DAY 55: Sun Room [2nd Shift]

[autophoenix]

[ from here ]Either she was the only unlucky person to experience a freezing shower, or she just hadn't built up the tolerance for it that the more seasoned patients had. Whichever it was, she was the first person into the sun room and while normally she wouldn't mind that, the soldiers were majorly creepy and she was kind of hoping for some kind

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[rischiarare]

[From here.]

As much as Roxas wanted to go outside, he realized he had more important things to do... like find Neku. Of course, if Neku wasn't inside at first, he could go outside and look for him. Probably. Maybe the soldier guy who was leading him around wouldn't be too happy with the request, but he didn't care.

Either way, it didn't matter past the threshold of the sun room. Roxas took the room in at a glance, his eyes darting over the small assembly of patients already there. He had to push his flattened hair out of his eyes several times to see, but he spotted his roommate easily enough, talking to someone in a chair that he hadn't met before. A weight seemed to lift off his chest, letting him breathe easier. Neku looked OK, at least from what Roxas could see.

What happened to him last night?

He wanted to ask, but he didn't want to interrupt his meeting with someone else. It could be really important, and interruptions always were... awkward.

Maybe he could see if Sora had put up a new message for the arts and crafts members. He felt kind of bad that he hadn't done anything to help the club, but Roxas was pretty sure Sora wouldn't be upset about him trying to help his roommate. If only he'd known more about what was going on, he could have actually found him...

Making his way to the board, he slipped around another boy. He was kind of surprising like Goku because he was a little shorter than Roxas, who had gotten pretty used to being the smallest one around. "Are you looking for something?" he asked, turning his head to look at him. "I can help you look."

[ran_on_empty]

Given how popular the bulletin board was as a whole, Sync had expected someone to come up after enough time passed. However, while most people kept to themselves, he was mildly surprised to find that one in particular was offering to help him. Maybe it was because they just wanted him to rush and get out of the way? He wasn't exactly new to that kind of treatment, though upon first impressions the kid looked like he was too fragile to even harm a kitten.

"I doubt we'd find much," Sync began as he glanced over to the blond, offering a sheepish grin. He was a bit taller than him, though he doubted he was physically older. "I'm pretty sure everyone else is as lost as the next person."

There were some things that were obvious, but if he'd learned anything since his stay here it was that all of that could turn around in the blink of an eye. For all they knew, this could just be some act that Landel himself was directing just to see how they'd react to this sudden shift in 'power'. At this point he wouldn't really put it past the guy.

[rischiarare]

"Yeah, that's true..." Roxas brought his hand under his chin, cradling it as he turned back to the board. His blue eyes darted around, trying to pinpoint anything familiar - maybe Ruby's writing, or Goku's (kind of; last time he'd talked to Goku on the board he could barely even read what he was writing), or even one of Sora's Arts & Crafts announcements. Nothing so far... he'd have to check back later. "I tried to talk to the soldier guy that was leading me around, and he wouldn't even talk to me."

As true as that was, it was really annoying, especially since no one would explain why he was getting that kind of treatment. He hadn't gotten involved with that food fight thing, and he'd helped clean it up anyway. Maybe it had to do with this metal thing on his neck? The first time Roxas has asked what was going on, the man had pointed to the necklace and faced forward again.

"I guess it sounds kind of dumb to say I liked the nurses better, but at least they talked to me."

[ran_on_empty]

"Really?" Sync momentarily pulled his attention away from the bulletin when he found nothing of interest, tilting his head curiously. While he couldn't care less about how the military was treating this kid, he didn't seem like the type who would purposely attract any cold shoulders. Meanwhile, his own was relatively civil, answering his basic questions without so much as a scowl.

The God-General thought back to the earlier conversation he had, casting an idle glance at the blond's tag. He wouldn't be surprised if there was a connection between the two, as grunts were always the ones that received the least consideration.

"What's your rank? That might be what's causing you trouble."

[rischiarare]

When the other asked about rank, Roxas immediately thought thirteen, then frowned about that. Even if it had caused him trouble, he needed to stop thinking like that.

The Nobody dropped his hand to cradle the tabs on his necklace, reading it, seeing as the boy was looking at it too. The name the nurses had called him was on it, followed by "C Class" and a number that he wasn't sure what the purpose of was. Maybe the class thing was the rank? He wasn't entirely sure - and his escort hadn't told him - but it seemed like a logical conclusion.

"Mine says C class. What about yours?"

[ran_on_empty]

In turn Sync looked at his own, but it was more because of a growing habit than never having looked before. The military just seemed more like a thorough version of what they've already been going through; organization seemed key, even if over the most ridiculous things.

"A class," He replied with a sigh. "I guess being here longer finally has its perks."

Not like it was much, but they'd barely had a time to get a proper feel for it. Maybe the perks were a bit better, but in the end they were all still stuck here having to deal being someone's experiment. Sync thought for a moment, realizing that his words probably didn't make sense if the kid was telling the truth about getting nothing from the soldiers.

"That's what I've been told, anyway. Apparently they base ranks on seniority. It's been close to four weeks for me."

[rischiarare]

"Really, seniority?" He hadn't thought of that, but it made sense. It was how the Organization worked. Why not something like this, too? Roxas may not have any experience with this whole military operation thing, but considering how they seemed to operate like how Xemnas had run the group of thirteen Nobodies, Roxas was finding it surprisingly easy to follow.

"I guess it makes sense. I've only been here for almost two. It seems like a lot longer, though..." That meant he was only a little bit over a year old, if Xemnas hadn't lied about how long ago it had been since he'd been created. Not that it really mattered, but somehow that thought was sobering. To be here a month -

"Sorry you've been here that long. It's good you've been surviving."

[ran_on_empty]

"It's not your fault." Though that would've made things a lot easier if it was, but he liked to believe he couldn't be usurped by some scrawny kid. But really, he'd gone through the whole rigmarole himself, and if the soldiers-or even the previous staff-had only done this for the sake of following orders, then making wholehearted apologies were the least of their worries.

"I have to agree through; it's like the days stretch on forever." And it was a double edged sword depending on how much they could actually get accomplished during the night. Most of the time Landel sought fit to ruin that little amenity, and now the military was following the same idea. "I wouldn't be surprised if they were controlling that too. Maybe by drugging our food."

Or how about affecting the environment around them? Or maybe he was just overthinking and this planet naturally just had obnoxiously long days.

[rischiarare]

Drugging the food... he knew what that meant, right? It sounded familiar, but Roxas wasn't entirely sure. Something about the food made time go by slower? That sounded like something Luxord would do, but why would he bother with food?

- wait. What if... what if Landel really was controlling Luxord (or at least this new general guy was now) and he was making all the time go by a lot slower? Roxas fervently hoped that wasn't the case. Number X had been weird and sometimes kind of mean, but he was still nice to Roxas and had helped him out on more than one occasion. Besides, he was a lot more patient than Xigbar had been and he'd been willing to help Roxas solve problems on his own without telling him the answers or anything.

And he'd been able to survive the weirdness of Wonderland. That was something, right?

"What does that mean? The drugging thing?"

[ran_on_empty]

Given Sync's nature, it was a bit of a challenge not to ridicule the other kid about that, but he managed to choke it down for the his sake. Being in a high traffic area as they were, he didn't need anyone prodding into their business. And so the God-General thought for a moment, trying to figure out a way to put it all in laymen's terms, if that were even possible at this point.

"Think of it like taking medicine unwillingly, and depending on the drug you eat it'll affect you in different ways. It can make you hyper, sluggish, or pass out completely."

He was hoping the blond was at least smart enough to know what he meant; really, did he live under a rock or something?

"Most of the time this is a bad thing, where the one doing the drugging wants to gain an advantage over someone else."

[rischiarare]

Oh. Right. At least this guy wasn't giving him trouble for asking or anything. Actually, he seemed pretty laid back, especially since Roxas had just unwittingly dragged him into a conversation without an introduction or anything, then kind of pelted him with questions.

"I think I've heard of that." He wasn't exactly sure. Once the explanation had been given, it kind of fell into place in his head with a click, like oh, of course that's what he meant, I knew that. But he hadn't. He hadn't really had an idea before that. This was... Nobody stuff, he guessed. Maybe being near Sora was affecting his memories? That seemed a likely answer...

"Sorry for the dumb questions," he shrugged. There wasn't really an explanation he could provide for that. "I'm Roxas, um. By the way. I forgot to say that earlier."

[ran_on_empty]

Sync had to wonder what kind of world this kid lived in if he'd only heard of something like this. Maybe he was just one of the too innocent types that'd been sheltered by the world in some way or another. Luckily, he seemed more manageable to deal with than Luke back when he was in 'spoiled brat' mode. Even now he wasn’t sure how Van didn’t lose his cool around someone so obnoxious.

"It's fine," He waved it off before offering the blond a grin. "You can't learn anything if you don't ask."

Or figure out common sense, in this case. But time was flying faster than how it would've passed had he been alone, so he supposed he should at least be grateful for that. However, when Roxas finally introduced himself, Sync had to give himself a moment to think. He knew his enemies weren't above warning the blond if they ever had the opportunity to find out, and as much as he loved harassing others it was only out of his own leisure. With that he followed the same theme like he did with the rest of the idiots, offering Roxas a grin for his troubles.

"The name's Stephen. It's not exactly the most interesting name. Actually, I don't think I've ever heard one like yours before."

[rischiarare]

It always came down to the name. Maybe Roxas was just used to people having "weird" names, not that anyone in the Organization had had a particularly weird name to him. Though, when he thought about it, he didn't really understand the whole thing (now that he could see how it happened) with taking the Other's name and adding an X. That was how he'd gotten his name, right? Sora. Roxas. It wasn't that hard to figure out, it just... didn't make sense.

The Nobody lifted his shoulders in a shrug, turning back to stare at the bulletin board as if a new note would've appeared while they stood near it. "It's the name I was given. I dunno if it's weird or not." Claire had thought it was weird, too. So had Jim. It wasn't a big surprise to know no one really knew what Nobodies were or that they existed, but names were such... unimportant details.

To him, at least. Just because he had Sora's name didn't mean he was Sora.

Roxas turned back from the board when he heard the audible click of the intercoms. Whatever they were saying, he wasn't listening. "I hope you find whatever you were looking for soon. On the board, I mean."

[ran_on_empty]

"I'm guessing it just depends on where you're from." At the very least, he hadn't heard of anyone lingering around with his own name, though he liked to believe that his was a special case. It was the only 'special' thing about him, really, but getting into those kinds of thoughts now was just counterproductive.

Glancing up when he heard the intercoms come to life, the teen looked back over at Roxas, knowing well enough that this was the signal to the end of their conversation. It wasn't something he minded; the kid was a little too nice for his tastes, but as long as he made himself useful by making time go faster then he had no room for complaint. And so, gracing the latter with a small smile, he nodded at the blond's words.

"Thanks. And thanks for your help."