damned_institute | Day 22: Brunch

Cid usually liked sleeping in, especially in a place as messed up and uninviting as this, but this happened to be one situation where he really wished he hadn't.

Right there, on the bulletin board. The Head Doctor and he'd fucking missed it? Some part of him wished he'd been there to take his eye out and another part of him knew he wouldn't have been able to. No man that powerful who hid for so long went to dangerous places without some kind of entourage.

Brunch sounded like it'd be filling, at least, though he nearly stopped in his tracks when the bastard announced TEA. TEA. It'd been a damn long while since he'd had some fucking tea, though with all the stress this place had found fit to rain down on his fucking head, it hadn't really been the first priority on his mind. Kinda nice, even if Cid was sure this was just some game the mother fucker was playing to get them all stuck neck-deep in Stockholm Syndrome.

He scanned the mostly-empty room for any sign of a familiar face once he'd piled waffles and sausages and syrup on his plate, though the person he really wanted to talk to was that Reynolds guy. "Spaceship" was the last word he remembered clearly before waking up in his bed, and dammit if he wasn't going to keep it stuck like glue in his mind.

He found a table where he could watch people come into the cafeteria and grabbed for his mug. The steam rising from his drink and the bag of herbs in it was nearly enough to make him grin despite it all, and it was with marked leisure and a little relief that he drank his goddamn tea.

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Ginji looked up from his diminished pile of food. He swallowed once he realized it was a young and cute girl. Poor girl, he thought. Trapped in a place like this and she's not even his age. He had noticed kids in this place before, Sora was one, but it still was sad to actually see one. Not that she was really a kid just too young to have to be face with horror. He knew what that was like, and he didn't want to see other people go through what he went through.

He gave her a friendly smile and nodded. "Of course!" he said after he was careful that all the food was gone from his mouth. "Hi, how are you? I'm Amano Ginji, but you can call me Ginji. I won't mind." He grinned. He didn't care if people used friendly terms with him. "Did you just wake up here?" he asked, frowning. He felt like she had come to him with questions and he was willing to answer every single one of them that he could.

That smile was more friendly than she'd expect in a place like this, but it was honest and infectious. Padme felt herself smiling back despite the disorientation. The Queen usually wasn't one to place too much on first impressions, but sometimes there were some people who were just that honest and wore themselves on their sleeves. Padme found herself liking this Ginji.

"I'm a little confused," she admitted. "Is it that obvious?"

She probably had that ikopi-with-a-glowrod-right-in-its-eyes look, but at least it might work more to her favor in disguising her status. It helped that she really was feeling that way.

Oh. Her manners. Disguise or not, there wasn't any need to be rude. Padme's smile turned slightly apologetic.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Padme."

He nodded. "It's not too obvious, Padme-chan," he said, still smiling. "I just figured it out on my own."

He looked around, frowning slightly at the messes the other patients were making. Not that he could blame them really it had been a pretty wild morning. "Do you want to know where you are?" he asked. "As anyone spoken to you yet abut it?" He looked suspiciously at the nearest nurse. "Other than those people I mean?"

"Padme-chan"? She'd never heard it before, but it was probably some kind of honorific from whatever planet Ginji came from.

There was something going on - shouting - that caused the Queen to look over for a moment. She winced slightly. In a way, it reminded her of Mos Espa. Nothing refined, all just gritty and real, and that included the occassional brawl among the more unsavory elements. Although it was fascinating to see such a different world. She hadn't lied when she'd told the Captain to tell the two Jedi that the Queen wished to learn more about the planet.

"No, I don't know where this is. I take it you know what planet we're on?" She didn't see how the Trade Federation (if they were even involved) could get very far. Not without alerting the Senate, or even the Jedi Council members who'd shown up for the parade. "Or even who's responsible for all this?"

That last was a stretch, but she could hope.

Ginji shook his head. "No, I don't know what world we are on. All of us here just wake up and are told we are people we aren't. We find out that a lot of us are from completely different worlds or even sets of worlds, that reality isn't as easy as I thought." He frowned. "Sometimes it still makes my head hurt." He put a hand to his head and ate a bit more, considering his words before he swallowed. "Be careful though. Bad things happen at night. There are very bad doctors and evil things that want to hurt you."

Different planets, Padme understood. Different galaxies, yes. But different realities? Padme wasn't so sure of that. The only thing she could think of was the Jedi. They saw things that normal people couldn't, sensed things others couldn't. It was the closest thing the Queen could equate to an entirely different plane.

This kind of thing really was something an...unstable person might think, but Ginji didn't strike her as insane. Just maybe a little too open and honest, but Padme was thankful that the first person she'd talked to was this frank.

Although...what was this about things happening night? Padme was certain that this had to be some kind of prison, but she'd never heard of medics performing experiments or "evil things" being involved. The Republic had very strict laws as to how prisons were run...

...Then again, they had strict anti-slavery laws, but one only had to look at Tatooine to see where the Republic's reach faltered.

"I don't understand. You're saying that they mistreat the people here? How are they allowed to get away with it?"

Ginji nodded but he didn't seem happy to have to tell her this.

"They do hurt people. They hurt them on the outside and the inside." He frowned, thinking about what they had done to him. "They pretend everything is just a hospital during the day and then during the night they don't pretend anymore."

Padme fell silent.

This was almost worse than Tatooine. At least there wasn't any pretense at the Republic existing on that desolate place. But if what Ginji was saying was true, then...

Either the existing government was turning a blind eye to whatever was going on her, or they were honestly fooled.

"I...I see."

Suddenly that healer from before seemed a lot less innocent. Was there no one here she could trust?

Ginji looked at her for a moment. "Can you fight?" he asked, lowering his voice so others could not overhear. He leaned closer to her.

He wanted to make sure she would be okay during the night. She was too young and too cute to get hurt.

"Yes, I can," she whispered.

Best not to specify how much though - it'd arouse too much suspicion - but it was better than saying "No". At least she wouldn't come off as helpless. She had some of the highest marks in the firearm training, although she was a little rusty on the hand-to-hand. Eirtae was the best one at this.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm sure I'll be fine, as long as I watch my step."

Ginji nodded. He was pleased she could handle herself. Still.. he wished it didn't have to be that way.

"Good, but if you need help you can ask me," he offered grinning. "Be careful who you talk to, a lot of people here are mean but they pretend not to be. And don't trust any of the staff."

Day 22: Brunch

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