Day 54: Lunch

[full_score]

All things considered, last shift had been pretty low key. After this morning's disaster, though, that was perfectly fine by Claude. Some fresh air and a chance to make sure Guy and Okita were all right weren't things to take for granted. It was also good to have a fairly normal, conversation with Guy that didn't slip off into awkward territory

Comments

[scintillatingly]

While Albedo had definitely been a little weird for someone his age, Sora had gotten through that conversation without anything too terrible happening. Then again, what could one patient really do to another during the day like this? If he had to worry about anything, it was the night shift, but he doubted that the white-haired boy had any plans to come after him in the late hours

[antiheroed]

What Landel's announcement stated was that some of Riku's theories weren't entirely unfounded. While he thought that it seemed likely that Landel himself would be booted, he seemed to grasp that it was a little more than that. Maybe Landel would stick around, after all-but at what cost? And wasn't it strange that they were just now finding out about this? Wouldn't Sora have mentioned if he knew the place was under someone else's hold, rather than Landel himself? Then again, there was a chance it just didn't come up. Either way, Riku could tell there was more to the announcement than one might initially perceive; it sounded like a harsh, somewhat unnecessary, reprimand, but the pause was what caught him.

It was what he paid attention to. That, of course, and the tone. Landel could have been putting on an act, but he wasn't sure. Riku was certain that his act was the cheery persona in the daytime, and that this was different. But why ... tired? It didn't add up. He didn't quite have an explanation for Landel was so different

[scintillatingly]

Sora had been so engrossed in copying down the note that it took him a second or two to even realize that someone was there. This sort of work wasn't really what he was the best at, but he could tell that this information was really important. A note from the Head Doctor to the old radio man? That was a really big deal. More than that, it was about Jill

[antiheroed]

Upon taking the message from his friend, Riku started reading it carefully. What was said disturbed him somewhat, because it only seemed to open up the possibility that there were things he didn't know. Given Sora's excitement over what it said, it meant that these words were meant to be remembered. He looked them over carefully and committed them to memory; he knew Sora would keep the copy, so he handed it back over. His friend would keep it safe. He was good about that

[scintillatingly]

Even though Sora could tell that Riku was giving the note his attention, he didn't react to it that much. How could he not be shocked by the fact that Jill and Nurse Lydia might be the same person? Then again, Riku hadn't really been around when Jill was talking over the radio a lot, so maybe it didn't stand out that much to him

[antiheroed]

"No, it's not just that. Think, Sora." He wanted to ask about the rest, to point out that it was weird that she had been reconditioned like them-but they needed to stay on one topic. Riku's realization about that made it clear that this was all likely connected, to something more. If that was the case, why carry on the sham that they were meant to be patients? It didn't make sense. "When Xemnas ran the Organization, there was a hierarchy. They would be sent out to stop you, but they wouldn't know why. They just knew that was their job, right?" He had a feeling Sora wouldn't follow, but he needed to use this example. It seemed to be the best one

[scintillatingly]

Even if Riku wanted him to think (and he was trying!), it wasn't that easy. Things didn't fall into place in Sora's mind the same way it did in his friend's, but he knew that well enough to be willing to listen to what Riku had to say. If he had some idea of what was really going on here, then Sora was going to make sure that he understood what it was as best as he could.

Though when Xemnas was mentioned he couldn't help making a face. Riku had to have noticed that the Organization's superior was here by now, but that was something they could probably talk about later. Xemnas had been laying low and keeping to himself for the most part, so Sora wasn't allowing himself to waste too much energy worrying about what he could do

[antiheroed]

Riku thought back to the only other circumstances and experience he had with this-and the biggest one had to do with Roxas. A different one was with his replica. In the end, his replica didn't have a point other than to fight, and they didn't care if Riku killed him. Axel used the replica in such a way so that he would meet that end. Castle Oblivion seemed to be a mess for things like this, and Roxas, later, received similar treatment-or worse, as Riku had come to realize by now-from Ansem

[scintillatingly]

With the mention of both his Other and Kairi's, Sora couldn't help frowning to himself. It wasn't something that he liked to think about, even though he knew that both Roxas and Naminé had been through a lot of bad stuff, mainly while he'd been busy sleeping. Roxas didn't remember a lot of it, though, which made things even more awkward. As for Naminé, he never did seem able to keep proper track of her in this place, and that was enough to bother him

[antiheroed]

That wasn't the point, though he wasn't surprised that Sora didn't get it. Riku considered how he would explain this, and just decided to handle it as best as he could on the spot. What he got from what Sora said was that they had him for a while in this world-not too surprising, but it meant that he was just as susceptible to things going on. That wasn't too surprising, was it? He frowned, though. If they were seeing people they knew, why didn't they bring in people they didn't know? Wouldn't that hit home the point further?

The only thing he could conclude was that it didn't matter, not with their plans.

"It doesn't matter if they come. They might still come, but odds are, they'll be people we recognize. I would be surprised if it was any other way." That was a way of surprising them but it could have been another part of the experiment

[scintillatingly]

For someone like Sora, being visited by a person he didn't know wouldn't have hit him as hard anyway. Yeah, it would have been weird to have someone acting like they knew him when he'd never seen them before, but that kind of thing was easy to fake. Someone couldn't act exactly like Donald or like Riku -- he just couldn't believe in that. When they'd visited him, it had been them. He was lucky to have Riku back with him now, but still... it showed just how much control this place had over them

[antiheroed]

That was exactly what he was getting at, but even if Landel didn't have anything to do with this, they didn't have to count him out. There was no way of knowing that Landel didn't have some hand in this. For now, he didn't point that out. Complicating it too far might make it harder for Sora to keep up with how he was sorting out his thoughts

[scintillatingly]

Even if Riku was making some good guesses, Sora knew that they were just that -- guesses -- until they got more information. It was still hard for him to imagine that Landel might end up totally out of the picture, since he'd always taken charge of this place. But were these other people really forcing him out of power and doing things their own way? If what had happened this morning was a sign of what was to come, then Sora didn't really know if he wanted that