Day 57: Sun Room

[bodhiandspirit]

It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.

What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time,

Comments

[herr_inspektor]

They weren't even trying, were they?

Well. Weren't even trying to convince the patients, that was. An outsider might not have seen anything wrong with that little introduction, but a brief check of his database revealed that it had been spoken word-for-word by Landel precisely a week before: they'd simply replayed it and cut the outdated references to the weather

[bodhiandspirit]

[lungeee ♥]Rita's pen stopped for a moment when she heard a man speaking to her. Normally she'd completely tune out any voices around her while doing research, but with the room relatively empty that morning, it wasn't so easy to ignore her surroundings. She glanced up at the person who'd addressed her, and gave a small snort. "Hmph. You mean how they're pretending to pretend to be a normal institute now? It's pretty stupid if you ask me

[herr_inspektor]

[♥]

The answer and the snort that came with it was more than dismissive- she clearly wasn't impressed, and at any rate she didn't seem to have given it all that much thought. Mildly disappointing, but there were plenty of other things to discuss. Or was that just to be expected from someone her age? ... no, that was too general a statement. Sakura had been suitably insightful, after all.

He took a moment to actually look at the girl properly: small and young-looking, probably no older than sixteen, with brown hair and blue-green eyes. She hadn't attempted to make eye contact with him, but after the way she'd answered so decisively Lunge wasn't convinced that it was out of shyness. The way she'd gone straight on writing without bothering to ask for a name or stop for manners' sake seemed to indicate that she was simply the type who didn't have time or inclination for niceties.

Which suited Lunge just fine, particularly since she'd picked up on the announcement. Maybe she had thought about it and just wasn't interested in sharing

[bodhiandspirit]

Glancing up from her work once more, Rita caught the man's smile. She didn't return it. "So it really is a half-assed ploy," she grumbled, feeling a little insulted that they'd even bothered

[escapedpandora]

...Okay. Perhaps what was more unnerving than anything else had to be how he seemed to be blacking out. Ending up back in his room. With different clothes each time. (Although as much as he had disliked the baggy Doyleton outfits or the stiff uniforms, this was much worse.)

Good enough for pajamas, but not anything else. But maybe that was just him being picky because he wanted his own clothes back. Even if they had been dirty and worn from the number of times he had tripped or skid on crystals and dirt. He wanted his gloves back, and his scarf. It felt weird to go without them, and even the outfit yesterday had covered his neck, even if they had skimped on the gloves in the snow

[ofthemotions]

[from here]

And... No. Being deposited in a large room with numerous others was nothing close to gaining answers. Mikado stood there for a moment, dumbstruck, as the man who had escorted him just left. The attempt to follow him out the door was stopped by another man, who shooed the boy towards the center of the room. Uh. He. Had no idea what was going on now. A holding area? If it was a holding area, what was it for? And why were everyone dressed the same? It was as if--

He looked down belatedly. "Ahh!" He pulled the shirt out from his chest, staring at it. Okay, he was dressed the same. Obviously, this meant something that he couldn't discern. The men who escorted him and stopped him were dressed differently, and weren't... All that willing to answer questions. He'd do better focusing on someone dressed like himself, maybe?

What was going on?Nearby there was a boy that looked around Mikado's age, maybe a little younger. Mikado approached hesitantly, stopping a few feet away. "Ah... Hello," he greeted, smiling nervously, the

[escapedpandora]

Hope jerked his head toward the sound, still a bit jumpy from... well, the last few days, really. Everything the last few days.

He hadn't expected to see someone else closer to his age, though, despite all the things he had prepared himself for mentally (and it was a lot of strange things in his head, from a sudden Behemoth attack to fairies of all things. Because with his luck lately (and it was bad), it could happen).

"Ahh-- hello?" He responded tentatively, hands going to grip at the hem of his shirt, unused to not being able to just tug on his gloves when he was nervous. Another patient? It looked like it, from the way they were both dressed, if patient was even the right word. But people had said hospital, even if it wasn't like anything he had ever seen before. Not to mention the staff here were crazy, always trying to call him by a different name

[ofthemotions]

And Mikado supposed that was a long shot. The other had got here before Mikado had, but not by much. So people were being gathered. Was it possible there had been a nation-wide emergency, and people were rounded up for their own safety? His hand slid to his chin in thought. A possibility. He wished he saw someone he knew here.

Mikado moved to the chair across from the other boy, and dropped into it, eyes looking around the room nervously. No. None here were familiar. How would he ever get an explanation at this rate? Mikado glanced back at the other, moving a hand in concern. "Oh, no, that's okay. I guess we're in the same situation then."

A frown. A situation that was offering no information on itself. Shouldn't the people in charge at least be letting them know what was going on? "I'm Ryuugamine Mikado." Maybe an introduction would help the other boy relax a little. If anything, he looked more upset than Mikado felt. And that... Was impressive.

[unheroed]

Well, that had certainly been an interesting way to end the night. That girl had burst into the room, covered in undead secretions and with a bottle of vodka in hand. It was the sort of thing that you couldn't really argue with, and it had made the night a little more worthwhile. Harvey still couldn't decide whether or not going to that "party" had been a good idea, though the fact that he was ambivalent about it probably meant that it hadn't been a total loss

[fourstonewalls]

Night ended with no accusing shadows, no unearthed ghosts. Maybe the feedback was just that -- or maybe it had only affected the basement.

The intercom was a surprise, for half a sentence; then a wave of static cut rain into snow and made the deception obvious. My, my, was Aguilar already having trouble? What had he said, at the end of night?

Spanish. He'd been speaking Spanish, with an accent most Los Angelenos heard every day. It was the first time she'd heard a foreign language in the Institute since the night Agatha had been brainwashed, though language had taken a back seat to fencing foils from both sides. She hadn't seen the girl lately; pity, since Ema could use more friends her own age.

Not that she'd be easy to pry from one Prosecutor Edgeworth, who was managing to look dignified in what amounted to pajamas the same color as his hair

[unheroed]

Well, if it wasn't Lana. Harvey hadn't seen the woman in three days, since the incident when they'd both witnessed Landel getting sacked. It was odd to think that that much time had passed since then, and he wondered if the man was going to be stuck hiding out in the woods somewhere for the rest of their time here. However long that would be

[fourstonewalls]

"Oh? What happened last night, after that broadcast?" She took a seat across from him, and set her notebook down.

"I didn't think attempting to make it down there myself would be a good idea. It didn't really seem like the sort of place for a poorly-armed legal team, even if we'd known how to get down there." She wasn't sure if he'd answer the implicit question, but she was curious. Her first statement was true; most of what she'd gotten from bulletin posts and radio clues was that it was dangerous. She'd be a liability, and Ema would be helpless, and that wasn't a situation she cared to invite.

"Did anything else happen?" She'd had one theory, and she knew how disastrous clinging to an idea could be when its time had passed, but she would give it a thorough check first.

[corvus_veritas]

For the third time in a row, the night ended without warning. At first, it seemed the only difference between this morning and other mornings was that Byrne had a mild headache upon waking up. Oh, back here again, was he? Same old story. Welp, time to see what's in store today. He sat up on the edge of his bed, rubbing his temples in the hope that his headache would go away--

Woah wait. Wait a second. Waaaait a second. Why was he wearing the smiley face t-shirt again? Where was his army uniform? Wh--huh? Over the intercom--was that--was that Landel's voice? He was in charge again?! What the hell was going on?! Again! He was saying that every day now! Was every damn day in this place an attempt to make him go mad from all the unexpected changes? Oh sure Landel, Aguilar, whoever the hell you are, I'll make it easy for you, just let me apply my head to the wall several hundred thousand times until it splits open like a goddamn watermelon! I'm sure that's what you want, isn't it?! You sons of--...Before he could finish his inner tirade,

[yin_yang_fox]

[ If he has painkillers for her. ]Different clothes. The same clothes. Surprisingly, this was what she focused on her, blearily looking down at the fabric she had pulled away from her chest. She felt wretched, body drained of all energy. Slowly the Digimon sat up, the announcement echoing like cotton through her head. Landel? No... That sounded more like a mash of words. A pressed together transmission. And of course; today was when 'visitors' came, was it not? And Renamon would not... Even think of that

[corvus_veritas]

Ah, a familiar voice. Byrne glanced over at the owner of that voice, half unsure of whether his headache would would allow him to tolerate too much conversation or not.

...And suddenly, the headache seemed so trivial compared to what he was looking at.

True, he couldn't see all of the bandages, but it was clear enough just by looking at her that Renamon was in a hell of a lot more pain than he was. Byrne sat up quickly, face full of concern and surprise, and mumbled under his breath, "Holy sh..." His subconscious parental censors prevented him from completing the sentence out loud. A habit that could only be obtained from being a parent. Why should he even bother now? Today was not a day for censorship, damnit. "Renamon? What happened to you? Are you alright?"

[yin_yang_fox]

A part of her begged the necessity of learning to deal with human pain better. The reactions gotten from her appearance begged much in retrospect--shame passed through her quietly. Still, this one reacted very much in the same way of another, and all the more ironic for it, if Byrne was familiar with Edgeworth at all. Still, that existed separately, and the Digimon understood that conversing would be faulty until she offered some explanation.

Luckily, at least, this explanation was relatively straight-forward. "Two cats. I'll be fine. One just opened my stomach a bit." And shredded the skin on her back. Those two had definitely moved differently than the other she had encountered. The nonchalance in which she spoke did not mirror her mental state on it. In reality, she'd prefer to not consider the event. "Please don't concern yourself with me," she added, bowing her head. "This isn't the worst that's happened by far."

[oneman_onekill]

[Assuming some details from a backthread]This sucked. A lot

[the_prosecutor]

[orz definitely some assumptions being made here.]

The night before had been more than a little emotionally and physically taxing than Edgeworth had hoped for, but all things considered, he had to admit that an altercation with a human was by far an easier thing to cope with rather than some supernatural creature...but stranger yet was the realization that, as he turned over to look up at the sterile lighting of the room, he couldn't remember actually going to sleep. That same sense of airy confusion and displacement overcame him - same as his first day, though this time dampened by his slight knowledge of what was going on - and the prosecutor did the best he could to stifle it. It was another day - he had to be prepared for anything, and he didn't have time to obsess over the small details just yet

[oneman_onekill]

Niikura's brain wasn't functioning on a high enough setting for him to hear exactly what had been asked of him, but it did at least register that someone was speaking to him. "Nnnnghuhwha...?" Not the most dignified way to enter into a conversation, but he had never made it a habit of always presenting his best side even if he didn't feel up to it. Too much work.

The teen sat up, scratching the back of his head, and squinted at the man seated across from him. "Who...what's--oh, you." Oh, you. The guy that Phoenix had brought along yesterday. What was his name? "'Edgeworth', right?" He'd asked him a question too - what was it again? Something about interrupting...

...whatever. "Sorry, I'm a real mess right now--not like ya could blame me, right? Heh. Anyway, what's up?" He too hadn't reached any sort of conclusion about the man he'd suddenly found himself working with last night, no thanks to circumstances, but it had seemed like Edgeworth was more level-headed than his friend - and if he wasn't, he faked it really well.

[the_prosecutor]

Tilting his head slightly, Edgeworth couldn't help but feel somewhat distracted by the amount of similarities Niikura shared with Phoenix - his hair, his strange eyebrows, and that odd idiosyncrasy of rubbing the back of his head - and the prosecutor felt himself wondering if Phoenix had resembled him even more as a teenager. Even so, his attitude certainly wasn't anywhere close to Phoenix in similarity - something Edgeworth found both refreshing and unnerving.

"You certainly did have a lot on your plate last night, though it seems like what you're missing is rest and not a trip to the infirmary," he commented, crossing his legs as he let his hands sit idly in his lap. "I suppose I was wondering how you were holding up after all was said and done."