What a waste of a trip.

That was Anise's first thought as she was ushered onto one of the buses, taking a window seat along the left side. In the end, she hadn't been able to get any information besides rumors and conjecture. Among them, the only information worth considering was the doctor's suggestion of Doyleton being an extension of Landel's. Could it have really been a fake town? She hadn't had a chance to meet any of the townsfolk, or even see the insides of any of those buildings, so it was hard to say whether anything was off or not. Although the lack of a post office really was strange...

...Which made her realize. The blond man she met earlier on Main Street said he had heard there certainly was a post office, but there was no sign of it when she actually searched. No trace of the white-haired man he had told her about, either. As frustrating as it was, she had no choice but to acknowledge it now: he had deceived her.

He'll pay for that, she thought grudgingly.

Forcing away a sour expression that took hold of her face for just a brief moment, she started on the sandwich and milk (a natural choice for a growing girl) she had been given. Having spent the entire day running around town without stopping for lunch, she was admittedly pretty hungry.

When the bus had lurched to life, Okita was barely able to contain his scream of terror. He was lucky no one was sitting next to him or he would have died of embarrassment at his actions. Never having seen or even been in a modern transportation vehicle, he spent most of the trip curled up in his seat, gripping it like it was his only lifeline. The bus terrified him - the sounds it made and the way it jolted along the road. When it had become apparent that it wasn't going to explode, though, he'd relaxed enough to realize that unlike riding a horse, this metal monstrosity made him motion sick.

As soon as the thing stopped, Okita was off it, looking a little green. He remembered to take his sack breakfast and the coupon book, though, and quickly fled the area to find the closest place to hide. It ended up being a beautiful park with carefully sculpted lawns and what looked like play equipment. The fresh air did him some good and he quickly moved to the swings, setting the brown bag in his lap as he lazily moved to and fro on them.

He still had a lot to think about, he'd been able to supress most of his worst homocidal urges on the bus. Hijikata couldn't just disappear like that. Perhaps he'd been rescued earlier and would be somewhere in town today. All Okita had to do was get up the courage and start moving - no matter how difficult that seemed to be.

[from here]

Momo headed down what she suspected was the center street for the town. She noted the various businesses as she walked, as well as the increased staff presence, and kept to herself. If she was going to be wandering around lost in her own thoughts, she might as well get a feel for the town.

Maybe she'd make a map once she had a better idea.

[to Kelley Street]

Momo tugged on the collar of the light blue sweater she was wearing as she followed her nurse to wherever these buses were, winding her hair up into its customary bun as she went. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was about to go outside of the institute's borders. Maybe the Head Doctor was about to make an error and the shinigami, as well as everyone else, would no longer be limited and they could finish what they started several nights back.

That was probably too much to hope for. She was feeling better this morning, even with the blood moon, and was mildly looking forward to the bus ride. Captain Jack said he was going to be here this morning and even if it wasn't customary breakfast in the cafeteria, she's be satisfied with him sitting next to her on the bus.


The nurse handed her a muffin, some napkins, and a small box with a straw. She stared at this box for a moment before shaking it. From the sound it contained liquid. How odd... Momo wasn't sure why they would but liquid inside a small paper box - it didn't make any sense to her and she wasn't sure how one was supposed to get it out of the box.

Clambering onto an empty bus, Momo chose to sit in the very back near the emergency exit. Maybe she could force her way out of it as they were moving and escape the limiter enough to come back and level the institute, freeing everyone. Or maybe she just wanted to be able to see everyone that was on the same bus as her. Wishful thinking versus reality.

[from here]

This office seemed stuffy and professional. Probably not a lot of good stuff to be found, but Mason was determined to give it a shot.

He made his way over to the desk and started riffling through the drawers.

[from here]

Mason paused just inside the doorway. "How about you hop down and give Uncle Mason's back a rest?" he asked Lei as nicely as he could. He didn't want to disappoint the boy, but he wasn't in great shape, and every muscle in his body was starting to feel tired.

[from here]

Mason entered the office slowly. This one looked less personalized than the other one, but there were a few things scattered around that made it clear someone spent time in here.

He turned his head around as far as he could to the boy on his back. "Want to get down?" he asked around flashlight in his mouth.

[from here]

Mason tried to get a firmer grip on the torch in his mouth so he could see where he was going. Lei was beginning to sink down on his back, so he hiked the boy up a bit before stepping inside the office.

It was very sparsely furnished, with no obvious bottles labelled "DRUGS" lying around. This was a disappointment, but Mason was not to be discouraged.

[ Dragging himself in from here ]


With strained breath, Malik staggered in to the next hall, keeping his hand to the wall for support while wiping the blood from his lip with his other hand.

That goddamn bastard.

Retreating might not be the mostly manly thing to do, but he did what he had to. Malik was not much of a fighter, having spent most of his life training for other things. And for the time spent on the outside, he had always had his Item to protect him. Or to use to delegate tasks to others. Rarely had he engaged in any combat himself. Perhaps it was time to learn a thing or two about it.. certainly if he wanted to get the hell out of here, it would be necessary.

He spotted his flashlight that had slid across the floor into this corridor, and stumbled toward it. He picked it up and turned it off, plunging himself in darkness while he leaned heavily against the wall for a moment to rest.

Only his raspy breath and the mind numbing pain to keep him company.

[ Coming from here ]

This night wasn't quite shaping up the way Malik was expecting it to. Arguing with a little kid about which way to go in their little exploration adventure was not high on his list of things he needed to do right now. Maybe deep down inside, he was slightly grateful for the company (even if he were a little irritating), though he rather wondered whether the boy would follow him now.

He was beginning to miss Rishid more than ever. Where was he to be his stabilizing force? He even thought about Bakura, that infuriating bastard who spelled nothing but trouble...and yet could be oddly reliable sometimes.

With a sigh, he moved his flashlight around the hall, realizing that he was at a cross roads of sorts. Should he proceed down further or turn toward the left? This felt like a strange nightmarish video game.

[from here]

And there they were: the doors to the Sun Room!

But where was Allen?! Rhode stood at the doors, tapping her foot and looking around. There had been such a gathering here last time, so why wasn't anyone here now? Not that she cared for anyone past her favorite white haired exorcist, but she had still expected to at least find someone there!

She peered inside the open doors, not finding Allen through the darkness and rather doubting that he was in there (his glowing eye would have given away enough light for her to spot easily. Allen Walker out of sight, and no reason yet to go in search of the area above her, Rhode turned her back to the doors, folded her arms, and took to tapping her foot impatiently, waiting for him to show up. She'd give him... at least a few minutes before deciding to yell at him the next day for making her wait.

[from here]

Good, everything still looked familiar. Or as familiar as was possible in the darkness. Rhode still had yet to discover the joys that belonged to the flashlight nestled beneath her pillow, but her eyes were so accustomed to the darkness of her own dimensions that the hallways did not bother her. A little light would have been welcome, if only to flash against her golden eyes and scare away whomever had the misfortune to stumble onto her. She smiled at the thought of someone screaming as they ran away.

Only a little farther now.

[to here]

[from here]

The hallway was empty here as well. Just how much earlier had she headed out tonight? Probably not by much. The absence of others in the hallway barely bothered Rhode as did the presence of others. Her mind was usually so dead focused on getting somewhere or finding someone that she had never really paid attention to what other things happened around her.

A left at the next hallway and down a bit for the doors on the left. That should be right. She hoped the ghost woman's influence on her wasn't messing with her memory.

[to here]

The intercom gave its cheery jingle just before the Head Doctor's equally buoyant voice rang through the halls.

"Ah, and finally, our day is coming to a close! Rooms and roommates have been reassigned with care, though what great partnership can start without a good meal? Ah, yes, after the nurses escort all of our patients, new and old, back to their proper rooms, everyone will have the chance to enjoy a savory chicken pot pie, full of peas, carrots, potatoes, and of course, chicken. On the side, we'll have buttery corn on the cob and green beans, and to drink, you may choose from the regular slew of water, milk, or assorted juices, which your nurse will bring to you.

"I believe that's all for now! Phew, long day, huh? I know I'll be happy to get some sleep, and thank you to all our vigilant doctors and nurses, although Dr. House seems to have gone AWOL... Hmm... Well, in any case, have a good dinner, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began organizing the patients for the small trek back to their rooms.

[ OOC: Remember, room threads go in response to THIS post, and please put your respective room number in the subject line of your first post. Thanks! ]

Libraries, he'd found, were rarely as dull as people made them out to be.  Though he felt no magic in these tomes, they were still full of useful information.  Maybe some of them could tell him a little bit more about this world he'd landed himself in. 

For that matter, why hadn't he run into any of the others yet?  They'd all been fairly close together when they'd left Rekord, but he hadn't seen a trace of any of them.  He was able to communicate easily with the people here though, which led him to believe Mokona was within a mile or so.  Unless the ones running this little game had some other way to let all these other-worldly people communicate amongst themselves.  In which case, the others could be very far away indeed.

The library had that wonderful smell of old books, and Fai traced his fingers along the shelves, skimming titles and pulling books that struck his fancy.  Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz, The War of the Worlds, and with a smile, he found Bram Stoker's Dracula as well.  Raven had been telling the truth then, in spite of his own lies.  Ought to be a good start.  He sat leisurely at one of the tables and began flipping through his selections.

[waiting for Tamaki~]

Renji wasn't so certain what this grilled cheese thing was all about, but he liked the sound of some soup. Even if it was strange western soup, well... there wasn't anything bad people could do to soup, in his experience. His good mood was starting to fray at the edges, a little, from the strain of dealing with the Ichimaru issue, and even more from what had been on the bulletin board earlier.

He'd never had difficulty simply writing something before. But...

He shook his head as he entered the line. He didn't want to think about it. He wanted to hold on to the tenuous equilibrium he'd managed to find.

Renji got himself a large bowl of soup, water, and even one of those sandwiches, just to try it. Old habit, recently awakened, had him over to one side of the cafeteria, where the fewest people possible would have the chance to pass behind him. He sat there with his back toward the wall and started eating.

"Calvin, the whole reason we have scheduled mealtimes is so that our patients can eat!"

Keman marveled at how severe his short, plump nurse could look. She wasn't fooling anyone, of course, but it was an admirable effort. The dragon shrugged. "But I was talking. I forgot to eat." He'd long given up trying to insist that his name was Kemanorel, not Calvin Jacobs. It was just too much of a headache.

The nurse gave the napkin full of food that he had tried to smuggle out of the cafeteria a disapproving glance. "All right," she said heavily, and Keman rolled his eyes. Honestly. It was just food! "I'll let this go just this once. Now, I know you don't want to do Arts and Crafts, so just be a good boy and stay here in the Sun Room, all right?"

Thus free of his obnoxious watchdog, Keman found a couch and stretched out on it, grinning happily. It seemed like Valyn's hurts weren't going to be that lasting, and Max had taken the revelation of what he really was in stride. All in all, not a bad morning...even if he'd had better. He was still feeling a little drained from all the magic he had used last night, so maybe he'd be able to take a little nap.

After eating, of course.

The young dragon-turned-halfblood popped a strawberry into his mouth and closed his eyes. There really was quite a bit to be said about two-legger food. Especially the sweet things.

Day came too soon.

Sora hadn't been able to find Rena, had instead been forced to crumple onto the grass of the recreational field and bleed all over himself, and hadn't even accomplished what he'd been sent out to do. What he'd been entrusted to do. He didn't know how he was going to be able to face Renji and the others, but he also knew he wasn't going to hide from them, either. That would just be low, after all, and he was ready to face up to the consequences.

He didn't try to make excuses for himself. Even though there had been a Special Counseling patient, they had managed to take her down by sheer numbers. The fact that he hadn't seen any sign of Rena was what had him the most worried. He hoped he could find her today.

The boy laid in his bed for a good while that morning before his nurse finally came in to collect him. She clucked over the bandages wrapped tightly around his chest and leg, and asked him if he was okay to walk.

Once Sora assured her he was fine (he didn't really want to use crutches, as that would just attract attention to himself, and he didn't need others worrying over him), they made their way to the cafeteria. Sora yawned and winced against the bright light of morning - it seemed even earlier than usual, and he realized why when they entered the cafeteria and found it empty.

The boy shuffled over to grab a chocolate chip pancake, a bowl of cereal, and a glass of milk (good for the bones, or so his mom had always told him) before settling at a table. He kept an eye on the door, hoping he would see Rena walking in soon.

From here

Logan stepped into the hallway. He was sure that Parker would be fine by himself. There was no time to wait around, he had a rendezvous to keep. Moving swiftly, silently, he all but tore down the hallway.