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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With some explanation it was easy enough to see what Okita meant, though Guy didn't really think what he'd done necessarily counted as courage. Honesty, maybe, but was that really so admirable? What other choice had he had besides telling Okita about it? It wasn't like his roommate wouldn't have figured it out when the time came, anyway, so it only made sense to warn him beforehand.

"You really think so? I mean, wouldn't anyone tell their roommate that they might change into some kind of monster once night comes?" It was actually kind of hard to phrase it so bluntly, but the words got out of his mouth before he could think twice about it. He needed to be more careful.

It was silly to be arguing about this, though, and so Guy tried to return to what he'd originally been intending to say. "Anyway, you should make sure to finish eating before you get too caught up in that..." While he knew they were on a time limit, he didn't want Okita to brush aside something as important as dinner for him.

Okita stopped midway through ripping a new strip of cloth off and let his hands rest in his lap. Would most people tell their roommates such things? Okita was certain some people were keeping it a secret, if only for fear that their roommates might kill them before the night came. The terror of the night before was enough to drive people to do dangerous things, inhuman things; and just because there was a twelve hour buffer did not help people's reactions.

He knew he was still keeping a deadly secret, but thankfully, his could only affect him.

A smile ghosted across his lips and he nodded. "I think many people would be afraid to tell others, in case they became targets. People do many things they regret when motivated by fear." Such as not saying anything at all. It was a delicate line to tread between spreading awareness and spreading fear, and Okita himself wasn't sure of what to do about it. Shaking his head, he went back to work, pulling the strips off the bed sheet. "And I'll be fine. The food here doesn't suit me very well."

Or at all. It was probably why he hadn't been eating lately. Everyone was scolding him about that lately. Perhaps it was because he was losing weight? But then...he knew that was not the only reason he was thinning. "But once I finish this, I'll eat something. You make sure to eat first though. I still have time."

It did make sense that people might be worried that their roommates would turn on them, seeing them as inhuman the moment the rot showed. In fact, maybe that would have been the smartest way to handle it, as Guy wouldn't have minded taking a hard hit to the head if it stopped him from biting anyone else. Still, he had known that if he was upfront with Okita about it, there wouldn't be anything to worry over at least when it came to that. It just hadn't even occurred to him that Okita would judge him, though he realized that some roommates might not be nearly as close.

Meaning he might not have been as honest if he'd been sharing this room with someone else.

Guy wasn't too happy about the fact that Okita was refusing to eat, but he knew by now that his roommate was extremely stubborn. At least the man had promised that he would eat, and Guy was going to hold him to that. He forced down a few more bites of his own steak before deciding that he couldn't stomach any more. He let the plastic fork clatter onto the paper plate and then pushed the tray back slightly.

"I... guess I just knew that you wouldn't let fear cloud your judgment," he responded, slightly delayed. "Rest assured that I might not have been so open if the two of us were enemies." He was so relieved and grateful that he and Okita got along well.

Ooh, that was an unhappy face. Was Okita going to get it from all sides now about his eating habits? Ayumu, Homura and now Guy, too? He supposed he should be thankful that so many people were concerned about his health, but really...it was a bit of a bother sometimes. He knew he was doing a silly thing and that he should eat, but if he did? He felt ill and the last thing he wanted was to get sick in the middle of a battle tonight. Still, he laughed when he noticed Guy's unhappiness and set his work down. He could finish later, he supposed. Going over to his desk, he picked up his salad and sat, starting on it just as Guy finished his food. He hadn't eaten a lot, but then, Okita didn't really expect him to have much of an appetite.

"Then thank you, for that trust," he said between bites, laughing a little. If they were enemies, Guy would have been lucky to be able to eat at all. Okita couldn't imagine what it would be like to room with Himura, for instance. The tension any time Okita picked up his fork would be...unbearable to say the least. He made quick work of the salad, surprisingly quick, considering how his appetite had been that day, and then set his fork down. "I'm lucky indeed to have you as a friend, not an enemy, hm?"

Though Guy hadn't pushed the issue, apparently Okita had sensed his disapproval, seeing how he did end up abandoning the sheets to go back to his meal. He was only eating the salad, which wasn't going to provide him with very much energy, but it was better than nothing and Guy knew that. He realized that it must have been hard for Okita to adapt to some of this food, but his personal opinion was that he should get over it before it started to compromise his usefulness to his club. Eventually malnutrition would wear down on a person (and Okita was pretty frail already).

"I think we're both lucky," Guy said with a brief laugh. "I don't think I'd want to be on your bad side, Okita." He'd seen what his roommate was capable of up close and personal. While Guy could be almost as fierce when he had a reason for it, he didn't like resorting to that, and he wasn't able to match someone else's anger and killing intent unless he had an extremely good reason for it.

He felt like he should be gathering his things for the coming night, but then he had to remind himself that he wasn't going anywhere.

Okita laughed at that, moving on to his fries, but slowing down considerably. He didn't want to finish these and have to go to the steak. He honestly thought he got enough protein through other methods, and sometimes by asking the nurse to slip him something during the day. He ate, just not where many people saw him. "Yes, but I don't think it's possible for you to get on my bad side, Guy-san."

And he really didn't want to test if it was possible. People on Okita's bad side tended not to live very long. Those who were foolish enough to get on it and then antagonize him? Shorter still.　　After hesitating a moment, he tried the steak and managed not to make a face, even if the meat felt heavy on his tongue. At least it wasn't pork. He ate it politely and then stood up to go back to his work. "I'm lucky I'm not on yours though, considering how badly I teased you the first night we met."

[To nightshift.]

Day 43: Intercom, Evening

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