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. ]

Guy let out a sigh of relief as he made his way out onto the field, glad to have some fresh air and sunshine after going so many days without it. That was one of the hardest things about being kept in this place, in his opinion. At least during their journey they had been outside more often than not.

Even though he spent most of his nights moving around or fighting some monster or even running from a monster when he bit off more than he could chew, Guy still felt the urge to do something active now. Being in the thick of danger was pretty different from exercising for the sake of it, after all. Besides, considering how physically taxing the night always was, it was good to keep in shape.

His talk with Allelujah had also left him bursting with excitement at the thought of satellites and colonies in space and mobile suits, so working off his energy would be a good idea. He figured a few laps around the field was just what he needed, so he found a relatively clear area and started doing a series of stretches.

If he was lucky, maybe once he was done running he could convince one of the nurses to give him a bat so he could practice some swordplay. He had his own bat, but he was usually too busy using it to bludgeon things rather than to practice the finesse that sword work required.

[For Sync.]

Renamon blinked, and suddenly she was laying flat in the bed she had originally woke up in. The timing was impeccable, accenting Orihime's explanation perfectly. She just hoped that she hadn't freaked the girl out with her little disappearing act. She quickly shifted out of bed, and grabbed the journal she had wrote notes in last night, and jotted down another page. No sooner did she finish did her ever-so-friendly nurse come to collect her. Renamon didn't respond to the nurse's excited talk of making friends and breakfast, and simply followed her, journal in hand.

She paused at the Sunroom to leave a message on the Bulletin Board to Toboe. Hopefully the wolf had simply gotten lost, and wasn't truly gone. On the other hand, maybe she should be hoping that the boy had found a way out, and a way home. No use overly worrying about it now.

She continued to the Cafeteria, only pausing to take a plain muffin and water. It seemed she was early. She sat at a table near the wall, scanning over her notes and waiting for her breakfast date.

[Waiting for Kairi and Sora]

In all honesty, Tyki hadn't exactly expected what had happened during dinner. Though it was definitely strange to have woken up in his white side this morning, he hadn't given it too much thought beyond his initial surprise. It had probably something to do with his white side being a laid-back bum, but it simply hadn't come to mind just yet.

It happened after he had finished his dinner, when he was searching his room for something useful while the sun was about to set. The Noah within him had been dormant all day, as it usually was when he was in his human side. But something had changed all of a sudden, which was enough to make Tyki pause as he searched the closet. He knew what was going on, all too familiar with shifting from white to black, but there was only one little problem; he wasn't willing it himself. He could always shift through his white and black side whenever he liked, but now he had no control over it. At all. He couldn't stop it when white turned black, when his skin turned a darker color. It was beyond his own control...

And that didn't sit quite well with the Noah. If there was one thing he had to be careful about, it was losing control. Not being able to turn back. He didn't want to lose them, but...having both was fun.

But he quickly reassured himself. Hadn't he woken up here in his white side? Though he couldn't switch back now, there was reason enough to believe that it wasn't lost. It was too much of a coincidence, to shift to his black right after the sun had set. He didn't knew how, or why, but what if it was related to day and night?

At the very least, having his black side would make his stay a bit more interesting.

He removed his glasses, leaving them on his desk. There was no need for these now. Too lazy to do anything about his hair, he grabbed his flashlight and moved into the dark hallway. He had seen the area on his way to his room, and logic told him the row of doors held more rooms. Not really interested, he moved along.

On to some cigarettes first. He needed a smoke, already!

[To here]

The intercom clicked on and the Head Doctor spoke with his usual fervor.

"Good evening, patients and staff! I am pleased to announce that the arrival of nearly all of our new patients will conclude this shift. In addition, we have a very delicious dinner in store for you: carved Turkey with a side of mashed potatoes and steamed, seasoned vegetables. For drinks, we have our usual assortment available, and as a dessert included with your dinner, we will be serving a slice of warm apple pie with each meal.

"I trust that those of you enjoying the company of new roommates will give them a warm Landel's welcome, and I also hope that those of you who participated in therapy today were able to find a productive time with their doctors.

"That's all for now! Enjoy dinner, everyone!"

The intercom clicked off again.

[ Please respond to this post with all dinner shift threads between roommate, putting your character's respective room in the subject line. While we have none scheduled for this shift at this time: all introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post; the introduction may then continue on to be a regular roommate thread. ]

It was rare that Homura's nurse try to persuade him to a scheduled activity, but then, it was rare that Homura didn't go. But the demi-god had plans, and the poor woman had little other choice but to leave in a huff as he once again settled himself near the bulletin board in the Sun Room.

His conversation with Kenren the previous shift had left the demi-god with a lingering sense of anxiety. Perhaps it was something only those from his own world could do, but none the less, he was all the more ready for night to begin now. Goals and memories, the truth of his past and the possibility of the future: all thoughts lingering on the forefront of his mind, more than enough motivation to move forward.

Impatience was something of a rush for an immortal, he'd discovered. Homura liked the feeling, the excitement even before he had arrived in this prison. And now while he waited, he savored it again, a yearning that shone so much brighter than the boredom of Heaven.

[Waiting for History Club Q&A time.]

Sanosuke hadn't quite been ready to part ways from Kenshin, but his nurse was insistent, and she was offering food. That second thing was what really got Sano off the couch and headed to the cafeteria. And at the very least, the thing about Okita had been settled, which meant the fighter could focus on his meal.

That may or may not have been a good thing, though.

What the hell was it with these people and their obsession with flat folding things to eat with? Sanosuke had thought that western countries could at least figure out chopsticks at some point. Simple, easy, uncomplicated, glorious chopsticks. But no, instead it was all weird bread things that randomly exploded all over Sanosuke without it being his fault whatsoever. And orange rice, which was just impossible to forgive, but thankfully had yet to reappear.

And as if that hadn't been bad enough, now the weird flat bread things weren't even round anymore. No, Sanosuke was left with some odd triangle shape, peppers that smelled a lot hotter than the kinds he was used to, and this sort of dust that Pinky called cheese, and promised would be good if Sanosuke just tried it.

Which Sano had heard before, plenty of times. Oh yes, he could count the number pretty easily, when Jo-chan tried her hand at some new recipe, some old recipe, or some recipe so simple that even Sanosuke could make it in his sleep, all of which she promised would be good this time, and none of which actually were.

Never stopped Sanosuke from eating them though. Free food was free food.

And dust or no, he'd eat this stuff too. The man had already decided to by the time he'd gotten to his seat. Between the smell and the rumbling in his stomach, Sano didn't figure he had much choice. He would just have to take his time, figure out the best way to go about eating it without getting the stuff all over his face again.

Simple. Had to be.

[Waiting for Zuko?]

Sylar's gears were still turning as the nurse and a burly orderly escorted him down long halls and through a strange, sunlit room. He'd been forced to drop his pen when the orderly had seen it, and since then, he'd realized that this place had better security than he'd originally anticipated, as well as a large population of patients. It looked like he'd have to bide his time for now, pretending to be this 'Zachary Blaine' and trying to figure out how the hell he'd gotten here.

His mind went over and over the events in Mohinder's lab, tracing every second that led up to his unconsciousness. According to the computer logs and the decked-out loft, Mohinder was working for the Company now, so had that woman with the electricity been an operative? Was this all a Company front? Even so, it didn't make sense for them to drop him off somewhere without any close supervision. They knew how dangerous he was. How special he was.

But right now, his abilities had been nullified and he was left only with the option of playing along. It was a very good thing that it was something he excelled at, even with his sudden loss of the cure clouding his thoughts and telling him to do something drastic.

Still, it was fun to take ahold of strings and let someone think they were pulling him when in fact he was the puppetmaster. Who knew? Maybe he could find a new toy now that his last one had worn out.

Sylar took his syrup-covered waffle to a table and tried to keep track of both the security and the people flooding in. Soon, he'd find an opening, a weak link he could exploit. It was only a matter of time.

The sky was slightly cloudly as the sun began to rise into the sky, but not enough to put a damper on the Head Doctor's daytime mood. The sound of him humming the intercom jingle came on just as the jingle itself ended, and he paused as he realized his silly antics had been caught on the microphone.

"Ah..hem. Good morning, Landel's Institute! Patients, staff, and everyone else... I am sad to say that the ruckus last night was about a certain something being stolen from our upper levels. While some of our guards received minor wounds during the attack, no one was seriously injured and none of our patients or doctors were involved.

"To get our minds off this horrible event, however, let me announce something very happy, and that is... you guessed it: the arrival of new patients! We have a very large batch coming in this morning, so I hope that all the nurses will be patient--but firm!--with their new charges while our patients will, as always, welcome their new friends with open arms.

"In any case, today's breakfast will be delicious Belgian waffles with your choice of toppings--syrup, butter, whipped cream, and assorted fresh fruits are all available. As sides, we have bacon, sausage, tater tots, and scrambled eggs, and as always, we have assorted juices and milk.

"We hope that you all enjoy breakfast and the new members of the patient body. I will speak to you all after breakfast!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. (Have your new character wake up in a random empty room, as we aren't yet able to officially assign rooms.) Thanks! ]

The second the intercom sounded, while the man on the intercom was still talking, Ashton pulled himself off the couch in the Music Room and slowly made his way to the door. He walked, glided even, as if he were a ghost in a dream. The nurses had already filed up to escort the patients to the lunchroom, and one bustled over to walk Ashton those few feet from one room to another.

"You're not looking very well, Mr. Pritchett," she said cheerfully. "Didn't you enjoy your shower?"

Ashton replied with a small, forced smile, then shook his head. He didn't feel like talking now. Though the nurses were pushy and downright annoying, he figured he owed this one at least a little explanation. They didn't know - or didn't believe - what went on after dark, but he owed them the benefit of the doubt. "Bad day," he decided on telling her.

Bad day indeed. The showers and the music had done nothing for his nerves. But then again, what could get that graphic image out of his head?

He glided ghostily through the taco line and settled on two chicken and bean tacos, with chips, a scoop of guacamole, two churros on the side, and a glass of apple juice. He wasn't used to this sort of food (save the juice) and he wasn't even sure he'd eat it, but the chances were high that he'd be able to pass it off on someone.

He was on the verge of tears again, too. What he would have given to just sit down next to a barrel and eat a hamburger.

Thank goodness the cafeteria was bare just now, too. It left all the corner tables open, the tables that shouted 'Don't talk to me, I'm brooding over here.' He sat at one, pushed his food a little away from him, and buried his head in his arms.

Raine stopped just outside the Sun Room, which was only a little lighter than the rest of the Institute now because of the skylight; the moon was apparently out. She wondered briefly what the moon looked like, here, but pushed that thought aside. She didn't hear anything from inside...

Standing just outside the doorway, so anyone inside the room wouldn't be able to see her, she looked back at her companions. "It sounds empty. Let's go in." She'd only gotten a few looks at the room during the day, but she was fairly certain that once inside, they should take a left to get into the Arts & Crafts room; it still sounded like a poor place to find weapons, but it was worth taking the chance. She had yet to meet a god at full power, but the myths she knew were informative enough. If they could just retrieve what Amaterasu needed to perhaps get her to a stronger state...

Raine clicked her flashlight on and jumped into the Sun Room's entrance, flicking the beam of light around to hopefully reveal any monsters hiding in the shadows. She held Reinforce's discarded crutch, her only real weapon, at the ready just in case; she wasn't letting herself be caught off-guard just yet.

Once again, Wallace was whisked away from his friends, this time from his dearest one who was evidently newest to the fray. He wouldn't wish this hell on anyone, especially her. But Tifa was a tough cookie--she'd find the strength to make it through just like the rest of them had to. Though he wasn't shy to admit it isn't easy.

Listening to the announcement, he recognized his Institute given name and felt a knot rise in his throat. He knew to be prepared for whatever trick they were to throw at him. His assumption as to whom his visitor might be was perhaps an actor he'd never seen before, but had all the information needed to make him think otherwise. He wasn't looking forward to this event...not in the least.

The nurse deposited him to the first waiting room at one of the wooden tables. A few kind words were spilled from her lips--lips he wanted to twist until they bled--before she left him. Here he would wait for his surprise.

Cid usually liked sleeping in, especially in a place as messed up and uninviting as this, but this happened to be one situation where he really wished he hadn't.

Right there, on the bulletin board. The Head Doctor and he'd fucking missed it? Some part of him wished he'd been there to take his eye out and another part of him knew he wouldn't have been able to. No man that powerful who hid for so long went to dangerous places without some kind of entourage.

Brunch sounded like it'd be filling, at least, though he nearly stopped in his tracks when the bastard announced TEA. TEA. It'd been a damn long while since he'd had some fucking tea, though with all the stress this place had found fit to rain down on his fucking head, it hadn't really been the first priority on his mind. Kinda nice, even if Cid was sure this was just some game the mother fucker was playing to get them all stuck neck-deep in Stockholm Syndrome.

He scanned the mostly-empty room for any sign of a familiar face once he'd piled waffles and sausages and syrup on his plate, though the person he really wanted to talk to was that Reynolds guy. "Spaceship" was the last word he remembered clearly before waking up in his bed, and dammit if he wasn't going to keep it stuck like glue in his mind.

He found a table where he could watch people come into the cafeteria and grabbed for his mug. The steam rising from his drink and the bag of herbs in it was nearly enough to make him grin despite it all, and it was with marked leisure and a little relief that he drank his goddamn tea.

As always, Tamaki woke up in his bed. He didn't know how he got there, but he woke up still in the clutches of fear he last remembered from the night. The fight in the hallway, Ed and Adel, the thing...

He was out of bed immediately, determined to make sure his friends were alright. He listened to the man on the intercom, not liking the idea of some big surprise. He didn't imagine any surprises could be good. And he hoped his friends felt the same way...

When his nurse came to get him, he chose the Sun Room instead of the chapel. He wanted no part of whatever was going to happen. He only hoped that Ed and Adel had the same idea....

They probably didn't. Agitated and worried, Tamaki paced along the window, hands behind his back, and waited.

[From here.]

Yuffie scrambled down the hallway as fast as she could, terrified of the thing, the monster, that she had just left behind. She definitely wasn't going to laugh at anyone ever again if they mentioned monsters in this place... Ever.

It wasn't until she was nearly halfway down the hallway that she stopped running, her heavy breathing becoming more painful with each breath. It was painful to swallow, probably even more so to speak if she'd had the courage to try. Running was only making it worse. And she certainly didn't want to run into anything else like that if she didn't have to...

Looking back over her shoulder, she waited for a few seconds to make sure she couldn't hear anything coming before leaning against the wall and sinking to the floor. Now that the initial panic was over, she was shaking from relief at having survived. That thing...whatever it was...was nowhere near being normal. Not even close.

Now more than ever, she just wanted to go home...

After Albel had finished his dinner, he quickly inspected his room, trying to find something useful. The result was as fruitless as his first inspection, only finding a journal and some device he didn't knew. The captain let out a frustrated sigh and flopped down on the bed. Waiting...

After what seemed like an eternity, he finnaly heard the click of the door. The captain didn't waste any time as he opened the door and quickly made his way through the hallway, trying not to attract any attention of other people around. He wasn't really interested in taking someone along for the ride. Those maggots would just slow him down anyway, and the warrior wanted to get to his destination as quickly as possible without anyone nagging him.

He just hoped he'd get to the kitchen fast enough even without having a flashlight. Getting lost wasn't exactly a useful way to spend the night.

[Albel quickly sneaked off to here]

Yuffie was annoyed. To put it simply, today had utterly sucked.

Oh, it had started out well enough. Flirting with Zelos was much fun, and so was teasing the other man..Albel, was it? But it'd gone downhill from there. First with the nurses in the library, and then seeing Hojo, and then Barret... That was what steamed her the most. And to think she'd even felt a little bit worried about that jerk! At least before he'd blown a gasket and flipped her chair out from under her...

Grumbling to herself, Yuffie finished her food and shoved the empty dishes off the desk, more out of spite than anything else. She wanted out of this place. Now. What right did they have to keep her locked up here anyway? None, that's what.

Well, if she was going to be stuck here, she was going to cause as many problems as possible.

As soon as she heard the doors unlock, Yuffie set to work at her sheets. She pulled them all off the bed once again, tearing a strip off of one side to make another headband for herself. Like the night before, she stuck pens in the back of the headband within easy reach, then went to her dresser to retrieve her bag of stuff. Broken stuff, still, but none the less useful.

She looked around the room for anything else. Nothing left but the clothing and the torn up bedsheets... She paused, a grin spreading across her face. Oh, she had an idea for those sheets... Pulling out one of the pens, she uncapped it and set to work scribbling on the fabric. She stood again once she had finished and grabbed a handful of the sheet, quickly dragging it out of the room after her.

[Running over to here.]

Ichigo was only too eager to leave the cafeteria and its fresh memories behind when the softened chime of the intercome rang clear. What had begun as another ordinary meal, a rather agreeable one despite the lack of the proper utensils, quickly became somewhat unnerving. His conversation with...what was his name again?...took so many sharp turns, he should've felt dizzy. It was easy to feel a little sorry for the guy, though; surrounded by stangers in a very strange place, it was hard to blame him for being so alarmed.

The Sun Room occurred as a more enjoyable choice to spend the time; he had nothing against music, but something about being surrounded by some of the most unruly characters he'd ever met, each of them armed with cacophonous weaponry, didn't sound smart. Once his nurse departed, the young man picked out a cozy little spot near a flood of sunshine and settled in, cradling his head in the palms of his hands. There, he stared up almost bitterly at the ceiling with sharply focused eyes, still exuding the same unapproachable sense of being as ever.

The room was warm, even a little comforting, for any of the tired, weary masses found in Landel's halls, or even those who just craved a little peace and quiet. All he could hear, from end of the room, were soft footfalls and hushed voices. That sounded just fine to the 'berry head.

Hikaru and Kaoru had been so caught up in their little game that they initially hadn't heard the intercom go off. The new "ding" system was far less jarring than the old SCREECH, and as such, wasn't as easily heard, even in a place as quiet as the library. All too soon, the nurses came to separate the twins and take them to the next activity--lunch.

It only felt like a few minutes since breakfast, somehow, and yet Hikaru was starved. The lunch selection was ridiculously Americanized food of the "Pan Asian" genre, as bad as when his family had wanted Japanese food in California and had gone to the "nicest" restaurant in the English language guidebook. He cringed visibly when the surly cafeteria worker poured sauce on his rice--which was supposed to be plain--but...food was food, and he wasn't feeling terribly picky right now. At least it smelled all right.

One of the good things about being the first one into the cafeteria was having his pick of the tables. Hikaru chose one of the larger ones, saving seats for Kaoru, Tamaki, and (in a fit of hopefulness) Haruhi.

He hoped they'd come soon. He hated being alone.

Dreamless slumbers were easy. There was no thought, no images of people or places you knew or ones conjured by your imagination. It was simply you in darkness until your eyelids cracked and the darkness gave way to a light you were unwilling to greet.

Barret dreamt of Marlene. Rather, he saw her visage stilled as a photo before his sight as he gasped a breath to break the chains sleep cast about him. He was in the same room he'd awoken in the night before. This morning was slightly different from the rest. It was this morning he sustained vast injuries he was acutely aware of by simply breathing in the institute air. It might as well been poisonous taint--everything about the place was taint. Only the stilled image of his angel made it seem endurable.

Yet even the remembrance of that little girl brought his heart to a chilling halt. This imprisonment seemed hopeless at every turn. It was as if every moment, if he wasn't confronted with the fact all escape was a little less than impossible, he heard new imformation to enforce this fact.

Wallace wasn't one for giving up, yet in his newest form of injury, he felt like a useless slab of meat. He recalled the days when he truly had something to offer, not only to the comrades that battled along side of him, but the little girl he grew to call his own and truly believe it in his heart.

His large hands gripped the sheets at his sides, inhaling a sharp breath not only at the pain, but the sorrow that was washing over him in a tidal wave of misery.

"Marlene..." he whispered in a trembling voice, shaking his head over and over at the troubling thoughts invading his mind. All attempts to banish them were futile, "Daddy don't know if he can get out of this one...but he gonna try..."

The words were not believable, not even as he spoke them. It was in his eyes--for the moment at least, he was giving up.

The nurses' cheerful voice barely registered as she rattled off about him missing breakfast. It didn't matter. He wasn't hungry anyway. She mentioned something about leaving the room, heading for the next scheduled activity, and nothing but complete blankness crossed his face as she continued to babble. She took his wrist, which was heavy and limp. He didn't even have the resolve to talk back to her, in which she must have seen his reluctance and silence as something more than what it was. Out of the corner of his eye, he finally saw a wheelchair positioned by the bed for convenience. Was his condition that severe? As he moved to seat himself in it with her aid, he noticed he in fact, was. He felt devestated.

It was interesting how she didn't make mention of his wounds. The clean stab through just above his gut was stitched on both sides, the gash as his knee was bandaged as was the slice at his gut. She must have thought them self-inflicted.

Maybe he really was insane.

He might as well have been comatose. His expression was non-existent as the nurse continued to ramble, pushing him down the hallway toward their destination.

When they entered the library, his care went from zero to in the negative numbers. She placed him gently at the head of one of the tables and asked if he needed help locating any books. When no answer came, she frowned but patted his shoulder in a comfort before leaving the broken patient behind.

He felt like shit.