norainu (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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damned_institute2007-04-04 07:27 am
norainu) wrote in damned_institute2007-04-04 07:27 am
Entry tags:
- adelheid,
- aidou,
- alucard,
- amaterasu,
- ashton,
- axel,
- aya,
- azel,
- bakura,
- barret,
- brad,
- caim,
- cameron,
- captain jack,
- claire bennet,
- cliff,
- darkwing,
- darman,
- dean winchester,
- demyx,
- dias,
- eddie brock,
- edgeworth,
- edward elric,
- elena (ffvii),
- envy,
- faust,
- fox,
- gabranth,
- gin,
- hakkai,
- haku,
- hikaru,
- hisoka,
- hojo,
- homura,
- honey,
- hughes,
- inara,
- iruka,
- javert,
- kadaj,
- kairi,
- kaylee,
- kenren,
- kurama,
- kyouya,
- larsa,
- larxene,
- lord recluse,
- luffy,
- lust,
- luxord,
- lyta,
- mal,
- matsumoto,
- miku,
- momo (xenosaga),
- naminé,
- obi-wan kenobi,
- omi,
- ordo,
- otacon,
- phoenix,
- qui-gon jinn,
- rabastan,
- raine,
- raistlin,
- raven,
- reinforce,
- renji,
- reno,
- ritsuka,
- river,
- rock lee,
- roy,
- rubedo,
- rufus,
- rukia,
- sakura,
- saïx,
- schuldig,
- seimei,
- sephiroth,
- snake,
- snape,
- sora,
- takaya,
- tamaki,
- tifa,
- tsuzuki,
- valyn,
- wesker,
- xigbar,
- yohji,
- yuffie
DAY 23: BREAKFAST
That hadn't felt like an entire night.
And his goddamn head hurt. Pounded, even. Enough that he wondered if he was going to end up playing another round of "Christen the nurse" this morning.
Maybe it was because he'd spent so much time and energy trying to find Nowe. That could be the reason behind both those problems. Just the thought of it made his stomach turn, made him want to fucking choke something.
Still, there was shit to do. He forced himself out of bed to put away his pens and the other leftovers from the adventures that didn't happen last night. He'd have to try to talk to Sora today, to see if they could just do tonight what they were going to do last night... and to see if the kid was doing alright.
...he just wished his head would stop hurting. That was probably the result of just how badly he'd overreached himself the previous morning.
The nurse that showed up to get him was cheerful. He grunted at her, listening to her with only half an ear until she mentioned all the excitement, about someone pretending to be a patient, all that crap that Landel had mentioned.
Renji gave her a narrow-eyed look. "Dr. Landel is a goddamn lying coward, and he's lying about that, too," he said. Whether it was true or not, there was only so much good cheer he could take on a shitty morning. "I hope he chokes on a cock." No matter how much venom he put in that statement, it wasn't enough.
Then he had to listen to a lecture about language and gratitude for the rest of the walk to the cafeteria, so maybe it wasn't worth it after all. She dragged him through the breakfast line, and he ended up with granola and toast and tea and a cinnamon roll, because not even a shitty fucking night could ruin his sweet tooth. Though that thing was looking a little too sweet.
The cafeteria was pretty much empty; he had his run of the place. He sat himself about as far from the doors as he could get, and proceeded to stare at his breakfast.
And his goddamn head hurt. Pounded, even. Enough that he wondered if he was going to end up playing another round of "Christen the nurse" this morning.
Maybe it was because he'd spent so much time and energy trying to find Nowe. That could be the reason behind both those problems. Just the thought of it made his stomach turn, made him want to fucking choke something.
Still, there was shit to do. He forced himself out of bed to put away his pens and the other leftovers from the adventures that didn't happen last night. He'd have to try to talk to Sora today, to see if they could just do tonight what they were going to do last night... and to see if the kid was doing alright.
...he just wished his head would stop hurting. That was probably the result of just how badly he'd overreached himself the previous morning.
The nurse that showed up to get him was cheerful. He grunted at her, listening to her with only half an ear until she mentioned all the excitement, about someone pretending to be a patient, all that crap that Landel had mentioned.
Renji gave her a narrow-eyed look. "Dr. Landel is a goddamn lying coward, and he's lying about that, too," he said. Whether it was true or not, there was only so much good cheer he could take on a shitty morning. "I hope he chokes on a cock." No matter how much venom he put in that statement, it wasn't enough.
Then he had to listen to a lecture about language and gratitude for the rest of the walk to the cafeteria, so maybe it wasn't worth it after all. She dragged him through the breakfast line, and he ended up with granola and toast and tea and a cinnamon roll, because not even a shitty fucking night could ruin his sweet tooth. Though that thing was looking a little too sweet.
The cafeteria was pretty much empty; he had his run of the place. He sat himself about as far from the doors as he could get, and proceeded to stare at his breakfast.
no subject
He listened to the rest as unobtrusively as possible, which he felt wasn't very. But neither soldier seemed to mind his presence. Otacon watched Snake's face with concern as the possibility of Fox's words settled around them, sounding as strong as truth in Fox's low voice. While Otacon only knew Big Boss by reputation, he knew Snake better than anyone else. He might be down one eye, but he was still the same man.
"Fox is right." Otacon adjusted his glasses with a smile. "And whatever it is they're trying to do to us, we've faced much worse."
no subject
"It's smoke and mirrors, Fox," he said. "This place might have crushed Big Boss and made him someone else, but I'm not about to let that happen to me. I'm not like that," he growled, not sure if he was talking to himself or Fox. "I'm better than that. You know there's no part of me that this place can crush."
With a quick, angry movement - half attack - he reached in and grabbed Fox's forearm, squeezing it hard in the hope that the pain would make his words mean something stronger.
"I'm real, Fox," he snarled. "You know who I am. I'm not who my genes want me to be, and I'm not who I was born to be. I'm no-one's Boss. And I will never - " he gritted his teeth and tightened his grip even further - "never become your Boss." His voice softened, along with his grip. "You don't want it, and I don't want it. There's no reason to become him."
Finally, he released Fox, and raised his head slightly.
"And even if there was, I could never become him," he said. "Think about the self. Our sense of self. It doesn't come from our genes, that's obvious enough. It can't come from our memories either, because they fade and die long before we do. Our bodies change. Our personalities change too. And names are just something to say when there's nothing else to talk about. So tell me. Where do you think the self is? I'm not romantic enough to believe in an immortal soul, and you're not either. I think it's fair to say the self is something too complicated for even a place like this to replicate. The self is yours, and yours alone."
He paused. "Fox. You're stronger than this. I know you are. You just need to prove it to yourself."
no subject
Snake's grip was strong, and almost cutting off the circulation in his arm, but Fox didn't complain or pull away, or even seem to notice much.
The way Snake was snarling at him, the aggression and anger that simmered there, just beneath the surface. So incredibly different from the emotional control Big Boss had, the same iron grip that Fox normally held on his emotions.
Finally he couldn't suppress it any more, and an aggressive, slightly playful smirk made it's way to his face. This was the Snake that he knew, the Snake that he fought alongside. The Snake that he loved.
"Snake."
There was really only one thing left to say in this situation, there could only be so many words given to a subject before they became redundant and useless.
"Fight me."
no subject
"I hope you two aren't planning to go at it here and now," he commented wryly. "A couple of the nurses look like they're ready to get in here with needles."
no subject
"All right," he said, body surging with energy. "But only if you promise you'll still respect me in the morning."
He glanced around.
"Not here, though," he said. "We'll cause too much of a commotion. Want to name the time and the place?"
no subject
"What? Of course not. I don't want all these people watching, I'm not THAT much of an exhibitionist."
He turned his attention back to Snake, grinning broadly at him when he mentioned still respecting him in the morning, and naming a time and place.
"Tonight I might need to meet up with the man who made a sword for me last night... that reminds me, Otacon, do you think you could make two-way radios out of the radios we have? It shouldn't take too long to meet up with him and get that taken care of, and we can meet in Snake's room after."
no subject
He looked over someone's tray — Snake, he guessed — and picked up the cinnamon roll. Not a substitute for caffeine, but Otacon was adaptable. "You have a sword? How?" he asked Fox with interest.
no subject
He dropped his voice to a hoarse whisper. "I've found a new ally. I thought it was just a coincidence who he sounded like, but I'm starting to think it was closer to destiny. He has a...a skill. He can create fire just by thinking about it. Tonight, he and I are going to burn the house down."
He pulled back. "So it'll have to be in the daytime. Is there anywhere in this place we can give the staff the slip?"
no subject
"A lot of people here seem to have interesting skills, the man who made my sword can rearrange materials at a molecular, possibly an atomic level, and his powers will be weakened, and possibly weaken him when he uses them. That's what happened to the guy who made the sword... and his name is Edward, he's a Major in his world..." For some reason Snake talking about destiny made him uneasy, it sounded too familiar to other people who spoke about destiny, but he decided not to comment.
Fox grabbed his breakfast and started eating quietly before continuing. "At least wait for Otacon to make a two-way radio," He was speaking very softly now to avoid being overheard. "I found a tool-set, that way we can keep in touch. And there are strange monsters that effect the mind here, make you completely lose all motivation. The girl that got attacked by one last night didn't even care if she lived or died, didn't see the point in living anymore."
"And I won't fight you during the day, I'm not going to risk getting sedated." Fox did not want to be drugged again. Ever.
no subject
Setting the half-eaten cinnamon bun back on the tray, Otacon took out his notebook and started jotting down quick notes on what Fox had said, and some of the events of last night. "It probably won't take long to set up radios if I have a proper tool-set to work with. Snake, you'll have plenty of time look around with Axel, and having a way to call back-up could come in handy."
He looked at Fox now, still considering the implications of the failed sabotage. "I also met a man with powers. I didn't specifically ask if he had them, but... I recognize him from a Japanese anime. And my first night here, there was a man who shot an energy attack from his hands, also common in anime. And there were three more people whom I know from— Wait." Otacon's eyes were wide behind his glasses. "'Edward'? Did he call himself an alchemist? Uh... very short guy, blond hair, in his teens...?"
no subject
This place is the fourth wall itself, where stories go to die, he thought.
He searched in his mind for people he may have known, right back from when he'd first arrived -
- Lust.
Lust.
"Damn," he said, out loud, his mind finally making a connection that had been evading him.
He turned to face Otacon. "It wouldn't be too far a stretch if it was who you're thinking it is. I've already met someone else from that cartoon. Lust. The homunculus."
no subject
"Besides, none of that's particularly important right now," At least, not from his perspective. He didn't like the idea of their being cartoons about these people's lives, even if they were from other worlds, especially if they were from other worlds.
"Otacon, where's your room located?"
no subject
Fox might dismiss these coincidences as unimportant, but Otacon couldn't shake off encounters with some of the heroes that had shaped his younger years. "Of course escape's the highest priority in this situation. On the other hand, I don't believe getting out is a simple matter of leaving these walls, especially if multi-dimensional travel's involved."
Not to mention the heavier implications: if nearly everyone Otacon had met so far had been "fictional," then who was to say that the three of them weren't anime characters in someone else's world?
He could drop the subject, however. "Should I meet up with you first thing tonight, Fox?"
no subject
He swallowed. "I've seen the bulletin board. People from all walks of life. They want to go home, to their loved ones. And if we're right about the...postmodernism here, then they should go back. They were made to be heroes, and we should send them back so they can still be heroes. Not like me. I fell into it." But that wasn't true either. He'd been built up, an exaggerated image of his own father. And if what he was suspecting was true, then he might be the brainchild of some committee, a pastiche of an action movie hero.
He paused. "Otacon," he said, quietly. "Did they send you a visitor, too?"
no subject
"By the way, Snake, I found something you can use as a weapon if you want. It's a pipe, roughly three feet, maybe a little less. I'll leave it under the pillow in my room for you, I'm in M51 now. And, Otacon, I'll go meet up with you in M1."
no subject
There were even ordinary high school students here, with no anime psychic powers as far as Otacon could see. The three of them, on the other hand, had the experience and skills to actually change things in this messed up place.
His pen paused at Snake's question. It had been only yesterday, but with the way time ebbed and flowed in this place... No, that wasn't an excuse. How could he have forgotten her?
The intercom clicked on, announcing the shift change. Otacon finished writing and got up, used to the routine by now. "E.E.," he told Snake, evenly. "They got my sister."