Day 46: Lunch

[tostepforward.livejournal.com]

The mere fact that she'd been susceptible to whatever hold the Institute had had on her yesterday was sufficient to leave Ayumu both upset and angry - no, not angry, downright furious, both at herself and whoever was responsible for that. But there was also the fact that because of it, she'd lost out on an entire day of work, and in several ways had ruined some of what she'd done already. That little conversation with Himura the day before, for instance, was something she'd sincerely prefer not to remember if she'd had any choice in the matter.

Unless the man was a complete moron, which, unfortunately, was one thing she couldn't believe of him, he had to have realized just who her brother was. After all the effort to keep that fact quiet (not exactly a secret, but certainly not advertised; half the Shinsengumi probably never even realized it because there was no reason to) she'd gone and chatted about it with him. Told him all about it, practically painted a bright target around a weakness that shouldn't have existed in the first place.

She'd spent the shift in the Sun Room pretending to sleep, while in truth forcing herself into calm. After years of practice she could shunt away the useless and distracting emotions, focusing only on what was important and needed to be at the forefront of her mind, and by the time the intercom signaled the lunch period she was feeling considerably calmer. The time to silently observe others had, as well, alerted her to something she probably should have noticed earlier: Mello was back. Would her previous objective be reinstated now? He seemed to have far less of a bulletin presence this time, so perhaps not. Still, though, it bore investigating.

None of her thoughts were visible, of course, as she moved through the line, examining the lunch selection somewhat dubiously. Now with the benefit of Yuuko's memories she might recognize the food, but she certainly didn't share the enthusiasm for it that her imaginary self apparently had. Ayumu skipped past that part and settled for the salad bar and some bread, then positioned herself in a place where she could watch both the door and the rest of the room, setting her journal open in front of herself as though planning to write something. There was far too much that she'd missed, too much work to do now.

[for Okita]

Comments

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

Forte could certainly understand Sechs's outright anger, and if he hadn't been as stubborn as he was, or he wasn't still recovering from the last time he talked about his 'feelings', he would probably have just apologized. Instead, he simply took Sechs's anger - in the form of several blows to the head - without resisting. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he deserved that much, at least. Of course the last one, smacking his chin into his pizza, and through it the table, left his ears ringing for a second.

He also stopped the nurse that came rushing, feigning a smile, and insisting "I'm fine, we're just friends having some fun." Once she was reassured he wasn't hurt, he addressed his 'friend' with a very serious look.

"Believe me, I would never have interrupted a fight between men. That was your fight, and I'm sure that bastard did something to deserve it. If someone did that to me, I'd be pissed too." If someone interrupted a fight between himself and Rock Man (had it really been so long since he thought of his hated enemy?), especially just before victory, he wouldn't hesitate to hunt down and kill the offender. "If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, just tell me."

He watched the nurse backing away out of the corner of his eye, and relaxed as he wiped the grease from his chin. "Of course, you should also know, 'Frank' put me through a lot of crap I have to deal with now. I didn't have someone to take it out on, but now I guess I owe you a few blows." In an ideal world, he could have started a brawl then and there, and he knew they'd both feel better by the time they were done. Unfortunately, needing the crutches, he couldn't put a real fight, and even if he took a swing back at Sechs they'd just both be sedated. It was still tempting, though.

[sixth-attack.livejournal.com]

Seeing Forte taking it like a fighting bot and not getting all wimpy and weepy at the nurse revived some of Sechs' respect for him. The kid was definitely back to how he was before. He shot a nasty smirk at the concerned nurse, wordlessly telling her to get out of his face.

Once the nurse had left, Sechs returned to devouring the rest of his lunch. "Thanks for the offer but I don't really need anything," he said with a mouth full of chips. "As long as you're back to normal and that you don't barge your way into my battles again. Next time I fight that bastard, I don't want anyone cutting in or slowing me down. I can take him on myself."

"Really? What kind of crap?" the Replica asked with a bit of wary concern on his face. What if he himself woke up one day thinking he was "Cody" and started acting like some pathetic idiot? Sechs repressed a shudder at the thought. Grabbing another handful of chips, Sechs moved on to a question he had been meaning to ask. "Do you remember when or how this 'Frank' took over you? I bet the staff here really hauled ass to change so many patients like that overnight, but what I don't understand is why it ended up being so temporary..."

"Well, there's always that spar we agreed to do sometime when we get the chance," Sechs replied as a smile slowly returned to his face. His hatred towards Forte had now faded along with the "Frank" persona that once occupied the purple haired youth. It felt good to get the fellow fighting bot back. "You can try taking some of that frustration out on me then."

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

What kind of crap? He certainly couldn't admit his confusion about Sheena to Sechs, not when he'd just earned his respect back. Fortunately, he'd calmed down enough to keep a straight face, "I have an ally, who was helping me learn to fight unarmed, as a human. Frank said some things to her and screwed it all up." True enough. "Anyway, I don't know what happened, I just passed out like usual. Frank woke up and ran around crying and shouting, until he stopped your fight. Then I woke up again. Knowing this place, it probably wasn't supposed to be permanent, just to screw with us."

As he spoke, he felt his stomach growl. He'd felt too sick to really eat anything at breakfast, but he was hungry now. No, this body was hungry, and he didn't feel particularly obliged to it, since it was to blame for pretty much all his problems. Still, he wouldn't do any good starving himself, so he finally ate some pizza between talking.

"Don't get too cocky, though. I'm healing pretty quickly, and I'll be ready to kick your ass soon, human or not."

[sixth-attack.livejournal.com]

After shoveling down more of his chips, Sechs raised a bruised arm up to crudely wipe the grease off his face. "Hmph, well ain't that a shame," he grumbled. "You might wanna explain what happened then, or else you might get what 'Frank' deserves from that frie- erm - ally of yours." After leaving a dent in Forte's journal, Sechs figured that the fellow droid had sustained enough impacts to the head for today, last thing he needed was another pummeling.

Sechs gruffly sighed. "Crap, so you can't remember what happened then?" He was afraid he'd get a vague answer like that, but he couldn't blame Forte for not knowing all the details. Sechs himself still had little clarity over how he ended up in this institute in the first place. It would have been nice to get some decent clues though, like if whether nanotech was behind the institute's workings (although Sechs felt pretty sure that the microscopic robots had to be involved at some point.) There was also the possibility that the whole place was a virtual simulation, but that always left Sechs feeling even more trapped than ever. He could only hope that this 'Frank' and whatever other personalities that were forced in other people's minds were purely fabricated. He really hoped that was the case...

"Well, if that's what they intended, then they've done a pretty decent job screwing us up," Sechs grimly added. "I just wish I knew how they've been doing all this... The way this place works has been nothing but smoke and mirrors; not to mention all the crap-load of lies and hypocrisy involved. I can't stand that sort of shit!"

The smirk on Sechs' face grew into a challenging grin. "Heh, we'll just have to see about that, Shorté!" he teased before chomping down on his last chip.

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

Now that he was being competitive with Sechs and complaining about the institute, Forte felt worlds better and his appetite had returned. Of course, he was making up for lost time now, eating while Sechs spoke. Unfortunately, when he suggested Forte might get 'what Frank deserves' from Sheena, he couldn't suppress a small blush... but quickly moved on.

"No, who knows what they did between knocking us out and the morning. I think they change or take off my bandages, too." He hadn't had a chance to wonder about it, thanks to the brainwashing, but after Raine had healed his arm he simply woke up without the wrappings, and the same with his foot in the beginning.

"I don't know, I don't like thinking about all that stuff too much." It was just creepy, how much control they had over him, just starting with putting him in this body, and the more he talked with other prisoners about how that could have happened the more complicated it sounded. Actually, he realized he'd been worried about healing, then about the brainwashing so much, he hadn't even thought about his original goal in days. "I've asked other guys about finding my original body, and they always say something different... about if it's being held somewhere nearby, or my brain is still there controlling this body by remote, or if I'm just a copy. It's too confusing, so I let them worry about it." Of course, of all the fellow robots he'd met, Sechs was the only one that was trying to figure out how this was happening - save Starscream, who had turned out to be a coward.

[sixth-attack.livejournal.com]

One black eyebrow arched up at the brief sighting of color that emerged on Forte's face. Yeesh, what was that all about? Sechs himself didn't look like that sometimes, did he? Ah crap... He probably did! He quickly shook the awkward thought out of his mind.

"Yeah, the staff here really like to keep us under control without us totally knowing how they do it in the first place. We gotta figure out how this hell hole works, it's bound to be the biggest clue on how to escape!" the Replica growled before gulping down his drink. "I wouldn't be surprised if nanotechnology is involved either, what with the creation of organic bodies and how some people got captured in the first place. I know someone who's good with all that tech stuff. If he were here, I'd bet he'd be able to hack into this place's system..."

Sechs nodded to the theories, but unlike Forte who didn't want to worry about such matters, the last suggestion sent a surge of anxiety riveting throughout his mind. "Wait... A copy?" he stuttered, the look on his face clearly showing his distress over the possibility, "we can't seriously all be copies--!!" Sechs himself was already a "copy" of Alita; he couldn't bare the idea of being a "copy" of himself or something...!

Yet the panic rising inside Sechs was cut short by the speakers announcing the end of lunch and before he knew it, a nurse and an omnipresent orderly arrived to escort the Replica out of the cafeteria. He had no choice but to leave Forte with his question hanging unanswered.

He ignored the nurse's strict announcement over how it was finally time for such an ill-mannered brute like him to get his first visit with a therapist. As he limped off, Sechs called to Forte over his shoulder, "try not to let this place unscrew your head again, you hear me?"

[runner-up-robot.livejournal.com]

Forte was surprised by Sechs's violent reaction to the idea of them being copies. As the guy was being hauled off, he shouted back, "They'll have to take me kicking and screaming!"

There were any number of reasons Sechs would find that idea disturbing, but one jumped out at Forte - Sechs wasn't an 'original model' and they were even more alike than he thought. He made a note to ask Sechs about that later, some time after this therapy he was being lead toward.