Day 59: Cafeteria (noon)
By the time lunch rolled around, things still weren't getting any better. The voices hadn't gone away; instead, Firo was pretty sure they were getting more frequent. Ennis had been silent since last night, but Czes's voice had been an insistent buzz in his ear all morning
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Speaking of allies, Chipp found a familiar face as soon as he entered the cafeteria, making a beeline towards Daemon. He might have thought it was rude to interrupt his friend's meal (as Chipp knew how irritating that was), if it weren't for the fact that...
"What the hell is that supposed to be?" Chipp's face wrinkled at the sight of the... "stuff" Daemon had in his bowl, which was apparently supposed to be food. He guessed that it had to be edible, and Chipp had eaten stuff that looked more disgusting, but... damn. "I'm allowed to eat now, apparently, but... like hell I'd touch that crap."
There were more pressing matters at hand, but Chipp just couldn't look away at how hideous the food looked now that he was actually looking at it. Were they actually expecting them to eat that?!
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"Good morning to you, too," Daemon drawled wryly, lips quirking as he poked the stuff in his bowl. "It's certainly like nothing you'd find from home, but it's not all bad." Of course, it wasn't all that good, either. It just... was.
"They've been serving this same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner since I woke up a day ago. Perhaps a little longer. You have to eat it if you want to keep your strength up. I haven't found an alternative yet, myself. And from the amount of people swallowing the stuff down, I don't think anyone else has, either."
Unless they'd been here as long as Sora, but Daemon doubted there were many left that had.
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Trying to find a subject away from food, which was proving to be very distracting, Chipp remembered his original reason for approaching Daemon. Well, one was to find out if the guy was alright since their interaction with Harrington got cut short, and since he found that out, all that was left was asking about why their interaction got cut short.
"Hey, uh, about last night... How did I end up back in my room again? Did something happen?" Chipp sounded concerned, maybe envisioning a sudden attack, and Daemon having to drag his ass all the way back to his room... It sounded really unpleasant.
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Which was a shame, if they kept to this pattern much longer. A rat the size of the few he'd seen would feed a man for a week at least. He supposed he could always ask Chipp if he was successful on the morrow.
When the other man started looking worried and voiced his concerns, Daemon gave him an understanding smile. "Ah, I forgot to warn you about that. Night ends rather suddenly here, as sudden as it begins. We always wake up back in our beds at dawn, no matter where or how far we go in the night. Somehow we're still rested, despite the fact that everyone I know spends most nights fighting or looking for a way out. Maybe there's a third period of time where we sleep. Maybe there's something in our food. Maybe it's just this place, I don't know. You'll find that getting an answer here only opens up a dozen more questions, I'm afraid."
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"Like... everything is rotting? There's gotta be some animals outside that are okay, they can't get every damn thing around here." It wasn't like Chipp was trying to challenge Daemon or anything, but it seemed like his stubbornness grew with his hunger. Well, some warning was nice, but Chipp was going to take his chances. Starving wasn't really an option here and he needed something to eat other then that gruel crap. Even if it wasn't Japanese food...
It was a relief, though a confusing one, to know that no one had been hurt or maimed or anything. At least, Chipp was glad that Daemon wasn't stuck dragging his knocked-out ass places, but as the man mentioned, it only brought more questions in mind. Especially that bit about being taken back no matter how far you went out, and also how they felt rested... because Chipp did feel oddly rested despite theoretically being up all night.
"Yeah, you're right, I feel like I slept all night when I didn't at all. But that doesn't make any sense... Shit, and that stupid Harrington guy couldn't even tell us anything. What the hell is up with this place?" Chipp sighed, but he knew that Daemon didn't even have the answer to that. "Sorry, it's just... It's something else."
Maybe an interdimensional prison, like the one Justice was held in? Chipp didn't know how the hell that worked, but it would be nice if it was like that. Because Justice eventually broke out of that, even though that was bad news for the rest of the world. "Well, I guess we just better find the guy in charge. No way around it." It wasn't like he was just going to find a way to get himself out and leave everyone else in here.
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He waved away Chipp's apology with a small smile. "I understand, believe me. This place is more than frustrating. All the odds are stacked against us. And Harrington did tell us some things," Daemon pointed out, listing them off on his fingers.
"Despite the fact that the staff try to shove the knowledge that everything we remember and know about our lives and our abilities is delusion, some of them aren't normal either. Harrington can call fire and I was told today that apparently Landel himself has some dangerous ability like this as well. Harrington also let slip more about the resistance - namely that there is one, people on the outside trying to bring this place down, and that they've managed to infiltrate Aguilar's own forces with a mole so cleverly hidden that the staff here can't discover his or her identity. And finally, that while Aguilar is in charge here at the moment, Landel is still the one with the answers and the control. He's still the one that needs to be brought down if we want to end this place."
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"I get it. So there's basically a power struggle over this place, and we're all caught in the middle," Chipp sighed, crossing his arms and looking at the ground in confused contempt. "Well, at least we know the names of everyone involved. After we get rid of Aguilar, then we still have to deal with Landel. But after that, we're finally finished."
Chipp didn't mind, as long as he knew what he was up against. But it still sounded like this whole mess would sort itself out even if they didn't interfere. All the backstabbing and betrayal and all of that dramatic crap sounded like there were people on the outside who were trying to help them, but Chipp wasn't the kind of guy who liked to sit back and let other people do the work for him.
Speaking of work.
"Huh, a bulletin board? Where's that at?" Bulletin board? Now that he thought about it... Did he see something like that?
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Even if they were uncomfortable. Seriously, that was the biggest differences he could point out so far from what he'd observed since reawakening. Aguilar and Landel were both madmen who had to be stopped. but Aguilar was a soldier, he would likely be difficult to get to. Landel was another matter, but what he'd learned from Renamon about what he could possibly do added up. And also made him far more dangerous.
Then again, Daemon had assumed there would be someone here with dangerous abilities. Someone had transported them all here and then blocked all their abilities. That was no simple feat. Especially in his case.
Chipp's question brought him back out of his thoughts and he pushed them away for the time being, taking another bite of his gruel. "Ah, yes. Many of the patients here use it to pass messages to one another, or make plans for after dark, since things get a little chaotic once the lights go out, as you saw last night. The board's in the Sunroom. Rather large, it's hard to miss."
Another question occurred to him and he tilted his head to the side, studying the other man curiously for a moment. "Did you happen upon anyone else you recognized here, by any chance? From your home?"
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Then Daemon asked him about meeting someone and everything halted in Chipp's mind as he visibly brightened up, remembering the great discovery he made earlier. How did Daemon know about that? This guy was pretty amazing, which made Chipp glad he was on their side rather then the enemy's. Yep.
"Yeah! I met Venom, we uh..." Tried to kill each other once, that didn't exactly reflect their current relationship. What was that word Venom used? "We were supposed to work together back home, before I got kidnapped and he got kidnapped. Can't believe he's here, of all people, but that means the Assassin's Guild isn't part of this shit. They're probably going nuts without their leader."
Chipp looked almost disappointed. If he hadn't been careless... Then he could have been out there getting rid of the Guild for good. Sorry, Venom. It was then that he realized that he used the same word too: "home". Like ... this place obviously wasn't, but it was starting to really sink in with Chipp that this place was something else. Way different then what he would expect.
"So, uh... what about you?"
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...And Chipp had managed to get himself set on fire within hours of waking here. Something told Daemon this one might need a little looking out for.
At the man's question, his smile faded a little. "I did. There were some here when I first arrived. This place, though... they did something to me. I'm missing time. A couple weeks. I went to bed one night and woke up almost a month later. Everyone I'd known and met and worked with was gone. I don't know if they got out, or if they're held somewhere. I don't know what they thought if I vanished on them with no warning like I did. So... I've had to start from scratch again. Last night was my first night back out again."
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"Shit... You could've fooled me, you looked like you had your shit together," Chipp mumbled, feeling slightly guilty that he had burdened this guy with questions and shit when the guy just woke up. It sounded like they were almost in the same situation, even though this guy had still been here way longer. Still, a month? That was a long time to stay asleep, which meant someone did something.
Someone did something, and were they powerless to do anything about it? The more Chipp learned about this place, the more he got the idea that they were basically lab rats in a maze and there was nothing any of them could do but run around and try to survive. It really pissed him off.
"This is the most messed up..." He looked around, wondering why no one else looked as pissed as he did. Well, maybe they were, but then why wasn't anyone doing anything. Was that a mark of how powerful they were, or how powerless the rest of the them were against the military. He had to do something about this tonight, no matter what.
"Well, I'm not going anywhere. Not until I see this place burn to the ground." He declared stubbornly, crossing his arms and glaring down at the floor as if imagining it. That was going to be a promise.
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His Jewels, he mentally added, thumb rubbing absently over his ring finger where his Birthright Red normally rested.
He shared Chipp's frustration, watching as the man tried to vent it, but there was nowhere for it to go. Not yet. "You may have to get in line," Daemon chuckled, but the sound held little humor. It hinted at violence smoldering just below the surface, however. A deep icy rage just waiting for an outlet. "They won't be allowed to continue their game. They will make a mistake somewhere. No one is perfect, not for long. You're not the only one who's vowed to leave this place a rubble."
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