DAY 33: BREAKFAST

[yin_yang_fox]

Renamon blinked, and suddenly she was laying flat in the bed she had originally woke up in. The timing was impeccable, accenting Orihime's explanation perfectly. She just hoped that she hadn't freaked the girl out with her little disappearing act. She quickly shifted out of bed, and grabbed the journal she had wrote notes in last night, and jotted

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[razing_phoenix]

Guy woke up to the feeling of his own sore hands. He was drained, but that was the norm here.

Slowing sitting up in his bed, he looked down at the bandages around his hands. At least those in charge somehow made sure to keep them cleaned and wrapped up here, though it wasn't like the institute could have people bleeding all over the place during the day.

Okita was still asleep, and remained that way even when a nurse came to collect Guy. He wondered if his roommate had had a rough night, but he most likely wouldn't get the answer until dinner.

Regardless of his soreness, Guy was in a good mood. He and Claude had done well last night, so he just had to hope that the coming night would also turn out well. Upon entering the cafeteria, he looked first for his friends, but he only saw Asch. He tried not to worry too much about the others as he got himself some food.

At this point, picking a random person to sit with was something he was used to. Choosing someone he didn't recognize who still hadn't had someone join him, Guy approached the stranger while wearing a light smile. "Hey there. Mind if I sit down?"

[tender_cruelty]

He had to admit it, the food was damn good. That was one thing to be said for this place at least, even if he was hearing more and more terrible things the more time went on. He loved real food. Space rations just couldn't compare. He took a sip of the hot chocolate, savouring the taste of it. Oh, it was good. He was going to end up with a sugar craving so badly. Even if he'd been hoping for coffee.

He looked up in surprise when someone approached him, setting down the mug and giving the blond man an awkward smile. "Uh sure, go ahead," he said, gesturing to the seat genially. He looked down at his food for a few moments, idly playing with the knife and fork before he glanced back up, realising that he should be saying something. "I'm Allelujah."

[razing_phoenix]

The other man seemed a little shy, but he was still willing to let Guy sit with him. Figuring the stranger might still need some help adjusting (because he was pretty sure he was new), Guy made sure his smile held as he sat down.

"Nice to meet you, Allelujah." It was an odd name, but there were lots of those around there. It made him glad that his own name was simple, even if it was actually a nickname of sorts. "I'm Guy."

He took his sandwich into one hand and took a bite as he considered how to start the conversation. Immediately asking the man questions didn't seem fair, so he figured he would make an offer instead. "You're new, right? Feel free to ask if you've got any questions." He imagined Allelujah might after his first night.

[tender_cruelty]

Allelujah gave the man a small smile and nodded at the introduction. "Guy. Nice to meet you too." It made him think that maybe he should go by a second false name since Allelujah seemed strange compared to most of the names here. It made him more conspicuous, although it wasn't as though the people he really needed to avoid were even here. Or at least, he hadn't seen anyone from his own... world.

That was never going to get easier to think, was it?

"Yes, I'm new," Allelujah replied. "Is it that obvious?" He asked after a moment, a touch of amusement in his voice. Maybe he just didn't blend in well. He frowned slightly as he thought of things he'd like to ask. "The radio," he settled on finally. That had been confusing. "I seem to have missed any explanation about that."

[razing_phoenix]

Guy laughed a little, glad to see that Allelujah had some sense of humor. It was good to get to know someone who could joke around from time to time (so long as they weren't like Jade, who made a joke out of everything). "Nah, it's just that I haven't seen you around before." There was also the fact that he had seemed perplexed by someone random coming to sit with him -- normally, that would be strange, but at Landel's it was the norm.

The radio. That was definitely something to ask about, and Guy could only hope that his answer would be a helpful one. It was all so mysterious that he still didn't know what to make of it himself.

"Well, the idea is that at night the radio makes broadcasts giving out clues, and if you can figure out where to go, there'll be a prize there. But it's hard to tell if it's really trustworthy. The other night I tried to follow one of the clues and I got caught in a nasty fight because of it." They had still managed to get batteries, at least, but those had had nothing to do with what the radio had said.

[tender_cruelty]

"I arrived yesterday morning," Allelujah replied, relaxing a little when Guy laughed. Guy seemed nice enough, although a short conversation was hardly enough to tell. "There just seem to be a lot of people here," he added, looking around the rapidly filling room. "Uh, how long have you been here, if you don't mind me asking?" One day had seemed long enough when he had battles to fight. Who knew what had happened to the Ptolemaios while he'd been here?

He listened carefully to the explanation of the radio and then leaned back in his chair frowning slightly as he thought it over. Radio equipment seemed so outdated anyway. "It didn't sound particularly trustworthy," He said consideringly. "The second broadcast on it was worrying. Although there are plenty of ways to interfere with a radio broadcast. It's pretty old technology." And the man on the intercom had sounded uncertain too, not that Allelujah was about to trust in him if he was the one keeping them prisoner.

[razing_phoenix]

There was the common question -- "how long have you been here?" It wasn't that Guy minded answering, but he had to admit that sometimes the conversations he had with strangers felt very similar to each other. That didn't mean that they couldn't become exciting, though, if they got onto the right topics. "Hmm, I'd say over a week now?" he guessed with a sigh. He didn't mind sticking in one place for long periods of time, but it was a different story when he was being held captive. At least they got the chance to go outside sometimes, today being one of those times.

Guy frowned when Allelujah mentioned something from last night. "What happened? I didn't have my radio with me last night." It made him consider taking it with him more often, but it wasn't exactly easy to juggle that, his flashlight, and his bat. In the end, the flashlight was more important than the radio. Though then Allelujah brought up technology, which was like an offer of fine cuisine on a silver platter for Guy. He had to hold back on jumping into a line of questioning about it, but at least he had an easy way to move to that subject once they had gotten this radio business cleared up.

[tender_cruelty]

His face fell a little at the mention of how long Guy had been here, his hands clenching in his lap. A week? And they'd had a few hours at most before they were attacked again, and they were down one Meister. Damn it, why had Lockon had to go when they'd tried so hard to stop him and when he was injured? "I see," He said after a moment, smiling weakly. "That's a lot longer than I'd want to spend in any kind of hospital facility." It was kind of sad tha the daytime was probably going to get to him more than the night.

Well, he hadn't been paying so much attention to the radio and Hallelujah definitely hadn't but he did remember the second broadcast clearly. "The first time it went off, it was a girl talking, giving out some kind of prize or something. But then later it went off again. A different voice. It said not to trust the radio."

[razing_phoenix]

Guy hadn't meant to depress the guy or anything, but there was no point in lying. It was better he came to accept the reality of the situation rather than living in denial, right? "I know, it's rough and each day feels more like a month. I've heard of some people who have been here for almost that long," he continued to explain. What made it even worse was that they weren't even close to getting out, as far as he could tell. They had a long ways to go.

"Yeah, I've heard the female voice before..." He trailed off as he thought about it. It had been her clue that they had followed to the music room, so maybe that second broadcast was the one that should really be trusted. It definitely seemed that way. He should have figured that easy clues which led to prizes was too good to be true.

"So," he continued, not able to hold back any longer and wanting to take this conversation in a better direction, "you were saying that the radios here are old technology to you?"

[tender_cruelty]

"It felt like it last night, I have to admit," Allelujah replied dryly. Even if it couldn't have been that long at all. "I just don't like hospitals," he admitted, making it sound more humourous than it felt.

He shrugged. "I can't really make a proper judgement since I only heard it last night, but it did sound suspicious."

That was kind of an odd change of topic but then again, Edgeworth had seemed interested in the technology and politics of his time. It was just difficult getting used to the idea of different worlds and times. He nodded in response to the question. "Yes. Radio technology has been around for a few hundred years where I'm from," he explained. "Radios like the ones here are pretty ancient. It's all digital when radio is used at all. But most communication and broadcasting is done through satellites." It would be silly not to when the orbital stations existed.

[razing_phoenix]

While Guy was curious about whether there was a specific reason that Allelujah was so against hospitals (besides the obvious), it didn't seem like the sort of thing that he should ask someone who he'd just met. He kept it in mind just in case, but for the moment he was much more concerned with a certain another subject.

Judging from what Allelujah was saying, it almost sounded like he might be from around the same time that Claude was. But was Allelujah from Earth? It seemed that he might not be, but there was always a chance that his world and Earth had similar technological advancements.

Then Guy caught a term he wasn't familiar with, and that was enough to get him to sit up straighter and focus his attention entirely on the other patient. "Satellites? What are those?"

[tender_cruelty]

Hospitals, laboratories, research facilities... places like that in general. Even in Celestial Being he'd avoided the medical facilities when he could, being indulged by having required checkups and injections administered in his own room wherever possible. Partly for his peace of mind, partly for the safety of the medical staff.

Allelujah blinked in surprise when Guy asked about satellites, because they were... it was impossible to imagine life without them and it was strange to meet someone who'd never even heard of them. "Well, it refers to anything that orbits a planet technically," Allelujah explained, relaxing as they got onto a more comfortable topic. "But these specific ones are man-made. They're placed in orbit outside the atmosphere with all kinds of technology on them. They can bounce receive signals from Earth and bounce them back down to different positions. Or there's the Orbital stations which catch solar energy and send it back to Earth to use for power."

[razing_phoenix]

Man, he had definitely picked the right person to sit with! This was great! Guy opened his journal to a random page and started to take notes as he listened.

With all of this talk of planets, it really seemed that Allelujah's world (universe?) had some similarities to Claude's. He wondered if he should introduce them at some point, or at least tell Claude about the other man. Claude would probably enjoy talking to him, since it seemed like people who were interested in this sort of thing were in short supply. Then again, Allelujah didn't necessarily seem to be an enthusiast, but he had been willing to give out the information so far, and that was something!

"So they receive signals? Is that what they're for? What kind of signals are they? And solar energy, like from the sun? Is that your main energy source?" Guy stopped himself, laughing nervously. "Sorry, I don't mean to bombard you. I'm just really interested in all kinds of technology, and I've been trying to get more information on the technology of other worlds to hopefully put to use when I get home." At this point he had no clue when that was going to be, but that wasn't going to stop him.

[tender_cruelty]

Guy must really have been interested in technology if he wanted to take notes of what Allelujah was saying. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I'm not an expert or anything," he pointed out, not wanting to give the wrong impression of his knowledge. He knew the basics, maybe a bit more because he had to know, but that was all. His education had focussed on some odd things.

He shook his head, his smile becoming more genuine when Guy apologised. "It's fine. I don't mind explaining," he said. "Better than thinking about this place all the time, right?" It kept him occupied at least and he'd enjoyed the conversation with Edgeworth yesterday. It gave him a fresh perspective on the situation at the very least. "There's a lot of different kinds of satellite. There's some that collect data about the weather to predict it, some are for GPS... eh... I suppose that's like a really smart map. You have a machine which can contact the satellites and work out your position based on information in the satellites. Umm... and yes, communications satellites. The broadcasters send out the signals which go to the satellites and then get beamed down to earth again. Usually microwaves... Um, a kind of radiation." Ugh, he was probably doing a horrible job of this.

"And yeah, it's from the sun. And it's the main source of power now, replacing oil and gas. It's..." he paused, thinking for a moment and looked at the notebook Guy had. "Can I borrow that? I can probably explain better about the orbital elevators by drawing it."

[razing_phoenix]

"It doesn't matter!" Guy quickly reassured him. "Even some base knowledge about it is fine." He might not be able to get all the logistics, sure, but he could still take in the concepts and see if they could be applied when they got back to Auldrant. And not all of this was for practical reasons, either. A lot of it was just pure curiosity, so he planned to soak up the information even if it couldn't necessarily be used for anything.

While Guy couldn't follow all of it, he got a good enough idea from Allelujah's explanation. He continued to take quick, excited notes -- these satellites were definitely handy! He wondered how much easier things would have been on their journey if this sort of technology had been available to them.

The idea of taking energy from the sun was also really interesting. Since they were going to have to find a new energy source in Auldrant soon, it was of particular importance. So when Allelujah asked for his notebook, Guy didn't hesitate to hand it over. "Thanks so much for this, by the way. I'll answer whatever other questions you might have about this place to make up for it -- if I can, anyway."

[tender_cruelty]

Oh, well that was good then. Most of his deeper knowledge of technology was aimed squarely at disabling it, if not blowing it up entirely. Or taking care of Kyrios. He could do that too. He even managed to ignore the frantic note-taking as he spoke, dredging up what he could remember about it.

He took the notepad and pen gratefully and began to sketch out a basic diagram of how the orbital elevator and satellites related to each other. He laid the notepad down on the table in front of them. "It's fine," he said, smiling reassuringly at Guy. "I'm glad to help." He just hoped it wouldn't bring as much conflict to Guy's world as it had to Earth. "Ummm, it's sort of a giant cable," he began, "that stretches up into space and is attached to a satellite in orbit which keeps it from collapsing because it counteracts gravity. There are elevators going up the cable to the satellite that carries people and supplies. And the satellite collects solar energy which it sends back to Earth and powers... well, most things."