Day 52: Game Room

[full-score.livejournal.com]

Lunch had taken his mind from his worries, if only for a few minutes. But after the intercom sounded and the nurses began leading patients onto the next activity, one look at the bulletin board brought everything back in full force. No replies from Ashton, Dias or Dad. By now Claude felt like he was practically counting down until the end of the day, when he was going to have to finally grapple with the real possibility that most of his friends from before Landel's, as well as his own father, had fallen victim to the institute.

And now he was going to have to deal with his mother being here on top of that. It didn't seem like a coincidence that she'd show up right when his father's whereabouts were so up in the air. But what did it mean? Why couldn't Landel leave his family out of this?

Normally, the announcement about new video games would have made him perk up, but his eyebrows only knit together with concern as his nurse led him into the game room. That didn't seem to stop her from trying to get him to unwind, though.

"Oh, come now, Thomas, you've worn that expression for most of the day!" she told him with a frown. "Why don't you have a bit of fun now that your eyes are all better? I'm sure you could use it."

The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of his "sleep studies", he darkly thought to himself. But before he could protest, his nurse had sat him down in front of one of the television screens. There was an old gaming console, one Claude had never seen before, and he glanced at her with a confused expression. "Go on," she encouraged as she placed one of the controllers in his hands. "I know how much you enjoy these kinds of things. Someone will come play with you soon, too, I'm sure. Doesn't that sound nice?"

He didn't have time to answer her, because she'd soon bustled off to tend to some of the other patients. Claude watched her leave with a sigh. He realized the daytime staff meant well, which made knowing what they turned into at night even worse to think about. But now he was just being negative for the sake of it, wasn't he?

Taking in a small breath, he reached over to the console and turned it on. As long as he was waiting for some kind of answer from the bulletin, there probably wasn't much he could do except pass the time. Claude watched the title screen appear on the television, his expression growing more curious in spite of himself. Super Mario Bros....

[For Prussia!]

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[repelling.livejournal.com]

Hearing it said so matter-of-factly by Sora-san, both the anomaly in time and that his fri--those with whom he'd worked before had been prisoners, made doubt impossible. Not that Uryuu had been much disposed toward it; to say that he instinctively trusted the other boy would be erroneous, but something about him nonetheless made it difficult for Uryuu to distrust him. They were completely different, yet it was reminiscent of--

It little mattered. He nodded at the simple, yet impossible explanation. The past few months of his life had prepared him well for that which couldn't be possible. Even if they hadn't, to deny it would be foolish; more than that, pointless. Sora-san had apparently known Kuchiki-san and Abarai well and long enough to befriend them. Strange, yet only a single grain in the mountain of the inexplicable that was Landel's Institute.

To assume that because Sora-san had not known Inoue-san or Sado-kun meant they had not been here was tempting, but unwise. Yet, if they had been, it couldn't have been while Sora-san knew Kurosaki and the others. The bulletin it would have to be. "I'll do that. How long has it been since Kurosaki, Kuchiki-san, and Abarai were here? For how long were they here?"

A beat, and necessary as it was, even managing to look at Sora-san directly: "Ah... thanks for the information."

His tension subsided for the moment. Uryuu reached to adjust his glasses, letting out a long breath. "What a pain that guy is... now I'll have to rescue Kurosaki before leaving." And the rest of them. Perhaps he'd even look for the other shinigami. It would be worth it, just to see the look on Kurosaki's face. Provided he could reach him through whatever trick of the mind Landel had put him through.

"I don't suppose," he then began, flattening his hand again on the table, "you know by what names the staff called them?"

[lighthearted]

While it was hard to keep track of all the questions that Ishida was asking him, Sora didn't hold that against the other patient. If their positions had been switched, Sora would have been doing the same thing. It was just that he had been here for so long that he was usually able to keep track of when his friends came and went; luckily, both Riku and Kairi had stuck around for longer than expected after their return, and he could only hope that that would continue.

"Ichigo has been gone for the longest," he started. "It's probably been for at least three weeks. For Renji and Rukia, it's more like two." It felt like longer than that, if only because so much could happen in the space of just one cycle of night and day in this place. "They were all probably around for at least a couple of weeks." Sora hadn't been keeping track back then because he'd been hoping that they would never disappear, but that had clearly been the wrong assumption to make.

It seemed like, just judging from Ishida's next comment, he was more focused on Ichigo than anyone else. Sora wondered if they had been friends, but it was hard to tell. Still, he couldn't help nodding out of empathy. "Yeah, I've got a few people I need to save, too." Donald was currently at the top of that list, but there were so many others. Sora sometimes still wondered if someday, he would find Nowe again.

As for the last question, it was something that really caused him to have to strain his brain trying to think back. "The only one I can remember is Renji's," he admitted after a fairly long pause. "It was Kyle. Kyle... something." Had he ever known the last name? He wasn't sure. But those fake names had never been as important as the real ones, which made him wonder why Ishida wanted to know. To ask the nurses about, maybe?

[repelling.livejournal.com]

However limited the information, Uryuu listened with avid attention. He was least certain of the importance of the time, outside of the obvious -- the more time had passed, the less other patients would know or remember, with a two to three week retention rate. Fewer patients would remain who knew anything at all. Kyle something? Sora-san had been helpful; Uryuu wouldn't think ill of him for this single disappointment.

Unaware that his question was a point of curiosity, Uryuu made no attempt to explain. It seemed obvious to him. If the staff called them by fake names, then their files would be organized by those names. Especially if a patient had been "released" under that name, whatever "released" really meant.

"I expect the club has that, then, as one of its goals?" He asked, shifting gears, back to both the subject of saving those "released", and to the club. With this new burden, the thought of exploring in the night threatened to reek of pointless tedium. Uryuu knew better. Too little of the mystery of this place had been unraveled thus far. Not that he could completely resist the taste of urgency, could completely deny the frustration of this bound to drag imprisonment, when in his world, the situation was what it was. Even if it hadn't been. Landel having some device to tamper with time did not guarantee that the patients would have success with it.

"In the long-term, of course. Either way, I'll join in tonight." The benefits outweighed the drawbacks. Perhaps the so-called club had maps he could copy.

[lighthearted]

When Sora was suddenly put on the spot, he fumbled for a moment before trying to find some sort of suitable answer. "Well, it's kind of hard to know how to help the people who've been taken until we either get out or stop Mr. Landel, but..." That was one of his goals, of course. It was just one that was harder to define in that he didn't know how to work at it now.

But Donald was out there, along with who knew who many other people. Sora wanted to save them all, once he could figure out the best way to do that. For now, he was stuck waiting for them to visit him (or someone else), with no real way of getting a hold of them on his own. Which was frustrating, but Sora tried to tell himself that at least Donald was safe.

He was glad that Ishida clarified his question in the end, because it really was a long-term goal. Sora did end up smiling to himself at the thought of seeing people like Ichigo and Rukia again. He wasn't sure if Renji was gone for good or not, so he tried not to think about that.

"Thanks for helping!" he said sincerely as he grinned at the other boy. "I'm going to put the assignments up on the bulletin as soon as possible, so keep an eye out, okay? I look forward to working with you, and I hope that you like the club well enough to stay." That was about all he could hope for, really. If Ishida had been friends with all of those shinigami, then Sora was almost certain that he was a good person; Sora hoped that he would stick around, so they could get to know each other better.

[repelling.livejournal.com]

The running thread continued: the available information was insufficient. Even if he were to choose to dismiss Sora-san, he could not imagine that every single other patient, that the previous leaders of the club had all been inept. What it provoked in him was disbelieving frustration that so little had been ascertained in Sora-san's month in the institute. Would he also have to spend days that became weeks, and weeks months, in order to scrape out the tiniest parcels of useful information?

Uryuu was no stranger to having to remain patient during long waits with no end in sight; it had been years before a shinigami appeared. He struggled with the initial swell of dissatisfaction, managing to keep it (almost completely) from his face. With Sora-san's grin, the effort disappeared, having to refocus to keep him from looking too discombobulated. After a month, that the guy could have a smile so wide and so genuine. Definitely reminiscent of--

"There's no need to thank me," Uryuu once more reached to adjust his glasses. "I'll benefit from it as well." A beat, during which his hand (again) fell, and he had to look at Sora-san without the motion as a barrier. "As for whether it will last, only time can tell."

Somehow, it didn't sound exactly as he'd wanted it to; or, perhaps, throwing out the cool, distancing words in answer to that sincerity left him on edge. To cover, he pushed back the chair, intending to stand. "Then, I think we're done here." He looked, without quite meaning to, over to the televisions and gaming consoles. Back to Sora-san, inclining his head. "I'll look for your posting."

[lighthearted]

It was kind of hard to hear such harsh words from someone he'd only just met, but Sora also knew that Ishida had a point. They barely knew each other, which meant that the Quincy was only going to trust him and continue to work with him if Sora proved himself. He had done so much in his past -- he'd saved entire worlds -- and now it was hard enough just to make a club seem appealing enough that people would stay in it.

But he was going to give it his best, and that would hopefully shine through to anyone who was watching. "I won't let you down," he said as he stood from his seat along with the other patient. He didn't miss where Ishida's gaze flicked to for a moment, although it was hard to know if he was looking at the video games with disdain or longing.

Sora knew where he stood on the matter, but the intercom had already gone off and so he clearly wasn't going to have any time to play. There would be other opportunities, but it was still a little disappointing. "All right," he agreed as he waved to the other boy. "Good luck tonight." Which whatever he ended up doing; Sora realized that was up to him.

So, with that, he headed off to meet a nurse who looked like she was in a good enough mood to let him spend some time at the bulletin to write up that post. Here came the moment of truth!