Day 53: Sun Room, Morning

[scarefaux]

With breakfast finished and a new acquaintance made, the Scarecrow's mind turned to his other friends. The disappearance of Depth Charge's friend had brought back memories of how he'd felt when Kaiji went missing: helpless, useless, as though he should have and could have done something more to find him. If only he had his brain, then maybe he

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[scientist_skye]

"That happens?" Ema's pen started moving across the page in front of her once more. "I knew that the visitors acted brainwashed and all, but I didn't realize they could be former patients! I wonder what finally sets all of this-" she waved her hand around to indicate the institute as a whole "-into your mind? It doesn't seem like they're actively brainwashing us so much as they just keep insisting that what we know isn't real. Scientifically speaking, that's not at all the same thing." This new bit of knowledge was troubling. Was Dr. Landel capable of that kind of full-on brainwashing? If so, why brainwash some and not others? And why let the doctors address patients by their actual names during the nighttime experiments?

The more Ema learned in her investigations of this place, the less sense it made. That was frustrating--it was the exactly the opposite of the way investigation was supposed to work!

"Well, if they try to brainwash me and release me, I'll resist," Ema insisted, her hands balling back up into fists. Of course, everyone probably did, but that was beside the point. "I won't make it easy for them."

[unheroed]

Having never experienced it himself, Harvey didn't want to give the girl the wrong information, and so he shrugged as she tried to further question him. "I don't know too much about it. If you think of a clever way to phrase it, I'm sure you can ask on the bulletin." Actually, it wouldn't even be that hard, to ask about "cured" friends coming back to visit.

As intent as she seemed on being stronger than Landel and whatever he had up his sleeve, Harvey didn't think it was as easy as that. More than that, he didn't believe in lying in order to shelter a young person and allow them to think they were right when they weren't.

"I'm pretty sure that at some point they drop the act and do some real brainwashing, something like what they do for the Special Counseling. I have no idea why they don't do it off the bat, but... my guess is it's not something you can resist." As far as Harvey was aware, Lana would have appreciated him bursting the girl's bubble rather than allowing her to carry on with a delusion.

[scientist_skye]

Asking about the visitations and releases on the bulletin board was a really good idea, if for no other reason than it gave her a chance to learn what other patients in the institute already knew and prevented her investigation from becoming redundant. Ema just needed to think of a way to properly word her question; subtlety and metaphor and speaking between the lines were not things she was terribly adept at. Maybe she'd ask Lana for help later.

Mr. Dent's response to her determination, however, left something to be desired. Sure, maybe he was just being realistic, but it seemed to her that he was just willing to let this happen! "That doesn't mean I won't try! Even if nothing comes of it and I still get brainwashed, I'm not just going to let them do whatever they want to me!" Well, any more than they already had done to her. The thought gave her pause as a shiver worked its way up her spine. When she continued, her tone was a bit more sober. "I know that when they brainwash you, they mean it. My roommate didn't even recognize me when she was taken to Special Counseling. But... I refuse to let that be an excuse to give up. We can't let them get to us, Mr. Dent. No matter what."

[unheroed]

It was difficult to try and hold back a sigh when the girl protested his more realistic view on things. Harvey realized where she was coming from, of course, since no one wanted to believe that they would give in as easily as everyone else had. There was that need to be special, to be the one that broke the pattern, but it wasn't always that simple. This wasn't a movie, after all, and there was no main character here who would come out on top because the plot dictated they would.

Granted, it was no surprise that someone so young would be a bit naive and short-sighted. He couldn't really hold that against her, even if he was so far past that sort of thinking. Granted, when he'd been her age he'd been intent on becoming an attorney so he could make Gotham a better place; he'd followed that dream up until recently, and it was only now that he'd come to see how foolish it had been for him to believe in it.

"Do you think everyone else who's fallen victim to it hasn't tried?" he asked her with a slight frown. "Of course everyone's going to do their best, but you also have to be prepared to realize that there might not be an easy way out of this." She'd been taken for experiments; she should have known what it was like. In fact, that was knowledge that Harvey himself didn't have.

Before he could give her any more words of wisdom, however, the intercom went off, announcing that the shift was over. Harvey shrugged and stood from his seat, stretching for a moment before he looked back down at the girl. "Either way, it was nice to meet you." Surprisingly, that wasn't a lie. "Give your sister my regards when you see her."

[scientist_skye]

Ema wanted to continue to protest Mr. Dent's continued pessimism. Of course everyone else fought back, what reason did they have not to? And she'd done her best to stand up to the doctor who had experimented on her... at least up until the point that he'd rubbed her nerves so raw that she pretty much gave up on the endeavor and endured the rest of the procedure in silence.

But still. She'd tried her best, at least, and there was some kind of moral victory in that.

The intercom's announcement of the next shift cut off any opportunity that Ema had to respond to Mr. Dent's words directly. Already, he was on his feet and their nurses were approaching. Ema would have to let the subject go for now. "It was nice to meet you, too," she answered, smiling. It was an earnest sentiment. "I will."