[from here]]

After Albel had finally reached the second floor, he squinted into the darkness to look for any possible threats. The last thing the captain wanted was to be caught off guard by some stupid maggot.

There were three directions for him to take; left, right or straight ahead. However, he had never been to the second floor before, so he had no idea where he would be heading.

Standing here would be a waste of time, though.

Shrugging, he decided to head left.

[eventually went to here]

[[from here]]

Recluse continued walking, looking down curiously for a moment over the balcony into the Sun Room. Another brainwashed patient attacking others... It seemed the Sun Room was somewhere to avoid on the 'special counseling' nights... And yet people still walked blindly into it every time, it seemed.

He didn't let that distract him for long. He wanted to search this floor. Hopefully he could find the tools he was looking for here.

[[to here]]

[From here]

Usagi stared at the longer, wider hallway and stopped dead. The farther she got from her room the more vulnerable she was beginning to feel. She fumbled around with her flashlight, thankfully the light clicked on without a flicker. With a shaking hand Usagi pointed it to the left, not at all thrilled with how long and dark that hall looked... She'd try the right first.

Not wanting to be dragged along on whatever Mission of Annoyance Schuldig had planned for himself at lunch, Farfarello instead headed straight into the cafeteria, alone.

The tranquil haze of the drugs was fading and the thought of being stuck in a room with dozens and dozens of strangers was starting to make the hair on the back of Farfarello's neck stand on end. He'd spent the last year and change mostly in solitary confinement, except for visits from Schuldig and the times he was let out for missions, and being expected to sit calmly and have his lunch while surrounded by potential threats was not something the Irishman wanted to deal with; unfortunately, he had no choice, so at least he could get there early and find a table close to a wall.

Much to Farfarello's surprise he was not only early, but the earliest patient to arrive in the cafeteria. He almost expected to find rank, disgusting food, as a result--if patients were so reluctant to come to lunch, surely there was a reason--but instead was reasonably pleased by what he found. Two sloppy joes and a token piece of fruit later, Farfarello retreated towards the tables, only to find that not one of them was isolated enough for him. So, he grabbed a chair, dragged it into a corner, and sat down with his back to the wall and his tray balanced on his lap.

He would get through lunch without getting sedated again, no matter what it took.

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.

And so the day came, eerily similar to what the Head Doctor had foretold. For once, things didn't seem to be so bright and sunny as they should have been in this perfect Landel's world, and ominous grey clouds lined a stark sky that didn't seem to offer much sunlight.

As the intercom gave its usual daytime jingle, however, Dr. Martin Landel's voice carried as cheerily and lightly as always.

"Good morning, patients, and I hope a productive day awaits you! Not only may some of you be having your usual doctor visits, but some of you may find new friends--and roommates--in the new batch of patients that has arrived today. Er, I don't believe I have all their names written down, though..."

He fumbled through some papers.

"...Ah, yes, I seem to have misplaced them. In any case, nurses, could you please escort Group 1 to the cafeteria along with the other patients? Thank you very much!

"Speaking of the cafeteria, I'm sure all of you are wondering what we're having for breakfast today, hmmn? Well, today we have bagels and cream cheese, along with our usual side choices of bacon, sausage, eggs, or hash browns. For the bagel itself, you're also free to put other toppings on it, such as our lox or assorted pieces from our vegetable topping selection in the salad bar. As far as drinks, we have assorted juices, milk, and water, as per usual. Also as usual, we have the choice of regular toast and cereals."

He paused, taking in a deep breath, and then sighed.

"Ahhh. Doesn't that all sound good enough to eat?"

When no one seemed to laugh at his lame joke, he coughed and continued.

"Hmph. In any case, please give a warm welcome to our new patients, and--hm?"

His assistant seemed to have come and whispered something in his ear.

"Oh..." He said gravely as he turned towards the microphone, "oh, dearie, me, it seems as if one of our patients who was supposed to be introduced today suffered a tragic accident on the way here. What was his name? Bas--no, Adam Paine? At least that's what it says in the paperwork..."

He flipped through some kind of packet, murmuring to himself.

"What is--ugh the disorganization...." He cleared his throat when he realized he was slipping up in his friendly-leader routine, and he finished his announcement. "Nurses, if any of you come across an Adam Paine, could you please report to me? It seems as if... Nurse... Hondor filed some faulty claim in the name of..."

He paused. The pallor of his face could nearly be heard in the post-dawn silence.

"...Leeroy Jenkins."

The intercom clicked off abruptly.

[ All patients from GROUP ONE should be introduced in comments to this entry. If you have someone else who's active in your room, assume that they woke up before you, and if it's someone who has already been introduced or will be introduced later on in the day, have them already gone or sleeping, respectively. ]