It felt like ages since he'd been in his office. Such a long weekend did that, as did the lack of a need to familiarize himself with the patients he saw to. They came and went so regularly now that he'd long since given up on building any rapport with them, save for a few. And those few, he learned, had vanished from his roster this week. One sent home, one still there (so his experiment wasn't ruined just yet)... ah, but it looked as though a few had stayed! Not the most entertaining of those lost to him, but he could at least skip the pleasantries with them. One was sure to be yelling once again, so there was something to look forward to.

On habit, the doctor checked his left hand drawer, finding it to amazingly be intact as he'd left it the previous week. So the little thief had learned, had he? Time would tell. Jizabel had a seat at his desk and took to skimming over his first file. One he knew thankfully, though one Jizabel'd rather take some scissors to for his looks.

Time would tell for that one as well.

How one's body could maintain a waking schedule when sleep came unnaturally and in a room without windows, must surely be a mystery. Yet, as if working on cue, Natalia stirred well before her nurse arrived. That was normal. Less so, the weight that sought to press her eyelids closed again, the heaviness of her limbs that made lifting her hands to her face an effort. She put her wrist to her forehead with a frown, then attempted a jolt of energy – to swiftly dig her hands into the mattress and shove herself into a seated position, and from there, to her feet.

Not to overexert herself once again, but to refuse that it could be possible after sleeping. Happily, though all still felt leaden, her head did not swim. Encouraged, Natalia put on her slippers, rearranged the bedding, and waited. There came the announcement (reminding her, suddenly, of what she had last heard, and the guilt that had twisted in her gut, Jill--), and her face wrinkled with disgust at the hacking sound. Therapy and breakfast. Food would surely help.

Natalia did not wait long before her nurse opened the door, and after exchanging cursory “Good Morning”s (with rather more enthusiasm on the other woman's part), they began the walk to the Cafeteria. With, of course, the essential rest room stop, where water was splashed and scrubbed over her face, and her hair toyed with to no great satisfaction. At least the shower had renewed its body.

Separating in the Cafeteria, Natalia took her place in line and loaded her plate: eggs, fruit salad, fried “tater tots” (potatoes?), and curious meat wrapped in cooked dough. Some of everything, with juice and water. She thanked her servers, collected utensils and napkins, and found a seat at an empty table. It was early yet.

Sparing a brief look around to be sure no one she recognized had arrived – though she remained eager to greet every patient, at the moment she chose to focus on the possible strength gained from the meal – Natalia began to cut up the items and eat with a refined gusto. Entirely possible!

[Claude!]

A week. It had been an entire week since Haseo had been dragged from his room after dinner and taken upstairs for experimentation. It wasn't until the staff had brought that dinner again that the Adept Rogue realized the complete significance of what he'd been trudging through all day- somehow, a full seven days had come and gone since then, and even more than that since he'd arrived at the institute in the first place. It was hard to believe... almost too hard.

Needless to say, the teen was distressed upon coming across this realization. He hadn't touched any of the food at all-- in fact, he hadn't even wanted to look at it. After the initial moment of shock, he'd mentioned this very clearly to the nurse trying to glean what he wanted, but when she shrugged him off and left some of it behind anyway, he remained steadfastly silent from where he sat on his bed, so tense he felt like he was about to become violently ill... and hating his own perceived sense of weakness. It didn't make sense that they would try the same trick again, right? So... why was he so afraid?

In the end, of course, they never came for him again, and the regular intercom announcements continued like normal-- almost normal. Relief still didn't come easily, and his mind was blank as he went through the normal routine of getting ready to go out as the messages played. Jill... he'd only vaguely heard of her, but if the head doctor had captured her...?

-- No, there probably wasn't anything he could do- what could he do? After all, even though it was implied the man in charge was somewhere in the building, for all Haseo knew, the bastard could very well have been miles away. Something like that would explain all the radio interference, anyway, if they were using something like an old wire system running through the ground. The broadcast had to be nothing more than a way to mess with them, fueled by the knowledge that nothing could be done.

The anxiety continued to endure in part as the teen finished getting ready with practiced speed- although his emotions made it seem longer, it was only a few minutes before he was out the door, locking it with one short-sword under-arm, and turning to head down the hall. If someone knew how he felt, it might have seemed odd he went through his actions so confidently, but that too was a well-practiced skill.

[ From here. ]

Haseo's foot stung a little as he stepped into the dusty room beyond the entry room door, but with his mood still tense and Endrance right there, he decided to hide it alongside the suppressed urge to sneeze at stirring up the air inside. When it came down to it, he still didn't understand why or how he'd managed to keep the boots he'd worn to Doyleton that first time, but he couldn't do anything but feel begrudgingly glad for them, especially when it came to stuff like breaking through old-timey locks. Had he tried that in the usual patient slippers or cheap sneakers, then the act would have probably been far more unpleasant.

He paused right inside the door, rubbing at his face with the back of his hand as he first glanced around the room, then back out for any unexpected interference. He was still on edge after that intercom announcement, which only served to amplify how much he truly hated almost every moment spent trapped and near-helpless.

_{[from here]}

The girl had come easily, like fruit plucked from a tree. As a predator he had struck true, and in moments like these, the vampire was not ashamed to admit that it was through a predator’s eyes that he was seeing. It was when he saw the most clearly. And after everything, the sheer simplicity of the moment took a weight from his mind.

He had her, and he was tired and starved. Her blood was singing.

The second waiting room had almost always gone ignored as long as Aidou had been around, and that night was no exception. It was just them and the unbroken darkness of the room. For now, at least; time was still precious, and though he had staggered the girl, she hadn’t entirely lost consciousnesses, not yet. Out of the way of the doors, he brought her tight against his body and lowered his lips to the pale skin peeking above her collar. A second later his fangs pierced her neck.

Losing blood would slow the return of her strength, but not stop it. That was why he couldn’t linger. As much as he trusted himself, for his own sake it also meant he couldn’t take too much from her.

When he finally did pull away, fangs slick with her blood, he released his hold long enough to lift her onto one of the tables. The bad thing about an isolated area away from the cellblocks was that if she did pass out, there was no guarantee someone would find her before other unkind company did. Getting her off the floor and out of reach of smaller monsters was the best he could do.

Before he left out the door, he brought a hand up to wipe at his mouth. There had been something strange about that blood.

_{[to here]}

[From here.]

As he entered, Castiel confirmed that this room, unlike the one he'd checked before, was empty. That was preferable; the less people he needed to deal with, the faster he could find what he was looking for. What the room had instead was a plethora of doors. The one to the right most likely led into the room he'd previously checked, but the other (he did a slow turn to count them all) four were mysteries.

Granted, the double doors that were straight across from them seemed the most intriguing. "Check the other doors," he said, glancing over to Orihara with a blunt stare before he strode over to the double set.

However, they were locked tight, probably as tightly as the door out of that room had been before it had inexplicably opened. Castiel considered repeating the methods he'd tried before (kicking and bashing at it, in others words), but then he was struck by an entirely different idea.

"Do you know how to pick locks?" he asked, sharply turning back toward the boy.

[M12]

Klavier felt a wave of sickness as soon as that man's voice came over the intercom again. It was less apprehension and more bubbling anger than anything else. It wasn't so much the mocking that was grating as it was the sound of him sounding so smug, so satisfied with everything that was happening. So safe. Klavier told himself it was fine. Let the man believe he was untouchable. It would make it all the more satisfying when he was ripped down from his pedestal and made to face the consequences.

So last night's events had been done intentionally, after all. Herr Doktor was setting up a new system. A system of what, no one could say at this point, but if it resulted in anything like the previous night, it would prove to make things even more complicated than they already were. If anyone was to do anything, it would have to be now before they finished setting up whatever it was they were doing.

Herr Doktor was already mocking them to investigate to their heart's content, probably confident there was nothing to be found out there. But there was bound to be something overlooked. There had to be cracks in the system. And Klavier would find them all and see this place ripped down.

But first he needed to validate this claim about jewels and rings and whatnot. A teleportation ring? It didn't seem possible... But a lot of what didn't seem possible was fact in this place. Klavier opened the drawer on his side of the room and searched the inside. His good hand shuffled the contents about a little in search for anything like what the man had described, but there was nothing. The only "ring" in there was the small keyring. ...What were these keys for anyway? He picked them up questioningly and looked over the drawer again.

"...Nothing."

As expected, after the allotted amount of time had passed, the nurses started to move through the waiting rooms to inform the visitors that it was time for them to leave, whereas in the Sun Room King Kong was turned off and the staff quickly sprung to action to put the equipment away.

Meanwhile, the sound of intercom turning on cut into the hustle and bustle, but it was Lydia's voice which came through. "Mr. Landel is taking a quick nap," was all she said by way of explanation, as she seemed to be beyond making lengthy excuses for the man. "Nurses, once the visitors have said their goodbyes, escort the patients back to their rooms for dinner. Tonight there is steak and fries on the menu, with a slice of cheesecake for dessert and vegetarian options if requested.

"Enjoy your food and have a good sleep." Keeping it short, the intercom then turned off.

The last thing Claude heard was the Head Doctor's voice faintly filtering into the corridors of the ship before he found himself tucked beneath the sheets of his bed. It took a moment to register he'd even changed locations, but then he he abruptly sat up, fought the wave of nausea that washed over him, and felt the blankets beneath his fingers. The room. He was back in his room now. Under different circumstances, he might have wondered if last night had been some horrid dream, but the sharp pain in his eyes gave him a rude awakening. Hissing through his teeth, Claude buried the heels of his palms against his lids, only to discover two cold compresses had been taped over them.

"Good morning, Thomas," he heard the nurse's cheerful voice from beside his bed. Her sudden presence nearly made him jump out of his skin, and he sharply turned toward the source of the greeting, heart beating rapidly in his chest. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well today, but hopefully you can still enjoy some of the activities we have planned."

'Not feeling well' was a bit of an understatement. His hand hurt, his stomach kept turning with every movement, and it felt like someone had dumped a bunch of sand into both eye sockets. Right now, Claude just wanted the nurse to leave him be, but it didn't look like that was an option. Taking his uninjured hand, she gently tugged him out of bed, despite his protests that, no, really, he just wanted to stay in and sleep, please.

"I think getting out of your room a little bit will do you good," she told him. "I'm sorry your eyes are probably hurting, though. If you're ever feeling uncomfortable, don't hesitate to ask one of us for some pills."

"What about eye drops?" Claude asked tightly.

"Oh, no, too much of that could damage your eyes," she cautioned, and the sheer irony of the situation hit Claude so hard that it would have been laughable if he didn't already feel like crying right then. The nurse was as oblivious to it as always, however. "I know you usually go into the chapel during this shift. Would you like to go there again?" Claude didn't answered immediately, but that didn't deter the nurse. "Yes, I think that sounds best..."

In truth, he probably should have requested the sun room -- it was closer, for one, which meant the nurse didn't have to lead him as far of a distance. For another, lying down on one of their sofas sounded like a good option. But by the time Claude came to that conclusion, he was too stubborn to say anything, and he made his way up to the second floor, his footing slow, but steady.

The nurse deposited him on one of the central pews, next to the aisle, before leaving him to himself. Thankfully, it was still early in the shift. As he paused to listen, the room was mostly silent, save for the footsteps and hushed voices of the occasional staff member or patient who trickled in. But it was probably only a matter of time before others came. For some reason, the thought of being stuck in a crowded room made him tense, not necessarily because he thought anyone would pay him any mind, but because he simply didn't want it right then.

Somehow, the full implications of what happened last night hadn't sunken in: experiments, healing himself, the issue of whether he could actually go home after this, not being able to see, the ship, father. Instead, he just felt saturated with all of it, paralyzed by the horror of what they'd done to him, and the uncertainty of what it all meant beyond this moment. Claude took a shuddering breath, uninjured hand balling into a fist in his lap.

[For Guy.]

[from here]

Endrance had been bracing for impact, both physical and emotional, to the point where his eyes were closed as he stepped out the door. When he opened them, though, it was to a scene he hadn't been prepared for. It wasn't an unfamiliar one, and that was the strange part.

It was a place he'd been countless times, - the Warring City, Lumina Cloth. It would normally be a bustling city, filled with people going to the Arena. It was eerily quiet, but...either way, this was home. His footsteps echoed off the concrete as he took a few steps away from the Chaos Gate. Had this place been so beautiful before?

Endrance turned in a slow circle, taking in the scene. The lights, the night sky, the majestic-looking Arena in the distance...perhaps it was a case of absence making the heart grow fonder, but he didn't think so. He hadn't really looked at this area in that level of detail before now. It really was beautiful, but more than that...home. Home, and it felt wonderful beyond words to be there.

After a moment, he turned back to the others, looking - and feeling - happier than he had in a very, very long time.

"Haseo...we're...we're back. We're back in The World, this is...this is Lumina Cloth. But how...?"

[ From here! ]

Haseo let out a small breath once the now-familiar moment of disorientation had gone and he got a look around at his new surroundings. It might have been yet another room he didn't recognize, but if nothing else he was glad just to be out of the one with the caged monsters. What was irritating was how the more they explored the institute in this manner, the more Haseo realized just how little he'd managed to get around during the week he'd been there. It might have been a reasonably large building, but come on... most dungeons were bigger.

At least there wasn't any immediate danger to be seen, though he wasn't to be fooled again and made sure to shine his flashlight into the corners of the floor and ceiling in search of zombies or giant arthropods or-- whatever else might decide his party looked tastier than the dust they'd apparently been eating instead. Seeing the things in the previous room had definitely made his imagination a little more active.

"Well... now what?" he asked after that, leaning on the counter and throwing an exasperated look at the two accompanying him. As much as he wanted to have enough answers to be effective, the whole thing with the doors behaving like Chaos Gates gone random made his head hurt a little. If there was a pattern, it was lost on him.

[warped from here.]

This couldn't be good for Porky's stomach. With every warp, an extremely uncomfortable wave of nausea washed over him, and, while they weren't getting more intense, having so many so quickly made it seem like they were. Still reeling from the latest warp, Porky shut his eyes and held a hand out to steady himself. Ah, well. Maybe it would be worth it. If Porky could be warped anywhere, then there was a chance that he could end up somewhere with valuable loot.

Now, where did he end up this time? Porky tentatively opened his eyes, only to shut them again. Maybe there had been a mistake. Landel was an evil mastermind, but he certainly wasn't that much of an asshole, was he? Desperately hoping that he had been mistaken initially, Porky opened his eyes once more.

"Oh, come on!" Porky shouted, "You've got to be fucking kidding me! Another bathroom?! And it's not even the guys' bathroom!"

Porky squeezed his temples and sighed. What the fuck, Landel? How many times was Porky supposed to warp before he ended up somewhere good? He leaned against a wall, taking a few mints from his pillowcase and sucking on them as he rested himself. Those previous warps had really taken a toll on him, and if he just jumped into the next one, Porky wasn't so sure that he'd make it through intact.

"Alright." Porky muttered as he pushed himself off the wall, "It's go time."

Porky braced himself and ran through the doorway.

[warped in from here.]

The minute Endrance stepped through the door, he felt the pit of his stomach drop. He recognized this place from one of the first nights he'd been there, and he had hoped never to wind up there again. "This place..."

He couldn't turn and look at the cages lining the walls. Instead, he kept his eyes down, staring at the floor as if it would suddenly turn into a warp point - or wishing that it would.

"I was here one of the first nights I was in this place. It's...it's horrible. I don't know why it exists here, but I know I..."

Endrance finally lifted his head, though he closed his eyes not long after. "I'd turn it to dust in a moment if I could. I..."

[ From here. ]

One moment Haseo was stepping through what should have been an entirely innocent doorway, rushed by the urgency of tasks to be done and people to be avoided. In the next, he suddenly found himself with his bearings swept out from underneath him- just a second or two of confusion, maybe, but just enough to cause him to over-correct for a stumble he hadn't taken as he half-slid into the next room.

"What the...?" he started, mildly annoyed. The feeling strongly resembled something else, except that regardless of his appearance this wasn't 'The World', and this time there was no Sign or other awry gating method to explain the anomaly. Preoccupied by his confusion, Haseo didn't even notice the really troubling difference at first.

Unfortunately, that didn't last long. The entry room was a reasonably large area, but nowhere near the space of the one they were in now. Silently, Haseo aimed his flashlight into the darkness, feeling odd as it landed on the shapes of long tables that definitely didn't go where he'd meant to enter.

"Uh, this is the cafeteria, right...?" he asked, sounding equal parts surprised and irritated.

[from here]

Now that he was more aware of what to expect, Minato decided that the warping sensation was more disorienting than moving around in Tartarus. At least he didn't get dizzy when he was returned to the bottom of the monstrous tower. ...Unless he was already fatigued from fighting and climbing the entire night. But that only happened when he pushed himself too hard.

A flash of light, brighter than anything his flashlight could produce, caught Minato's attention. He stared ahead at the windows to the far side of the room; even the half-closed blinds couldn't keep out the lightning. It looked like they hadn't been returned to the hallway outside of the Sun Room.

He could see the outline of furniture even before he turned his flashlight towards the center of the room. The many gray chairs created strange shadows along the floor, framed ominously by the dimly-lit blinds and the sound of rain pounding on the roof and windows.

"...So it's random," he murmured, shaking his head slowly. "I don't recognize this room, either."

[from here and outside M4.]

"Haseo?" Endrance knocked once, having finally seemed to learn his lesson about just walking into M4 without knocking or stating his identity first. Once he'd knocked, though, the nerves really set in. What if Haseo wasn't there? What if he'd been taken again? What if --

Stop. Stop that line of thought. He said he needed you...and he'll be here. He'll be here, and if he's not, then you need to pull it together...for his sake. You can't be there if you're falling apart...

He took a deep breath, bracing with one hand against the wall, and waited. A few minutes would tell the story, either way. He could be patient that long.

[for Haseo.]

[From here.]

Edgar awaited Gren a moment before starting the trek to Celes' room. Though he'd not been to the blocks where the women resided (the nurse wouldn't allow him to even go near that hall, and he had an inkling why), he had a vague idea of their whereabouts. He only hoped he could find her room quickly- in the event she was still within the institute's walls, he hoped to catch her before she wandered too far.

He clicked his light on as he walked ahead of Gren, hoping it'd be easier to keep track of him. "The doors unlock each night, as you've probably guessed. No one quite knows why. Aside from tempting us with escape, Landel releases monsters to roam the hallways. I've only seen one, but heard of many others."

[M16]

Edgar made note of the intercom's nightly message. Visitors. He'd heard the prisoners received them on occasion, but hadn't put much thought into the matter. There were more pressing concerns at the moment.

"I've not had much opportunity to try escaping yet," he told Gren as he thumbed through his journal, taking note of the supplies he still needed. "Even if we could, there's still the matter of getting back to our individual homelands. It can't be as easy as leaving this place and finding a ship headed in the right direction. It's even more complicated for those who claim to be from different times entirely."

Then there was what he'd seen on the board- stories of patients being "released," as the nursemaids put it. Edgar doubted the validity of being "released" by the institution as a method of escape. It was more likely those who had been removed from the ranks had been killed, or perhaps had submitted to the brainwashing they were trying to-

The machinist froze as his mind entertained a dark thought. Celes. Her words just the day before had reflected someone who was ready to give up, her spirit more than battered from its long battle with imprisonment. If Luxord could disappear without notice...

He rose from his chair, the metal scraping against the floor slightly. Pulling the desk drawer open, he took his light and radio. "You'll have to forgive me, Gren, but there's something important I have to check." He looked over his shoulder at the other man, feeling a little guilty for leaving him with little explanation of the situation into which he'd been thrust. Edgar had been there himself once, and not everyone had enough skill in combat to defend themselves. "It might be best that we stick together for this evening. This place is more dangerous than it seems during the night."

[from here]

When he rounded the corner into the larger hallway, Kurogane determined to put the thoughts of being the only patient there aside. Even if that were the case, it didn't change his final goal for the night. The magician would have been helpful, but he was confident enough in his own ability to get things done.

Finding the feather remained a difficult task though. The basement had been less than helpful when it had come to locating the source of this place's power. But the third floor... no one had ever been able to reach it, yet they all knew it existed. The outside of the building proved enough. They just had to find the way to get up. If that meant forcing a hole through the floor, then fine, because right now it was the last place to go.

[gone here]

Although the trip was longer than usual on account of the rain and wind, the buses did eventually – and safely – reach Landel's Institute. No strange happenings yet; the patients were escorted off the buses according to the usual protocol and made to go to their rooms and change back into their normal uniforms while the nurses temporarily left them to retrieve their dinners and, in some cases, new roommates.

It wasn't long before the Head Doctor made one of his usual announcements:

"Welcome back, everyone! I regret I was unable to join you on your foray today, but you'll soon find that we had some new guests to attend to in your absence! And now, for your dinner: lamb curry, spicy, but served with naan and mildly seasoned steamed vegetables for anyone who might have a sensitive tongue! For dessert, we'll be serving each patient a slice of banana cream pie, and our usual drinks and dietary alternatives are available.

"I'm hoping you all didn't get too wet, and hopefully the hot dinner will warm you up in no time. Nurses, please escort our newer patients to their new rooms, and everybody, I'll speak to you again soon!"

The intercom clicked off.

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