Day 49: Late Evening

[damned_intercom]

Although the trip was longer than usual on account of the rain and wind, the buses did eventually - and safely - reach Landel's Institute. No strange happenings yet; the patients were escorted off the buses according to the usual protocol and made to go to their rooms and change back into their normal uniforms while the nurses temporarily left them

Comments

Re: M44

[full_score]

The bus ride back to the institute had been about as eventful as the trip over to Doyleton, save for the sheets of rain that made it feel like they had to drive through an ocean just make it to the grounds. While under normal circumstances he would have enjoyed watching the water roll down his window and getting a chance to relax, today the ride felt agonizingly slow as he could only sit and wonder if they'd all get caught outside once the sun set beneath the horizon.

It wasn't until his nurse escorted him back to his room that he began to loosen up, but only a little. As soon as the nurse opened the door, Claude realized there was a stranger in his room, sitting in the place Tylor had occupied just the other day. An uncomfortable, cold feeling knotted up in the pit of Claude's stomach. Tylor. Another good person had fallen victim to this place. But what had happened to him that made him disappear so soon after first arriving? He'd seemed like he'd had such a positive disposition, and yet...

He was shaken out of his thoughts once the nurse reminded him to get dressed, and he quickly turned toward his closet to pull out his uniform. As off-putting as it was to change clothes with both his nurse and roommate in the room, Claude reminded himself that it wasn't really any worse than having to do it in the showers or in the military. Never mind that in those instances he generally wasn't the only one stripping down, but he didn't want to dwell on that.

Thankfully, it didn't take him long to get changed, and his nurse took his wet clothing back once he was wearing a fresh, dry uniform.

"All right, then, Thomas!" she brightly said. "I'll leave you to enjoy your dinner. Marcus is new, so I hope you two can become fast friends!" With that done, she bustled out of the room, presumably to help tend to other patients. The door closed behind her, and the familiar sound of the lock sliding into place echoed in the room.

Claude slowly turned toward the newcomer, offering him a feeble smile. "Um, hey." This guy had probably seen more of him than he'd really wanted to just now, but it couldn't really be helped. "My name's Claude, actually. And I'm betting you're not really Marcus."

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

"Nope. Definitely not Marcus." Matt stood, walking over to the desk, where the tray sat. He sneered at the lamb and veggies, grabbing the banana cream pie and sitting back down on the bed. Stabbing it with a fork and taking a bite, he watched Claude closely. "I'm Mason." He planned on sticking to that nickname until he found Mello and figured out what the hell was going on.

He took another bite; the sweet taste was helping his irritability a little. "So where'd you guys go today?" Impatience was apparently part of the withdrawal package; Matt just didn't feel like dealing with more pointless, friendly chatting. He'd noticed the wet clothes when the kid came in, and he had to wonder why, if the entire staff was convinced everyone was crazy, they would let "patients" roam around outside somewhere, probably a good ways from the actual facility.

Re: M44

[full_score]

Claude liked a good banana cream pie as much as the next person, but even he was a little surprised at the way this guy started chowing down on his dessert straight off the bat. Definitely not the healthiest diet, though he couldn't blame him for eating what he wanted in a facility where pretty much everything else about their day was dictated by someone else. Still, Claude didn't want to go losing another roommate anytime soon, so he hoped he would take decent care of himself in the future.

Either way, he silently committed the name to memory. "Good to know," Claude replied, smiling a little more genuinely now. The more he thought about it, the more pleased to meet you sounded so weird when everyone was trapped here against their will.

Settling down in his chair now, Claude pulled out his eating utensils and began to cut into his lamb. After spending so much time outside in the rain, he had to admit a hot meal was what he needed right then. Still, he paused long enough to look up at Mason when he asked his question.

"Doyleton," he said before taking a bite of his food and swallowing. "It's a town not that far from here. We go every Saturday." Claude tilted his head a little, suddenly looking curious. "Did you just wake up here?"

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

Matt blinked at Claude, surprised a little by the new information, but he made sure to remember it. It seemed strange, that they would actually let the animals out of their cages for a bit every week, but it was just more proof to him that what he was seeing in this place wasn't what was real. He nodded, taking another bite before setting the pie to the side; the nausea from earlier was returning little by little, and he really didn't want to get sick in this place. He was uncomfortable as it was, and leaving himself in such an open and vulnerable position was unthinkable.

He watched the kid for another moment. Claude was actually digging into the food, so it was obviously all right to eat, but Matt just didn't feel up to it. That, and he wasn't much of a fan of substantial nourishment anyway; like most that he knew of from Wammy's, he preferred sweets and junk to regular food.

"Nah, they've been shuffling me all around this place since this morning," he answered quietly, still not sure of how much information he should just give away - but Claude seemed to be pretty forthcoming all on his own. "So they claim we're all off our rockers, but they ferry everyone to a nearby town and let us run around of our own accord?" Something seemed off with that, though he wasn't so sure Claude would actually lie to him. Matt resigned himself to more waiting and seeing.

Re: M44

[full_score]

Since morning? That meant a new batch of patients must have arrived today, he realized. Not that Claude was honestly surprised, but it was good to keep in mind. He never knew when he might run into some more of his friends from Expel, even if this was the last place he wanted to see any of them.

Still, for a guy who just woke up here today, he was taking it remarkably well. Then again, Tylor had been the same way, albeit a little more eccentric and chipper than Mason appeared to be. Thinking of his old roommate was sort of depressing, though, so Claude promptly pushed that thought aside and took another bite of his lamb.

"Well, not exactly," he said. If that was the case, then it wouldn't be hard for people to try to make a break for it once they were all off the buses. "It's impossible to go anywhere without a nurse watching your every move. If you act up, they won't hesitate to sedate you or send you back to the buses." Thankfully, he'd never gotten into any trouble during his trips -- at least, not during the day.

"Plus I get the feeling the townspeople aren't exactly crazy about us being there," Claude added, "so they keep a pretty close watch when you're in any of the stores."

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

Matt blinked. That made sense, though sedate was a term that immediately caught his attention, and he shifted on the bed a little. It made sense, though; people probably got pretty violent on occasion. Matt wasn't normally like that himself, but he'd sure felt like giving that obnoxiously peppy nurse what for when he woke up in a strange place, alive when he should've been dead.

"Wonder what normal person would actually feel okay with a bunch of supposed crazies wandering about," he muttered, watching Claude eat. His eyes narrowed as he leaned back a little, still contemplating things. The kid seemed to be pretty laid-back about the entire situation, which either meant that he was just that easygoing, or he'd been trapped in this place for a good long while.

"How long've you been in this place?" Matt asked, refusing to meet Claude's eyes. "Feel free t'tell me t'mind my own business."

Re: M44

[full_score]

It was true that most people would honestly not be okay with a bunch of mental patients being allowed into town, onto their streets, and around their stores. Heck, they probably blamed the damage that was scattered through Doyleton on them. The fact most of them weren't crazy never did seem to occur to them -- which was why going to any of the shop owners for help was useless. Under normal circumstances, the whole situation would have been enough to infuriate Claude. But he'd come to understand just how tied up the townspeople probably were in Landel's mess, and it was hard to stay angry at them when they were probably victims in all this as much as the patients were.

Shoving another bite of lamb into his mouth, Claude relished the feel of the hot food as it settled in the bottom of his stomach. Between that and the fresh clothes, he was starting to warm up. Considering how much hell the Head Doctor put them through, it was hard to figure out why he treated them relatively well during the day. Still, maybe it was better not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He took a sip of his juice and smiled. "Hey, nothing wrong with asking." Still, the question of how long he'd been here always felt a little tricky to answer. "Gosh, though..." The blond leaned his head back, mentally tallying up the days. Really, he ought to make a record for it, but when he'd first arrived here he admittedly hadn't expected to be trapped here as long as he had. "Well, today was my fourth trip to Doyleton, so...a little under a month, I'd say."

A lot had happened during that time. Too much, really. And yet, more often than not, the time seemed to crawl by...

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

Yeah, that definitely didn't help Matt's mood. He was happy to be alive, sure, and it seemed now like it was Landel's that had done him that favor - in return for captivity, obviously, which he didn't appreciate. It honestly seemed as though they were giving him a choice without the actual choice - either stay dead, or live trapped in a nuthouse with other people who were... strange, but not particularly that nutty.

He sighed, scooting back across the bed, until he felt safely far away from the other boy. His back rested against the wall, and Matt curled up, bringing his knees to his chest as he fought off a violent shiver. This kid had been stuck in this place for about a whole month so far? And he didn't exactly seem like a fighter, really - not like Mello, anyway. But still. It left Matt to wonder exactly how beefed up Landel's security really was.

It just didn't make sense. Logically, if one put forth enough effort, it should prove fairly easy to bust out of a place like this.

"How many times've you tried breaking out?" Matt asked, still quiet; he was pondering as he asked, and whatever answer Claude gave would just be added to the growing list of things that Matt needed to think over almost constantly. Maybe he could figure something out if he thought enough about it...

Re: M44

[full_score]

Claude ate some more of his curry as he watched Mason scoot away and pull his knees up to his chest. He still seemed calm, but Claude could tell he wasn't exactly happy about all this. Who would be, though? Most people who were stuck here hadn't done anything to deserve being treated like guinea pigs.

Upon being asked about his attempted escapes, though, Claude had think about that a little. It wasn't like this was a traditional prison where someone could try to chisel tunnels out through the floor, after all. "Every night, technically," he replied. "But it's not so easy. You see, we're allowed to freely walk around the building at night, but there are...well, monsters that I think Landel might have created through experiments. They'll kill you if you aren't careful."

Maybe he was being too blunt about all this, but it was probably better for Mason to understand what they were up against before he saw for himself.

After sipping his juice, he turned toward his dessert and dug his fork into the pie. "Not only that," Claude added, "but after so much time has gone by, everyone blacks out and wakes up in their beds in the morning, and it all starts over again." The question was how Landel managed to do it. Were they all implanted with something, or did it have to do with how close they were to the institute? Either way, it meant they had a tough road ahead if they were going to escape. "I don't think we'll be able to get out just by running."

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

Matt blinked, soaking in the flood of new knowledge. So everything wanted to just get weirder, huh?

Resting his chin on his knee, Matt stared at Claude, unsure really of how to react to all of that. So we're basically all just a bunch of lab rats, he thought, shifting slightly. At least that gives this place a why, an actual, tangible motive for containing us all here. He would, of course, have liked to been able to expand on that idea, but that didn't seem likely; the staff of this place was already proving to be especially secretive, with the stock answers the nurses seemed almost programmed to give.

"So I was right." Matt nodded just a little, looking down at the floor now; he was pretty deep in thought by this point. "They must be watching our every move, all of the time." He'd have to be especially careful from now on, even during whatever romps he decided to have at night - now that he knew they were allowed to just walk right out of their rooms and go exploring. "I mean, it wouldn't make much sense to experiment with rats if you're not going to stick around and see the results. The head guy's gotta be somewhere, in this building, where he can watch us close and make sure to keep the experiment running the way he wants it to - keep the constants constant, in a way."

Withdrawing a little more after that, Matt's mind started working double time, trying to come up with a safe way out of the building. "You, uh. You've probably tried a ton of different, crazy ways of getting out, right?" That seemed to be what most people would try in this sort of situation, skip the obvious and go straight for the outside-the-box. "Have y'tried the front door?" Probably, he berated himself silently. It was a long shot, but one he felt necessary to ask about.

Re: M44

[full_score]

There was no doubt Landel had a strong hold on this place. Not that he was infallible, of course. While it was easy to think that way about him in the beginning, Claude had been here long enough to see him make mistakes here and there. The only problem was when his mistakes wound up costing all the patients as well. As much as he mistrusted the Head Doctor, it really did sound like the zombie thing, his absence afterward, and all the weirdness that came along with it hadn't been part of his plan.

As far as Landel's whereabouts went, Claude was 100 percent certain he was in the building. Hell, he'd even met the bastard before, even though he knew he was physically unable to share that information with Mason. Unfortunately, Landel only chose to face people on his own terms, which meant it was nearly impossible to take him head on.

When Mason brought up possible escape routes, the blond took a bite of his pie while reflecting over what all he'd tried. When it had become obvious that a direct approach wasn't going to work, he'd taken Mister Radio's clues about the basement to heart and expected to find their escape down there. Of course...well, he and his friends knew how that turned out. The entire disaster was something Claude liked to think about as little as possible.

Either way, he was pretty sure the front door wasn't the way to go.

"I tried that my first night here," Claude told him with a small shrug. He'd only been awake for a few minutes by the time he ran into Phibrizzo. The two of them had investigated the entry room, including the door. Granted, that had been ages ago, so who knew if it was still locked? It wasn't like it would make much difference.

"If you're going to try to leave the grounds," he added, "hopping over the back wall might be your best bet. You won't be able to actually escape that way, though. Not to mention it's dangerous to go without a weapon."

Having wolfed down a good chunk of his pie by now, Claude got up from his chair and moved toward his closet in order to make preparations for nightshift. After pulling out his Federation uniform, he turned toward the wall and pulled off his shirt. At least changing was a little less awkward now that he didn't have a nurse hovering over him.

"By the way, do you have any friends here?" he asked.

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

Matt watched Claude get up and go to the closet; he was confused for a minute, until he saw the rugged uniform. Looking away out of both respect for the other male's space and his own desire to not watch another dude get naked, Matt started letting his mind wander over everything he'd learned so far. While it was admittedly rather kickass that he wasn't actually as dead as he'd expected when he woke up that morning, this still wasn't a situation he ideally found himself in. As more time passed, the urge to get up and do something to escape this nightmare just got worse and worse, and his irritability was climbing as a side-effect. As Claude changed, Matt just became more restless; his anxiety was reaching that breaking point he normally used cigarettes and bullshit video games to avoid.

He didn't much like the guy's suggestion; hopping over walls just wasn't something Matt felt he was that obliged to do. The front door was still the best bet, in Matt's head. Besides, he was a damn genius; Claude seemed pretty bright, sure, but maybe he'd missed something that Matt's sharp eyes would notice? Or, if the door was locked, Matt was still the top dog on security out of all the Wammy's alums; he could probably bust it open with some effort.

Blinking at that last question, Matt just gave Claude a look over his shoulder. "I just woke up here this morning, while everyone else has been off having the time of their lives on a field trip.

"Basically, I don't know." Blushing a little when he realized that he was looking at a shirtless Claude, Matt whirled back around, trying not to physically groan at himself.

Re: M44

[full_score]

It would make sense for Mason to not know who all was being held here since most of the patients spent today in Doyleton. Still, it wasn't unusual for some people to wake up at the same time as their other friends. Chances were he would have known if that were the case, though, since Claude didn't think there were that many people who stayed behind.

Regardless, it meant that Mason probably didn't have anyone to travel with tonight, and he likely hadn't run into anyone who was able to give him ample warning of some of the nightly dangers, either. Letting him go off without at least offering to accompany him didn't quite sit right with Claude, especially after the way he'd lost his previous roommates. Even though they had just met, he didn't want Mason to end up the same way as the others.

Claude slipped on his long, dark shirt before stepping out of the institute pants and grabbing his Federation pair. The latter, at least, had pockets, so he was always glad to use them.

"Well," he said once he'd gotten those buttoned up, "if you want someone to stick with for the night, I'd be willing to come along." The blond glanced over toward the other man and gave a friendly smile. "I've got a sword, actually, and you know what they say about safety in numbers."

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

Matt glanced over his shoulder, just to check on Claude's clothing status. Relieved to find his roommate fully dressed once again, he turned back around on the bed, sliding off slowly and getting to his feet. He was still quite wary of the room itself, more sure than ever that they were being watched by some evil scientist with a penchant for mass mayhem. It was pretty creepy, to be honest, and he had to fight a shudder as he went to the closet on his side of the room, sliding the door open. It was his now, it seemed, and he should check it out, see what goodies the nurses had stashed away for the "patients."

He stopped right there. Leaning against the back wall of the closet in moderately plain sight was... a sword?

"...no way."

Trying his best not to grin, Matt leaned into the closet, grabbing the hilt of the sword and pulling it out, looking it over. It sure was shiny. And pointy; he'd have to watch out for that, being the massive klutz that he was. Holding it up, Matt could seriously envision himself garbed all in green spandex, with brown boots. Just call me Link, heh.

Wait - Claude'd said something. Focus, Matty. Turning, he looked at the blond, gesturing to the sword. "This isn't the sword, is it?" God he hoped not.

Re: M44

[full_score]

With his shoes on, Claude adjusted his red headband on his forehead before picking up his gloves. As he did so, he watched Mason approach his closet from the corner of his eye. It was strange how some patients would get a few of their possessions back, while others weren't so lucky. Was it supposed to be some kind of present from the staff? Either way, Claude guessed he didn't need to look a gift horse in the mouth, though he sort of wondered if Mason was going find any of his clothes in there like Ashton had.

The last thing he expected was the gleam of a blade to catch his eye. Visibly startled, Claude's gaze fully snapped over to where Mason was admiring the sword he'd just found. That was definitely weird. He knew Landel didn't exactly go passing out weapons to other people. The fact it had been found in the other closet suggested that it probably belonged to one of his former roommates. He was pretty sure it wasn't Tylor's...maybe it had been Rey's?

"I'm...pretty sure that belongs to one of my old roommates," Claude replied after a brief pause. "I should check on the bulletin board tomorrow to see if they're around to come get it."

It'd be nice if he heard back from them, but, unfortunately, he knew he shouldn't hold his breath. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try, at least.

"My sword is right here," he added as he gently pulled his own blade from his closet. "A few people here know how to make weapons, which is how folks here get things like this." Although, he hadn't heard anything from most of the resident alchemists, with Leon being the obvious exception. Did that mean Leon was the only one who was able to make weapons? He sure hoped not. It wouldn't be good if the Fellpool got flooded with requests.

Re: M44

[gamingsostfu]

Matt looked down at the sword. So this kid has had some kickass former roommates, huh? he thought, extrapolating the obvious point that they were kickass from the fact that there was a sword still in the closet. How many people still used swords? He wondered briefly if there were any firearms or ammunition to be found in the place. There had to be a room Landel used - probably a locked one - where all sorts of weapons were kept from the lab rats.

He looked back up at Claude, still holding the sword firmly. It was a bit heavier than he'd expected a sword to be, but he didn't mind; a weapon was a weapon, and this place seemed like the type where you'd have to be crazy to not take whatever you could get.

Of course, the thing wasn't his. It was someone else's, and even though Matt really wanted it, he wasn't sure if he could properly use it, as inexperienced as he was with weapons of any kind. He'd always more or less left that to Mello, the man with the plan. Turning, he tentatively set the sword back inside the closet, in the corner. The way Claude spoke of the place made it sound as though there were several different sorts of people also stuck in the maze, and Matt had already seen firsthand that Landel could alter the very effects of time and bring people in from different eras and years. Maybe there was somebody here who could teach Matt to properly use the blade? If Claude's old roommate didn't want it back, of course.

Sliding the closet door shut, Matt turned again, looking at the desk for the first time that day. Sitting on it, in plain view, was a journal, laid flat beside a radio. His brow furrowed at that; it seemed strange and a bit out of the norm, the radio. It's mere presence on the desk was enough to lend it a sort of eye-drawing honor, and Matt reached out for it, taking it in his hand for a closer inspection.

He turned again, looking to Claude for an explanation. "I get the feeling that this is important." He just couldn't figure out how it was important by just looking at it, though he'd never let anyone know.