damned_institute | Day 43: Intercom, Evening

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. ]

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Hearing that it had already been a few days made Sora wonder how he had managed to miss finding out until now. He was usually pretty attentive on the bulletin board, but maybe Hitsugaya had been trying to keep his presence a secret at first? They had also been in Doyleton yesterday, which made it even harder to keep a track of things.

It didn't really matter, though, since he knew now and was even going to see the shinigami tonight. Sora nodded in response to his roommate's question, turning away from his dinner slightly so that he could face the other boy more directly.

"Yeah, actually! I guess most people aren't doing Arts and Crafts tonight, but I put up a message asking if anyone needed a hand with someone and then he replied saying that he could use my help," he explained. Sora didn't know what that would entail, but he wasn't picky about what he spent his nights doing so long as it was useful somehow.

"How about you?" he asked Hanatarou as he took another bite of his steak. "Are you taking it easy tonight?"

Most people weren't doing Arts and Crafts? That information, combined with what Hitsugaya and Senna had said earlier, raised more than a hint of guilt within him - but it still didn't change the fact that he'd felt that he needed to do what he was doing, and still did.

Tonight, at least. Maybe that would change. He'd have to think about it some more later.

"Oh. Er." Hanatarou gave up on the unmoving piece of meat and speared one of the pieces of fried potato, examining it for a moment before nibbling carefully at it. "I, uh, agreed to help the, er, History Club tonight."

The History Club, huh? Sora did inwardly have to wonder why Hanatarou was working for a different club, but he knew that there was probably a reason behind it. Hitsugaya or Momo could have told him that they wanted him there for one reason or another, and it was hardly Sora's place to start questioning it.

Sora continued to eat as he wondered how he could keep the conversation going without making his roommate feel too awkward.

Finishing another bite of the steak, he smiled casually at the other boy. "Do they do a lot of dangerous stuff?" he asked. "I don't know all that much about the History Club..." Still, why else would they need a healer so frequently?

"I guess so." Hanatarou took a bite of the potato and chewed on it absently, not even noticing the taste. It wasn't as though he was hungry, and honestly wasn't sure how well the food would sit with him anyway. "But, um, that would mean they need a healer."

He fell silent for a moment, poking idly at another piece of potato. Was it even worth trying to explain what he was thinking to Sora? Even if he could explain it coherently, that was.

He finally gave up and pushed the tray away with a faint sigh, moving over to the closet to get his things. "I'm just glad I can do something...useful. You know?"

By now, Sora always noticed how little Hanatarou ate. It worried him, but it wasn't like he could force the food down his roommate's throat. The boy was obviously at least eating enough to get through each night, so Sora knew he shouldn't be too concerned. Maybe he he was the sort of person who ate more at lunch and then had a small dinner.

While Sora still wasn't so sure about the whole History Club thing, that was mainly because he didn't know the details. If it was helping Hanatarou to feel better about himself, then it had to be good, right?

"Yeah, I know what you mean! That's why I'm part of Arts and Crafts... but I guess that maybe the History Club needs healers more?" It was completely possible. Sora wondered if maybe he should start watching the posts made by the History Club leader more often to see if he could get a better idea of what they were all about. As he waited for a response from his roommate, Sora made sure to keep his eyes on his food since he knew Hanatarou might start changing clothes soon.

Hanatarou nodded absently, rummaging through his closet and pausing for a moment to give a puzzled look to the jacket that certainly hadn't been there before. And shouldn't be there, either, especially not in as good a condition as it was. That was...odd.

He finally just shrugged and moved on, pulling out his uniform and starting to get dressed. "They do...or, they have lately, at least." And this time he was going to be there when someone needed help, unlike last night. Or many nights so far. "And they actually want my help," he added, a little quieter and with a hint of surprise. He still didn't quite understand that, but they'd been oddly nice to him so far so he couldn't help but believe it.

A little, at least.

[To nightshift.]

Day 43: Intercom, Evening

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