[from here]

Also, if Landel was as alphabetical as he was diabolical, this room would have at least one file he could cross- reference. He was. It did. S.T. yanked open the drawer marked Qu-Rh and pulled out his own file. He didn't bother reading it. Plenty of time for that in a well-lit room.

"Jackpot," he muttered. There weren't enough files here to cover all the people who'd been here. So either it was random, or it was just the current residents. "If you know anyone who's been taken for the studies, grab them first."

He knew a lot of people who'd been tortured and kicked out. Or killed, which was effectively the same. He started opening drawers at random. The Scarecrow's file might be in here, if it wasn't across the hall. Or if he found one not in the notes, he could find the real name from the fake. Child's play. He hadn't done any real intel gathering since he'd arrived. This was almost relaxing.

[From here.]

The room felt abandoned when Harvey first entered, but that was the way it had felt the last time he'd been here too. In other words, he wasn't going to let his guard down so easily. He scanned his flashlight over the front desk and at the doors lining the walls, figuring that one of them had to lead into the file room that Sangamon was looking for.

So far the coast was clear, so the faster they got to where they were going the better. He tilted his head at Sangamon as he stepped in after him, gesturing to the doors. "Know which one to check?" He knew the ones on the sides would just lead into those rooms where they saw the visitors, which he didn't want to think too hard on. His short talk with Bruce was a memory that he tried to shove to the back of his mind as much as he could.

[From here.]

Even though Harvey knew that it would make more sense to wait until he'd run into someone else who he could question about what he'd missed, that didn't stop his mind from speculating even further. His own situation -- why he'd slept so long, how much had gone on while he'd been unconscious -- was obviously his largest concern, but now he was also directing some of his attention to what he remembered of Landel's announcement.

Turning into monsters. It had seemed like some sort of analogy before, but now that he was more awake Harvey had to consider the possibility that it was completely literal. He had no idea if he was experiencing any symptoms, but he also didn't know what he would need to look out for.

With everything else that was going on, that was really the least of his concerns at the moment. If he started vomiting blood or breaking out into sweats, he'd start to worry. But seeing how he'd been in his room this whole time, he doubted that he'd caught whatever might be going around the institute.

That was one consolation, at least. And now he was almost at the main hall, so he'd get to see if he was somehow the only patient left or if he was just overreacting.

[To here.]

[From here.]

It was only after Harvey had made his way down the first hall and moved into the next one that he realized he still had bandages covering his face. It was wrong that he was getting used to the feeling of the gauze smothering his wounds, but he had no choice when the nurses kept constant watch on him during the day. He'd been too disoriented upon waking up to rip them off the way he usually did in his room.

That wasn't about to stop him now, though. After rearranging some of the items in his hands, he pulled the bandages off with the same amount of roughness -- something that he paid for when some of the dried blood and flesh came with them.

He let out a groan of pain, but that only lasted for a split second before he let the trail of bandages fall to the floor. Seeing how he'd slept so long, it made sense that the gauze had clung to his wounds more than normal.

At least that was taken care of now. With a grunt, Harvey sent a glance around the empty hallway and then exited out through the door.

[To here.]

The image of Zex dying, choking on his own blood in the middle of a field on a planet that apparently wasn't his home or even close to it -- that was what floated through Harvey's mind as he finally woke up. The deaths were just piling up at this point. First was Rachel, and in that case he hadn't even been able to see her face before it was blown to bits. That had started this whole long road that had turned him into someone else entirely. Then it had been Jones, and while his death had been reversed, that didn't undo what Harvey had been put through when he'd watched the man struggle under his own collapsing chest. Zex he'd barely even known, but watching someone torn to shreds was bound to have an effect.

A bullet to the head was so much cleaner, and so much easier to bear when Harvey knew it was deserved. Landel would deserve that. Aguilar would too. Harvey wouldn't mind watching either of those men draw their last breaths.

Oddly enough, Landel's words almost seemed to echo his own thoughts as he woke from what felt like it had been a deep sleep. People turning into monsters -- it seemed like a metaphor to Harvey's groggy mind, and one that he could relate to well enough these days. But as he came to and realized he was in a dark room, he knew that something was wrong.

He sat up suddenly, wincing at the pinpricks of pain in his neck and shoulders. The dragonflies that they'd encountered last night were responsible for those. Or had it been last night? It was night now, after all, when it should have been morning. Harvey felt like he had slept too long, but just how long was that? He had no sense of time, which was almost enough to send him into a panic.

As he got to his feet, Harvey realized that Lunge was still sleeping and couldn't be roused, which meant he couldn't expect answers there. He went and tried the door, just to make sure that it was in fact night, and nodded to himself when the knob turned without a fuss. He obviously hadn't made any plans if he'd slept through the whole day and maybe more than that, which meant the only way he was getting to the bottom of this was if he went searching for familiar faces.

Jones, Peter, and the others had probably made plans to go to the basement tonight, and even if they hadn't one of them was likely to be hanging around in the main hall. Harvey didn't have much choice but to grab his flashlight, radio, metal pipe, and gun, and then head out the door, like he always did.

[To here.]

[From here]

Loki kept his pace purposeful as he entered the hallway, retracing steps he'd taken each of the nights before with confidence. Now he was more willing to not bother pausing, trusting his keen hearing to pick up any potential problems.

He remembered the way to the medical wing precisely, and the process would be much faster without having to play dumb for the benefit of mortals.

[To here]

[from here]

Taura took up station midway between the two halls leading back into the dormitories. Alone with her thoughts; the hall was quiet. Too quiet. Dead quiet, a little voice hissed in the back of her mind.

This was no time to be getting superstitious. It was unavoidable, really, in a profession with so much risk involved in daily operations, that those who survived found things to credit. Beyond their own skill, because they'd all seen better men/women/herms when their luck ran out, and skill only improved your odds.

Her luck was holding, tonight. Was Rita and Goku's?

[Rita and Goku]

[From here]

As Hijikata stepped out into the cold night air, the radio in his sleeve came to life. He frowned, pausing to pull it out of his sleeve to better hear the conversation.

Unfortunately, while he recognized the names from his conversations with Souji, the actual message meant nothing to him. These people were still trying to come to their aid? Why wasn't there more than these occasional messages? With a grumble of annoyance, he shoved the device back in his sleeve. There wasn't anything he could do with that information, anyway. Instead, he turned his attention to the Greenhouse itself.

The building looked significantly less inviting at night than it did in the light of day, full of shadowy shapes and strange reflections. He checked the yard surrounding it before approaching the building itself, peering inside for any movement.

[To here.]

[From here]

Hijikata turned off the main hall and into darkness, forcing him to pull out his flashlight and switch it on. There was no one around, it seemed, just a dark, quiet stretch of hallway. Down at the end was the door he needed, but before he started towards it, he dropped the butt of the cigarette he'd been smoking and lit another. He didn't want to go through his supplies too fast, but limiting himself to one a night just wasn't going to happen.

Nicotine fix obtained, he set off down the hallway towards the door that lead outside.

[To here.]

As strange as it was to hear the Head Doctor directly talk about the military after keeping quiet about it for so long, Claude guessed it made sense. It wasn't like it was some big secret anymore.  He had to wonder what he'd meant about meeting with other captives for an appointment, though.  Night had just started, so it wasn't like his mother had already reached the coliseum doors, and he didn't have any way to know for a fact that they'd reach the coliseum before night ended. Unless he could see into the future, anyway, but Claude doubted he had those kinds of powers.

Maybe that meant Landel was going to be too busy to watch any death matches tonight.  He could only hope.

With the doors unlocked, though, he had to focus on meeting up with Guy and Anise.  After shrugging on his Federation jacket and putting on his trusty hard hat, Claude grabbed his sword, wished Firo luck, and headed out into the hallway.

((To here.))

[from here]

Anise made sure she had her chin up as she reached the hall just outside her friends' block. Maybe the others already had an idea of how she felt, from seeing the morning's bulletin conversations. It was hard to say if that meant they ought to talk about it, or if there was nothing that needed to be said.

In any case, this was probably a good spot to wait at. Anise walked until she was across from the entrance to the M-B block and stood aside by the wall there. She heard voices from the surrounding hallways, which meant several other patients were out and about. It probably wouldn't be long before her friends showed up.

As she waited, Anise set her weapon down for a moment, its heavy, flat top letting it sit upright on the ground. With her free hand, she idly tugged at a few out-of-place strands of hair, trying to keep her mind from wandering too far towards anything too distressing.

[Guy and Claude!]

[from here]

Still nothing out of the ordinary here. Soma kept jogging, keeping her eyes peeled for any movement in the shadows ahead.


[to here]

[from here]

"It really isn't far to the hallway upstairs."

Lust could see the door to the stairwell now, at the edge of the light from their torch. She looked to Scar again.

"What do you think we'll find?" she asked, hoping to steer the conversation to something that wouldn't result in them ramming heads like mountain sheep. And she was somewhat concerned over what was in this room. Things that were supposed to be theirs, but...what did that mean?

And how much would it really tell them?

[from here]

"I know you didn't believe at least half of what I told you at breakfast."

And she supposed that was being a bit generous. But why should he have believed her? She really couldn't blame him. This place was full of half-truths and illusions as it was.

"But I hope you at least verified what I told you. I have no reason to lie to you, Scar. What purpose would lying to you about this place possibly serve me?"

If nothing else, she figured an appeal to logic might have more impact on him. She really didn't have any reason to lie to him. Not about the Institute. And for goodness sake, it wasn't as though she could carry on a lie. All he needed do was ask someone else!

[From here.]

By now, Guy had perfected the art of getting ready quickly as night arrived, and so he wasn't too shocked that he was the first patient out in the hall. The silence was something that might have bothered him in the past, but he knew there wasn't much to be scared of in this part of the building.

Granted, that sort of thinking would just result in him getting jumped by a monster if only to prove him wrong, which was why he didn't let his guard down completely. At least he could take comfort in the fact that most of the low-level monsters here would be simple to deal with now that he had a proper sword.

Monsters were honestly the least of his worries. Right now, he was mainly thinking about Ilia -- about Claude's mother -- and the trouble she was about to get herself into. There was a chance that they would have to head up to the morgue tomorrow night, if the absolute worst case scenario happened.

There wasn't much he could do until Claude arrived, though, and so Guy just kept an eye on that hallway, waiting for that familiar face to show itself.

[Waiting for Claude!]

[from here]

The main hall was dead quiet as Soma rounded the corner. The last few nights, this place had been bustling with fellow patients; the sudden calm was very nearly unnerving.

Still, she tried to put it out of her mind. Marie didn't sense anything out of the ordinary--yet.

[to here]

Like clockwork, the intercom came on at the end of the hour. And like clockwork, the Head Doctor began the first of his concluding daytime announcements with abnormal levels of cheer and good will.

"Good evening, everyone! What a fun-filled day we've had, hm? You must all be tuckered out and ready for bed."

Why, the man seemed unwilling to say.

"Never fear. We're nearing the end." He paused thoughtfully. "The main course of our dinner menu tonight is gourmet spaghetti topped with our signature marinara sauce. We have garlic bread and Caesar salad for your sides as well as your choice of vanilla, strawberry, or chocolate ice cream for dessert. As usual, we will have our assortment of drinks and vegetarian alternatives. If you're partial to that little extra omph, we have parmesian cheese available upon request."

There was another pause, this time with papers rustling in the background. "Take care not to stain your letters now. Bon appétit!"

The intercom clicked off.

While Harvey never really enjoyed having to babysit one of the newer patients, he had to admit that Barnaby had been pretty easy to deal with. He'd been composed, quiet, and focused, which was a lot better than some of the other patients who only gave confused looks or had over-the-top reactions to everything they heard.

The point was, that conversation had almost been enjoyable, which was strange for Harvey to admit. He didn't know how Barnaby was going to manage in this place in the long run, but he wouldn't be surprised if he found his feet eventually and then did decently well for himself. It wasn't Harvey's job to care either way, but the close quarters they were kept in meant he'd probably end up finding out anyway.

Unfortunately, a positive note could only last for so long. As usual, it was a nurse who ruined it by insisting that he should go to the greenhouse for the last shift of the day. "Mr. Eckhart, it's not cold in there, so it shouldn't be any strain on you. It might be nice to help something grow, don't you think?"

He didn't dignify any of that with a response and instead resigned himself to his fate. He was one of the first people to make it into the muggy greenhouse, and he realized that he wasn't a fan of being cold or being hot. He fanned the air in front of his face for a few seconds and then went to find somewhere to sit down.

All the plants were lined up in pots; it almost felt like they were staring at him, waiting for him to do something about it. Well, that wasn't gonna happen.

[For Peter Parker.]

This free choice thing wasn't all that bad, he had to admit. Harvey had managed to get out of the mandatory time spent outside the previous shift, and now he could keep that up. He'd never had a problem with being outdoors until after his accident, but seeing how he had open burn wounds to deal with, he honestly didn't find it that unreasonable. The fact of the matter was that even if he was good at hiding it (sometimes, anyway), he was almost always in pain. In this place he often had other injuries added on top of his permanent ones, so even small things tended to irritate him. Like the sun beating down on him or the cold making his skin sting. Even loud noises were generally a no-go.

Which was why he was pretty sure that the library was going to be a common place for him to go whenever he was given the option like this. It was sort of boring to go to the same place day in and day out, but maybe he'd try for the Game Room some time. Even Arts and Crafts wasn't so bad, so long as no one got glitter near him or expected him to participate.

Nothing beat the library, though. It was usually quiet -- he guessed that this whole thing about the youth of today not wanting to read actually had some truth to it -- and being surrounded by books was soothing somehow.

Not to mention he was the first one in here today. His nurse was keeping an eye on him as usual, but Harvey sat down with his sack lunch, figuring that he should get his food eaten first and foremost. He'd gotten a decent amount of his breakfast down this morning, which had stimulated his appetite. He was genuinely hungry, and so he took out the grilled cheese sandwich first, ripping it into pieces to make it easier to eat.

[For Barnaby.]

Even if he hadn't eaten much, the time to himself had helped improve Barnaby's overall state of mind. Despite the grueling insomnia that had plagued him before his arrival, he felt remarkably well rested now. Maybe he didn't agree with all of this Landel's Institute's methods, but there was no denying that he was much more stable than before.

Of course, he hadn't managed to shake the knot of unease tightening in the pit of his stomach, nor the restlessness that seized him when he thought of all of the recent revelations concerning Ouroboros, as well as his own recollections of that Christmas Eve nearly 21 years ago. Ill or not, he didn't have time to sit in a hospital right now. He needed to talk to Mr. Maverick.

Studying his bare wrist, Barnaby inwardly sighed as he stepped out of the cafeteria. Though his knee-jerk reaction earlier this morning had been to assume that someone from Apollon would get in touch with him shortly, he realized that he may not be in any state to continue with his hero work. The fact that the doctors had deemed it necessary to confiscate his PDA said more than anyone here was willing to tell him to his face.

That didn't mean they had a right to take his cell phone, though. Unfortunately, when he asked about it, his nurse thought otherwise.

"Like I said, Mr. Banks, this program doesn't allow for outside contact with friends and family except under specific circumstances," she reminded him.

"Brooks," he flatly stated.

The nurse blinked. "Excuse me?"

"My name isn't Banks," he corrected her. "It's Brooks -- Barnaby Brooks Jr." The nurse glanced down at her clipboard and nodded in understanding.

"Of course it is, dear," she said in a tone that conveyed that she was just humoring him. Barnaby's fingers curled into a fist at his side, but otherwise his face remained remarkably composed.

"I understand if you feel the need to downplay my presence due to my occupation," he spoke in slow, measured words, "but you'll have to excuse me if I find your methods extreme and, quite frankly, unnecessary." Combined with the Head Doctor's poor excuse for an announcement a few moments ago, their conversation just made Barnaby conclude that this facility was being run a bunch of incompetent morons. Barnaby had no intention of causing a scene, but he wasn't going to just roll over and let the staff treat him like a child, either.

"That said, I'd like to look at the paperwork that was signed the day I was committed here," he stated, his shoulders squared as he look his nurse right in the eye. "I should know what my rights are."

"I'm afraid I don't have the authority to do that."

"Then put me in touch with the person who does."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, either."

Frustration welled up inside Barnaby, and he took a small breath. He couldn't wait to get in touch with his attorney later. "Then what, exactly, can you do?"

The nurse smiled. "Take you to the recreational field, of course. The other male patients are there now. Wouldn't you like to make some friends?"

Barnaby folded his arms, his cool gaze falling onto a bulletin board located along the wall. "Actually, I'd rather stay in the sun room and read what's over there, if you don't mind." He didn't catch the flicker of disappointment on the nurse's face, though he wouldn't have cared much even if he had. As long as he wasn't hurting anyone or himself, they didn't have the authority to dictate how he spent every second of his time.

"We do allow patients to stay here during activity shifts, so I suppose you can do that," she said, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Barnaby nodded. "All right, then." With that, he made his way over to the bulletin and began to peruse through the notes. Perhaps he'd learn a little more about this place and how some of the other patients could even stand being here.

[For Renamon!]