For once, HK was working very hard to hide a giddy facial expression as he met his nurse at the door. He'd already hidden his scalpels in his clothing. The wonderful, sharp implements of doom would be needed today. “Statement: Despite my reticence towards all processed meat and plant products, I am experiencing intolerable levels of hunger,” he informed his nurse. “I require an especially large meal.”

It was the easiest and best excuse to load his food tray with several of these 'inglish muffin sandwiches', and two glasses of white milk. He then found a table strategically located in the center of the refueling area, and waited. He needed the room as full as possible before the Evil Plan could begin.

[Free, but planning doom upon all.]

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he could have thought of something!

As much as he didn't like to admit it, it was unlikely his former roommate was still within the Institute's walls at this point, though the Scarecrow wouldn't know for sure unless Kaiji returned to visit him as Dorothy had, encouraging his supposed recovery. There was still the concern that Landel, despite his vile methods, was actually right and he was suffering from the delusion of having been a scarecrow in Oz. After all, that movie had been a pretty elaborate trick. Would he have planted it in town on purpose, knowing the Scarecrow would be taken there the night of the enchanted doors? And how could he guarantee that once he did find it, he'd take it and actually watch it? There was so much guesswork involved- it seemed the Wizard Landel either liked coincidences or he had more power on his side than any of the patients could have guessed.

The Scarecrow stopped by the bulletin board before heading for a seat, considering writing a note to his friends to check on them. He'd heard from Depth Charge, Remy, and Kibitoshin within a day's time, so he figured they were probably fine (as fine as Depth Charge could have been after last night, anyway). He'd seen Mele and Scar the day before. He put a finger to his head, thinking- he'd not heard from Abe or Sangamon in a day or so, but being professionals, they were probably very busy. Perhaps a note would be best for them.

[Kibby]

With sigh that toed the ambiguous no-mans-land between soft and explosive, Yuffie collected a plateful of waffles with all the toppings. She was sure that, if nothing else, it'd making a pretty satisfying splat if—when?—she launched it at somebody's face, and that was all that counted.

"Hanna, isn't that a little much?" Plucky asked, doubtfully.

"Uhhm. No. About, like... a little while ago, I managed five caramel apple pies with ice cream and berries and, y'know, I think there was a gallon of soda involved at some point." It wasn't the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. There really had been five caramel apple pies, but Cloud had ended up wearing two and a half and the third had taken a vacation to Boobsville (Tifa had loved it. Really. Really). The moral of the story (as she'd told Marlene and Denzel later) was that anything was game, just as long as you could run fast enough afterwards.

The nurse nodded slowly. "I… suppose. Well, I'll leave you to it. See that you behave, won't you, dear? You need to set a good example for the new batch of patients."

"My examples are the best examples," Yuffie proclaimed, with the dark-bright grin that still came so easily, no matter how little she felt really felt it. It lingered even when the nurse had flitted off to deal with another charge, but there was an edge to it. What the edge was, Yuffie couldn't say. Didn't want to say, after what'd gone down last night. Nah, she had better things to do; things like sitting down and waiting, just waiting, for Cloud or some other sucker of an easy target to walk through the door.

[HARLEY HARTWELL o/]

[To here]

"Made it..." She whispered triumphantly as she walked quietly into the dark and quiet hallway first. It was hard to decide where the best place would be to stand since once others began to flood in, Asuka could easily be overshadowed by the taller adults. "Hmmm..." The best she could guess was to hug the opposite wall by the doorway and hope she would pick out the two members once they entered.

Remember, Asuka, you aren't the veteran here.

This wasn't NERV anymore. She had no one under her to display her impressive and extensive training to. The redhead was a newbie like the ones she was going to be working with, though perhaps a bit more intelligent. This first mission was important for popularity's sake. She needed to play nice for now, gauge their strengths and weaknesses until she knew who she could topple the easiest.

[Waiting on Agatha and Zevran]

[From here]

"Ah...!" This wasn't the right hallway yet, but he could tell it was close from the fresh smell of patients off in the distance. He continued to jog briskly down the hallway, making sure to control his breathing so he didn't get winded so easily. There would be a lot of running (he hoped, at least) this night and it would be good for him to return to his basics in order to ration his stamina. Unfortunately, honing his stamina did nothing for his irregularly terrible night vision. Out of nowhere, he bumped into the wall beside him, squawking like a bird at the sudden impact.

"Jeez..." At least he only got hit on his forehead, that was the thickest part of him really. Keeping one small hand on the side of the hallway for safety, he continued forward, grumbling softly.

[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]

Asuka had almost missed the eerie, parting words of the head doctor as she hustled around her room. Everything had been eaten so she would have plenty of energy to burn all night. Her roommate never returned to the room, which was more than fine with Asuka. It gave her free reign to bustle around their compact prison cell, grabbing her baseball bat from the wardrobe against the wall, as well as her red jersey Junpei had given her. She wrinkled her nose every time she saw it, but it was her favorite shade of red. It made her stand out and that was very important. The eva pilot also remembered to take along her radio this time after Okita had stressed how important it was.

Since there had yet to be any regular pattern from the nurses suddenly walking in after dinner was handed out, Asuka was confident her preparation would not be discovered. True, her roommate could walk in any minute along with her resident vulture, but the head doctor's broadcast was already running. It wasn't likely she was here any longer. It was the same superficial yammering as the night before and the night before that, so the redhead didn't bother paying much attention. The institute grew silent and dark soon after as Asuka tugged her jersey on over her regular uniform. It was in her struggle that she heard the strange chuckle and the ominous message thereafter.

Well, it was either for them or for another person in his office. Either way, it seemed this night might get interesting. It was hard to manage, but Asuka successfully grabbed her flashlight, radio, and baseball bat before leaving her room for the main hallway.

[To here]

Lunch had taken his mind from his worries, if only for a few minutes. But after the intercom sounded and the nurses began leading patients onto the next activity, one look at the bulletin board brought everything back in full force. No replies from Ashton, Dias or Dad. By now Claude felt like he was practically counting down until the end of the day, when he was going to have to finally grapple with the real possibility that most of his friends from before Landel's, as well as his own father, had fallen victim to the institute.

And now he was going to have to deal with his mother being here on top of that. It didn't seem like a coincidence that she'd show up right when his father's whereabouts were so up in the air. But what did it mean? Why couldn't Landel leave his family out of this?

Normally, the announcement about new video games would have made him perk up, but his eyebrows only knit together with concern as his nurse led him into the game room. That didn't seem to stop her from trying to get him to unwind, though.

"Oh, come now, Thomas, you've worn that expression for most of the day!" she told him with a frown. "Why don't you have a bit of fun now that your eyes are all better? I'm sure you could use it."

The last thing he wanted was to be reminded of his "sleep studies", he darkly thought to himself. But before he could protest, his nurse had sat him down in front of one of the television screens. There was an old gaming console, one Claude had never seen before, and he glanced at her with a confused expression. "Go on," she encouraged as she placed one of the controllers in his hands. "I know how much you enjoy these kinds of things. Someone will come play with you soon, too, I'm sure. Doesn't that sound nice?"

He didn't have time to answer her, because she'd soon bustled off to tend to some of the other patients. Claude watched her leave with a sigh. He realized the daytime staff meant well, which made knowing what they turned into at night even worse to think about. But now he was just being negative for the sake of it, wasn't he?

Taking in a small breath, he reached over to the console and turned it on. As long as he was waiting for some kind of answer from the bulletin, there probably wasn't much he could do except pass the time. Claude watched the title screen appear on the television, his expression growing more curious in spite of himself. Super Mario Bros....

[For Prussia!]

[from here]

It was a race. A fight against patience and a Song's call. Still, the sedation's dredges churned through him. Two close at hand had a potent effect--much like the night that they were left in that town, and the morning after. Rubedo had came then. Came for them like something out of place, and wasn't that so ironic afterwards--when Albedo knew what he knew now? How many times would a twin appear to abandon him to harshly? How many times would Rubedo make promises only to break them--tear them to pieces like he did Albedo--in the perfectly precise way of those who knew how to break you down because they knew you so perfectly.

Was that how Rubedo had killed him? Or had Albedo forced him to it? His twin wouldn't say before, and asking now was too much like dead blood rotting in veins--he no longer cared, no longer needed to know how easily it was for his twin to rip him asunder. How joyous Rubedo must have been. If that night was any hint, his twin hated him with a passion to rival man's hatred toward god. And wasn't it the same. This. In ways it was the same. An existence meted out, for what it's worth, and then you were simply trapped in it. Trapped in it and stuck stagnant where you were, bound by that other, unless you forced your hatred forward to strike down the other.

To kill god? It seemed too quaint to entertain.

Be it that he woke as the last shift was ending, Albedo had been escorted to the cafeteria early. He took what was offered without a word, sat in the back without a sound, and sipped at the water put in front of him politely; a hand curled around the cup lightly, fingers loose. Eyes burned into the entrance--for Nigredo or Rubedo, either would suffice. The doubt that his twin would come to him was faulty--to ignore them for a week and then vanish as if they were nothing spoke of only distain, whatever Nigredo chose to believe. The eldest of them hated them both. This was truth. The only truth that Rubedo had shown Albedo, in thought, word, action, and deed, in the two weeks that they had shared here.

So Rubedo was to kill him. Well. Never say Albedo accepted his destiny. Yes, he would die by his twin's hand. But first he would rip Rubedo's throat out, claw out his eyes and press them into his beloved's mouth--see the lies you spew--lift his tenderly beating heart for all to see and then crush it.

This, Rubedo, is what you've done to me.

[...for the twin.]

Scar possibly couldn't have been more thrilled at the prospect of being escorted to the library. He had visited this particular room plenty of times to know that it was entirely useless and uninteresting - like most daytime activities, for that matter. Still, the nurse seemed rather convinced he'd like one of those silly books filled with papers and papers of those silly symbols he could suddenly understand for reasons that still puzzled him. These symbols didn't quite tell him anything interesting either; if he'd wanted a silly story he'd listen to that senile baboon back home. Instead, he felt like he was particularly mocked with this activity. He had been blinded last night, only to be dragged over to something that required his eyesight as soon as it had returned.

Not caring whether he was taking the situation way too personal, the former lion opted for glaring to the spine of a book - with words reading 'Lolita' (whatever that may have meant) along with a name he didn't care the slightest bit about - as if everything had been its fault. The truth was that Scar was this close to snapping, and though breakfast had been a welcome distraction it hardly did anything to defuse his frustration and anger.

Especially because he had no idea when something like that would happen again. Or what else they had been doing to his head...

[For Naraku!]

There was no telling if the next announcement came hours or minutes after the previous one, but regardless of that, it did come on with the onset of dawn. Like clockwork, like always, someone was there to greet the half-groggy patients as they woke up in their beds.

Except this greeting got off on the wrong foot, starting with a harsh cough that persisted for a few seconds before the speaker recovered.

"I apologize for that," the head nurse said, without any further explanation given. "As today is Tuesday, it will be the first day of therapy for the week. But before that, all patients will be taken to the cafeteria, as always, to eat their breakfast. We're serving pigs in blankets with fruit, scrambled eggs, and tater tots on the side. Please enjoy juice, milk, or water as possible drinks."

After another coughing fit, the nurse continued. "The Head Doctor will most likely be with you after your meal. Thank you."

And the announcement ended, signaling the nurses to go rouse the patients from their sleep.