[From here]

It wasn't a California beach.

Instead, they were greeted with a very long, straight hallway, no adornments or interesting colours. Just kind of plain and boring, if a little dimly lit. Honestly kind of a letdown, though Scott. Granted, it wasn't a lava pit, which was a plus, but after things like robot laser dinosaurs and talking skeletons and having to jump off cliffs to nowhere, a hallway seemed kind of unimaginative by comparison.

The one thing of interest was an object on the ground in front of them: a small-ish, heart-shaped... thing, probably made of stone or plaster, and painted a dull red colour.

"Aww, we love you too, Landel. You shouldn't have," Scott remarked, walking up to the object and peering down at it. Was this what it was like to find a Piece of Heart? If so, it was a decidedly underwhelming experience. Too bad there wasn't a Link wasn't on hand to ask.

[From here]

He was ready for the drop this time, but that didn't make it much easier to get down the gravelly slope that waited for them inside the door. Sure, Scott was able to better control his descent and not get horribly scraped and cut this time (always a good thing), but he still went down way faster than he would have liked. He did almost start tumbling head over heels a couple of times, too, despite his efforts to keep moving feet-first. Thankfully, the slope evened out eventually, as it had the night before, and soon the trio were at the cliff's edge once again.

"I call 'not it' for jumping first," said Scott, peering out over the ledge. Being up here and knowing he would actually feel the impact and the cold down below this time? Liiiiitle more apprehension than before.

[From here.]

This was all becoming a bit stale.

Especially the feeling of nausea that came with the transport. Harvey didn't want to think too hard on the implications of that. Just what exactly was done to their bodies when they were moved around like that? It couldn't be natural in any sense of the word, but it still beat trying to get down here the normal way.

His only real consolation was that he couldn't smell anything too well down here. It was a shame that they couldn't just keep on giving up that sense, but even Harvey realized how that wouldn't be "fair" according to Landel's rules. What really wasn't fair was the fact that they'd all been stuck in this place for weeks now, but...

Even he started to get sick of his own complaining, so he left it at that.

Once the other two seemed to have recovered, Harvey nodded toward the docks. "We know the drill by now, right? Let's make this quick." He needed to enjoy his voice while he had it, if that's what he was giving up.

[From here]

The main hallways. Good. And the coast seemed to be clear, so far. Link briefly wondered if the new clue would help the situation, or only make it more grim. He would know soon enough.

[To here]

As soon as the intercom was through, Link was off at a sprint. He carried the pillow case,his flashlight, and the knife from the previous evening.

There were now two tasks to be accomplished: Supplies for Sora, and another clue in the X-Ray Room. Two birds with one stone in the medical wing. There wasn't a moment to lose.

Sora could already be gone by the time he returned.

[To here]

As some of the clouds from earlier began to clear, the intercom jingle sounded over the intercom once again.

"Hello, patients!" came the Head Doctor's cheery voice. "I hope you're all feeling fresh and clean this evening! To top it all off, we've prepared a scrumptious herb chicken dinner for you to eat before bed. Of course, we have vegetarian options available, so please don't hesitate to ask the nurse if you're interested in that.

Also, since we have the pleasure of welcoming a few new patients into our family, some of you will be receiving new roommates. Let's do our best to give them a nice, big Landel's Institute welcome, shall we?"

The Head Doctor gave a friendly chuckle. "Well, anyway, enjoy your dinner!"

With that, the intercom shut off.

[Note: All dinner threads are posted in response to this entry. Be sure to check the Roommate Assignments if you're not sure what room/roommate your character has! Thanks.]

Fresh off the somewhat-success of the night before and the conversation with Mysterious Boy X, Scott was actually feeling better than he had in days, possibly weeks. His energy was coming back; he had an appetite again; he didn't feel the urge to sink into his mattress and never come out again — all in all, it was a good day.

There was only thing that had him worried: no Ramona.

He had asked his nurse about her. The woman had scolded him for trying to "crowd" Sandra and monopolize her time, and refused to give him any updates. At least that told him there was a chance she was still around. He would have to check her room tonight, if he had time. What was her room number again? ...Maybe he would have to ask someone.

A few minutes later, he was done with the bulletin. Now: game time.

"Oh NES, my secret lover, how unbearable the time we have spent apart has been," Scott practically purred as he glided into the Game Room, taking up his usual spot by the TV. "Have you been missing me?"

No answer.

"..." Scott grinned ear to ear. "Yeeeeee Mario times!" The twenty-four-year-old manchild jammed the cartridge into the console slot with girlish glee and switched everything on.

[Ilia]

His nurse had whisked him away from breakfast as soon as the intercom’s voice faded.  Surprisingly, she didn’t take him to the shower rooms, instead bringing him to the Sun Room (as she called it), explaining that since this was his first day he would be allowed to skip the showers.  Besides, it would be good to let his injuries heal a little more.

 

He’d passed through this room on the way to breakfast, but hadn’t really paid much attention to it the first time.  Now that he was standing here, the Once-ler understood why it was called the Sun Room.

 

Despite the fact that it was cloudy outside, there was still far more natural light coming in through the ceiling windows than he had seen in a long time.  The Once-ler stood still for a few moments, simply staring up.  It seemed almost like a dream, really.  The valley never got brighter than twilight, even at noon.  There was too much smog in the air to let any more light through.

 

After a few minutes, he shook his head.  Anybody who saw him just standing in the middle of the room would probably have questions about it, and he did not relish the thought of explaining himself to a stranger.  He glanced around the room itself, spotting the bulletin board Soma had talked about during breakfast.  The Once-ler decided that was a good place to start, and hobbled on over to get a closer look.

 

[For Nina, I believe?]

[From here]

...would have been next to impossible even if the door hadn't locked them in.

For you see, when Scott put a foot down just inside the hall, he expected it to hit ground. He was slowly getting used to trusting that ground would be there in the absence of being able to feel it. In this case, gravity told him otherwise. Scott began to tumble — painlessly, painlessly down a darkened, rocky incline, with no way of knowing which side of him was on the ground at any point.

"Whua! Augh! Doh! Fuuu— Sonuv— Rolling! Help! Bah! Uaaaaaaa!"

It was Scott's dumb luck that while the incline was steep, it wasn't smooth all the way down. Eventually, his heel rammed into an outcropping of rock, and Scott's sense of momentum kept him from keeling over forward when it hit. "Uuhhhhhgh..." Scott groaned out of dizziness. He could barely see in this light, but from what he could make out, his coat and pants were in bad shape — dusty, ripped in some places, and completely sliced open from the cuff to the elbow on the left sleeve, where his sword had caught the fabric on the way down. Said sword that was now gone, by the way. He was pretty sure he had heard the tink-tank-tumbling of metal careening down the hill without him.

"Crap..." Scott said as he rolled back the ripped sleeve. He squinted. "Craaaaaap." That was blood. He wouldn't have known it if he hadn't seen it, but there was blood coming from the palm of his left hand. He'd cut it kind of deep, too.

[From here.]

Harvey almost ended up tripping, which would have put him face-first in the sand, but he managed to reorient himself just before his legs gave out on him. His hand flew to his chest as he tried to catch his breath and fight down the nausea. He didn't want to think about how much it would sting to have bile come up and wash over all the wounds in his mouth if he threw up. So that wasn't happening.

The area felt just as damp and cold as the last time, and since it was all something they'd seen before, Harvey didn't hesitate to move forward once he'd recovered. His destination was the dock, and the two torches that were set there made it easy for him to find it.

As he moved toward it, he glanced back at the other two. "So this time we don't even need to draw blood. I guess that works well enough." He would have preferred that the transition was smoother, but it definitely beat having to go through the fridge like they had for so long.

[From here.]

Well, that had been painless, but the good time he'd made also meant that he was the first to arrive. Harvey leaned himself up against the wall, swinging his metal pipe around in his hand as he kept an eye out for Scott or Sangamon.

He had to admit, it was strange that their group had been cut down so considerably. He didn't even know if Depth Charge was still around, but it didn't matter to him too much either way, so he hadn't put much thought into it. He figured that one of the others would mention it when they showed up, if they even knew themselves.

While he waited, Harvey grabbed the bone bracelet out of his pocket and started to spin it around in his hand. The skeleton hadn't been too clear about how this worked, but there was an obvious answer about what to do with it, not that he was going to attempt anything until the others had shown up.

Scar had intended on staying in for the night. He was tired and frustrated and needed a break. But the disturbing announcement chased away all of the Ishbalan's thoughts of waiting things out tonight. Something was happening with the man on the intercom. Something he didn't like. It was the first time Scar had heard Landel's facade break. Something wasn't going his way.

The threat of transformation remained just as real. But now, whatever this insurrection was, there was a way to stop it. Something swelled in Scar's chest. Something that he had lacked since he had woken up in this hell. Somebody was fighting, and succeeding, and he'd be damned before he would sit down and not take his chance while he had it. Scar actually knew where the X-Ray room was. He was bigger, faster, and stronger than many of the people here. He knew that there would be a crowd making its way to the Medical Wing. He would just have to get there first.

Opening his closet, Scar was relieved to find the scalpels he had collected two nights ago. For all he knew, this was just another trap; a setup to make the pawns let their guards down. But when faced with the prospect of transformation, he was willing to take the risk. He had nothing to lose, anyway.

Something made Scar feel like this was real, though. He had known bastards like Landel. And they weren't the type to make themselves appear to be in a state of weakness, even if only to draw their prey in.

The Ishbalan hesitated a moment before once again taking the photograph of his brother and putting it in his pocket. He wasn't letting go of that one scrap of something that he had to fight for.

Determined scowl set firmly in place, the scarred man marched from his room, ignoring his roommate.


_{[To here]}

A...visitor?

After the therapy session had ended, the nurse cheerfully announced that this mysterious person was waiting for him. Puzzled, he had to wonder how far their insistence to keep up appearances extended. Keep up appearances for whom, exactly?

Nonetheless, Seishin was led to the front of the building into some sort of waiting room. It was still empty when he entered, and after he had sat down in a chair the nurse left to collect his visitor -- or so he assumed.

He frowned. A visitor, was it? He had no idea what exactly to expect... Would it be someone he knew? That would be...impossible, wouldn't it? The fact that he alone had been dragged away from such a bloodbath was absurd enough as it was, after all. Surely, no one from Sotoba would be casually visiting a place like this, convinced their former village priest -- who had betrayed them, no less -- was simply 'mentally ill'. Not after such a mess...

Still, he had a bad feeling about this...

While Guy's conversation with Tear had taken a more somber tone in the end, he was still glad to have confirmed that the girl was all right. Sleeping in was not her style in the slightest, but seeing how something similar had happened to him recently, Guy knew how easily it could happen. In the end, he hadn't suffered any ill effects as a result of that day spent asleep, so he was going to not worry too much about Tear.

Anise was the one he was more worked up about, especially because he didn't know who she had told about her illness so far. Was he the only one? Was she planning to tell the others? Guy didn't feel right keeping it from them, but he didn't want to run around spilling Anise's secrets, either. It was something he was going to have to check with her as soon as he could.

In the meantime, it seemed like the movie that he and Claude had decided to vote for had been picked as the one they would be watching this afternoon. Claude was definitely going to be happy about that, and Guy was pretty excited to see it too, now that he had some idea of what it was about. Calling some sort of religious figure who had sacrificed himself a "superstar" certainly seemed odd, which was probably why it had stood out to Claude in the first place.

When Guy entered the Sun Room, he saw that his friend hadn't made it there yet and that the staff was still setting up the projector. With his first pick of the couches, Guy made sure to choose one that had a clear view of the screen but wasn't so close that it might hurt their eyes. He took a seat and then kept an eye out for Claude, figuring that the younger man would be along any minute now.

[For Claude.]

Quiet static filtered through the intercom as the door to the Entry Room was pushed open. The area was almost completely dark, save for the flickering beam spilling from the lone, abandoned flashlight on the floor.

If that wasn't enough to put any entering patients on edge, the crimson puddle smeared across the flashlight's path likely was. The source of the blood soon became obvious: two still corpses lay sprawled next to each other. One was Daemon Sadi -- or, rather, what was left of him. Although his face was still recognizable enough, one of his arms was missing, and his chest looked as those some creature had reached in and ripped his heart out.

The other mangled body was trickier to place, as the poor person's flesh was twisted and bloated beyond recognition in some places, not unlike the way some of the nurses had transformed on the buses.

Closer inspection would reveal the face of a man in his final moments. Some would even see the distinct tattoos and recognize him as Abarai Renji. More unnerving was the abandoned, bloodied knife resting next to the former man's corpse, his belly having been gouged open for some unknown purpose. A trail of scarlet footsteps led away from the scene before abruptly disappearing at the northern door.

Did a similar fate await the unfortunate one who had stumbled across this bloodbath?

[From here.]

But being outside was probably just as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than it was being trapped inside the bus with that nurse.

Besides the many other deformed nurses that were roaming around here, Zero caught sight of numerous forms flying overhead, casting large shadows on the ground as they passed by. They looked like...eagles. But deformed and horrific-looking, just like the nurses. At first, they seemed content to simply circle overhead, screeching, like vultures swarming above a carcass. But then many of them suddenly swooped down and headed straight for some of the prisoners running in the street.

Kind of like the one flying at Zero right now.

"Kh--!" The once-Reploid barely managed to dodge the monster as it dived for him by falling to the ground and rolling back onto his feet. The bird flew upwards again, slowly flapping its wings, then circled around as if to try again, another eagle joining it. To avoid them, Zero quickly moved out of the open, where he was obviously a target, and circled around one of the buses, keeping his back to it for cover. But he knew he wasn't going to be safe here...not when there were nurses on the ground and so many eagles above.

Not since the night he had become temporarily stronger had there been so much visible chaos... And if that one prisoner hadn't started a riot, this wouldn't be happening right now...!

As he stood contemplating the best route for escape, Zero glanced around quickly, searching the fleeing prisoners for anyone familiar or anyone who might need help. He was defenseless, so protecting someone else would only get him so far (and he certainly didn't want a repeat of two nights ago), but they all might have a better chance of survival if they grouped up...

[Leanne, Lana, and Harvey, WHERE YOU AT.]

The wind was whipping hard enough that S.T. decided not to take his burger back outside. Eating dirt was all well and good on camping trips, but there was a roof and chairs that weren't too sticky right here. So he sat down at a table and started doctoring his burger with shelf-stable squeeze-packet mustard.

There weren't as many patients in here as he'd expected. How many of them were sick? A lot, if the number that had found their way to the bulletin in the grocery was only a sample. All of them trying to fake being O.K. until they lost control and ate their roommate. Their lack of appetite (for food, at least) was showing, though. People rarely thought about the things they did from day to day and what impact they had. These burgers had been trucked in, the ketchup had probably been grown in Mexico, shipped as tomatoes to China, processed and shipped back to the US. If this was Earth, yada yada. Maybe Landel just opened a portal and snagged stuff by the truckload. In which case they'd have to add how much damage interdimensional travel did to the ozone layer to his list of sins.

Either way, it was boring in here with no one to talk to. S.T. tried folding the aluminized paper from his burger into an origami boat, but it had absorbed too much grease, and sagged.

[free]

As soon as Anise achieved wakefulness, the Head Doctor's words from the previous night immediately came floating back into her mind. People were getting sick. They were going to turn into monsters. That thought alone was chilling enough, but it was nothing compared to the terror that struck her when she sat up and saw her own hand. A red blotch covered the back of it, extending upwards to the wrist. Where did that come from?

The signs are already showing. That was what Landel said.

It couldn't be. Not her. If it was really true, then her life was as good as over. No... it had to be a mistake. Maybe the Head Doctor's words had scared her to the point that she was attributing random things to his threats. She was being paranoid. That was all it was.

And yet, no matter how many times she told herself that, she feared what might happen.

A nurse came to her soon, bearing an outfit for her to wear on the field trip. The striped shirt and gray skirt weren't particularly appealing to Anise, but the purple coat she was given wasn't so bad. It was a little big on her, but it was a nice, feminine color... and the extra long sleeves served to cover most of the strange rash. Anise didn't want to look at it, and she sure as heck didn't want anyone else seeing it.

When it was time to board the buses, Anise quietly took the lunch bag, climbed aboard, and sat down. She didn't look anyone in the eye. Even after sitting down, she merely stared down at the contents of her bag. The muffin didn't look the least bit appetizing - not while her stomach was busy twisting itself into knots, anyway.

[free!]

Perhaps simply claiming 'I don't care' to her nurse was a mistake. Lust found herself in the 'games room' at a handsome table with a sandwich containing nothing but cheese. But following the greenhouse, she honestly hadn't cared one way or another where she was shuttled off to.

Talking with another woman had done little. There was so much to think about and so little desire to. What did it really matter? So the dead could walk here, she'd already known that. So he was here, so what? She had lived many years without even knowing the man existed, there was no reason his presence should shake her so.

And anyway, she would see him again tonight. Perhaps he'd be more accepting of the situation then.

But for the moment she was going to push those thoughts away. She needed to lay her information out in an order that made sense to her. Ignoring the deck of cards her nurse had given her and the instructions to 'make some new friends', Lust opened up the blank book kept in her room and stared at a blank page.

Where in the world would she even begin? Explaining things at breakfast had helped her some, but...

"Even madness begins at the beginning," she muttered as she bent over the journal.

[Loki!]

Even if he hadn't eaten much, the time to himself had helped improve Barnaby's overall state of mind. Despite the grueling insomnia that had plagued him before his arrival, he felt remarkably well rested now. Maybe he didn't agree with all of this Landel's Institute's methods, but there was no denying that he was much more stable than before.

Of course, he hadn't managed to shake the knot of unease tightening in the pit of his stomach, nor the restlessness that seized him when he thought of all of the recent revelations concerning Ouroboros, as well as his own recollections of that Christmas Eve nearly 21 years ago. Ill or not, he didn't have time to sit in a hospital right now. He needed to talk to Mr. Maverick.

Studying his bare wrist, Barnaby inwardly sighed as he stepped out of the cafeteria. Though his knee-jerk reaction earlier this morning had been to assume that someone from Apollon would get in touch with him shortly, he realized that he may not be in any state to continue with his hero work. The fact that the doctors had deemed it necessary to confiscate his PDA said more than anyone here was willing to tell him to his face.

That didn't mean they had a right to take his cell phone, though. Unfortunately, when he asked about it, his nurse thought otherwise.

"Like I said, Mr. Banks, this program doesn't allow for outside contact with friends and family except under specific circumstances," she reminded him.

"Brooks," he flatly stated.

The nurse blinked. "Excuse me?"

"My name isn't Banks," he corrected her. "It's Brooks -- Barnaby Brooks Jr." The nurse glanced down at her clipboard and nodded in understanding.

"Of course it is, dear," she said in a tone that conveyed that she was just humoring him. Barnaby's fingers curled into a fist at his side, but otherwise his face remained remarkably composed.

"I understand if you feel the need to downplay my presence due to my occupation," he spoke in slow, measured words, "but you'll have to excuse me if I find your methods extreme and, quite frankly, unnecessary." Combined with the Head Doctor's poor excuse for an announcement a few moments ago, their conversation just made Barnaby conclude that this facility was being run a bunch of incompetent morons. Barnaby had no intention of causing a scene, but he wasn't going to just roll over and let the staff treat him like a child, either.

"That said, I'd like to look at the paperwork that was signed the day I was committed here," he stated, his shoulders squared as he look his nurse right in the eye. "I should know what my rights are."

"I'm afraid I don't have the authority to do that."

"Then put me in touch with the person who does."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, either."

Frustration welled up inside Barnaby, and he took a small breath. He couldn't wait to get in touch with his attorney later. "Then what, exactly, can you do?"

The nurse smiled. "Take you to the recreational field, of course. The other male patients are there now. Wouldn't you like to make some friends?"

Barnaby folded his arms, his cool gaze falling onto a bulletin board located along the wall. "Actually, I'd rather stay in the sun room and read what's over there, if you don't mind." He didn't catch the flicker of disappointment on the nurse's face, though he wouldn't have cared much even if he had. As long as he wasn't hurting anyone or himself, they didn't have the authority to dictate how he spent every second of his time.

"We do allow patients to stay here during activity shifts, so I suppose you can do that," she said, albeit a bit reluctantly.

Barnaby nodded. "All right, then." With that, he made his way over to the bulletin and began to peruse through the notes. Perhaps he'd learn a little more about this place and how some of the other patients could even stand being here.

[For Renamon!]