Day 50: Intercom, Noon

[damned-intercom.livejournal.com]

The intercom jingled to life a little later than usual, after most people had already cleared their plates. (Assuming, of course, that they hadn't gone for seconds.)

"Hello there, everyone! I apologize for the wait – needed time to set up the Sun Room and all, didn't we? Of course, it doesn't exactly seem like the 'Sun Room' at the moment; in fact, the lights have been dimmed and the ceiling's windows have been covered so as to private a good movie-watching experience! Our nurses and orderlies have arranged a projection screen in the room and have rearranged all the furniture to face it, and it would seem that... ah! King Kong garnered the most votes, so that's what we will be viewing today.

"Of course, you don't have to view it! Today is our free day, which means that all our activity rooms – as well as the Recreational Field and Courtyard, with proper escorting from your nurse, are available for use! Of course, some of you do have visitors ready to see you, which our staff will take you to very shortly! Unfortunately, we have not yet finished reviewing the suggestions in our box, but we will be finishing shortly!

"I believe that's all! Enjoy your day, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ ALL NEWLY ACCEPTED CHARACTERS MAY POST TO THIS SHIFT. All character introduction should be made in response to this post. Please have your character wake up in a random room, as we have not yet assigned them. Thank you! ]

Comments

[givemeoblivion.livejournal.com]

...Again. Why again?

There was no Hell to greet her this time. No, the smiling face on the front of her shirt was familiar, and a twinge of revulsion gripped her gut. This was, perhaps, a sort of purgatory all its own, with them the playthings of someone more powerful than themselves. Her only consolation was that she'd been to far worse places after death, but that thought helped little. It still wasn't an end. What she wanted was nothingness, but all she was given was a continuous cycle of the same - even moreso here. What purpose did she even have here aside from bringing misery to others? Not that this couldn't be a worthwhile purpose on its own.

Callisto pulled at the collar of her shirt, placing a hand on the side of her neck where Homura's knife had found its mark. Perhaps there was a mark there, she thought she might even feel it, but without a reflective surface it was impossible to tell. He'd be disappointed to know he hadn't finished her, and wouldn't it just be irritating to have to put up with any further crazed desires for vengeance? Not that 'crazed' described that man in any way, but he hadn't been alone.

The whole matter was ranking low on the list of things the blonde could get herself to care about at the moment. All it boiled down to was that she was back again. Again. Again and again and onwards to infinity. Never mind that she'd once wanted immortality. That was before she'd known. Did such a thing as oblivion even exist?

With an enraged cry, Callisto curled up on herself, running both hands into her hair to tug at the roots. Moments later the sound of a nurse could be heard trying to offer soothing words that didn't even register through her haze of anger. She must have said something particularly nasty, because the woman had soon called in an orderly as well. The former warlord would have attempted to kill both staff members if the memory of previous sedations hadn't finally reached her.

She didn't hear what they said, busy as she was imagining their grisly demise as she stood up slowly from the bed. For now, she'd go where they led her. Later, she'd destroy all of them.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/929807.html?thread=70450447#t70450447)]

[nakedinmoney.livejournal.com]

Everyone had some preconceived notion of what Hell was supposed to be.

Some thought it was literal fire and brimstone, others -- the more educated lot, though that was a matter of perception and prejudice -- believed it was a person's worst nightmare brought to life.

Bela had never been a gambling woman, so she'd reserved her assumptions; but, when she woke up screaming in a bed at Landel's, still able to feel the claws of hellhounds in her skin, she was certain it was the latter. First of all, there was a nurse rushing to her side and using her real name, treating her like an infant. Where did he learn that name? Lilith. It was the only logical assumption. Spitefully, Bela jerked her arm away from the man, sneering. There was no verbal reassurance that she was fine, but it was obvious that the nurse was a step away from a sedative so Bela tried to cool her head.

It would be better if she worked them than allowing herself to be worked -- truth be told, if this was Hell, it was the kind of Hell that Bela could operate in. It was an atmosphere that could be controlled, if the person thrown in knew how to do the controlling, and once her arm was out of the nurse's grasp, she ran a hand over her abdomen slowly, trying to make the gesture look insignificant.

There were no scars. Even through the shirt, she could tell, and the remaining pain was a phantom pain that she acknowledged would fade over time. With the hint of a grimace, she pulled herself out from under the sheets and got to her feet, curling her toes against the cold floor, testing. It all seemed real, but there was absolutely no way she'd made it out of her encounter with the hellhounds on the living side of things, so she accepted the surreality and went with it.

The intercom crackled to life and caught Bela's attention, she studied it with vague interest. King Kong was playing in the theater. Well, it looked like this was Hell after all. Unfortunately, if she was going to find other people, the Sun Room looked like her only option. She heard her nurse asking where she'd like to go, and Bela hesitated, continuing to stare at the intercom for a long moment, then finally looked back at him with a curt smile.

"I think we could both use a good film."

[osoreirimasu.livejournal.com]

The first thing he noticed was the quiet. His house was always quiet of course, but it was a different sort of quiet. The sounds of the pond in the garden, the sōzu clacking every few minutes to scare away birds and deer that were less and less likely to appear in modern times, and the morning whining of the most comforting and constant presence of all - Pochi-kun - were all absent. This sort of silence was unnerving as Japan always got up early to walk Pochi-kun and wander aimlessly about his neighborhood before it became to hot out. It helped him gather his mind before he had to engage in the more businesslike part of his day, which recently had been rather hectic what with his boss's approval rating dropping and that pesky problem down south with America. Japan really, really wished that something could be done about all that, but there really wasn't much he could do or say. As long as American wanted to stay, that was where he'd stay. The younger nation was so stubborn about his bases.

The second thing he noticed was the hard surface of his bed and how very uncomfortable it had become. After sleeping in the same bed for centuries, it was impossible not to notice the sudden and unpleasant change in its surface. It affected his back and made it hurt something terrible which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the combination with the first thing he'd noticed. Those alone were enough to wake him up, unusually groggy for the hour.

Sitting up in bed, Japan rubbed his eyes with one hand and sighed. Perhaps he really was growing old. He could have sworn that the flash of scenery he'd seen before sitting up didn't match his memories. And something else. Something...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Impossible! Impossible! There was just-- NO. Leaping up out of bed, Japan found that it was now a good two feet taller than he'd expected and he fell rather unceremoniously into a heap on the ground. His shins smarted and he rolled over onto his side, trying to push himself up onto his hands and knees. Where was he?! Where was his camera?! Where was his dog and his house and his clothes?! Who had stripped him and touched him while he was sleeping?! He lived alone! There was no way anyone could have gotten in and done all this! He was a light sleeper! He was--

Missing something. Pressing a hand to his heart, Japan felt its frantic pace through the thin shirt he was wearing and realized that his heart was the only thing he could feel. He could only hear his own thoughts, feel his own breath and pulse and... His nation was gone. And yet he was still alive. His nation was gone. How did the entire Japanese nation just up and vanish without him?! He was nothing without his people and he had always known them, always felt them and been aware of them and how they grew and changed and now they were just gone.

"Mr. Honda! Are you alright? Goodness, look at you!" An unfamiliar female voice came from the north and Japan leaped again, banging his back against the chest of drawers. Was this place trying to kill him?! "...are you alright? I didn't mean to frighten you..."

A young woman, blond hair, blue eyes, and speaking very good Japanese. She must be a translator or someone else that worked in the embassies, but not high up enough to know who he was. "A-ah...yes. I apologize for my behavior. I...where am I?"

"You're safe now, Mr. Honda. Come with me. You've all but slept right through brunch!"

Not an answer, but he really had no choice but do so as she said if he wanted to know what was going on. Besides, she was wearing a nurse's outfit (even if it wasn't the moe kind at all, it really wouldn't have suited her anyway) and she seemed to know what was going on. Maybe she'd be able to explain why he couldn't feel his country anymore. "...A-ah...yes. Alright."

[osoreirimasu.livejournal.com]

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/931109.html?thread=70519333#t70519333)]

[highvoltagegirl.livejournal.com]

The first thing Elle noticed when she opened her eyes was that the pain had stopped. She immediately noticed several other things as well, such as her unfamiliar surroundings, but they were all minuscule, peripheral observations in comparison to the pain finally being gone. Her entire body eased a bit as she came to the realization that her power wasn't going to kick in and jolt her any second now. If it was going to happen, it would have happened by now. She knew. You didn't go through what she'd been enduring for weeks now without developing some kind of intuition for when it was going to happen.

With that out of the way, she allowed herself to take in her surroundings. Cold. White. Sterile. It reminded her of the Company, in some ways, but she knew better than that. It couldn't be. Why would she be back there? Hell, why would that bitch Angela care enough to extend a helping hand towards her in her time of need—

Pinehearst. That was where she was supposed to be. Where she had been going, before she blacked out and ended up... here. But it wasn't Pinehearst, was it? It couldn't have been. The announcement she woke up to didn't sound like anything she would have heard at the Company, and certainly wasn't what she expected out of Pinehearst. She jerked up out of her bed, and the movement caught the attention of a nearby nurse. She kept asking if Elle was okay, except... she called her Sarah. It made her panic, but she masked her panic with belligerence, almost like a particularly aggressive cornered animal. Where was she? Why was she here? What happened to her ability? Questions that were all met with patronizing responses. It reminded her of her home sweet home behind Company walls, at least during her younger years.

Or, in the case of her father, her entire life.

But that was over now.

If she was going to get out of this, she had to think fast. She could play the part, right? How hard could it be? She went undercover as an agent all the time. She still had it in her. She calmed herself, made small talk and awkward nervous laughter with the nurse. Sarah just had a bad dream, and it had left her upset and disoriented.

But it was over now. And could she please go to the Sun Room with everyone else to see King Kong? It sounded awfully fun and she hadn't seen it in forever.

God. Five minutes in and this patient crap was already getting old. But the sooner she had an opportunity to talk with other people, hopefully normal people would would talk down to her or treat her like a dog, the better. Then she could stand a chance at actually knowing what was going on.

M??

[monkeyboy]

Consciousness surfaced behind shut eyes. His senses picked up only darkness and that surprised the young boy. His internal clock usually had him waking with the sun, so what was wrong now?

Maybe it's a predator!

The threat of violence was all Goku needed to bounce awake and get ready for a fight. The problem was the ground below him was really soft and his nyoibo was nowhere behind his back like it should have been. "Huh..." Well, that was okay! He could do this bare handed and then go recover his grandfather's keepsake. Unable to sense any movement around him in the dark, Goku took a staggering step forward and fell face first into the springy ground with a yelp, feet getting tangled in something like vines below him. It was too dark to untangle himself, which was weird since he usually had pretty good vision even at night. This whole process of cursing and flailing only made it worse when his hands got caught in the dry mulch that seems all connected together.

"Ah, get off! What is this--uwwwaaah!!!" His foot slipped over a cliff and the rest of him followed. His scream was loud but short lived since this cliff ended rather abruptly and deposited him on a cold hard rock. "Owww..."

"Billy...? Billy! Are you alright?" Suddenly the night turned disorienting and bright like the afternoon, leaving the young boy to slap his hands over his eyes to stop the sudden pain. All he could see was the white of the sheets that had ensnared him up on the cliff--or, well... what was it?! It was soft like a bed, but it had legs! Where was he? Everything was white and non foresty. Had Bulma picked him up with one of her rolly polly capsules or whatever?

"Where am I...?" He asked to no one in particular and was thoroughly freaked out when a voice replied.

"You're safe, Billy. You can get the help you need here..." The nurse bent down and smile at the short kid, which only made him more distraught.

"W-Who are you?! Get back, witch!" Forgetting the sheets that imprisoned his feet, the young boy tried to jump back onto the bouncy surface above, but only managed to chase the air out of his lungs when his stomach hit the edge of the mattress. There were a few moments of scrambling up onto the bed before he finally faced his foe with fists raised. The witch remained calm, but was walking backward toward the door. "C'mon! Fight, ya coward!"

"Billy... now, you need to calm down. I'm a friend, no one here is going to hurt you..."

"Huh? A friend? Y'know Bulma?"

"I know of Bulma from your file..." Not that half those words Goku fully understood; still, it was answer enough for him and his aggressive posture relaxed, usual blank expression back on his face. "Hey..." His eyes honed in on her chest, noticing the big bags that hung on her. "... lady! Have ya seen my nyoibo?"

"Your--oh, your red stick? Well, we had to take it--"

"What?! But it's my grandpa's!"

"It's being held safe, don't worry, you'll get it back once you're better..."

"I'm sick?" He felt fine.

"Yes, though in a... different way, but why don't we talk about it later and get you out and about, alright? We'll get you something to eat later--"

"Okay, let's go! I'm hungry!" Smile returning to his chubby face, Goku leaped off the bed and caught himself painfully on his knees. "Owwwwowowow!" What happened? His tail always-- "My tail!" Goku checked his butt and howled. "It disappeared again!" No wonder his balance was so off. "Ah, well! It'll come back again! I need food..." His little legs waddled him quickly over to the woman's side or, well, upper thigh in Goku's case.

"Well, food will have to be a bit l--"

"Okay! I'm hungry!" The little boy was first to leave the room.

[planetarial.livejournal.com]

First, sensation returned to him. Then sound. Then awareness.

Yuusei knew he was in an unfamiliar location before he even opened his eyes. He couldn't quite remember when he'd closed them; he'd been forced to, at some point, either because of the brightness of Stardust's attack or from bracing himself against the impact of passing from one dimension to the other or-- what again? His memory after calling his final attack was hazy, and he had a lingering impression that he'd fallen quite a distance before coming to a stop, but he couldn't remember crashing. The duel had drawn to a close as soon as Red Demon's had been overwhelmed; in the end, there had been nothing but the wind whipping through his clothes, Stardust's triumphant shriek ringing in his ears, and light.

"Jack...?" Yuusei mumbled drowsily, disoriented and still half-asleep.

He opened his eyes.

Aside from his periodic nightmares, Yuusei was used to a fairly seamless transition between dreams and reality. He slept relatively little, and could doze off just about anywhere if he needed to, so it was odd, he thought dimly, that he was so slow to rise now.  Breathing deeply and shifting, like a machine roaring to life, Yuusei forced himself into something resembling a sitting position, his muscles giving a dull throb with every small movement. The warm lassitude gave way to a considerable amount of confusion as he slowly began to take in the details of his surroundings. By all appearances, he'd been admitted into a hospital. It had all the usual trimmings, or - rather - what he'd expected of the hospitals in the City, considering he'd never actually been inside a proper one before.  But something was definitely off about it, and Yuusei couldn't quite place what. It bothered him considerably less than it should have, but he couldn't seem to entirely disperse the sleepy fog that had settled thickly over his senses, that clouded his thoughts and made it terribly difficult to focus on more than one thing at a time.

Yuusei shook his head to clear it, and decided to chance standing so he could better survey the damage, if any. He slipped one leg, then the other, over the edge of the bed and down to the cold tile floor; his vision swam only for the briefest of moments as he stood, stretching, and examining himself for injury. Beyond the soreness, there seemed to be nothing amiss. But his usual clothes were gone, replaced by what looked like no hospital scrubs he'd ever seen or imagined before.  His jacket - practically his trademark back home - had become almost like a second skin, and without it, he felt oddly and uncomfortably exposed. The pants seemed like ordinary sweats, but long sleeved t-shirt was thin, and felt more flimsy and somehow more delicate than his usual tank top had been despite years of ownership. Yuusei tugged at it, testing the give, and the artificial cheeriness of the smiling face that stared back at him became decidedly more sinister in that moment. 

He released it and headed straight for the door. To his surprise, it was locked from the outside, and a cursory examination revealed no mechanisms on the inner panel that he could jimmy to get it open. Pounding at it with his fist did nothing and drew no attention. Pacing back a few steps, he surged forward and threw his weight against the door, grunting a bit at the pain. It didn't give an inch, and Yuusei quickly turned his attention toward the rest of the room to search for anything of note. He pulled out dressers, moved the mattress, crawled under the bed, and generally turned the room inside-out looking for keys, a control panel, bits of wire, anything at all.

When he emerged from the closet - dismayed at only finding sets of clothing identical to what he currently wore -  the door  to the room swung open, near-soundless and sudden, and a small, middle-aged woman with a clipboard in tow poked her head in curiously.

"Satoshi, dear, is everything all right?" Her eyes widened in mild surprise as she stepped further into the room, surveying the damage. "My goodness, what happened here?"

[planetarial.livejournal.com]

Yuusei regarded her with a hard stare, his inclination to be polite to his elders warring with his annoyance and confusion. What had she called him, exactly?   He wasn't entirely surprised when she met his gaze, but her expression threw him; it was  pleasant, almost matronly, but with an undertone that was immediately and frustratingly recognizable as pity, and something about that felt decidedly out-of-place.  "Are we having trouble adjusting?" She continued with a soft sigh, crossing the room  with light, measured steps. "I realize this is all very new for you, but--"

"Who are you?" Yuusei interrupted in a low voice, trying his best not to physically recoil as she approached.  His discomfort must have been obvious enough, however; the woman ­- nurse, Yuusei was sure, if the outfit and general demeanor meant anything - stopped a comfortable distance of five feet away from where he stood, and the look of eerie calmness in her features never wavered.

"We met earlier today, remember?" She paused, and Yuusei figured she was waiting for a reaction, so he gave her a single shake of his head, but otherwise refused to move. "And you've been sleeping ever since then, very good." She checked something off on her clipboard, and something about the movement confirmed his prior suspicions-- he'd been drugged. He was quickly beginning to dislike the muffled-blanket effect whatever they'd given him had on the world. "Now then, Satoshi... " She looked back up at him, and the pitying smile returned to her face. "Wouldn't you like some fresh air since you've been cooped up since you arrived? I can walk you out to the courtyard, if you'd like."

Why is she calling me that? He wondered, but he asked: "What is this place?"

The patient explanation that followed did nothing to clear things up, and Yuusei felt himself growing annoyed, so he merely stopped listening while he tried to re-order his thoughts. He was ill, his family had brought him here for treatment, and the nurse - if not the entire staff - were under the impression that he was someone else entirely. No one he knew was here and, allegedly, they were all waiting for him to 'get better,' whatever that meant. He wasn't sure how to feel about any of that and was tempted to consider the entire situation part of an elaborate farce, but for what purpose? If what Jack had said was true, then Godwin had been manipulating him - both of them - for years-- even so, what had the man to gain from making Yuusei think he'd gone crazy? It didn't make any sense.

"Shall we?"

"What?" Yuusei blinked, refocusing. As intended, he'd heard nothing.

"The courtyard," the nurse reiterated, still smiling, and seemingly unperturbed by his inattention. "You'll feel better with a bit of sun, I'm sure."

Too nice, he thought, stepping around her and heading for the door. He'd been wary, but there was something in her expression that just unnerved him now. Yuusei had always been taught to never trust anyone that was too nice, but he couldn't tell whether her demeanor was a front or if, somehow, she was incapable of being any other way. It wasn't right, but he had more important things to do than puzzle over that. He had to get out of here, whereever 'here' was.

[planetarial.livejournal.com]

"Mr. Ito--" she called, but he continued to ignore her. Yuusei yanked the door open, fully intending to make a dash for the next nearest exist, but two large orderlies blocked his path.  He froze in place, unsure of how to proceed, and watched in mute shock as the nurse calmly approached him once more and handed him a pair of slippers.  "Satoshi, there's no need to be so upset."

"I'm Yuusei," he said, numbly, and idly wondered if he was still asleep.

"None of that, now. Won't you come outside? The weather is lovely."

Yuusei had half a mind to object - he objected to all of this, really -  and was beginning to consider whether or not he could outrun the three of them, but even if he made it to the floor exit, he had no idea where to go from there. And what if all the doors were locked? He was without his tools, his D-Wheel, everything. As long as he was indoors, these people had effectively trapped him, whoever they were.  He realized that allowing them take him outside would likely present more opportunities so, reigning in his unease, he nodded.

"I'll go," he agreed at last, eyes downcast.

Yuusei had never been manipulative or particularly calculating in nature, but he knew well enough when it was best to back down and do what was expected of him.  As the nurse escorted him through multiple identical hallways, he tried to keep his eyes forward and not let on that he was observing the minute details of the environment-- he'd always been good at remembering subtle differences in things, and thought that every bit of information, no matrer how small, would probably be useful later. However, the orderly's heavy gaze on his back made the hairs on his neck stand on end, and he couldn't help but feel unusually apprehensive in spite of himself.

[ to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/932686.html?thread=70613070#t70613070). ]