DAY 45: Sun Room (Second Shift)

[violent-varmint.livejournal.com]

There was something fishy going on in the Institute today. All over the bulletin board, people were talking about having "woken up", having been "cured"... and it seemed as though ZEX was one of them. Tanaka wouldn't have recognized the note at all if it hadn't been signed - his wording, his handwriting, even his name had changed - and a part of him still wondered if it had been an imposter, trying to pull the wool over the Captain's allies.

But it'd be easy enough to find out the truth. Whoever it was had agreed to meet him, and Tanaka was waiting for him just outside the cafeteria doors, ready to catch him as he came from breakfast. If "Max" was an imposter, then he'd discover the identity of a hidden enemy. And if he was really ZEX...

...well, he'd have a whole new set of things to worry about.

[for a spoiled rich brat brainwashed Admiral]

Comments

[idontregret.livejournal.com]

"Uh..." It had been a dumb question to ask, Heath realized. Even if all the cats in the room had names, she probably didn't know them all. He figured she might have given it one of her own. For just a brief moment, he thought of making up something on the spot, but decided against it. This wasn't his thing. "No thanks. Wouldn't, uh, be fair to the others."

And he wasn't naming every damn cat in the room, either. Forget that.

"You know," he paused, lacking a name for her now, "there are other kids here your age. You should go... mingle with them or something."

[roger-hug.livejournal.com]

"That's true." Bridget could see how that wouldn't be fair, but the cats might have their own names and not want to be called something else. He'd read something about that once... he couldn't remember the title of the book, but it had been funny.

He looked up at the man again and smiled, shaking his head. "Oh, no. I... don't always get along well with people my age." He shrugged and looked back at the kitten, rubbing his chin. "I wanted to just sort of sit for now and watch."

[idontregret.livejournal.com]

As much as he could understand that, Heath still questioned why she had to sit by him of all people instead. There were empty sofas still, weren't there? Why not one of those? He didn't do well with kids.

This probably required some form of small talk, and Heath tried to recall what kids this girl's age found interesting nowadays but came up blank. Considering she was a mental patient, same as he was, she might now have the same interests anyway, so he quickly shoved aside any concerns about his inability to recall something like that.

So small talk was out. The last thing she was going to want to discuss was the reason she was here, and aside from bringing up whatever was next on the daily schedule there wasn't much else to discuss. Conversation about cats wouldn't get far either. They're not bad. Don't have one, but I hear they're good company. Images of a dark gray cat with a white ear and silver eyes came to mind and he shook them off. Pure fantasy, that.

He cleared his throat. "I'm not exactly good company myself."