[F2. Continued from here.]

But not all light was gone from the room, at least not for long. After the corpse-like woman left the intercom, and after her serious-sounding male replacement had finished his warning, a faint golden light faded into existence. Rapunzel couldn't place the source right away - it seemed to be coming from everywhere in the edges of her vision, casting a bright haze over things as it strengthened. Quickly enough, however, she realized that the glow was familiar. Very familiar. Like so intensely familiar it hurt. The glow was coming from the top of her head, and it was slowly spreading down from the roots of her hair, down, down, down to the tips.

Rapunzel could only watch, dumbfounded as her hair grew. It grew and grew and grew and grew, spiraling into a pile at the foot of the bed, all the while her scalp pulsating with the warmth of her magic. "I... I-I—" She couldn't get a word out until it was all finished. Still not as long as it had been before, but there it was. Her hair was back, almost entirely intact.

She looked back up at the dark-haired girl, still gawping at the sight as the glow faded back into the darkness. "I... Oh my gosh, I can't believe it." Rapunzel sifted a hand into her locks, pulling a section up and drawing it through her fingers to make sure it was really there. "I-I guess I don't have to explain anymore. This is what I was missing! Why is it back now, though? I mean, I heard someone say things 'get better at night', but I didn't think...!"

Rapunzel pushed herself back to her feet, wobbling as she nearly tripped over the pile of hair in the dark. "Did something happen to you just now? Did you feel anything different? Tell me this isn't just me!"

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! ]