Day 57: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

Varying opinions aside about the new caretakers, the efficiency of the military was worthy of some admiration. The Great Escape ended with minutes to spare, and the staff wasted no time in dismantling the equipment in the Sun Room. Visitors were kindly informed that visiting hours were over while patients were ushered to their rooms

Comments

M24

[human_sponge]

Forget what people said about music being good for plants; it was good for people, too. Peter hadn't realized how relaxing it would be to just slip on a pair of headphones and drown out the rest of the world for a little while. That probably made him sound like some sort of angsty teenager, and he got the feeling he was guilty of doing things like that when he was younger, but this was different.

After being caught in the same place listening to the same murmuring of voices following him from room to room, it felt nice to just have exposure to something different. To remember that there were people out there, creating things, not stuck in some insane asylum with no connection to home.

When Peter reached his room again, he was surprised to see that Sam was already there. Not that his roommate didn't make it here before him sometimes, but he was passed out on his bed, which was definitely peculiar. Peter figured that if Sam was out cold, he probably needed the rest, and so he went ahead and fell onto his own bed, knowing he should eat but wanting to just ride out that serene feeling for a little longer. However, even as he laid himself down and stared at his ceiling, he mind started to wander to the coming night, to how he would have to head upstairs with his duffel bag packed with supplies and try to help people.

Hopefully he wouldn't get stopped by Sylar this time. Tonight he had no time to spare.

For the moment, though, he could simply stretch out and soak in the silence. Dinner was a good reprieve, at least for someone who had a roommate they trusted. And he did. He was a little worried about Sam now, but he decided not to jump to conclusions.

[allroadslead]

Blacking out and waking up was a sensation he'd pretty much gotten used to-but usually during the night. He hadn't really expected it when he was just sitting in someone's office. Given the way he'd arrived there, though, he wasn't surprised.

He sat upright. Ugh. His head was already starting to kill him and it took a couple of seconds before he registered Peter was in the same room. And probably wondering what the hell was going on. Oh. This was gonna take some explaining.

But at least he'd have someone to talk to about it because he still wasn't sure what to make of what'd happened. Their conversation hadn't been forthcoming, to say the least, but it hadn't been useless, either. Far from it. Even the non-answers had been something. More than he'd gotten in a long time.

He glanced at his roommate and cleared his throat. "Hi." He paused. "So, I think I just spoke to one of Aguilar's men."

...Maybe that wasn't the best segue. But it was pretty hard to smoothly launch into, I got pulled aside and shoved through a portal to see one of the guys responsible for this place, and then passed out.

[human_sponge]

It was the sound of shifting sheets that made Peter realize that Sam had woken up. He hoped that he hadn't disturbed him, seeing how he'd come into the room as quietly as he could once he'd realized that the other man was there. Still, there wasn't much he could do about it now that Sam was awake, and so he pulled himself up into a sitting position on his bed so that they could talk.

"Hi," he said in return, although what Sam came out with next was completely out of left field. Granted, if it had just happened then it was possible that his roommate was just as stunned by it all. Peter just stared at Sam for a moment, trying to find the words to respond and failing.

Had this ever happened before? Landel had certainly never met with patients or allowed them to speak to him one-on-one, at least not as far as Peter knew. Granted, Sam maybe have been with a group of patients when it happened, but it didn't really sound like that was the case.

"... That's new," he said eventually, dragging a hand through his hair as he scooted back to lean against the wall. He needed to head over to his desk to eat his steak eventually, but that was forgotten in lieu of what he'd been told. "What happened? How did you even get to talk to him?"

[allroadslead]

New was one way to put it. Why the change now? They'd remained in the shadows for weeks, maybe months, and from what he'd heard, the only time Landel had showed up, he'd done a public address, surrounded by orderlies. Berg hadn't seemed to concerned with a open show of security, though Sam didn't doubt that he had plenty hanging around. Where had his office even been? In the building or somewhere else altogether? With all the pocket dimensions this place had, either was possible.

Hell, he didn't even know if that was really Berg's office or just something they set up. Somehow, he didn't think such a high ranking official would be put in the same building as the patients. If it was his office, it was a temporary one.

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "They just pulled me aside and sent me through to his office. It felt like the same thing that got us rotating through all those random rooms that one time. He called himself Lieutenant General Beg. I've heard his voice before." He frowned at Peter. "Nothing happened before dinner, did it? It was all business as usual?"

He figured not, but it didn't hurt to ask. That private meeting Berg had insisted on calling it, it was too weird. He couldn't help feeling like more had happened and he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Dammit, this was gonna drive him nuts.

[human_sponge]

So Sam had been hand-picked and then teleported to this guy's office? That was a big deal, and Peter couldn't help but lean forward in order to give his roommate his attention. While Sam seemed more disoriented than anything, he had to realize how important this was. Then again, getting singled out like that wasn't necessarily a good thing. It had given him some more information, but it also meant that the military had their eye on him. Peter hoped Sam wouldn't end up in trouble after this...

"I remember that name, yeah." He'd made one of the announcements at night, hadn't he? Peter didn't know all that much about military ranks, but he was pretty sure that lieutenant general was high up there. He frowned, wondering what had triggered this and what the man had even wanted.

He was taken aback by the question, but quickly shook his head in reply. "No, it was just like normal. Free choice for the afternoon, movie in the Sun Room, the whole nine yards." It had felt surprisingly normal due to the military's charade, and more than that, he hadn't had to worry about a visitor. To think that this had been going on and he would have never known if Sam hadn't been his roommate -- it was strange.

It was hard to know what question to start with, but Peter realized that he couldn't overwhelm his roommate. He pulled himself off of the bed and moved over to his plate of food, shaking his head in disbelief. "So... what did he say to you? Did he tell you anything, or was it some sort of interrogation?"

[allroadslead]

Huh. So this really had come without warning. He wondered if it would be a regular thing, or if the next time, it would come out of nowhere again. The institute had always been a stickler for routine and even the military went out of their way to keep to the old schedule. Aside from the cleanup after the riot, they hadn't switched around a single thing.

Then again, there was no need to, so he guessed it wouldn't have been worth the effort to shake too much up.

Sam reached for his food, forgotten until now, and ate without paying attention. "Nah, it was nothing like that. The only thing he asked was about that Marc dude, but he dropped it right away. I don't know what he wanted," he admitted. "It was like, he answered everything, but he didn't. I don't think I was the only one, either. There must've been at least one or two others, maybe more, he head on his schedule. And his watch worked," he added, thoughtful.

Did that mean his office had been outside of the field around the institute? That was possible. If this world had the potential to fall apart, he couldn't see why Berg didn't have a place outside of ground zero just in case. Regardless of what he said about wanting to save his own home.

[human_sponge]

Oh, of course. Asking for them to spill about the man behind the radio made sense, although Peter hoped that none of the other people who'd been taken to that man's office had actually done so. Even if it might earn them the military's good graces, selling out the one person who was trying to help them seemed wrong. Marc was already busy having to deal with Landel -- he didn't need Aguilar and his men coming after him too.

Peter didn't even consider the possibility that Sam would have squealed. He just wasn't that sort of person. Peter was sure of it.

Besides, it sounded like the subject had turned to other things pretty early in the conversation. Peter nodded along, raising an eyebrow at the mention of the watch. To have a proper idea of how time flowed here -- that would have been valuable enough on its own. Peter was guessing that Sam hadn't gotten his hands on it, though.

"All right, so he answered you... Did you learn anything interesting, or not really?" Some people were able to talk and talk without actually saying much of anything (politicians were good at this; Peter knew from experience), so it could have been something like that. Still, Sam was smart. He'd probably gleaned something from the experience.