Day 51: Breakfast

[thatdamnedninja.livejournal.com]

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

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[ofyulia.livejournal.com]

According to Luke, no time had passed for him as well. More and more, the chances of tampered memories being a concrete possibility seemed plausible, the fact coming as both concern and relief. The latter in that her condition wasn't to blame for her failure to recall. The former in that those responsible for their current plight had the ability to manipulate memory at will. It meant she and Luke could have stayed in Landel's Institute multiple times without knowledge of their previous stay. It also meant all of their memories were up for change at the whim of this Dr. Landel. No one with an attachment to their mind would be okay with these circumstances.

Furthermore, with the "transformation" put upon Mieu, they also had the power to adjust the physical makeup of a living creature. How wasn't a necessary question; Tear understood that if replications can be made in her world, adjustments were more than possible in others. The why, however... She would have thought Mieu's cheagle attributes would have attracted more attention than placing him in human form. It simply didn't make sense. Much like how Van's initial actions failed to hold sense.

Suddenly, Tear felt the familiar prickling of a growing headache, and a hand slid to her forehead as if to stave it off. "This is unbelievable..." she muttered. Not Luke's words--her promise was still intact. Just the entire situation was a mix of the familiar and the completely bizarre. "Has anyone else appeared?" Then disappeared. She had a feeling the list of people would grow given his earlier statements, but it wouldn't hurt to check for certain.

His account regarding the brainwashing proved more stable than the last, but it was no less severe. With it came several noteworthy details, which Tear was carefully to take and stow away for future reference. First, the institute consisted of at least three floors, the last of which was inaccessible except for such occasions. Second, the brainwashed (or in Luke's case) were set to patrol an area and send patients back to their rooms by use of force. One of the stranger reasons for guarding, but this wasn't the time to question the motives.

Finally, there was guilt evident in Luke's voice, despite the fact he was not actively blaming himself. He felt bad for whatever happened, and this settled uncomfortably in Tear's mind. Her brother might have manipulated Luke into destroying Akzeriuth, but Luke had also willingly done so. In this case, he couldn't control his actions; he was acting accordingly to a set of conditions forced upon him without his consent. Of course, he shouldn't be happy about the fact, but something about it called for some assurance. Or clarification, given this was Tear.

"It sounds like whatever happened then," she started quietly, "was different from what happened in Akzeriuth. You know that, right?" You believe that. Right?