damned_institute | Day 43: Arts & Crafts Room (4th Shift)

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Day 43: Arts & Crafts Room (4th Shift)

When Momo left Hitsugaya's side, she felt both relieved to be away from him and disappointed that the nurses had separated them. Either way, she felt like she was suffocating, that she had too much building in her mind with all this on top of the message she'd been given by the undead knight on that rooftop the night before. There was only one way for Momo to relieve the pressure.

After leaving a note on the board for Senna, Momo headed into the Arts & Crafts room. She was still in a lot of pain, but Hitsugaya's healing, though minor, did make it much less painful to hold things. Taking all of the special markers, she stood before the large white board and uncapped the lightest of the colors - yellow.

Save thyself.

Those words would echo in Momo's mind for a very long time. She had much to thank the knight for, the least of which was leaving her right arm relatively undamaged. She needed it for many things, being her primary hand, but right now she needed it for one thing.

Momo began to draw.

[reserved for Senna]

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"Query: Don't you think I've had enough trauma and humiliation today already?" HK couldn't quite find the will to continue his campaign of terror against his nurse at the moment. But...

Waitamicrosecond. There were those color styluses somewhere around here. He could recreate scenes from last night's carnage in even more vivd detail! He grabbed one stylus of every color and first did a test sheet in his notepad to see how the colors blended. There were some subtle hues of zombie flesh that just couldn't be captured with one cheery color alone!

Once he'd determined what resources he had to work with, he turned to a fresh sheet of paper and began drawing as only a droid could: With absolute accuracy and detail. He started out with a picture of that moment when Lockdown had ripped a zombie's head off. As much as the very idea of the other inorganic was making him feel just slightly nervous at the moment, because he liked his virginity and he wanted to keep it... It had been an impressive display of violence!

[For Yukari!]

Tired was a word that could describe how Yukari felt. Drained was another. Her feelings after her visitors were ambivalent on the whole matter, not quite amused or afraid but indubitably muddled. There were no clear borders defining the mix of emotions she felt, other than the aching gap within her heart that she may have, were she a lesser being, such as a human, called "loneliness".

Now wasn't the time to consider it, to become lost in her thoughts and be pushed around in a semi-catatonic state by her nurse. Now, she pushed those emotions back to be sorted out later at her leisure. Now was the time to cheer herself up with one of her favorite hobbies: harassing the heck out of some poor soul who may or may not deserve it.

And what better time to spot her favorite galactic robot assassin! Gliding on over - a skill of movement she had mastered some centuries ago but rarely used since she so rarely actually walked on the ground - Yukari peered over the man's shoulder at his rather graphic drawing.

"Compliment: That's a very... detailed drawing there," she noted with a hint of a smile. The zombies reminded her that she needed to check in on that girl when she got the chance and make sure none of that funny business about infectious zombie tendencies wasn't something she'd have to worry about.

The drawing was making him feel much better, reminding him that there was always violence to be had, somewhere. And--

He didn't wince at the use of his speech prefixes this time, that was actually a fairly reasonable use of them. But it was coming from a meatbag. "Greeting: Hello, meatbag. Statement: It is a graphical representation of a kill from last night. Since we last conversed, I have managed to find some of the more interesting inorganics in this place to kill with." Although Lockdown was doing an excellent job at actually scaring HK, what with the impending sense of doom that the approach of the next shift was bringing him. Being locked in a small box with the bounty hunter at the moment seemed like an unfortunate idea.

"Hello, HK," Yukari replied cheerfully before sitting down beside him. "It is indeed graphic. But who, might I ask, is that doing the killing? It doesn't look like you." She might have made a joke about robots thinking all humans looked the same, but considering just how accurate the drawing was, that obviously wasn't the case. She recalled the rather large and conspicuous post on the bulletin board from earlier in the day.

"Would it be that Megatron fellow or one of his underlings?" she suggested. "There certainly seem to be a lot of those kind of robots." A number of them didn't seem very bright and acted rather oddly. And none of them had quite as an amusing speech pattern as HK-47.

"Answer: It is not Megatron, it is Lockdown, a bounty hunter and fellow inorganic, who has even managed to scare me several times. Statement: He is also my cellmate," HK explained, as unnecessarily truthful as ever. However, it was the best description and highlights of Lockdown that he could succinctly produce.

"But on the subject of Megatron, I am attempting to join their group, if for no other reason than to stop having to constantly associate with actual meatbags." That, and his unconsciously expressed dependency issues thanks to his functional current lack of a master, which were probably the reason why he hadn't stabbed Lockdown yet.

"Scare you?" the youkai said in exaggerated disbelief. "He must be quite monstrous." Or be talking about squishy biological things, she thought to herself. Then she remembered that she wanted to aggravate the robot, so she said it out loud too. "Or be talking about squishy biological things."

The idea of a murdering assassin robot like HK being locked in a room with someone that even he found frightening was rather amusing to Yukari.

"Oh, your meatbag assassin friends no longer the lesser of evils?" she said with some interest. She recalled an Arlene on the bulletin sounding rather displeased, or at least disdainful of his choice.

HK winced, just slightly. "Statement: It seems you haven't been reading the bulletin." For once, he wasn't going to elaborate. Lockdown's comments on the female assassin's post in response to his own made things quite clear. All of the many, many comments on the bulletin yesterday had been worse.

"Explanation: The meatbag assassins are as advertised, which is nice. The Decepticons are like what would happen if my master and her Sith were inorganic, which is better." In fact, he couldn't really think how it could be improved.

"Oh, is there some juicy gearbag gossip on there?" If Yukari had known she'd be harassing the robot today, she might have read up on it, but she normally didn't read too deeply into the matters of others unless they caught her eye, and the politics and squabbling of the supposed inorganics here hadn't quite reached that level yet. Apparently she was missing out. "Is he publicly threatening you with terrible fates that may involve bodily fluids leaving the body?" Blood or otherwise. "You poor thing."

If there was any sure way to bait an angry, prideful being, robotic or not, it was by pitying them, mocking or otherwise.

"Sith? Is that some kind of servant?" she asked curiously. The youkai was mildly surprised to hear that HK served a female, but then, she supposed, he'd probably follow a dog if it let him kill enough things. By extension, this meant she should probably be a little wary of these Decepticons if they were such a kill-happy band.

"Affirmative: Yes. Negatory: No, he isn't. violence would never frighten me. I would in fact appreciate creativity in violence, even if it was directed towards me." As long as he didn't lose anything that couldn't be replaced. Which in a meatbag body in this sort of conditions... it rather limited things.

"Statement: In that they serve my Master, the Dark Lord of the Sith, yes. With an elite composed of meatbags with enhanced speed, strength, senses, telekinesis, mental manipulation of others, limited precognition, and the ability to shoot lightning from their hands... and then there is me." Created specifically as an alternative to genocide to achieve his master's goals.

"Oh, violence isn't the only thing that causes bodily fluids to leave the body, and, say, enter another body," Yukari clarified with an evil smile. If that description didn't get a reaction, then HK was suffering from a severe case of denial.

Lightning and telekinesis? That sounded exciting. Was it some kind of alien enhancement, or had humans gained new powers in space? Or had they remembered magic?

"Where do they get those powers from?" she continued her questioning. "And can you shoot lightning too?"

"...Exclamation: Ew. Statement: I refuse to say anything more on that subject." Ew ew ew. "It is bad enough already when someone is trying to convince me that is a good idea."

"Explanation: Through being able to access an energy field known uncreatively as the Force. And no, I cannot shoot electricity unless something has gone very, very wrong with one of my actuators."

"Oh, so it is that sort of thing!" said the youkai with a smirk. "Is it because of the birds? Or is it love?" This last word she practically oozed, with all the maturity of a very small child on a playground. If he was bothered by the physically repulsive aspects of humans, how did he feel about the emotional ones?

"Sounds vague. Is it divine in origin, or based off the energy of life? Or perhaps something more magical in nature?" asked Yukari. "Energy field" could mean any of these things. It could also mean a big, mechanical generator with a bad name.

HK sank down slightly in his seat, normally perfectly stiff posture disintegrating in the face of icky meatbagness. "Statement: I personally have no idea whatsoever and I wish it would go away. It isn't simply the details of the relationship, it is the fact that there is one and I do not know what to do with it." Yet somehow he hadn't done much more than wish. Which was vaguely worrying. "Unfortunately without attempting brain surgery, I can't stab this unfortunate distraction from an otherwise perfectly enjoyable working relationship out of existence."

Sigh. At least there was still confusing Force things to talk about. "Answer: It seems to be tied to organic life to some extent, as only meatbags can employ it. However, meatbags cannot sense the intentions of anything inorganic and it is more difficult to detect their presence, making a very well-constructed droid such as myself the preferable means of dispatching Jedi, the Sith's opposites, or any traitorous Sith themselves."

"Awww, your master not make you with protocols for handling non-business relations?" she laughed. He was like some overgrown child. A big, robotic, meatbag-killing child. "Is the attention really so horrible?"

This whole "Force" thing sounded like chi or ki or qi or whatever else people wanted to call it to Yukari. Of course, not that martial artists ever had to fight robots, but she supposed someone made of metal wouldn't register that well for them, like a big rock or something.

"Oh, so there's two sides? Are there any just, well, Force-wielders who aren't Sith or Jedi?" It was pretty obvious what the conflict was about if the Sith were all the kind of people HK approved of. But what about those who didn't care what others did with the Force? Those who stood on the border of light and darkness?

"Statement: Only in what is needed to perform my duties which does not involve... that. Affirmative: Most of the time, it is." On a related note, honesty was a painful thing.

"Statement: If there are any, I have not had information on them loaded into my database. Presumably, they would mostly be a non-threat to the Sith." Apart from his master when the amnesia had been in effect, but that didn't count.

"Well, I suppose if you look like a robot, you never had to pretend to love someone," she supposed. One point for meatbag espionage, the ability to pose as a lover. But then, machines could also pose as furniture, so Yukari supposed it was about even. "You do look like a robot normally, don't you? Or are you one of those 'looks like a person but is really a machine' robots?" Like those dolls. Only more life-like. She assumed this was not the case, given HK's general dislike of meatbags, in appearance or otherwise.

"Aww, does he tease you in vaguely inappropriate ways? Or not-so-vaguely inappropriate ways?" Of course, HK probably considered any sort of flesh-on-flesh contact, platonic or erotic, to be inappropriate unless violence was involved.

"I see," she murmured. If they were such a non-threat, they could easily just not show up if the two sides were making a huge commotion. "How big is this whole Jedi against Sith thing, anyway?"

"Affirmative: Of course I look like a droid," HK snapped, disgusted at the thought. "I cannot think of any beneficial reason for appearing like a meatbag that would not be crushingly outweighed by the negatives." Not that he was assembling the line-up of those in a very orderly or logical manner, at least to those not fully acquainted with HK's thought pathways. One would more easily be able to define why a two-digit number was the answer to life, the universe, and everything than understand HK. Or at least, he might like to think so.

"Statement: You have to clarify before I will be willing to answer, as contrary to what you seem to believe, I do not enjoy personal embarrassment." Also, he wasn't sure what the nurses would do if he cut someone's throat with a scalpel, and he certainly did not want to be drugged directly before... next shift.

"Answer: Large enough so that there have been few galactic conflicts on the same scale as their periodic wars. Among the recent examples of exceptions have been the Mandalorian's attack on the rest of the galaxy just to see if they could, and HK-01's Great Droid Revolution, which was sadly ended by the Jedi. My prototype was very successful while he was online, however HK droids only became illegal likely as a result of my own actions. I have terminated over 500 meatbag targets during my three years of existence, a statistic that meatbags seem to find horrifying, rather than a record to try and outdo." He'd never really understand meatbags. It probably was due to the fact that he very rarely tried.

"Of course," she agreed patronizingly. "How silly of me."

"But I enjoy personal embarrassment," she protested. A smirk, and then she added, "On your part, anyway." It was rather hard to embarrass the youkai. "Anyway, what I mean is are they just words, or does it involve touching? And/or bodily fluids? Do you really want me to continue clarifying?"

Five hundred was certainly a lot. Yukari didn't keep track, but that was probably comparable to the number of deaths she was responsible for, and certainly more than the number she was directly responsible for. Plus she'd had far longer than three short years to amass that number. Really, she was more of a "make people disappear and wake up somewhere they don't recognize" sort of youkai.

"How violent," she said lightly. "Why can't we all just get along?"

"Agreement: Yes, and incredibly lacking in intelligence and wit as well," HK replied testily.

"Statement: I do not take your enjoyment into consideration, obviously," he replied, picking up the colored drawing utensils and beginning to create a color copy of the scene from last night of the zombies (one still living, severed foot firmly wedged in its mouth) he'd left hanging on coat hooks. It helped distract from what the meatbag was torturing him with--torturing in a bad way. "And upon further consideration I have decided to give no response to the question." Something he really should have hit upon ages ago.

"Affirmative: Yes, exceedingly violent. And as long as 'getting along' includes the periodic elimination of a few from the meatbag herd at the very least, then yes. We can."

Yukari wasn't particularly hurt by the robot's comments; she had assumed he thought those things of every meatbag he met from the start anyway.

"Now what bodily atrocity are you artistically rendering?" she asked with idle curiosity. "Another portrait of your dear Lockdown mutilating the bodies?" Oh no, just because he refused to answer didn't mean the teasing was about to stop.

"Now, that wouldn't be getting along, would it?" she murmured mildly, before adding, "Unless they wanted to die. How do you feel about mercy-killing the old and infirm?"

"Negatory: No, obviously, because he is not in the picture. This was my doing: A series of zombie meatbags impaled on coathooks, The first still animate, the second--the severed head impaled through the eye socket and the body on the hook next to it--previously animate until that was decided to be unnecessary, and the third in a medic's coat, terminated via precise and forceful application of a woodworking tool to the brain. That one was an interesting challenge. Very fast, fond of throwing things, and jumping. Like a Tach on an overdose of stimulants." He was very proud of this one. The coat hooks really had been a wonderful idea.

"Statement: Only by your definition, meatbag," he replied, not looking up from his artwork. "And that is an interesting query. While they remain un-fragmented, they are more of a drain on meatbag society as a whole." When they were fragmented, the local municipalities had to pay for the expenses of a cleanup crew. "However, having just been subjected to one of them as a 'visitor', I am more of the opinion that they should be terminated with maximum prejudice."

Though it was hard to embarrass Yukari, she did manage to look slightly queasy, or at least disgusted with HK's clinically accurate descriptions of what he had done. Yukari was not unfamiliar with carnage, but it wasn't something she'd seen in years, nor had it ever been for recreational purposes. She had to admit though, the end result was probably ridiculous enough to be more humorous than disgusting. It was just the description of the process that seemed unnecessarily gory.

"Oh, had a visitor, did you? Who was it, your master?" asked Yukari, changing the subject. The visitors were all people that the patients were close to, so Yukari couldn't imagine many other who could be considered "close" to HK. She got the feeling he wasn't much a team-player with the other Sith.

HK looked up when the meatbag didn't reply, feeling triumph when he realized that it was because he'd successfully managed to disgust. "Statement: I could go into detail on the other entertaining kills and amusing maimings that were given to the meatbags. Query: Would you like me to continue?" he said with at least a touch of smugness.

"Negative: No, it was not my master. My master is not elderly. It was a former crewmate, former Jedi and... now that I think of it, former meatbag who had been terminated. I had rather forgotten about that detail."

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Day 43: Arts & Crafts Room (4th Shift)

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