Renji's quasi-peaceful mood from breakfast was well and gone by the time he got out to the courtyard. Rather than dwell on the all-new problems with Rukia - and the fact that he had absolutely no idea how to deal with any of it - he tried to occupy himself with a mental checklist of the things he needed to do today. Meet with Roy Mustang at lunch, introduce Hitsugaya around, hopefully speak with Qui-Gon at some point in the day, figure out who would be doing what in the night...

He'd gotten seperated from the rest of the Shinigami during the shuffle out to the courtyard, so he found himself somewhere out of the way where he could work out what else he needed to do.

It wasn't that he was avoiding Rukia, really.

Mostly.

Because avoiding someone in this place, at these times, was pretty much impossible.

His normally grouchy expression seemed just a bit more sour.

Aidou Hanabusa, a vampire, was one of the first into the cafeteria, which was swimming in dim sunlight. A grey morning suited his mood.

The fact that his biological clock was pitching fits was only the cherry on top of the cake; the last thing he wanted to do was sleep. "Waking up", once again, with no memory of how or why he'd been brought back to room M52 infuriated him, on top of getting absolutely nothing done during the night. In the (miniscule) self-deprecating part of his mind, he thought it served him right for making concessions for humans. He wasn't going to make that mistake again, no matter how alone he was.

Aidou secluded himself in a corner. Solid food couldn't replace what he was missing, but it would keep his appetite in check. For a while. If his better sense told him not to repeat yesterday's mistakes, then at least he could forget tablets and go hunting tonight. It wasn't like Aidou was required to follow protocol during Landel's fine nightshift. No one else did.

No one from home would think less of him for cutting corners, either. If they hadn't been able to find him by now, then things were worse than he imagined. With a table piled high with food, he cupped his chin in his hand and let his gaze wander. He had a fair idea where the female cell block was. It wouldn't be difficult to overpower a young girl...

Eventually grabbing the knife, Aidou poked at one of his many bagels. He'd been right about to find a suitable instrument in the mail room, something long and sharp enough to cut into a bat and allow him to see what similarities remained on the inside... The plastic blade sank through the bread, went through the paper plate underneath it, and finally snapped in two against the plastic tray.

More new "patients". A day of "doctor consultations". It was nothing he'd ever experienced before, nothing he'd ever heard about before, and it was seriously driving him nuts. For the first time in his life, he just wanted to be left alone, without feeling a set of eyes on him.

[Moving in from here]

Stefan Richter didn't look like he was even going to answer the girl's question, leaving Eddie Brock to realize he was apparently the only one with manners here. True, he didn't exactly trust her, but he didn't trust anyone else here (symbiote excepted), and he thought that the least they could do was share names, real or otherwise. Besides, it felt a bit weird to just keep calling her Lydia.

"Sure, I guess," Brock said and offered a small smile - it was superficial, really, but at least it was an effort. He didn't hold out his hand for a handshake, but he didn't ignore her either, glancing over his shoulder as he led the way around the railed balcony toward the Chapel. "I'm Eddie Brock, this is Stefan Richter," he gestured vaguely over his shoulder. "And I don't know this other guy's name."

The blond circled the railing, heading over toward the big double doors looming in the darkness, grainy in their night vision like an aging video but still visible; if he'd been more weakened, he probably would have missed it. It felt a bit weird to be in the lead, with people trusting him to know where they were going, but he supposed that if they did get attacked, there would be a suitable meat shield. Or, at least, that was his symbiote's humble opinion. It wouldn't be against it if some of the patients here accidentally met their demise - while it would be better to score the kill themselves, they weren't above scavenging another's kill to feed if it was the only choice. Anyway, it would in, the end, be a lot less energy expended.

His Other was big on efficiency.

Moving silently, the former reporter paused at the doors, gestured for quiet, and then pushed them open slowly. The chapel seemed a lot gloomier in the night, the pews rising up eerily, the stone and marble floors icy under the thin fabric of the patient slippers. Despite their night vision, Brock still couldn't see to the end of the chapel. He stepped inside and waited for the others to join him.

At least it was quiet. Deathly quiet, the air still (and damn cold), but it seemed to simply fit. If it weren't for the fact that they were held against their will, they might have found themselves rather comfortable here: no unnecessary heat, and plenty of darkness to call their own. As it was, Brock just wanted to get it over with and hustle the rest of the group in and out as fast as was safely possible.

[[From here]]

Recluse stopped at the top of the stairs, sufficiently far enough from the flashlight so that he felt a little less jumpy. He scanned the area, trying to make sure there were no unpleasant surprises waiting for him in the dark halls. Satisfied for the moment that the area was safe, he turned to speak quietly to the reporter.

"I haven't been to the chapel before. I assume you know the way?"

[[From here]]

The quiet and darkness were almost unsettling, in their own way. He couldn't even hear his own foot-steps as he stalked quietly along, and his breathing was silent as well.

The darkness and silence reminded him too much of memories he'd only recently regained. Fox would've felt slightly less uncomfortable with the whole situation if he'd known that there were guards, or some other opponent to avoid, anything to get rid of the feeling of isolation.

At the same time, part of him was glad for the darkness and silence, moving quietly along the wall of the hallway. This was his element. When the radio crackled on in his coat pocket Fox nearly jumped.

He didn't dare turn it off in case something important was revealed, but at the same time he hoped the noise didn't attract anything. The radio man's speech, at the very least, gave him something to think about as he made his way slowly to his destination.

As the Head Doctor began his nightly rant, Renji put his shears away, stripped the bottom sheet off the bed, and wrapped everything he had securely in a bundle so that it wouldn't rattle as he walked or ran. The top sheet he rolled and tied around his waist for storage.

When the Head Doctor got to the bit about how they wouldn't be able to find him, Renji froze. For a moment, he almost reached out for the spirit threads, reached out to reassure himself that he could know where the Head Doctor was if he wanted.

No.

There were many possibilities behind that ranting. The two that concerned him were either that the Head Doctor was fishing, watching, hoping that someone would take his bait and use whatever ability to try to check on him now. Which meant that they would lose that advantage. Or perhaps the Head Doctor already knew, had found out, but as he took a moment to think about it rationally, Renji doubted that.

The Head Doctor had already taunted him by name once, over the speakers, though not at night. Still, he doubted that the bastard would hesitate to do so again if he had a reason.

Renji took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Patience, calm. He was Shinigami. He had all the time in the world, if necessary. And he just had to try not to think about those he'd put himself in charge of that didn't have that luxury.

"Good luck," he told Hisoka, stepping out of the now-unlocked door.

He still remembered the direction he'd gotten from Valyn's spirit thread. Not in his block, he was sure; the next one down. He started running.

The second the intercom sounded, while the man on the intercom was still talking, Ashton pulled himself off the couch in the Music Room and slowly made his way to the door. He walked, glided even, as if he were a ghost in a dream. The nurses had already filed up to escort the patients to the lunchroom, and one bustled over to walk Ashton those few feet from one room to another.

"You're not looking very well, Mr. Pritchett," she said cheerfully. "Didn't you enjoy your shower?"

Ashton replied with a small, forced smile, then shook his head. He didn't feel like talking now. Though the nurses were pushy and downright annoying, he figured he owed this one at least a little explanation. They didn't know - or didn't believe - what went on after dark, but he owed them the benefit of the doubt. "Bad day," he decided on telling her.

Bad day indeed. The showers and the music had done nothing for his nerves. But then again, what could get that graphic image out of his head?

He glided ghostily through the taco line and settled on two chicken and bean tacos, with chips, a scoop of guacamole, two churros on the side, and a glass of apple juice. He wasn't used to this sort of food (save the juice) and he wasn't even sure he'd eat it, but the chances were high that he'd be able to pass it off on someone.

He was on the verge of tears again, too. What he would have given to just sit down next to a barrel and eat a hamburger.

Thank goodness the cafeteria was bare just now, too. It left all the corner tables open, the tables that shouted 'Don't talk to me, I'm brooding over here.' He sat at one, pushed his food a little away from him, and buried his head in his arms.

Well, that was a complete waste of time.

They were so occupied with fighting that pathetic ape they didn't even got a chance to enter that stupid office. Not even a peek, while the door was wide open. That was just pathetic!

Albel found himself back in his bed. The captain barely had time to wrap his knife in the piece of cloth and stuff it into his pocket before the nurse came in, whining about him missing breakfast. Albel merely glared daggers at her, but instead of taking the hint she just rambled on about the next activity.

The Ellicoorian wasn't particularly looking forward to taking a shower. Not that he had something against personal hygiene, on the contrary. But communal showers were not something Albel was exactly comfortable with, the captain liked his privacy. Part of him just wanted to turn around in his bed and pretend the stupid wench didn't even enter his room, but he knew that wouldn't solve anything. So he allowed himself to be escorted to the showers.

After he had arrived and silently stripped himself of his pathetic excuse of clothing, he walked over the cold, damp tiles. There weren't any of the other worms around just yet, which suited Albel just fine. He picked a shower head removed slightly further from the others. As usual, he wasn't in the mood to socialize. Hopefully, none of the maggots would bother. Showering in the same room was bad enough as it was.

Turning the shower on, he felt the hot water flowing on his body. As he began scrubbing himself, his gaze rested on the ugly but sensitive, burned skin of his left arm. He'd never enjoyed looking at it, it was the mark of his failure, his shame. His mind went back to that incident years back. He remembered the flames, the scream... like it all happened yesterday. And the events a few nights back didn't help any of it.

No, he shouldn't think about it. He couldn't allow himself to be weak, not here. Self-pity wouldn't get him anywhere.

That hadn't felt like an entire night.

And his goddamn head hurt. Pounded, even. Enough that he wondered if he was going to end up playing another round of "Christen the nurse" this morning.

Maybe it was because he'd spent so much time and energy trying to find Nowe. That could be the reason behind both those problems. Just the thought of it made his stomach turn, made him want to fucking choke something.

Still, there was shit to do. He forced himself out of bed to put away his pens and the other leftovers from the adventures that didn't happen last night. He'd have to try to talk to Sora today, to see if they could just do tonight what they were going to do last night... and to see if the kid was doing alright.

...he just wished his head would stop hurting. That was probably the result of just how badly he'd overreached himself the previous morning.

The nurse that showed up to get him was cheerful. He grunted at her, listening to her with only half an ear until she mentioned all the excitement, about someone pretending to be a patient, all that crap that Landel had mentioned.

Renji gave her a narrow-eyed look. "Dr. Landel is a goddamn lying coward, and he's lying about that, too," he said. Whether it was true or not, there was only so much good cheer he could take on a shitty morning. "I hope he chokes on a cock." No matter how much venom he put in that statement, it wasn't enough.

Then he had to listen to a lecture about language and gratitude for the rest of the walk to the cafeteria, so maybe it wasn't worth it after all. She dragged him through the breakfast line, and he ended up with granola and toast and tea and a cinnamon roll, because not even a shitty fucking night could ruin his sweet tooth. Though that thing was looking a little too sweet.

The cafeteria was pretty much empty; he had his run of the place. He sat himself about as far from the doors as he could get, and proceeded to stare at his breakfast.

((from here))

He opened the door carefully, blinking when he saw that it led outside. That wasn't exactly what he was expecting to find. He stepped out, letting the door close behind him, closing off the sounds of the hallway with it, and leaving an eerie calm.

Well, as if there was anything that wasn't eerie about a night at Landel's.

He stepped away from the building. The night air was refreshing, and it was almost bright out here compared to the gloom of the hallways. Not bad at all. A large space, and open. Perfect for a trap. Still, right now all that mattered was getting away from the building. If he could find a way out, he could always go back for the others. Assuming he found a way out. Only thing to do was to try.

Hakkai headed out around the edge of the field and, more importantly, away from Landel's.

[[Coming from here.]]

The unexpected radio announcement made Yazoo jump, and he glared down at the radio held in his hand. The announcer’s words made no sense to him as he listened to the broadcast with a raised eyebrow. And here he thought the Head Doctor was weird. Of course, he doubted whether any of the people behind this place were sane. Even the cheery nurses gave him the creeps.

The silence that rang through his ears when the radio finally cut off was almost deafening, and for a moment he contemplated taking the annoying thing back to his room, but decided to keep it with him. It might come in handy, after all.

He took a few more steps before coming to a stop in the middle of the hall and glanced down at the door leading into the second M block, hoping that his brother's room was in the same area as last time. If it wasn't, well...he was S.O.L. Either way, he couldn't stay put for very long. He had no desire to run into anything while he wasn't properly armed.

Qui-Gon didn't feel too much improved over last night: he still had one very large, very purple bruise spanning almost the entire surface of his chest, and his breath still hitched a bit painfully when he tried to breathe in deeply. However, he wasn't under attack and wasn't to be eaten by one of Earth's large spiders, so he decided he was still in a better situation than the night before, aching chest aside.

That didn't mean he could go complacent. If anything, he still needed to talk to Obi-Wan - to straighten out what had happened last night over the spider, over his choice in the Force - and he wanted to at least make sure those he had met during the day were alright. He was concerned about Ari, Azel, and Renj - and his pleasant friend Rukia - and he still had a great deal to chew over about this Gin fellow. There was also the problem of Obi-Wan's and his inability to use the Force as before, as well as finding out more about Martin Landel. All in all, he had a full plate set before him and he wasn't exactly sure what to tackle first.

The graying Jedi stifled a yawn as he prepared to leave the room. While he was sure they somehow slept in the memory lapses between night and morning, he wasn't sure how long he could keep running around at night without getting proper rest. Someone younger, perhaps, but he was gaining years, not losing them.

Armed as best he was able with the Earthian's flashlight and the curious little box that they'd called a "radio", Qui-Gon opened the door of his room and stepped out into the darkness...

As the intercom switched on, the shuffling of papers was the first thing that could be heard rather than the voice of the Head Doctor. It seemed he had been going through a lot of them today, a fact which could perhaps be attributed to the fact that so many new patients had flooded the halls of Landel's on this particular afternoon.

Of course, the day was almost over, which accounted for the slight tinge of fatigue that could be heard in the Head Doctor's voice as he finally pulled the microphone towards him.

"Ah, yes, and it seems we have arrived at our final junction of the day!" He said, sounding slightly preoccupied as he looked for what he needed in his files. "I am pleased to announce something that many of you might have already guessed: In order to promote good behavior and friendly interaction among our patients, we have set as many individuals as possible up with roommates! Yes, yes, we all hope that you get along with your new friends, and upon the shoulders of patients who have new patients as their roommates, we put the responsibility of tutoring our newcomers about their current way of life. Speaking of which, I have a list of new introducteés this evening: John Bull, Arthur Hurley, Arthur Dent, Cole Li, Philip Hunt, Henry Kobayashi, Elena Taylor, David Barrows, Tobias Prince, Keanu Reeves, Brian Jones, Regina Dawson, and Matt Sherrow."

Just as the Head Doctor seemed ready to wrap up his short announcement, he seemed to remember one more thing.

"Ah, yes, and how could I forget dinner? Tonight, you'll be served trout fillets fried in a garlic-butter sauce, complete with sides of peas, cooked carrots, macaroni & cheese, and a baked potato. To drink, we will be serving a choice of water, milk, or apple juice, and for dessert, each patient will have a slice of chocolate cake all to themselves! Yes, a wonderful end to a wonderful day, don't you think?"

He paused for a final time.

"I believe that is all for today! I do hope you enjoy our dinners and that you look forward to our next Sunday excursion. After all, something special might again be in store. Ta-taaa!"

The intercom clicked off.

It didn't take particularly long to get to the 'Game Room,' though unfortunately Darkwing had been so disoriented that he hadn't taken note of what lefts and rights had to be made to get there. The fact that he passed through a much larger room - who housed other humans wearing clothes just like his own - was noteworthy. If his experiment theory was true, did that mean that all of those other people had also once been ducks?

He couldn't get rid of the idea that this felt like a prison of some sort, though. He was definitely being held here against his will, and forced into an unfamiliar shape, at that. Not the best situation, though he would have to say that he'd been through worse.

As it turned out, the Game Room was completely empty. Why had she brought him here if there wasn't even anyone else he could press for answers? Unfortunately, the nurse was going before he could chew her out and he was forced to complain to himself. "It's empty!" He started searching the area nonetheless, and was soon faced with disappointment. "I don't see any Whiffle Boy games to play, either."

"I trust that all of you are enjoying your free choice shifts today!" The Head Doctor said cheerily after the intercom's short jingle was over. "Most of you will, of course, not have to be ushered to a new room, because our free time will be continuing; of course, you can move around if you so desire. However, some of you will be graced with visitors this shift... let's see...."

He rustled through some papers, finally letting out a sigh.

"Ah, here we go! Kaden Johnson, Regina Ellis, Christopher Marlowe, Ezra Klein, Gregory Meadows, Joshua Sampson, and Eve Sanders will be escorted to Waiting Room 1. David Shaw, Macauly Culkin, Hans Davis, Lucas Crane, Lynn Maxwell, Mercutio Jones, Christopher Maxwell, Aaron Steward, and Chris Baty will be taken to Waiting Room 2. Unfortunately for the rest of you, those will be the last visitations of the day! Perhaps you'll be luckier when next Sunday rolls around."

He paused, then continued.

"Oh, yes, and how could I forget our new patients this shift? Please welcome Aidan Fairbairn, Drake Mallard, Jacob Klaus, Zachary Brennan, Amy Iwato, Ryan Minson, Rachel Roth, Jordan Becker, Vernon Rogers, and Morgan Sheen. Although I'm sure you're tired from meeting all the new faces thus far, I'm sure that you'll still find time to help out the new patients with what will soon become their usual routine. In any case, that's about all for now, and I hope you continue to enjoy this fun-filled day!"

The intercom clicked off once more.

[ IMPORTANT OOC STUFF: Okay, dudes, same drill with the visitors as last shift! (Remember to check the room description and guidelines from the last intercom post.) And BIG NOTE HERE: For the sake of simplicity, even if your character(s) are staying in the same place(s), please make new posts for this new shift after this intercom post. ALSO, people in the waiting rooms from last shift, you are totally allowed, in fact, highly encouraged to keep posting until you feel fully satisfied by the length/events of the visit. :] Also be forewarned: This next shift might end up having to be extended a bunch of days so we can make sure everyone who signed up for visitors gets their fair share. Kay? <3 Okay. :3 ]