Day 57: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Edgar's charming company had raised Anise's spirits enough that not even the Head Doctor's voice could bring them back down. Besides, she was feeling pretty sure that Landel wasn't actually around. To begin with, it wouldn't make sense, and secondly, his announcements sounded suspiciously like ones she'd already heard before. While Anise wasn't

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[human_sponge]

Surprisingly enough, Mikado seemed to be handling all of this much better than Firo had. While Firo hadn't ever been outwardly rude, he had made it more obvious that he wasn't buying it. Mikado seemed unsure himself, but he at least took a moment to thank Peter for trying to help. He would understand how useful the information was eventually -- that much Peter knew for sure.

"No problem," he replied with a nod. "And don't ever expect to learn too much from the staff here. Most of the time you're better off asking other patients. There's a bulletin board in the Sun Room where you can post up notes, too." That was something that was easily missed and yet very important in the long run.

As for Mikado's next question, Peter sighed for a moment and ran his hand over his mouth before answering. "That's another mystery. I think it's pretty much a given that we're in America somewhere, but no one knows more than that." It was hard to guess where exactly, but judging from the range of weather and the surrounding scenery, Peter's guess was that it was somewhere on the east coast. They could just as easily be somewhere like Oregon or Washington, though. All Peter really knew was that he was a long way from New York.

[ofthemotions]

And new terminology to settle on, if all of this turned out accurate. The big guys were the staff--which he had gotten, really, from the way they had lead him around--and everyone else were patients. If this was a mental institute, that meant everyone here were crazy, and if it was a... conspiracy or something, that meant that probably all of the people here had been locked up against their will. The certain thing was that Mikado was not insane, so that added weight to Peter's words. If he was here, that allowed the possibility that others might be the same.

As well, another way to test out the weight of words would be the bulletin board Peter mentioned. At the least Mikado could see if people lined up on this. He nodded again. "Okay."

It was the last thing said that shattered any outward calm in the boy. For a moment, Mikado was still gazing at Peter in troubled thought, and apparently digesting the information. Then his eyes widening, blinking rapidly as he leaned forward, hands clutching the edge of the table. "America?"

[human_sponge]

It was pretty bizarre, that the thing that drew the largest response out of Mikado was their location. Still, it was clear that the boy was from Earth, seeing how he clearly recognized the name rather than being puzzled by it. In that case, he was probably freaking out because he was so far from home. Still, even though Peter was originally from America, he couldn't say that he felt like he was "at home" in any way.

This might not even be their version of Earth, after all.

"... Yeah, America," he said with an apologetic smile. "I'm guessing you're not from here?" He had already guessed Japan, but he didn't want to vocalize that in case he was wrong. "There's a kind of... system in place that translates everything we say to each other, so right now you sound to me like you're speaking English." And he was probably speaking Japanese as far as Mikado could tell.

It was pretty bizarre, but he couldn't be too upset because it was also convenient. That and their fast healing wounds were really the only breaks they got here.

[ofthemotions]

And things would get weirder and weirder. Mikado had to wonder if someone like Karisawa-san would enjoy all of this. Translators...? Wasn't that something more... of a sci-fi manga than anything else? He was... starting to sincerely lose his rational capabilities in looking at this. His eyes flattened slightly, color dulling. America. Attack... animals of some sort. A mental asylum. And a speech translation system. It was the things that defied a known reality the most simply that became the end point. Mikado found himself wanting to stop thinking for a moment. To stop contemplating which of the things said were accurate.

He was silent, then spoke up belatedly. "No, I'm not, sorry. I'm from Japan." Something he never thought he'd have to say in a situation like this. He had been in two areas his entire life, and the second had been such a severe transition. Now, if Peter was right, he was in a whole different country. He couldn't fathom it. And he really couldn't believe that Peter was speaking and hearing english. Were there chips? Hearing devices? He felt at his ear unconsciously, before realizing it and lowering his hand sheepishly. "Are you really... not speaking Japanese?"

[human_sponge]

It took Mikado a while to respond, and in that time Peter focused on his food. He had nothing better to do and it would probably be a bad idea to just keep talking and making the kid's culture shock even worse. He would have taken more care with what he'd said if he'd realized announcing that they were in America would be such a big deal for the boy, but at this point it was too late.

At least he'd been right about where he was from. Peter nodded and then replied with his own hometown: "I'm from New York specifically, so this is a pretty big change for me too." The middle of nowhere, not a skyscraper in sight? Yeah, it was bizarre. Depending on where in Japan Mikado was from, it might be just as strange for him for that reason.

"But yeah, believe me, I'm speaking English. I know about three words of Japanese and my pronunciation is terrible." There was a reason he'd asked if he could just call him Mikado, after all.

It looked like he was out of time, though, since the intercom came on soon after, announcing that it was time for some patients to see visitors and for others to wander in the available areas -- or even watch a movie. He glanced to the boy and gave him an encouraging smile. "Anyway, I know it's a lot to take in, but... if you're careful, you'll be all right." He'd managed while basically powerless, so anyone else could pull it off too. That was what he figured.

Standing from his seat, Peter gave Mikado a wave and then headed off, contemplating what he should do with the rest of his day.