Peter woke up suddenly, his body twisting in the bed and then forcing him to catch his breath in pain. Pain, which was coming from his middle because of the thing that had scratched him last night, and after that...

After that, Zach had jumped in front of him like some kind of martyr, like the exact opposite of everything Sylar stood for, to take the next hit for him. It got pretty fuzzy after that, so night must have ended right around then.

The man let out a pained grunt as he straightened himself up in bed. For some reason, he got the feeling that he'd slept in. There was no way for him to really tell without a window in the room, but he just knew. The fact that Sam's bed looked long since vacated was another clue.

Sam, but was he Sam again? Had the brainwashing worn off, as he and Roland had hoped, or was he going to have to go through this nightmare for even longer? He didn't know how long he could handle "Zach" and "Harrison" before he started going batty himself.

Pulling himself out of bed, Peter lifted his shirt and saw that he was tightly bandaged. The scratch most likely wasn't nearly as bad as the bite that "Zach" had received, but it still smarted. He let his shirt fall and then had to deal with a nurse chiding him for sleeping through the morning announcements. Not that Peter really cared at the moment. He was too busy thinking about last night and the fact that in a way, he now owed something to Sylar. Except it hadn't been Sylar. That was something he was sure of now.

Lost in his thoughts, Peter reached the Sun Room right as the rest of the patient populace was trickling in from breakfast. Sighing to himself, he headed over to the bulletin board and then saw a note written in familiar yet unpleasant handwriting. Holding his pen in a vice grip, Peter scribbled out a reply and then stalked over to an armchair and fell into it with a huff.

While Sylar was maddeningly frustrating, there was one good thing about the fact that he was himself again. It meant that Nathan was too.

[For Spock!]

Mori woke with a start. He lay on the bed for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and sighed quietly. Another day, another round of shifts and people and-- Wait a minute. Breathing in carefully, Mori's brow knit together as he realized that his ribs were no longer broken. After testing his collarbone, he found that it, too, was healing faster than it should have. Not that he was complaining, but there was something odd about broken bones setting so quickly. Pushing himself up out of bed, the teen shook his head, knowing that he'd have another day or two of the sling and then he'd be free from it.

But more important than that was finding out how Mitsukuni was doing. The last thing he remembered was the bathroom and gathering metal. Since they were together at the end of the night, Mori was certain that Mitsukuni would be fine, but...well, he still liked to confirm such things with his own eyes. With the twins gone and Tamaki still missing, Mori didn't want to take any chances anymore. Especially not with the strange announcements this morning.

As usual, his nurse came to collect him and helped him into his sling. Then he followed her quietly into the cafeteria, taking notice of the unusually empty bulletin board. They really were cracking down on it already. Weird. Even weirder? For once, he was the first into the room. Picking up a tray, he pointed out what he wanted, making sure to take double of the pancakes (asking to keep them away from the sausages for now), double of the strawberry jam and biscuits, and an extra helping of fruit. To top it off? Milk. It'd help his bones mend. Hopefully.

Going to a nearby seat, Mori took a look around the empty room and shivered. Kind of eerie in here without anyone else but the nurses. Someone was certain to come sooner or later though, right? He hoped so at least.

[for Chihaya]

When the intercom's jingle sounded, there seemed to be some kind of tapping in the background noise, like letters being punched into a keyboard. It stopped and the Head Doctor chuckled.

"Hello, everyone! I'm actually taking a break from paperwork for once – everyone needs some recreational time, you know! – and of course, now we can all look forward to a scrumptious dinner from our cooks. Tonight, herb-seasoned grilled salmon is on the menu, served with buttery mashed potatoes and asparagus. All our regular drinks and vegetarian options are available, and for dessert, we will be serving yellow cake with a whipped cream icing.

"...Well! I can hardly wait to get my own dinner after saying all that. Good bye for now, everyone, and enjoy your delicious food!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. (Find all of the newly changed room assignments and shift introductions here.) 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. ]

Matt had to bite his tongue hard to keep from insisting he would be perfectly comfortable in the library, really, and could he please stop being led around like freaking cattle? As the nurse drew him into the empty Sun Room, the answer to that seemed to be a resounding 'No'.

Great.

He was given the usual talk of 'be nice', 'maybe someone will come back and you'll have someone to talk to' and the strangely sincere 'we're getting a few books in braille, they just haven't arrived yet'. He was sure he believed that one, but it would be nice to not be singled out for a change.

Reminded him of grammar school actually.

What a coincidence, he hadn't been fond of grammar school either. Settling back on the seat he'd found himself in, the Daredevil closed his eyes and debated on the merits of a nap as he listened to the occasional person stop by and scribble something down before leaving. A message board or something? He'd have to ask someone about that.

(Free to any and all!)

Tonight, Tamaki was determined not to get called away from his clinic duties! Or any of his other duties, for that matter! Not even the bombshell drop of running into Elena - older and with no memory of him - could sway him this evening.

The young blond set out the supplies, frowning thoughtfully as he worked. That didn't mean he wasn't going to think about what had happened. On the contrary, it was nearly all he could think about.

He just didn't know what to do about it.

Tempting as it was to just lay down and sleep the night away, pretend that it really was a hospital, that th door was locked and outside were just night-staff checking to make sure that patients were safe during the darkness hours, he couldn't quite bring himself to give up to such an extent, not yet. So once he heard the Head Doctor's announcement, he forced himself to get up and pull his things out from beneath the mattress.

He frowned for a moment, before pulling out his journal and scribbling a note to Ken in it.

In M43, don't worry.

Yohji

Because like hell was he going to give Ken a chance to think the worse. Yohji was much better at taking care of others than he was at taking care of himself.

He nodded to Leon and grabbed the plate with the slice of tonight's dessert on it, before slipping out into the corridor. Schuldig's room was just a few rooms down, thankfully, and he paused outside it, knocking lightly on the door, well aware that he would have a roommate too, and not certain what to expect. He'd seen the telepath out on the field today, looking just as broken as Yohji felt.

"Schuldig?"

Momo was both relieved and disappointed to discover that she would not be receiving another visit from Aizen this week. She was happy that she would not have to go through another bout of doubting herself and getting answers she didn't understand to the questions she had. She was sad, though, that she wouldn't get to see him again, just to feel that comforting presence he has. She had accepted that he was doing very evil things and that she'd unknowingly helped him, but... he was still her captain. He was still Aizen-sama.

Since she wasn't to have a visitor, her nurse gave the option of the vice captain choosing what room to spend the next shift in. Given her injuries, the nurse suggested she stay in the Sun Room, but Momo declined. Now that she had time, she wanted to draw... to create something, especially since she had taken the Noah's life the previous night. Her nurse acquiesced and lead the shinigami to the room.

Momo was moving slowly because of her torso, but also so she could adjust to the new blind spot on her left. She was fairly sure she was doing well enough since neither Fai nor Hanatarou had noticed. Granted Fai hadn't been feeling well himself, but Hanatarou was of the 4th; he should have noticed. Then again, the other shinigami had barely looked at her their entire meal. Maybe she could continue to hide her handicap. The last thing she needed was whomever was planning retaliation upon her for Rhode's death (most likely the other Noah) to learn that she was half-blind.

The shinigami was disappointed to discover that not only did they not have a canvas and easel for her to properly paint on, but they only had finger paints, claiming the brushes were too dangerous... that she could accidentally poke an eye out. Had she the energy, she would have considered smacking the nurse for the bad joke. There was a large white board with various colored markers that she could use, though. It made little sense - markers were okay but a paint brush wasn't? Maybe she'd just make her own brush by cutting off a small piece of her hair and tying it to the end of a pen.

An idea quickly thwarted by the plastic scissors. Sure, if she worked at it she could cut her hair with them, but it's take too long and probably draw the attention of the nurse since there was no one else in the room. Sighing, the shinigami set the finger paints down on the table with some larger pieces of cardboard, next to her journal. Maybe she'd...

Her attention returned to the white board. Picking up a yellow marker, she uncapped it and stared at the board for a long moment before she started to sketch, not quite sure what she wanted to draw.

[Hokuto]

Miku hurried away from her new friends (and kitten) to the cafeteria. For some reason she was just terribly ravenous. Her nurse smiled, relieved that her patient had finally chose to eat something and wouldn't continue that backslide into poor health. She loaded the girl's plate with French toast and fruit, dusted the bread in powdered sugar and a bit of cherries in red-red syrup and sent the girl to sit.

"There we are, Alice, a nice healthy meal," she cooed, and patted Miku's head. Miku sighed, but carefully cut into her meal and started eating, keeping her eye out for Sousuke.

They had been so close! Celes woke, furious with their inability to accomplish their mission. She hid her suddenly pilfered sword away with her other clothing, in the closet. When her nurse bustled in moments after she’d finished (thank all the Triad for that), Celes was more than willing to let the woman chitter away like an overgrown squirrel while the General dressed.

“Oh, won’t you be so very happy, Nancy,” the woman chirped. Celes raised an eyebrow and let herself be dragged along to the Chapel. “I won’t tell you why, it’s a surprise, you see. But, I’ll be you’ll be pleased as punch!” She left the General to herself after Celes seemed no more willing to help bolster the conversation. With an irritated sigh, Celes took a seat in one of the pews and folded her hands in her lap. She was a picture of piety.

Oh Triad, give me strength, so I do not choke my idiot of a nurse. She was worried, however. There were visitors today; would her surprise be in that horrid form?

[from here]

Lucivar paused at the bottom of the wall, waiting for the others to cross. It was the first time he'd been here during the evening and he took a moment to look around him. The area was quiet but not the strange stillness that felt as though everything was waiting for something to happen. Lucivar had no desire to be around when that something decided to show up.

"Which is the closest door?" he asked Renji, glancing around him. "Does it lead directly to the cafeteria or is there another wall we have to jump?"

Sai leaned his head woozily against the cool glass of the bus window. Helping out his fellow ninja had been a failed effort thus far, and he didn't have any idea how Naruto had been able to put up with that friend of his for so long. If he was asked to lead Sasuke around in the future, unless they came to terms with their differences before then, he would have to turn the task down.

It was probably a good thing he hadn't eaten in town. The movement of the bus combined with his sedation would most likely make him sick to his stomach if he had. He wasn't sure how he was going to explain the situation to Naruto if he had to.

He had a wet paper towel for his black eye that'd had a couple ice cubes in it before they'd melted. (His "violent behavior" meant they weren't willing to leave him with a bag of ice - something that could be potentially used as a blunt weapon.) It was sitting in his lap now, though, for what little good it was doing him.

Not the best of days.

[for Honey-chan (sorry, Team Naruto, I forgot)]

Rukia filed out of the bus with the other prisoners, shivering a little in the cool autumn air. She was a little irked that the nurses hadn't given her mittens on this trip. Forced to stuff her hands in to the pockets of her jeans, Rukia hunched her shoulders and wandered to the edge of the park before turning around to look for anyone she knew.

Nurses and orderlies were already milling about, supervising and watching the prisoners. Rukia's plan was to get a hold of something - anything - that she could use as a weapon when they returned to the Institute that night. It would be difficult with so many staff members around, but she was determined; the last thing she wanted was to be trapped on the buses again with no weapon.

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~]

[From here]

It wasn't long before Albel reached the next hallway. One that was so familiar that he didn't even have to see where he was going. But it'd be foolish to let his guard down, even when he was still walking around in a patient block hallway.

But it seemed to be pretty empty, so the warrior quickly moved to the door leading to the next hallway.

[To here]

[M39]

You could get outside now?

Well, he'd heard mention of the walls coming down, but the lack of any reports of successful escape were conspicuous in their absence; Zelnick was inclined to believe Landel that going outside would do as little towards your escape as staying indoors.

Of course, Zelnick did have plans for indoors...

Having finished his dinner a while ago, Zelnick pulled the Oreo package out of his closet and tossed it onto the bed, then settled beside it with his freshly-battery'd flashlight and his notebook, sketching to pass the time until Xigbar arrived.

Qui-Gon tried to meditate, but the calming center he had usually been able to maintain was hard to come by tonight. It was not helped that with his eyes closed, kneeling on the floor, hands resting on his thighs, that half an hour after the last intercom announcement he could feel the Force quaver, shift and turn in on itself, and then Martin Landel himself showed his true colors, taunting the patients. So tonight had truly begun, then.

And it appeared the rumors he'd heard about regarding the grounds were true. It was possible to escape.

In theory, anyway.

But running out first thing would be foolhardy. Qui-Gon sighed and got to his feet, feeling joints protest a little that hadn't protested before only a few years ago. They would have to deal with this mission as Jedi would, which meant taking the step back and being careful. Qui-Gon taught Obi-Wan to live in the moment, to not always look blindly into the future or the past, but that didn't necessarily mean to jump at the first opportunity of escape either. They did not know yet how they'd been brought here, how he himself had been stolen from death. Without knowing that, true escape would be impossible.

What they needed was communication.

Qui-Gon believed he could do this alone, as his last mission. But now it seemed wise to get those makeshift commlinks up and running to make traveling with Obi-Wan easier. And to find some kind of comm center so they could get word out to the Jedi Council. Every night he witnessed horrific things happen to the creatures and the Earthian human staff and their prisoners. And every night, the Force cried out as it was twisted. If anything, the Jedi Council had to be warned about this growing threat.

The Jedi Master gathered his things, the devices small enough to carry in one hand, and picked up his battery in the other, tucking his journal into the waistband of his trousers. He also had his knife on him, but he hoped not to have to use it. Shouldering open the now-unlocked door, Qui-Gon stepped outside into the dark hall.

[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]

[from here]

A hand upon the left wall, Momo paused and looked around. Empty. No monsters, so it was clear. She hoped the colonel wasn't going to be too angry at her for not getting the key back to him at breakfast. She didn't have the heart to tell him it was because she'd simply refused to leave her room that morning after having her own silent fit about the frustrating results of the previous night.

It would be kind of embarassing.

[to here]

The intercom came on, and as it did, it seemed to carry a little more interference than usual for a daytime announcement, a little more static. While the patients might have thought for a moment that once again the elusive woman on the radio had hacked into the Head Doctor's system, the man himself soon proved that theory faulty as he laughed over the broadcast.

"Hello, hello, everyone, and I'm sorry for the bad quality of this broadcast; we've been having some technical difficulties lately, you see, and we wanted to make sure everything was fixed by tomo...."

His voice crackled out into inaudibility for a moment before fading back in.

"Yes, hopefully that will be done soon. In any case, now's the time that you all head back to your rooms to enjoy a delicious meal... seasoned salmon! Yes, we have filets of very tasty, very juicy salmon seasoned with herbs and garlic; on the side, we have mashed potatoes, peas, and to drink, our usual assortment of beverages. For dinner, you'll all be enjoying vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce."

The intercom's broadcast crackled again. The Head Doctor laughed, seemingly a little nervously.

"Ah, yes, perhaps we'll be able to finish the repairing tomorrow, when all of you are away at... Doyleton! Yes, yes, you're all in for a fun and exciting day, a day whose activities will be new for some and a welcome familiarity to others. You'll be under strict supervision, of course, but... well, I suppose you'll find out all about the circumstances tomorrow, before you set off, mm? Yes! In any case... I hope you all enjoy dinner!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began ushering patients back to their quarters.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. (You can find your character's room assignment here.) Remember, everyone responds to this post with their character's room number in the subject line. ]

_{[from here]}

The first and only time he’d come to the kitchen, it’d been his first night, and it had started with chocolate cake, too. And ended with fighting off lizards, meeting Sasuke, and being inflicted with Alucard. There weren’t any good memories of this place (if that could seriously be said of any part of the building).

Aidou was certainly more wary entering.

“Be careful not to bump into anything or get near the stoves,” he muttered, looking around the room with a frown. “Giant lizards that breathe fire seem to dwell here.” It didn’t feel as ridiculous saying that, since he’d been faced with the evidence once before. He hoped the newbie, Wolfram, wouldn’t question that beyond simple words, because Aidou really didn’t want to have to rush to break down a door because of stupid monsters. Though maybe he should have been more worried about Jack.