"And I believe it's time to start wrapping up the day," was what the Head Doctor said after the intercom's initial jingle. "Now that everyone's all cleaned up, I think it's time for some... that's right, dinner!

"Tonight, we're serving some scrumptuous rotisserie herb chicken, seasoned with rosemary, lemon juice, and other delicious seasonings. On the side, we have cooked asparagus with bits of grilled onion, as well as small roasted potatoes with garlic and butter; for dessert, we'll be serving vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on top. Our normal assorted drinks and specialized diet alternatives are available.

"Some of you might find that you have new roommates since your old ones were fortunate enough to recover and leave us. Hopefully, you'll be able to see them again the next time we have visitors if you wish, but in the meantime please treat your new bunkmates kindly.

"I believe that's all for now. I hope you had a wonderful day and that you have a delicious dinner! ...Well, you'll definitely be having a delicious dinner, but there's nothing surprising about that, is there? Hahaha..."

With a seemingly good-natured chuckle, the Head Doctor turned off his mic.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. Find your character's room assignments here.

All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you! ]

Kurogane was very much not the creative type, so naturally the nurse didn't care for his protests of having an "Arts and Crafts" time and forced him into the room.

"Maybe making something will get you out of that foul mood, Mr. Cross," she encouraged with a smile.

"Kurogane!" he corrected angrily, but the woman had already left, "Che."

Looking around the room made Kurogane even less interested in doing anything but sitting and waiting for the next change. So he picked out a spot in the corner and did just that.

[for the magician]

Kio had been having quite a time with Kunzait. He couln't really believe that one of his childhood characters was here. Well... characters. Some guy with a lot of time on his hands and cosplay. That was all there was to it. He had hoped, as people filed into the Sun Room, that he would glimpse Soubi. No luck.

Perhaps it was better to just accept that his friend was gone. Soubi was in Goura, with Ritsuka. Well, sort of. If the bulletin note was anything to go by, Kio had a handful of pranksters on his hands. He could understand it if this were an appropriate time for jokes and such, but it wasn't. However, should that boy prove to indeed be Ritsuka, then Kio had someone from home. He'd hoped that the identity of the other person would be revealed, but other than minor scathing remarks between 'Ritsuka' and the other, nothing Kio could say was Soubi or not.

If anything, it just annoyed the man. When the nurse came to take him away, Kio went silently. He did not remark on how 'Mr Akatsuki' was being friendly already and how that was a great improvement. If anything, Kio was not himself. But he had to try. Grabbing a tray with enough meat and vegetables, he frowned at it.

"No sushi?". The nurse just smiled. No sushi. Sighing, he moved to a centre table and sat down, picking at his salad. He was a bit hungry. But more than anything, he was despondent. He missed Soubi. He wanted all this to prove to be one giant nightmare.

[Sou-chan! <3]

[From here.]

The silence in the stairwell was slightly eerie, and Roy tried to catch snippets of conversations from either above or below them as he went step by step.

"Now I have to try and remember where I left off," he said to both himself and Hughes with a small smile, doing his best to lighten the mood. He had made some steady progress with searching the second floor's locked doors, but it had been a while since he had gone on this particular "mission."

Still, he trusted in his memory. He would know where he needed to go once he was seeing it with his own eyes again.

[from here]

There was no one in the hallway at all when the two reached the second floor. No sign at all of anyone, which struck him as strange since usually there were at least voices or light from other patients’ torches.

Siegfried did not want to linger in the hallway, not when it would put he and Xelloss at risk of being attacked.

“Stay close by,” he said, looking back over his shoulder at the dark-haired man.

Qui-Gon worked fast. At least someone around here knew how to be efficient.

Sanzo didn't bother sleeping after dinner, instead opting to change, and quickly.

That task itself wasn't an easy one. Nothing was, when you'd just been gutted the night before. Getting the arm warmers on made his stomach somersault, as each little motion jostled his shoulder. Pulling his arms through the robe sleeves sent lances of pain down his torso, but he just grit his teeth, and went for the other arm. It took some doing, but he soon had the sash tied around his waist, the breastplate settled against his chest.

The Smith & Wesson had been cleaned, reloaded, and tucked into his robes. Enough ammo and cigarettes to last the night. There was just one more thing he had to take care of.

He knelt, and reached under the bed, carefully drawing out the bonesaw. It wasn't as good as Goku's Nyoibo, but the monkey would have to make do. It was better than being weaponless.

[from here]

The patient corridor widened out as it hit the Main Hall. Patients were already moving about, his senses told him, but he was unable to identify who they were. Qui-Gon moved on in the darkness.

[to here]

[From here]

He moved as quickly as his leg would allow him to, taking the pain for what it was and letting it flow through him and out of him. Qui-Gon knew how to get to the Main Hall from here and didn't anticipate any trouble.

[to here]

Nny was beginning to suspect that he wasn't dreaming. Interestingly enough, it wasn't the length of his stay that was starting to convince him. It was his goddamn headache. You didn't get headaches in dreams, you just didn't. Not unless you'd been drinking the night before, which he hadn't experienced in, well, a really long time (and that was it's own sort of hell). He had to be awake to feel this shitty.

He didn't even go into town with the rest of the patients. He got off the bus, stood around for a few minutes, said "fuck this", turned around, and ran back into one of the other buses. Luckily for him, the nurses had been understanding once he brought up how he felt. They even refrained from bugging him while he desperately tried to wish his existence away. He spent most of the day with his head glued to the back of the seat in front of him, not quite aware, but refusing to fall back asleep.

All in all, his day had gone from okay, to completely horrid.

[Renamon, I think?]

Wally woke as the intercom crackled to life and was surprised to find himself back in his room. The last thing he'd remembered was feeling relieved at finally beating off those dragonfly-lizard things. There'd been that weird intercom message, then... he wasn't quite sure what had happened after that, but he was certain it hadn't involved falling asleep. He'd be half-wondering if he'd dreamed the whole thing if it hadn't been for the nagging ache on his back and ankle from where he'd been bitten. A quick check revealed they'd been bandaged, apparently while he'd slept. He wondered if he had Kal to thank for that. Maybe he'd get the chance to ask later.

He jumped as the door swung open to admit the familiar face of the nurse who'd woken him yesterday. "Up already, are we?" she said cheerfully as she busied herself pulling out clothes. A blue shirt and a pair of jeans were passed to him. Wally blinked, he hadn't been here long, but he'd gotten the impression that the grey-and-smiley-face combo was standard.

"Does this mean I'm being released?" he asked, hope creeping into his voice.

The nurse turned back to him, pity etched on her features. "I'm afraid not, dear." She smiled brightly as she continued, "but today's when all the patients get a special field trip into town! Won't that be a treat!"

Wally stared at the clothes, his mind working away. He'd been trying to get into town and to a phone last night before he'd been attacked. But if they were going in today, this might be the perfect chance for him to contact the Justice League. He smiled warmly and thanked the nurse as she left to allow him to change, then happily allowed himself to be led to one of the buses, picking a seat about halfway down and sliding in to look out the window. It seemed like today was going to be brighter than yesterday, at least in the area of possible phone calls and rescues. About the only dark patch he could see was that the contents of his paper-bag breakfast were going to be nowhere near enough to fill the yawning pit that had taken the place of his stomach, and even that was tolerable when he was positive he wasn't going to be here much longer.

"And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me, and you see a blur around you fly, but it takes too long, it seems so slow to me..." he sung absently.

[Oh Captain, my Captain~]

Wolfram had debated slowly as to whether or not he should go out for the night. He was still really worn out from the night before, Aidou was busy, he had no idea where anyone else was that he should be looking for, and quite honestly... staying in and sleeping was more than a little tempting. But his mind was troubled, and he felt a bit restless at the same time. Maybe he could just explore the patient room hallways, see if he could figure something out from there.

Stepping out into the hallway, he carried nothing but his flashlight. The bat and his other possessions were kept inside, since he had no plans of going out too far.

It wasn't long before he found himself moving down what was becoming a familiar hallway.

[To here.]

[from here]

This was a bit more like it. Definitely a different outside area than she'd been earlier. It looked a bit like a football field, but why a hospital would have one of those... Although, why a hospital would be staffed by cats was an equally good question, but New New York had those, didn't it?

The beam of her flashlight didn't go very far, so Rose moved deeper into the field, looking around for some form of life, alien or otherwise.

[From Here]

Passing through the open doorway, he flashed his light around to make certain that there was nothing potentially dangerous lurking in the hallway. It seemed clear as far as his eyes could tell, so he hurried on. Well, he hurried as much as an old man like himself with things to do would hurry. There was no point in running, as he would save such activities for if he was being chased.

He hoped that Yuuri would be alright making it to the Recreational Field by himself. The youth seemed good-hearted even if a little absentminded. The boy would be fine, he told himself.

[To Here]

[from here]

It felt weird entering this particular men's block without going to see Hitsugaya. It felt even weirder heading to Mustang's room. Since Kimbley's death was posted on the board and what some of the others had said about him, Momo wasn't so sure anymore about what the alchemist had told her about the colonel. Maybe he wasn't as ruthless as Kimbley made him out to be.

maybe she was just looking for something to keep her mind on other than how much she just wanted to burn her way out of this gigai and destroy this place. Not that she could feel even a thread of Tobiume at all. And then there's that shinigami that no one knew that seems to know some of the others. She could feel her presence, as well as Hantarou's, but she also needed to think of other things.

Like getting the key back to Mustang.

[to here]

Yuffie bounced all the way through collecting her lunch, all the way to a good seat- one with a nice view of the whole cafeteria, which was something she'd been missing out on during the past day or so that she'd been stuck in the Institute- and hell, she even bounced into her seat.

A good mood? No, really?

Despite the occasional blip, talking to Sagara had been awesome. He was a fun guy; he wasn't a prude, didn't have a stick shoved so far up his ass it was poking out his eyeballs, and he'd actually had a conversation with her. One that hadn't revolved around doom, gloom or how much life sucked. If she could find other people like that and keep in touch with Sagara, maybe there was a little hope for this place.

After a quick gulp of pink lemonade, Yuffie settled to munching through her food and keeping an eye on the door.

[Waiting for Dean, I think? :x]

[starting off in M13]

The last part of the night was little more than a blur in Homura's mind. The men had rushed in, but not joined them, instead staying off to themselves. Before any of them had a chance to react, however, a voice sounded through the air, mocking some other person Homura had never heard of, and the patients themselves.

To Homura, whoever that man was, he sounded a great deal like a god.

But before he could ask questions, the demi-god found himself no longer in the chapel, but some strange room on a bed. Is that what Kenren had meant from his earlier warning? Homura sat up, glad at least that the world didn't spin when he did so. Then the same man from before began to speak again, with a completely different tone. It was confusing to hear him talk that way, calling them patients instead of prisoners as he had before. Homura listened quietly as the announcement was made, then got out of bed.

Maybe he wouldn't have to go anywhere yet. It wasn't like Homura knew where to go anyway, and that meant he had time. If this was his room, and if he had been here as long as Kenren had said, there was a chance he could find something with answers. The Taisho had even told him that Homura had seen Rinrei. Certainly he would've written something down, made a map, something that could let him find her again! He started with the desk at the end of his bed, first finding a small stack of notebooks. Picking up the first, he flipped through, turning the pages with quickening desperation as he found each one to be blank.

[from here]

The air inside the chemical supply room smelled like latex and rubbing alcohol, and despite the movement of the door being shoved open, it hung uncomfortably still.  The beam of Mello's flashlight moved over a wall of bright yellow cabinets and into the dark corners of the room as he searched for movement or unexpected shapes.  Nothing.  He moved in.

The cabinets weren't locked and he pulled them open quickly, favoring the doors with the most warnings.  Mello drew his breath in quiet awe at the crisp white labels on containers lined up on the shelves.

Nitric acid.  Fantastic.  He grabbed the jar and placed it in his pillowcase.  Hydrochloric acid.  Sulphuric acid.  Potassium Nitrate.  Sodium Hydroxide.  This place was a gold mine.  He scanned the labels as quickly as possible, knowing that a room this useful couldn't be safe.

He held the flashlight between his chin and his shoulder, taking care to keep the jars in his pillowcase from bumping against each other as he continued to fill the bag.

[from here]

The first sweep of his flashlight's beam revealed six beds covered by crisp white linens.  Although he knew that the room's purpose must have been dark, there was nothing sinister about the space itself.  A desk in the corner held a computer identical to the ones he'd seen in the library, but Mello didn't waste any time trying to boot this one.  He had a lock to pick, and rooms seemed more likely to contain threats than hallways.

Without pause, he walked across the room and kneeled in front of the door that would lead to the chemical storage room.  It took a bit of jostling to work the dented scissors blade into the knob, but he reminded himself that this was the last door between himself and his second destination.

So far, so good

[to here]

[from here]

This time, the doorway opened not into another hallway but into a small room.  Mello stood up and surveyed the space in front of him, but aside from a tarp-covered table and a locker, there was nothing to be noted.

When he stepped around the table to the locker and pulled it open, he found several identical jumpsuits, shirts, and pairs of pants.  He rubbed the jumpsuit fabric between his fingers: Tyvek, as suspected.  What kind of experiments would require technicians to wear something like this instead of a conventional lab jacket?

Maybe the next room would answer that question.  He slammed the locker shut and tested the knob of the right-hand doorway.  It wasn't locked, and the door opened into yet another dark space.

[to here]

[from here]

When the tumblers fell, Mello turned the knob and shoved the door open into the next hallway.  It wasn't hard to understand how someone could get lost in a place like this, and he was glad he'd seen a map.  Each hallway looked the same as the one before it: clinical and clean and creepy as hell.

He crouched by the door to his left and jammed the blade into the knob.  Now that he had a feel for picking the institute's locks, he expected this one to open with ease.

[to here]