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]

The place was quiet, which made the situation too eerie for Matt to properly relax - which he needed to do at that moment. After the whole Kira mess went down, he was pretty sure they - the cops, those crazy Kira supporters (guns totally optional), and probably Near too - scoured the area looking for him. His car was probably impounded, or something - which totally sucked, but he figured it would be a snap for Mello to sneak it out for him, when the prick returned from whatever it was he was doing and helped Matt explain to everyone that there was just some huge mistake.

And then he turned the corner, into a surprisingly expansive room - obviously an institutional cafeteria of some kind, just as bleak and cold and sanitized as the bedroom had been. He frowned when he realized that he was the first one to make it here for whatever breakfast they were serving; where is everyone? he wondered. This place is turning out to be about as creepy as Silent Hill was the first time I popped it in. Fighting a shiver, he took a tray and gathered whatever looked good onto it before heading over and claiming a chair.

Alone was okay. Hell, alone was awesome.

[for Leela!]

Meanwhile, a nearly-empty Institute prepared for its unusually usual day of activity. Nurses bustled through the day rooms, tidying them up in the absence of large crowds, while just a sliver of sunlight showed through the high roof of the Sun Room. Although it was drizzling in Doyleton, it seemed the higher altitude of Landel's had spared it from the same precipitation – so far.

Newcomers and those who had stayed behind from the trip were treated to one of the Head Doctor's announcements, though it seemed a bit more casual than usual.

"Hello, all, and for our new patients, welcome to Landel's Institute!"

He seemed to be sipping at coffee. He swallowed and continued.

"Mm. Anyway, pretty much everyone's gone off to have fun on the field trip, as you can probably tell, but that doesn't mean that we can't enjoy ourselves! In the cafeteria, for example, you'll find a veritable breakfast buffet that includes most dishes and drinks in our usual morning roster, and better yet, you'll have them all to yourselves! Your nurses will escort you there in just a moment, and if the weather favors us, we might even be able to do an outdoor group activity! Who knows? Maybe I'll even referee!"

He chuckled, then sighed.

"In any case, I think I'll go enjoy some food myself. Have a very good first day, or an equally good usual one!"

The intercom clicked off

[ ALL NEWLY ACCEPTED CHARACTERS MAY POST TO THIS SHIFT. All character introduction should be made in response to this post. Please have your character wake up in a random room, as we have not yet assigned them. Thank you! ]