damned_institute | Day 41: Sun Room

Haseo's steps were heavy with the weight of righteous anger as he was escorted into the Sun Room, his posture so sullen and reluctant you could almost hear the nostalgic cry of an electric guitar. He was seething, and though perhaps it was a bit harder to be intimidating while wearing the uniform of an insane asylum and flanked by a bored-looking orderly, it was not for lack of trying.

Unfortunately, his nurse seemed unaffected by the act, and even with the cloud of failing to keep "Kai" away from "Peyton" hanging over her, remained determinedly cheerful. She merely said something about receiving a lecture later on, ignored his retorts, and assured him that it would be alright even though his internet stalker was in the same building. For the most part, Haseo tuned her babbling out after that, dismissing it as hopeless.

"...and usually this would be the time children would be taking showers, but you don't have to worry about that right now. Now then, le--"

"Wait. What?"

"Oh, all the children seventeen or under are separated right now while the adults go to the courtyard..."

"Hey, I'm not a kid you old--!"

"Oh of course you aren't dear, but you're not eighteen yet either, now are you?"

Haseo resisted the urge to do something rash, literally biting his tongue to keep quiet. But upon having the bulletin board pointed out to him, he shrugged off his anger for the most part and headed that way, fully intending to get more answers than he'd had time to receive during breakfast.

Well... at least Endrance is in another shower group, he thought, Thank god.

[Closed to Tsukasa, for now!]

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"Oh... I see." John had been here longer than he had and, like himself, also hadn't experienced much by way of the 'monsters' mentioned - unless people were talking about the patients, in which case Brainiac 5 possibly had more experience than many others - or many of the other threats around the institute. And he hadn't heard anything about the dead returning either. Normally Brainiac 5 might have considered dismissing the idea from the start, but he found it odd that Artemis would mention it in the first place and, if his theories on how Landel was capable of placing those of them who were not human into new bodies were correct, then 'returning someone to life' would also be possible...

John's question pulled him out of those speculations and he glanced away and down at his hands, wishing there was something to distract himself with. "Last night."

His eyes flicked up to the information board for a moment. "I had to inform others about it. I'm not sure if you know- knew Clark Kent, but if so, you have my apologies..."

So he had been right.

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said. "I'm so sorry..."

He shook his head. "I didn't know him, but..." This 'Clark Kent' must have had friends he'd made here, and perhaps friends from back home... Brainiac 5 and the others he'd informed had lost their friend, and that was a terrible, terrible thing. Death was never easy, and it hurt. It always hurt. "I know what it's like to— to lose someone. I'm sorry..."

It was no wonder that Brainiac 5 had wondered about the dead returning, but the Doctor had serious doubts about the possibility.

And again he found himself trying not to let emotion overwhelm him.

"It's fine," Brainiac 5 said thickly, doing his best to ignore the prickling feeling in his eyes he'd quickly come to associate with the beginnings of tears. "I'm able to continue to function in spite of my... emotional difficulties."

He swallowed and brushed at his eyes in annoyance. "It's easier if I have something else to focus on, however. I mostly asked because of something someone else mentioned. I suppose I was hopeful that there might be another way to..." He shook his head and slumped in his chair. "But it doesn't matter now, does it?"

"Then let's give you something else to focus on," he said. The boy needed to fully grieve, but the Doctor knew what the desire to put it off, to try to ignore it, to avoid it, was like.

There were topics he could ask about, to get the boy's mind off the subject of Clark Kent's death even if only temporarily... He wanted to know more about the Bleed, or Colu, or Time Sphere technology, or the boy's reaction to being called "Brainiac," or any of a number of different things about the boy's experiences and technological knowledge, but at this moment... All he wanted to know about was Clark Kent. He hadn't know the man (or boy?), and some small part of him was glad that he hadn't since it avoided that same acute sense of loss that he'd felt a thousand times over the years, but it was a sad thing not to be remembered.

And there was one other thing... "I can't say about the dead returning to life, but... It's obvious the masters of this place have a sophisticated method of time and space travel, and time isn't a straight line. It's possible that if those who are gone have returned, they were spirited away at a different part of their personal timelines..."

He reached up with a hand, pulling at his ear. "Ah, not much of a change of topic, was it? Sorry."

"That's true," he agreed. "But if someone is taken from their own time and brought here, only to-" he nearly stopped but forced himself to continue, "-to die, then what becomes of their future?"

What was going to happen to Clark's future; his own past? Clark was supposed to grow up, to move to Metropolis and work as a reporter, to become Superman. He'd save the planet countless times, team up with other heroes, and most likely end up settling down with someone. He'd live out his life in his own time like he was supposed to, but years later his exploits would inspire three teenagers to start a group that would later be known as the Legion of Super Heroes. But if Clark had been abducted here, had died, then did all of that change? Was there a new reality somewhere where none of it had happened?

....and why didn't he care beyond the fact that Clark wasn't here now?

"It creates a paradox," the Doctor replied, frowning at the thought. Paradoxes were dangerous, especially without the Time Lords. But... "Or would, usually."

There were no Reapers here to sterilize the wound that such a paradox would have left in its wake. If a paradox had truly been created, were there still Time Lords in whatever universe this might be, if not his own? Or was there a race of similar beings that helped to prevent paradoxes? But if there wasn't and there was no paradox...

In the absence of a paradox, any future that might have been would not exist. "Your friend, Clark Kent... Did you know him before coming here?"

"I was afraid of that. The Clark I know- knew- was several years older than the one who-" he hesitated. "-who I met here.

"You could say he was something of a pivotal figure in my world's history, as well as my own past," he continued quietly. It was slightly easier to to talk about Clark being gone like this, in terms of how it would affect the timeline and his past. Like it was just another sequence of data to be analysed and stored carefully away in his data banks.

"But in that case, did it create a paradox? Would that have any noticeable effects? My research into the field suggests that a logical outcome would be the creation of a new reality, where things progress differently, but I've understandably never had any chance or inclination to test the theory."

Day 41: Sun Room

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