Day 57: Game Room (Third Shift)

[zack_fair]

Having already met two new people today, Zack found that his mood was slowly starting to improve, if only out of necessity. While he didn't like dumping his problems on his friends, he was even less willing to do so with a stranger. More than that, Rose had been very personable and he'd felt good about himself for being to help her with a few

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[ofthemotions]

Mikado watched intently as Izaya spoke, nerves touching his face before dispersing altogether as he stared. Most of what was said was completely believable. Being taken from rooms, having specialized tests.... But the man's emphasis on a word made Mikado wonder completely. It was as if Izaya had guessed Mikado's thoughts to touch on them. His brows drew together slightly. "What kind of peculiarities?"

The question of the animals made more sense now. If Peter had seen some kind of skewed versions of known animals, horrific experiments would explain that well. In fact-- And yep, here started the losing Mikado had thought from the start. He grimaced lightly, then moved a piece on the side out of the line if direct combat. People were taken here, and then went missing from here. It was certainly a bleak picture... And not one that he fully understood yet. "Do you know what the reason for all of it is?"

That encompassed more than just the why of being taken and being experimented on. They were playing chess right now, and outside this room, a group was watching a movie. Why all the weird... normality, when it seemed easier to just lock them in cells? Was it some kind of weird mentality, a kindness for guinea pigs? Mikado breathed out heavily, disturbed by the thought more than anything else. That kind of contrast was just....

What he had been about to think flew from his mind at the man's soft-spoken words. The boy's eyes widened entirely, looking near to the same as when Izaya first appeared. "Someone has an extra head?"

[predictator]

Mikado's question was, unfortunately, one that Izaya did not yet have an exact answer to. While he had gathered, from various posts he'd read, that the experiments may have been tailored to the subject in question, there were precious few details divulged in that forum. If he wanted something with a little more detail, he would likely need to speak directly with one of the subjects-something that he had not yet had the good fortune of. He did, however, have his guesses. "Peculiarities such as whatever might make them stand out amongst others, I would think... Some suitable aspect of mind or of body, or else an abnormality like Shizu-chan's monstrous strength."

Perhaps that was where Shizuo had gone in the past days: he'd been taken in to be dissected. Izaya silently wished the doctors luck cutting through that tough flesh.

"As for the reason... I can't say." The purpose of their captors was one line of speculation Izaya wasn't yet willing to verbalize to someone face-to-face, even if it were for the sake of spreading rumors. There were still too many possibilities-perhaps there was some grand goal at stake here, or perhaps Landel and Aguilar and anyone else involved were like him-so until he knew more to at least narrow things down...

He'd focus on Celty instead. Izaya slid another piece forward. "It's not an extra head so much as...." He trailed off and tilted his head, an almost fond smile on his lips. "There's a headless rider here who's no longer quite so headless."

Even without naming her, Izaya was sure Mikado would realize who he meant.

[ofthemotions]

That explained one thing at least. Experimenting on people above the norm made sense (...that he was thinking it made sense was starting to concern him; none of it made actual sense), but it really didn't explain why the rest of everyone was here. But it would be unfair to press further for answers that Izaya didn't know either.

Though, to be honest, the man had said... an aspect of mind or body. Mikado glanced over to Izaya, cautious. Wasn't what Izaya did something extreme and of the mind? Was that enough for whoever was in charge to gain interest? What exactly would be defined as something interesting enough to--

The boy shook his head, escaping the circle of thoughts that would lead him nowhere at this moment. Mikado stared down at the chessboard, moving a piece forward in the only way he thought possible. So now, what he should do was....

Was forgotten in a moment. Again, for the third time, Mikado's face detailed astonishment in the clearest of ways, but here there was an edge of light joy. He leaned forward slightly. "Really? Celty-san is here, and she's--" Normal. Was she still what she was or just something human and mundane? "Did they do that?"

[predictator]

Who it was that had restored Celty's head was quite the question-one that Izaya himself could as of now only wish he knew the answer to. The facts, as he knew them, were that he'd found himself amongst the 'patient' populace a little earlier than Celty, with no memory of his own abduction. Up until he'd seen the courier with a head (and without so much as a scar to show where it had been attached), that head had been hidden away in his possession. It was certainly possible the head had been stolen from him at the same time as his abduction (which could narrow things down-the list of people who knew he had it was rather short, all things considered), but if it had been surgically attached to Celty's body, shouldn't there have been time needed for healing?

-But then again, despite how she acted at times, Celty Sturluson wasn't human. Perhaps things were different for a dullahan

"She's here, yes," Izaya answered, entirely skipping the question that was bothering him. Mikado's reaction to the news had paid for the mention in full, but wasn't quite payment enough for Izaya to admit his own uncertainties. It also left Izaya wanting to see more: should he mention Masaomi, too? Shizuo? Even if they were truly no longer among the crowd, there was always the possibility of Mikado imagining fate after Izaya's suggestions...

He slid a pawn forward, leaving it exposed as bait. He'd talk about the others later, he decided, after Mikado had gained a little bit of familiarity with this place.

"I'm sure you'll recognize her when you see her," he added.

[ofthemotions]

The calm in which Izaya reaffirmed the fact made it more believable, and Mikado leaned back in his chair, a small smile on his lips. So she was.... Heh. It was interesting, so interesting, and he wondered if she was happy, having found her head like she wanted despite everything that had happened. Was this place maybe okay, then? Hadn't it given her what she wanted?

Mikado glanced up at Izaya's sentence. "Ah..." Recognize her. It'd be strange, he thought, to see two people with Harima-san's (Celty-san's?) face. He nodded, still, slipping a piece forward to capture the pawn Izaya had left unattended. "So there's some interesting things about this place..." he murmured lightly. At this rate, it seemed more exciting than purely something of torment.

[predictator]

There were many, many more interesting things about this place than just those he'd shared with Mikado-but not everyone had or even understood his hobbies, and Izaya knew that well. Still, Mikado's reactions to the various pieces of information he'd shared had been payment enough (in lieu of proper currency), and he wondered how the boy would react from here on out. He'd have to keep a more careful eye on him than he had on Masaomi.

Mikado had also risen up to take the bait. Izaya's fingers moved to his next piece, but he paused before moving it. "I wonder if her head was returned out of kindness or cruelty," he mused aloud. On the one had, it was back in her possession (though perhaps in a different way than before), but he couldn't imagine it had come without a cost. At the very least, it had been stolen from him-and at most? Hmm.

He lifted the piece, moving it to take advantage of the opening Mikado had inadvertently created. "Check."