It was definitely a good thing that Tear had tracked him down, seeing how she'd had a wealth of interesting information for him. Granted, a lot of it he could have guessed himself, especially the details about Landel's capabilities, but it was always good to have it confirmed by a trustworthy source.

Assuming that Marc was trustworthy, anyway. Guy realized that for all they knew, Marc could be dead by now. That was something they were likely only going to know for sure once night came. The fact that anyone who even claimed to be on their side ended up dead was really not a good sign, and yet Guy realized that they had no choice but to keep pushing forward.

While he was set in his decision that they keep exploring the underground lake and everything beyond it, Guy was still worried that it was going to be another trap. Which would mean that they had fallen for the same trick twice. Still, even that was better than doing nothing, which was what he had to keep telling himself.

The announcement that lunch would be offered as a free shift this time around did take Guy by surprise, though. This was the first time that something like this had been done, as far as he knew, and he wondered what Landel's aim with it was. Maybe he wanted to try and endear himself to them as being more lenient than Aguilar, but he should have realized that that only had a chance of working with the newer patients. Even then, Guy would hope that most people would be smarter than to fall for it.

Still, he realized he might as well take advantage of the option, and so he took his sack lunch and headed outside onto the recreational field. The weather was improving steadily, and Guy couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of the crisp air combined with the sun beaming down on him. He figured he'd take a short walk to get his appetite going before eating.

[For Luke.]

And so it seemed that everything had gone back to normal.

Guy had spent his breakfast filling in a new patient and now Landel was rambling over the intercom like he always did. It made sense that the man would want to act like everything with Aguilar had never happened, though Guy couldn't help but wonder how things would change when night finally came. Knowing Landel, he'd have a long-winded speech prepared for them.

That was something that he could worry about later, though. Guy filed away the information about the doctors, but it didn't matter too much to him. He'd only been forced through that once, and had apparently been deemed a lost cause after that session. Speaking with a doctor here would just be a waste of time as far as he could tell, so that was fine by him.

Being placed in the Sun Room gave him access to the bulletin board, and perusing it gave him some idea of what had gone on last night, at least to the point that he understood that they'd had some sort of outside help. People were being secretive, but that was nothing new. Guy went ahead and put up a note for his friends, wanting to keep it up as a routine (at this point Luke should have been the one doing it, but Guy could talk to him about that later).

With that taken care of, he had little else to do but find himself a place to sit, and before long he located a comfy armchair. He took as seat, but as usual Guy couldn't help but keep an eye out for any friends.

[For Tear!]

Anise had been lying snug in bed, only vaguely aware that she was awake, when her rest was disturbed by the one sound in the world she'd never wanted to hear again.

"Good morning, everyone!"

The girl's eyes shot open and she immediately sat up straight. There was no doubt about it. That was the Head Doctor, that bastard, and he was back! Now that she was wide awake, Anise realized she was wearing the institute's old uniform again, and that the decorative items in her room had been left alone.

It was hard to contain her frustration at hearing the man run through the breakfast menu as if it were any other day, and she ended up throwing a pillow against a wall before pulling herself out of bed. Didn't Marc get a chance to kill that guy? What about the army? Landel had to have pulled some dirty trick to end up back in the Head Doctor's seat.

Seething was only going to get Anise so far, though, and she knew she'd have to go out and face the day. She wasn't surprised when a clueless nurse came to pick her up, though she wasn't any less annoyed that the hag was carrying on as if nothing had happened. At least she had Tokunaga back with her...

Finally, she reached the Cafeteria, where Anise instinctively moved to line up at the real-food counter... before realizing they weren't divided anymore. More importantly, though, the food looked and smelled not only edible, but delicious. Whatever happened yesterday seemed to be over, thank goodness. She loaded up a plate full of waffles topped with strawberries and made her way over to a seat.

There was a lot to think about, but she needed to take things one at a time. Since she'd gone all of yesterday with nothing to eat but candy and chocolate (something she may not have objected to if she were a little younger), getting some real food into her body was Priority Number One. And Priority Number Two was... oh! Luke had to be around somewhere. He promised he'd meet her that day, so she had to keep an eye out for him!

[for Luke]

[from here]

The upper hallway was empty, at least at this end, though Lana could hear something skittering around. She checked her pocket -- ran her fingertips along the grip of the gun in the breast pocket of her jacket, but she didn't take it out. It hadn't done them much good last night, had it?

"And I didn't mean Gant, actually." Had she? Not primarily, at least, which made that not quite the truth, but only fractionally a lie. By some people's standards, that wasn't a lie at all. Her were as absolute as they had to be behind the Prosecutor's bench. Mmm. Did that make it entirely true, or entirely false? She'd meant herself when she'd said it, behind Faraday and Badd, but the subconscious was a slippery beast. So easily convinced.

So easily deceived. "Some of us are trying to learn from our mistakes, but that doesn't mean we won't make them again. I hope Ema will forgive me for what I said to keep her from coming along tonight."

[Coming from here.]

Upstairs was dark and silent, although to Daemon, the faint pink glow that coated all the surfaces since the alarm went off seemed more concentrated here. Was it stronger, perhaps? Or was there just more to hide? He brushed his fingers against it curiously as he stepped out of the stairwell and into the corridor above, his senses already probing the thick blackness around them, searching to see if they were alone or not.

He doubted it. His instincts were telling him otherwise. Their captors were really pulling out all the stops tonight. He and Renji had already carved their way through more monsters than most people saw in a week around here. It made him wonder what was lying in wait in some of the bigger rooms...

[from here]

Oh, how she missed this! Just like old times, riding atop Tokunaga without a care in the world. Anything that got in her way would be trampled with ease!

A little too much ease, as it turned out. Her attention elsewhere, she didn't notice when an oversized rat made the mistake of scurrying under Tokunaga's heavy foot... until she heard the sickening crunch of the creature's bones snapping.

She stopped, pointed her flashlight down at the mashed-up body, then let out a small sigh of relief. Just a rat. She'd have to be careful not to trample any people - or any monsters that looked like they'd put up a mean fight. Anyway, she probably just did her fellow patients a favor by taking out a monster (even if it was an accident). Hooray for Anise!

Satisfied, the girl continued onward to the next hallway. Her doll left a light trail of blood with its foot.

[to here]

[Coming from here.]

Daemon slipped from the hallway and into the stairwell, starting the climb to the second floor. His gaze searched the shadows and he'd made no more than three steps up when he went carefully still, holding up a hand to halt Renji as well. The chittering came from above their heads, quiet but definitely there, the sound familiar enough to send a chill down Daemon's spine.

"Above," he whispered in warning, moving quickly to the landing to put the wall at his back.

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]

This time, just after the intercom's jingle, the faint sound of a radio or a television could be heard in the background as the Head Doctor began to speak.

"I hope everyone enjoyed their meals this fine morning! In fact, it looks like the whole day is going to be beautiful, which is part of the reason why I think you all should enjoy some rays of sunshine in... well, the Sun Room!

"Of course, mental health – unfortunately – cannot only be cured by an uplifting atmosphere, which is why some of you will be seeing your doctors this coming shift. Our nurses will escort all patients scheduled for therapy as they leave the cafeteria, and..."

He paused and then laughed.

"Well, I think you all know the drill by now. As (almost) always, we have some new patients coming in, so please treat them with the utmost kindness and understanding. Thank you!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. Please abide by the room assignments listed there.

Post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Thank you! ]

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! ]

Unlike the week before, the buses pulled in to the front of the Institute before the sky became dark, and so the departure was a very organized situation rather than a chaotic one. Nurses and orderlies escorted patients off the buses, and just as the front doors to the Institute opened and the patients were taken back to their rooms, the intercom clicked on with its usual jingle to the sound of the Head Doctor's cheery voice.

"Hello, patients, and I hope you all enjoyed a delightful day at our neighboring town! I regret that last-minute duties prevented me from joining all of you on your trip, but I'm glad I can talk to you a bit now before you retire for the night!

"As far as dinner tonight, we have a wonderfully exotic meal of tasty, spicy lamb curry for you, served on a bed of steamed rice and with a side of seasoned vegetables and plain Indian flatbread. For desert, we'll be having sweet rice pudding, and we'll be offering our normal assortment of juices, milk, and water as drinks. As always, for vegetarians and for those of you with mild tastebuds, a large, fresh garden salad is always an option.

"And... I believe that's all! I hope you all enjoy dinner and that you're able to wind down from the excitement of today's excursion."

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! ]

Despite the location and the feeling at the end that she was back in grade school trying to hide her smoking, that attempt at normal with her roommate hadn't gone too bad. That was possibly the closest she'd ever gotten to making normal work, even if it was for such a short period of time. Maybe it was because Maki knew she wasn't normal and thus she didn't have to try and pretend she had always been normal. It was kind of nice.

Beatrix was escorted to the showers. The prospect of public showering didn't bother her, she had been on a few of the sports teams in high school and after being subjected to serial rape over the course of a long time, one tended to be desensitized to things such as nudity around other women. It'd be a little different had it been co-ed bathing, but of course this place wouldn't do that.

The Bride stripped down to her birthday suit, the scar on her lower abdomen plan as day, she checked out the state of her bruised hip as she unwound the bandage from her hand. That was healing nicely, just slightly discolored now, and the stitches on her palm had been removed at some point before she'd woken up. Since she got Mion to agree to stay in her room that night, the lessening of her injuries meant she could do something productive that night. She just needed to figure out what.

Seeing no need to dally in the showers, Beatrix fired up a shower and stepped into the spray once the temperature was acceptable. She washed quickly and efficiently before she went to work on her hair. In this location, this situation, the metal plate on the left side of her head could not exactly be hidden as the water slicked back her hair, but a girl's got to have clean hair. She figured anyone that decided to come talk to her would be more focused on the scar than anything else.

Burly orderlies and agile Calm Effect nurses flooded the cafeteria from the Courtyard while regular hall nurses filed in from the Sun Room and ushered out those not involved in the rebellion. It indeed seemed as if Landel was sending out all the cavalry, and an effective cavalry they were: The riot didn't continue for much longer after the alarm sounded, though it seemed strange just how quickly all of the mutinous patients fell, even the ones who hadn't been injected with anything.

The hall nurses were quick to escort their well-behaved charges back to their rooms, praising those who hadn't joined in and chiding those who muttered under their breath in response. There were some exceptions, of course: One nice young man had even defended one of the nurses from the violent patients! Now, wasn't that exemplary behavior? Dr. Landel would be so proud to hear about it...

Within half an hour, all of the so-called "loyal" patients had been safely deposited in their rooms, and it was then that the alarm finally stopped and the true difficulty of the situation was tackled. There certainly weren't enough rooms in solitary to accommodate such rampant disobedience, and yet measures would have to be taken to ensure proper consequences for each and every patient involved. After all, something like this couldn't be allowed to happen again!

Different options were considered. Perhaps they should make an example out of the girl who had sparked the riot, but then again, perhaps not. This certainly wasn't the first case of patients attacking nurses or their peers in a crowded area, but what had been different this time was the sheer support that the other patients had shown for her. Should the staff then make examples of all those who had tried to "protect" her from the well-meaning nurses? No, there were too many for that...

In the end, it was decided that the best immediate solution would be to treat the rebellious patients in the Medical Wing while they were unconscious and then move them back to their rooms to await punishment. To ensure the safety of both their roommates and the patients themselves, however, the staff decided to securely fasten their limbs to their beds and keep them heavily drugged. Such a sad sight they were to see, but... it was necessary.

Finally, when each and every patient had been escorted back to their respective rooms, the staff hurried off to an emergency meeting upstairs. Strangely, Head Nurse Lydia was the one taking care of the proceedings in the Head Doctor's stead. She calmly told them that he was preoccupied with more urgent matters, and as she began to speak to the crowd, the staff could only wonder what could possibly be more important than an unprecedented patient riot...

[ Comment to this post with separate threads for each patient room, and please put your character's room number in the subject line. Thank you! ]

Though he hadn't been able to stomach much of the cafeteria food, as the day went on, he did feel marginally better.  The fever seemed to have broken and he'd held down what little he'd eaten.  It made him a little anxious, to sit around so much, and even if it was difficult, a walk outside sounded like a nice break from the usual.  He had no interest in the visitors.  Likely as not they were the same as the creature he'd run into a couple nights ago in the form of Aizen Sousuke. 

He folded his thin arms across his chest as he started his walk around the courtyard.  The air was crisp, getting colder by the day it seemed, but it didn't dissuade him from taking a leisurely walk while he gathered his thoughts.

Hiei didn't give a damn about religious services, meditation, or pretending to be social. The always sudden waking after night put him in a bad mood, this one particularly so. Even with Kurikara licking him like some perverted moron, the warmth the dragon provided was welcome in Hiei's bed, and missing when he woke, giving the surrounding air a greater sense of chill.

But the perfect thing to relieve his anger might just be making an appearance that morning, and that at least gave Hiei hope for a decent day.

Hopefully Kurikara and Kurama both would be clever enough to figure it out for themselves. Without hesitation, Hiei demanded to be led to the temple, taking a seat in one of the rear pews. Humans had a way of overdoing things, and this place wasn't really much exception to that. Granted Hiei's limited knowledge prevented him from realizing there were much more outrageous churches, but to the demon, the colored pieces of glass and polished wood seemed to be much.

It didn't matter, however. Either could be turned into weapons, perfect objects to slice into that damned head doctor's throat or bash in his skull. That was a thought worth grinning about.



[Feel free to pester. Just, uh, be aware that he's not exactly nice.]

[[From here]]

Allen struggled to keep Sanji from falling over as they walked further into the institute. The halls were so dark without the portable lanterns, it was difficult to see much going on in front of them. He didn't like it, but there wasn't much he could do about it for the time being.

"Whatever is close I guess," Allen replied to Sanji's question. He hadn't thought much further than that. As long as there was a place where the other could rest until the effect of the drugs was gone, it didn't really matter where, did it?  "Unless you want to go to yours?  Mine is much further up the hall."

[OOC: As the maps are currently down, I don't have the exact room name handy. Will edit if necessary when the maps are back up.]

[coming from here]

Farfarello was a little surprised to find the lobby empty when he came through the doors. They hadn't been the first off the buses, he knew that for certain, but no one else had made it inside? Pathetic. But also good, for Schwarz' purposes.

Leaning against a wall and keeping his senses alert for any trace of monsters, Farfarello waited for Schuldig and Crawford to catch up with him.

[Dropping down from Bus 3.]

Shana dropped into the darkness from the open window above, keeping her back to the carraige as she waited for her eyes to adjust to the pitch blackness surrounding her. It must have been a cloudy night, for she could make out no stars or moon above. Eerie sounds filled the night and she shivered, not liking the sound of it, nor the fact that she was out here alone with no idea of what could be lurking in the shadows.

Shadow was still trapped in the bus somewhere above and behind her, and she had no idea where Valyn and Keman were. Focusing her magic, she tried to reach out and feel for them, wondering if they'd felt her cast her magelight spell, wondering if they'd cast anything in return for her to find them. She had no desire to spend the night separated from them, especially since she hadn't been here long enough to know her way about the place, let alone the extent of dangers it could hold

Sanji was blinking furiously, trying to figure out why he still felt awake though everything was dark. The sedatives, just recently injected into his system, were working full force and he was having difficulty figuring out which way was up and down. All the sounds were reminiscent of something out of a nightmare. Was that what this was?

But why couldn't he see anything?

He struggled out of his seat and into the aisle. Slipping and falling to his knees from lack of balance once there, he simply sat for a bit with a hand on the seat behind him. "Th'shit is... What?" his slurred question probably wouldn't mean much to anyone, but that didn't matter. The floor was as good a place as any for the moment as he tried to get a clearer view of things going on around him. Squinting into the darkness revealed very little, and so many voices just befuddled his drugged mind further.

What the shit was going on?