Day 50: Waiting Room / Lobby 2 (3rd Shift)

[falseblack]

When they told him he would have a visitor, Nigredo could not even feign surprise. He had, after all, asked the one who looked like Citrine to visit again. Despite the falsity of her presence, the child had liked her in the sense that out of all his siblings, she had been the most forgiving on his sanity. Not to mention, a part of him wanted to

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[byname_bynature]

Somehow Artemis had avoided getting a visitor last week, though he couldn't call himself surprised that 'Butler' had shown up to visit him yet again. The man was methodical, and probably thought that giving 'Sean' two weeks to get himself straightened out before coming by again would spare him being hit with a magazine this time. Artemis, however, would hit Butler with entire serializations of magazines if it brought the Butler he knew back from whatever Landel had done to him. If there was a Butler with him, there was certainly a way--a way out at least.

This was a very important turning point, and Artemis had to concentrate. As he sat in the room, waiting for Butler to arrive, he made lists of methods used to reverse Stockholm Syndrome. He compiled memories, stories of himself and Butler facing trials too fantastic to be considered the product of insanity (though this assertion was questionable at best). He fashioned a careful argument as to why the scars on his back were impossible to receive from a car accident, though decided that the discussion concerning the magic and the voices in his head was best left for when Butler was himself.

His mind worked, turning over every stick and stone he could throw--blanketing the strange nervousness and excitement he felt at seeing Butler again. Even brainwashed, Butler was his closest friend, and Artemis had missed him. Nearly three weeks without Butler was simply unheard of. It would be good to see him, sit next to him, feel at least a little protected for a moment.

[damned_visitors]

Sadly, when the door opened the one who entered couldn't have been farther in appearance from who he had expected. Not only was it a she rather than a he, but she was quite small, delicate and almost fragile-looking. The girl glanced up to give a sickly-sweet smile to the nurse, then turned the same expression on Sean as she approached. She was always perfect when other people were looking, of course.

"Oh, Sean, it's so good to see you!" Belinda gushed, clasping her hands together in front of her chest as she simpered at him. Half a second later the door closed behind the nurse, though, and a glint of malice appeared in her eyes. "Here, I mean. And not at home."

[byname_bynature]

Ah yes. Opal Koboi always did have a talent for shocking Artemis at the most inopportune times. Usually with a bio-bomb. Or a troll. And apparently next on the list was a death-trap mental hospital.

He straightened his spine, watching Koboi approach him with calculated intensity. Fingers curled around the arms of the chair he was seated in, and while he was not concerned that she would attack him physically, Opal typically had much, much worse than a fist up her sleeve.

This sort of operation was just so... Opal. Why hadn't he seen it before? If she was capable of cloning herself just in case, she was capable of contacting Landel and selling Artemis to him. It was even possible that she was a partner in all of this, he wouldn't put anything past her.

No offense meant to Butler, but Opal was on the same level (if not a little lower) than Artemis. Her mind was also, most likely, strong enough to resist Landel longer than Butler had, and thus probably had joined him when they realized neither could be beaten. The fact that she was putting emphasis on his fake name and was glad to see him 'here' and 'not at home' spelled the rest out for Artemis. She was here to congratulate him on making it this far, but tonight would be his last night alive. Something dramatic and wholly unfounded.

"Opal," Artemis greeted, stony-faced. "Won't you sit down?" Hostilities were much easier when both parties were comfortable, after all.

[damned_visitors]

"Are you still going on about that 'Opal' business?" Belinda gave a trill of highly condescending laughter as she pulled a chair over and settled down, facing him but not too close. Wouldn't want him to think that she wanted to be anywhere near him-- this visit was only for her benefit, not his. "As if you wouldn't know who I am, Sean. Belinda Zito, only the best student in the entire state."

She crossed one leg over the other with a prim little smile that rapidly turned into a smirk. "Especially now that you're all crazy and no longer in the running. I can't tell you just how terribly disappointed I was that you weren't in the science fair this year. Your look of dismay when my entry utterly crushed yours would have been so sweet."

[byname_bynature]

Artemis hadn't been this lost for words since he was twelve. He couldn't even manage to say something akin to, 'Excuse me...?' or 'Are you feeling a little brainwashed today?' or 'What in God's name are you...?'. He stared at Koboi, mouth open slightly, mind completely blank.

Science Fair.

"Haha..." Artemis tittered, wondering if he could sound any more moronic in front of his greatest enemy. However he wasn't sure if 'Belinda' was trying to pull a fast one on him, or if Opal's mind had actually failed her. Was she waiting until the staff left? Was she waiting until no one was watching and she could pull a suction cup filled with microneedles and poison him?

"...it sounds... disappointing, yes," Artemis finally found the speech center of his brain. "How is your father, Belinda? Still drilling into the surface of the Earth?"

[damned_visitors]

Was that shock? Maybe it was shock. And dismay, too, she hoped. Sean was always so annoyingly difficult to read, but the fact that it had taken him a minute to answer meant that it clearly had done something bad to his little mind. It was gratifying and almost made the trip to this depressing place worthwhile.

"Only you would describe it in such a ridiculously simple fashion," she replied with a disdainful sniff. "It's not just drilling, there are the wind farms and everything else, too. It's about creating renewable energy resources." Belinda idly flipped a lock of hair back behind one shoulder as the corner of her mouth curved into a malicious smirk. "At least some of us still have a father."

[byname_bynature]

Artemis nearly stood up at that, but he restrained himself. He did have a father, Sean was the one without a father. Though if his father had been murdered by Opal while Artemis Junior had been rattling the bars of his prison, the boy needed to know--now.

'Belinda' seemed to be telling the truth. She seemed to have little interest in anything besides crushing Artemis in a science fair. Her father was still (assumedly) Giovanni Zito the environmentalist who had to be mesmerized into drilling towards the Haven. And 'Belinda' seemed to take pride in the fact that her father was creating renewable energy sources, though Artemis knew that fairy technology rendered wind farms obsolete. 'Belinda' should know this as well...

"Yes, so sad, that," Artemis said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees. He looked into Opal's eyes--no ragged edges. "If only that accident hadn't happened. I might still be able to mount a good offense in the science fair. Though given that I beat you so soundly last year, perhaps even the sudden loss of my mother and father wouldn't be enough to give you an edge."

Yes, he was going out on a limb. Sean had better not be a complete dimwitted dullard, he thought to himself. Otherwise this would never work.

[damned_visitors]

The remark did seem a most palpable hit, given the sudden flash of anger in the girl's eyes before she forced it back behind a clenched-jaw smile. "Soundly?" Belinda repeated, almost hissing the sibilant. "You delude yourself, Sean. You barely squeaked that win by on a mere technicality. Anyone with half a brain would've seen that my project was far superior to yours, but oh, no. The wonder boy was so much better in the judges' eyes than a mere girl."

By the time she reached the end of the small diatribe Belinda found that she'd started to rise from her chair, and she paused, gave a quiet cough, and quickly lowered herself back into the seat once more as though nothing had happened. Part of the "technicality" that had pushed his project past hers had involved some attempted sabotage on her part, but that hardly needed to be brought up to cloud the issue. Everyone knew that she should have won. Especially her.

"You enjoy your time in this padded prison, though, Sean," she all but cooed, pasting the syrupy false smile back in place. "While you're stuck in here everyone will forget all about you, except maybe with a little bit of pity. Poor crazy Sean Malloy, how sad that he'll never live up to his potential... but I will. And more." The flash of teeth in that smile could have been a predator's grin, for the malice it held, but it quickly shifted back into a more bland expression as soon as she thought someone else was looking their way.

[byname_bynature]

Artemis could push her buttons like he could with Opal. She looked like Opal, sounded like her, shared the same horrible personality traits--though admittedly Belinda didn't have her sights set quite so high. Or on any magical targets. But the question that remained was whether or not Belinda was an Opal turned, or simply a creation. But how could he differentiate? Perhaps a visible mental stimulus would produce a reaction?

"And what were you planning again?" Artemis asked, smiling pleasantly at her. "I'm sure you've told me dozens of times, but I'm afraid being insane fuzzes my memory a little."

It was only by a miracle that Artemis could smile at Belinda. That look, that predator's grin, unnerved Artemis--and how annoying it was to find himself the victim of his own natural weapon. A girl wanting to win a science fair shouldn't have such an evilly gleeful expression on her face. She honestly looked as though she were glad Sean was insane and trapped. Such rage over middle school... Perhaps she was Opal. All of her rage had to channel into something.

If it was her, Artemis couldn't bring himself to feel any sense of pity.

[damned_visitors]

"Hmph. I bet it does." Another smirk, as Belinda idly examined her fingernails with a distinctly superior air, her composure now regained. "Insanity certainly hasn't done you any favors, has it? You've lost your family, your friends, and... well, your entire sartorial style, clearly." The clothing really was quite tragic here, wasn't it?

"But," she continued, with a small shrug, "I don't think you need to know anything, do you? It's not as though you can do anything here but stare at padded walls and take your antipsychotics, but I like the idea of you fretting about what dear, dear Belinda might be up to on the outside."

[byname_bynature]

Artemis had to play this carefully, however he was dealing with several unknowns. He'd dealt with Opal before--twice--and he knew what set her off and what encouraged her to slip. He also knew that coming at her directly was possibly the most infuriating task, because she knew exactly what Artemis was getting at and avoided it expertly. He had to make the information come to him, where Opal... Belinda... whoever this was, was concerned.

"Probably not," Artemis said with a small shrug and toss of his head. "After all, I'm fairly positive that what I'm planning right now will overshadow whatever you're doing. I've never really needed to know what you're up to, Belinda, I just seem to gloss right over you... naturally." He smiled.

[damned_visitors]

Belinda's jaw tightened at that, her hand closing into a fist and driving her perfectly-manicured nails into her palm before she forced herself to relax again. "You do not," she replied, fixing the boy with an icy glare. "Anything you've gained was a matter of pure luck. Or chance. Or perhaps you're even cheating somehow."

She straightened, flicking a lock of hair behind her shoulder and casting a perfectly innocent and sweet smile at a nurse as the woman looked their direction. "And now that you're stuck here you certainly can't do anything. When you get out, if you ever do, you'll find that I passed you by long ago. Just let that thought keep you company in here, Sean Malloy."

The loss of her rival was certainly a good thing for her, wasn't it? She could just move on without worrying about him. Even if their rivalry had pushed her to accomplish more (and not always in the most legitimate fashion) she didn't miss it. At all.

[byname_bynature]

Cheating. Artemis nearly shuddered at the idea of him having to cheat in high school. Especially when any of his various projects could have easily earned him first place in any public school science fair without his having to plagiarize anyone's work. But he set that aside as a distraction and pursued his main line of argument.

"Are you so certain of that?" Artemis asked, pressing on. He didn't have her trapped, not by a long shot, but he was moving in the right direction. "I mean, that I can't do anything. After all, I have nothing but time to think and research in here. The library is quite well-stocked when it comes to non-fiction.

"And just think of all of the great geniuses who were seemingly certifiable," he continued, rubbing at his nail as though there were something there to rub at. "Copernicus, for example." He smiled. "I have an unlimited supply of journals and pens, Belinda. And I'm typically left to ponder the day away. It's been rather refreshing to not have physical education or... soccer practice, interfere with more important studies."

[damned_visitors]

"Oh, dear me," Belinda replied, touching a hand to her chest as she gave a soft, derisive laugh. "The great Sean Malloy has his army of journals and pens mustered to defeat me. Whatever shall I do." She laughed again, lifting her (designer, of course) bag from where she'd left it beside her chair, and started to rise, apparently feeling as threatened by his comment as she would be by a yapping chihuahua.

"You think yourself a genius? Then think your way out of being crazy, mm? Ah, but I almost forgot." She lifted a finger to mime that he should wait a moment, then reached into her bag and fished out a small package wrapped in tissue paper. "A little gift for you. A memento, if you will, of exactly how much you've lost. Perhaps it will help you as you ponder the day away." A memento of the science-fair project she'd attempted to sabotage, mind, but still valid.