and nodded a quick good-bye to his lunch partner. In the room, he was shown several bits and pieces of games. Tony picked a checker board and set up the pieces, hoping to entice a partner. Nothing in particular was on his mind, which was kind of a relief.

[for Frey]

Well, lunch had certainly been interesting, if nothing else! There were all sorts of gifted humans here, and ZEX had to admit he enjoyed being admired again. It had been far too long and he'd missed it more than he would have thought. He was enjoying the feeling as long as it would last.

Eager to see his human again, ZEX looked out over the crowd of people in the room, but couldn't make out his human's features from the group with his tiny eyes. A shame! Perhaps he was already here, and just hadn't seen him yet? Or perhaps he was running late... he hoped he wouldn't take too long. After talking to so many humans all day, he was really longing to touch one again.

ZEX stood and looked around the room, sure he'd appear at any moment, until a nurse told him to sit down and try and play with some of the games. ZEX had other things he wanted to do instead, but in the interests of not causing trouble, he sat down near the door so he'd make sure he wouldn't miss him. He had so many things to talk to him about, after all!

ZEX picked up one of the stacks of thin material... something about them seemed familiar. That's right, another patient had told him about these once before... Xigbar's friend, the blond one. What was it... Luxord? Something like that. Humans used them for play, if he remembered right, although ZEX wasn't sure what that would entail.

However, as he flicked through the cards, he did recognize the numbers written on most of them, and those were easy to understand. ZEX began laying out cards in patterns across the table, lining up equation after equation to keep his mind busy, and looking up every now and then for his Captain. Hopefully something hadn't happened to him...

[Caaaaaaptaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain~]

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