Day 43: Intercom, Evening

[damned-intercom.livejournal.com]

Hello! I.R.I.S. here once more to announce to you, our honored guests, that you have officially made it through a day of our typical Landel's treatment. Of course, it isn't quite over: we will now have you retire to our designated patient quarters with one of your agency partners to inspect their sleeping area and the tools that we provide them with for the true bulk of our behavioral testing. On an added note, we would like you to notice once again that the meals we provide to our subjects are of the highest quality.

For those of you feeling apprehensive about taking part in our more intensive methods, please be aware that we would never imagine putting all of you in any danger whatsoever. This last shift will be your last at our Institute; afterward, we will escort you to our Head Doctor's personal observation station to survey some of our test Next-Wave participants in the rigorous trials we put them through – all for their betterment, of course.

Once again, we hope that you are satisfied with what you find, and as always, direct any questions you may have to your console.

The nurses began to escort the patients to their rooms. They didn't even seem to be brought to awareness by words such as "testing" and "subjects."

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. (Find all of the newly changed room assignments and shift introductions here.) If you are introducing your character during this shift, you may either choose for them character to wake up before their roommate gets back, or after. ]

Comments

M71

[emotionl4arobot.livejournal.com]

By the time dinner rolled around, Brainiac 5 was inclined to agree with his nurse when she told him that he'd 'had a busy day'. While the strangeness of the intercom announcements and his unscheduled meeting with Luxord were far from forgotten, they had been largely overshadowed by the visit he'd received from his ancestor. He was still uncertain of how Brainiac 1.0 could have possibly been here himself, but his ancestor's mannerisms, his speech, and his personality - they were things he was very familiar with and could not be duplicated easily. It was the original Brainiac. He was certain.

His thoughts were interrupted as his nurse pointedly set down a plate of food in front of him. "You've been doing better today, Michael," she said, "but you must eat more. How else will you get your strength back?" As he had the last time this had happened, Brainiac 5 nodded and forced himself to eat a couple of mouthfuls of the meal, barely paying attention to the flavour of it at all. Then, the moment his nurse had smiled and left him alone again, he pushed the plate aside and dragged out his journal, glancing over the notes there already.

It had been a while since he'd last written anything here. The most recent entry was to do with Clark-- No. He wouldn't think about that. Not now.

He quickly flipped to a new page and got to work, jotting down a few brief notes to help clear his head and push aside any residual feelings before getting to work on more important matters. By the time Peter entered the room, he was thoroughly engrossed in his work, mind focused on teasing out what information he had into theories and facts all while encoding his work so that it would seem incomprehensible to anyone of a lesser intellect.

Re: M71

[tightsofmight]

And now? Now was the moment of truth. He’d been too busy flying up and down all day to get nervous, but as the door to M71 came closer, his stomach erupted with butterflies. Giant, organ smashing butterflies.

All right, you can do this, Parker, he told himself. You’ve come clean with MJ and Aunt May and Gwen before.

But this was different. Brainiac 5 was still by and large a total stranger. Circumstance had made them weirdly…connected? Friends? Were they friends? Peter wasn’t sure. The other boy had trouble relating to people, obviously, but the two of them had been launched into a total crap storm together, and that had given them something to cling to. He wanted to help him, absolutely, but there was still this wall between them that prevented Peter from thinking they were anything closer than acquaintances. Even with the whole sobbing his shoulder thing that one time. Besides, it had only been five days since they’d met, and now he had to spill the beans on Spider-Man.

He really, really sucked at this secret identity thing.

The room seemed even narrower than usual as the nurse deposited him in his desk and handed him a tray. Brainy was already steadfastly working on his notes, and with some concern Peter noted that he’d barely touched his supper. His own nurse clucked at the other boy.

“Both of you. For goodness’ sake. If these plates aren’t licked clean by next morning, I’ll have no choice but to supervise all your meals. And Tyler - don’t you give me those eyes, young man - I realize that you aren’t feeling well, but if you start any more shenanigans tonight, I will notify your doctor. That clear?”

“Yes, ma‘am.”

She studied him suspiciously, but soon made her way to the door.

And that left Peter with nothing to do but confess. One of the butterflies was turning his kidney into pulp. Good thing he had two of them. He tried to smile, but it didn‘t come out quite right. More like someone had taken a ruler to his face and drawn a line straight across.

“…So…how…how was your day?”

M63

[notachick.livejournal.com]

For having spent the last shift in a relatively pleasant conversation, Okita had ended it on an extremely bad note. Something was wrong with Ayumu and she wasn't saying what - or worse, she couldn't. Hijikata as well had left a particularly unpleasant note on the board for Homura, and Okita could only guess he'd indeed received a visitor. Which...if that was what happened to Ayumu? There could only be one person who came to visit her. Only one that could affect her so deeply.

Trouble came in threes, however, and with the evening announcement, Okita found himself in possession of a truly frightening thought. This place was a training facility. It was a military training facility. He had, in fact, been taken by the enemy - an unknown enemy, which was so much stronger than anything he'd ever faced before. Before, when it was merely one man's madness, it seemed contained and conquerable. If it was the work of an entire country? Or a major group? Then even if the Head Doctor fell, another would come to take his place. And how many more after that? How many more places were there that trapped people? Could it be that Tetsu-kun was in another Institute somewhere? Fighting for his life?

Okita was let into his room, all of his questions ignored as he tried to call attention to the strange announcements. The nurse reassured him that nothing was wrong. The Head Doctor had made his usual spiel and that was that. The door closed and he was alone and he remained staring at it for a short time, trying to choke down the worry that was building up inside him. Worry for Ayumu, for Hijikata, for all his friends...and for Homura. Their talk had not gone well, but how could it ever? Okita moved over to his desk and put his head in one hand, furrowing his brow. He had no idea how to face his commander now, other than to ignore what had ever happened, and even he knew that would hurt Homura more than anything else.

[nobleman]

It had been a relief to spend his last shift of the day with Claude, but there was also an unease caused by knowing that his friend might be half-rotted the next time he saw him. He didn't want to imagine it, but the mental images kept popping up -- about his friend and about himself. He held his hand over his chest one more time as he walked down the hall and back toward his room. He felt that he should probably look the bite over before night came to see how much of a change there was when the transition happened. If there was a change. He'd worked himself into the mindset that he was definitely harboring some sort of infection, but there was also the possibility that he would be just fine. He just wasn't going to bet on it.

It was difficult to focus on the intercom when he had so many other things swimming around in his head, but he could at least pick up the basic gist of what it was about. The implications were pretty clear, after all -- this was some kind of training program, maybe even endorsed by this world's government. Guy wasn't all that familiar with politics, but he knew perfectly well that nations could do extremely shady things without informing the public. The whole incident with Van and Hod was proof enough of that.

As he entered the room, Guy was hoping to see his roommate looking happy and at ease, but he wasn't necessarily surprised when that wasn't the case. He had no idea what it was that was bothering Okita, as it could be a whole variety of things, but the important thing was that he was obviously worrying over something -- and Guy wasn't sure if he had it in him to be a good support.

Of course, they could always just complain to each other, but that was counter-productive and had never been their method of operation. Guy hardly sent his dinner a second glance (he wasn't hungry, though he vaguely realized that he should fill up before night came) as he sat himself down and faced his roommate. "Hey, Okita." He was going to have to explain his problematic situation to the other man, but they might as well get pleasantries out of the way before delving into all of that stuff.

M35

[forgot-it-all.livejournal.com]

There was definitely something wrong with Soubi. Ritsuka wasn't sure what it was, but he knew it. It wasn't just that Ritsuka was angry with him either, because unless Soubi did something so stupid as to go through with his... "plan" without him, Ritsuka could-- no, he'd have to deal with it. He didn't like it, but there seemed impossible to change Soubi's mind. They needed to talk about it, but instead Ritsuka had been taken to a playdate.

So what was really bothering the guy?

As Ritsuka was let into his room, a million different things were racing through his head. The announcement, Soubi, Miku, the people here, the book he still had in his hands - he couldn't make sense of it all. Not yet anyway. He needed to though, if he ever wanted to get out of here. If he wanted to get everyone out of here, and keep his promise to find Sousuke and Alfons for Miku. Sitting down heavily in his seat, he set War and Peace next to his tray and then regarded the night's meal with a less than pleased expression.

Steak was hard to chew.

Picking up the fries, he started on those instead, chewing on them absently as he leaned back in his chair, thinking about what he needed to do tonight.

M5

[spiritrepellent.livejournal.com]

It had been a relatively uneventful day, all things considered, though a feeling of something like dread was building up. There had been no sign of Watanuki as he wandered through the day. Nothing supernatural, no signs or information on what might be happening here, what he needed to do to get out.

Nothing.

Doumeki was starting to think this wasn't some kind of mission from Yuuko at all. That he'd simply been plucked wholesale from home and put in some other place. Pondering over what little information he'd gathered, having spent the whole day brooding here and there, he allowed himself to be led back to 'his room' with the nurses till calling him 'Haru' or 'Mr. Tanaka' all the time - it was unsettling. It wasn't normal. It was becoming clear that something was seriously wrong.

Doumeki did not have time for this. There were troubles brewing at Yuuko's shop, he'd been able to feel the tension of hitsuzen or whatever supernatural forces were driving events there, building, and Yuuko had told him that his presence, his choices, mattered in this situation. If he wasn't at home, how could he make the decisions that could save or damn Watanuki's entire existence. He'd worked too hard, given up too much for this.

Sighing, he sat down on his bed, and looked at the food. It was the same Western food he'd been eating all day, and as hungry as he was, he didn't find it appetizing, whatsoever. He could really go for that umeshu Watanuki had promised.

Lifting a hand, he rubbed at his forehead.

What to do?

F6

[number1smiley.livejournal.com]

Returning one of the room, presumably the same one she awoke in, Teresa was struck by how familiar this felt. As the door closed behind her, she looked back at it with a sneer. Handlers escorting them around like they were children. This was just like the barracks all over again. She was no whelp.

The hybrid lashed out at the door, kicking it hard enough to echo through the room, though it still held. Eyes narrowed, Teresa inspected the door. Of course, it had been too much to expect to see anything more than a slight dent. She could rip it off its hinges if she really wanted to, feeling her youki stirring deep within, but she didn't feel like making the effort. It would eventually open on its own, so the story was.

Turning back to her tray, she stared at the meat and potato bits on it. She'd just eaten that morning and should not be hungry at all. Strange was one way to put it, to feel hunger more than once or twice a week depending on her activity level. Pushing her hair behind her shoulder, Teresa sat down and appraised her food.

M67

[deadlyjuliet.livejournal.com]

After his rather...enlightening talk with Wally, Grell had laid low for the fourth shift. Really, he'd spent it wandering from area to area, watching out for what everyone was saying. So far no mentions of him, but that didn't mean he could let his guard down. Brainy had a new champion working for him, Wally and possibly Bruce were onto him, and that meant how many more? He knew Ciel and Sebastian were out to kill him, but...

All that wandering had effectively exhausted him and Grell returned to his room for the remainder of the shift, taking a nap in a bed rather than on a couch where some self-righteous nutjob might have been able to reach him. Waking at the sound of that IRIS thing blabbering on again, he rolled over onto his back and groaned. Waking was so much harder when he rarely got any sleep at all. Death gods needed their rest and Grell? Liked it. Beauty sleep was something meant to keep the skin young and he certainly hadn't been getting it here.

Slipping out of bed, he got the nurse to take him to the washroom so he could freshen up a bit and then returned to the room - still with no Kurogane in sight. The god sighed and then pulled his hair back into a ponytail with his nurse's help, smiling a little when she complimented him on how nice it was. Then, he adjusted the rounded specs and sat at his desk, waving to her a little with a pleasant smile until she left. Annoying bint. As soon as the door was closed, Grell groaned and rolled his head back against the chair. "...I don't know how much of this I can take."

Re: M67

[contentincloset.livejournal.com]

He'd left with it. The bandana had been balled up and was getting squeezed relentlessly in his fist, but he had still left with it.

As much as his therapy session had bothered him, this visitor one had been worse. He had learned some things from the first one, but with Shiki it only raised more questions and created even more problems. Questions Kurogane could consider on his own, but as for the problems... telling Fai could go a few ways. He didn't want to get the magician's hopes up over what could easily be a trick, but he also wanted the man to stop acting so stupid and stop worrying over the girls being ll right. Telling him would at least give him something to feel better over where Shiki and Orihime were concerned.

And then there was the matter of the person who looked just like Fai from the picture. Again it could be a trick, but Kurogane had a feeling there was more to it than that. He'd been taken for their torture sessions, so he knew things were never what they seemed. A trick now would be too obvious. Something else was going on here.

With so much on his mind, Kurogane did not speak when he entered his room, though he normally did not do that anyway. He went for his bed and plopped down on it, ignoring his dinner in favor of opening his fist. The red, black and gold piece of cloth would be a good reminder, but he was against wearing it just yet. There was too much uncertainty over things for him to trust that it was safe to.

M98

[should-be-dead.livejournal.com]

The shift ended with yet another odd announcement. Behavioral testing? The Head Doctor's personal observation station? At first it had seemed the work of an individual, but as the day with the announcement progressed Tenzen couldn't help but wonder who truly pulled the strings. Everything pointed at the fact that there was some sort of major group at work here. At the very least it made no difference to the staff; any questions were merely waved off.

Tenzen sat down at the desk, staring at the food on his plate with disapproval before taking a few bites.

He wondered if his roommate had been lucky enough to survive the previous night. He imagined some of the patients had most likely fell. Had this, too, been part of the 'test'? To weed out the weaker ones?

Re: M98

[thebatbutler.livejournal.com]

"Here you are, Mr. Quartermain! Make sure you eat you eat all your dinner."

Alfred's nurse deposited him into his room before closing and locking the door behind him, leaving him alone with his roommate. He nodded to the other man in acknowledgment - he seemed to be mostly in one piece after the previous night's events - before moving to inspect his food.

It appeared to be steak and fries, which was, admittedly rather hard to mess up. And a normal institute would be required to provide its patients with food of reasonable quality, but he didn't necessarily trust that the doctors here wouldn't slip the 'patients' here something extra.

[Sorry for taking so long. :/]

M69

[tyki-pon.livejournal.com]

These announcements were making less sense with every time the intercom clicked on, but whatever. Tyki didn't feel like putting long, extensive thought into it. It wasn't going to help him one bit, and he had more important stuff to think about anyway.

Like a certain boy who still owed him seven packs of smokes. Not a sign from Walker through the whole day, which meant he had either died or disappeared. How lucky for the kid to escape his fate so easily. Once a cheating boy, always a cheating boy he guessed.

Well, at least he had something to look forward to tonight. He could only hope Sylar would live up to his expectations. But first, the free dinner. The now-vagabond sat down and and began on his meal, waiting for nightshift to start so he could shift to his black self.

Re: M69

[icy-demise.livejournal.com]

SubZero was once again looking forward to the night. He'd hopefully get a chance to use the new sword. Having a metal weapon wasn't what he preferred, since he'd have to carry it around all night himself or get some sort of make-shift sheath for it, but it would allow him to conserve his ice powers.

"Evening," SubZero said, not really paying much attention to his room mate as he sat down to eat his dinner as quickly as possible. It wouldn't make night come any faster, but he needed to keep his energy up. He could check on the sword after that, although that would probably be best left until night, just in case a nurse decided to stick her head in the room at the wrong time.

M87

[shamusdoggydog.livejournal.com]

Sam hadn't wanted to leave the library, but his nurse insisted that it was dinner time. It was true that it was getting dark, but Sam hadn't got anything done today. He had got a general idea of what was going on, but that shouldn't have taken all day, and he hadn't even found any items, that he'd been allowed to keep. How was he supposed to solve this case without stealing a few things? Borrowing. Borrowing a few things.

But it wasn't really a case without Max. Sam hadn't seen or heard him all day, and he'd got no useful replies from the bulletin board message. He had to be honest with himself. Max wasn't there. He was alone.

On the plus side, Max hadn't been taken, so he was still out there somewhere. Sam didn't have much faith in Max's ability to come to his rescue without extensive coaching, but with luck, they'd be able to get into contact. If Max could bust Sam out of Hell, he could bust him out of this place.

And there were the monsters to look forward to. Max was going to be so jealous.

Sam's nurse left him in his room with his dinner. Sam guessed that the fun stuff didn't start until afterward. That seemed charitable. No point fighting the demonic hordes of this interdimensional node on an empty stomach.

Re: M87

[timeleaper.livejournal.com]

Ronixis was still concerned at the end of the day. He hadn't heard anything from Claude or Guy and while he hadn't exactly been expecting it, he still reserved the right to be concerned and maybe a little stung if they didn't trust him after last night. It was probably nothing like that though and he felt guilty for even thinking it. Ugh, this place had a way of making you doubt yourself and other people.

He entered the room and blinked when he saw the new roommate sitting there. Daniel was gone then. They hadn't spoken much but he'd been interesting. Ronixis smiled at the newcomer. Well, he assumed that he was a newcomer. "Hi," he said, going over to his own desk. "I'm Ronixis. Pleased to meet you."

M110

[idontregret.livejournal.com]

The world around him brightened. He could feel what was left of him - memories, the collected solar data from his former life - fading away. The light engulfed him and then... Nothing?

Except it wasn't nothing. Heat took a deep, sudden breath as his lungs cried out for air. Had he been breathing on the sun? He hadn't even thought about it. It was still bright, but the light was less natural, man made. He squinted, eyes feeling more sensitive than they should have though they were slowly adjusting.

The asura sat up slowly, one hand over his heart as though to assure himself that it was beating again. He was in a room, living quarters, and even if he hadn't known what to expect when their battle had ended, this was mind boggling. Was he alone? There were two beds, but he was the only one around. Perhaps if he left, he'd find the others in their own rooms nearby.

The weight and feel of his body was off, and a glance downward revealed that his armor was gone - changed into basic civilian, unprotective clothing. Odder still, though the fabric was gray, the image on the front bore the colors of a different tribe. With a frown, Heat removed the offending item and tossed it aside.

Had Seraph brought them here?

There was a tray on a nearby desk filling the room with the smell of cooked food and the demon took a moment to stare at it. If Seraph had brought them here, why would he have been given a meal that would provide him with little to no nourishment? Turning the handle on the door also revealed it was locked, and no amount of slamming his fist into it would break it down. No problem. If it required a little more force then he could give it.

...Except that when he reached within himself to draw out the transformation into Agni, absolutely nothing happened. The Atma marking on his arm didn't even glow. Furious now, he gave the door several more hard blows, cracking and chipping the surface but still not getting the lock to give.

"What the hell?" The unfortunate room became the subject of Heat's wrath as he began tearing the place apart looking for a possible way out. Both closets contained nothing but more clothes, as did the dressers. While he did manage to locate a key and keyring, there was no place for a key on this side of the door. Instead, it appeared to fit in one of the dresser drawers, making it utterly worthless as far as he was concerned.

There was a radio, for whatever good that would do since it didn't look like he could actually contact anyone on it, and a flashlight under his pillow. That was probably the most useful item he'd found so far and it wasn't even dark.

At last he sat down at the desk in front of his bed and began poking at the provided food, hoping it might reveal something where nothing else had but not expecting much.

Re: M110

[brooklynisangry.livejournal.com]

What was with that voice thing? He'd only really just noticed it, 'cause it woke him up. Apparently, that 'sedative' thing had put him right out after a while. He hadn't remembered how he got there, but he'd ended up sprawled on a couch in that... What was it called. Sun Room.

The human that kept on following him around took him all the way down a confusing set of blank, bland, boring hallways to a little room like the one he'd woken up in. That wasn't exactly a hit with him.

But that wasn't too weird. The weird bit was coming in to find out there was someone else there and the room looked like it had kinda exploded. Ookay. Well, he hadn't been all that happy when he woke up here either. At least no one had been around to punch when this guy'd woken up, otherwise he might've gotten sedated too.

"Uh, hey!" He waved to the guy, trying to ignore the human who was still following him around--Hey, she'd left some food! "You new here too?" He waited until the human left before starting to dig into the food.

Then he remembered a little belatedly that most humans used forks and knives and stuff. Whoops. He cleaned his hands off and started trying to use those.

M64

[ruthless-hunter.livejournal.com]

Once again, Lockdown was the first to his and HK's room. Right after the nurse went to bring him his dinner, the bounty hunter checked the desk drawer, making sure the chocolate bar and lotion bottles were still here.

That visit from that Swindle had been weird, to say the least. He was now quite convinced that it had all been part of some sick joke on Landel's part. It seemed that even with Landel suppossedly dead, his influence refused to die with him. The nurses still carried out his orders like good little drones.

Still, everything would be made better tonight. Lockdown smiled to himself. Tonight was gonna be fun.

Re: M64

[arc-wrench.livejournal.com]

Ohhh no. Normally HK would have no problem with this. Apart from the food, that was always an annoyance. But being locked in was normally not a problem. It was simply a period of boredom before he was released to go kill things.

Maybe if he just acted like nothing odd was going on, then maybe things wouldn't be so potentially terrifying. "Greeting: Hello," he said, mostly failing at acting like nothing was going on. The nurse continued to be irritatingly cheerful as ever, leaving him with a tray of food (Urgh.) and admonishments to be good. HK glared balefully at her as she left, then realized that he was now stuck here, with the easiest target having removed itself from the room. And locked the door. Bugger.

"...Statement: I made copies of the drawings I gave you in color, for the purposes of unnerving a meatbag," HK held the pictures out. This at least was a topic that was safe.

M25

[bprd-fishman.livejournal.com]

Abe stared down his dinner with concern. The dinner refused to give him the same courtesy.

Normally Abe's unique digestive system made eating meat a near impossibility. Eggs were lovely, and he had an herbivorous range slightly outside that of humans (he'd lived on kelp for several days and suffered no ill effects), but meat was right out and fish he avoided on general principle. Still, he was human now, and hungry, and the alternative was setting out into the deadly hallways without anything in his stomach. Common sense won out over squick.

With the cautiousness and grace of a bomb defuser, Abe delicately poked his fork into the steak and began to cut off a small chunk. When it was carefully removed and the steak refrained from exploding or attacking his face in revenge for its slain ancestors, he lifted it to eye level on his fork and took it into his mouth.

The texture was bizarre, the flavor reminded him vaguely of salad dressing mixed with the scent of blood, but his gag reflex didn't kick in upon contact and he managed to chew and swallow the piece of meat with little trouble.

"Not bad," Abe commented to himself, pleased with his discovery that meat was tasty. He went in for another bite.

Re: M25

[zeus-incarnate.livejournal.com]

Today had been a huge waste of time, and nothing had really gotten done. Not that days were usually productive but he'd slept in so late that there hadn't been time to organize anything. Marcus was frowning when he was escorted back to the room. The only good thing about the day was that he'd still had his gun when he woke up.

After having been without a room mate, Marcus wasn't really surprised to have a new one. There were new patients, and while the message from the machine on the intercom was troubling, although he was fairly confident he didn't have to worry about having some sort of agent in his room. "Good evening," Although it certainly didn't sound like Marcus was having a good evening.

He sat down at his desk before introducing himself. "I'm Marcus Cole, or Statesman, if you prefer."

M17

[its-the-mileage.livejournal.com]

"Behavioral testing," consisting of "rigorous trials" for subjects' "betterment." It sure sounded like a confirmation of what Indy had suspected all along, but it still didn't answer the biggest question: to what end? The obvious answer was eugenics, he thought--maybe whoever didn't get killed or go crazy was supposed to be worthy. Shades of the Nazis and their "master race" rhetoric. Indy felt his jaw clench.

The questions about I.R.I.S. were just more to add to the list of things to consider from the last two days. Indy set his tray down on the desk and ate without paying much attention to the food; he was using the hand that wasn't holding the fork to make notes on the new information in his journal. It was a surprisingly long list. Pierson wasn't back yet, but when he arrived, Indy was sure they'd have plenty to discuss.

F23

[reallyshortfuse.livejournal.com]

If anyone asked Kuukaku, the day had been pretty boring. She had spent most of the afternoon outside on the recreational field, blowing off some steam. Though better than sitting around in that lounge all day, she could think of better ways to spend her time.

After another one of those weird I.R.I.S. announcements, the fireworks master was herded back to her room like some freaking sheep to be left alone with her dinner. Her empty stomach confirmed that she needed some food, so she sat down and began on her meal.

She wondered what the hell was up with this place. She'd found out if those stories were true soon enough, and that'd mean that place would be trouble. All the more good for her.

Kuukaku cast a glance to the other side of the room, wondering who the hell she'd be bunking with. Better not be some cowardly idiot or something.

Re: F23

[iwhipthefool.livejournal.com]

After talking with Edgeworth, Franziska felt...conflicted. She wanted to help him because he was family, but she didn't want to alienate her father, who was acutally related by blood. With the echoes of the conversation still in her mind, Franziska started back to her room, furiously writing in her journal as she went. She had so much to do tonight and very little time to get it done.

"---Wilhelmina! Are you listening?!"

Franziska stopped short and shot her nurse a chilling glare. "Franziska. Not Wilhelmina. And?"

The nurse flinched slightly and then informed her of the roommate change. Apparently, Maki had been 'released' meaning she'd given in. Franziska scowled and opened the door to her room, refusing to listen to the nurse as she followed her in, trying to get her to understand that 'it was for the best.' Turning on her heel, Franziska pointed a finger straight at the woman and snapped. "Anyone who believes in the lies you spread is despicable. Now get out."

The nurse sighed and retreated, closing the door behind her as Franziska turned and regarded her new roommate cooly. Back to square one then. A young female, dark hair, missing one arm. Not likely much older than Franziska herself. Opening her notebook, she wrote "dismissed" next to Maki's name and then sat at her desk. "And I suppose you are the new one they've brought in. Your name and occupation, if you will."

F18

[euphemise.livejournal.com]

Euphemia turned the stem of the pink origami rose between her fingers as she was brought to her room. She was feeling a bit nervous now that night was falling, and she really didn't like the sound of that intercom announcement. She assumed that the 'behavioral testing' was the release of the monsters and such at night, and it made her nervous to even think about it. She was glad to know that she'd be meeting with Teresa that night before leaving.

When she went into her room, she took a moment to tuck the rose into one of the desk drawers, noting its other contents as she did. After that, she sat down and began to nibble at her food; she couldn't say she had much of an appetite, but she knew she'd regret not at least trying to get something down.

Re: F18

[chainsaw-royal.livejournal.com]

So this was some kind of experiment. Something that would increase their capabilities through survival of hardships. A trial by fire.

As if life wasn't enough of one as it was.

"Hmph," sighed Hime as she was led to to her room. It was a different one than the one she had woken up in earlier, but that was hardly a problem; she had no attachment to either location. One cell was as good as another in this place, it seemed, since, once inside, the door locked behind her, she could see no difference between the two rooms.

Except for the roommate.

"Good evening," she said pleasantly enough as she began to walk about the room. Two beds, two desks, two closets. All very perfunctory and undecorated. Other than the flashlight under the pillow, there didn't seem to be much of any use given to them. Turning her attention back to the pink-haired girl, she introduced herself, "My name is Hime. It seems reasonable that we should get to know each other if we're going to be sharing a room."

Ugh, sharing a room. Hime really would have preferred her own, but that was hardly a luxury given to prisoners, not when they were going to ignore her status. That's right, she was just a normal prisoner here, no longer a princess. How bothersome.

"What's your name?"

M59

[high-prosecutor.livejournal.com]

What the hell is IRIS? And Next-Wave? Agency? What kind of agency? Edgeworth ran the questions over and over in his head, but there wasn't enough information to completely connect the dots. He had more than just a simple rough idea about it all, but...was that enough to go on?

There was more than just that on his mind, though, as he changed into his suit before dinner. There was Phoenix - he couldn't help feeling worried after last night. He would be glad to see his...what was the right word now? For most of the past few days, he'd settled on 'partner', and that was fine and good, but it didn't seem like quite enough. At the same time, though, nothing else would really do, either. Either way, he would be glad to see Phoenix.

There was Franziska, too. Miles felt like he'd at least made some headway with her that afternoon, though. The devil would be in the details of it all, but it seemed that the tide had turned, and he wouldn't deny that he was glad about that. He wouldn't openly admit it, but the more people on their side, the better.

With all of that firmly in mind, he began eating dinner, only half-wondering what his new roommate had been up to.

Re: M59

[whohitreset.livejournal.com]

Said roommate had apparently slept through at least the last shift, passed out in the sun room. As nice as it had been, he couldn't observe a certain target while he was asleep. He was still yawning as his nurse led him down the hall toward his room, and he ignored her when she mentioned trying to get a good night's sleep.

His roommate had wasted no time getting changed, it seemed. Matt would save doing that until after he ate... Except that one look at the plate had him losing his appetite fairly quickly. He really couldn't eat that much meat right now. Changing it was.

There was no need to ask Edgeworth about how his night had been. He doubted he'd want to bring that subject up, especially with a new night fast approaching. "So, how was your day?" he asked instead as he put on red and black stripes behind the closet door.

M93

[fourtharcana.livejournal.com]

Akihiko stretched his arms overhead as he stepped inside from the rec field and headed back to his room. The time outside - time that wasn't interrupted by zombies trying to kill everyone - had done him a lot of good, and he was feeling up for whatever the night brought. Whether it was taking out that freaky computer that was doing all of the talking, or whatever, he was feeling refreshed and ready for a fight.

He thought about his roommate just a little bit as he walked in. Heiji was a good guy, and he just hoped nothing had decided to eat his brains. It'd be a damn shame if that had happened.

Re: M93

[osakapwnzu.livejournal.com]

"Brains?"

"Yeah," Heiji said as he and his nurse walked down the hallway to his room. "Y'guys keep brains here? Like, I dunno, in th'kitchen freezer? Jus' in case someone stops by for a bite?"

The nurse looked confused, and a little grossed out. "Harley if we had anything of the sort, it would be kept in the proper facilities--for research, not eating."

"Yeah, you're prob'ly right," the detective said with a grin. Man, now that he knew these guys didn't really remember what happened during the night, it was really fun to prod at them and make ironic jokes. At least, it was for him. He was still trying to shake off last night, somehow. And that talk with Kaito... did he really have a hero complex?

"Hey man!" Heiji said, glad to see that Akihiko hadn't been killed last night. Apparently, a lot of people had been. Good to see he wasn't one of them. "Nice t'see your noggin's still in tact there," he joked, reaching over to pat his roommate on the head to emphasize the point. The nurse seemed glad that Heiji was interacting in a friendly way, and left with his tray. He looked over as she left.

"'Parently the brains aren't kept in th'kitchen. I have my doubts," he confided, laughing.

M12

[oftemptation.livejournal.com]

It was with a heavy heart that Endrance stepped into his room. The more he thought about whatever that weird ping had been, the more worried he got. The words 'please be okay' echoed in his head, and they weren't quite a silent prayer, but that was the closest description of them that he could think of.

He barely heard the intercom announcement over the sound of his own worry, but the words 'Next-Wave participants' stuck out in his head. If he had heard them in any other context, he would have asked what exactly was being beta-tested. In this case, though...it wasn't a game anymore, as much as some people seemed to think it was. In a real game, there was no risk of the words 'game over' being permanent. Most of the time, you could come back from a PK. This wasn't a game, and it wasn't a beta-test.

Endrance sighed, pushing his salad around his plate with his fork. He was feeling too unsettled to really even try and eat anything, as much as he knew he should.

M79

[i-dont-paint.livejournal.com]

For their betterment. Tony repeated the words under his breath as the door clicked shut behind him, mouth twisting into an ironic sort of smile. Yeah, he could see how things might be improved by being pitted against twisted nightmares as part of some demented mind game. They should all have been tracking down Landel to give him their thanks and buy him a drink.

He dropped into the chair at his desk, eying his dinner with a grimace before starting in on it. It was as well-prepared as ever, but the combination of bleak mood and anticipation left it tasting like sawdust in his mouth, and equally hard to swallow. The fingers of his free hand drummed a jittery rhythm on the desktop, though despite the quick beat, it could not quite keep up with the spin of his thoughts. For the first time in days, he didn't quite feel like he was chasing his own tail. For better or worse, something had changed, and if he could just figure out how, it might be one step closer to finding a way out.

[scarletspeedstr.livejournal.com]

Bad start to the day aside, Wally practically bounded into his room once dinner rolled around, and for once it wasn't simply to see if he could swipe some of his roommate's meal. To his relief, Tony was not only already there but was also not passed out on the bed like someone had slipped him something nasty at lunch. So far so good. Even better was that Wally couldn't spot any kind of bites on him, so he'd apparently also managed to make it through the zombie nightmare okay as well.

He waited just long enough for his nurse to place the tray on his desk and leave behind some more painkillers as well before she left, then he turned around and directed a searching look at Tony.

"Are you okay?" Wally asked a beat later. "I mean, you were really out of it the other night. Couldn't wake you if I tried. Did they drug you or something?"

M50

[herr-inspektor.livejournal.com]

As ignorant as they were happy to pretend to be about the intercom messages, the nurses were apparently pleased to oblige a request that didn’t involve explaining anything whatsoever. All it had taken was a polite question and his nurse had been only too happy to take him on a guided tour of the activity rooms for the shift. Despite the occasional request to “stop that unbearable twitching, Mr. Jung”, getting a thorough look around the Institute helped; it put a real place to the crude maps on the bulletin board. There was no way he was getting lost here at night now.

There had been, unfortunately, a less pleasant side effect to the tour. Taking note of each room and entering into his system was a sedentary activity that left his mind to run in mental circles. It wasn’t long before he’d set a course of action for the night- the primary objective for tonight is to find my own patient file. With that route exhausted, it was inevitable that his thoughts… strayed.

Tenma. Getting back wasn’t a choice, it was an obligation. Without a key witness a case could collapse like a house of cards in a second, and he knew it. The final page in this one was waiting to be written, and he was going to be the one to author it so that it could be closed for good. And closure was vital, if not legally than for his own good. That was something he hadn’t wanted to think about.

Another corridor opened before him, unnerving in a new way. Before he’d arrived here, he’d been in hospital. Would they have alerted Elsa to his disappearance? Expecting a response from Hanne was beyond pointless, but perhaps Elsa? More importantly, why did it bother him so much that he didn’t know?

It came as a genuine relief to hear the sound of the intercom announcing the end of the day. The changeover gave Lunge a moment or two to refocus and remove any extraneous material from his mind. Intellectual clutter was of no use to him no matter where he was.

A cursory glance about the room was enough to let him know that his roommate had yet to put in an appearance. Settling into the chair set out for dinner, he pushed the plate aside and systematically began to pursue every avenue of thought he had regarding last night as far as he could. His fingertips lightly rapped out his agenda on the tabletop. Number one. To what extent was the death of the Head Doctor last night genuine?

[dualistic]

Talking with that girl (whose name he'd never found out, though it hardly mattered) had more or less been a waste of time, but right now he wasn't too focused on gathering information or anything like that. His mind couldn't stray from Jason and what the kid had promised to him. Tonight, if they could find a good spot and hammer out a solid plan (which shouldn't be difficult, seeing how he knew he was sharp and he suspected Jason was as well) -- then, then he would be so close.

He wanted nothing more than to pull the gun out from where he'd hidden it, both to make sure it was still there and to once again envision how it would feel when he brandished it in the Bat's face. Still, he knew that he couldn't do that around Godot, even if the man did seem surprisingly unfazed about most things. If he could just coax the man to leave before him -- hopefully he wouldn't be spending another night in.

Harvey was genuinely surprised when he entered the room and didn't see a man with near-white hair and sunglasses. He paused near the door for a moment as he scanned the other occupant. He could only see the back of his head at first, but as he started to move further into the room he got a better look at the man.

Older, looked like he didn't eat enough, probably a stoic type. That was all Harvey was willing to guess at just by looks. There was a more important question to be asked, though.

"What the hell happened to my roommate?" He remained standing for the moment, not liking this sudden change.

M100

[loyal-soldier.livejournal.com]

The comms' jarring inconsistency with the facts of this place was of note, but nothing more. It wasn't anything that could be used, not in their position. 622 simply followed the nurse to his cell, sitting down at the desk and eating mechanically.

He wondered if Subaru had survived last night.

Re: M100

[oldestremnant.livejournal.com]

Loz was practically dragged back to his room, complaining all the while, "But I wanna be there when the monsters come out!" He was then all but shoved into the room and gave a dissapointed groan when they locked it. Hopefully night would come soon, and they would be let out.

The Remnant turned around to go sit on his bed and saw that there was another man in here with him. He raised his hand briefly and gave a curt, "Hey."

M32

[haplesstracker.livejournal.com]

Scourge brought out his emory board soon after the nurse left. In between bites of his dinner he went to work sharpening his nails to fine points, getting ready for the night. Pearl had done decent work cleaning them up, but he wanted them combat ready as well.

He knew Lord Recluse had wanted him to fetch more chemicals, but after last night's stark terror he felt he deserved a night of relaxation in large numbers. Honey seemed to be a few gears short of a minibot, but the organization was real enough and even if the food wasn't ready tonight it would still mean safety and large numbers.

Re: M32

[no-side-effects.livejournal.com]

Today had certainly been interesting to say the least, and Wesker still wasn't sure if he could classify the day's developments as good or bad. Sherry was a very valuable asset, but at her current age not particularly useful. Still, Wesker would have to ensure her safety, and as clever as she was it was possible she might have some use, although more likely during the day than at night.

William Birkin, however. That was interesting. Apparently he was a graduate of the program, if the machine over the intercom was to be believed. Wesker hoped he would never reach the day where he willingly called himself Alfred for anything other than tricking the staff members into thinking he'd recovered.

"Good evening, Scourge," Wesker said, almost not paying attention, as he sat down to dinner. He did, of course, take note of what exactly his room mate was doing. In a scenario where large numbers of people were imprisoned like this the creation of weapons was natural, and in this case it was an essential part of survival. "I see you made it through last night. Did you get bitten?"

M34

[moral-liberty.livejournal.com]

Once he was alone again, thoughts of Shinji returned in force. This time, he submitted to them and allowed the memories to dominate his mind and his emotions. The automated voice barely caused him any pause, as the concept was not excessively foreign. Impersonal disembodied voices floated through most of Tokyo-3, promising wellbeing, and he had been raised by Lilim who had referred to him as a subject for their theories and experimentation. The only thing new was that the two had been combined.

Kaworu sat down on the edge of his bed, and considered his plate of food dispassionately. It held even less interest for him than usual. He felt unwell, but not because of the ominous voice. He acknowledged that if they needed him for a procedure, they would come for him and he would go. That seemed to be a constant thread in his life. There was a mutual curiosity between himself and Lilim, and they had never been cruel to him. Though they had never been affectionate either.

It wasn't until Shinji that Kaworu knew affection. Somewhere in this existence, there was Shinji, the other thing he had come to expect, had come to want in his life. Yet, distance persisted between them, only alleviated by short, painful moments. Kaworu had made a promise to defy what destiny had provided for them. He would return to Shinji, somehow, but he could not become the person Shinji had believed he was sitting across from. Although Shinji's adoration may have actually been for someone Kaworu was not, he was not discouraged. Kaworu loved Shinji, even if here he loved another.

M46

[bitpartgod.livejournal.com]

Having made peace with his conscience on the bulletin board, Kibitoshin returned to his room feeling relatively free of concern for the gruesome fates that could potentially befall everyone he knew. Relatively. And by 'relatively' he meant 'mostly not at all'. But, seeing as that was such a marked improvement on the norm, his stomach was settled enough for him to make a start on dinner.

Just what was that unfinished business Sechs had been talking about? It sounded important, whatever it was he meant, albeit worryingly vengeful. Well, just so long as it didn't get them into too much trouble. Sechs may have been a fighter but his own track record in battle so far had been downright embarrassing.

Oh well. That was in the future, and there was no point in getting all worked up about it just yet. For now, he could focus on eating, calming down and talking to his... non-existent roommate? Huh. Maybe they were just shy.

Re: M46

[screwthegods]

The last shift of the day had found Homura taking advantage of both the new arrivals, and the visitors that could often shake a patient to their very core. It was interesting how many replies the bulletin posting had received, and even if Homura didn't have a purpose behind the question, he might still have asked it just for the discussion. Such prying was something he'd long since learned how to savor: pushing people to the edge, and making them question just what it was they truly would fight for.

But now that it was done, Homura followed his nurse to his new room, listening with unveiled disgust at the announcement. So they were being subjected to all the horrors for their own improvement? It sounded like something the gods would say: bestowing on an unclean being the glory of fighting and dying for the merciful heavens. Homura didn't need the extra motivation, especially after the day he'd had, but he would put it to good use none the less.

That very night, in fact. He nodded to the nurse as he went into his room, quietly wondering if she would be one of those he killed after darkness fell.

First, however, there was one final period of peace. Homura's roommate was already there, a man he didn't recognize. Even though Sanzo had died, Homura knew it was important to still keep his location relatively secret. He'd gained at least one new enemy, though that person's strikes seemed to be limited to the bulletin. For now, however, Homura would remain cautious. There was too much he wanted to still accomplish.

"Hello there." That meant determining just what type of person his roommate was, and Homura grinned to the other man as he sat at his desk. "Are you one of the new patients?"

M73

[scarefaux]

Today had been rough. The Scarecrow looked at the tray of food in his hands as he stood just inside the doorway, listening to the nurse in the hallway chattering with one of the other ladies- he really didn't feel hungry for some reason, despite having skipped lunch entirely. All his rambling thoughts really seemed to be killing the drive.

He placed the tray on his desk, opting to sit on the floor, leaning back onto the side of his bed. The floor had that nice feeling which used to be rather unpleasant, but he'd grown accustomed to it, as he had with some of his other human senses.

He closed his eyes- he could still see Dorothy's face in his mind. He wanted to convince himself otherwise, but he was so sure it was her! Sounded like her, acted like her, even had that same sort of embrace. Some of what she was saying didn't make any sense, but there was the possibility she'd been deceived somehow, possibly bewitched. But what if she had been here before, and they'd forced her to believe those things?

Somehow, that didn't seem like a better prospect than if she was telling the truth. After all, even though she'd said the farm wasn't doing well, she had her family and friends and home. All of these were good things. Even better was that she said he belonged there as well- he had family, friends, and a home.

But he already had those! Well, he had friends, though he didn't see them much. Lion was a busier king than the Scarecrow, and Tin Man had his own issues. Still, they were his friends, even if he'd lost contact with them. He had a home, too- the Emerald City didn't feel like it sometimes, due to his friends not being there, but it was home.

Or maybe Oz was home. Oz in general. Hm. The more he thought about this, the less he liked where it was going.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling. If she'd been speaking the truth, it wouldn't be so bad. A home with friends, especially one that he'd never see in Oz... And he had a job, one where people needed him. He loved that feeling that he was doing something productive, something worthwhile.

He took a deep breath. He'd divulged some of those more troubling thoughts he'd been having to her- ones he'd not told anyone here. She had to be the real Dorothy. He wanted to go home, but to which? Oz should be home, but he was enjoying his new-found humanity. What would he lose if he put forth an effort to just accept it? He did miss being made of straw, right?

He'd made a promise! He'd told Dorothy he was going to try to remember these things so he could get out of the Institute and go to Kansas. Going back on his word wasn't something he enjoyed doing. He wasn't entirely clear on everything she'd said, but he was going to put more thought into it when he could. Right now, he really wanted a distraction.

His eyes trailed to the door. He'd made several acquaintances here, but really only had one person he considered a friend- one he cared enough about to worry about their well-being, anyway. He certainly hoped Kaiji hadn't been hurt in all the chaos of the previous night. He didn't know what he'd think if that was the case.