Day 58: Arts & Crafts (Fourth shift)
Firo was glad to see the end of lunch, if only for the fact that in a few more hours, the day would be over. Night was the only time he had any real freedom of movement, and it was the only time he could do something worth doing, instead of just sitting around
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...And then he realized just what this shift was about, and his frown was back. Arts and crafts? Well sure, he'd done stuff like this with Kay countless times, but--but that was with Kay and not by himself. How degrading this was, being told to do a kindergartner's activity at forty years old! What were they thinking?
Byrne sighed to express his displeasure with this whole stupid thing, then he wandered around the room looking for a place to sit. Maybe he could pass the time with social interaction rather than do what they wanted him to do. Talk about some more facts with a patient he'd never spoken to before, compare notes. Ah, there was a thoughtful young man sitting alone. He'll do. The prosecutor approached him and cleared his throat.
"Mind if I sit here?" he asked politely, pointing at the empty seat beside him.
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"Go ahead, the more the merrier, right? Though, maybe not in this place."
It was a weak attempt at humor, but, it would have to do considering everything he was still caught up in thinking about.
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The prosecutor was at the point of not caring. Though he'd calmed significantly since the morning hours, there were still so many things bothering him. Rei was gone before he'd even had the chance to apologize to her or figure things out from that night with the scorpion. Someone on the board reported that the military were conducting missions of some kind, and dangerous ones at that. There were drug trials of some kind the night before...and speaking of the night before...
He heaved a sigh, leaning upon the table to rest his face in his hands. "I just can't make heads or tails of this place anymore," he muttered, half to himself and half to the man sitting next to him.
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"Sounds like you've been here a while." Longer than he had, anyway. "From what I can tell, there's not much that makes sense here, don't know if there's much point in trying to rationalize any of it, you know?"
Not that he didn't want to know why or know the reason to everything that went on here, but, he also didn't see the point in driving yourself crazy trying to connect things that wouldn't normally connect but do and rationalizing them. Just led to more questions and more loose threads.
"And, not to offend you are anything, but, it also sounds like you've been through something. Want to talk about it? Sometimes it helps to have someone willing to listen, even a completely unrelated person like me."
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"I haven't been here as long as some others," Byrne replied, looking back down at the table. "Only about five days. Just feels like forever. Too many things happening all at once." It was getting a little difficult to take, honestly. Maybe it was just better to become numb to all of this if he hoped to make it out of here in one piece.
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He figured anyone who was here for any amount of time might begin to lose hope. It was just that sort of place.
"Longer than me. Still, I know it might not mean much from someone you just met, but you gotta hold out. As difficult as this place seems to be, I figure hope's just about all we've got that they can't take away, yeah? So, whatever happens, don't lose it, otherwise there's really no point in trying to escape, is there?"
Even if he didn't know them all, Locke figured everyone trapped in this place against their will deserved to escape and as intact as possible too. After hearing the way Edgar had spoken last night, he didn't want to hear anyone else have that sort of loss of hope in their voice again.
"Oh, um, I'm Locke, by the way. Locke Cole."
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And hope... How ironic and cliche it was to fight such incredible tyranny with something like hope. And yet that one word was why Byrne had been so eager to start the Yatagarasu to begin with. He'd refused to give in when hope had seemed pointless. If anything, Badd's speech earlier in the morning was proof that not all was lost, wasn't it?
Somehow, Byrne managed a smile at the fellow man. "Byrne Faraday," he responded, then added a moment later, "Keep up that optimism, Locke. You'll need it."
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