Although the trip was longer than usual on account of the rain and wind, the buses did eventually – and safely – reach Landel's Institute. No strange happenings yet; the patients were escorted off the buses according to the usual protocol and made to go to their rooms and change back into their normal uniforms while the nurses temporarily left them to retrieve their dinners and, in some cases, new roommates.

It wasn't long before the Head Doctor made one of his usual announcements:

"Welcome back, everyone! I regret I was unable to join you on your foray today, but you'll soon find that we had some new guests to attend to in your absence! And now, for your dinner: lamb curry, spicy, but served with naan and mildly seasoned steamed vegetables for anyone who might have a sensitive tongue! For dessert, we'll be serving each patient a slice of banana cream pie, and our usual drinks and dietary alternatives are available.

"I'm hoping you all didn't get too wet, and hopefully the hot dinner will warm you up in no time. Nurses, please escort our newer patients to their new rooms, and everybody, I'll speak to you again soon!"

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. Find new room assignments here. ]

As friendly as Leela had been, Rita was glad to be escorted away from her, for fear that some of that crazy might have been contagious. Abducted by aliens. Yeah, right.

When she was passing through the Sun Room, the mage stopped in the center to look up at the sky. One glance at the Adephagos would be enough to assure her that everything Leela said was nothing but crazy talk. All that met her eyes, however, were thick, dark clouds, and the splattering of raindrops against the ceiling. In this weather, she couldn't possibly confirm anything. Not that she was worried about being wrong, though.

"Terrible weather today, isn't it?" her nurse remarked. "Usually, the light from that window brightens this room right up." Since she wasn't saying anything important, Rita ignored her and instead thought back on the intercom announcement that had prompted their move. Whoever's voice that was... was he the one in charge? He sounded just about as professional as Rita imagined, with the squishing and dripping sounds in the background, and his irritatingly cheery attitude. And they were going to Arts and Crafts now? Really? What the heck kind of hospital was this supposed to be, anyway?

Rita had no interest in playing around with art supplies like this was some kind of nursery school, so she merely piled various snacks onto a paper plate and took it over to a table, where she ate and thought about her situation. Whenever another patient or staff member entered the room, she'd stop to give them a somewhat long appraising look, and then return to her thoughts and her sandwiches.

[free!]

[From here]

Elaine had tried asking a few more questions of the nurse on the way to wherever it was they were going, but didn't get much further than she had back in the bedroom. Why was she a patient here? Because she was sick and needed to get better. What was she sick with? Best to let the doctors worry about the technical things, dear. Could she speak to these doctors? It was their day off today. Where were all the other patients? Most of them were out on a field trip. A field trip to where? "Miss Turner" would apparently find out next week, so it wouldn't do to ruin the surprise now. Was there anything she could say or hand over that would get her more answers? What do you think this is, Miss Turner, some kind of puzzle? Relax! Enjoy yourself!

Ugh.

By the time they reached the so-called "Game Room," Elaine was supremely frustrated and at her wits' end with the nurse, and insisted on being left to "discover" some fun on her own. Thankfully, this did indeed make the nurse go away. Oh, she didn't leave the room, but she did stand to the opposite side of it, at least, giving Elaine some space. The nurse had mentioned earlier that there were other new "patients" still in the building, but so far, it looked like she was the first one here. Fine, she could work with that. She could find her own clues without having to ask anyone else, especially if the other people in this building were as helpful as the one she had met thus far.

Her investigation started over at the game shelf. She took care to appear as though she were simply trying to select a game, but really, just reading some of the names on the sides of the boxes was enough to give her some tidbits of information. Of course, there were standards like chess, checkers, and Snakes & Ladders present, as well as several various decks of playing cards (thankfully, no Monkey Island™ Official Trading Cards; what had she been thinking, licensing her image to that thing?). Most of the others, however, such as Candyland, Sorry!, Trouble, Monopoly, Life, and Risk, she did not recognize. Pulling the Trouble box off the shelf, she found it brightly coloured and slickly designed, with a high quality, (gasp!) non-sepia-toned photograph of a child's finger pressing down a clear bubble on the front cover. Again, like the bedroom, the hallways, and the lighting around her, this game looked considerably more polished and advanced than most things she had seen in the Caribbean. Wherever she was, the people running it were likely on the cutting edge of technology and probably rolling in pieces of eight.

She took the game over to one of the mahogany tables in the middle of the room, settling down into a delightfully comfy chair. "If this is a curse, it's probably the nicest one I've ever been under," she murmured to herself in bewilderment, pulling the lid off the box.

[Closed to Morgan.]

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

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