damned_institute | Day 39: Intercom, Evening

Entry tags:

Day 39: Intercom, Evening

The Head Doctor seemed a little rushed as he spoke on the intercom, not taking as much pleasure as he usually did in describing the delicious food that would soon be served.

"Hello, everyone! Tonight is turkey night, which means turkey breast in a great turkey gravy with some nice turkey sides: peas, herb potatoes, a small garden salad, and for dessert, a slice of pumpkin pie. We of course have vegetarian substitutes available, as well as our usual assortment of drinks.

"...I believe that's it! I'll talk to you soon!"

The intercom clicked off abruptly.

[ If you are introducing your character during this shift, you may either choose for them character to wake up before their roommate gets back, or after.

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Actually I'd be more concerned about some of the patients," Brainiac 5 said, a flicker of annoyance in his tone. "Some of them clearly deserve to be here." It was clear from his expression he was thinking of someone in particular though, so he may have been somewhat biased.

As he listened to Peter, he worked on eating some more of his dinner. The meal didn't taste particularly bad, though he cared less about that as opposed to ensuring it fulfilled his body's requirements. Thus the meat was eaten carefully and with a minimum amount of the sauce, which seemed to be largely fats and pointless other things as well, before he turned his attention to the salad instead.

"I doubt anyone 'outside' knows anything about this place. I imagine any corpses are disposed of on the grounds, while new patients are not actually seen being brought into the facility. Particularly when you take into account the sheer range of those from different times and dimensions," Brainiac 5 said bluntly, not looking up from the plate.

"Nor does anyone seem to really know what happens to those who are apparently 'released'. But then again, I haven't had the time to look into the situation any further, so most of my assumptions are largely based on circumstantial data."

Peter regarded him quizzically. Now, Steve had given him a warning about brainwashed patients, true, but if there were more people around who were dangerous 24/7, like Eddie, he might have a problem. There was only so much he could do - the institute was huge if the map was anything to go by (he discreetly patted the waist of his pants, making sure it hadn't fallen out), and there was a ton of people in it. If there was more than one psychopath on the loose, it would be impossible to save them all.

He cut himself another piece of turkey, chewing pensively. Perhaps the others wouldn't mind splitting up to run patrols of the hallways. Escape was important, but so was keeping everyone safe. He couldn't let what happened to Harry and Logan happen to anyone else. He couldn't live with himself if it did.

"Oh really? Anyone in particular I should keep an eye out for?" The way Brainiac had said it suggested that he had run into one of the creeps himself. Weird, he didn't look like he was injured.

And now they were back on his favourite topic: alternate dimensions. It was the frigging word of the day, apparently. He gave a weary sigh. "Uh, how big is this range exactly? Centuries? Decades? Or is it just a bunch of worlds with the same people on them doing different things? I've met like, three people today who all knew an older version of me. And from the sound of it, it wasn't the future me, either." He left out the bit about Harry being dead in his world and alive in this one. It was Harry's life, Harry's story - not his. He couldn't go throwing it around willy nilly solely for conversation's sake.

As for the missing patients thing, he would have to look into that. There was a chance, however slim, that they were being held hostage in another part of the institute, or had even made it home. The mention of corpses put a big damper on that notion, but that didn't necessarily mean that everyone that left was dead. Unless his Holocaust theory was true...Peter really didn't want to think about it.

"If you must know," Brainiac 5 sighed, "There's a man by the name of Grell. He has long, red hair, glasses, and particularly vicious teeth. I would suggest that you avoid him at all costs. He's a dangerous psychopath with no issues about injuring others. Plus he's delusional and insists that he's actually some kind of god."

He probably could have continued on the topic at length, but he wasn't sure if he was comfortable with discussing exactly what had happened between himself and Grell. Not to mention the threats of going after those he cared about - which fortunately the man had apparently either forgotten, or assumed that Brainiac 5 cared for no one - and finding him again tonight. It meant that dealing with the problem the other patient was becoming would have to take priority if he wished to survive long enough to find a way out of this place.

Fortunately he could ignore expanding further on his experiences in favour of the topic of alternate dimensions, something that Peter at least seemed to be familiar with.

"I would suggest you think more along the lines of millennia," he said slightly condescendingly. "I myself am actually from the thirty-first century after all, not to mention I was abducted or otherwise brought here from a location some lightyears from Earth. From other accounts, it would seem that the 'range' is very large." He frowned faintly. "Nor does it seem to matter how powerful or well-protected the person was, they find themselves here all the same."

He was certain if there had been some way to avoid or fight against whatever brought them here, Clark would have found it. Even if he was inexperienced with his powers, he was still Kryptonian and the greatest hero the Earth had ever seen.

Just one guy? Well that was a load off of his shoulders. Of course, Brainiac had only been around for three days, so it wasn't too farfetched to assume that he merely hadn't come across any other psychos yet. He would have to bring up the patrol thing with the others tonight. "Thanks, I'll watch out for him," he assured, half smiling around his heavily laden fork.

There was a tiny twinge of guilt wiggling in his stomach for not returning the favour - he should warn Brainiac about Eddie, but that would be tantamount to suicide. Anything that linked him to his vigilante life would have to stay a secret, and for the time being, that included any enemies that might pop up. It wouldn't be too hard to connect the dots if Peter did tell him about Brock, particularly if this boy was from another version of his world. He would just have to find him, and get that suit-thing away from him pronto. How he would do it was a complete mystery at the moment, but he'd come up with something. Soon. He had to.

The patronizing tone in his roommate's voice made him frown, overbearing his words for a moment or two. Somebody had an ego on him.

"Thirty first century?" he parroted, quirking an eyebrow. "You're kidding me." That was impo- no, it was possible. Peter had to keep reminding himself of that. If you could time travel a few years, then you could time travel a few hundred years. It would explain the strange language Brainiac had been writing in.

...Wait a sec...

"How come you're speaking twenty-first century English? Wouldn't it have changed by then, or disappeared?"

"Hardly. What would I have to gain by lying about my origins like that? If I were going to lie, it would make more sense for me to say we were from a similar time period in order to establish a sense of connection."

Though Peter did raise a valid question about how they were able to communicate, one that either hadn't occurred to anyone else he'd spoken with or was something others had gotten used to working oddly here. It reminded him of a discussion he'd seen on the information board.

"I learned ancient English as one of the members of our team came from this time period. When I first arrived here, I noticed that what reading materials were available were all dated for this time period, so I've since been speaking that. However it would seem that language works oddly here, perhaps due to some kind of translation technology. Most people have claimed that they can understand others when they do not share the same primary language, but there are... irregularities. Several people who claimed to be writing in a language that was secondary to them could only be understood if the reader had knowledge of that language."

He leaned forward in his chair, now ignoring what remained of his meal in favour of the conversation.

"For example: This is Interlac, the common language of the thirty-first century, but I doubt you can understand a word I am saying." The corner of his mouth quirked upwards. "See what I mean?"

"Well, for all I know, you could be working for that head doctor guy. Spreading rumours about different worlds and whatnot." He grinned impishly. If there was a spy in this craphole, it wasn't his roommate. No self respecting mole would be so suspiciously informative. "If I didn't run into a boatload of people I knew back home today, I'd be laughing in your face right now."

He listened intently as Brainiac spoke, nearly forgetting about the now lukewarm meal in his lap. The part about a team member from the past was a little hard to swallow, but once again - things worked differently here. The whole language system spiel was interesting, though, something like those cultural studies you would have to write up in school.

The mangled alien dialect caught him off guard. Peter raised his eyebrows (for like the ten millionth time today. Yeesh.) "Damn. I was kinda hoping Klingon was the language of the future."

He poked absently at his mashed potatoes. "It doesn't make sense. If whoever's in charge of this place wants to mess with us, wouldn't leaving all the languages the way they were be a better way of doing it? Translating everything just makes it easier for us to join up and revolt. And why bother taking people from so many different worlds in the first place? Why would one version of somebody get picked, and another one not?"

If anything, Brainiac 5 seemed actually surprised by the joke. "Why would spreading rumours about different worlds be of any use to those in charge here?" he asked, clearly confused. "If anything, I would be trying to convince you that you were insane, correct? Not to mention if you did laugh at my assistance, then I would simply return to my notes and leave you to discover these things on your own."

Though the smile did indicate that Peter was just trying to be friendly, so Brainiac 5 hesitantly returned it after a moment. The teasing in a way reminded him of the Legion, particularly Lightning Lad and how he had always been trying to get Brainy to 'lighten up', but the Legion had also had more time to get used to him and how he interacted with those that he considered friends. Peter had just met him though, so the Coluan boy was surprised at how quickly his new roommate had relaxed and started joking. In a way it was... nice. He supposed anyway.

"Klingon? I'm unfamiliar with that species, but why would you assume that their language would be the one spoken on Earth in the future? Unless there's some history I've forgotten, I don't believe any such species was particularly influential on your culture..."

He sighed and shook his head. "I'm not certain. Much of what I've seen here seems to be rather... randomly set up. For example, there doesn't appear to be any pattern to who is brought here at all. Some people are considered highly significant in their own society or culture," and here he indicated himself, "while others don't seem to have anything separating them from others in the world at all." He indicated Peter, then shrugged.

"It also doesn't help that we have no way of knowing what the goal of this facility is at all. Those in charge, while apparently enjoying taunting us, don't seem particularly interested in filling in those details."

Would you look at that - a smile. His roomie wasn't an android after all.

"How should I know? I'm clearly not the criminal mastermind here." An accusing fork was brandished in Brainiac's direction. "You, on the other hand, are some kind of freaky genius."

Then came what was undoubtedly the most hilarious thing he'd heard all day - Brainiac thought that the Klingons were real. Peter covered his mouth, laughing through a spoonful of peas. He answered once he had narrowly succeeded in swallowing them without choking. "No, dude, it's fake. It's from a TV show." A gentler, well meaning smile replaced his maniacal grin. Hopefully he hadn't made the other boy feel too uncomfortable. He seemed kind of stiff, but even so, Peter was warming to him. He wasn't so bad as far as super genius kids went, and some of those? Way more socially inept than this guy. "I shouldn't have said anything. There's no way you would have seen it before."

Under normal circumstances, Peter might have taken offense to being referred to as 'unimportant'. Yet there was a corner of his brain that wanted to tape that victorious moment and email it straight to MJ. In your face, Mary-Jane Watson! I can so keep a secret identity!!

Of course, thinking about MJ was threatening to bring on a fresh bout of home-sick emo time. He hastily shoved those thoughts away.

"Highly significant, huh? So what is it that you do back home? Does it have something to do with that team you mentioned?"

It was plain to see that talking about the institute was getting them nowhere fast. He'd drop the subject for now, at least until one of them had a better clue about what was going on.

Brainiac 5's lips twitched upwards into another faint smile. "A twelfth level intellect, actually," he said smugly. "So yes, 'some kind of freaky genius'."

The smile vanished however when he realised Peter had started laughing at him. While he liked to think he could appreciate a joke as well as anybody else, it was another matter entirely when the joke was clearly on him.

"You're right," he said stiffly. "There was no way I could have seen it before." Unless Bouncing Boy had decided to show it at some point, but unless it was an old Earth horror movie, it was highly unlikely. "And I wasn't aware that making fun of someone because they haven't seen some obscure ancient Earth show was considered a good idea after you'd just met."

Brainiac 5 pushed away his plate and drew his notebook closer. If Peter was going to resort to making fun of him, then he would rather start doing something more productive with his time. He'd had more than enough of defending himself and his beliefs to others. When Peter spoke again though, he paused and deliberated for a moment before deciding it wouldn't hurt to answer.

"Currently I'm part of the Legion of Super Heroes. We help out with a variety of problems on Earth and other planets. I suppose I am a significant member of the team; if I didn't continually repair our technology, we'd no doubt be useless within a week, and my inventions have been rather helpful. But it's hardly the same situation as it was..." He stopped and frowned. "Never mind. What about yourself?"

Smooth move, Parker.

"What? No, no!" He half rose from the bed, leaning forward and waving his hands apologetically. "That wasn't what I-"

Whumph! Splurt.

His tray had flipped over. There were peas and potatoes all over his blankets, and now he had gravy knees.

"Great," he muttered sourly. Resigned, he removed the tray, squeezing out his partly soaked napkin to wipe up what he could of the mess.

"I wasn't trying to make fun of you. You just surprised me, that's all," he explained. "And I'm used to saying those kind of things to people, so I just...wasn't thinking." Peter was making little progress on clearing away the sauce from his sweatpants, but he doggedly pressed on, if only to avoid looking Brainiac in the eye. He'd have to put a cork in that motor mouth of his if he wanted to stay on the boy's good side. "I'm sorry."

Well, at least Brainiac was still willing to answer his question. That was a good sign, right? "We had something like that back home," he said, returning to the hesitant tone he'd used when they had first started talking. "We called them the Ultimates. They just stayed on Earth, though, but you probably could've guessed that. And I, uh...didn't do anything interesting." Besides bouncing around town in a webbed unitard, that is. "I'm still in high school, and I work part time at the newspaper - web design, mostly, but I did a little photography too. Other than that, pretty much nothing special."

Brainiac 5 blinked, his attention thoroughly diverted from his notes by his roommate's unfortunate mishap. The tray had been flipped over when Peter had tried to stand, and now what remained of his meal was scattered all over the place. But despite that, the other boy continued to try and apologise for what he had been saying.

He hesitated a moment longer, watching Peter trying to clean up the mess on his own, then the Coluan boy pushed back his chair and rose, neatly unfolding his own napkin as he did so and moving to Peter's side. There was still mashed food all over the bed, so he began carefully scraping it up with the napkin and depositing it back onto the tray.

"I should also apologise," he said quietly, continuing to do his best to help clean up the mess without getting too much on himself. "I've been having some trouble with many of the other people here I've spoken to. I suppose I... forgot that not everyone is trying to start some kind of argument with me. Not to mention that today has been particularly trying."

He finished scraping up the last of the food, but there wasn't much he could do about what had become ingrained into the covers of the bed itself. Fortunately Peter wouldn't be sleeping on it for some time, at least until the night was complete and whatever returned them to their rooms took place.

"Most likely you come from an Earth similar to mine," Brainiac 5 said, standing up from what he'd been doing and glancing over at Peter. "I believe in this time period, Earth was largely known for the hero Superman and the Justice League. But much information on them was lost in the Great Crisis, so I'm afraid I can't tell you much more."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Day 39: Intercom, Evening

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71

Re: M71