Day 56: Main Street
After extricating himself from Harvey's company, Peter found himself at an utter loss for what to do. He drifted away from the park (too cold for that), munching on his breakfast muffin and searching out some place where $15 might be useful. The coupon pack was about as helpful as it had ever been. He wandered past Pearl's Prettification Parlour,
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"It wasn't much," Firo answered with a shrug. "Just a couple of overgrown cats in the hallway."
But then there was also the fact that he'd never returned to his room, yet had woken up there this morning... Firo frowned at the thought. For once, he actually wouldn't have minded an injury to last, to serve as proof that it hadn't been a dream. There were Peter's healing injuries to consider, and Dexter's injuries as well (while he had seen the man this morning, he felt certain that today he would be sporting a few new reminders of fighting), but it wasn't impossible for them to have gotten injured from something else entirely...
...Or he was just over-thinking things.
"Of course, the whole thing could have also been a dream, but it certainly felt real." In more ways that one-he could clearly recall the feeling of the cat's claws slicing into him. "I somehow ended up in my room after that... I don't remember going back, though."
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Peter had run into the cats here in the past and he knew what they were capable of, so he was glad to see that Firo seemed to be in good condition despite that. Maybe he'd done the smart thing and run away when those things had found him.
There were a few more things he had to make clear, though, and so he shook his head in response to what the teen said next. "It wasn't a dream, believe me. And as for this morning, that's just how it works. The minute night ends, you'll be transported from wherever you are, no matter where it is, back into your room. It's frustrating, but you get used to it after a while."
So to speak. It was more that people eventually adapted because there was really no way to prevent it. If they could figure out how to get their powers back and stop that from happening they would be set, but when were things ever so easy?
Peter felt kind of bad that he was spending all this time just explaining things to Firo when they could be exploring the town, though, and so he went back to browsing the shops. "Anywhere you were interested in, by the way?"
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"Ah, no... I mean..." he started, trying to correct the impression. "You said that the 'creatures' here tend to look like experiments gone wrong, but these didn't seem impressive like that. They were fast, sure, and their claws were really something, but they didn't look like much more than alley cats grown too big."
Whether or not the explanation made sense to Peter, Firo fell quiet again after it, thinking over what Peter said about ending up in his room being 'just how it works'. If it could really be done no matter where they were, it would certainly be an effective method for preventing escape-and would explain how the prison could afford to let its inmates roam freely. It also explained a thing or two about why Claire was still around.
It was a moment before Firo realized that Peter had asked about the store; they'd just passed a grocer with fruit sitting out on display, and he couldn't tell just yet what the next business was about, but so far he hadn't seen anything particular enticing. He was, however, surprised to see a spa across the street.
"I don't know what's here, so I was planning on just looking around for now," he answered. "It shouldn't take very long to walk all around a dinky town like this, though, and I know we got coupons for a couple places..."
Firo pulled said coupons and card he'd been given out of his pocket, looking them over again. There had been a promise of money in the announcement this morning, too, but he wasn't surprised that they hadn't been given any; the prison would definitely end up in trouble giving out money... But the fancy card was still a mystery, and if Peter had been here before, maybe he could answer about it.
"Say, you don't know why we were given these, do you?" He held the card in question up.
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The point was that he didn't want Firo to not take the dangers of this place seriously, since that would guarantee him a night where everything went wrong. It was impossible to avoid severe injury if you spent enough time here -- yesterday had proved that to Peter solidly.
From the sounds of it, Firo hadn't decided on where to go yet, and Peter couldn't blame him for just wanting to get a lay of the land first things first. He nodded before continuing down the street. "It's fine. Just let me know if there's anywhere you want to check out." Peter would be willing to accompany Firo at least for a little bit, especially since the newcomer still had some questions.
At first, when the card was offered, Peter was confused. He realized it didn't bear much of a resemblance to the more common credit cards, but it was still the same basic idea. But -- right. Alcatraz was still a functioning prison as far as Firo was concerned. Peter couldn't help smiling at the realization; it was kind of quaint coming up against this sort of confusion, he had to admit.
"Oh, they're called credit cards. Basically, data that represents a certain amount of money is put on there, so if you go into a store and give that to the cashier, you'll be able to buy something. Five dollars worth, anyway." That was what the announcement said the lowest rank got, right? That wouldn't be able to buy Firo much, but it was better than nothing.
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'Next time'. At least despite all the oddities and monsters brought on by this place, his fighting spirit was still strong. No matter whether it was monsters or Victor's assignment, a member of the Martillo Family wouldn't give up so easily. But next time also wouldn't arrive for a little longer; the day was still young, and there was more of the town to see.
He looked down at the card he was still holding, flipping it over in his hands. The concepts of lending and credit were familiar, but if the card was for keeping track of it, was the information supposed to be marked down on it somewhere? As far as he could tell, it didn't even indicate how much it was good for.
Nevertheless, he nodded. "Seems like a weird way to handle it; handing out cash would have been easier than making the cards." As he tucked the card back into his pocket, a thought occurred to him: maybe the cards were meant to prevent the prisoners from pooling their cash to buy something particularly expensive. Even using a rough estimate of how many prisoners he'd seen yesterday, at a minimum of five dollars a head there would be more than enough to buy even a car. "Can you use someone else's card? It's got a photograph, but..."
They started passing alongside the building that had been ahead earlier-it was a beauty salon, it turned out. He wasn't sure what the signs in the windows were advertising, but whatever it was sure was expensive.
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"Well, don't get too close," he warned. "Like I said, those cats are just the tip of the iceberg. There's no guarantee you'll be attacked every night, but you can't count it out either." It seemed like the monsters actually waited for your guard to drop before attacking. Maybe they could sense that sort of thing. At this point he'd believe anything.
"If we'd gotten cash people could have given their money away or combined it. They probably want to make sure we can only afford certain things," Peter explained, not realizing that his words mirrored Firo's train of thought. Logic dictated that the really useful stuff would be more expensive, so it was a clever system. "Since the cards have our names and our picture on them, it'd be pretty easy to tell if it didn't belong to the person using it." All of the nurses seemed to know them by name, after all -- and they were still being closely watched.
"Anything particular you were thinking of buying?" Peter asked next. "If you're looking for something, I might be able to tell you if there's a place that sells it." He was hardly an expert on the town, but he had been here a number of times. That had to count for something.
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It seemed that Peter had picked up along the same line of thought that Firo'd had himself, and he nodded in agreement. "Even if that's what the aim was with the cards, I'm surprised they've given out any money at all. If we'd had to work for it, that would be one thing, but... As it is, it seems like it's just charity." A stubborn sense of pride made Firo not want to accept that charity, but in his mind, practicality and necessity were winning out: if he could obtain something useful in town, he would. He had no grudge against the shopkeepers, so it would be better in this case to use the prison's money than to steal from the town.
Unfortunately, the most useful items would also be the hardest to keep. "I've been hoping to get a knife," he admitted, "either here in town or back in the prison. But if we get searched, a weapon would just get confiscated..." At least, that was what would happen in any half-decent prison, but if there was one thing Firo was certain of, it was that this prison was strange.
He sighed. "Other than that, I don't know yet. Are you planning on buying something specific? You've been here longer than I have, so if there's something useful you'd recommend..."
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"There's got to be some catch to it, but I'm also not going to not use it just because of that." They had the money now, and he couldn't really foresee any danger in making the most of that. Granted, the fact that things like knives were more or less out of the picture made the whole thing a little more difficult.
What point had he come to, where he was disappointed that he couldn't purchase a weapon?
More than that, though, he needed to think about what he could buy, and almost immediately something popped into his head. "Actually, I need a bag to hold all of my medical supplies," he mused, more to himself than to Firo. He realized that wouldn't make much sense without an explanation, though, and so he glanced over after a pause. "I was a nurse before I came here" -- and before he'd gotten his powers -- "so I've been doing my best to tend to people's injuries when I can." In reality, it hadn't been going that well. "Having something to hold all of my supplies in would probably be a big help."
It'd be ten times better than the pillowcase, anyway.
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The bag sounded like a good idea, actually, and Firo didn't think too much of what Peter had said he needed it for until he started to explain. He looked over at then, surprise evident on his face. He knew male nurses weren't unheard of, but they were also pretty rare. But more importantly: "So what's a nurse doing here?"
The question might have come across as a bit sudden, but Firo's curiosity had gotten the better of him. There was a bit of a pause before he tried to clarify, "That is... I know you said the place acted like an asylum before, but I'm guessing you weren't part of the staff. What did you do to deserve getting sent over?"
It may not have been Alcatraz, but it was still (as far as he knew) a prison.
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"No one really knows the answer to your question," he said after a pause. "I mean, there's no correlation between all the people who've been brought here." He wondered if he should mention how a lot of the patients had powers of some sort, but maybe that was something Firo should find out on his own.
"The only thing that I can really say is that either Landel or Aguilar saw each of us as useful somehow." And Peter doubted that it was his nursing ability that had made him stand out. It had to be his powers, and yet the funny thing was that he was now using his real-life skills more purely out of necessity.
In the end, all he could do was shrug and keep walking. As far as he could tell, everyone needed to decide for themselves what the reason was that they had been brought here. He knew it was because of his powers. The special counseling session had proved that.
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"Shouldn't being arrested in the first place be a correlation?" he found himself asking. "Even if there's no connection between the crimes and even if there are some innocent people who were found guilty, everyone has a reason for being imprisoned. Being here specifically instead of someplace else doesn't change that, but now that you mention it..."
Why they were here specifically was a good question as well. Still, someone had gone through a lot of trouble to send him here instead of Alcatraz, and Firo wasn't entirely sure that Victor was the one responsible. So far, he hadn't seen a single trace of either Huey or the mole that was supposed to give him the details of his job. Was this to be a temporary step on the way to Alcatraz? Had Victor changed things without letting Firo know? Had something gone wrong?
Firo exhaled, his breath appearing as a brief puff in the cold air. Maybe the imprisonment itself wasn't as clear-cut as he pictured it; he hadn't had a trial himself, and Claire was here without knowing why (or so he'd said).
"Landel and Aguilar are the ones in charge here, right?" The ones Claire wanted to talk to.
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Maybe it was just him.
But Peter couldn't even imagine what someone as young as Firo had done to get himself put in jail, let alone shipped off to an infamous prison like Alcatraz. It was true that he'd actually traveled through time instead of going there, but the point was that that was where he was supposed to have been placed. Weren't only murderers supposed to be put in a place like that? Peter wasn't an expect, but still.
The image of Albedo, who was far younger than Firo, holding onto that shotgun ran through his head. What was with this young people and their capability to spill blood? It wasn't right.
"...Are you saying that you were arrested for something? Because that's not the case for most of the people here. Generally everyone is just yanked out of their normals lives and put here for what seems to be no reason." Sure, he had a reason to be imprisoned if he really thought about it, considering the threat he posed after the explosion, but that wasn't something he was going to share with Firo either way.
The teen's next question came through and distracted Peter for a moment. He had to fight not to see Firo in a new light now, but he would manage it. "Landel was in charge. Aguilar is now, and we don't even know where Landel went." He doubted they would ever find out unless the man regained his position somehow, but at this point that was looking unlikely, he had to admit.
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"Wait," Firo said, spreading his hands out in front of him to accompany the word. "I think I've still got one or two wrong ideas about the place. With the guards and everything else, I thought it was at least still a prison, but... do you mean that isn't the case?"
If so, Peter's earlier answer made a lot more sense as well; he couldn't say what he'd done if he hadn't done anything at all, and then there really wouldn't be anything to connect those who were here.
"And the folks here were what? Kidnapped?" That's what it sounded like.
It was embarrassing, somehow, to suddenly realize he was talking to an ordinary person, who had probably never even looked at the world on the other side of the law. If he'd realized it sooner, Firo would have never tried to ask what he'd done to land in prison. And if there were still more things that weren't quite straight in his head...
"If there's anything else I need to know, tell me. I don't want to keep looking like an idiot by not even knowing what's really going on."
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Peter didn't blame Firo for that, of course. He'd already been proved wrong about the Alcatraz thing, so to have that happen once again couldn't feel very good. Still, it was important that he understood exactly what was going on here sooner rather than later, and so Peter paused in their walk as he tried to figure out how he should lay things out for him.
"Right, most people have been kidnapped, and no one even remembers how they arrived here. I'd still call it a prison, though, since we aren't allowed out and there's no way to get home." There was just no connotation of the patients have committed crimes, considering they were supposed to have been mental patients. At this point, it was more like they had been drafted.
"People are taken from all sorts of places, too. You and I both being from New York is a pretty big coincidence." He didn't think that getting into the concept of other worlds was the best idea, so he left that particular detail out. "I've never heard of anyone actually escaping. When people disappear, it usually means they've been brainwashed into buying the stuff we're told about being someone else."
Those were the major concepts around their situation, at least, and he could only hope that it would clear a few things up.
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"At least it's got one thing in common with Alcatraz," he muttered lowly, a scowl on his face. Of all the features it could have shared, apparent inescapability wasn't the one he would have picked. He'd the common feature be the presence of Huey, so at least he could get his job over and done with.
But it also seemed pretty smart for the prisoners-victims?-to have come from all over. If this was some kind of secret, shady operation (which was the most likely if they were resorting to kidnapping), it would be harder for a connection to be noticed than if everyone had been from one area. But what was the point of it all? Was it really because those two bosses found the people they'd abducted useful in some way, like Peter had suggested?
Firo sighed, giving up on trying to figure it out right now. In the end, all he had were more questions, and they were ones that Peter couldn't answer so easily. "Seems like I've done nothing but ask you for explanations," he said, turning towards the man with a half smile. "Sorry for that. Hopefully, that's the end of it."
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It was a shame that he'd unintentionally put Firo into a bad mood, but all he could do was hope that the teen would cheer up sooner rather than later now that the record had been set straight. He nudged some snow around with his boot, glancing over when Firo spoke up again.
"Oh, it's fine. You don't have to apologize," he responded quickly, waving the other man off. "I mean, this whole situation is really confusing at first, and if you had other things going on before coming here it's no surprise that you were disoriented." He still had to wonder what it was that Firo had done to get himself sent to Alcatraz of all places, but...
"And if you ever need to know about anything else, you can always feel free to ask me." Peter wasn't the judging sort (even if someone was a criminal, apparently), and if there was one thing he was good at, it was helping other people. Well, if the stakes weren't too high, at least. He didn't know how good his track record was for saving lives at this point, which was a sad thing to admit to.
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