damned_institute | Day 39: Intercom, Evening

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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.

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Oh, dear. This poor guy was doomed.

"How should I explain this?" Porky said to himself as he lowered the journal, "Alright, this is a bit of a complex idea, but I'll try my best. Okay, you know how we're talking right now? Like, with words? Well, over the course of our evolution, humanity has since developed a system called the alphabet, where every sound is represented by a certain symbol, like this one." Porky pointed to the uppercase 'C.'

"Anyway, this allows humans to communicate without speaking, which is very useful if you want to keep something secret or want to know what someone 'said' long after they've written it down. Oh, the recording of these symbols is called 'writing,' by the way. Anyway, being able to read is very important here at Landel's. One of the most important resources here is the bulletin board. It's a giant piece of paper, which is what people write on. Kind of a flat, thin...rock, I guess. Everyone writes down things on it that they think could help other patients. Sometimes other people ask questions and other people answer. Either way, it's a very useful thing, but, since you can't read, it'll be nearly worthless to you unless you can find someone who can read the notes to you."

Pictures that represented sounds? Diego had a hard time trying to wrap his mind around that one. Pictures could show ideas, yes, like the way sabers hunted. That was one of the few things humans had going for them. But the pictures of sabers looked like sabers. The curved line the human was pointing to didn't look anything like a sound.

"What does that mean, then?" he asked skeptically, indicating the words on the 'paper.' Diego doubted that the human was telling the truth. It was much more likely he was just having more fun at the saber's expense, and Diego wasn't going to take any more of that.

"This sentence means 'Can you read this?'" Porky said, pointing to each word as he said it, "I really can't stress how important being able to read is here. Like, extremely important. you'll have to learn how to read very quickly if you want to survive, much less escape here."

Oh, what to do...Porky hadn't anticipated having a roommate that couldn't read. To be honest, Porky didn't expect a roommate at all! Well, he would have to learn soon, in any event. Suddenly, an idea came to Porky. What if he were to teach his new roommate how to read and write? Not only would Porky be doing a good deed, which would help his reputation immensely, but he would also have someone in his debt!

"I know!" Porky said, "How about if I teach you how to read and write? It'll be pretty easy if you already know how to talk! All you'll have to learn is how to spell! I don't think we'll have time today, since nightshift is-"

Nightshift. How could Porky have forgotten nightshift!?

"Ah...how best to explain?" Porky muttered nervously, "Nightshift is...well...um...er..."

... Escape? It was possible to escape being dead? Not as far as Diego knew, unless the human was right and this really wasn't a death-place. But what else could it be? Diego clearly remembered dying.

Then again, if there really was a 'heaven' for sabers, Diego was pretty sure it did not involve turning into a human. And it would have a lot more easy prey.

"Nightshift?" Did he just mean at night? Diego smiled, finally feeling somewhat back in control. "Look, I may have a different body, but I still remember what happens at night. And I'm pretty sure I can still handle it." If anything, night was easier for sabers; the air was still and quiet, making it much easier to smell and hear everything going on around them.

"Oh, you have absolutely no idea what night is like here!" Porky stammered, "Oh, it's hell on earth! There are monsters everywhere and everything seems to be allied against us! Last night I saw this massive ape-beast fighting four other patients, and they just barely beat it!"

...Yeah, like this guy would believe that.

"Maybe I should phrase this differently," Porky said, "You said that you were a saber-tooth tiger originally, right? Well, night may have been all well and good for you, chowing down on all those defenseless humans and whatnot. Now, I want you to imagine what it'd be like being a human in the same situation."

Monsters? Right. There wasn't much Diego ran screaming from in the way of other animals. But, just like the human pointed out, there were probably a lot of animals who thought of sabers as monsters. Another thread of pride rose up, then died down almost instantly along with the smile.

And he was a human now.

What if he met other sabers at night, or animals like sabers? The chances of them believing he wasn't supposed to be human were close to zero. If Diego had pinned a little ground sloth and it tried to tell him it used to be a saber, he'd only laugh. And the human had just said it was close to night already.

Oh no.

Porky saw the fear dawn on his new roommate's face almost immediately, and, while it comforted him to know that he realized the gravity of the situation, it also left a few questions unanswered. What would this guy do tonight? If Porky's roommate died the first night he was here, there was the possibility that it would somehow circle back to Porky...either way, there was no way that Porky could just leave this guy alone.

Heh heh heh. Perfect. If Porky's roommate had any brains, he wouldn't hesitate to join Porky and the Commander in their little excursion tonight.

"I see you realize the danger here," Porky said, "And I'm sure that you also realize that you're doubly handicapped, what with not only being unarmed and unaccustomed to moving as a human. I'm going to be with a few other people tonight, y'know, so I don't get killed? Anyway, I don't think anyone would have a problem if you came as well."

Then this really wasn't a death-place, if the strange human was still worried about getting killed. Unless he was wrong or lying, of course, but fear tended to be hard to imitate, especially when the person you were talking to could smell it. And that meant there was a chance Diego could really get killed, too, though how he wasn't dead already was still beyond him.

So if escaping from wherever 'here' was remained a distinct possibility, he'd rather be alive.

"Alright," Diego answered slowly, dreading that he was getting himself into something he'd regret later. Oh, well. He'd deal with that if the time came. Besides, this human reminded him a little bit of Sid when they first met. Only without the lisp, or the inherent clumsiness. Or the tendency to do or say the absolute worst thing possible.

"Oh, excellent!" Porky said happily, clapping his hands together, "I'm so glad you've decided to join me and the Commander! Oh, that's who we'll be joining up with, by the way. Anyway, we can talk about learning to read later, but you'll have to survive the night, first. I have some first-aid kits in case any of us get hurt, and I'm pretty sure that I have a hammer around here somewhere that you can use to fight if we find a monster, which we probably will. Oh, You don't know what a hammer is, do you? So sorry! I keep on forgetting you're from the ice age!"

Porky fished around under his bed for the bucket he had stored all of the tools in last night. When he found it eventually, he grabbed the hammer and held it out in front of his new roommate.

"Here," Porky said, "You remember how to hold things, right? Anyway, hammers don't require any skill whatsoever. All you do is swing them. You look like a strong guy, so something like this should be perfect for you! As for walking around, we'll wait up for you, but you'll have to learn how to walk quickly and maybe even run, too."

Diego couldn't shake the feeling that this human thought of him as some sort of idiot, but he had to remind himself that he was a human now, and he probably did look clumsy. Much as the thought irritated him, he had to accept it and move on for right now.

And here was a dilemma. The right hand was still resting on the bed to balance himself with, and the left hand was still holding the black stick called a flashlight. And he was being expected to hold something else. Diego grimaced slightly as he glanced down at the stick, mentally calculating how to drop it onto the bed. It couldn't be that much different from using his mouth... slowly, he moved the left arm over the soft surface, uncurling the fingers as he did so. As planned, momentum gently propelled the stick down, with only the slightest hint of a noise as it hit the bed.

And now the 'hammer.' Diego brought up the left hand once again and curled it around the long part, gripping just as hard as he did the flashlight. The hammer, however, turned out to be much heavier, and he grunted with surprise as its weight dropped his entire arm back down to his side. How were human arms by themselves strong enough to carry anything?

Oh, dear. Porky's roommate looked strong at first, but if he couldn't even lift a hammer...Well, there was strength in numbers, in any case. All Porky hoped was that the newest member of the Pigmask Army wouldn't turn out to be a problem. Anyway, Porky saw potential in him and was sure that he would be a powerful ally one day. If he lived, that is.

"I can see that we still have things to work on," Porky said cheerfully, "But don't worry about it! If we run into anything too dangerous, we can just run away if you don't think you can handle it!"

Porky had known this guy long enough to know that if anything could motivate him, it was his pride. If Porky could insult him enough, it would no doubt make Porky's roommate work far harder than necessity alone.

By the way, he had a name, right?

"Excuse me," Porky said, "If I may ask, what's your name?"

Still surprised by the unexpected way the arm had suddenly reacted to the hammer, Diego was just lifting it up to try swinging it when the human's comment about running cut a swathe through his pride. He tried to force the anger under control again, but he couldn't help a soft growl at the words. "I don't run from danger," he replied. Which wasn't altogether true; he ran from lava rivers, and avalanches, and other events out of his control that he couldn't fight. But he never had, and never would, run from a proper fight. Especially if humans were behind it.

The human's next question caught him completely off guard. "Name?" he asked, dumbfounded. "You know what - you... you have a name?" He'd never, ever thought about humans having names. Even after everything with the baby, he... he just couldn't picture it. Humans couldn't even talk.

"Well, if you don't want to have to run, you'd better learn how to walk properly soon! You won't always have a bed to lean on, you know," Porky said cheerfully. Ha ha ha! Porky could read this guy like a book! It would be so easy to manipulate him.

That bit about the name confused Porky, though.

"Of course we have names," Porky replied, furrowing his eyebrows, "What, are you from so far back that humans couldn't even talk or something? No wonder you were so confused by all the things I said earlier! Anyway, my name is Porky Minch. And yours is...?"

Diego became acutely aware of the - of his right hand steadying him on the bed, and of the fact that he'd taken a grand total of one step so far. He did need to lean on something to stand up properly right now, but not for long. Especially not if Porky Minch kept goading him like this. He was going to teach himself, and he was going to be able to run on two legs very soon.

Diego glanced up sharply at the answer. Humans evolved to be able to talk? Why? Why did humans get all the evolution, and the mammoths and the sabers get all the extinction? Come on, humans were the lowest on the food chain!

"Diego," he answered after a moment, ignoring the persistent strange feeling of telling this to a human.

"Nice to finally know your name, Diego!" Porky said cheerfully, "Anyway, we might as well start your learning how to write as soon as possible, so let's start with your name!"

Porky picked up the journal and pen he had put down earlier and wrote "Diego" in big block letters on another one of the pages. Diego seemed to think that humans were stupid, so Porky felt it necessary to show him his place. After all, Diego was just an uncivilized animal, right? Porky held up the journal so Diego could see what Porky had written.

"That's how you write Diego, see?" Porky said as if he were talking to a child, "First there's 'D,' then 'i,' then 'e,' and then 'g' and 'o.' 'Diego.' Do you think you could try writing it yourself? If you can come over here and away from that bed, I mean. And no problem if you can't. I understand that it's difficult for you."

Diego stared at the pictures on the paper, then at Porky Minch, grudgingly impressed. That was the one thing he always thought humans had going for them, their idea of communicating through pictures scratched on the wall. While he was still annoyed at the whole evolution thing, it was also impressive that they'd taken the next step and turned sounds into pictures.

Maybe that was the only reason they'd evolved. They certainly didn't have anything else going for them.

But writing it himself? That was just a little bit too human for Diego. He'd teach himself how to walk because he needed to be able to move by himself, but learning how to write? How to scribble pictures humans made up so he could communicate with humans? Besides which, he'd never be able to wrap a hand around the tiny rock, much less keep it that steady. "No thanks," he answered with a slight smile. "I think I should focus on moving." He paused to look around. "How do you get out of here?"

Heh. Looked like Diego wasn't quite confident enough to try his hand at writing. No matter. After all, there were other ways for Porky to assert his superiority.

"Ah!" Porky said, "Excellent question! Well, we humans invented something called a 'door' to keep all those pesky animals out. Couldn't have saber-tooth tigers and whatnot always barging in, you know? Anyway, you see this big different-colored rock, right?"

Porky pointed to the door out of M80. Oh, this was going to blow Diego's mind. Porky pushed on the door to emphasize how sturdy it was. Then, Porky reached for the handle and turned it, but didn't open it just yet.

"Well," Porky began, "You see this smaller, metallic rock? You give it a little turn and then a push, and voila!"

Porky opened the door.

"It's very effective at keeping animals out," Porky said cheerfully, "Most of them aren't smart enough to figure out how they work, so they have no choice but to go away. Anyway, now that exiting the room is taken care of, why don't we head out? I believe that it's already nightshift."

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Day 39: Intercom, Evening

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