[Geass is now under effect]

It wasn't the intercom that jolted Dean awake. Or, at least, he didn't think it was, 'cause it wasn't that same start you got when you were surprised by some egomaniac suddenly running his mouth off on the intercom who loved the sound of his voice and made sure you did too. Or, that was usually how it went, except Martin Landel - or whoever it was, the raspy croak made it hard to tell this time - for once kept it short. No, it was something else. Not just getting startled awake. Dean couldn't describe it, only that it was like a switch had flipped and suddenly...suddenly he just knew he had work to do. How else to explain it? It was like a hunch, but way, way stronger. Rolling out of bed, he found there was no room for any lingering memories of his nightmares or the constant cold sweats or waking up and just needing to know where Sammy was as he groped about like a blind man in those first few terrified seconds, as if he was a kid again. Not when everything was Okay with a capital O. There was a job to do and Dean Winchester knew he was the man to do it.

Hell, he was the best man, the most qualified. The only man.

Not that Dean could say where he got this sudden boost of confidence. Any other time, he would've thought it weird but now? The hunter instead just headed straight for the closet after turning on his flashlight so he could see, pulling on his clothes. M31. Had to report to M31. That thought kept circling in his head and though Dean dressed as fast as humanly possibly, practically throwing on his necklace and his favorite old leather jacket, it didn't seem fast enough. Dean had just enough time to snag his bowie knife before that compulsion to move and move faster kicked him in the ass and got him into gear. Dean didn't even spare Angel another look, didn't care he'd seen where he'd stashed his own weapon - sure it wasn't as big as Angel's ax, but still - and instead just left the room with a single-minded intent. A man on a mission.

Dean liked feeling like this. He liked it a lot.

Thinking about how he was going to get the M31 and do whatever he was supposed to do there made him feel good, like he had a purpose and it wasn't gonna blow up in his face like everything else did these days. Dean had a new spring in his step as he navigated the dark halls; spring or not, though, he also kept focused, listening for any signs of anything out to kill him in the darkness even as he moved quickly. Couldn't do his job if he got tagged, after all. Despite having this mission, it wasn't like he'd lost his sense of self-preservation - sure, that was kind of a moot point for him these days, but he didn't really want to die if he could help it. He'd make that year last, dammit. Get his money's (or soul's) worth.

As for Sammy...Dean just felt somehow he'd be okay. For all they knew, whatever he was gonna do at M31 would help his little brother with their ghost problem.

Even if it didn't, there was no changing the fact he absolutely had to get to M31, no questions asked.

[To here]

There wasn't any jingle as the intercom came on; it sounded like the Head Doctor was still having issues with the system, and it also seemed like he was none too pleased about it.

"Well, everyone, I hope that you all had more fun this last shift than I did! Hahahaaa..."

His weak laughter trailed off. His office chair squeaked.

"In any case, as you all probably know already, it's now time for dinner! I'm sure you've all worked up an appetite after all that repairing – er – exercising, so I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that you'll be served generous portions of spaghetti with delicious tomato sauce and, if desired, meatballs. For sides, you'll be having some freshly baked garlic bread and, if requested, a Caesar salad. Our regular drinks are available, and for dessert, we'll be serving some delicious strawberry gelato.

"And, now, I suppose it's time we get back to this wiri–"

The announcement cut off abruptly.

The sound of the intercom jolted Brainiac 5 back to full awareness, and he realised he'd been starting to doze off over breakfast. He hoped he hadn't been boring Clark, but it wasn't easy for him to maintain conversation considering his current condition.

As soon as the announcement had ended, a nurse approached and took a hold of the back of the wheelchair. "Thank you for keeping Michael company and making sure he wasn't feeling too down, Kal," she said. "But he's going to try and get some rest now."

Brainiac 5 wasn't given enough time to do more than give Clark a small smile (and file away the name 'Kal' as interesting) before he found himself being moved out into the Sun Room. With a small amount of hoarse pleading, he was allowed to take a moment to check the bulletin, but then the nurse insisted that he try and rest and, after moving him into some sunlight, left him to his own devices.

Well, perhaps a few moment rest would be beneficial. Particularly if he wanted to be able to hold a conversation with Clark tonight.

[Wanted: one Psycho Boy Wonder. Spanky pants not required.]

Even when he shut the door behind him as he stepped into the still deserted hallway, Tyki didn't really know what to do for tonight. Going after Miss Shinigami again could have been something interesting to do, considering their fight hadn't gotten much further than getting scorched by some spell she did. She was still very much alive. Maybe Signum had succeeded in a sense, though killing her had been fun enough. It had been some time since he had enjoyed some proper killing after all.

But maybe it'd be more entertaining to bother her another time, when the death of Lady Knight had sunk in properly. That, and the Noah simply couldn't be bothered with searching the whole building anyway.

Tonight, he decided, was going to be free of things he had to do. Because obligations were usually quite the pain, and the Millennium Earl wasn't here to give him orders anyway.

Now, what to do? Maybe he should go and see what's in the basement. Hopefully, it'd be something entertaining.

[To here]

[Currently in M01, from here.]

Kurt exhaled loudly and suddenly when Kon sat on him. Jeez, way to knock the wind out of someone! Kurt was barely half Kon's weight, he would be crushed!

"I said I give! Give!!" He shouted, struggling to get Kon off of him. The announcement came on, though, and he looked up to listen.

He was... snoring now. Seriously, someone had to smack this guy one. He looked back up at Kon, everything a bit clearer in the dim light now. His tail slid out from under his body, and it poked Kon's leg as if to say, 'I'm being crushed here--help?'

"My powers hurting me?" he frowned. "No, but I haven't really used them. Except for that one time when I fell off the ceiling." And how embarrassing had that been? Oi, he'd never live it down. "Why? Are yours hurting you?"

Yue was all too pleased to leave the cafeteria by the time lunch was over, even if he still wasn't satisfied that Fai was properly taking care of himself. It was clear that Touya hadn't accepted the answers he'd been given and intended to find out just what the guardian wasn't telling him, and being watched so closely was beginning to get uncomfortable.

It was clear that the truth would have to come out at some point, especially if they were going to be spending any amount of time together. Avoiding him was entirely out of the question, but at the same time Yue stubbornly refused to consider the idea of just outright telling him about what had happened in the last week. It was a dilemma indeed, and only served to make him even more irritable than ever.

How could he admit any of it? That he was weak and crippled, betrayed and altered by his creator? That he'd almost broken the promise he'd given in exchange for Touya's power? The latter he couldn't help but be reminded of every time he saw this Touya, who had only just gone through it, and would remember it even more clearly.

Fortunately Yukito was staying silent for the moment, although he could feel his other self's disappointment at being unable to speak to Touya so far, and it didn't make him feel any better.

In the midst of all this Yue was rather dismayed to realize that the nurse wanted to lead him to the music room, of all places: that was the room where he'd met the Sakura-who-wasn't-his-Sakura the week before, and needed neither the reminder nor the inevitable noise in that room. He abruptly halted in his tracks and refused to continue on. The nurse seemed initially disappointed, but finally agreed to let him stay in the Sun Room instead; the guardian found a corner in which to stand, arms folded across his chest and lost in his own brooding thoughts.

[for Sokka]

That had been a very interesting shift, Miku decided as she was wheeled around. Not only for making a new friend in Endrance (well, perhaps not friend, but very kind acquaintance), but for the overload of unwanted information from the bulletin. It was enough to make her want to hide until there was no chance of a blush ever forming on her face (and ears, and neck and anywhere else a blush might decide to raise its wily head).

Her nurse was oddly quiet for once, as she gathered her meal (vegetable pizza and milk) and wheeled Miku away from the crush of other patients being herded in. Well, then it would be a quiet lunch, she decided.

"Now, Alice, I expect not to see a crumb of food left, do you hear? Not a crumb," her nurse chastised her gently and Miku winced. So, they were noticing. She'd have to be more careful to eat a little more.

"Ah... yes. I'm sorry," Miku ducked her head and started picking at her meal with her knife and fork. "I'll eat." Even if the nurse was really a monster at night, she hated that tone of disappointment. She sighed and picked at what appeared to be a piece of broccoli on her pizza.

[For Sousuke]

[From here.]

"It's not a problem," Sousuke replied, hoisting Miku a little higher on his back as he spoke.

Miku wasn't heavy by a longshot, but Sousuke was starting to feel as though they had been walking for much longer than he had anticipated. There should have been a road or some sort of landmark by now. He couldn't afford to show that he was nervous, though. He had to keep up appearances for the sake of Allelujah and Miku. If either of them knew that he was having second thoughts about this operation, they would realize that they were lost in the fog and possibly panic. So he pressed on, still keeping a hold of Allelujah's sleeve, determined to find something.

[from here]

Maybe he'd follow, maybe he wouldn't, she thought off-hand, dropping down to the ground below effortlessly. He was sure pissed enough that he might just walk off. And the eye thing? Senna had no idea what that was. She'd never seen anything like it before. What'd it mean? Was he human, or not?

The light from the moon shown down on mountains not far off in the distance. There wasn't a lot of stuff that she could see so far, rocks... grass... more rocks... She guessed that was where the exploring came in.

She stood there for a second, waiting for Reid to drop down, and waiting for the chewing out she'd inevitably get.

[from here]

She almost wished that she hadn't went last night. Because standing in this field again, in the same place she had been when she felt Hitsugaya die, was surreal. There was no one out here this time--no people, no kids, no mourning Shinigami, no virgin-eating birds. Just the chilly wind. She wrapped her arms around herself, shifting her flashlight and spear.

Senna moved close next to the buliding, hiding in the shadows and peering upwards. No birds so far. Maybe they'd be lucky. That guy better not show her up. Though she had to admit, wearing her Shinigami uniform was a lot warmer than the stupid outfit they gave everybody. And at least there was no more damn smiley face staring at her.

[Waiting for Reid down here.]

[From here]

Tyki casually glanced around for monster activity as he stepped into the next hallway. There were patients nor monsters around, but he hadn't really expected otherwise anyway. After discarding some of the ash from his cigarette on the floor, he headed for the double doors on his right.

[To here]

There was little that stopped Tyki from heading out this early, because he had been looking forward to tonight's game for the past couple of days. No one should be able to kill Rhode, his family, and expect to get away with it. Miss Shinigami would be sorry, alright.

The Noah pulled his hair back and exchanged the glasses for his knife and flashlight. Too bad he didn't have a chance to collect more interesting toys, but he supposed there was nothing that could be done about it at this point. Without any further delay, he stepped out into the hallway and quickly headed towards their meeting point.

After all, it wouldn't do to be late...

[To here]

The Head Doctor sounded rushed, as usual, as he began speaking on the intercom.

"Good evening, everyone, and I once again express my highest hopes that your collective therapy sessions and good, old fashioned relaxing went well! Now, perhaps we shouldn't excite you at the end of the day, but... I fear I must! You see, we're just beginning to bring in our new batch of patients, and they will join their new roommates come dinner. Yes, yes – apologies for the slight disorganization, but we can only accommodate so many people at once, right? Right.

"As for dinner itself, I'm sure many of you will enjoy it, even if it isn't quite authentic. We have shrimp and vegetable tempura along with chicken teriyaki; there is dipping sauce included, along with a bowl of rice, bean sprouts, and edamame – that's soybeans. In addition, your dessert is some delicious green tea ice cream. Mmm!

"I hope you all enjoy dinner as much as I suspect you shall, and I bid you farewell until I say goodnight."

Just after the redundant statement, the intercom clicked off.

[ If you would like to introduce your character during this shift, please respond to this post. You can either choose for your character to wake up before their roommate gets back, or after they do. Find your character's room assignments here.

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! ]

Soubi was beginning to feel the effects of a busy morning on a tired body. To make things worse, they were serving Tacos and Burritos. He could really do some with something a bit softer today. Blander. But it was hardly his biggest concern right now.

Having picked out his lunch, he looked for Ritsuka. He had to apologise, but these things usually ended up in bigger arguments, so, as could be expected, Soubi was a little nervous. Maybe they wouldn't find each other this shift. Maybe he had a little more time?

Soubi sat alone, being sure that his face was set in the expression that sent the girls at College the other way.

[He gots a Sheeny Beeny]

What a singularly delightful evening he'd had. It was dampened, of course, by two things, but those were small things and he supposed he could overlook them for now. First was that his powers had still not returned. If he truly were on punishment as he thought, though, he couldn't very well expect those to come back. Second was that the little brat had gotten away and was likely gearing up to blow his cover. That was something a little more concerning, but he had a story he could use to sweep all that under the rug. Still, he'd gotten a beautiful box of scalpels out of the deal and even with the annoying pain of his skin being irritated by the drops of acid, he wasn't any worse for wear.

And just as he thought that, Grell woke up in his bed, disorientated as he had been the previous night, still cluthing the box of blades, but no longer in his own clothes. The indecency of it all! Honestly! To strip a lady when she was unconscious was just unheard of! Stupid future and its stupid lack of any sort of propriety. At least it seemed someone might be dead according to the last announcement. That brightened his day a bit.

Getting out of bed before Mr. Grumpyface did, he hid the box of scalpels in his desk and sighed. His old glasses were gone, replaced with the ruddy circular pair and his clothes had been all but ruined the night before. He doubted he could do much for them either, since he'd been the one to rip the sleeve off. Such a shame, but it had kept him from getting permanent scars on his arms.

It wasn't long before the nurse came and Grell once again put on his lovely little play for her. Confused, bumbling and asking for a hair tie, he was perplexed by the little round elastic thing he received in return, but used it anyway to put his hair back. Led into the cafeteria, Grell realized he was the first one and took a bit of breakfast before finding a seat.

[free]

Without the shoulder armor, belt and sheath, Kurogane couldn't say that he had his full outfit on when he entered the hallway, but it was most of it at the very least. Compared with his clothes, the busted up crutch couldn't hold a candle.

Outside the door to his room, he tested the substitute sword, then his leg, and finally brushed the edge of his cloak before deciding he was fine for the night. It wasn't as though he'd be doing more than babysitting thanks to someone anyway. He growled out a sigh, then headed off.

[gone here]

"And I believe it's time to start wrapping up the day," was what the Head Doctor said after the intercom's initial jingle. "Now that everyone's all cleaned up, I think it's time for some... that's right, dinner!

"Tonight, we're serving some scrumptuous rotisserie herb chicken, seasoned with rosemary, lemon juice, and other delicious seasonings. On the side, we have cooked asparagus with bits of grilled onion, as well as small roasted potatoes with garlic and butter; for dessert, we'll be serving vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup on top. Our normal assorted drinks and specialized diet alternatives are available.

"Some of you might find that you have new roommates since your old ones were fortunate enough to recover and leave us. Hopefully, you'll be able to see them again the next time we have visitors if you wish, but in the meantime please treat your new bunkmates kindly.

"I believe that's all for now. I hope you had a wonderful day and that you have a delicious dinner! ...Well, you'll definitely be having a delicious dinner, but there's nothing surprising about that, is there? Hahaha..."

With a seemingly good-natured chuckle, the Head Doctor turned off his mic.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. Find your character's room assignments here.

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! ]

Kio had been having quite a time with Kunzait. He couln't really believe that one of his childhood characters was here. Well... characters. Some guy with a lot of time on his hands and cosplay. That was all there was to it. He had hoped, as people filed into the Sun Room, that he would glimpse Soubi. No luck.

Perhaps it was better to just accept that his friend was gone. Soubi was in Goura, with Ritsuka. Well, sort of. If the bulletin note was anything to go by, Kio had a handful of pranksters on his hands. He could understand it if this were an appropriate time for jokes and such, but it wasn't. However, should that boy prove to indeed be Ritsuka, then Kio had someone from home. He'd hoped that the identity of the other person would be revealed, but other than minor scathing remarks between 'Ritsuka' and the other, nothing Kio could say was Soubi or not.

If anything, it just annoyed the man. When the nurse came to take him away, Kio went silently. He did not remark on how 'Mr Akatsuki' was being friendly already and how that was a great improvement. If anything, Kio was not himself. But he had to try. Grabbing a tray with enough meat and vegetables, he frowned at it.

"No sushi?". The nurse just smiled. No sushi. Sighing, he moved to a centre table and sat down, picking at his salad. He was a bit hungry. But more than anything, he was despondent. He missed Soubi. He wanted all this to prove to be one giant nightmare.

[Sou-chan! <3]

[for Sylar, I believe]

At the sound of the intercom, Wally jerked awake and blinked around at the room. He’d fallen asleep. He should have been up and keeping an eye open for ZEX, but he’d fallen asleep waiting on his bed.

“Idiot,” he groaned, ruffling his hair and sighing in annoyance. “Way to help a guy out, hotshot.” Hopefully ZEX hadn’t dropped by and thought he’d left or something, or wouldn’t be too mad at him for just forgetting about it like that. If he was lucky, he’d be able to catch up with the other patient at some point and explain what had happened.

Rolling himself a little awkwardly out of the bed, Wally took the opportunity to stretch his injured leg and test how well it was holding up. It was feeling a bit better, not so much that he could abandon his crutch or that it didn’t pull painfully if he wasn’t careful, but better. Tony had apparently made it through the night in one piece as well, which was a relief. He really didn’t feel comfortable about the thought of his roommate wandering about on his own with an injured arm. Not when Wally himself could relax and fall asleep in the apparent safety of their room.

Yeah, he wasn’t going to let himself forget that one in a hurry.

It was at that moment that the door swung open to admit one of the nurses. She seemed surprised to find him awake and ready to go already, but smiled warmly. “Hungry, are we Mr. West? Well in that case, let’s get you to the cafeteria. The staff have provided some delicious French Toast as well as a range of other foods I’m sure you’ll like. Now will you be needing a hand with your leg, dear?”

“No thanks, I can handle it,” Wally replied, smiling back. After all, it probably wasn’t the nurses’ fault that this place was so messed up, so it wasn’t like picking fights with them would do anything. With a cheery wave goodbye, Wally slowly made his way to the cafeteria, keeping a tight grip on his crutch all the while. Obtaining a plate of food was only slightly less difficult than it had been yesterday – he didn’t have the painkillers to work around this time – but he managed well enough, coming away from the buffet with a tray containing a plate piled high with slices of French Toast and slathered in maple syrup, butter, and sugar, as well as a glass of juice. Not quite as good as some coffee would be right now, but the sugar would hopefully make up for it. And, with how few people were here at the moment, he could afford to take more food than might have been considered ‘normal’ – he’d have most of it gone by the time anyone came to keep him company, then he could just worry about how many extra serves would be allowed before he aroused suspicion.

Feeling pretty happy with how things were looking so far, Wally hummed faintly to himself as he dug in to his breakfast.

[From here]

There were times where Tyki thought some buildings just looked too dull. Landels, with its amount of hallways, definitely fell into that category. It was more than cruel to let someone walk through a boring set of hallways before finally arriving somewhere interesting.

With a bored sigh the Noah entered the next one, a brief look around proving that the area was just as empty as the ones he had just passed. There wasn't much else to do but simply moving on, which was exactly what he did.

[To here]