When the intercom came on to announce the shift change, the feeling of dread returned. Anise had calmed down considerably since the morning, and she felt more ready to discuss the previous night with Ilia... but not as ready as she wanted to be.

Since the Music Room was bound to be noisy and crowded, Anise opted for the Sun Room instead, hoping that Ilia would come to the same conclusion. She took a seat on one side of a couch in the middle of the room, and waited there. If Ilia didn't show up after a while, she'd go try the Music Room.

Even though this talk had been on her mind all day, Anise still didn't know what she would say. And if she explained the truth behind her shadow's words last night... what would Ilia think? On the one hand, Ilia had shown herself to be a compassionate person, and it was hard to picture her treating Anise differently. But on the other hand, Anise hadn't known Ilia that long... and Ilia was a soldier. She would understand the gravity of Anise's actions, and the sorts of consequences that usually waited for people like her.

With these worries weighing on her mind, Anise leaned against the arm of the couch as she waited.

[For Ilia.]

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]

Honey was relieved when breakfast was over.  Even though there'd been plenty of sticky-sweet french toast to be had, the company left him feeling a little inadequate.  Usually girls fawned all over him, but Callisto had been downright mean.  Had he done something wrong?  What kind of girl wanted to fight rather than play?  It'd only been a few days, he shouldn't be that rusty when it came to hosting. 

Heaving a sigh, he followed his nurse to the Arts and Crafts room.  He would've liked to spend some time with Takashi, but the nurse said it was time for the grown ups to go shower.  When he protested yet again that he was in fact eighteen, the nurse just laughed and led him away by the hand.

So he sat at one of the round plastic tables, letting Usa-chan take the seat next to him so he could get messy with the fingerpaints.  He was up to his elbows in blues and greens and he'd only just started. 

[Free Loli-shota type!]

[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.

Miku hurried away from her new friends (and kitten) to the cafeteria. For some reason she was just terribly ravenous. Her nurse smiled, relieved that her patient had finally chose to eat something and wouldn't continue that backslide into poor health. She loaded the girl's plate with French toast and fruit, dusted the bread in powdered sugar and a bit of cherries in red-red syrup and sent the girl to sit.

"There we are, Alice, a nice healthy meal," she cooed, and patted Miku's head. Miku sighed, but carefully cut into her meal and started eating, keeping her eye out for Sousuke.

Rukia filed out of the bus with the other prisoners, shivering a little in the cool autumn air. She was a little irked that the nurses hadn't given her mittens on this trip. Forced to stuff her hands in to the pockets of her jeans, Rukia hunched her shoulders and wandered to the edge of the park before turning around to look for anyone she knew.

Nurses and orderlies were already milling about, supervising and watching the prisoners. Rukia's plan was to get a hold of something - anything - that she could use as a weapon when they returned to the Institute that night. It would be difficult with so many staff members around, but she was determined; the last thing she wanted was to be trapped on the buses again with no weapon.

Wally woke as the intercom crackled to life and was surprised to find himself back in his room. The last thing he'd remembered was feeling relieved at finally beating off those dragonfly-lizard things. There'd been that weird intercom message, then... he wasn't quite sure what had happened after that, but he was certain it hadn't involved falling asleep. He'd be half-wondering if he'd dreamed the whole thing if it hadn't been for the nagging ache on his back and ankle from where he'd been bitten. A quick check revealed they'd been bandaged, apparently while he'd slept. He wondered if he had Kal to thank for that. Maybe he'd get the chance to ask later.

He jumped as the door swung open to admit the familiar face of the nurse who'd woken him yesterday. "Up already, are we?" she said cheerfully as she busied herself pulling out clothes. A blue shirt and a pair of jeans were passed to him. Wally blinked, he hadn't been here long, but he'd gotten the impression that the grey-and-smiley-face combo was standard.

"Does this mean I'm being released?" he asked, hope creeping into his voice.

The nurse turned back to him, pity etched on her features. "I'm afraid not, dear." She smiled brightly as she continued, "but today's when all the patients get a special field trip into town! Won't that be a treat!"

Wally stared at the clothes, his mind working away. He'd been trying to get into town and to a phone last night before he'd been attacked. But if they were going in today, this might be the perfect chance for him to contact the Justice League. He smiled warmly and thanked the nurse as she left to allow him to change, then happily allowed himself to be led to one of the buses, picking a seat about halfway down and sliding in to look out the window. It seemed like today was going to be brighter than yesterday, at least in the area of possible phone calls and rescues. About the only dark patch he could see was that the contents of his paper-bag breakfast were going to be nowhere near enough to fill the yawning pit that had taken the place of his stomach, and even that was tolerable when he was positive he wasn't going to be here much longer.

"And you say that time goes rushing by, but it seems so slow to me, and you see a blur around you fly, but it takes too long, it seems so slow to me..." he sung absently.

[Oh Captain, my Captain~]

[rushing in from here]

Zim closed the door quickly behind him and listened. Judging by the lack of pursuing footsteps, it was safe to say he hadn't been spotted entering the room. Good. Hopefully, the ones blocking the corridor up ahead wouldn't take so long to leave. He could just hide in here until they left.

The room itself seemed eerily quiet, proving there weren't any of those filthy beasts in here. And no monsters either from what he could tell. Since there wasn't anyone else in the room, Zim didn't have to worry about the lighting device attracting attention. He turned it on and quickly swept the stupidly weak beam around the room.

Chairs... a few tables... more chairs... If he was going to be stuck in some room, why couldn't it at least have been a room with something useful in it? No, that was wrong. With his incredible brain, he could turn even the most pathetic piece of junk into something of value.

He walked further into the room, scanning the area with the light beam and examining anything that might even slightly spark his curiosity. There had to be something in here he could use.

[From here]

The halls in this particular block were rather deserted, both of patients and monsters. Scar couldn't help but to be relieved there wasn't anything of the latter. He had never been much of a fighter (that was his dead brother's department, as doubtlessly half of the institute knew...), but this body didn't even possess any means to defend himself with, neither did he trust his familiarity with it to attempt it. It was foolish to head out alone...

...which was why, despite everything, he still needed a meat shield an ally. The paranoid part of him thought the...complications would make such a thing difficult. Or maybe he shouldn't be thinking about this too often, or he'd drive himself mad with his paranoia.

But that was easier said than done...

Reaching the end of the hallway, he stepped out into the next. He supposed he should try his luck further up ahead...

[To here]

((From here.))

And here she was. GLaDOS stopped just outside the doorway to the Sun Room and pressed her back against the wall. She could hear no screaming, no fighting, no splattering of blood or hissing of acidic pools or beeping of a rocket turret finding its target in a laser sight and preparing to fire. It was very quiet, for the moment, unhindered by monstrosities of any kind.

She was sure, however, that there would be someone inside, just waiting for a hapless, worthless human to come slinking by, trying to get through to find their way past all those rooms and into the basement. For her, there was no use for the basement yet. Once she knew where all the cake was hidden, or had made her own, then it might pose some interest. After all, there were rumors of weapons, useful items, and mysteries that originated down there. It piqued her curiosity, but only so much. Very little could surpass her desire for cake.

So she waited for the tall, skinny man called Nny. He'd agreed to meet her, with some hesitation. If he failed to arrive, she'd beat him to death with his own arm the next day.

((Waiting for Johnny.))

The moment the doors unlocked, Peter was rushing out of his, suited up and flashlight in hand. He knew that it would do no good to panic, but he couldn't help it. The longer he had been forced to wait in that room on his own, the more he had thought about what they might be doing to Logan.

He needed to get the word out to someone, and Statesman was the only real option right now. Harry didn't know Logan well enough to care all that much, Peter guessed, and he would only be upset for Peter's sake.

There wasn't anything they could do about it, he knew, but he still felt the need to tell someone. They need to restructure their plans, as odd as it was going to feel to keep going without Logan being involved somehow. But he knew the man wouldn't want them to drop everything because of this, either. And as much as Peter wanted to go to Logan's aid, he also knew that could only make things worse.

He was surprised to find the hallway completely empty, seeing how Statesman was usually out there and waiting for them by now. Then again, that was because he and Logan usually spent some time finishing up their conversation before heading out immediately, and that obviously wasn't the case this time.

He didn't even know Statesman's room number, so he was forced to wait impatiently for the man to show up.

[from here]

Unfortunately, the adventurous door seemed to lead to a very unadventurous hallway that was exactly identical to the last hallway.

There was always the chance that this really was some kind of hospital and Fox was a real mental patient. But he'd seemed nice enough, and calm enough, and Rose was inclined to believe that terrible, bizarre happenings were more likely than run-of-the-mill explanations. So until he was proved wrong, Rose was gonna stay on her guard.

This hallway had another door at the end of it, which hopefully would lead to something more exciting than more concrete walls.

[to here]

[from here]

The shinigami padded silently down the hallway, keeping to the left-side wall and her hand upon her sword's hilt. Her eyes scanned the area surorunding her as she continued on to the next hallway, especially the nurses' stations as she neared them. This would be a horrible time for her to get attacked by a nurse or two. Thankfully, the halls were empty, btu she didn't drop her guard. She knew better.

Almost there.

[to here]

[from here]

A quick look to the left was sent down the hallway in search of any potential threats before Momo headed to the right. So far, so good. Hopefully, she wouldn't run into any complications before she was able to meet back with Signum.

Then, she'd almost feel sad for whatever the knight came across.

[to here]

The intercom came on, and as it did, it seemed to carry a little more interference than usual for a daytime announcement, a little more static. While the patients might have thought for a moment that once again the elusive woman on the radio had hacked into the Head Doctor's system, the man himself soon proved that theory faulty as he laughed over the broadcast.

"Hello, hello, everyone, and I'm sorry for the bad quality of this broadcast; we've been having some technical difficulties lately, you see, and we wanted to make sure everything was fixed by tomo...."

His voice crackled out into inaudibility for a moment before fading back in.

"Yes, hopefully that will be done soon. In any case, now's the time that you all head back to your rooms to enjoy a delicious meal... seasoned salmon! Yes, we have filets of very tasty, very juicy salmon seasoned with herbs and garlic; on the side, we have mashed potatoes, peas, and to drink, our usual assortment of beverages. For dinner, you'll all be enjoying vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce."

The intercom's broadcast crackled again. The Head Doctor laughed, seemingly a little nervously.

"Ah, yes, perhaps we'll be able to finish the repairing tomorrow, when all of you are away at... Doyleton! Yes, yes, you're all in for a fun and exciting day, a day whose activities will be new for some and a welcome familiarity to others. You'll be under strict supervision, of course, but... well, I suppose you'll find out all about the circumstances tomorrow, before you set off, mm? Yes! In any case... I hope you all enjoy dinner!"

The intercom clicked off again as the nurses began ushering patients back to their quarters.

[ All introduction posts for this shift's group of new characters should be made in response to this post. (You can find your character's room assignment here.) Remember, everyone responds to this post with their character's room number in the subject line. ]

Yuffie bounced all the way through collecting her lunch, all the way to a good seat- one with a nice view of the whole cafeteria, which was something she'd been missing out on during the past day or so that she'd been stuck in the Institute- and hell, she even bounced into her seat.

A good mood? No, really?

Despite the occasional blip, talking to Sagara had been awesome. He was a fun guy; he wasn't a prude, didn't have a stick shoved so far up his ass it was poking out his eyeballs, and he'd actually had a conversation with her. One that hadn't revolved around doom, gloom or how much life sucked. If she could find other people like that and keep in touch with Sagara, maybe there was a little hope for this place.

After a quick gulp of pink lemonade, Yuffie settled to munching through her food and keeping an eye on the door.

[Waiting for Dean, I think? :x]

[From here, waiting for his bff. ♥]

The walk with the nurse provided little more information; the woman still refused to go into detail on his particular diagnosis. She did reveal, however, that Near's name in this place was Nathan Ritter. Again he noticed the closeness to his real name, but given the woman's insistence on referring to him as either "Nathan" or "Mr. Ritter," Near decided it was safe for the present.

She'd revealed that he would be given a choice to where he would stay for that period of time. Despite her encouragement to choose the outdoor Courtyard, Near instead opted to remain inside. The large window overhead no doubt gave the Sun Room its name, and from the position in the sky, Near would wager that it was mid-morning and approaching noon. The room itself was lobby-like in appearance. Several doors lined the walls, which were painted a mild green--unsurprising, given the calming nature of the color. Accompanying pictures also seemed place to induce a sense of relaxation, completed by the inviting furniture. The only thing that seemed to contrast with the atmosphere, in fact, was the balcony above, on what was presumably the second floor. So the patients were to relax here, and at the same time, perhaps be watched by the keepers?

Interesting.

But clearly what held the most promise for Near was the large board hanging on the far wall. His nurse left his side after he came to the room, and Near approached what was clearly a place for communication and messages. The number of notices signified that it was well used, and the information within was fascinating. Near ignored the patients filing in around him for the moment, instead focusing on reading the various notices as quickly as he could. The information was quite extreme--different worlds, non-humans being forced into human bodies, the dead being brought to life here. Certainly things that one might expect to see in an asylum.

And yet all of it was made much more believable by one note in particular, written in hands Near was intimately familiar with.

A sense of urgency crept into Near's thoughts then. He didn't show it outwardly, save for twirling his hair tighter, tugging at it before freeing his finger. If he was here, and they were here, then who else had arrived? Already Near longed for his toys, or a fingerpuppet kit to make them, the task ideal for filtering through the information. As it stood, the thin paper of his notebook would be a lacking substitute, but the only option at the time.

First, however, Near began to write on several of the notices. There was obviously much more to this hospital than its surface showed, and the push to solve the puzzle was quickly born in his mind.

[starting off in M13]

The last part of the night was little more than a blur in Homura's mind. The men had rushed in, but not joined them, instead staying off to themselves. Before any of them had a chance to react, however, a voice sounded through the air, mocking some other person Homura had never heard of, and the patients themselves.

To Homura, whoever that man was, he sounded a great deal like a god.

But before he could ask questions, the demi-god found himself no longer in the chapel, but some strange room on a bed. Is that what Kenren had meant from his earlier warning? Homura sat up, glad at least that the world didn't spin when he did so. Then the same man from before began to speak again, with a completely different tone. It was confusing to hear him talk that way, calling them patients instead of prisoners as he had before. Homura listened quietly as the announcement was made, then got out of bed.

Maybe he wouldn't have to go anywhere yet. It wasn't like Homura knew where to go anyway, and that meant he had time. If this was his room, and if he had been here as long as Kenren had said, there was a chance he could find something with answers. The Taisho had even told him that Homura had seen Rinrei. Certainly he would've written something down, made a map, something that could let him find her again! He started with the desk at the end of his bed, first finding a small stack of notebooks. Picking up the first, he flipped through, turning the pages with quickening desperation as he found each one to be blank.

The sun broke over the horizon, casting its light over the areas that patients had newly discovered just hours before. The entrance to the mine, the old town, the lake... they all looked less sinister in the early morning glow than they had by the light of the moon, but none of the patients would know this because none of them were there to see it.

They might have fallen unconscious out on the grassy ground, but no longer were they there due to the strange power that the Head Doctor wielded from his safe seat at the Institute. As they woke up, they were in their beds, warm, clean, bandaged, and perhaps with sudden realizations that an escape from Landel's Institute meant an escape through the very fabric of time and space.

"Goooood morning!" The Head Doctor called cheerily, the intercom speakers broadcasting his voice as clear as crystal. Clearly, he'd called in some hi-tech repairmen between his announcement the night before and now. "I trust you all slept well last night, and I do hope you've replenished enough energy for the exciting events taking place today! ...Well, not exactly events, but we do have a new batch of patients for you to all meet and befriend! We'll be introducing fifteen of them during breakfast, so I want all of you–as always–to give them a warm welcome!

"As far as breakfast itself... well, today, we'll be having the ol' classic of buttermilk pancakes! Yum! We of course have butter and maple syrup to put on them, as well as fresh strawberries and blueberries. As sides, we have sausage, scrambled eggs, and tater tots; for drinks, we have regular milk, chocolate milk, orange juice, and water. Oh, and of course, we have assorted cereals available for anyone who wants them.

"And... that's all for now! I hope you all have a good meal."

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.) Since we know it's probably really weird for new characters to get thrown in the showers on their first day: it's perfectly okay if brand new patients (and new patients only) hang in the Sun Room or if they end up in the Courtyard with the other age group. (The nurses will say that they were already cleaned up upon their arrival.) This isn't applicable until the next shift, but we thought we should give you guys a heads-up. Thanks! ]