Day 57: Sun Room [Third Shift]

[full_score]

Brunch had tasted delicious as usual, but he still felt guilty for enjoying it when so many other patients weren't as fortunate as him and Ritsuka. Still, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't grateful for his meals. His appetite had been pretty spotty during the week after his "sleep study", so Claude wanted to think he was making up for lost time

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[human_sponge]

They were seriously going to watch The Great Escape?

Well, putting that up as an option was more or less asking all the patients to vote for it, so Peter wasn't too shocked by it. He had to admit, the idea of just kicking back and watching a movie sounded pretty good right now, and so Peter decided to settle in the Sun Room. It was sort of sad how something as simple as this was now a novelty for all of them, but he was at least going to take advantage of it now.

It didn't take him long to find a couch close to the projector, although Peter almost immediately found himself wishing for a bag of popcorn and one of those ridiculously large sodas. Well, you couldn't have everything.

As he waited for the movie to start, Peter reflected on the bulletin message he'd put up. He'd gotten a few responses, but still not as many as he would have hoped for. Hearing from a few new names was nice, though. He realized that the group didn't have to be big -- just a few helping hands would probably go a long way.

Either way, he knew that people were going to get abducted for experiments tonight, so that was what he'd be doing with his time. He was well-equipped by now, so even if he couldn't save everyone, he could be a help.

[Free.]

[nonheinous]

Hunger had finally motivated Ted to work his way through the entire bowl of pink gruel. He was almost proud of himself for finishing all of it. But then the announcement of the movie brought to his mind visions of huge boxes of buttery popcorn... hotdogs with lots of stuff on them... gigantic cups of soda... nachos and cheese...

He had the feeling that this movie might not come with free food, but there was no harm in hoping. Besides, if there was anywhere in this heinous facility that promised decent food of a satisfactorily tasty, unhealthy and totally un-nutritious nature, a movie viewing would definitely be his best bet.

It was with this hope that Ted returned to the Sun Room, which had changed a lot since his last visit. He gaped at the darkened interior and the seats facing the projection screen. It almost looked like a real movie theatre. He could almost imagine he was back home...

There was a nice, comfy-looking couch near the projector, and Ted headed towards it. Some dude with excellent hair was already sitting on it, but he didn't look like he needed all the space.

Ted paused in front of the couch. "May I sit here?" he asked hopefully. A distant part of his mind realized, sadly, that there didn't seem to be any food around.

[human_sponge]

For a moment Peter had thought that he'd be able to watch the movie on his own, probably because some patients had no interest in this sort of thing, but then he was joined by a teenager. The kid was nice enough to ask before sitting down, and Peter straightened in his seat slightly to respond.

Actually, he had to admit that the teen reminded him a little of himself at that age, mainly due to his young features and out of control hair. Peter smiled and nodded at him, motioning for him to sit on the other side of the couch. It could have fit three people comfortably, after all.

It was kind of depressing to watch a movie alone, so maybe this was for the best.

"Looks like it's gonna start soon," he said as the lights dimmed further. "The name's Peter, by the way." His hand was extended to the young man almost automatically.

[nonheinous]

Ted happily plonked down on the couch next to Peter, and accepted the handshake.

"I'm Ted," he said, returning the smile. "It's great to meet you, dude!"

He glanced around at the dimming lights. "Do you know what movie we're watching?" he asked in a half-whisper. There was something about darkened movie theaters that made him feel like he should be quiet, even though this wasn't really a movie theater.

He still had so many other questions to ask, but he figured those could wait.

[human_sponge]

Did he really just say "dude"? Not that the term wasn't used anymore, but Peter still thought that it was a bit... antiquated. Then again, Ted was speaking very much like the typical stoner. He wasn't the sort of person who Peter would have expected to end up in a place like this -- but then again, neither was Mikado.

Either way, Ted at least knew to keep his voice down once the lights grew low and the movie's credits started rolling. While The Great Escape was in color, it was still a pretty old film, which likely meant that the opening credits would go on for a while.

"Yeah, it's The Great Escape." He wondered if the kid had even heard of it. It was hard to imagine Ted was from anywhere other than Earth, but he could be wrong. There was a pretty easy way to find out, and so Peter glanced over. "Ring any bells?"

Ted at least knew what a movie was -- or so it seemed, since he wasn't asking any questions about that -- so that meant he couldn't be completely alien.

[nonheinous]

Ted turned the title around in his head, and drew a blank. His knowledge of the cinematic world was mostly restricted to such timeless classics as the excellent Star Wars and its sequels. He'd wanted to be a Jedi as a kid, but in his later, wiser years switched his life's loyalties to following the path of Eddie Van Halen and other purveyors of excellent music.

He still harbored the secret conviction that Yoda would totally rock a guitar. That little green dude definitely had it in him.

"I don't think so," Ted said, shrugging in response to Peter's question. "Why would they show it to us? Are they trying to teach us how to escape?"

That would definitely be helpful, if counter-productive on the part of Landel's.

[human_sponge]

So Ted didn't recognize it. That either meant that today's youth was ignorant about classic films (which was possible) or that he wasn't from Earth but was still from a place where movies existed (also possible). Peter didn't think that it mattered too much either way. In fact, all that really mattered right now was that they were both in the situation and that they both likely wanted the same thing: to go home.

Luckily, the question asked was one that was simple enough to answer, and so Peter glanced away even as the movie started up. These introductory parts were never all that interesting anyway.

"Don't think so," he said with a shake of his head. "People were allowed to vote on which one to watch from four different options, though I can't say I'm surprised that this was the one that won."

He would have been glad to watch Dr. Strangelove, seeing how it wasn't nearly as depressing, but Peter wasn't feeling all that picky at the moment. He was just glad that they were getting to watch something in the first place.

[nonheinous]

"Oh."

Ted vaguely recalled an announcement about the movies, but he hadn't paid much attention to it back then. He'd been more concerned about getting out of this place. So much for that. Here he was, now, obediently sitting down and watching a movie, just like they wanted him to.

Ted shook himself. No, he had to get out. He had to get home. He had a whole life back there to get back to, and Bill would be wondering where he was...

He started to stand up, but stopped himself. Peter seemed to know this place, and he wasn't going anywhere. If anything, he appeared more than intent to sit through the entire movie.

"How long have you been here?" he asked, a little afraid at what the answer might be. "At... Landel's?"

[human_sponge]

For a moment, it looked like Ted was about to get up out of his seat and do something, but he apparently had seconds thoughts. Peter didn't really know what that was all about, but he was prevented from asking when he was faced with a question himself.

It seemed that he was going to spend this shift answering someone's questions rather than watching the movie, but Peter didn't mind too much. He at least had it on in the background and would be able to tune in from time to time. He was pretty sure that Ted was still getting used to things here, so it was only right to give him a hand.

"Me? It's been... probably almost a month at this point," he responded, making sure to keep his voice low. Maybe it was even that long. He hadn't realized how much of a prisoner he was at first, so he'd never made tally of the days, but it felt about that long. No, actually, it felt even longer, but he didn't need to tell Ted that.

"And hey, I'm still here and in one piece, so that's something, right?" he pointed out with a crooked smile.

[nonheinous]

"You've been here for a month?" Ted asked, his heart sinking. "No way!"

It didn't matter that Peter was still here and in one piece. Death hadn't been much of a concern in the first place, but Ted couldn't imagine being in here for another day, let alone a whole month...

"No way," he repeated, this time more to himself as the full despair of the situation started sinking in.

"What do they want with us, dude?" he asked Peter. He was no one special, as far as he knew; not on his own, anyway, and if this was about all that future world-saving stuff that he and Bill were supposedly going to do, then by right Bill should be with him, but he wasn't. Just him. And from what he'd been able to learn so far, this apparently wasn't some military school that his dad had managed to smuggle him off to.

There totally had to be some mistake. Ted still didn't even know how he got here, and he still held out hope that he might wake the next morning back home in his bed.

He gazed dismally at the movie screen, not registering much of any of what was happening on it.

[human_sponge]

That wasn't really the reaction that he'd been expecting.

Everyone handled that sort of information differently, though, and Peter couldn't be too surprised at the fact that a teenage kid saw it as a long time. Chances were that his problems hadn't extended beyond getting his homework done on time, so having something like this thrown his way had to be overwhelming. Though... at the same time, Peter knew that there had to be something special about Ted for him to even end up here. Not that he was going to pry, especially when it was clear that the kid was distressed.

All the difficult questions were getting asked now, just as they had with Mikado, and Peter rubbed his hand over his eyes as he tried to formulate a reply. "It's not exactly clear. We're being held here and sometimes we're experimented on or brainwashed, but... it probably has to go beyond that." They were being groomed for something, or that was his guess.

It was hard to be comforting when all the news was bad, but Peter gave it a shot anyway. "I'm not going to lie to you. Things can get rough here. But we're all in the same boat, so that makes it a little easier to bear. Find some people you can trust." That wasn't too difficult to manage, seeing how most of the patients were good people. There were definitely some bad eggs mixed in, but they weren't too difficult to avoid.

The characters in the movie were digging their escape tunnels by now, but Peter already had an idea of how this was going to end. It seemed pretty cruel to be showing them something like this, but that was probably Aguilar's idea of a sense of humor.

[nonheinous]

Experimented on?

Ted thought experiments were what you did with peanuts in Biology class; or what he might have been made to do, if he hadn't eaten the peanuts and gotten sent for detention by a most unsympathetic teacher. You didn't do experiments on humans. That was totally unethical and probably hard to fit under a microscope. Plus they could sue, and that would suck, Ted wisely concluded.

But no... wait. Aliens. Aliens experimented on humans, Ted realized. He'd read about it in some bodacious book on UFOs, and how you might be driving around at night when a flying saucer would swoop down and abduct you and the little green aliens would cut you up and do experiments on you and make you pregnant, even if you were a dude, which was totally non-triumphant and you couldn't even apply for maternity leave.

Maybe he was on a spaceship, right now. Ted blinked.

But Peter's words were somewhat comforting; at least he wasn't alone. But he didn't know anyone here. There weren't any familiar faces to seek solace in. Any friends would have to be new, and while he'd made some, so far, it didn't help to know that most were as clueless about the situation as he was.

But at least he had a theory, now. "Are we on a spaceship?" he asked Peter.

[human_sponge]

As Ted sorted through everything that he'd said in silence, Peter glanced at the projector screen, unable to ignore the fact that every attempt made by the characters in the movie was eventually undone. With the German soldiers finding out their plans or catching them during the escape attempt itself, Peter couldn't help but relate it to their own situation. It too often felt like two steps forward, one step back here.

Although then his companion for the shift spoke up again, not with any words of thanks or even with a logical question. No, what he asked came completely out of nowhere, forcing Peter to stare at him with wide-eyed bewilderment.

"What?" he sputtered, running through what he'd explained before and wondering when a spaceship had ever been brought up. It hadn't.

"What do you mean? I didn't say that." He was still trying to puzzle through it, but Ted was clearly working off of some knowledge base that Peter wasn't aware of, to come to a conclusion like that.

[nonheinous]

Whoa, Ted thought, appreciatively. This dude can really make his eyes go big.

He shrugged. "You said that people here get experimented on. That totally sounds like something that aliens would do, and most aliens live in spaceships."

Ted decided that some examples of spaceships might be helpful. "You know, spaceships. Like the U.S.S. Enterprise, the Death Star, Sesame Street... Maybe one abducted us, dude!"

In fact, there might be aliens amongst them right now, observing their behavior, Ted thought, glancing around with minor excitement. They might look human, but underneath their prosthetic flesh might be bug-eyes and green skin and exceedingly versatile tentacles.

"You haven't seen any aliens around, have you?" he asked in a conspiratorial whisper.

[human_sponge]

Okay, this kid had a seriously big imagination for his age. The sad thing was that not everything he was saying was completely out of the question, considering some of the people who Peter had met here.

Despite that, he was almost positive that Sesame Street was in no way a spaceship, but he wasn't going to start an argument on that basis. He was only willing to let this conversation reach certain levels of ridiculous.

"Believe me, it's not a spaceship," he said with a slight quirk to his lips. It was hard not to just laugh at the whole thing, though he had to admit that that was better than having a very serious, depressing sort of conversation. Ted was good company in that respect, at least. "You'll see when you go outside."

That last question wasn't one that he could just ignore, though, especially when taking into account the things he'd seen. A friend of his had turned into a demon and attacked him; he couldn't exactly act like everything was normal here. "It depends on your definition of alien," he said after a pause. "There are people here who aren't from Earth, but everyone here looks human." Not everyone started off that way, but Ted might be able to fill in the blanks on his own.

[nonheinous]

"So there are aliens!" Ted said excitedly. Whoa!

"It is true that they may look human," he said wisely, "but we do not know what lies beneath their deceptive facades."

Unless they were friendly aliens, and the intent had been to blend in, not to deceive. Ted was about to bring up this possibility, when he remembered the more important thing Peter had just said...

"...but, dude... you've been outside?" he asked. Ted's previous attempts - though admittedly there had not been many - had not exactly been successful. "Someone said that there was a poisonous miasma out there, and that it was a totally bad idea to leave."

Miasma. Ted was proud of himself for remembering that word.