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damned_institute2009-07-04 12:11 am
emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_institute2009-07-04 12:11 am
Day 42, Noon: Magus Park
Brainiac 5 was bored.
Since he'd been, for lack of a better word, abandoned in the park this morning, he'd had little to occupy his attention beyond the brief distraction offered by Peter's odd visit. And while earlier he might have insisted that he didn't require any company, that the silence and space gave him time to think and work on more important things, he actually found himself missing the company of others and the break it gave him from his own thoughts.
He supposed it made a certain amount of sense. While he'd preferred to work alone on his numerous, complicated projects, it had been a regular occurrence to have others of the Legion dropping by his laboratory to ask questions about what he was working on and to check up on him. He'd gotten used to it, and had even come to welcome some of the intrusions, such as when Clar-
He clenched his hand into a fist, nails digging sharply into his palm hard enough to leave indentations in the skin. It helped distract him before he lost his hard-won control over his emotions, but it was much less effective than he would have liked. He needed something else.
Unfortunately it would seem that the one time he would have preferred his nurse to abduct someone for him to talk to, she had instead wandered off to take care of something else, leaving him alone for the time being.
Very well, he'd already planned something else in case of this exact circumstance, and now that the day had warmed up enough, he should be able to get away with his plan. Shifting around carefully, Brainiac 5 managed to take off his jacket without bothering his injuries too much, though his shoulder still caused a wince and hiss of pain. Still, the end result made the effort somewhat worthwhile; the shirt he'd been given today was no longer hidden away.
Smoothing the fabric against his skin, he frowned slightly as his eyes flicked over the binary.
"This is gibberish," he said finally, sounding put out. "It doesn't even begin to make any sense."
His gaze rose to glance around the area again, noting this his nurse was still absent before he produced a pen from his pocket and set about correcting the flow of numbers. No doubt his nurse would try and stop him once she noticed, but he found the idea of wearing something that didn't make any sense whatsoever more irritating than wearing a shirt sporting the occasional neat pen mark.
And at least it gave him something to do for the time being.
[open, no limits!]
Since he'd been, for lack of a better word, abandoned in the park this morning, he'd had little to occupy his attention beyond the brief distraction offered by Peter's odd visit. And while earlier he might have insisted that he didn't require any company, that the silence and space gave him time to think and work on more important things, he actually found himself missing the company of others and the break it gave him from his own thoughts.
He supposed it made a certain amount of sense. While he'd preferred to work alone on his numerous, complicated projects, it had been a regular occurrence to have others of the Legion dropping by his laboratory to ask questions about what he was working on and to check up on him. He'd gotten used to it, and had even come to welcome some of the intrusions, such as when Clar-
He clenched his hand into a fist, nails digging sharply into his palm hard enough to leave indentations in the skin. It helped distract him before he lost his hard-won control over his emotions, but it was much less effective than he would have liked. He needed something else.
Unfortunately it would seem that the one time he would have preferred his nurse to abduct someone for him to talk to, she had instead wandered off to take care of something else, leaving him alone for the time being.
Very well, he'd already planned something else in case of this exact circumstance, and now that the day had warmed up enough, he should be able to get away with his plan. Shifting around carefully, Brainiac 5 managed to take off his jacket without bothering his injuries too much, though his shoulder still caused a wince and hiss of pain. Still, the end result made the effort somewhat worthwhile; the shirt he'd been given today was no longer hidden away.
Smoothing the fabric against his skin, he frowned slightly as his eyes flicked over the binary.
"This is gibberish," he said finally, sounding put out. "It doesn't even begin to make any sense."
His gaze rose to glance around the area again, noting this his nurse was still absent before he produced a pen from his pocket and set about correcting the flow of numbers. No doubt his nurse would try and stop him once she noticed, but he found the idea of wearing something that didn't make any sense whatsoever more irritating than wearing a shirt sporting the occasional neat pen mark.
And at least it gave him something to do for the time being.
[open, no limits!]
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Blankets that weren't there.
He blinked his eyes open against the light through the windows (windows?) and the vaguely-uncomfortable padded bench he was on-- a bus? Why was he on a bus? For a brief, surreal moment, glancing down at his utterly normal clothing, he wondered if he had fallen asleep on the way to school--
"Ah, Astor, you're awake!" a nurse burbled, appearing in the aisle from behind him, and pulled him out of his seat. "Just in time for lunch, if you're hungry. Here we go," and she handed him a worn hand-me-down sort of coat that was way to big for him as she bundled him to the door and out of the bus, "go have fun!"
The coat was followed by a small packet of... coupons, it looked like, for free food and stuff, before Tobias was left blinking in the sunlight looking kind of lost.
That didn't last long before he shrugged into his coat, shivering a little at the chill, and wandered over towards a blond kid who seemed to be... editing his shirt with a pen? Well, that was kinda weird, in the harmless sort of way.
"... Hi," he ventured, watching with intent curiosity.
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"My apologies, I didn't notice you there," he said, cheeks flushing slightly, though it could just have easily been from the cold. It was minor but it bothered him that before he'd been abducted and brought here, he wouldn't have been taken by surprise simply by someone approaching. His sensors would have picked up the other boy some time ago, even if he didn't feel the need to comment on his presence. It was another vulnerability that he hated.
"I don't believe we've met," he continued, glancing back down at the row of numbers across his chest and making another change with the pen. "I am Brainiac 5."
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"Nope, we haven't met." He offered a nearly-natural-looking smile. "I'm Astor. What're you doing with your shirt?"
That seemed a harmless enough topic, especially with Brainiac Five (non-human? or just from someplace not-Tobias'-Earth?) continuing to... edit?
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It wasn't strictly true, Brainiac 5 knew he should be trying to work more on the problems of what had been done with his original body and how to go about escaping, not to mention the problems presented by Luxord and Grell, but he found it easier to leave them at the back of his mind for the time being. He was perfectly capable of holding a simple conversation, correcting the code on his clothing, and considering different plans of action at the same time after all, so it wouldn't be that much of a problem for now. And besides, he found it easier to look at what had happened to him objectively if his attention wasn't focussed on it entirely.
"Astor?" It almost sounded like a name he would have heard in the Legion. He shot a quick, intent look up at the other boy. "I don't suppose you're another of the non-humans here?"
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"You are Lilim," he confirmed. Though it was true, Sho was unique compared to all of the other faces of Lilim he had seen. Kaworu could not readily come up with another one whom he could compare to Sho. His dialect also grew more and more intriguing as Kaworu continued to speak to him. The words that he did know were all mathematical terms, which was a subject Kaworu had never looked into extensively. None of his Lilim tutors had complained when he would have rather studied music.
"And you call me an Angel." It felt almost nice to know there was no cause to hide that fact anymore.
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"Wait, what, an Angel!?" sputtered Minamimoto at the revelation. So he was like Joshua! Wait, or was he? "Argghhh..." Sho groaned and clutched his head, trying to sort this all out. So many things pointed towards this being coincidence, but wasn't this too coincidental? The odds of this were...
"So you're from the higher plane of Angels or something? How the factor did you get derived?" With the exception of himself, Minamimoto had never heard of someone managing to actually erase an Angel. And he'd said a Lilim had done it, so a human? Or did he actually recognize what Sho was and he had been taken down by a Reaper? "For that matter, why were you even on the same wavelength as a Lilim to get derived by them?" Angels didn't come down without a reason. Every new bit of information he was getting from the kid just complicated the equation. Just who the factor was he!?
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"You will need to explain to me what you mean by a higher plane," he said accordingly. "But I was there because it was my destiny to... erase humanity," Kaworu awkwardly attempted to use the older boy's vocabulary, just as Sho had adopted Lilim.
"I did not want that future, and so I asked one to kill me." Kaworu was saddened by the memory, and yet fond of it, and it showed very slightly in his face.
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The mathematician cut off with a choking noise at the kid's answer.
"What!? Why the-" he sputtered, before reigning himself in. Linguistics was hardly his strongest attribute, but Kaworu had said "destiny", implying some kind of divine force, not actual order... but wait, if he was an Angel, maybe that was their term for receiving orders? Fractal, he just didn't know enough about the Angels! Maybe he'd query Hanekoma some time. It could have been orders, some other force beyond Angels and Reapers, or maybe this guy just forgot to carry the two in his mental equation. Either way, it didn't sound anything like his dimension so it would be better to just accept these statements as fact for the moment rather than try to extrapolate contradictory proofs that these were false.
"Okay, fine, whatever," he finally spat after sorting it out in his head. "So it was some huge problem or whatever and you just didn't like the end solution. Who needs destiny? Crunch! I'll add it to the heap!" said Sho with a laugh, pounding his fist into his palm with returning confidence. As bizarre as the situation was, it didn't seem like there was any reason to read too much into it with as many degrees relation it was away from his own situation. After all, as far as he knew, Joshua had never tried to delete the human race. A bit of false data that nonetheless produced a correct solution.
"Now, I'm gonna grab a byte to eat," he declared, pulling out the booklet of coupons. "Got a preference?" he asked, tearing out the coupons for Tasty Burger and the Twin Pines. Normally he would have just ditched the kid and flipped a binomial function, but he was still a little suspicious and extremely curious about this so-called Angel. It couldn't hurt to gather more data on him.
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But on the other hand, Sho's explanation of Angels from his viewpoint did not match Kaworu's knowledge. Could it be a series of unlikely coincidences?
Regardless, it seemed as though this Lilim wanted him to come along to find food. Kaworu was glad for it, both for the information and company. He nodded his agreement. "I have no preference. It's all new to me, so I am interested to see anything in this place."
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"You got your proof?" he asked, waving the coupon. "'cause I ain't letting you use mine."
With only that warning, he headed off down towards the main street and his desired coordinates.
[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/660443.html?thread=55058907#t55058907)]
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He was hoping that neither would be interrupted by unforeseen events.
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"Stefan," Marcus greeted as he approached, hands stuffed in the pockets of the jacket he'd been given. The jacket was white and blue and had an Eagle on it, as well as the number 14, and he had to wonder again if someone in the institute was enjoying dropping little hints and reminders, things that pointed to their real lives. It was probably for some high school athletics team, but the fact that it was an eagle made it worth noting.
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"Not always. It helps if they know who you are and respect you," Marcus said. It helped a lot.
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"I was planning on posting one more notice asking for roll call and recruits, then making patrol assignments. Also, one of them said he had attempted to join before, but you never replied to him," Recluse deadpanned, looking irritatedly at his former friend.
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"If you think you can do it, by all means, Stefan. For today, you can organize the search and rescue group," Marcus said. Maybe if Marcus showed that he was trusting him a little he would be less difficult.
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The lack of response was almost disorientating by itself, and would have likely snapped the boy out of his tainted haze, if not for the larger issues at work this day. His eyes had widened more at her sentence, for reasons unknown; then became a silent presence at her back as she moved off of the bus and into the park. She came to a table, like she had promised, and the boy stood in front of it, waiting for something. Waiting for what? If he expected an invitation, this was the wrong place to be searching for one, and by any matter, Albedo had things he needed to do.
Like find Nigredo and rip him limb from limb. He was sure he was still capable of that, at least. It was be pleasant. Peaceful. Something to take the edge off--
--something to put the edge on--
Completely opposite to his rantings before, Albedo had fallen silent again, watching her cautiously, head tilting and jerking towards any loud noise in the distance. Why had he followed her? Was it something--
As if his mouth was separate from the rest of his self, Albedo spoke, his words careful and concise. "Sorry about the paper." Sorry about the blood, he almost added, but no, no. There was no blood, not yet, and even so; why apologize for that? An inconvenience? Like it mattered. Like it kept, thick instead of cream, something ruined cooling in the veins and all around them. He glanced at the ground, touched with frost. No, not yet. Not yet.
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And why she still existed at all. (If this counted as existing.)
Yomi took her time to scan the park over once, as she absently stuffed coupons into her own paper bag and trekked across the grass with long, confident strides. She didn’t acknowledge the baby duck following her until she came up on one of park’s picnic areas. She crossed to the other side of the table, eyes still elsewhere.
Well, he’d gotten quiet all of a sudden.
Dropping the bag onto the tabletop, she leaned in to smooth the square of paper there. “Now you get what you get,” she acknowledged lightly. Which was more than usual, whatever the case, because since when did Yomi make the same unfortunate choice and cater to a kid, putting their wants ahead of her own? But this Albedo was different. The situation was different. So she began putting on a show again, folding the paper one side at a time. She hadn’t been kidding--a paper airplane was the basic of the basic, mere seconds’ worth of work, but it was more than what she had to do.
When it was done, she threw it at him for a flight demonstration.
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When the plane was thrown at him, Albedo's arm reached up to snatch it from the air. It wasn't anything truly impressive, merely a reflex, but he lowered his arm and studied the paper slowly as if it were something more strange than he. Holding it at an angle, he glanced upwards through his bangs, blinking slowly. Past this, he had no plan. With this girl, he had no agenda in speaking with, at least as of yet. Perplexed at the interaction and distracted by the constant thrumming of the link with no brothers yet in sight, he asked, curious, "Now what?"
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Yomi was amused by the boy at best, and detached at worst, and when there was so little movement she could make, there wasn’t much to do but to hold back the steady, heavy waves of emotion that filled her from top to bottom nowadays. At least during the daylight hours. Like the bogeyman, or even like the place itself, true colors--untrue colors?--were only coming out at certain times.
She looked at him from where she stood. Shrugging, Yomi said, “Play?”
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And so what was he supposed to play? Some strange game he had never heard of, or played? For a moment, the white-haired Variant was almost distracted from his task at hand. And did he want to--play? Some part of him instantly replied in the affirmative, some longing part of him wanting that in a strange way he could not name. But again, this was strange; this was not family, and Albedo knew no way to go about this. Less wary than before, he relaxed his stance, curiosity taking over his features. "...Play what?"
Instead of a question of what game to be played, it came out more like genuine perplexity; a lack of understanding in this. Was this how people behaved when they weren't raised as bioweapons (monsters) or designer children (something shunned)? For all the extra knowledge he had gained in his loss, Albedo did not know.
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A kind of joke, she supposed, if her instincts were wrong, and his essence was older than the body that housed it, older by far. But she didn’t think so. There was an innocence that peeked out from that unidentifiable creature.
And she thought there was more to it... except her interest had its limits.
The sense of obliviousness Yomi got, what did it matter? Did things that weren't human deserve that kind of introspection without warrant? She hadn't thought so, not for most of her life, not when she'd learned the dangers to partnering a spiritual beast, and not even when she'd had Mei between her knees.
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There was a vibration in the air. Something familiar. Something hated.
In that instant, Albedo's face cleared of all emotions shown. His gaze left Yomi, and without moving, his eyes slid around the park. Somewhere near. Yes. It would have to be somewhere near. Now where was the source of that, that familiar feeling that he shouldn't be feeling--not here, at least, if things were to be believed. Perhaps the truth wasn't what it seemed.
An intense, predator-like concentration filled the void left, and his eyes continued scanning. And like something out of nothing, much like he had said, there sat the youngest, seemingly despondent and distracted. How perfect. He tilted his head, pleased, the smallest smile starting across his face. Play? Well. They were weapons of war, after all, and by that logic, he would do what 'someone his age' would do. Albedo took a step forward, then stopped, rolling his eyes back at Yomi and adding a grin. There was something murderously joyful within the boy at this moment.
"You know," he said lazily. "I think I'll take your advice after all." He slid the plane in the pocket at the front. "Thanks." Without much more, he started off, veering to the side after a few steps to dart between the trees and bushes there.
It wouldn't do well, after all, if his prey saw him coming.
[to here]
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He would have found his way into play time no matter if she’d been there or not.
Her gaze re-settled on the sad-looking bag on the bench, and with movements that almost seemed thoughtful, the girl stepped closer to the bench so that she could uncurl the flap and slip out the coupons. It wasn’t much--less than much, in her case--but it might be better to take them along. They went into her jacket pocket.
Then she turned and left the park without looking back.
[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/665221.html?thread=55244677#t55244677)]
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A...park. Had she been in a park? She'd had to wait until everyone else had left the bus so she could be carried off it, and once she was back in the chair on wheels, the nurse had given her a packet of paper and made her put on a tan coat and had dumped a folded, fluffy pink blanket on her lap (which Mele had thought explained why they'd let her wear a skirt, which was about the furthest thing from formless grey pants ever).
Mele rubbed her eyes. The light had changed. Had she dozed off? She hadn't thought she was that tired—actually, she hadn't thought she'd been tired at all. She'd been wide awake (as wide awake as anyone could be in the morning) during the conversation with Violet, and she remembered getting off the bus with the clarity that meant she'd been awake.
Unless it was a trick. Mele exhaled huffily and looked up at the clouds. Tricks and deceptions and mind games.
Why couldn't she have woken up in a good mood, after the pleasant conversation on the bus? Because having to wake up at all after having already woken up meant she was missing something. And wasn't this the second time today?
"Damn your mind games, Long!" she shouted at the sky.
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Subaru didn't really feel like going through the hassle of trying to wrangle a vegetarian lunch out of the restaurants here. Last time he had tried, it had ended up being a big fuss and he wasn't feeling energetic enough for a repeat. People were so aggressive, here! It was difficult for Subaru to deal with gaijin, at least the ones like that cashier.
So, he stayed in the park instead, dozing for a little while. When he woke, sitting under a tree with his back against the trunk, Subaru found that he was rather a lot more sore than he had been when he sat down--and no wonder, with his healing back pressed up against the rough bark. He was embarrassed to have fallen asleep in the first place, too--he was almost healed, he really shouldn't be just dropping off to sleep like an invalid.
After a quick walk around town and checking the message board, once he found it, Subaru returned to the park. He almost tripped over a woman in a wheelchair, his attention having been on his own thoughts and the contents of the message board. "Ah, my apologies!"
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Mele was reviewing all of Long's weaknesses (or possible weaknesses) that she knew when someone nearly fell. She bit down on a curse because it really had been her miss for not noticing someone that close, and Mele had never been the type to blame other people for something she couldn't do.
"Uh. It's...okay?" At least you weren't Long? Which would have been both scary and a relief.
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The park was busy - busy with nurses, with a few stray patients and busier than Celes had expected. She strolled down a quiet walkway, her breath puffing in the air. It was nice to be in weather that actually agreed with her. She wasn't built for the desert (how did the Figaroans manage to survive in that stifling heat?) and Narshe was too frigid even for her tastes.
But, the southern continent had been so nice, like this, in early winter. Unexpectedly, Celes felt somewhat home sick, though she was a marked traitor of the Empire. Celes paused at a bench, quiet except for a nurse that passed by every once in a while to ostensibly check upon the young woman. She tossed her hair over her shoulders and down the back of the bench, folded her hands and closed her eyes. It would be so nice if she could just sleep a little bit more and ignore the worries of the day.
But just resting her eyes and listening to the sounds of the park would do well for her, too.
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Dias hadn't had much to do once Celes had left; after a brief inquiry to Guy to assure that the man had ended the night all right(given what had looked like some sort of panic attack coming on), he'd simply wandered off. He'd wound up at the park more by accident than design, though it wasn't really a surprise - it was the closest he'd come to anything like the wilds of Expel he'd been used to since he'd arrived in the institute, and as such it was...peaceful, in a way. And while he appreciated the comfort in general, it had been especially nice in the wake of his irritation at Celes' friend, and the fact that the woman had tacitly approved of his behavior by accepting it without comment. He'd thought better of her, given how alike he'd thought they were.
Of course, Celes' arrival in the park had brought a bit of the earlier tension back. "Did he brush you off, too, or is that reserved entirely for other people?"
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"I would've expected to see you elsewhere, though." Boy, wasn't that the truth, but, fate had a way of closing doors and opening windows, so to speak.
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"You are welcome to sit down, Dias, though I'd understand if you didn't wish to." He may not approved of her actions, but it kept the peace. Truly, that's all Celes wanted some days, rather than babysitting grown men.
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He eyed the bench Celes had indicated, then met her gaze without making any move toward it. "I'd like to hear your explanation first, before I decide what I want to do. After this morning, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt just by assuming that you have one."
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Possibly around the same time one found oneself stuck in a world without allies and under the yoke of a madman's whims. Yes, about then.
"For earlier?" For Luxord? The man himself had no heart, there hadn't been an explanation for his sudden appearance. Never mind she'd been dragging her feet in search of that meek little butler. Just the thought of him made her nerves feel sharper, more ready to lash out. He made her feel as if she were about to burst into hives.
"That situation... was highly unfortunate." She hadn't expected to have him lead her away, and that he had still rankled, despite her trying to keep the peace. "Besides, it didn't appear a wise decision to keep the two of you in the same vicinity for much longer. I don't know about you, but I prefer my days unsedated from forcing two grown men apart." She crossed her arms under her breasts, and felt the red bee of irritation buzz about in her head, while a smaller, calmer voice insisted she keep her cool.
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It had been so thorough, in fact, that it couldn't have been anything less than a deliberate snub; a statement, plain as day, that he and Guy hadn't mattered, meant nothing whatsoever. He could have tolerated that from an enemy, but someone he didn't even know, who had no reason to dismiss him in such a way? Somehow it was even more galling.
Of course, the worst part was that Celes had allowed it. Not just allowed it, but had gone with the blond, which meant that whether or not she accepted it, she nonetheless had no objections she cared to raise and not enough disapproval to give her pause in accompanying the man.
"You still haven't explained what the situation was," Dias pointed out after a moment, glowering. "Was there a pressing reason you up and walked off with someone too important to even acknowledge us?"
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Really, men, she thought, tossing her hair from her face. Enough was enough, she wasn't going to sit here and be interrogated about someone she was already upset enough with. "I don't think it is any of your business, Dias," she snapped.
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It wasn't exactly what she meant to say, but she was damned tired of men acting like fool children. Apparently, no matter what Celes had intended for the day, she would keep running into this problem. She didn't like it, not an iota, and Celes was a woman used to having the reins firm in hand, none of this foolish flailing about and trying to placate everyone at once. That wasn't how life, or battle, worked. "My apology for losing my temper, Dias." she bowed her head and turned to go.
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When she got to her feet, he caught her by the shoulder. "I still don't believe you'd have tolerated that for no reason. You don't have to tell me what the reason was, but at least assure me that there was one."
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"I have my reasons," she hissed, dropping her voice when a nurse appeared at the head of the path and looked at the two curiously. She was quick to smooth her features, though her tone remained. "I was told that Luxord in particular was doing something unsavory. However, as my source never disclosed his name nor a place to meet him, I was trying to discover what he was up to myself." Unfortunately, Celes found she was unable to stomach Grell for very long.
"Is that what you wanted of me, Dias?" she asked, and watched the nurse move on, closing her eyes in relief. "If Luxord has been taking ignoble actions, then he must be punished." Regardless of what attraction she felt for him.
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Specifically, it had been the determining factor in whether he ought to tolerate her behavior.
Of course, there was the risk now that Celes wouldn't want him around after he'd pressed her like this, regardless of what he thought of her. But then, Dias had forgotten most of the skills that had allowed him to be personable over the years, so the risk of alienating people was more of a constant than anything. Still, in an effort to make amends, he offered, "Let me know if I can assist you with it in any way." He'd taken an instant dislike to the man, in any case.
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Most of them.
Besides, she'd probably not need to sink to that level to get them out of him. She just needed to separate him from Grell. Somehow. It exasperated her, and the General turned to look down the path opposite of Dias.