Day 50: Courtyard

[hasnomeaning]

Again, there were choices. After leaving the child and the animal, Rei had followed again. When prompted where she wanted to spend time, the pilot had no preference. If they wished her to do something, they would place it before her. If they left her with options, she would take the ones they did not want. So her response was minimal, and so the

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[razing_phoenix]

Getting to speak with Natalia had almost felt like a dream, seeing how this was the first time he'd actually seen her in this place. Guy had almost given up hope for the princess showing up here; not that someone ending up in this place was something to hope for, but it would have taken him completely by surprise if it wasn't for what he'd seen in "Baticul" last night.

That being said, their chat, while somewhat draining, had also been a comfort. He'd known Natalia longer than any of his friends, even Luke, which meant that he could feel at ease around her in a way that he couldn't with some of the others.

On the other hand, it put into perspective the fact that Jade was almost certainly gone (he hadn't responded to Luke's post today) and that Tear had been missing for what had to be over two weeks now. While Dist wasn't as much of a concern for Guy, it was also troubling to realize that the man had disappeared right after being experimented on.

Could that happen to Claude? It would make him fit into the pattern that Luke, Dist, and even Ashton had set, but... no. Guy wasn't going to worry about something that hadn't happened yet.

Having had his share of fun with the "movie," Guy had bid farewell to his friend, wanting to give her the chance to find Anise if she could. In the meanwhile, he decided to take the opportunity to head outside into the courtyard. The place was still pretty empty, but in a way the peace and quiet was a nice change. Guy found a bench and settled down onto it, allowing himself to relax for a brief moment.

[For Yuusei.]

[planetarial]

Pressing the staff for details had gotten him practically nowhere; all Yuusei knew was that this place was called Landel's Institute, it was Sunday afternoon, and the people who worked here here were apparently under the impression that he was ill in some way. They wouldn't return his deck or his other things to him, and claimed that he had been admitted by a woman - his mother, they said - named Martha. He'd very nearly lost his temper at that-- there was no way she'd abandon him here. Not ever. The more questions he asked, the more his escort tried to dodge them and engage him in small talk, which was something he wasn't particularly good at and had no real desire to try and force. They'd reached an impasse, and so Yuusei was forced to employ his oldest and most effective weapon: complete and utter silence.

The nurse seemed completely unfazed by his sudden withdrawal, almost as if she'd expected it, and continued to lead him through through the halls. She kept up a steady stream of chatter at him about the institute, said something about dinner being soon and the fact that he'd probably feel much better once he'd met a few of the other patients and re- oriented himself. It had only barely registered in Yuusei's mind when she finally stopped long enough to open the door for him.

"Isn't it lovely today?" She commented, as though Yuusei was actually going to answer her. He gave her a flat, unamused look for a few seconds before stepping over the threshold and out into the open air. Though the sky was overcast, it was bright enough outside that Yuusei was forced to squint a bit before his eyes adjusted to the quality of the light. It occurred to him immediately that there was no way Landel's could be anywhere near the City, or even Satellite, at all; it was much too clean, too quiet, and smelled too earthy and natural to be anything he'd ever known.

Thankfully, the nurse soon left him to his own devices, so Yuusei decided to have a look around. There weren't very many people out in the yard with him-- most of them seemed to be dressed the same as he was -- and he had to quell a surge of disappointment when he realized he didn't recognize any of them. He knew that sulking wasn't going to get him anywhere, and he'd need more information than what he was currently working with if he was going to find out anything at all. There was someone sitting on a bench nearby and, after a few moments of assessment, Yuusei relaxed the set of his shoulders and headed over, forcing himself to uncurl his fingers from where they'd bunched themselves into his sleeves.

"Hey," he said, figuring it would be best to get right to the point. "Mind if I ask you a few questions?"

[razing_phoenix]

As expected, that bit of time to himself only lasted for so long, and Guy glanced up when he saw an unfamiliar face approach him. He uncrossed his legs and straightened in his spot on the bench as he eyed the other patient curiously.

Even though he'd never seen this particular person before, that wasn't such a surprise. There were enough patients here that you could go a while without ever talking to any one other person. What seemed stranger was the the boy looked so confused. Was it possible that he was new? Landel hadn't mentioned new patients coming in, so...

Guy didn't want to assume anything in case he ended up offending the other patient, and so he only gave a small smile and nodded. "Sure," he said, knowing that he had nothing better to do except sit around and admire the scenery -- all of which he'd looked at what felt like countless times already. "About last night, or...?"

[planetarial]

Yuusei was hesitant, but he tried to not let it show on his face. While he generally wasn't one to approach people out of the blue, what bothered him the most is that he had no way of knowing if this man was trustworthy or not. He was used to being able to easily intuit things about people, but - strangely enough - it felt as if the disorientation he'd experienced upon waking hadn't quite abated.

He seemed open enough, if his expression and body language indicated anything, and the fact of the matter was that Yuusei had very little to gain by being overly careful. If everyone dressed like him was in a similar position, then he'd have to try and learn from them.

"No," he said, shaking his head. "I just got here today." Or so he'd been told. Yuusei paused, then, and considered his options. There were no less than ten things he wanted to ask, all of them equally important, but he'd stick to the basics for now.

"What is this place?" He asked, keeping his voice low enough that only the two of them could hear. "Really."

[razing_phoenix]

So his instinct had been right. Guy realized he had been here for too long when he could just eyeball someone and guess that they were new, but at least he was a good person to come to for questions. After what he'd been through, chances were he could answer most of them -- except if they were about the basement, anyway. Then he would have to resort to vagueness.

The question the stranger came out with was about as open-ended as could be, but Guy couldn't blame him for that. It was what most people probably thought to themselves upon waking up here, since it smelled wrong from the start.

"You might want to sit down," he suggested with a well-meaning smile. "There's a lot to tell. But anyway, I'm... guessing what you've worked out so far is that this place is supposed to be a mental institution... because we're apparently insane. I'm sure you know as well as I do that that's not the case, but you won't be able to argue with the nurses about it, so you'll save some energy if you just leave that alone." Some patients never seemed to stop trying to get through to the staff, but it seemed like a waste as far as Guy could tell.

"The truth is that they're keeping us here to toy with us. The guy who makes the announcements is in charge, and he isn't above torture, brainwashing, and memory wiping if it suits his master plan, whatever that is." It still didn't seem entirely clear, even if Guy had a basic idea of it.

[planetarial]

[ sorry! I never got a notif for this. ]

"Sure." Really, Yuusei didn't mind standing, but he realized - belatedly - that it would probably be less suspicious if he did, let alone less awkward in a general sense. He settled onto the other side of the bench with his arms crossed loosely over his stomach, putting a comfortable, casual distance between himself and the other.

Yuusei listened to the explanation without comment, only contributing a nod or two to show that he was definitely listening. On the very short list of Yuusei's immediate assumptions, 'mental institution' had definitely made an appearance, though Landel's so far reminded him more of the detention center than anything else. Granted, he wasn't really sure what the difference was supposed to be; Satellite didn't have any mental health facilities, and that aspect of things had never been something that particularly interested him, so he'd never sought out anything on the subject. His experience with the latter had, fortunately, been very brief, but it was more than enough. The bit about 'torture' sounded a bit too familiar for comfort, but even with what he'd experienced, there had been an easily discernible motive behind it, even if he didn't fully comprehend the gravity of the situation at the time. The idea that a large number of people were being held against their will, and merely for the sake of someone's entertainment, was inexcusable.

"So no one knows why we're here?" Yuusei asked, trying to keep his voice as neutral and devoid of emotion as he could manage. In reality, he was seething more than a bit, but he forced himself to remain calm. There was nothing to be gained from getting angry; remaining focused on the task at hand was what was important now.

[razing_phoenix]

The polite distance that was put between them was understandable considering that they were mere strangers, and so Guy didn't think much of it. This was about the same amount of space that had been between him and Natalia the shift previous to this one, and it did sometimes bother him that he had to keep such a large distance between himself and his female friends.

Luckily, that wasn't a problem here, as the new patient was very much male. Guy waited for him to get settled and let everything he'd just said soak in, though it wasn't too long before the teen had another question.

"Not for sure, no," he responded with a shake of his head, figuring that bluntness was the best method here. It was all that the kid was going to get during his stay here; either bluntness or just plain mystery. "There are theories. That we're just being used as experiments or things to study, or something along those lines. That seems the most likely, but it's not like Landel has ever come straight out and told us what's going on here." And would he ever? Who knew? But Guy wasn't counting on it.

He turned toward the stranger and extended his hand to him, figuring that it was about time for introductions. "The name's Guy, by the way."