damned_institute | Dayshift 22: Sun Room (Evening Shift)

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Dayshift 22: Sun Room (Evening Shift)

It was probably a good thing Penelo listened to that weird silver haired man (she never really did get his name, did she?), because her short investigation of the Bulletin Board revealed that she wasn't alone after all. Larsa and Gabranth were here too, for whatever reason.

Penelo still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the concept that Gabranth was alive, when she had heard his dying words and had later attended his funeral back at Archades. Basch had taken his place since then, and it just boggled her. How could Gabranth have returned to life? There was no force in Ivalice that could do that.

Then again, it looked like she wasn't in Ivalice anymore.

Penelo sighed, seating herself at a table near the bulletin board as she waited for Larsa and Gabranth to arrive. Hopefully, Larsa would have some answers; she never doubted his ability to dig up information, no matter what the situation. Even so, what did they get themselves into?

"At least Vaan isn't here," Penelo reminded herself. She had gone from frantically searching for Vaan to praising the Gods that he hadn't been captured in this prison.

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Another question she should have asked; Raine was really not at her best right then. Making a mental note to ask Reinforce about that, as well, she said "I don't know for certain, but if the monsters truly are tests I would venture to guess that we're being monitored somehow." Knowing what the researchers hoped to find out would have been useful, but she sincerely doubted any of the other patients would have more than guesses about that.

"There's a bulletin board, if you haven't seen it," she added, nodding in its direction. "I haven't yet had the chance to read anything on it, but it seems like a good communication tool for when physical meetings are impossible--although I don't doubt the staff censors things." She still intended to read every message on it as soon as she had the chance; anything she could learn should help her state of mind, if not her actual situation.

Zabuza nodded. The bulletin board was exactly what he needed. Perfect. He smiled slightly, exposing his teeth again.

He wasn't the type of man to say 'thank you' so he said nothing at all.

The conversation apparently over, Raine nodded back and stood up again.

She'd speak to the nearest nurse while she had the chance, because she suspected she'd soon be fighting the things the staff were known for setting on them all. So, she would try to set up her main daytime activity while she had the chance.

The nurse, slowly milling around the Sun Room, was quiet as she marked some things down upon her clipboard with a pen. Heels clicking upon the tile floor, she hummed in thought as she observed the patients.

It was surprising how many of them were fighting after the speech by the Head Doctor -- didn't they know that Dr. Landel had all of their best interests in mind?

The nurse did, however, see a woman as she stood up from her seat in front of her, and she focused her eyes upon her, recognizing her as Miss Jeanne Anderson. The woman had been looking about earlier, and the nurse had wondered if she had needed something. "Did you need something, Jeanne?" She gave a friendly smile as she approached.

"I was just wondering--when do the children here have school?" Raine asked, as politely as she could make herself. She knew too well that she was best off cooperating with the staff as much as she could bring herself to... at least for the moment. "I'd like to help out with that if I could; I wouldn't mind tutoring, either, and I'm sure there's at least a few students who could use the extra help."

Her only ulterior motive in this was not going insane for real with nothing to do. Although sometimes students had a lot to teach their professors, as well.

The nurse blinked at her question, quiet for a moment. She then offered up another smile, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. The children don't have school, so I'm afraid that's not possible." And really, Jeanne was better off trying to recover herself versus tutoring or teaching anyone else.

"You should be more focused on trying to get better before you do any of that, though, dear. There's plenty of time for you to do that kind of thing once you're approved to leave...I do commend you for asking, though. Not a lot of patients are concerned about that kind of thing." Her voice was sympathetic. "Don't worry your head about that, though -- we take very good care of the children here."

Raine's jaw nearly dropped. "Wait. You're saying the children here aren't being given any education? And yet you call this a quality institution? Considering what I've heard already about the length of time most patients spend here, how can you justify that?" She'd asked just because she needed something to do, but now... having a large group of school-age children not in school was unacceptable in her eyes.

She didn't even pause for thought before she went on, "You can hardly claim the younger patients need time to get better, too--routine is what's best for children, and the need for normalcy is strong in people of all ages. Children go to school--that's the way it is, even in preliterate socities." She would have gone on to give examples, but that required mentioning cities long gone that the nurse would likely be certain she'd only made up.

"Not only that, but the focus here is on healing the mind, correct? The mind is like a muscle--it gets stronger when it's used more. I certainly don't think any of the children here should be subjected to overly intense courses, I realize that the stress most of them must be feeling means that they should take it easy, but that doesn't mean they should be left to play all day. As the focus here is on getting us well again so we can resume our normal lives, I would think not letting the ones still in school fall behind would be a priority as well--mental illness is a bad enough stigma in most places. In light of that, being held back on top of that is something that should be avoided if at all possible even moreso, don't you agree?"

If her chart said she wasn't a teacher, after that speech the nurse would be incredibly foolish to believe it.

The smile on the nurse's lips seemed slightly frozen at the words, but her expression didn't change. "Even so, Jeanne, you're in no condition to do anything like that. You need to get better before you're able to take care of anyone else...believe me, solving what's wrong will help you more in the long run."

It was slightly annoying to the nurse to be admonished and lectured, as if she were the one who was crazy, but she had quickly learned after being hired by the Institute that smiling and nodding did a body good. "Why don't you sit down and relax for a while? Dinner is soon, aren't you looking forward to that?"

That did not dampen Raine's anger--or her determination--in the slightest. If anything, it made her even madder. "Whatever may or may not be wrong with me, my teaching or critical thinking skills haven't taken any damage." So much for at least pretending to listen to the staff.

"And whether or not there is something wrong with my mind, you can stop treating me like a child--I don't appreciate being patronized. I'm an adult perfectly capable of telling time and deciding what to do in light of that. I understand that you're supposed to be an authority here, but there are ways to speak to one's charges without treating them like toddlers."

"I'm sure they haven't, Miss Anderson." The nurse's smile disappeared and turned into a concerned frown. Why didn't all these patients understand that they were here for a reason? In her own eyes, she hadn't been patronizing. She had only been showing concern for Jeanne's well-being...she really didn't need to worry so much about everything. She only needed to worry about herself, and let the doctors and the nurses take care of everyone else.

"Here...why don't you sit down, and I could bring you a book from the library...?" Perhaps that would calm Jeanne down a bit -- she seemed highly intelligent, but oh so disturbed -- to treat someone like that when they were showing concern! This time, her tone of voice wasn't placating, and was honestly worried instead.

"That's quite all right--I know the way, thank you." Her tone wasn't nearly as polite as her words were; if either of them was deluded, it was the nurse.

Without even looking back at the woman, Raine got up and went straight back to the library; she needed to take stock of what was available, and from there she could start making lesson plans. She didn't know yet who would actually show up if school was optional as well as technically no-credit, but at least a few should. The first lesson wasn't going to be nearly as academic as she liked, but the second one should be. And they would go from there.

Zabuza watched the woman go and then got up himself. He needed to make a post on that board and then figure out what he was going to do. He needed to see how many of his abilities he really had and what he would be able to do tonight.

He was already feeling a little excited. At least this place wasn't completely useless.

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Dayshift 22: Sun Room (Evening Shift)

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