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.

[M30]

So the doors really did unlock, huh? That was something. And look, he even got a convenient flashlight. Well wasn't that something.

It was only as Haine reached for the door that he realized he had no idea what room that idiot partner of his was in. He'd been too busy growling at Giovanni to think of asking anything useful. Then came dinner, and now there was some crap about monitoring the bulletin board. Haine hadn't even looked at a bulletin board all day, so whatever, as far as he was concerned. There was some weird shit going on here, though, that was for sure.

He was really beginning to think that this might not be the Underground, but what other explanation was there? He hadn't exactly spoken to anyone who'd disillusioned him of that thought, so he'd stick with it until he had a better explanation.

The back of his neck suddenly felt funny, and he put his hand back there...wait. How was it possible that the metal collar was suddenly there? He was sure it had been gone! He'd been losing his fucking mind about it earlier! He was sure he hadn't been hallucinating that...

Fuck this. He was going to find that worthless partner and figure shit out while the doors were still unlocked.

[going down to here]

After that fantastically successful conversation with Lelouch, Suzaku hadn't had much stomach for dinner either, and had fallen asleep before his roommate even got in. It was strange for him to need that amount of rest, but he was still wounded and it had been a long day after an even longer night, so Suzaku forgave himself just this once. Besides, he'd need all the energy he could get tonight, and he didn't want his injuries to slow them down.

The unfortunate corollary was that he was completely starving by the time the intercom woke him up, not having eaten at all that day. He didn't have time to sit around and finish a meal, however, and he still felt vaguely nauseous every time he remembered Lelouch's words. So he fished his flashlight and butcher knife out from under his pillow, retrieved his map from where it had been folded in his journal, and shoved a piece of steak in his mouth as he left. Not adequate at all, but it would have to do. He probably should have taken better care of himself when he was still injured and when people were counting on him (whether they wanted to count on him or not), but -- it seemed he'd never be able to master his emotions.

At least he should be able to figure out how to get into the women's block. They were all organized in the same way, after all. Too late, he realized he should have gotten Euphie's room number, just in case. Seemed he was as competent as ever today.

[to here]

The air was beginning to cool as the day drew on, but Allelujah was content to remain outside for the moment despite the chill. The sun was beginning to sink, although it was still bright and after Yukito left he stretched back out on the grass, closing his eyes and looking for all the world like he was going to sleep. Maybe he would. Even super soldiers couldn't last forever on stolen cat naps after dinner and whatever he could manage during the day. He yawned widely, glancing over towards the building for a moment before turning steadfastly away from it. Today he just didn't even want to look at the hated place.

He should start thinking of a plan for that night. Badou seemed like he might be occupied, although Allelujah could always ask to come along he supposed. Finding a more substantial weapon would be a good use of his time too. Perhaps he'd finally head upstairs to the fabled possessions room after failing to get there the other night.

He grimaced as he felt the pain flare in his hand as he leaned on it awkwardly.

Maybe something less dangerous would be an idea considering the bites and the still healing acid burns, although that was the trouble. What did you do in a place like this that wasn't dangerous?

[For Lockon]

[From here]

The streets were in total chaos, although Ed didn't really have much time to pay attention to it. He was rather more preoccupied with not getting eaten by the living dead! What was this supposed to be? They were rotting and disgusting and it was reminding him far too much of that bitch Dante. Was this what would have happened to her if the decay had continued and she hadn't switched bodies? He didn't understand why someone would even risk it considering how vile these things were.

Then again if it had already started, swapping bodies might not be such a bad idea to keep it from progressing and...

Why was he even considering things from her point of view? He slashed viciously as a zombie, decapitating it and sending the head flying off towards a wall. It's jaw was still working. Minus twenty points to the walking corpses for making him consider that Dante might have had a point under the circumstances. And for being generally disgusting and a pain in the arse.

They road ended just ahead and Ed swore loudly and profusely. The creatures just weren't thinning out and they seemed to be coming from every direction. There were no more shops now and why hadn't they found a better place to go to?

There was one building. It looked empty from what Ed could see, some kind of store or warehouse or whatever it was. And it wasn't already broken into or on fire which seemed to be happening to a few other buildings if the light glow from the centre of town was any indication. He reached for Adel's arm, grabbing him and giving him a light tug in that direction. "Come on, in there." They could hopefully barricade the door, or at least, run out a back entrance and stop the things following them!

[from here]

Being stuck in a small room with those monstrosities didn't seem the safest option. Being outside, with more space to see and move sounded far better. But when Klavier actually got outside, he suddenly thought maybe the small room didn't seem so bad.

THEY. WERE. EVERYWHERE. Crowded worse than LA during rush hour on even the worst of days. Rushing and moving like a writhing, anguished mass. So many. Where had they come from?! Stupid question. What were they?! Monsters, people... How could this-- AHHH!!!

He was frozen in place for a few moments before he realized staying in one spot wasn't the best idea. He frantically looked around. He needed to find somewhere safe! He needed to get out of here. Where was safe?! Somewhere high? Were all of the buildings infested? Maybe he could lock himself in somewhere and--

WAIT!! NO! What was he thinking?! What about everyone else? He couldn't just barricade himself somewhere safe and sit around while everyone else was ripped apart. And... KRISTOPH! Where was he?! Had he been swarmed, too?! He had to have been. But in this mess, he didn't even know where to begin looking for him. Or how long he would last searching. Maybe he would have to trust that his brother would find a safe place... No. He couldn't spend the entire night not even sure if he was safe or not. What if he needed help?

....Holy-- It looked like HE needed help!! "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Again he swung the lamp anytime any got too close, moving with his back toward the walls. Where to go?! Where to go?!

[from here]

The smell of old paper, leather and cardboard was oddly comforting. It had been too long since Ritsuka had been able to visit the patient library and since he was only able to check out one book, he usually had way too much time on his hand. Ritsuka was used to reading at least one or two books a day, so having just one for an entire week was almost painful.

As soon as he entered the store, however, he was keenly aware of the clerks at the back - the ones who likely would be guarding this shop. Even if he was just a kid by all appearances, he knew they'd likely keep an eye on him. He was still a patient, so how could they trust him, right?

Moving through the aisles, Ritsuka let his gaze wander the different titles lined up, or rather stacked and wedged into every single available place. The cramped quarters made it hard to get comfortable, but the presence of books alone was enough to put Ritsuka at ease. Reaching out, he traced a finger along the spines of the books, trying to figure out what sort of order they were in. So far it seemed they were divided into the normal sections, but the books were just piled everywhere.

Finally coming to rest on the non-fiction section, Ritsuka pulled out a book on the science of flight. He sat down and opened the book carefully so as not to break the spine, then started reading.

[for Rude]

Scourge felt he'd had a good day. Until the part where he had to open his eyes and get out of bed. The rest of it had been a gigantic trainwreck and not the kind where you grab some energon goodies and watch in amusement. Ugh. He almost hoped he met a monster tonight, albeit a very small and harmless one. He'd have something to take his anger out on and maybe bringing a piece back would make people stop thinking he was such a damned nutcase.

On the other hand, maybe he'd meet another inmate in the hallway, a vulnerable one who no one would miss. Maybe it would even be that human with an attitude like a virus-infected turbofox, putting a knife through his soft skin would go a long way towards improving Scourge's mood. It was something to look forward to.

The tracker ate his dinner slowly and in silence, waiting for Lord Recluse to show up with his new blade. No one had asked for his presence directly, and he felt comfortable leaving Team Blitznut to wander as they pleased while he went and found something useful. Recluse hadn't said Scourge had to give him everything he found, did he?

[Closed to Lord Recluse]

Just as von Karma started to enter the doorway leading to the Courtyard to look around for anyone remotely resembling his daughter, that pretentious lunatic's voice rang out over the Intercom, heralding the approach of lunch time. Right away, the damned nurse practically dragged him back into the cafeteria and towards the serving tables, telling him in that cloyingly cheerful tone that he could get his fresh air after he had had his meal. What rotten timing!

His mood worsened as he saw what was on those tables. "Nurse! This is the same greasy, disgusting, perfect-artery-ruining swill that was offered for lunch the last time I was in here! Does this Institute serve nothing else? How is any of this healthy for someone whom you claim has recently suffered from a stroke?!"

"Why, you're right, Mr. Fuchs! Here, I'll fix you a nice, big, healthy salad." Before he could protest that he wasn't hungry anyway, the smiling nurse loaded a heap of greens and some fruits onto a plate for him. Then she led him to one of the tables and seated him there. "Now, be a good man and finish all of that. You will do that just for me, won't you?"

The look he shot her in response indicated that he would never do anything "just for her." Certainly, not consuming this entire mountain of lettuce and carrots. As much as he approved of salads, the portion she served him was nothing short of ludicrous. Glaring at her in silence, he made no pretense of even starting in on this ridiculous travesty of a meal. Finally, she seemed to take the hint, excusing herself to attend to the other patients... but not without admonishing him that his "plate had better be clean" by the time she returned to take him to the Courtyard.

As she left him, von Karma looked all around him to see whether Franziska had come into the cafeteria yet. Unfortunately, as he had already arranged to meet his former roommate at this time, all he could do for now was to attempt to visually confirm her presence in this hellhole. As much as he hoped that the author of the replies to this S.T.'s note was nothing more than an impostor -- in which case, he would make that person pay for brazenly impersonating his daughter -- he was not entirely certain of that right now.

In the meantime, he had other practical matters to attend to. He still needed to speak to Javert to find out what had truly happened during the time he was unconscious. As he surreptitiously scanned the stream of arriving patients for the face of his daughter -- or those of his enemies -- he patiently awaited Javert's arrival, hoping that the man could still recognize him after all this time.

[Closed to Javert]

It had mainly been another waste of a day, but Itachi had learned some information about the outside area. He had been meaning to give it at least a cursory examination at some point, because while he needed to work on regaining his abilities before attempting anything else, he was not going to rely only on others for that sort of information. He had decided it would be worth at least one night's exploration before he could turn his attention to other matters.

The man he had spoken to earlier -- he should have gotten the name -- had described the area to the southeast, so Itachi decided to explore the more northern area himself for the night. He had heard there were usually enemies in the recreational field and courtyard, and while he would normally not care, he did not want to be slowed down before he even made it over the wall. Therefore, he would go over the wall of the greenhouse yard, which was not too tall and was a direct route to the area he wished to cover.

Map and utility knife in his left pocket, kunai in his right, and flashlight at hand, Itachi set off in the direction of the greenhouse.

[to here]

[M12]

There was this 'Avatar' again, the thing that supposedly linked one's consciousness within this video game. Klavier couldn't quite understand how such a thing could help anyone fight, but he was certain that this connection had something to do with how and why Endrance was taken. If this really wasn't something every player experienced, then there was little doubt others might find such a thing interesting, yes? He still wasn't sure how this all worked, but preserving this connection had to be the point of it all. At least in this particular case.

Any further discussion on this or the strange 'Kira' murders was cut short with the intercom announcement. If one could call it that. Herr Doktor's voice and demeanor changed come nightfall, true, but this was stranger than usual. In fact, he couldn't even be sure if it was the doctor. It was far too raspy to identify either way.

This was getting more bizarre with every evening. First taunting then what may or may not have been snoring... and now this strange dilapidated voice?

"Open the box?" he repeated. What could he possibly mean by that? ...Wait. Was this voice even addressing the patient population? It seemed too specific a thing to say to everyone. Could this be a message for Herr Doktor? Or was this a message for a specific party? Maybe someone had managed to do something recently...

Most days, fish and chips (and a cold beer or three) was pretty goddamned high on S.T.'s list of perfect expense-account lunches. Today, the idea of picking at greasy hunks of unidentified bottom-feeder odds-and-ends (politely known as scrod, to the delight of teenagers all across the Northeast) didn't appeal.

He begged off and collapsed into his bed, after using his damp shirt as an excuse to surreptiously check the contents of his closet. Bingo. His nurse watched his little show, unimpressed but (more importantly) unsuspicious. Not that his hairy chest was much of a catch today, pale and sweating from fever. At least she didn't tuck him in.

The intercom woke up up right on schedule, and pulling the sheets back over his head almost won. But a handful of unanswered missives and a vague sense of duty dragged him out to the bulletin, and from there it was easier to stagger over to the greenhouse.

It was warm inside -- a deep, humid warmth that actually penetrated to the aches in more joints and muscles than he could remember the names of. Like a sauna, without the hassle of finding someplace to look that wasn't a mound of pasty middle-management cellulite. Or a sweat lodge, without the opposite hassle of being conscious that he was the only white guy in the room. In fact, besides the nurses in holding patterns, he was the only person in the room.

He located a tray of tomato seedlings going rootbound in their tiny six-packs, and a potting bench whose location was a quick-and-dirty approximation of equidistantly far from anything blooming. He assured his nurse he knew what he was doing, and after a couple of successful repottings, gently sliding the little seedlings out and loosening the tangled roots, she seemed to agree and backed off. It was, by far, the most fucking theraputic thing he'd found in this hellhole so far, and he let himself sink into the rhythm of the task.

[Free!]

[from here]

Stepping into the sun room, Takasugi noted the room was completely barren except for himself. The sound of foot steps still reverberated from the corridor, growing dimmer the more Takasugi walked away from it. He moved with caution, well aware of what could be lurking in the shadows and feeling slightly vulnerable without his sword at his side. Should he be attacked, he only had his speed to rely on for escape, and he knew well enough not to trust the silence.

His eye skimmed over the rows of tables and chairs, remembering the various patients that had been scattered amongst them when he'd been here during the day. Aside from furniture, there was nothing left behind he could take with him nor were there any storage facilities to rummage through. It seemed futile to linger here too long.

Casting a final glance to make sure he wasn't being followed, he progressed towards the cafeteria, easing the door open and listening carefully for any breathing or rustling that could indicate other possible inhabitants.

[To here]

[from here]

Adel was right - this would be a good place to practice in. There was a good deal of open space - or would be, once he rearranged things a little - and in case anything did happen in the Sun Room, it would be easy enough to close this room off.

Akihiko quickly busied himself with moving most of the couches and chairs to the sides of the room while he waited for everyone else to arrive.

[from here]

He paused at hearing a noise in the hallway. Akihiko whipped his head around, searching for the source. "You're paranoid," he told himself quietly, when he didn't see it.

He shrugged again, noting the Sun Room door was partially open. He pushed the door open and stepped inside.

[to here]

As soon as the doors unlocked and night fell, Kira was up out of his bed and feeling around underneath it to take hold of his sword. When he stood, he paused and looked at the pillow; he recalled the night before when he'd failed to bring the pillowcase, and as such had caused difficulty for himself. He set down the blade and removed the pillowcase, then grabbed the necessities for the night and headed out.

He hadn't checked the bulletin board right before he'd gone back to the room, but he assumed it wouldn't be too difficult to find Hanatarou. Quietly, glancing both ways down the hall before actually leaving the room, Kira slipped into the darkness and made his way toward the exit.

((To here.))

[From here]

Belatedly, Yukari yawned in response to the doctor's own repose. She'd been awake for more than half the day; it was no surprise she was tired. Youkai were nocturnal, after all. But there were so many things to do, so many people to see, so many new and interesting phenomena.

Maybe she'd catch up on her sleep in a few weeks. Just sleep a month straight. Yeah, that sounded good.

Yawning again, Yukari headed onwards.

The Head Doctor seemed a little rushed as he spoke on the intercom, not taking as much pleasure as he usually did in describing the delicious food that would soon be served.

"Hello, everyone! Tonight is turkey night, which means turkey breast in a great turkey gravy with some nice turkey sides: peas, herb potatoes, a small garden salad, and for dessert, a slice of pumpkin pie. We of course have vegetarian substitutes available, as well as our usual assortment of drinks.

"...I believe that's it! I'll talk to you soon!"

The intercom clicked off abruptly.

[ If you are introducing your character during this shift, you may either choose for them character to wake up before their roommate gets back, or after.

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! ]

Lunch had been fruitful. Celes had chosen not to eat, but that was fine enough for her; she’d eaten plenty at breakfast and it was not very good manners to eat while discussing war (for Celes, it’d always given her a bit of a stomachache), or plotting. Especially if one was in mixed company. Her nurse escorted her to the Music room, citing that her ‘sister’ had suggested that musical therapy would be good for her. Celes rolled her eyes. This was no music room, with their ‘electronic’ instruments; where were the violas and the harpsichords and phonographs? She’d been past this room before, but had never been interested enough to go into it.

The general sat down at the keyboard, staring at the odd device before prodding the buttons with a nail. On, off, rumba, tango, Caribbean (what in the world was ‘Caribbean?’), little numbers that changed the tone. It was the first time Celes wished that there was a real instrument before her, instead of this ridiculous thing. Still, it didn’t stop her from curiously stringing notes together with one hand, and the only song she could bring to mind was the Aria di Mezzo Carattere.

How dreadfully delightful.

[for Adel~]

Finally! The doors had unlocked, and Blitzwing could go. Tonight would lack the frustrations that made the night before such an irritating exercise in futility, not least because he'd have nothing to do with the traitor at all. He also had a slightly better idea of where he was going, at least for this first stretch of the journey: it was with no hesitation at all that he set out to the rendezvous point he'd set earlier that day with Lugnut. From there they would go to the kitchens, where Blitzwing would attempt to arm himself...And after that? Well, they'd see what the night held.

[to here]