damned_institute | Dayshift 42: Morning

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Dayshift 42: Morning - Magus Park

Senna stepped off the bus to wind blowing through the clothes she was given. A sad face at one of the nurses allowed her a long red scarf as well, and once she had draped it around her neck and let it hang down her back, she had trotted off.

The park she had saw last time seemed a good place to be on the look-out for the chicks from last night. It was close to the buses, and a big enough place that if they remembered that they had a race date, it would suit its purpose. The girl ran to a place in the middle of the field and waited there, shifting her weight from side to side. After a while, this wasn't enough, and Senna traded back and forth between jogging in place and acrobatics--the easy flips and cartwheels keeping her warm.

Her mind had changed in the night before. She had gotten a taste of what leadership entailed, and she wasn't sure she had rose to the occasion or not. She knew she had tried her best, and had been willing to give as much as she had, but it hadn't been enough. She knew this. Hokuto, at least, had gotten hurt, and in the end, they still hadn't explored more than the schoolhouse. They really needed a different approach with that place.

She went back and forth internally, body going through the motions and reflexes of her movements.

[for... Falis, Hokuto, Meche, and Soma?--and down to here]

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"Quite possibly the head doctor either being a show-off or particularly bored," Scar said. "There is hardly any reason to the man's ramblings, much less his actions. And if there is I doubt he'd be kind enough to inform us. All we can do now is guess," And guessing he did. That was at least one thing he had learned during his stay here. Nights seemed to be switching between useless to unsettling in the blink of an eye.

As for a repeat tonight...Scar couldn't tell if they'd be able to leave the buses again peacefully. They'd been lucky last week, but there was no telling their luck wouldn't run out. He glanced around the area, noticing the amount of nurses. Even if he'd be able to find anything of use, taking it into the bus would be a difficult task. Not to mention his unfamiliarity with humans in general. Perhaps it would be useful to have someone with him, no matter who. And considering he already happened to be speaking with this many anyway...he supposed slipping a piece of information wouldn't hurt for that purpose.

"I would not be surprised the head doctor would pull another stunt as we return to the institute, it has happened before." He returned his gaze towards the other patient. "I am called Scar, by the way."

True enough, von Karma mused irritably. What else could he have expected? "Hmph. I would have to agree with you. How ironic that the one who most needs to reside in an insane asylum is the one in charge of it."

"Mr. Scar," von Karma nodded cordially as the strange man gave his name. A peculiar name, indeed... but at least it wasn't as outlandish as that of the young boy who called himself "Mousse." (That had been merely eight days ago since von Karma had met the boy, yet it might as well have been eight months ago; von Karma would have never remembered again that "Mousse" existed, were it not for this Scar's introducing himself.) And at least this name was fitting for the man; von Karma now noted an odd scar over his left eye.

Could he trust this Scar at all? How risky was it to give his false name, and how likely was it that Scar knew of anyone involved in the attack from a week ago? Ultimately, he decided that there was no point in giving out his false name unless absolutely necessary; should this man encounter Franziska, it was safer for her not to unwittingly learn that he was known as "Karl Fuchs."

After a moment of reflection upon this, he finally answered, "My name is von Karma, Mr. Scar. A pleasure to meet you." These were not exactly the most sincere of words, but right now, von Karma could ill afford to needlessly antagonize anyone.

"So, another incident had occurred previously in relation to this weekly excursion? Would you elaborate on what happened? The blasted nurse deemed me 'too ill' to attend last time," he grumbled, frowning slightly at the memory of the condescending manner in which said nurse had treated him.

After what had been a curious pause, the human finally gave his name. von Karma? Humans had such odd names, really. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance indeed," Scar replied, offering a polite smile, though not sincere. This man hadn't looked shocked at the sound of his name, which meant he didn't knew him. Good.

"Too ill, hmm? Certainly, not because of an encounter with one of the head doctor's pets, is it?" Scar said, feigning concern. Either way, this man had been here for at least a week apparently. Strangely enough the King couldn't recall his face, but considering the number of patients he supposed it was not all that strange to miss a face or two. Humans did look like one another, after all.

He debated for a moment whether to share the information or not, but decided it was not difficult to acquire from any other person that had stayed here long enough. He might as well use the advantage. "Last week, nothing has happened. We were merely brought back to our rooms to await the nightshift. However," Scar paused for a bit, glancing around the area for a moment before returning his gaze to von Karma.

"One week earlier, they had neglected to bring us to our respective rooms before nightfall. We were still in those," he made a somewhat awkward gesture towards the buses, "I do not believe I have to inform you about what happened to the nurses who were with us during that time, if you've indeed been here for more than a week. That combined with unarmed patients in a confined space, the result had been chaos."

However, the King had no interest in discussing past trips to this silly town. Or at least not right now.

"Though trees and grass are lovely and such, I do not believe staying here will accomplish anything," Not that there was much to accomplish in this town altogether, or at least not with Scar's level of knowledge about humanity (though Landel most likely had a part in the lack of progress as well), but there was no need to tell his new 'friend'.

Immediately, von Karma saw through that facade of affability. At least now he knew for certain to remain on guard around this person at all times. In some ways, the man reminded von Karma of himself... particularly his generally cool, disdainful yet falsely urbane demeanor. Furthermore, in spite of Scar's somewhat feral and even awkward appearance that von Karma couldn't quite pinpoint, there was also a subtly regal bearing about this man. Curious... and disquieting.

"Pets?" Hah. What a manner to describe the monstrously-sized mutant scorpions that run through the halls at night, von Karma dryly mused to himself. "Fortunately, that was not the case," he replied less than truthfully, as he had become even more distrustful of Scar than before. "The foolish nurse merely thought I looked too 'pale' to go anywhere that morning."

He listened to Scar's account of what had happened one week prior to his arrival at the institute. "So, a riot had occurred. Bah. Why did the staff see fit to hold everyone hostage on those miserable conveyances in the first place? Undoubtedly, this was indeed another of our dear Head Doctor's schemes to drive everyone as mad as he is."

So, Scar had been here for at least two weeks, perhaps longer. While (quite unlike his "ally") von Karma did want to talk some more about what else had happened at this wretched place, Scar did have a point that standing around in this quaint little park was pointless. "Hmph. Indeed."

"You have been here previously, Mr. Scar," von Karma remarked, looking intently at the man. "Do you know of any specific establishments here that may provide information? In particular, a town hall, a police station, or even a library?"

"A riot would be another way of putting it, I suppose," Scar commented dryly to von Karma's response. Being stuck in the bus while surrounded by monstrous nurses hadn't been a pleasant experience to him, though thankfully one of the patients had been kind enough to create a hole in the bus. Several others had taken it upon themselves to fight the staff, and who was he to deny them their foolishness? They served as a convenient distraction, and considering the bird-like creatures had no interest in him the King had managed to reach the entrance of the institute unharmed. He had been lucky, and he knew.

Either way, von Karma had decided to state the obvious by saying he had been in this town before. How very impressive. What was decidedly less impressive on Scar's side was that the 'establishments' the other referred were...pretty much unknown to the former lion. Aside from perhaps the library; there was one at the institute, which held books telling stories. Either way, these establishments could lead to more information, though with dear Landel pulling the strings he sincerely doubted anything useful would be found in the first place. The King thought his pessimism was rather well-founded as well.

Though Scar would humor the man and point him to the police station, because he was curious to see what sort of information von Karma was hoping to find there, if only he knew what in the world a police station was. But he didn't know of such silly human 'establishments'. The Pride Lands were much easier in that regard; when in doubt, point a person to a senile monkey carrying a stick sprouting cryptic words. Or an elephant graveyard full with hyenas, depending on the one asking. During the time his dear brother had still been ruling, Scar usually opted for the third option; ignoring the question altogether. No matter which option, it usually guaranteed the person never asking such questions ever again.

Either way, that still left his answer to von Karma's question. He could beat around the bush, send him in a random direction or answer honestly. Out of these, the final option seemed the most efficient. That, and he'd be less likely to make an utter fool of himself.

"I have indeed been here before," Scar admitted. "However, as my home land is rather...different from this one, you'll forgive my unfamiliarity with anything like a 'police station' or a 'town hall'. Would you care to elaborate on their purpose?"

An odd thing to admit, or even question, of that much he was certain. But if the man had been here for more than a week, the concept of different worlds should not be unfamiliar. His own unfamiliarity to things apparently considered normal to humans could be taken however von Karma wished; the King had chosen not to make a secret of his original form, after all. It was not a clever thing to do, with everything he did looking as awkward as it probably did.

Odd, indeed, that this man had never heard of these essential places before. Then again, perhaps he was from one of those uncivilized "third world countries," where law and order was dealt by village chieftains and the like. Truly, for all of his noble bearing, this man did appear as though he could have hailed from such a primitive homeland. Very well.

"Understood," he simply nodded. "Town halls and police stations are two types of organizations that help maintain order in a given town. The former seeks to create rules and policies to establish law and order, while the latter seeks to ensure that the town's citizens obey those policies, punishing those who do not." It wasn't the most elaborate nor even fully accurate explanation, but it was close enough to suit his purposes. So long as it made sense to this strange man who might not fully comprehend a more complex explanation, that would suffice. "Do you know whether any such places exist in this pathetic little town?"

"I see," Scar said, nodding. In his home land, maintaining order was carried out by the king. It seemed this task was divided by two different organizations in the human world. He thought for a moment, trying to recall whether he had seen anything like a 'police station' or a 'town hall' but eventually concluded he hadn't. How was something like that supposed to look, anyway? At least Pride Rock - where the King lived - had been recognizable in his home land.

"Not that I know," he admitted. "Though I haven't been able to explore this town fully thus far, so perhaps there is something of use in one of the areas I have yet to visit."

A plausible explanation. "Very well," von Karma nodded. "I will search for those places myself, then."

He looked around the area to get his bearings. Just directly in front of them was an east-west road called "Main Street." How charming. If any of the establishments he sought existed in this pathetic little town, they were surely located on that street.

"I will head in that direction," he said, pointing towards Main Street. "You are welcome to come along as you wish, Mr. Scar." Though von Karma would have preferred to have no "tag-alongs," this Scar at least seemed to have useful information about the institute. Perhaps something else of interest would come up in conversation along the way.

Looking around to see whether there was anyone he recognized (where in blazes was his daughter?!), he started to proceed towards Main Street.

[To here]

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Dayshift 42: Morning - Magus Park

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