Whoa, was that supposed to be normal? Alarms were going off, and the next thing she expected was some dudes coming in with heavy artillery to give her a hard time. This was pretty unusual, and it left Ramona on alert. In a way, she half-expected this to be some point in the story when there was a time limit keeping her on a set restriction. If she didn't beat the clock, she'd be screwed—and that seemed like a likely scenario. But though she idly waved her hand over her head curiously, she didn't find anything there; there was no dissipating clock telling her that if she didn't move fast enough to get out of this joint, she was going to blow up. Or that she had to find the box before the time ran out. Or—well, that was enough scenarios!

But whatever it was, she didn't feel terribly at ease about it. Sure, she wasn't freaking out, palms sweaty with uncertainty as she tried to figure out her next step, but she wasn't exactly raving about this course of events. No one mentioned alarms going off and codes. Was there a code purple, she wondered? Or a code pink? Maybe the overly-ridiculously-sweet-like-candy-corn girl—and man, it'd been a long time since she had some of that, damn Toronto and its lack of addictive orange, yellow, and white colored sweets—just meant this. Maybe this was normal!

But hey, she had to grant it something. It definitely set the "night is different than daytime" mood. There was the air of intensity and the feeling that things were bad. Whoever was in charge of this place definitely knew how to mess with people's heads. It felt like she stepped into ... what was actually a little like her Saturday afternoons recently, minus the ridiculous themed parties. Though Ramona really didn't put it past Julie Powers to decide on a pseudo-militaristic-mental-hospital theme. She just didn't think her apartment could take the redecorating.

Either way, she had done enough dawdling thinking about it. Ramona snatched up the flashlight from the place she was told it was held at, and started out. First off, she had to test her strength, and then—oh, she glanced over at her desk. Well, it wasn't long and ... people could read a lot of Freud into her choice of weapons, but it looked heavy enough. Ramona set the flashlight back down on her bed and moved over to the desk. She stood in front of it curiously before she counted to three and then bent down to pick it up. In fact, it moved too easily, and her eyebrows knit together. Ramona lifted it up over her head, put more weight on one arm than the other, and still—it was fine.

Ramona carelessly dropped the desk back down—well, it wasn't like she had any attachment to it—and she found herself surprised it didn't ... receive any damage. But then again, she figured this place wasn't going to bring people there against their will and then furnish them with things from IKEA. That was way too easy to break. It was just too bad she couldn't drag a desk around with her. That would look formidable if it wasn't going to fall apart, but she didn't want to have a hard time getting through doors.

So, Ramona snatched up her flashlight eagerly and set out. If they were limiting her, maybe they just got rid of subspace and that was that. She could handle that.

[to here]

[from here]

Whatever was happening to her, Rita was going to fix it. She could fix anything. She was a genius.

That heavy pounding in her chest, that light-headed feeling... those were just getting in the way. Rita tried to will it to stop, for her body to simply stop being anxious, but the feelings persisted. She had to hurry... Even if she didn't know what she would do to help herself, that just meant she was going to need more time to figure it out once she reached the Medical Wing.

Rita broke into a run, dashing through the hallway and around the corner.

[to here]

[from here]

It was really dark.

It had been a long time since Anise last tried to navigate the halls without a flashlight, but with both her hands full, there was no way she could carry one. She had her handy little mini flashlight tucked away in her coat pocket so she could use it after dropping off the pipe.

It looked like the night was going to start on a positive note, but Anise couldn't help but wonder about that weird announcement from earlier. The military was probably up to something really shady. Anise just hoped they didn't put anything weird in her food again.

[to here]

Well, that was interesting; being moved to a new room and injected with a Mystery Drug, all in one confusing moment. 'Interesting' being a blanket term for annoying and nerve-racking and ridiculous. It was all making her start to feel very Winona Ryder a la Girl, Interrupted. That was based on a true story, right? Kind of? Ugh. Though if she were being honest, being dosed was the first event that really, actually made this place feel like the mental institution she was being told it was. Minus being visited by not-Columbus. That was certainly brain-fuzz worthy, even with the warning.

Either way, her arm itched, and maybe that was just in her head, but she couldn't stop scratching at it. If she got some kind of rash from this crap, she was going to be livid.

Dinner wasn't so bad - at least her new roommate seemed normal, kinda - but she rolled off her bed and headed out as soon as the doors unlocked, map tucked into the side of her boot and her flashlight in hand. Oh yeah, so ready to take on the great outdoors. Because tonight she would be getting herself a bat. Monsters beware. Now that she was sure she finally had a grasp on where the hell she was going around here, she was determined to get outside and get armed.

She still hated experimental psychologists. Whether they lied or not, they only cared about results, and not the people that were their test subjects. Aguilar was just like the ones who'd created her -- if he really wanted results, he'd tell them what he expected. Not what to do;only the worst commanders had no use for initiative, and that was because a pants-wetting recruit could out-strategize them.

There was still a gaping hole somewhere about there, she thought, pressing her hand to her torso. Right in her middle, and it had nothing to do with her metabolism. They'd tried to rip her heart out, not once, but twice, and she didn't know why! She took a deep breath. It didn't make any sense, if they were trying to run this like a cell-culture lab, with subjects that didn't have feelings. If they didn't have feelings they couldn't be hurt, but then trying would be worthless.

Did the visitors give them something they couldn't do alone? They were isolated, but even in hard vacuum word spread.

She packed in the dark, quiet and determined. There wasn't much to bring. She wore the claw, and strapped the throwing star to her arm again. The materia went in a pocket, rather than her bag, and that was all. Travel light, travel fast, and hope that her companions would do so too.

[to here]

Edgar's charming company had raised Anise's spirits enough that not even the Head Doctor's voice could bring them back down. Besides, she was feeling pretty sure that Landel wasn't actually around. To begin with, it wouldn't make sense, and secondly, his announcements sounded suspiciously like ones she'd already heard before. While Anise wasn't very familiar with Earth technology, she'd seen the little devices in the Music Room that could play recordings of people's voices. This had to be something like that.

It wasn't long before Anise was escorted to the Cafeteria, and then to the section where edible food was being served. As she filled her plate with waffles, fruit, and sausages, she looked to the other side of the counter with a look of sympathy. It was hard to enjoy her own meals while knowing what the other patients had to suffer through.

She wasn't about to refuse her meals just out of guilt, though. Anise needed her strength for tonight. There was still a bit of a nervous twist in her stomach whenever she thought about what could happen down in the basement... but she wasn't going to back down. Not after promising her friends they'd go together.

With her tray in hand, Anise seated herself at an empty table in the middle of the room. She preferred to have company while eating, but it looked like she was one of the first patients there, so there was no one to sit with. Maybe if she minded her manners and tried to look her cutest, she'd attract someone handsome! Holding her utensils delicately, she began to cut her waffles into smaller pieces.

[For Battler.]

It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.

What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, and the fact that her equipment had been confiscated once again. Rita didn't have time to mess around... which was precisely why the cheery voice broadcast over the intercom only served to grate on her nerves more than usual. In fact... how was the Head Doctor even giving that announcement? She doubted he'd managed to take the institute back in such a short amount of time, though the broadcast itself was suspicious for a number of reasons. Even though she could clearly hear the man's voice, it didn't necessarily mean that he was there. She had to look at things critically.

Still, it seemed almost as if everything had returned to normal... with a few exceptions. The different staff was one, and her lack of possessions was another. It didn't seem like the staff was expecting to fool the patients into thinking this was the same old institute, so why...?

Even as she went about preparing for the day and walking to her first destination, Rita kept her most pressing questions in mind, coming up with multiple hypotheses to explain what was happening. Since she didn't expect that the Chapel would hold anything of interest to her, Rita opted for the Sun Room instead. She was interested in seeing the bulletin board, for one.

When she entered the Sun Room, Rita brought a pen and her journal with her. If no one approached her, she would at least have a chance to document her discoveries from the previous night. First, however, she checked the bulletin board, only to find it completely empty. That confirmed a few suspicions of hers. Content to see evidence supporting her ideas about the strange occurrences, Rita sat down on a couch, opened her journal, and began to write.

[Free!]

A night off. Odd concept, though Taura wasn't fool enough take the silence on the intercom as implying that Aguilar had bought into this plan. That second click hadn't escaped her attention -- recording? Throwing some plan into motion, just loudly enough to let them all wonder?

If it was the latter, someone had finally given this place a lesson in psychological warfare. She shivered, and went back to thinking about what she should do with her mostly-free night.

She came to the conclusion that vacations were a lot more fun when she had someone to spend them with. Though the planet to explore had put in an appearance.

Maybe Rita would have some ideas, if she could be pried away from magical science once the experiment was over. Science people were like that -- if you didn't fit in, you were a puzzle, not a problem, even if it got just as tiring being poked and prodded, whether with needles or just with words.

Her things were all ready to go; she had decided to take the radio tonight. If Aguilar didn't have anything to say, someone else might, and if they decided to run out towards hostile territory, she could leave it behind. The materia and her claw she tucked into her purse, and the shuriken she carried. She didn't need a flashlight on familiar ground.

[to here]

Rita awakened in a cold sweat that morning. What the hell was that all about!? It had to be a trick, like the moving shadows from the other night... It just couldn't be real.

In the end, no progress had been made. How much longer was Rita going to be trapped in this dump?

Speaking of dump, that was about the moment when a male nurse entered the room, carrying a pile of worn clothes that looked like they came right out of the trash. He dumped them unceremoniously on her bed, and with an unfriendly glance, ordered her, "Put these on."

"Would it kill you to ask nicely?" Rita sneered, pulling herself out from under the covers and crawling over to where she could look through the pile. There was a dark blue knee-length skirt, a pair of purple stockings that came up to about the knees, a pink blouse, blue jacket, and a pink scarf. This was for that 'field trip', then? Well, whatever. They didn't look as stuffy as the military uniform, so Rita put them on.

Once she was finished, she found herself being led outside to some large machines - no, vehicles? - which several other patients were being made to board. Rita had heard very little about the Doyleton trip, other than the fact that they were apparently going to visit some Earth town. There was something intriguing about that - being able to see something that perhaps no one else from her world would ever see - but it was also a distraction that was going to further delay her escape, and that was irritating.

The vehicle that Rita was brought to was empty at the moment, so she sat herself down by a window and started looking through the various items she had been handed upon boarding. The money card was especially curious, and she wondered how much the allowance would allow her to buy. She assumed very little, but she hoped ten dollars were at least worth more than ten gald.

[Free!]

The intercom's announcement had roused Erika from her sleep, which was why she looked quite grumpy when she realized someone was speaking. Shaking her head, she tried to focus on what was being said, but she only caught the tail end of the announcement. Something about understanding causality in Landel's place... Well, the detective would have liked to point out that cleaning the whole cafeteria this morning should have taught that lesson rather well, but she understood some in this place might have had thicker skulls than others.

"If our performance in this maze impresses you, does that mean I'll have real food tomorrow?" She grumbled, out loud since there was no point in keeping quiet about such things. Hopefully, this stupid prank with the food will grow old by tomorrow. Unless... Well, Erika had entertained the idea that this was the military's way of culling "subjects" that weren't fit for their experiments. So it irritated her even more to be judged as someone who wasn't worth real food. Did they even have the slightest idea of who she was? Hopefully, in time, Erika could make her point about that very clear to the new man in charge.

It shouldn't have come as a surprise to her that she ended up spending dinner sleeping, as the lack of food for the entire day was the cause of her fatigue. She felt no better after her map, casting a look of contempt on the plate of (probably rock solid and freezing) untouched slop that had been left on her tray. Hah, she'd rather eat cardboard. The detective didn't even need special reasoning to figure that cardboard would taste better than whatever this poor example of food was supposed to be.

While the idea of spending the night conserving her strength was tempting, Erika knew better. Sync expected her presence, and thanks to the mess she got herself in last night, it was only fair that she try to keep her partner happy at the moment. Just until she didn't need him anymore, she reminded herself, as she gathered her usual things and checked to make sure everything was still there. Right down to the katana, everything the detective had was returned to her, though she couldn't say that she was worrying too much about her items either. It seemed like the military had no interest in covering up the truth behind this place any longer.

That made things easier for her, at least. Erika didn't even bother checking on her roommate, stepping out of her room and into the hallway and greeting the darkness with a wide yawn.

[ going over hurr ]

[F21]

If Aigis hadn't been there to see it herself she would not have believed it. Martin Landel, the bane of her existence for the past week, was now gone. Replaced. And she didn't know what to make of the new authority put in place. She told herself it was her inaction that filled her with unease. For a moment, he had been there right where she wanted him. She could have made him pay for all he had done. She could have avenged Heat or repaid him for the time he had returned her body along with a mission of violence. But she didn't. For some reason she had remained rooted in the spot, staring at the spectacle. Now that dinner had passed she wondered to herself, why had remained so unmoved? When she finally had her chance why had she uselessly let it go to waste?

( The rest cut for tl;dring )

Well, that was the most exhausting lunch Elena had ever experienced. And she didn't get around to eating very much either. Her headache was a least somewhat bearable now, but as the shift ended, she realized how stupid it had been to not get something in her system before the shift ended. But that apparently wasn't in the cards. In fact, just as she stopped panicking long enough to try and get some food down, her nurse was sweeping to her side.

"Shift change, m'dear." Like she hadn't noticed everyone getting up out of their seats and leaving the cafeteria. "I'll take your tray for you, and you make sure to get out to the field on time."

"On time?" Her blank expression must have given away more than she realized, because the nurse was giving her yet another sympathetic look.

"You slept thought a lot this morning, I'm afraid. I'll explain along the way."

By the time they had reached the Rec Field, the nurse had explained most of what had happened with the food fight, and the tear gas, and it only served to damage her calm yet again that day. Of course she slept through something like this, and of course the boys and girls were split up this shift, and of course Elena would have to wait around for some uniformed man to call out her fake name before she could get to Stefan.

At least her last name was near the stop of the list.

"Bailey, Samantha-"

"Here! I'm here. Can I go back inside now? Please?"

Though she didn't even wait for an answer before turning back and heading for the building. As far as she was concerned, she did what she was told, and there was no good reason why she couldn't make her way to the Sun Room right this very second.

[to here]

He saw her at the end, when everyone was rising from their seats.

For all that Stefan had spent the day consumed with his own thoughts and cravings, the conversation over the intercom distracted him too. He hadn't been paying attention enough to follow what they — Landel's irate voice, the head nurse, someone else (the one in charge of the soldiers?) — were talking about, but he noticed the way some people looked up at the sound of the last voice. Stefan didn't recognize it, but it was clear that many people did.

He puzzled over it only long enough to notice two people who didn't automatically get up as the new shift was announced: his brother first, still a shock in anything less than tailored black, and there, right beside him...

Elena.

By the time Stefan registered what he was doing, he was already on his feet, a little shaky but walking steadily enough across the cafeteria. She was whole. She was safe. And if she'd already seen Damon, even better. As much his brother pretended to care otherwise, there was no way he'd let Elena go to the Rec Field alone if she was seriously hurt — although it was just as possible that Elena had insisted he not hover. Either way, it didn't matter. Stefan would know soon enough once he was able to hold her in his arms, and feel her warm and alive against his chest.

"Christian!" A nurse stepped in front of him. Stefan pulled himself up short, and helplessly watched as Elena moved out of sight. The nurse seemed to guess what he was thinking anyway. "Samantha needs to go for roll call. You've already had your session on the Recreational Field, remember?"

Which meant he was supposed to be in the Greenhouse with the other men, guaranteeing he wouldn't be able to see Elena. "I'll go to the Sun Room. Could you tell her I'll be waiting for her there?" He remembered how sharply the staff had looked at them the last time they'd been together. How strict were the rules here, for patients? "I haven't seen her all day. Please."

In the end, she agreed, leaving alone at the entrance of the Sun Room. Stefan sank into an empty couch, and tried his best not to get into any more trouble.

All things considered, last shift had been pretty low key. After this morning's disaster, though, that was perfectly fine by Claude. Some fresh air and a chance to make sure Guy and Okita were all right weren't things to take for granted. It was also good to have a fairly normal, conversation with Guy that didn't slip off into awkward territory. Having Okita there as a sort of buffer probably made things a bit easier in that regard. Claude was confident that things would smooth about between them fairly soon -- if they hadn't already, even.

After checking the bulletin and making some notes of his own, Claude walked alongside his nurse into the cafeteria. As far as he could tell, the soldiers hasn't cleared out any since their arrival this morning. Not only that, but Landel didn't sound too happy about what happened. Was he going to get into trouble for the food fight?

Not that he had any sympathy for the Head Doctor, of course. That bastard deserved every bad thing that ever happened to him, and then some. On the other hand, it did make Claude wonder what would become of the captives if someone even harsher stepped in to take his place...

Was that even possible? Then again, Claude had to consider that no one even used tear gas the last time a riot happened. Had this morning's response been someone else's idea?

As hard as it was to sit and wait for things to pan out, Claude knew that ultimately time would tell what was going to happen. Thankfully, he had a lunch appointment to keep him occupied. After collecting his tray of food, Claude took a seat at one of the tables. It looked like he was one of the first people here, which gave him an opportunity to notice just how much better the room looked than after breakfast. He couldn't imagine how many people had been asked to clean things up. Really, it was a wonder they hadn't just made the patients do it themselves as punishment.

Well, regardless of all that, he needed to wait for that Mordio person to show up now, right? Claude kept an eye on the cafeteria entrance, although he suddenly remembered that the patient had never given a description of themselves. Hopefully Claude's own description would be distinct enough for Mordio to find him.

[For Rita!]

There was little to be said of the daily business that went on. He allowed himself to be shuffled, mind embedded too deeply in things he shouldn't be dwelling on. The night was over, the shadows had vanished, and there was little more than bad memories to be left in their stead. This was logic, pure and simple, and should have been reassuring but for the whispered accusations made by his own. Of all things that his mind moved to unconsciously focus on, it was one of the first things spoken. That he could kill himself and nothing would stop him.

Which was pointless. In the whole of its entirety. Gaara had not truly moved in that way for time past--And now, even, he had goals and aspirations that he would see come to pass before he gave anything of himself away. He was working for what he believed in; he was working to become acknowledged by others as himself, and not as what he was created for. And there was no point to anything that thing had said.

His thoughts shifted, moved over the night, each dark statement echoed by an internal vow of his own, a denial of returning to what he once was. He still had yet to seek out Temari--his sister, too, would have been confronted by her demons, and there was a edge of concern in that thought. Considering all of this, he seated himself in a place near the wall, glancing at the doorway every few moments.

[sister dear.]

[from here]

Lana marched up to the door to F28, raised a hand to knock, and stopped, her knuckles bare inches from connecting. Tonight would reveal what she'd thrown away a promising career, the career she'd always dreamed of, to hide. Never mind that she appeared to have it all -- she knew, and Gant knew, and before the night was over, Ema would as well.

She wasn't going to take it well. Ema, that was. Lana could weather it; she'd always been a quick learner, and while dissembling hadn't been natural, but she'd had an excellent teacher.

Then she thought about Ema finding out from Chief Gant, or worse -- her friend Kay, or much-admired Prosecutor Edgeworth, if the Institute saw fit to recapture him. She deserved, at a minimum, to hear it from Lana herself. On the witness stand, or on the blood-drenched tile of the Institute, it was all the same.

Her hand moved, almost of its own accord, and rapped twice.

[from here]

Naruto made his way into the bigger hallway. He still hadn't seen a familiar face, or really much of anyone at all. That was kind of annoying, but he was sure he'd find someone sooner or later!

[to here]

[From here]

Another bare hallway, Asuka observed once she poked her head out of the F-A block and shined her light back and forth. Even when she left her room rather promptly, there was almost always a handful of patients coming or going. Maybe she had just been way too uptight tonight for this mission. But was that such a terrible thing? This initiative clearly displayed her commitment to the club. The eva pilot had to show Okita that she was determined, that she showed leadership qualities so she could rise through the ranks. Higher rank gave her access to better resources, which got her closer to getting the hell out of this place.

No, there was nothing wrong with a little hustle at all. The other new members could learn from her, certainly. Keeping her objectives in sight, Asuka kept following the hallway until it split into the common area that most patients used to rendezvous with others.

[To here]

[From here]

It was surprising to see that no one else had left yet. All the doors were closed as she walked down her block and into the hallway on her left, though she could clearly hear a few voices here and there, probably talking with their fellow roommate. While she would never admit it openly, being the only one in the hallway was rather creepy. The comfort of knowing people were around, regardless if that gap was a few feet or a few hallways away, was still comforting. Well, there was no point in whining over it. Fear of the dark was for children and ignorant adults, and she was neither.

With a new, determined stride, the eva pilot quickly ate up the corridor to the next door; her only company was the echoing slap of her rubber soles against the linoleum.

[To here]