damned_institute | Day 50: Patient Library (3rd Shift)

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Day 50: Patient Library (3rd Shift)

Given a choice, as should have been implied by the whole "Free Choice Day" thing, Scott would have gone straight for the Game Room. Maybe it didn't have the greatest selection of games, but he was raring for another epic Tetris match with Indy or anyone else who cared to challenge him. Unfortunately for him, however, his nurse was already onto his line of thinking.

"Now Bryan, I know how much you love your games, but don't you think some more time away from them would be good for you?" the woman asked him in a soothing tone, gently taking his shoulder when he turned toward the Game Room.

"Uh, why would I think that?" he asked, blinking at her in honest confusion.

"Well, I know your family was worried about more than just your condition before you came here. They're hoping you can start to wean yourself down to a more healthy level of enjoyment with your games, too," the nurse explained with continuing gentleness.

"Yeah. And?" Scott raised an eyebrow. "It's Free Choice Day, isn't it? Don't I get to choose and stuff?"

"Of course, Bryan. But I'm still here to make suggestions, and I think you'd do well with a different activity today." The woman smiled at him, genuine care and concern in her expression. "You can always come here later in the week. It'll probably be more rewarding if you wait, too."

Scott was silent, considering the advice. He raised an index finger. "Well, I suppose... Uh, yeah no. Please to be going to the Game Room now, thanks."

The nurse frowned.

Five minutes of irritatingly gentle coaxing later, and Scott found himself in the patient library. "Stupid guilt tripping never even talked to my real mom and dad I bet I could be playing Tetris right now they don't even have any cool books in here..." he grumbled to himself under his breath as he lazily perused the shelves. He picked a book completely at random, The Oxford Book of English Verse. He was half-hoping that maybe pulling the book out would trigger something more exciting, like a secret item appearing, a bonus stage unlocking, or a new shortcut tunnel opening. But no, Landel's reality was boring as ever. "Maybe there'll be an awesome poem or something in here, at least," he told himself as he headed over to an empty seat with a short sigh.

[Unknowingly waiting for Sam]

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"So you were Rebecca the entire time?" It would explain a lot if that were the case, but Brainiac 5 couldn't dismiss the possibility that Rebecca was a real person and Grell had simply observed their exchange out of hand.

He shifted ever so slightly away as the older patient pulled up a chair close by, not liking how Grell seemed intent on making himself comfortable, but also not seeing much he could do about it right now. Yes, he could try getting the attention of the nurses and try and get the other patient away from him that way, but it would be like admitting that Grell had won this round, and there was no way he was going to give the man that satisfaction.

Besides, what Grell actually said was odd enough to catch his attention.

"What do you mean, I've learned my lesson? What lesson?" he asked suspiciously.

For being a twelfth level intellect as he often claimed, Brainy-bot was certainly easy to dupe. Perhaps it was because he was so young and still so trusting, or maybe it was simply because his grand plan to become human still had flaws in it. That natural instinct humans had that warned them when danger was approaching was dulled in the little Coluan, and Grell found that ever so amusing. Smiling, he shrugged his shoulders and waved a hand. "Who knows? Perhaps she is real and I only saw your little exchange on the board. Cute, you know. How open you were with her."

Leaning back in the chair, Grell rested his elbows on the chair arms and steepled his fingers together, the smile never leaving his face even if he didn't feel particularly cheery. This was why he never liked to stick around after a job. People never did understand why one person had to die while another could be spared. It was all written in the List, set in stone for the most part, and a death god's job was just to show up at the right time, reap the soul of the departed and leave. But Brainy would never understand that and other than going home last night, Grell still had no proof to give the boy. Perhaps he should have taken his List, but he'd been trapped in the lobby the entire time. Annoying.

"You seemed altogether reasonable when you spoke to her at least," the death god said, tapping his fingers together. "Much more so than when we spoke. That's all I wanted, dear. For you not to blind yourself completely to the possibility of other... beliefs. Do you realize how terribly rude it is for someone to tell you that they don't believe you are real? It's horribly offending."

His face reddened again, and Brainiac 5 scowled as he drew his knees up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them loosely. He wasn't sure what to make of Grell calling him 'cute' of all things. On one hand it was good in that at least the older patient wasn't actively threatening him right this moment, but on the other... Cute? Really? He wasn't a child or anything.

"Maybe it had something to do with how she didn't threaten to hunt me down and kill me over some minor disbelief," he remarked pointedly. "And you seem to be the one trying to misinterpret my stance on the matter at every turn. Saying that I don't accept your explanation for how your abilities work or expressing doubt in what you claim those abilities to be isn't the same as saying you're not real. Not to mention the fact half your problem seemed to be that I don't believe in the deity that you do."

Realising that this was exactly the argument that had started a lot of his problems, not to mention the person who seemed to take the subject particularly badly, Brainiac 5 fell into silence and pressed his lips together into a thin line. Grell wasn't entirely inaccurate in that he'd been more reasonable about it recently, with Rebecca (assuming she was real), and maybe if he'd been more inclined to getting along with the self-proclaimed death god (assuming that were even possible) he might have tried to explain it further.

The argument on the bulletin had, in hindsight, been unfortunately problematic, but Brainiac 5 had just found himself in an entirely new body, in an unfamiliar place cut off from everyone he knew, with no idea about what had happened to his friends. He liked to think it gave him some leeway in being a little more touchy than he might have been otherwise.

But there was nothing he could do about it now, other than watch Grell carefully over the barrier of his own knees and see what the older man planned to do next.

"I was having an off day," Grell said, shrugging slightly as if that explained all of his actions away. To him, it did. Women were capricious and dangerous creatures, but none were more dangerous than a man with a chainsaw and a woman's temperament. After having such a spectacularly terrible day, meeting Brainiac and having him deny his God and his Self had been the straw to break the camel's back.

And here he was, still denying things. Grell sighed and twisted a strand of hair around his index finger, turning so he could drape his legs over the side of the chair. In contrast to how closed off and defensive Brainiac's body language was now, Grell was open and relaxed. He knew there was little the Coluan could do to harm him, not with Luxord gone and the knowledge of Brainiac 5's little roommate hanging in the air. Grell simply wasn't as attached to people as Brainy could be. He had nothing to lose and thus nothing to really fear.

"You rejected the claim of Belief as a valid answer. I am a creature that can only live in the stories that people tell, Brainy-bot," he said languidly, checking his hair for split ends. "People fear death because they fear the afterlife that will come with it. They fear the unknown and thus turn to faith and belief that someone Up There is protecting them from an eternal Hell of oblivion or pain or something far worse. Thus, they fear us for we are Death embodied." Flipping the strands of hair over to point at Brainy, the death god smiled. "I don't expect you to believe, dear. I just wanted you to respect those that did. I sensed a lack of that when we spoke and it was distressing."

Turning back to examining his hair, Grell pulled a loose strand out and let it drop away over the back of the chair. "But let's put it all behind us, hm? I know that little truce you called is just a farce and really, if you try anything you know I can and will kill you or your little roommate, so it's best for both of us to extend the olive branch, don't you think?"

"I can respect others beliefs easier when they aren't being forced at me," Brainiac 5 grumbled into his knees. He could have continued about what he'd found 'distressing' about their first meeting, both on the bulletin board and off it - Grell's willingness to jump straight to threats and the damage the Coluan had gotten at the other's hands, which no matter what justification the 'death god' used, seemed like an overreaction - but Grell's words were a good reminder as to why that was a bad idea.

His roommate... There was no way he'd allow Peter to come to harm. Not after what had happened to Clark. Brainiac 5 would put himself at risk first before that would happen again. But all the same, he had every reason to be suspicious of Grell's offer of a truce with no obvious benefit to the other patient.

"Why shouldn't I think you'd try to kill me or anyone else anyway?" he asked, not even bothering to mask the suspicion deeply ingrained in his voice. "If you really think I can't stop you, why don't you just do what you like?"

Ah, the tried and true reaction to religion. Grell found it so impressive that mortals were given that choice; the gift of free will. While the death gods enjoyed a great deal more free will than most creatures under God's employ, they were still bound by the rules and regulations of their kind. Rules and regulations that some people simply took too seriously. Grell would never understand why he received such beatings at Will's hands over the tiniest of infractions. Was it really necessary to go so far as to step on his head when he broke one or two tiny little rules?

Grell sighed and shrugged, leaning back in his chair to twirl a strand of hair around his finger again. "I suppose I could kill you or anyone I pleased here given the right conditions." Like a motive, a means, and amnesty after the fact. Grell knew that he could get away with the Jack the Ripper killings since it wasn't entirely him who had been plunging the knife at the time. He'd killed and helped her kill, but he'd been very careful not to leave much evidence of his personal involvement. Not that it mattered since he'd been caught after the last one, but in the end he'd escaped with a probation and a harsh sentence. Soon enough he'd return to work. Hopefully.

"But~" Grell continued, lilting his voice a smidge higher as he gave Brainy a smile. "While you personally can't stop me, dear, I still have the rules of the death gods to follow. Only kill those on the List, only take those whose time has come, et cetera, et cetera, boring boring. The entire manual is terribly long and I leave the small details to Will to fuss about, but the jist of it all is this: I had my experiment and it failed. I see no reason to repeat it when I know it shan't do a thing to get me out of here. And unless one of your little friends decides to annoy me enough to garner my anger, I'm perfectly content in letting you live in peace. Isn't that nice?"

"Experiment?" Brainiac 5 repeated, anger colouring his voice before he could stop himself. He knew part of it was just Grell explaining his, albeit twisted, motives, but another part was likely the older patient trying to get a rise out of him. It wasn't something he wanted to give Grell right now, not when angering the supposed death god again might equally end up with him deciding to take it out on Brainiac 5's roommate instead. Grell didn't even need to know much about who Peter was or their friendship, he'd likely target him just because they shared a room.

With some difficulty he calmed himself down, relaxing his posture a little more as well. "Very well," he said eventually. "I suppose if you're not going to attempt anything else like that, then I can agree to avoid further interaction with you."

Part of it was also because it was difficult to think of ways he could stop Grell, given the situation. Yes, he could try alerting others or possibly getting a group together to stop the patient. But the nurses made communication more difficult now and when they were already locked up, it was hard to think of how to contain someone like Grell. Brainiac 5 already knew he didn't have it in himself to kill him either, even if he did consider it a valid option now.

He sighed and met Grell's eyes again. "Is that all you wanted to say to me? Or are you going to try some other way bothering me instead?"

That got a rise out of him. Grell halfway expected the little robot to start screaming or throwing a fit about how killing his hero was an experiment. But following his initial outburst, the boy settled and Grell was left feeling wholly unfulfilled. How disappointing. Even if Grell had come to bury the hatchet in some way or another, he always liked a bit of action and seeing Brainiac 5 decide to take the higher road was a terrible let down.

Grell shrugged and pulled the strand of hair around his finger closer to his face for inspection. He was getting split ends. Ugh.

"I can't say I won't ever because that is a very long time, but I can say that I've moved on. Unless that darling waffle knight decides to annoy me again, I have no reason to kill anyone right now. No upcoming deaths that I can feel. It's..." Grell let his hair fall from his fingertips and dropped his hand over the arm of the chair. As for all that he wanted to say? Yes, he supposed that was it. He'd really only wanted to come and see what Brainy's reaction to "Rebecca" would be and to get the boy and his lackeys off his back. As long as Grell was going to be at the Institute, he'd have to play nice. Killing people didn't seem to get any special attention and until his two newest darlings decided to start rolling heads down the hallways, he'd have to remain bored out of his mind. "...boring. Is this what time feels like to all of you? How do you deal with it? There's nothing to do. No one dying. It's just...nothing. Ugh."

It was difficult not to stare at Grell with that revelation. Boredom, because no one was dying? He wasn't sure exactly how to take that news, though it did explain a lot about the other patient.

"There are other things to do in life," he pointed out cautiously. "Even if you are a death god, there's got to be other things that you do."

He wasn't even certain why he was bothering with trying to continue the conversation. Grell had already made his point and tried to get a rise out of him, so Brainiac 5 could have easily taken the opportunity to leave. But it wasn't time for the shift to end yet, and there was the chance of learning something useful here. Not to mention he hated the idea of running from Grell, even if it was just in the form of finding someplace else to sit.

"Certainly there are other things we do," Grell said, waving a hand dismissively in circles as he tried to think of what else he did other than work. Investigations into why souls were being stolen, looking into this or that about mysterious deaths in the area, reaping souls, sometimes he went shopping or read books or flirted with William and got kicked in the face, but none of that was anything he could do here. He usually spent his days working. His off hours sleeping and resting up for all the energy he expended in doing his job. "...somewhere."

Wow, was that really his life? He was always so busy and he enjoyed his work so much that he never really stopped to think about what else he would do if he wasn't a death god. If he wasn't reaping souls and stalking down his next clients, Grell...wasn't sure what he was doing or what he would like to be doing. It wasn't as if people would suddenly stop dying long enough for any of them to get some sort of hobby. Their immortal lives revolved around being busy and at work and not exactly popping out to the theatre for a night of entertainment. Even when he had been with the Madam, his life revolved around work - of a different nature, certainly, but it had still been work. Playing the part of a butler, driving her around, taking care of her affairs, keeping her alibis airtight and helping her secure her next victims had been very busy work; especially when the Phantomhive brat had gotten involved. Now he was left doing nothing most of the time, and it...bothered him.

Grell realized he'd suddenly gone very quiet and he let out a petulant huff, sinking down in his chair. "And? What do you do when not working away at...whatever it is you do?"

Brainiac 5 realised about the same time that he was watching Grell was a curious feeling of... empathy? He didn't feel sorry for the death god by any means, but he was all too familiar with realising that he didn't do much beyond work constantly. All the same, he quickly looked away and frowned at nothing in particular.

"I'm a member of the Legion of Super Heroes," he said after a moment. It wouldn't really be telling Grell anything too sensitive to answer his question, after all, and there wasn't any advantage from keeping the information to himself.

"I handle the scientific needs of the Legion, as well as information gathering, engineering, and a few other general areas. When I first joined the Legion, my pattern was... decidedly similar. I worked a majority of the time when I wasn't active in the field or tending to basic physical needs." Which considering he hadn't been organic, most of his physical requirements had been almost negligible, freeing up more time for work.

"But the Legion were..." A faint hint of amusement crept into his voice without him realising. "...pretty insistent that I try and change that as much as possible. We'd have movie nights semi-regularly, parties on occasion, and other things. I took to using the simchambers for some personal relaxation as well."

That would certainly explain Brainy's goody-two-shoes routine. A legion of super heroes, hm? They probably went about saving people from things like him, causing wars in the name of good, stopping wars for the same reason, blowing up the bad guys and generally causing a ruckus. But they were powerful and did the things no one else wanted to do or could do, so they were lauded for it.

Brainy's answer also explained his unbending penchant for scientific proof. People always turned a bit odd being stuck indoors all day. It was why Grell preferred field work - or, at least, one of the reasons why. Unlike Brainy, however, Grell liked to work all the time. Certainly, he liked taking it easy when he was back at the office, but when it came to work? He devoted himself entirely to the job. The thrill of the hunt, the beauty hidden beneath pain, the voyeuristic joy in seeing someone's Record played out before his eyes were all experiences he could not live without. It was an addiction of the worst kind. It was something God had ingrained into his kind, and into him with unusual potency.

But Grell listened carefully to what Brainy had to say and as that hint of amusement crept into his voice, a smile began to play on Grell's lips. So that was his family, was it? They pulled him out of his little robotic shell and helped him grow closer to his human goal. A charade, certainly, but a good one. "I see. Aren't you lucky? All of us are too busy to take nights off. Everyone dies sometime, and someone is dying all the time. Tis why I am so terribly bored here. I like my work. It's no fun without it."

Edited 2010-07-15 03:30 (UTC)

Grell's words reminded him who he was talking to and, more importantly, what the man had done just in their relatively short stay here. It also reminded him that, while on one level he could empathise with someone unfamiliar with having a life outside of work, Grell's 'work' was apparently killing people and he enjoyed it. He was complaining because he couldn't be out and about murdering people for whatever reason.

"I guess you'll have to find a new hobby," Brainiac 5 answered without thinking. "Something that doesn't involve hurting others."

Baiting the self-proclaimed death god wasn't really the wised choice of moves, but in his defence, Brainiac 5 wasn't sure if that would really count as baiting. All the same, it was possibly best to quickly shift the conversation topic elsewhere.

"Besides, I thought you said you were human now? That you had a heart?"

Grell made a face at Brainy's suggestion and sunk further into his chair, folding his arms over his chest. What a horrid idea! A hobby that didn't involve killing someone? Well, he supposed he could read a bit more, but where was the fun in reading a play if he couldn't then see it in the theatre? Where was the fun in relaxing if he didn't have work to break it up? It was the first time Grell was actually pining for work to do and not just to see his supervisor's pretty face. It was a new sensation and Grell didn't entirely like it.

"It simply means I need to be more creative," he huffed before throwing his arms up into the air and flopping back into the chair with a little more leisure. He never realized how fidgety he became when he had nothing to do.

At least Brainy provided a worthy distraction. Even if his words didn't do much other than annoy the death god right now, Grell needed that annoyance or he'd go back to being phenomenally bored. "I am not. I have a heart, yes, and it's--" Ugh. "--beating, but that doesn't make me human. Despite current setbacks, I am still a death god."

So much for the (admittedly very distant) hope that Grell would decide to do something other than hurting other people in his boredom. It seemed like the man was determined to insist that there wasn't any way for him enjoy himself if he wasn't hurting someone else, and that Brainiac 5 himself could either stand aside or make himself a target again. Neither of which were options he wanted to consider, for obvious reasons.

Which left trying to think of some other method to work around this situation, and the first step there was to try and learn more about the other man.

"So what makes a..." It was difficult to say the words without lacing them with heavy sarcasm, but he managed. "...death god a death god? I remember you cl- saying that you don't normally have a heart-" Which reminded him of Luxord as well. "-and are immortal, but what else is there?"

A topic change, was it? Well, Grell could go with that. It only frustrated him more to think of what he wanted to be doing and couldn't, so changing tactics and talking about what he used to do would be something like a trip down nostalgia lane. That was supposed to be pleasant, wasn't it? He didn't often reminisce since it seemed so silly when he was always so busy killing this man or reaping that woman's soul, or stalking down someone or another. He did like to think back on some of the more interesting reapings though. The particularly interesting Records that caught his attention were never forgotten. Some people had such dark and dirty pasts while they lived their lives pretending to be saints - so very interesting.

"We have them," Grell said, waving off the question like smoke in the air. "They just don't beat. A death god stands in the interim between God's Kingdom of angels and Him, and the realm of Man. We're closer to mortals in that we need sleep and food, but closer to gods in that we can't die naturally, we're rarely seen on the mortal plane, and none of this breathing or heartbeat nonsense."

The god smirked as he turned his gaze away from the rest of the room and settled it on Brainy. The boy was grasping at the foreign concept of deities. This was a good start. Science certainly had a very important place in the world - medicine, surgeries, research, that whole...Enlightenment thing - but it was hollow without a sense of faith to back it. The world would be so flat if there were no wonder left in it.

"We keep to the veil between God and Man, watching for when the soul is reaching the end of its journey. When the time is right, we read a man's Record, judge his soul and reap it - killling him. It is our job to break the string that ties a mortal life to the world of the living and send it off to Heaven, Hell or Purgatory." And how he loved that job. Grell sighed and let his eyes wander away again, amused at how much he seemed to be talking for once. He supposed there was no harm in telling Brainy all these things. It wasn't like it was classified information or anything - more like Death God 101. "I do miss reading a person's Record. They reveal such interesting things, things that a man might wish to hide, but cannot. God sees everything and it is our job to judge what He has seen."

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Day 50: Patient Library (3rd Shift)

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Wow, Grell, you're not allowed to make me feel bad for you.

don't worry, he'll be bitchy again and you can go back to hating him :D

He'll always have that one shining moment of empathy though. T__T

and the robot's empathy core grew three sizes?

so late I don't even DX

it's okay o/ I'm slow as idek what