Day 51: Breakfast

[thatdamnedninja]

Yuffie Kisaragi, indomitable bouncing ball of sunshine and unfathomable ebullience, was tired. It'd been a long night full of gibberish and getting nowhere fast

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[unheroed]

Definitely new. If the guy still didn't know why they were using the wrong name, then he had probably just woken up. Harvey didn't know why he was the one who had to get saddled with dealing with a newcomer, though. He would have thought that the nurses would have figured out by now that he was not a friendly person. There were plenty of other dim-witted patients around who would be better suited for this job, and yet here he was.

He wondered if this would be less or more painful than that talk he'd had with the doctor. Seeing how he'd had to try and convince McCoy that the staff here was not on their side, he wanted to think that this would be the better conversation, and yet he knew not to expect much out of this guy.

Apparently he was the persistent sort, though, if he'd really asked that many times to see a lawyer. On the other hand, it showed that he wasn't able to do things on his own. He needed some sort of crutch or anchor before he could get anywhere. He was entitled, probably; the most bothersome kind of person. Harvey's feeling about this was getting worse and worse.

"No, they call everyone by the wrong name," he said with a shake of his head, already preparing to be doubted. He could have just ignored the guy, but he was pretty sure that that wouldn't stop the man from pestering him. "Their cover story is that we're all mental patients who have been brought here for our own good." And that was the first of many, many lies. "The truth is that we've basically been placed here to be psychologically tortured, but no one knows how we were brought here or how to get out. For good, anyway."

It was possible to get over the wall, or so he'd heard, but that wouldn't do them much good if they were just dragged back to their beds come morning.

[ihaveaslot]

Had Hammer known he was imposing himself on Mr. Eckhart here, he might have felt a tiny bit charitable and kept quiet during his meal. Actually, that was a lie, because Mr. Eckhart seemed charitable enough to answer his questions and then some. Well, he wasn't going to let the guy get away with a half-assed explanation! Hammer was damn well entitled to an explanation for all of this bullshit and he was going to get it from someone. Hence why Mr. Eckhart had his full attention, something that was pretty hard to get without waving a camera or recorder in Hammer's face.

"... Uh huh." No shit Hammer doubted him, but that look of disbelief lasted only for a moment before he contemplated this. After all, he did break a dead man out of prison. Maybe someone was returning the favor. Or he really was kidnapped, being a super important and recently arrested VIP and all. Didn't he do the same thing for Vanko? And what a mistake that turned out to be! So, alright, he could believe this. Kidnapped to be some kind of psychological guinea pig. Spooky, sure, but it couldn't go on forever, right?

"So, I've been kidnapped, and they are trying to screw with me. Gotcha. Do they only take important people or did I win the lottery or something?" It made sense to think that everyone here was some sort of famous VIP. Maybe it was like some kind of Manchurian Candidate scheme or something, brainwashing the elite and releasing them back into the real world. Political intrigue, how exciting!

It was pretty obvious that Hammer wasn't taking any of this too seriously, if only because it was all so ridiculous and implausible, but he was sure it was just some mixup. Maybe they sent him to the wrong prison hospital and there was a fuckup with the paperwork. It would get resolved in a couple of days (sooner if he met his lawyer already) and he could go on his merry way. Why not enjoy himself with a story while he was it?

[unheroed]

And there was the look of skepticism. Harvey would have judged the man for it if he hadn't felt the exact same way on his first day here. It was the natural, sane response, but the more time that was spent in this place, the more things you learned to just accept. The newest items on that list were being able to move through time and the transformation from male to female. He was just glad that the latter hadn't been tested on him.

But the newcomer didn't need to hear about any of that. He could try and brush it off and call it crazy for as long as he wanted, but sooner or later he was going to have to face the things that were shoved in front of him. Harvey had already gotten to tell one person "I told you so"; he wasn't sure he wanted to seek this guy out again a few days later to do so again.

The mention about important people did get a reaction out of him, though. Harvey paused, glancing down at his mainly untouched vitamin shake, working through that possibility. He'd been fairly well-known back in Gotham, after all; Batman also fit into that category. He wasn't so sure about Jason... or Jones, for that matter. Franziska had the prodigy thing going for her, but Harvey had also met a few people who seemed to be on the ordinary side of things.

"I wouldn't assume that," he said with a shake of his head as he forced himself to take a sip of his drink. Starving himself wasn't going to do him any good, and he knew it. Still, he couldn't really let the implication of this stranger's so-called importance just drop like that, and so he gave him a skeptical glance of his own under his brow and bandages.

"So who are you supposed to be?"

dskajd sorry for the fail! backthread y/n?

[ihaveaslot]

Well, of course not. They didn't have a special jail for important folks, as much as Hammer would have liked that. To be honest, the notion of going to jail never really sunk in for the man, so he didn't seem that worried at all. After all, this wasn't really a ... jail, right? It was some kind of hospital. Asylum, as "Mr. Eckhart" put it. What a place to get an accidental transfer too. Whoever this "Mr. Rench" guy the nurses mistook him for must have been a real psychopath.

Come to think of it, maybe this guy was too. That was something Hammer considered briefly, pausing inbetween a mouthful of syrup with french toast, before shrugging and deciding to answer the guy's question. This shit was probably international news at this point. Besides, he hadn't spoken to his lawyer yet. The PR department probably already issued press releases, if they knew what was good for them.

"Justin Hammer, CEO of Hammer Industries, is who I am, Mr. Eckhart. Or whatever your name is...?" He waved his fork around vaguely, although he didn't care too much about the guy's name. It was probably better not to piss off a psycho though, right? So he'll call this guy whatever made him happy and this guy could do the same and they could be on their merry way. And maybe he could get more of this plot that the crazy guy was cooking up because Hammer had the feeling he could get a sweet movie deal out of this.

there's no fail here! and sure, we can keep going for a bit.

[unheroed]

Oh, no wonder. Harvey would have rolled his eyes if he had both showing, but with one it really just didn't have the same effect. So he was dealing with the CEO of some sort of company, though it sure as hell wasn't one he'd ever heard of. This guy thought he was well-known and important and worth something when he was probably small fry in reality. Not that Harvey cared either way. This Hammer idiot was probably the sort of person who would have attended one of Wayne's parties -- in other words, the last guy he wanted to be talking to.

Still, the guy had certainly been brought down to size if he was here. Hadn't they all? Harvey had lost all of his dignity the moment he'd woken up in that hospital room after the explosion, but at least he'd never been a scumbag like Hammer here. Sure, he was making a lot of prejudgments considering how he barely knew the man, but... he got the feeling Hammer wasn't the sort of person you needed to spend a lot of time getting to know.

"It's Harvey Dent," he said, tone somewhat clipped. The last thing he needed was for this guy to start calling him by the wrong name, too. It was one thing for the nurses to be doing it, but for another patient to get stuck on something... Yeah, he'd rather clear that up from the get-go. "So what kind of company is Hammer Industries?" he asked, trying to keep the smug look off of his face. "I can't say I've heard of it." He was sure that was the exact sort of thing that would be guaranteed to get under this guy's skin.

[ihaveaslot]

Harvey Dent. No bells ringing, which meant that this guy had no bells to ring. A nobody, as it were, so Hammer sadly had to throw out all notions of political intrigue and brainwashing going on. Darn, and he was sort of hoping that it was somewhat true. It would have been a little more entertaining, at least.

Now, Mr. Dent here admitted he was crazy, so Hammer tried not to take his question too seriously. What kind of... seriously, really? Despite Hammer's efforts, the question did indeed get under his skin and maybe a few layers of connective tissue. Hammer blinked, reached up and frowned when his fingers met empty air and instead tried to save the gesture of trying to adjust his glasses by just letting his palm rest on his forehead. Really?

"... Hammer Industries? Contract with the Pentagon? ... Come on, you pay attention to national news at the very least, right? You know, I presented at the Stark Expo?" It sort of frustrated Hammer when he realized he couldn't mention his company without mentioning Stark's own company in some way, shape or form, and that irritated him more than anything else. Damnit, this guy wasn't supposed to be screwing with him too!

Of course, Hammer left out what actually happened at said Expo, in the case that they didn't let bad patients watch television here or something. Actually, that would be sort of nice, maybe this guy was a blank slate that Hammer could color in or something, so he'll buy Hammer products if he ever got out. Yeaaah. Hammer thought himself awesome sometimes.

[unheroed]

Contract with the Pentagon. Harvey frowned in thought, though he kept his visible eye off of Hammer for the moment. If the guy wasn't talking out of his ass, then it was true: he should have heard of his company. The fact that he hadn't made no sense, since he was hardly the sort of person who didn't keep up with the news. Unless the company had come into the public eye in the past two weeks or so, he should have recognized the name.

Which meant one of two things: either this guy was lying, or this was another example of that weird alternate universe crap. Jason's existence was the only reason that Harvey had even entertained that idea, and the kid wasn't even around anymore. For that reason, he wasn't so willing to explain it away like that. Sure, it might be easier, but the fact that the existence of an alternate universe counted as easier showed just how screwed things had gotten.

"Yeah, I watch the news," he said with a slight sting to his tone. "But I definitely haven't heard of any Hammer Industries or any Stark Expo." An expo for what? To show off a product, obviously, but Harvey still didn't know what that product was. If there was a connection to the Pentagon then that narrowed it down a bit, and yet not enough.

"And you didn't answer my question," he pointed out as he forced himself to take another sip of his shake. He really did look forward to the day when he'd be able to eat solid food again. "What kind of company is it?" He wasn't sure why he cared so much, but if this guy really was all that important, then it would help to know what for.

[ihaveaslot]

There was a soft sound of plastic hitting paper as Hammer dropped his fork, staring at Harvey like his bandages just unraveled on the spot and a skeleton popped out or something. Really? Really, truly? He had never heard of the freaking Stark Expo? The look on Hammer's face was almost humorous as he squinted, blinked, rose brows, and otherwise looked like someone turned him upside down and was shaking the spare change out of his pockets.

Really? He didn't know where to even fucking start with that. How does one explain the entire history of the weapons industry starting with Stark's dad (the father to us all, ahh, that was such a good line), to some guy who didn't even know what the Stark Expo was. Holy crap. Holy crap.

Hammer was so stunned that it took him a bit to realize that Harvey had asked a question, and he rubbed at his non-existent glasses again as he finished contemplating how it was possible that someone might not know ... Did he at least know about Iron Man? Not that Hammer was going to bring that name up, but holy crap. Wow.

"We make -" And that's as far as Hammer got when a nurse came around, saying it was the end of breakfast time and if he was done, he could leave for another room. Hammer contemplated. Speak to the crazy, or leave for greener pastures.

It was nice when decisions were easy to make.

"Oh no, out of time. Hey, Harv - can I call you that? - if I see you again, I'll answer properly next time, okay?" He made no effort to make that offer sound genuine, and to be honest, Hammer couldn't get out of the cafeteria faster.

Never heard of... Jesus christ, where was he?

[unheroed]

And now Hammer was looking at him like he had three heads. Either that, or a burn wound that covered half his face, but they'd discussed that when he'd first taken a seat. Which meant that the guy really thought that he lived under a rock because he didn't know about Hammer Industries or Stark Expo.

Dammit, Harvey just wanted to know which one of them was at fault here. If the company was really that well-known, he wouldn't have been a stranger to the name. He wanted to just assume the guy had an inflated ego and leave it at that, but that seemed far too simple of an explanation at this point. Simple was usually good, but it never was that easy in this place.

Right as he was about to hear an answer out of that smug face, though, a nurse decided to break them up. It was almost as if the powers that be were making sure that he didn't get to hear the real story behind this Hammer guy.

The man was being an asshole up until the end, though, in his attempt to act friendly and buddy-buddy as if he hadn't been judging him this entire conversation. Harvey knew he wasn't an ignorant idiot, though, and he honestly didn't care what this Hammer guy's opinion of him was.

As he stood from his seat he sent Hammer a glare. "No, you can't call me that. And I'll hold you to it." He wanted to know now; a combination of the nurse's intervention and Hammer's reluctance meant that the curiosity wasn't going to wane. But for now, he was being made to wait, as much as he hated being told what to do.