damned_institute | Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

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Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

Once again, Endrance's nurse interfered with his plans. He had been planning to look around the Game Room, but the moment he began to move towards the Sun Room, she had taken him by the arm. "Your family has asked that we make sure you get as much fresh air and sunshine has possible, and you won't get that by staying inside playing video games all day."

He had thought for a moment about protesting, but decided against it. After all, if what had happened to Haseo was punishment for having spoken too strongly the day before, he didn't want to make that worse somehow. So, when given the choice of going out to the recreational field or the courtyard, he chose the latter.

There were a few reasons behind the decision, the most salient being that he wanted to see what the area looked like for a second time - this time without the threat of a brainwashed patient surprising him. The second reason was just as strong as the first, and it had to do with the presence of a second former Demon Palace Emperor. As energetic as she was normally in The World, he couldn't imagine Alkaid not wanting to spend some time outside.

Just as before, he sat down under a tree by the side of the pond, keeping one eye on the door.

[closed to Alkaid]

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It was hard to think about anything in the current state. Whether it was I.R.I.S, his encounter with Snake, or the institute and their staff in general.

Whatever they had injected him with, it was stronger and kicked in much quicker than any of the sedatives they'd developed and tested in Zanzibar for interrogation purposes. And whatever signals and impulses his brain was sending to the artificial nerve system, they didn't quite match up with his conscious decisions most of the time, so he figured the relaxant wasn't at all compatible with the prosthetics. Writing on the bulletin board had turned out to be an almost impossible task, and seeing himself -- or rather those subsitute parts of himself -- break so easily under a simple drug, as well as the fact that he had little control over what was going on and himself was infuriating, to put it mildly. But even then, he had no outlet to express his anger. And he figured he wouldn't have one anytime soon, even with Snake around.

The longer he thought about it, the funnier it was. Had they no use for him anymore, either? Had they played around enough and chosen to discard their pawns in such a way, leaving them to themselves and the hatred they had sown--

Big Boss just sat there, on a random bench near the pond, for a long while, staring at the cold metallic hands laying in his lap which just --

-- weren't his, anymore. The first two years with these things had been pure, constant pain. His body kept on rejecting them, and Madnar had to do dozens of adjustments, and exchanging his own blood for artificial, modified blood had helped to speed up the process a bit. It had still taken another year until he got used to it and was able to fully operate again. And yet another until Snake destroyed it all once more. On Christmas, no less.

Snake. It all came back to Snake. It must be hilarious to watch this unfold. And like so often, he was lacking control when he wished he'd possessed it.

[Snake]

While Snake hadn't been able to recognise the writer of that scrawl on the bulletin, he was smart enough to have a few ideas. On some level, he understood that Big Boss was always under everything. He was always the person waiting in that last room. It had been a long time before his nightmares would end without a voice screaming you've gone too far.

Drugged, his lagging mind didn't even question why he was going out of his way to see Big Boss again, but by the time he reached the bench where Big Boss was sitting, he realised he knew. The sense of sorrow surrounding him as he stared down at his hands smothered the air like a cloud, and Snake was reminded of all the times he'd looked into Big Boss's eyes and thought he'd seen something very sad hiding in there.

He supposed he probably had sad-looking eyes himself. That was blood relation for you.

"You told me to come," he said, as neutrally as possible, but there was still a serrated knife-blade of intimidation on the edge of each word. "I don't know why I raised a weapon at you, because even if I'm here, I'm still free." He'd only got a comparatively light dose of the drug, but his head was still spinning. "I don't need to kill any more, and I know it sounds insane, but... I want to save you. Not that if you start trying to build your mercenary nation here, I won't do everything I can to stop you - " he gritted his teeth - "but, for now, we need to work together if we're going to live through this. And I don't want to kill you again."

[free tallmore to a good home!]

That knowing little smile was still on Teresa's face when her handler directed her to what she called the courtyard. It was refreshing to be outside, the wind playing with her hair, and she casually walked around the area. As she was being held captive here, she may as well get a decent look around; it would be useful later.

After making a circuit of the large space, she stopped near the shed and turned back to take in the building itself. Several stories high, it was much bigger than the barracks, but it still stirred memories of those times and the training they endured. She still needed to decide what it was she wanted to do once she left this place. Teresa was a free woman, even if she was deceased; her decisions were her own and no leash held her in check.

And yet, she still wished to kill the very creatures like she'd been created to do. No, not quite. Sometimes, youma were the lesser evil and one youma can keep despicable humans at bay. Combat was what Teresa had been created for, so it was hard for her to fathom doing anything else.

Perhaps, she would travel. She did always enjoy learning the lay of the land. And she could still kill youma as she saw fit during her travels. She liked that idea.

Big Boss didn't look up, not immediately. Over time, it had gotten easy to tell when Snake was on his way, or in his vicinity. Even if he hadn't told him to come outside -- he'd know where to go. And he wasn't in the mood to delay the inevitable. Done that often enough.

When he spoke, it was slightly slurred. This was worse than a hangover. "The least you could do is being honest with me," he said. "You're not that selfless. You're too preoccupied with saving yourself."

Too busy getting your own fix with your eyes closed. It's difficult.

"It's written into your genes. Self-preservation. You can go and deny it if it makes you feel better about yourself, but look back on your actions in Outer Heaven and Zanzibar. You'll kill as soon as you have a suitable excuse." He lifted his head, narrowing his eye and focusing on Snake's silhoutte -- or rather, the blur that looked like Snake. "And something tells me that you already have one." Because if he hadn't, he wouldn't have made an offer like that.

[Demon Palace Emperor Twin Powers... ACTIVATE]

Alkaid's nurse had also pushed her outside, telling her she needed to get a little exercise after laying around for so long. Yeah, like they had to ask her twice!! This body was made for moving. Still, next shift, if she didn't have some stupid visitor or something, she'd definitely make it to the library. Then she could surround herself with a little bit of home, and maybe sorta kinda relax.

But for now, she wasn't gonna argue. Exercise was necessary.

Her thoughts drifted as she was led out the door. That guy last shift... Dorian... There had been something strange and mystifying about him. What he'd done with just a simple butter knife had kinda made her heart catch in her throat, or something like that. Not like it was anything special, or anything! Probably just a regular parlor trick!! Still, though, he'd managed to impress her. But she couldn't help feeling a little uneasy, nonetheless. Like she'd talked herself into something, or something like that.

She snapped out of her confusing thoughts the moment she got outside, jogging away from her nurse without a word to her. And, wouldn't you know it! Right over there, a guy by the pond... Well, that looked like the face and the hair she knew.

Alkaid slowed her jog to a walk as she got closer to her successor, then put her hands on her hips.

"Endrance."

This could possibly get reeeeally weird.

To your console? What the hell was this I.R.I.S. thing going on about? And what had happened to the actual head doctor? The nurses sure didn't seem to notice anything weird, which wasn't as unexpected as it might have been. They were all in on all of this anyway, Tim was convinced. He wondered about these so-called visitors. He hadn't actually heard anything about them, but he doubted they were "graduates" of the "program," either. They were probably just people playing roles, or something like that. Or more brainwashed people; that was a possibility.

He was almost disappointed when he realized that he wasn't set up for one of these visitors. But then, that made sense, didn't it? Anyone who would have visited him was already at Landel's, somehow, with the exception of Nightwing or Batgirl. Oh, all right, or maybe Spoiler, but they weren't exactly on good terms.

His nurse came and ushered him out of the cafeteria and toward a door. This was...the courtyard, if he remembered correctly from his map. She offered to introduce him to a new friend, but he convinced her that he wanted to sit down and enjoy the sunshine. Even though it wasn't exactly the warmest day ever, there was a little of that, and she seemed to accept this, and toddled off on her merry little way.

He rolled his eyes after her and looked around. He hadn't been out here before. There weren't too many other people out here for the time being, either - and the ones that were here weren't familiar faces.

He thought about Wally, and about Bart, and about Bruce. He thought about the unknown quantity on the bulletin board that claimed to have a score to settle with Commissioner Gordon. Who was that person, exactly? They could be anyone, really. He didn't know how many actual lunatics were here, but one thing was for sure - there were lunatics from Gotham here. He'd seen Harley's post, for instance. She was less dangerous without Joker around (and he hoped to god that Joker wasn't around), but she was still someone to be wary of. The other, with the score to settle, well...he'd just have to find out somehow.

[Waiting for Superboy, though he doesn't know it.]

"So, if it's written into my genes, you're the same way," Snake said, decisively. His over-relaxed muscles craved sitting down, but he wasn't going to share the bench - instead, he squatted down with his legs at right angles and rested his forearms on his thighs. "And that means it's in your best interests to listen to what I'm about to tell you."

He could feel his mind fizzing in that slightly unreal way that he knew led to those strange feelings and visions halfway between memories of Outer Heaven and some of his quieter nightmares, and so he decided not to think too hard about who he was speaking to. He began:

"This place is called Landel's Institute. It likes to claim to its patients that it's a mental hospital, and that we used to have different lives, and are only here because we're delusional. They told me that I used to be Justin Halley," he looked over at Big Boss, "and you are Evan... Halley," he guessed. "It used to be run by some doctor named Martin Landel, who had a feud with another doctor named Alec Doyle. But he died... they both died, Doyle first, and Landel the night before you arrived. It was Doyle who killed Landel."

He licked his lips. "And that's when this gets really insane. At night, this whole building shifts. Like a nightmare. It changes to look like no-one's been in this building for tens of years, peeling paint and rust all over the place. It's very homely, you'd like it. The real danger at night is that the nurses and doctors shift too. They become monsters, and many more monsters of different kinds appear. I've only seen one, and I didn't get to kill it. But the night before you arrived, we were stranded in the neighbouring town. The villagers rose up, like... the dead. And one of the dead things brought back to life was Alec Doyle. He killed Landel and went back to rest when the sun came up. That's we've got this I.R.I.S. thing, and you can make your own conclusions about what that robot's for."

He swallowed.

"The other dead things that come back to life are - the patients," he explained. "Like me. This place - for whatever reason, it takes people out of their timelines. I was here before, as someone else - as the man I'd be in the future. I ended my own life... with Fox. Fox helped me. He was the one who told me. Gray Fox is here, too."

Kon felt weird when he finally woke up, like his head was stuffed with cotton wool. He didn't remember what had happened yesterday after he got split off from Robin and Impulse in the town but he was pretty sure they hadn't been brought back here while he was awake. Which was just- Why would they let them be awake for the trip down but knock them out on the way back?

....And the intercom announcement had changed too. Listening to the electronic voice going on about test-subjects he scowled, shoving himself up and heading over to hammer on the door. It wasn't that he hadn't already heard that this was some sort of messed up experimental facility but having it confirmed made him uncomfortable. He really wanted to find the loser in charge and punch him now.

Finally his nurse came along, looking tired and irritated as she unlocked the door. "Don't be so impatient Caleb, you've been sleeping all morning, I don't see why there's an emergency now."

"How did-"

"I don't really have time for questions right now, we're very busy organising people's visitors and the new patients. Whatever it is can wait. Here, why don't you get some fresh air and meet someone new?" And before he even got a chance to say anything else, she'd dragged him out to the courtyard and dumped him there. This sucked.

Maybe someone else would know what was going on here. Or maybe not but at least he could find someone to be confused with. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he looked around. Brightening as he spotted Robin, he trotted over. "Hey, R- Tim!"

Tim managed a small smile as he turned to face Kon. It was possible that Kon would drive him a little nuts before they were done talking, but at least he was a familiar face. And he wasn't a total angstball like Bart was, which made it a little easier to talk to him. Tim felt bad for Bart, and wanted to help him, sure, but a break from everything was all right.

"Hey Kon," he said, hoping he sounded normal enough. It was good to see that he hadn't been hurt in the zombie apocalypse, so that was one more worry off Tim's mind. "You all right after last night?"

As usual, Harvey made sure to search out a shady spot the moment he got outside. The UV rays really did nothing to help his burns, even if they were covered at the moment, and so he made sure to sit himself down on a bench under one of the larger trees. Jason should still be able to spot him, seeing how the bandages made him impossible to miss most of the time.

His mind was swimming with ideas of what they could do with the Batman, although most of them wouldn't actually be possible here in the institute. Cornering the man wasn't going to be as satisfying as it could be here, and yet Harvey still felt his heart pumping the way it used to when he was making a flawless argument in the courtroom.

Without really thinking about it, he pulled his coin out of his pocket and started toying with it. His hands were itching for the gun back in his room, but he couldn't get ahead of himself.

Jason had better hurry up.

[He's actually going to be stood up by Jason, so he's free! Come say hi. :3]

The fact that Endrance knew about Alkaid's presence didn't stop it from startling him just a bit when she walked up to him, though he tried not to let his expression betray that fact. He looked up a moment later, brushing his bangs out of his eyes and looking at her. She was...exactly the same as the last time he had seen her.

"So...you are here, Alkaid. Haseo told me you were..." He paused, considering how to phrase what, to him, was the obvious next question. It didn't feel right to come straight out and ask about the coma; that felt too indelicate.

"May I ask what your last memory is?"

Endrance fell quiet again, then looked up at the redhead.

"I should thank you, by the way...the last thing I remember is Haseo coming to find me after you asked him to."

That would either be awkward, or...he preferred not to think of the alternative.

If there was ever anywhere he wanted to be during these free days, it was outside. The cold air didn't exactly help his condition, but he felt somehow freer out here, where he could see the sky stretching infinitely overhead. It was better than watching it pass him by through the skylight of the sun room, and here, he had a better chance that people wouldn't listen in. And he had a better chance to find someone. Unfortunately, when Okita emerged into the sunlight, he realized that certain someone wasn't here.

Moving toward the flowerbeds, Okita kneeled and touched the green leaves, noting that the flowers were all but gone now. The leaves themselves felt fragile to the touch, as if they might snap from their stems at any moment should a particularly strong wind come by. Perhaps that was why the man wasn't here. He watched the flowers when they were blooming, but who would want to see them when they were withered and gone? Sighing, Okita settled back on his haunches and wrapped his arms around his knees. He was worried for Homura, not only because of the news he was set to receive, but because of Okita's own conversation with the demi-god earlier. He still wasn't certain what exactly had transpired, but he knew he needed to talk to him about it.

"...but the problem is, how?" he murmured to himself, reaching out to tap a single white flower.

[For Homura, I think?]

Alright, fine then. Sync wasn't going to tell her anything new (wow, a man being useless! What a surprise!), and as long as he gave her what she wanted, she could care less about his basement-plots or whatever he was doing. Even following him around and pretending to be fascinated was marginally more interesting than playing someone who wasn't a challenge all night. He knew how she really was and he still put himself in danger by sticking around with her. If something bad happened to him, it wasn't her fault (well, it might be, but he was still the idiot).

Just like yesterday morning, Dahlia made her way back into the Courtyard, giggling with her nurse over girly-things, and waving happily when the woman left. She found a nice bench to sit on, right under a perfect beam of sunlight to reflect off her red hair, and relaxed. The calm, quiet sounds of nature, the warmth of the sun, the smell of the flowers, and the occasional butterfly fluttering around her in curiosity... It was all so perfect.

It was like a trap waiting to go off. And unlike that little brat, Razputin? Whoever got caught in it this time was not going to escape. Her plans depended on that.

[The Juri is still out on this one. /bad pun]

So Euphy already considered her a friend. That was strangely encouraging, as quickly as it had happened. There was something about having friends that was a little different from having allies or wingmates, and Soma decided she liked it.

She had originally wanted to go to the recreational field afterward, intending to look for her Arts and Crafts teammates and perhaps try another race. But her nurse had stopped her, asking with a tone Soma understood immediately whether or not she'd like to try getting fresh air somewhere else today, because Jude was on the field and she didn't want another incident. Soma had backed down grudgingly. It was pointless to engage in a fight with E-0057 in public if it only meant she'd get sedated like he had last time.

Stepping out into the courtyard, the supersoldier spotted a tall woman contemplating the building a short distance away. Curious, she approached, turning to face the building herself. "What are you looking at?"

Leonard's nurse left him alone in the Courtyard, claiming that the fresh air would serve him well. The sun was warm, the smell of grass hanging in the air. Guess I can't complain. Could be worse.

His hand trailed to his right arm, scratching at an irritated spot under a bandage. He flipped his journal open, scanning his notes. Whatever I did sure itches like h--

His thoughts were cut off as a dirtied, blood-stained picture dropped from his journal. He wasn't sure what to make of it- Looks like a great makeup job. God, it looks absolutely real. The note on the page from which the Polaroid had fallen was even more disturbing. It's my writing. God, what is this?

He looked around for a vacant spot, taking a seat on an empty patch of grass. He pulled two more polaroids from his pocket, returning the one of the monster to its appropriate page. It's hard to trust yourself when you're ranting about monsters in scribbled writing. Surely it was important at the time.

[For Anise]

Her hands still firmly planted on her hips, Alkaid stepped a little closer to the guy, looking down at him. Yep, same Endrance. Same nonconformist pretty boy she remembered. Same one she used to have such a grudge against... It was kinda weird, now that they were both fellow captives in this twisted game.

"Haseo did, huh..." Her voice was a little soft. She'd heard that Haseo had been inviting Endrance to his party a lot recently, after she'd gotten back to The World, but they hadn't really partied together a lot recently. Still, all of what Haseo, and apparently Endrance, now remembered, was waaaaay less than what she could recall. It was really weird.

"My last memory? I was running around a field. Soloing, 'cause all you guys were doing Forest of Pain without me." She grinned. "So, I know what happened way past whatever you guys remember. Here's a little spoiler for you: I came back, better than ever."

When he actually thanked her, she was a little taken aback. Endrance? Thanking someone?! No way! "It turned out like I thought it would. Natch." She smoothly flicked the little pink piece of hair in front of her face. "I knew he could do it. You were acting pretty weird, and Haseo has that way of snapping people out of funks!"

She'd spent her time after being separated from Rude people watching for the most part. Nurses, other 'patients' of this place. It was all good research since she didn't intend to be trapped here for too long, no matter what Rude had said. She trusted him, really she did, but they were Turks. They didn't get trapped. They were usually the ones doing the trapping after all.

The chance to go outside was something that she wouldn't pass up. The Courtyard seemed as good a place to start as anything. The walls were high, but not high enough to prevent someone scaling them. There had to be something else though to keep people from just bolting if the night was as bad as it was made out to be. It just wasn't visible which was a little irritating.

She settled for walking around the perimeter for now, looking for all the world like she was merely out for a stroll.

[For Reno]

Rude had said she'd be here, but it was still kinda a surprise. Been a hell of a long time, at least.

But hey, Reno was never gonna say no to having another Turk or another chick around. Two-in-one? Even better. Especially with what Yuffie had mentioned earlier about Kadaj being here. Goddamn. Little bastard just didn't stay dead, did he?

He hadn't been specifically looking for Cissnei when he decided to go for some fresh air (real fresh air, unlike the smog of Midgar), but when he spotted her wandering along, he made his way over. He walked forward, not slowing down even when it looked like they were about to crash into each other.

He flicked two fingers in a lazy salute. "Enjoying your impromptu R&R?"

The hybrid's silver eyes flickered down to take in the shorter human woman before returning to the building.

"The building's profile," she answered. "It indicates areas exist we do not have access to."

Silver eyes. Soma had never seen someone with silver eyes before; she wondered if it meant something in the other woman's world, as her own golden eyes did.

She nodded in response; the woman was direct and to the point, and Soma was used to that. "Messages on the bulletin board suggest that some patients believe the staircases to the third floor to be behind locked doors on the second."

If only the girl knew...

"I see no reason why that would be speculation. Clearly there must be access to that level." She paused. "I am amazed third floor construction holds."

"I believe it's a question of where the staircases are. I've never been up to the second floor." All of the Arts and Crafts missions Soma had done thus far had taken her outwards instead of upwards.

"Have you been here long?" she asked after a moment, out of instinct. The woman sounded experienced, but whether that was because she had been here long or was merely used to adapting to situations in her own world was difficult to tell. Belatedly, she added, "I'm sorry if I'm bothering you."

"You are not," Teresa replied, turning her eyes to look down at the human again. "I have been here since last night."

She brushed her hair back from her face, briefly revealing what could have been a tapered ear before it disappeared into the depths of her wavy blonde hair. Speaking of hair, the girl's hair brought to mind Irene's pale locks. Hmph. Why was she dwelling on that particular hybrid?

"I was on the second floor this morning."

"I've been here for four days." Soma frowned slightly at the building, which sat innocently in the sunlight. If she didn't know better, she would have thought it was mocking her. "If you have questions, I'll do my best to answer them."

This morning. That meant the chapel, then. It hadn't occurred to her that the chapel might have afforded an opportunity to see the second floor during the day. "Did you see anything of note up there?"

"I have none. The board and someone I spoke with this morning gave me all the information I required."

Looking back at the building, where she believed the chapel to be located, Teresa replied, "Just another room dedicated to the human foolish belief in gods - nothing of note." She paused. "And another of the Organization." Perhaps this one would recognize the name...

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Day 43: Courtyard, Third Shift

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