The intercom jingle rang out both inside and outside the institute on speakers loud enough to broadcast clearly across the recreational field.

"It's been a busy day, hasn't it? Well, fortunately for all of us, it's nearly over, and we can all look forward to some rejuvenating shut-eye--that is, after dinner, of course."

The Head Doctor chuckled.

"Supper for tonight is going to consist of individual servings of chicken pot pie, with mashed potatoes and peas as sides. You may ask your nurse about the usual selection of drinks, and... Oh! Some of you might find that you have some new guests in your rooms belonging to... Group 5, I believe...? Please see to it that our new patients spend their first night at Landel's Institute as peacefully as possible!"

He paused, then added:

"Oh, and Nurse Hondor? Could you please report to my office? Thank you."

The intercom clicked off.

[ OOC: Remember how dinner shift works--everyone posts to this post with individual threads for each room. New characters waking up during this shift will do so in their respective threads, though if your roommate's player is unable to play with you during your intro, feel free to work something out so that your roommate is taking a nap or something. XD; ]

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.

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.

Despite the disturbing revelations and rather depressing mood of brunch, Tamaki was looking forward to Hosting once more. And he knew that at least two girls would be coming! He really did need to find a lady-Host, or a few. It wasn't very likely that every man who attended would be amenable to the usual Host attentions. No, they'd need some girls.

Real girls, not Haruhi-girls. Oh, Haruhi... Tamaki both missed her and was pleased she seemed to be keeping to herself and out of danger.

But now it was time to Host! The Courtyard was hardly on par with the gardens of Ouran, but it was pretty. And there were places to sit and flowers and all in all the best option available. Tamaki draped himself elegantly across a bench, and then scrambled up to tack a hand-written sign - done on journal paper - behind him. It simply said:

HOST CLUB

With that done, Tamaki nodded and lounged again, stretching out like the Lord he titled himself as to wait for the others.

Cid usually liked sleeping in, especially in a place as messed up and uninviting as this, but this happened to be one situation where he really wished he hadn't.

Right there, on the bulletin board. The Head Doctor and he'd fucking missed it? Some part of him wished he'd been there to take his eye out and another part of him knew he wouldn't have been able to. No man that powerful who hid for so long went to dangerous places without some kind of entourage.

Brunch sounded like it'd be filling, at least, though he nearly stopped in his tracks when the bastard announced TEA. TEA. It'd been a damn long while since he'd had some fucking tea, though with all the stress this place had found fit to rain down on his fucking head, it hadn't really been the first priority on his mind. Kinda nice, even if Cid was sure this was just some game the mother fucker was playing to get them all stuck neck-deep in Stockholm Syndrome.

He scanned the mostly-empty room for any sign of a familiar face once he'd piled waffles and sausages and syrup on his plate, though the person he really wanted to talk to was that Reynolds guy. "Spaceship" was the last word he remembered clearly before waking up in his bed, and dammit if he wasn't going to keep it stuck like glue in his mind.

He found a table where he could watch people come into the cafeteria and grabbed for his mug. The steam rising from his drink and the bag of herbs in it was nearly enough to make him grin despite it all, and it was with marked leisure and a little relief that he drank his goddamn tea.

Naminé realized all too late when she returned to her room that she had neglected to ask where Kairi's room was. There was a good chance that she was close by, but at the same time... there was a chance she was all the way in the very last halls. Or maybe she had already left!

Naminé didn't bother eating her dinner, leaving it on the desk with a note indicating it was alright if some scavengers wanted to eat it, and then she went out into the hallway, armed only with her flashlights and a few pens.

There was no way she could fight like River, but Naminé had to have something.

She had half a mind to call out Kairi's name softly as she wandered the halls, but remembered what happened last time. She had attracted some... nasty visitors to say the least. The woman with the poker. Naminé had never seen her again, so it seemed safe to assume that one really could die at Landels.

Shuddering at that sobering thought, Naminé hurried along a little quicker than she intended.

Hikaru and Kaoru had been so caught up in their little game that they initially hadn't heard the intercom go off. The new "ding" system was far less jarring than the old SCREECH, and as such, wasn't as easily heard, even in a place as quiet as the library. All too soon, the nurses came to separate the twins and take them to the next activity--lunch.

It only felt like a few minutes since breakfast, somehow, and yet Hikaru was starved. The lunch selection was ridiculously Americanized food of the "Pan Asian" genre, as bad as when his family had wanted Japanese food in California and had gone to the "nicest" restaurant in the English language guidebook. He cringed visibly when the surly cafeteria worker poured sauce on his rice--which was supposed to be plain--but...food was food, and he wasn't feeling terribly picky right now. At least it smelled all right.

One of the good things about being the first one into the cafeteria was having his pick of the tables. Hikaru chose one of the larger ones, saving seats for Kaoru, Tamaki, and (in a fit of hopefulness) Haruhi.

He hoped they'd come soon. He hated being alone.

[[From here]]

Snake scanned the area, and saw that it was empty. That was good. He waited for Fox to enter behind him, then closed the door silently.

"So," he whispered hoarsely, "I'm assuming you don't plan on visiting all of the ladies here. Who's the lucky girl?"

He wasn't going to let Fox off for that jab about CQC.

Nightshift always seemed to come far too quickly for Inara's tastes. She regretted not having the chance to talk more with Mal and the others and could only hope that they had some inkling of what they would be facing. Truth be told, the Companion wasn't entirely certain that she truly knew the extent of the horrors that took place during Nightshift.

As the Head Doctor made his mocking announcement, the dark-haired woman busied her with gathering together the most essential of supplies. A flashlight and some spare batteries would be obvious and further inspection revealed little that could be of substantial use to her. Inara would hardly want to be over-burdened if she had to run from anything this time. She'd been fortunate during her last encounter to have Lust around, but, until she could re-group with Mal and the others, she was alone and would have to make due. Of course, there had been no official decree from the Captain declaring a meeting; Inara simply assumed that they would try to find one another for safety's sake.

Besides, though it was somewhat difficult to admit, she was worried about him.

Flashlight in hand, Inara flipped the switch and made her way cautiously out into the hallway, careful to check both directions before stepping fully out of the room.

There was a grand choice of one destination on the Intercom message that made him even vaguely consider going there. Frankly, there was only so many interesting things you could do with confectionery, and the last thing he could handle right now was having to watch some annoying kid build a fully-functional gingerbread cottage with whipped-cream chimney smoke and a moving waterwheel constructed entirely out of chocolate. Artistic pursuits had never been his first choice - even as a kid he'd been drained to draw like a draughtsman, rather than cute little pictures of his family and house. He'd copied out his first gun blueprint at ten years old. Somehow, though, he doubted that iced gems had a good firing velocity.

Lying down on a full-length seat (comfortable, but rather sticky), he decided to catch up on a little sleep, or at least rest a while. Any other time, he would have gone off to explore, but he couldn't do a lot with this nurse hovering around him like a plague.

"Would you like me to bring you a book from the library?" she asked, politely. He nodded assent and answered a short list of questions about his literary tastes. At least something to read might shut off his emotions somewhat until he could think of a plan.

He lolled back his head, staring at the ceiling. He couldn't see any surveillance cameras in here, but imagined they were probably hidden somewhere. It didn't seem right to have a facility this big without any CCTV to speak of. Actually, now he thought about it, the security in this place was a joke. Apart from a few huge male nurses wrestling more resistant patients, he hadn't seen anything to suggest force was being used here. And he managed to spend the better part of the day completely out of reach of his nurse. It was a little too suspicious, he realised. She was probably aiming for him to give her the slip. But why?

His nurse returned with the book. He glanced at the cover. Sherlock Holmes. Well, it could have been a lot worse. He'd never found Holmes nor Watson particularly realistic characters, but it was better than a good deal of what he suspected he would find in that library.

Letting his body relax, he opened the book and began to read.

While Arts and Crafts wasn't all that bad, Gray Fox was greatly relieved when an intercom announced Lunch. He had almost reached the point where he was going to start eating more of the building materials.

Hamburgers. Not his first choice but he was by no means about to complain. Keeping his eyes on the so-far empty room, Fox made his way over to start the line and get his burger. Haphazardly picking out what he wanted to be on it. He wasn't a very picky eater, and, truthfully, he didn't think it was possible for a FOXHOUND agent to be a picky eater, at least, not after survival training.

The food actually did smell very good, despite coming from a cafeteria, and a hospital cafeteria at that. He took a seat that was near one of the walls and very quickly started in on his burger.

It had been difficult to figure out how many patients there were, since more had continually been brought into the arts and crafts room from somewhere else, but now, he had the feeling he'd be able to see just how large the patient population was.

And that man who looked like Snake would be here as well, hopefully.

Scar felt as if he'd passed out as soon as he'd gotten to his bed due to the admittedly strong fatigue and pain that having a badly injured arm tended to cause a person to feel, even one as conditioned and battle-worn as the stern-faced Ishbalan. He woke up feeling rested but regretful, and his fear that he'd wasted a Nightshift ripe with the possibility of discovered items and means of escape was confirmed as the intercom's metallic voice came forth and a bright-faced nurse opened the door and beckoned him towards the burly orderlies who were supposed to take him to breakfast.

The Ishbalan frowned a deep, dark frown. He wasn't quite sure if he could count the shameful number of days that he'd spent like an animal in a cage, and at this point, he wasn't sure if he wanted to.

He'd been tired lately, after all; perhaps some of the sentiment of hopelessness that certain other patients tended to exude was contagious for those who had seen more than their fair share of life and its losses. But no; simply wading in self-pity was no way to get things done; to use one's own self-loathing and use it as a motivation in the struggle for redemption--that was the salvation that Scar truly sought. Last night had fallen victim to physical exhaustion, but tonight he would increase his efforts tenfold to make up for the lapse into lethargy.

First, however--pancakes.

The days of the breadbasket seemed to be long gone as Scar entered the near-empty cafeteria with some feeling of foreboding that he was the first one to get his meal and sit down. He'd gotten pancakes and sausage, and more than a few fruits, not for the fact that he especially trusted the food here but for the fact that fresh goods had been few and far in between upon the harsh lands of Ishbal.

Scar's red eyes darted from the nearest nurse to the main entrance, and with hunger and thirst that no logic could quench, began starting in on the food.

Zack was right. He could just be moping around in his room, sulking over the news about the potentials experiments that he'd have to weasel out of. At least here they were stretching their legs and checking more of this place. It did feel good to be out from under the eyes of all those BAWLs. It was also a chance to extend the reach of what Kasady was calling "Operation: TRUST CARNAGE".

Not that he was going to get too buddy-buddy, because in the end, he didn't give a rat's ass about these other patients. It was just a first stage necessary to the vacation. Someone had to set the buffet up, and in the absence of kitchen staff, he'd have to do it.

And he had to admit, they'd grown far too used to just chasing prey into the ground. It'd be a cryin' shame if they lost touch with their roots.

"So, what're you in for?" Kasady asked to break the silence, as they arrived at the stairs.

Another night in this place. And, if the intercom was to be believed, more experimentation. Lust realized that she needed to learn the fake names of her companions, to be on the lookout for things such as this. She knew her supposed name, but no others. Ah well. She could only hope that Scar, Dias or River weren't among the ones taken. And pray that perhaps her master was.

As it was, she had told Ginji she'd find him that night. Perhaps she'd pick up one of the others along the way. River, at least, would be around here somewhere. Lust slid on her metal knuckle claws and headed out into the hallway, flashlight in hand.

The man on the intercom seemed in rare form tonight. That never boded well.

The day had been a long one. Roy groaned as he stepped into the Game Room - he hadn't even eaten at lunch, too distracted by Elena's discovery and then Greed's (and his own) outburst. A nap sounded fantastic, but he doubted his body would cooperate and actually let him sleep, as tired as he physically felt.

Somehow, he couldn't help ignoring the thought that if he wasn't part-homunculus, he would be even more fatigued.

Surprised to see he was the first in the room, the colonel figured he would actually make use of the facilities. He had to dig around a bit, but he eventually found a chess board. Smirking to himself, he sat down at a table and unfolded the set, placing the pieces on their proper spots.

He ran his thumb and forefinger over the white king piece. It was a goal he'd been pulled away from, but he'd get back to it. There was no doubt of that.

Then again, how would a half-homunculus Fuhrer be received? Especially after the entire fiasco with Bradley...

It was better not to think too hard on it. Roy started to play a practice game against himself. If someone else came over and wanted to join him, that would be all the better.

Time for lunch.

Nothing new there. It was at the same time, in the same place, but it was far from ordinary today. Sure, it was the Halloween celebration, or whatever the man announcing the daily activities had gone on about, but that was the least of Zexion's concerns. Rather, his attire was his new source of distress.

After showering, he had discovered the plain grey uniform he had become somewhat accustomed to was gone, for the most part. One of the nurses explained his wardrobe change was a gift from his.. family?

That was an astounding lie. He had to wonder, was there really an outside source responsible for all of this, or was it all an excuse to humiliate them?

While grudgingly attempting to puzzle out the costume, he asked every question he could think of concerning his 'family'-- what were their names, where did they live, what did they look like, etc. Sadly, all of his inquiries were cheerily brushed off, and he was led away to the cafeteria once he had dressed himself.

Naturally, he was not pleased once he arrived, looking like.. some.. humanoid penguin-dolphin thing in a beige coat.

Ugh. The shame.

Lust hadn't minded being ushered out of the dining hall in the least. She was still irritated over the fact that the woman from last night seemed so close to River. It was ridiculous to be jealous over such a thing, but Lust found herself unable to help it. She had precious few personal connections in this place, and in a strange way they were important to her.

But she supposed this was to be expected. People had ties from long before this place. She had her own, after all. But still...

Growling in frustration to herself, Lust stripped and entered the shower room. At least she could clean herself in peace for the moment, as she was the first to arrive. Lips set in a thin line, she turned on a tap and began wetting her long, thick hair.

As Ginji was ushered through the halls towards the cafeteria he felt a little dizzy. He felt like something was very, very wrong but he wasn't sure what. It wasn't just the fact that he had woken up in the middle of some strange place, or the fact that Ban was no where to be found. Something else was wrong. Something important. Something that he should be noticing but wasn't. He was sure that if Ban was here his partner would have figured it out a long time ago, but Ginji was at a loss. He realized he should be asking questions, demanding to know things, but by the time he opened his mouth to ask anything the smells of foods distracted him.

"Can I really have all the stuff the voice on the speaker was talking about?" he asked the nurse. He found it hard to believe that he could have eggs and waffles and sausage and fruit and cereal. That and he could have milk or juice instead of just water. He tried to remember the last time he had eaten so much. Probably one of those rare occasions that he and Ban didn't lose all their money before they could spend it. His mouth was drooling at the thought. That much food... all at once. It was like a dream. This had to be a dream. That would explain why he felt so out of it, so sluggish.

The nurse nodded and then handed Ginji a plate. He took it and, still not entirely sure that he was really going to be able to eat all of this, began putting food onto it, cherishing every item like it was platinum.

When he made it to the table he sat down and looked at the piles of food he had picked out. He looked at the fork he had also grabbed a little curiously before stabbing at some eggs. Strange. He brought the breakfast to his mouth and cautiously took a small bite.

It was really good!

Suddenly Ginji seemed to be a master at using the fork to shovel massive amounts of food into his mouth as quickly as possible. It was all so good and tasty! He completely forgot that he was in a strange place and that it was probably a bad idea to eat the food they gave him. It felt very good to be able to eat and eat and eat. He didn't even take a moment to realize that Ban wasn't there to steal what he was eating.