Day 56: Main Street

[mustbethesuit]

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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[human_sponge]

That explained it, then. If Firo hadn't gotten a clear look at the things with the help of his flashlight, then he could have easily missed the way that patches of skin were gone and bone was showing through. The thought was enough to make Peter's stomach do a few turns, and he was a nurse who'd seen his fair share of unsettling sights. Somehow it was worse on animals.

"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.

[immortale]

Peter's warning had been noted, but it was, for the most part, unnecessary. Firo might not have said anything about the trouble the cats had caused (and without any injuries to show for it, it would have been Peter's turn to doubt him if he had), but he figured they had been a pretty good introduction to what he might run into, tip of the iceberg or not. If anything, it was nice to know that there was a chance he might not encounter anything some nights; he and Dexter hadn't made it to the kitchen thanks to the attack, and it would be beyond frustrating to have to waste time like that night after night.

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..."

[human_sponge]

Firo made a good point. Generally, the military had been harsher on them so far, so why were they rewarding them now? The only thing he could think of was that it was one more way to reinforce the ranking system that they were setting up, and the small amounts of money they were getting probably didn't mean much to General Aguilar in the grand scheme of things.

"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.

[immortale]

For his part, Firo almost hoped there really was a catch. Like Peter, it wouldn't stop him from using the money if there was something worth it, but it would make him feel like he'd done something to deserve it. Even the pickpocketing he'd done before becoming acquainted with the Martillo Family had taken more effort than this.

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.

[human_sponge]

The idea of Peter having been part of the staff at one point was enough to make his blood run cold -- colder than this weather could make it go. He knew that that had never been the case, but the very thought of it disturbed him. He'd been fighting against this place for so long; working for them would just be out of the question.

"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.

[immortale]

As Peter began answering, Firo wondered if he hadn't really asked what he'd thought he'd asked. How could no one here know what they were here for? The specific reason for being at Landel's Institute instead of another prison was one thing (if the inmates were crazy and it was an asylum after all that would be a reason, but that obviously wasn't the case), but not knowing why they were in prison at all was another thing entirely.

"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.

[human_sponge]

It was kind of crazy, how a conversation could get derailed so quickly. Even as Peter kept walking, he had to fight to not look at Firo with both eyebrows raised. He was still talking as if they had all been arrested and brought to prison for some reason. The kid just couldn't kick the idea that that was what was going on with everyone here, but...

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.

[immortale]

Firo was quiet on the matter of his own apprehension, instead focusing on what else Peter had just explained. If most people where were regular citizens rather than criminals... what were they doing here? What was he doing here? What was going on?

"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."

[human_sponge]

Well, that hadn't gone over very well.

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.

[immortale]

Although it was nice to get the record set straight, the confirmation of kidnapping was a little disturbing. If his own arrival had been from a similar abduction instead of a transfer, then Victor might not have had anything to do with it after all. Victor might not have even known where Firo was, and then what of their deal?

"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."

[human_sponge]

Unfortunately, it wasn't the right thing to have in common with Alcatraz. Granted, Peter couldn't think of much off the top of his head that was good about that famous prison, so the point was moot anyway. At least they didn't put them in solitary confinement for weeks at a time here. That really could drive someone insane.

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.