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

M41

[corvus_veritas]

Ignoring the terrible headache that had returned around fourth shift, Byrne had been having a relatively steady evening. There had been no major discoveries beyond what Renamon had told him at breakfast. In fact, the only things he really needed to worry about were what he and Badd were going to do tonight and what else Badd was going to tell him in his ongoing Tales From the Future(tm).

Unfortunately, the day just couldn't end without one more terrible surprise to catch him off guard.

The letter had been waiting for him beside his usual ration of pink gruel on his desk. Byrne had sat down, choosing to first examine the letter over eating the gruel. (Who wouldn't, honestly?) He had read it over carefully, and as he did so his expression had gone from curiosity to shock to downright horror.

Was this real? It--it couldn't be! She wrote like she probably would if she were seventeen years old, she confirmed that she used to be here, she even addressed him as 'Daddy'. But she didn't use her real name and she was quick to jump on the same story that the institute had been trying to get him to believe. This 'Anthony Sullivan' bullshit. What was this?! What was going on? Was this really Kay's doing, or was this the work of some clever nurse trying to screw with his head?

Now here he was, sitting uncomfortably in his desk chair, staring at the open letter upon his desk with a grimace. His dinner? Well... With this painful knot forming in his stomach from what he'd just read, he could forget about eating ever again.

Re: M41

[hes_deadjim]

McCoy wandered in several minutes later to find that Byrne was already there. The doctor paused at the door way, head cocked. From the looks of it, all Byrne's attention was focused on what was on the desk before him, because McCoy hadn't exactly snuck in. The man just staring at something in front of him.

He came into the room and sat on the bed. It put McCoy at a better angle to see just what Byrne was looking at. It looked like a piece of paper. A letter? From who? They even got letters here? It was news to him at least, because he'd never heard of patients getting letters.

Whatever it was, Byrne didn't look happy to see it.

"Look like you saw a ghost." McCoy said.

Re: M41

[corvus_veritas]

Byrne was so lost in his own little world that he didn't hear Dr. McCoy enter the room, and he almost didn't hear him speak, either. The prosecutor didn't jump at the sound of his roommate's voice nor did he respond right away. Part of him wanted to scream, to tear the letter into shreds, to go find the nearest soldier and sock him across the face. But in the end he didn't move, just sat in his desk chair and sighed. It wasn't worth it, not for a letter that was probably fake. Maybe.

"You could say that," Byrne said some twenty seconds after his roommate spoke. A weary smile crossed his lips. "More like the institute just found one more way to screw with me."

He picked up the letter and flipped it over so that he wouldn't have to look at the writing anymore. Too much. This was really too much.

Re: M41

[hes_deadjim]

Byrne didn't even appear to hear him come in, much less say anything. McCoy studied him, quickly growing concerned when he didn't answer.His roommate only sat there, staring down at the letter as if it was the only thing left in the world. Byrne didn't strike him as a man that was particularly flighty or so wrapped up in his world that he didn't notice a thing going on around him. Accepting that wasn't Byrne's style, it implied something was very wrong.

Finally he moved, and finally he answered him. The answer didn't exactly stop his suspicions. So it was something bad.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked. They were strangers, McCoy would understand if he turned him down or got upset, but having an open ear could help.

Re: M41

[corvus_veritas]

Oh, it was so, so tempting to just spill everything now. About Kay, about the Yatagarasu, about how he was supposed to be dead...just everything.

But Byrne, thankfully, still had restraint. (And pride.) The letter was causing him to have a moment of weakness, true, but he was not at the point where he could shamelessly trouble a stranger with his problems. He had Badd for emotional comfort. Besides, Badd was the only one who could say whether the letter was really written by Kay or not. There was no doubt that he knew what her present-day handwriting and general writing style looked like. No need to bother McCoy with any of it. Byrne should just fake a smile now and tell the doctor that nothing was wrong, try and drop the whole subject. The shock was making him look ridiculous enough.

...Still...

"...They gave me a letter," he explained after a small pause, "apparently written by my daughter. But I...I'm not sure if it's legitimate or not. She doesn't use her real name or my real name, and that's what's throwing me off."

How long had Dr. McCoy been here, again? Were the letters a common occurrence? Byrne was simply going to ask for an opinion instead of begging for support. It would be a total waste of time to lie and say nothing was wrong, anyway. Who would believe that after seeing the face he was just making at that letter?

Re: M41

[hes_deadjim]

Byrne waffled on whether to take him up on the offer for awhile. McCoy waited. What he said next surprised him and for a second, he stilled.

Byrne had a daughter too, and he'd gotten a letter from her? Of course, the institute could always fake a letter, but after what he'd seen of Joanna earlier, somehow he got the impression it might not be a fake. Obviously it had shaken Byrne, and it was possible that the content sounded like his daughter, minus the other details. Was it hand written? Maybe Byrne could recognize the writing.

As if that couldn't be forged too. It was like the institute had seen the weak spots, for Byrne, his daughter, and gone for the jugular.

"Can't say for sure," he had to admit. "Did you get a visitor yet? Because my kid showed up and she claimed she had a different name too. Different history. But it was definitely her."

Re: M41

[corvus_veritas]

"What?" Byrne was wide-eyed with surprise. He'd heard something about visitors over the intercom earlier in the day, but he had never imagined they would be people the patients actually knew. So that meant McCoy had seen his daughter in person without her being a patient. Had she been a really good actor, or had they gone so far as to brainwash her? The doctor said he was sure she was his daughter, just as Byrne was sure this letter was written by Kay. And yet, she had given her father the same treatment that Kay was giving hers from the sound of it. It didn't make any sense.

"...No, I haven't. I've only gotten this letter, and it's just like what happened with your daughter. Different name and history. The strange thing is, Kay - my daughter - she was here before I was, and that was only a few days ago." And then she'd escaped, but he was hesitating to tell McCoy that much. He also hesitated to explain the awkward seven year time gap between him and his daughter for obvious reasons.

Instead, there was something else he needed to say. He lowered his gaze and added in a softer tone, "I'm sorry about your daughter." How had McCoy handled it? Even without the letter, Byrne could easily imagine how tough that visit must have been for him. How could any good father not be alarmed by seeing their child in a place like this, much less being told they were crazy by them?