Despite the rough start and the heavier snowfall, the buses managed to stay on route and on schedule. With minutes to spare, they arrived at the gates of Landel's Institute, back to the waiting arms of the military. All pretenses seemed to drop at this point, and the soldiers again took on their patented gruff exteriors. Patients were filed out of the buses in an orderly manner, eventually being escorted to their rooms for dinner in much the same. There, as promised by the personnel, well-behaved patients found their purchases among their returned possessions. A few even found new faces, though whether they brought as much joy as bought goods remained unseen.

The woman manning the intercom seemed to have missed the notice about the day's trip as her announcement remained no different from the usual. "Attention all subjects and personnel," she said. "Lights Out will commence within the hour."

A pause.

"I repeat, Lights Out will commence within the hour. All personnel: please report to your stations. The General will begin his address once preparations are underway. Thank you."

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. ANY NEWLY ACCEPTED CHARACTERS MAY POST TO THIS SHIFT (but are not obligated to if you would like to wait for Nightshift or Dayshift); please refer to the new room assignments before posting. Thank you! ]

Though five days without bathing was hardly unusual for Rita, she was actually looking forward to showering today. To her, the last shift had been somewhat enjoyable, if only because it allowed her an opportunity to be alone with her thoughts for a bit. Of course, she couldn't be completely alone in the communal showers, but no one was rude enough to disturb her in there, which was good enough for her.

Once the shift was over, she re-applied the bandages on her leg and knee, dressed herself, and made her way to the cafeteria. The pain in her knee seemed to lessen as the day progressed, and her slight limp became less noticeable to herself. Hopefully it wouldn't impede her much come nightfall.

Upon entering the cafeteria, however, Rita found that she had more immediate problems to deal with. What was that slop they were serving?

Deaf to her complaints, a soldier quickly ushered her into the line for the pink gruel. While waiting, Rita became aware of a section in the room where edible food was being served... but apparently only to selected patients. Whose butt did they have to kiss to get that treatment?

After receiving her "meal" (using the word very loosely), Rita found an empty area to sit in. There, she made no move for her utensils, but instead glared at the plate of mush as if the food itself had somehow wronged her.

[For Woody]

After what seemed like an eternity of being amused, irritable, bored, in pain, in excruciating pain, and any combination of those, Guybrush was met by the same soldier who had led him to the cafeteria. He wasn't offered a trip to the Sun Room to check the bulletin board, but didn't push for it anyway. That would have been more walking, and moving was one of those many, many physical activities he didn't feel like doing in any capacity. Not today... or until next week, or whenever he'd stop feeling like he'd been on a date with a rough manatee named Large Marge. There was a slow minute of him feebly getting to his feet, then he followed the soldier without comment.

The comment came when Guybrush was handed a leather jacket on his way out the door. "A fine leather jacket... hah." He hissed as he pushed his right arm through the sleeve, settling to just leave the left draped over his shoulder. It was then he noticed the embroidery. At least Aguilar had a decent budget for clothing. If the pants worked, he'd be set.

There was something to be said about the General's methods, though. Why make the people who hadn't been in the food fight do the cleaning, while letting the guilty ones stand around? Sure, he wanted everyone to know who was responsible for the punishment, but wouldn't that just-

Oh. Wow, now that was a new level of crafty manipulation. Even LeChuck could be proud of it, if he wasn't behind it in some way. His disappearance made it possible- even probable- that his showing-up-and-playing-innocent-human-kidnapee routine had been an elaborate rouse, one even more diabolical than creating a carnival with which to recruit unsuspecting tourists into his undead army, more time-consuming than using a Mighty Pirate™ to look for a voodoo-sucking sea sponge so he could... get his mojo back? Oh yeah- Guybrush had died before that one reached Chapter 5. But if Landel's Institute was something LeChuck had cooked up so he could woo Elaine From The Past and change the future, then it was way, way more complex than his previous schemes.

And if it wasn't some incredible plot LeChuck had hatched because he finally grew tired of having his plans foiled? That made things even more complicated.

Guybrush made his way toward one of the benches, sprawling across it as he leaned his head against the backrest. Was the wall higher today? Maybe that was the aching in his chest talking. Either way, he didn't think he'd be going over it in an attempt to Escape from Aguilar's Institute™ that night unless they added a wheelchair ramp.

[Morgan]

Cleaning issues aside, Claire was honestly relieved when the word 'shower' came out of the bitchy soldier's mouth. She heaved a grateful sigh and more than willingly handed over her cleaning supplies -- she couldn't get rid of them fast enough. It wasn't just that the work was demeaning, it was that she wanted to get on with the day so she could hunt her uncle down and figure out what exactly they were going to do about this.

Of course, the issue with the showers was that it meant her uncle would probably be tough to find any time before lunch now. The adults and children got separated, on top of the gender separation. Most days she would be grateful for that kind of thoughtfulness. Today, she was just frustrated.

Still. It wasn't that long of a delay, and besides, how many days had it even been since she'd last gotten a chance to shower? Too long, that was for sure. It was a miracle she wasn't still bathing in her own blood, considering what had happened since Monday. Back on Monday, she was still brimming with hope and promise. Now she was scrubbing floors. It was really amazing what a fear coma and a psychotic nurse with scalpels for fingers could do to a girl's optimism.

Monday … Tuesday … Wednesday … Thursday … she ticked the days off on her fingers and calculated. Oh, man. It was Friday. A sudden disappointment filled her. They weren't just missing out on breakfast, they'd missed pancakes. Suddenly the punishment seemed a lot more severe and inhumane. That also meant it had been four days since she'd seen head or tail of a bar of soap.

Maybe she should have stuck to avoiding Pete. For his sake. As they were led back to where the bathrooms were (as if they didn't already know. As if they weren't coaxed out into creeping around there every night out of some necessity of their stupid cat and mouse game) she slowly lifted her blouse to her face to sniff it. The shirt came a little untucked and she promptly shoved it back in -- at least until they were in the ladies' room, anyway.

It was nice to get out of the uniform. As stupid and itchy and obnoxious as the usual one was, this one was a lot more confining and uncomfortable. It had to be some kind of miraculous, peak discomfort formula they'd used to pick everything out, because she was pretty positive nothing would be worse than those stupid smiley face sweats. The boots were a bitch to get off -- okay, a week ago? She probably would have felt bad for thinking of it like that. Today, she had spent hours scrubbing a floor that she hadn't done anything to get dirty. It was most definitely a bitch to get those silly patent leather boots off.

Once she'd waged the war of getting herself out of the uniform, she tried to take her time in the shower. Except for the part where that apparently wasn't allowed and the water turned viciously cold to propel her out of it as quickly as she could scramble for a towel. At least she'd gotten her hair rinsed. It was a meager accomplishment, but if she was going to hold onto the last of her optimism, she was going to have to focus on the little things so she could keep up her willful pride.

Getting the uniform back on was harder than taking it off, and she was ninety percent that her belt was upside down or backwards or something because it definitely wasn't following the seam of her pants but they couldn't honestly care. She pulled the boots back on and fidgeted to get her beret over her still-wet hair with a scrunched, disapproving face and then finished buttoning up and tucking in her shirt. It all looked a little haphazard, but at least she was considerably cleaner than she'd been. It was a give and take thing.

Same as the last time, her shower being complete meant being directed back out to the sun room to where the others would be gathering as they finished up, and she willingly went with a sudden renewed earnestness. The sun room was where the bulletin board was, and there was something she desperately needed to check on.

[ to here ]

[up on the wall, from here]

Leela walked along the wall, crossing over from above the sports field to above the courtyard area. It was silent down there, the sort of silence she couldn't help but think had creepy things just waiting to jump out of it. There weren't any people or monsters in sight, though, as far as she could tell. Leela still felt she'd seen better with one eye. Depth perception was overrated. It just made you jumpy about shadows.

She looked back at Gaignun to make sure the kid was getting along okay. "Are you feeling adventurous? I think we should head for the forest. And don't worry. I've been on plenty of deliveries that were supposed to kill me, and I've only died almost once."

That didn't come out as reassuring as she'd hoped. "And I've never gotten anyone else killed," she added. Yes, that was better. Impaled with a space bee's stinger, and shot out of a torpedo tube (where, she still suspected, Bender had not had savory intentions), yes. But everyone had always ended up just fine.

The jingle of the intercom seemed ill-timed this round, a fact that was further pronounced by the pleasant voice following suit.

"Hello, patients. This is I.R.I.S. again. Due to technical difficulties, we are unable to speak to you directly at this time. Until the matter is resolved, we will be announcing the remainder of today's events from our automated service.

It is now time for everyone to retire to their assigned rooms for Dinner Shift. Tonight's menu consists of premium spaghetti with Landel's signature marinara sauce, garlic bread, and a side of Caesar salad. Our dessert for tonight is chocolate chip cookies. In addition, we will be providing the usual selection of drinks, and vegetarian alternatives can be made available upon request.

We again would like to apologize for any inconvenience. Please contact your nurse with any questions or concerns you might have. Thank you, and have a wonderful evening."

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. ANY NEWLY ACCEPTED CHARACTERS MAY POST TO THIS SHIFT (but are not obligated to if you would like to wait for Nightshift or Dayshift); please refer to the new room assignments before posting. Thank you! ]

Well, that was the most exhausting lunch Elena had ever experienced. And she didn't get around to eating very much either. Her headache was a least somewhat bearable now, but as the shift ended, she realized how stupid it had been to not get something in her system before the shift ended. But that apparently wasn't in the cards. In fact, just as she stopped panicking long enough to try and get some food down, her nurse was sweeping to her side.

"Shift change, m'dear." Like she hadn't noticed everyone getting up out of their seats and leaving the cafeteria. "I'll take your tray for you, and you make sure to get out to the field on time."

"On time?" Her blank expression must have given away more than she realized, because the nurse was giving her yet another sympathetic look.

"You slept thought a lot this morning, I'm afraid. I'll explain along the way."

By the time they had reached the Rec Field, the nurse had explained most of what had happened with the food fight, and the tear gas, and it only served to damage her calm yet again that day. Of course she slept through something like this, and of course the boys and girls were split up this shift, and of course Elena would have to wait around for some uniformed man to call out her fake name before she could get to Stefan.

At least her last name was near the stop of the list.

"Bailey, Samantha-"

"Here! I'm here. Can I go back inside now? Please?"

Though she didn't even wait for an answer before turning back and heading for the building. As far as she was concerned, she did what she was told, and there was no good reason why she couldn't make her way to the Sun Room right this very second.

[to here]

Holy shit.

Y'know, she had a pretty intimate understanding of the feeling, and Ruby still was sure she could accurately describe the horrible discomfort in her face and lungs by saying they were on fire. Pretty apt reaction on her vessel's part, considering her face was furiously leaking from wherever it could in response. Her reaction was, in short, defensive. Not for herself, surprisingly enough, but Sam -- her eyes combed the cafeteria for him, but trying to open them was like pouring holy water straight in.

Not gonna happen. Just the attempt -- getting to her feet, looking around -- it was enough to make her head start spinning. She stumbled back a little. Hit the wall, it felt like, but everything felt pretty damn numb in comparison to the way her face and lungs were screaming. She opened her mouth to try and shout for him but all that managed to do was help her suck in more gas and she found herself on her knees, gasping for air.

God dammit, this wasn't working. With any luck, whatever angelboy had managed to tell him had got cut short thanks to the shenanigans of the staff and their fellow moronic patients. She clung to that hope as her hand balled into a fist, lifting up onto one of the chairs to try and lift her back to her feet as the staff began to filter back in. Her vision cleared up a little once the tears stopped rapidly generating in an attempt to get rid of what was causing the irritation to begin with, and she looked up to see a nurse, smiling almost like he was looking at a scorned child.

"Go screw yourself," she spat at him, hauling herself off the floor. Whoa. Vertigo. Not something she'd been prepared for, even though the lightheadedness should've been her first clue. Six hundred years of eternal torment, you'd think she'd be a little better about handling the shit. Maybe Alastair oughtta think about investing. She tried to muffle a cough for her own pride's sake by refusing to open her mouth, making her cheeks briefly inflate and her nostrils flare. It was better than letting these assholes see her coughing pathetically. What kind of demon--

Well. Not that it was news that Ruby didn't exactly measure up in all your standard demon categories in the first place. She shoved the thought off and took to glaring through her still-reddened, bleary eyes at the intercom as the familiar voice of who she figured to be the boss nurse around this place chastised them. Yeah, she was real damn sorry. Sorry she didn't bring her knife out with her. In the future, she'd be sure and try as much.

She probably should have thought to check on Senna, but … well. It's not like she had any reason to. They weren't friends, and the girl was just another source of information at this point. One of many. Ruby didn't spare a second look back as she headed out after the nurse to the greenhouse as ordered. Truth be told, the place looked pretty peaceful, and maybe if she was less interested in finding and checking up on Sam, she'd consider sticking around to play Martha Stewart.

But, she wasn't. She was just interested in getting the hell out of there and figuring out what was going on with him. That angel was starting to look like a bigger and bigger problem, and tiptoeing around the edges wasn't looking like it'd work too well for much longer. If she was nerfed, it wasn't like he had the smite first option here anyway, right? Risks were something Ruby tried to avoid. She didn't take them, she analyzed the situation and figured out how she could best control it based on what she knew. Landel was doing his damnedest to push her out of that comfort zone, though, and maybe a calculated risk was gonna be in order.

Walking through the massive glass room that housed the patients' shrubbery, she got to the floral portion of the organized shelving and pots and just stopped short. This was just getting revolting, and she was done humoring the idea.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me." She held her hands up briefly in a kind of mock surrender, then dropped them back down as she turned to look at the nurse. "Uh uh. Not happening. You want me to play Martha Stewart, you can haul me back to the Sun Room and I'll knit you a friggen sweater." The attitude wasn't going over so well -- the cursing, either. Apparently, it was unladylike. And, y'know, not appropriate behavior for a patient to be throwing at a nurse, but what the hell. At least she hadn't slugged him. That had to earn her some points and get her the chance to wander back towards the cafeteria and maybe get her a glimpse of Sammy, right?

It took a little bit of further argument, but nothing that Ruby couldn't manage, before the nurse was willing to drag her back in the direction of the sun room for socializing. Yeah. Socializing. Right.

[ to here ]

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.]

And here, again, the doors unlocked with the final word. There was nothing new learned in the speech--a word, a name that could be nothing, and Rei wished for movement and accomplishment over guessing at others’ games. Her fingers pressed at her wrists, a habitual gesture as she checked the suit’s sealant even here, then she took up her flashlight and moved to the door.

She gave her roommate a last nod, then slipped out into the hall.

[to here]

The commotion just after the intercom's jingle displayed the same kind of erratic energy that the Head Doctor had been exuding all day.

"Come on, get those papers out of the way – no, I don't...! Ah! Good evening, everyone, and I hope you all enjoyed the activities we had to–"

Someone whispered something in the background. The Head Doctor sighed and muttered: "Yes, Lydia, I know we don't have many organized activities...

"...But anyway! Next up is dinner with your roommates! Tonight, we'll be having turkey and gravy, which will consist of some moist slices of turkey breast and garlic mashed potatoes, garnished with steamed broccoli, grilled asparagus, and topped with delicious gravy. We'll be serving the dinners with small side salads and our dessert will be pumpkin pie – as per usual, we have alternate meals for alternate dietary needs."

The Head Doctor took a long pause. Lydia mumbled something in the background.

"No, I'm not dawdling–! Er... I'll talk to you shortly, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you! ]

Well, if it wasn't his favorite time of the week. They say distance makes the heart grow fonder. Of course in this case, distance makes Klavier feel like an abused, neglected animal who was only now being allowed a taste of actual food. These people were such savages. It was still absolutely absurd that they were allowed access to this room so rarely. But the tactic was also brilliant on their part, sad to say. Klavier was always at his quietest and most obedient on Music Room days. The perfect model patient. He would give them no excuse to deprive him of this precious time.

Today was going to be a little different, however. Not only was he given access to music today, but a bout of entertainment as well. Apparently that band that had been setting up tryouts for the last week was ready to get the show on the road and start their auditions. Normally, this was the sort of project he wouldn't hesitate to take part in. But aside from the injury to his left hand and shoulder, there were three critical factors keeping him from doing so:

1. The band was named "Sex Bob-Omb." Klavier may have missed the band scene, but he had no intention of attaching his name to some Tom Jones cover band.
2. There weren't many actual instruments in the Music Room; certainly not enough variety to form the type of band they want. The one who made the poster said something about improvising instruments through whatever means necessary. A noble goal, but again, Klavier was not so desperate yet as to reduce himself to playing with a box of tissues strung up with rubber bands. That was too pathetic an image to ever place himself into.
3. The person who had posted placed up a sample music sheet of one of their songs. Klavier had no idea how many people here could actually read music enough to know what it was they were looking at there, but he had been able to decipher it perfectly. Their music... it was kind of god-awful.

In short, this was basically a disaster waiting to happen. The hints were enough to tell him this was likely going to be something akin to nails on a chalkboard... amplified by five. So honestly, he should be as far away from this room as humanly possible.

But he was not going to let these people ruin his rare access time to the Music Room. No, instead he took one of their old CD players and a carefully selected CD of choice (for the sake of his sanity) and took a seat at one of the tables, turning the chair so as to get an optimal view of the show. Why not? No harm in indulging in a little "entertainment," yes?

[free to anyone who wants to watch this train wreck with him :D ]

(From here.)

Touya felt a little sick as the feeling of distinct disorientation set in. It was the same feeling he'd felt during the night when the doors all led to different places (or at least similar to it--he felt pretty damn disoriented).

He straightened up and looked back for Yue and Sakura, to make sure they were still there. But were they still there because they had been together during that night, or because they had been in the same room? Once he had a handle on where he was and Yue and Sakura's state, he took a look at the ring. The stone was gone. He remembered something about replacing it, but he'd get to that soon enough.

"We were here before," Touya said, looking around at spindly shapes formed by dark shadows of furniture and kitchenware.

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]

It was a start, for better or worse. It was an attempt to do better, even if she was doubtful of success. Well. With that one, she'd just have to stick close, is all! The last thing Nigredo needed was to be left alone.

When lunch was over, she realized she hadn't really ate but still, Senna wasn't hungry. She followed dutifully to the showers, and washed up carefully, then waited as they rebandaged her, listening to murmurs of how soon everything would come off. Good. That was something good. Senna shrugged into clothes, snagged her ribbon, and jogged out ahead of the nurse. Man. She really needed something to do to keep her mind occupied.

[to here]

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast.

"Can't I—"

Plucky, who had been busily loading a plate full of French toast and bacon, tittered. "I'm afraid not, Hanna, darling. A chat over a nice, hearty breakfast would do you a world of good, don't you think?"

"Aaaaactually—"

"Come on, let's find you a seat. Plenty to choose from this morning!"

For a long moment, Yuffie seriously considered doing something—anything—to act out. Punch her nurse, rub jam in an orderly's face, climb a wall and hang off the ceiling, jump on a table and parody Loveless… A ruckus like that would definitely jolt her back into gear, right? Sedation aside. And it'd turn Plucky's good day right on its head, which was always a bonus worth shooting for.

But, by the time she'd reached a decision—and it was an epic decision, a really awesome one; everybody'd appreciate the genius, she was sure—she was already alone. Her breakfast tray had been set down neatly by the nurse, who had left with an infuriatingly winsome smile.

"Wow," Yuffie muttered. Shaking her head, she picked a chair at random and threw herself into it. She kicked back, one arm slung across her eyes, to wait. For what, she wasn't totally sure. Some moron to decide that she looked like good company? That was how it usually went.

[from here]

Almost by instinct, Sakura took off her shoes and shouted, "I'm home!" as she entered through the door of the Kinomoto residence. However, she stopped as she remembered where she had just been and where she had been for the past week. Was it really her home? It wasn't some sort of illusion right? It wasn't a dream right? They were really back home again?

As she traveled over to the dry erase board to touch it and make sure it was real, she realized that she was not longer wearing the ugly institute uniform but rather her own house clothing. Everything felt so real, so it must have been right? No... Syaoran had seemed just as real last week and turned out to be a fake. There had to be another way to check if they were really home.

At that moment, Sakura realized something which had been missing for the past week was hanging around her neck once more. Ruffling through her clothing, she pulled out the pendant which extended into her magical wand. How did she get that back? That was something that wasn't easily replicable, but if that was back, perhaps that meant... The young girl reached into her pocket and pulled out the deck of magical Sakura cards which she had collected and transformed over the past few years. These were definitely unreplicable, so that meant...

Sakura looked back at the boys and said in disbelief, "Onii-chan... Yue-san... I think we're home."

[from here]

Yue had expected to see another room at the Institute when they walked through the door -- one, perhaps, that he hadn't been in before, but still somewhere that was easily recognized as being part of the building. He had certainly not expected to walk into a shop that he recognized from Doyleton, with the sound of the storm raging directly overhead instead of being muffled by thick walls. If he hadn't already realized that the doors were dropping them in places other than where they were intended to go this would have been a very, very clear sign.

"Doyletown," he observed, probably unnecessarily, but the way his wings flexed and folded restlessly was a clear sign of his agitation. The last time they'd been in town at night it had been a distinctly unpleasant experience, and he had no reason to believe it would be different this time. At least at the moment there was no sign of ravenous undead, though there were undoubtly all manner of unpleasant creatures lurking around here somewhere. "We should go."

There could be something useful in the store; if they crafted furniture here, as he vaguely recalled from Yukito's wandering around the place, there could be tools that would work as weapons. But would it be worth the risk of lingering? He thought not.

[from here]

Even though she had been expecting a different room, Sakura still couldn't help but feel amazed once she stepped through the door and showed up someplace else. Although the tile colors were different, Sakura recognized the general layout of the showers. If she was interested in showering tonight, this would have been a lucky coincidence, but from her recollection, the showers were on the first floor, meaning that they were actually much farther from their goal than before.

She looked up at her brother and Yue. "Well, what do we do now?" she asked in a worried tone. It seemed like they were going to have a hard time getting where they wanted with all the doors acting strangely. Was there any way they could avoid being taken someplace randomly, or were they going to have to keep trying their luck and hope that they were eventually taken to the room of their choice?