Aug 23, 2010 03:54
"Well, that's it for today's activities and hygiene!" The Head Doctor said with a jovial tone just after the sound system's jingle. He seemed excited and maybe even giddy. "Our nurses will now be escorting everyone back to their rooms, and some of you might find that you have brand new roommates to share your dinner with! That's right: we've gotten
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leela,
sechs,
meche,
intercom,
tenzen,
tsubaki,
bella,
kay,
kaito,
anise,
aigis,
minato,
izaya,
ritsu,
gren,
sora,
sam winchester,
indiana jones,
amaterasu,
claude,
claire bennet,
snow,
lunge,
mello,
xemnas,
roxas,
guy,
stefan,
kairi,
peter petrelli,
depth charge,
kibitoshin,
mele,
rita,
ritsuka,
two-face,
isaac,
castiel,
edgar,
green arrow,
the scarecrow,
maya,
trickster,
okita,
yomi,
yue,
edward cullen,
morgan,
wolverine,
locke,
spock,
zack,
l,
scar (tlk),
bridget,
captain jack
He wasn't even sure if he could get back intact, and if he was going to have to return to the Lifestream when he returned, then he was going to focus on making sure that Aerith was safe and herself again before doing so.
The fact that he had a plan for the night helped a lot. So long as he stayed on the move he wouldn't have the time to worry or beat himself up about not being able to watch over her better. Part of him wondered if he should be searching for a way to help Aerith instead of heading down to the basement, but who was to say that those two things weren't one and the same? The basement was a mystery, and Aidou seemed convinced that it would have answers for them. If that was the case then he had to keep at it.
He did kind of hope that Sasuke would be coming along after all, though. Tifa hadn't looked very well today and he didn't want to force her to come along and risk getting hurt even more. He supposed he'd find out so enough, but for now he was stuck having dinner alone; he couldn't escape his thoughts so easily here in his room.
Or... maybe he could. When he saw an unfamiliar figure sleeping in the bed, Zack couldn't help moving over to try and rouse the stranger. He'd gone through this enough times to know that there was a very good chance that whoever this guy was might just end up disappearing before he even got the chance to talk to him (how many roommates had he gone through so far? Three? Four?), and yet he still had to give it a shot.
As expected, despite shaking the guy, he didn't wake up. Zack sighed and shook his head, moving away to grab his journal from his desk drawer and then sit down with his food. He started to scribble into it as he ate, waiting either for his roommate to awake or for the night shift to start.
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The only kingdom he knew with a remote sense of order and a system to implement said order was Figaro, and even then, something like this was pushing it. He knew the King, after all. But that posed another question left unanswered-did Kefka finally break down (funny joke, he mentally added) and find himself a kingdom overnight? If so, he found a real shoddy time to pick up Locke from the old man's house, just when he got some valuable information about that treasure-
Clothes fitting looser than the usual, Locke's hands instinctively reached to his head, and at the realization that he had lost his bandanna once again, a frown took over his features. And just when he was getting used to wearing that one around-he's been having some terrible luck when it came down to bandannas these past couple of months.
Though, more importantly, he wasn't the only one in the same, perhaps sticky, situation. There was someone else in the room with him, and they were both behind closed door for some reason, weren't they?
...
Was the guy someone he could even trust? Who else was here?
Locke's gaze finally settled over towards the man just across the room. Well, best look into the situation without too much of a fuss... for now.
"Wouldn't have pegged you as the type to write in a diary."
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He was just about finishing up his second letter to her (with so many more to go, if he planned to match the amount that she'd written him) when Mr. Sleepy Head suddenly sat up in bed as if he was coming back from the dead. A creepy analogy, considering his own circumstances, but it was true.
Zack just watched him for a moment, finding it kind of surreal to be witness to someone who was waking up here for the first time. The man was missing something, if the way he grabbed at his head was any indication. A pair of glasses, maybe? Not that it mattered too much, but he was still curious.
When he was finally spotted, he found himself smiling in greeting. A small thought in the back of his head warned him to not get too attached. This one would probably be like all the others; he would disappear before they even really got the chance to know each other. He hated to be so pessimistic, but that was the pattern that his roommates had fallen into thus far.
The guy's greeting was surprisingly controlled, and at the words Zack's smile evolved into a grin. "How much can you peg about a guy you've just met? And it's a journal, not a diary. You've got one too, you know. Plus, I'm writing a letter." It wasn't like he was doing some sort of "dear diary" stint. He realized that Aerith might never actually get to read these words, but he hadn't read all but one of the things that she'd written, either. That wasn't necessarily the point. It was to show that he wasn't about to forget about her just because she was gone.
"Anyway, you must be pretty confused right about now. The name's Zack," he explained as he took a bite of chicken, "and I'm your roommate. I'll try to answer any questions you might have."
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Sliding himself to the corner of the bed, Locke shook his head in order to gather his bearings (as much as he hated to admit it, he had no clue where to even start-but that was something easily fixed, given some time to snoop), finally letting his feet touch the cold floor. It seemed foreign to him, to be waking up in a bed that wasn't an inn of sorts, much less a bed at all.
Cross Figaro off the list. Then... that tower? No, there wouldn't be a reason as to why Kefka would keep people in there. Espers for the novelty of it all (if they were still alive), but even then, not likely. What, then?
If Locke was feeling frustrated ('frustrated' didn't even cut into what he was feeling right now), he was doing a good job in hiding it. It wouldn't do him any good to get angry, get panicked, or anything of that sort. So he kept his cool, taking in a deep breath.
"I just woke up in a place I don't even know, and now you're telling me you're my roommate when I shouldn't even have one in the first place... sounds fishy, no matter how you look at it," Locke said, rubbing the back of his neck, eyes shut for a second's worth. "Trust your answers, huh?"
He paused. Well... he'd take everything with a grain of salt, yeah? There was no need to shut himself off from any source of information. And besides, he's had shadier acquaintances than this guy.
"All right, I'll bite. What's going on?"
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Zack signed the letter and then closed his journal, setting it aside as he took a few more bites of his dinner and watched his roommate explore. There wasn't too much to see, but he figured he'd let the guy come to those conclusions on his own. Being the know-it-all that chimed in all the time wasn't going to earn him any points.
As it turned out, the guy was straight-forward. He didn't trust him, and that was fine. Zack didn't expect him to, not this early. "Yeah, that's about the size of it," he replied nonetheless, still holding onto that smile even though he'd been accused of lying. "I know it doesn't make any sense, but you'll get used to the confusion sooner or later." Which was true. There were so many questions that Zack still hadn't had answered, and he'd had to learn to put them aside until there was time for them. It wasn't fun, but it was necessary.
"I'm not saying you have to trust me, but this is how it is. This place acts like it's some sort of mental institution. We're apparently all nuts even though we clearly aren't, and they're trying to force us to get better, which means brainwashing us into living a completely different life. And it doesn't end there," he finished with a sigh, not wanting to dump too much onto the guy at once.
"I didn't get your name, by the way," he reminded the man. He didn't think that was too much to ask, trustworthy or not.
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"Oh, you aren't?" he joked, letting out a short laugh. Well... that did explain a few things, as ridiculous as it sounded. Nevertheless, Locke stood up from his bed, walking towards the desk. "Brainwashing someone... is that even possible?" Of course he knew the answer to that question-but information was information, in the end.
Strange-a journal, just like the man had said. And a radio... what else? Opening the drawer, Locke ran into a couple more things. Keys, for one. Odd looking pens, for the other. Pretty advanced looking batteries, off in a corner. He threw the batteries up into the air and caught it with ease with deft hands, a quiet whistle escaping him. Not bad.
"Ahh, I was just waiting for you." With a sheepish grin, Locke turned to look at his supposed roommate, leaning against the desk. A careful eye surveyed the entire room, its walls whiter than any place he'd seen in his travels. A closet, and maybe he'd check under and over his bed for anything else that'd be useful. Then, finally... the door. All in due time.
It couldn't hurt to give away a name, right? This guy either knew him, or he didn't-past that, it wouldn't even matter. "Locke. You?"
As he waited for an answer, he set the batteries aside and took the keys into his possession, twisting the keys off of the ring. The keys, he'd keep around. The ring... he could think of a couple more uses than keeping some keys together.
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As for the brainwashing, that was something that he couldn't be as lighthearted about. He frowned and made sure to make eye contact with the other patient before responding. "Believe me, it is. They also manage to take people out of their rooms at least every other night and brainwash them into attacking people. I've seen it happen." Zack hadn't experienced it himself, but he also hadn't been here that long compared to certain people. Yuffie had gone through it. There was no saying that he or Cloud might not be next.
Zack worked on his meal as he watched the stranger search the room, going through the same motions that he had done himself, less than a week ago. Leaning his chin on his hand, he took a few bites of the chicken until the guy turned to face him, deciding to give his name after all.
"All right, Locke. And did you miss my saying it earlier? I'm Zack." He didn't mind repeating himself, especially since he knew how disoriented Locke probably was at that moment. There was a whole lot that had to be taken in all at once, so missing a thing here or there wasn't so surprising.
"Anyway, the way it works is that during the day, we're forced to go to random rooms and waste time, and they try to treat us like real patients. But at night, we're let out of our rooms with a click of the locks and then we can go wherever we want, but there are monsters in the way, among other things. Not to mention that brainwashing I told you about, with some experiments on the side." Zack sighed and shook his head. Even if he'd gotten to a point where he could describe the situation succinctly, that didn't make what was going on any easier to swallow.
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Locke furrowed his brows in thought, trying not to think too hard on it-but he couldn't help it. Mental institutions, doctors, brainwashing... it all sounded like something out of five different types of worst case scenarios back in his world, all shove into one possible situation. The worst of the worst!
... except it couldn't be that bad.
"And what, you guys still haven't figured out the connection yet?" he questioned, looking a little bit more serious than he had been initially. There was always a complication; no one ever had the mind to construct things in a straightforward manner, did they? The fact of the matter was, if there were more than just the two of them-this was a hospital, after all-there was something that was keeping the so-called patients in line. It didn't take a fool to figure that one out, yet...
None of that mattered. He didn't have time to waste. With or without a plan, he'd have to bust out of this place before any more time was wasted.
"You say we can go wherever we want at night, but... you're still here." Locke tapped his fingers against his arm, finally making a move away from the desk, to the closet. "Are the monsters that strong, or are the other things too big for you guys to handle?"
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As for the question of a connection, Zack couldn't be entirely sure what Locke was getting at. There were a lot of connections that could be made about a lot of things, and he almost wanted to ask for clarification. But regardless of what the man meant, the answer was going to be the same: there was no connection, at least not an obvious one. And so the soldier decided that his silence would be as good an answer as any.
Besides, he had to explain why it was that he was still sitting here when all logic said that he should have been long gone by now. It was the question everyone had to have answered, and Zack had a sense of pride to maintain. He wasn't some tool who couldn't fight his way through a couple of monsters, after all!
"It's more that getting out of here has been impossible so far," he said with a sigh as he abandoned his dinner and turned in his seat to face the other patient. No matter who it was, that smiley-faced shirt just looked silly. Zack didn't think it suited anyone, but that was besides the point. "Even if you can climb over the walls, once night ends and morning comes, you'll find yourself back in your bed all of a sudden. It's a mystery how they do it, but that's not the important part."
What mattered was that it was a solid block against any of them really getting away. Not that there was necessarily a place to escape to, Zack realized. What might be worth focusing on instead was taking this place down from the inside, but that was just a hunch.
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Locke frowned at the thought, opening the door to the closet as he looked through its contents-on the bright side, he was looking to get some new shoes...
Not that... that was the point at all. Regardless, he counted up the clothing, stared at the smiley face on each and every one of those shirts, and then his own, and let out a groan. "These faces? Not helping. I might go crazy just staring at them." Wear them everyday, every night, to bed and on a grim note, to death... that was its implication, wasn't it? Not happening. Not on Locke's watch, and certainly not anytime soon. Or any time at all.
Shutting the closet door shut and looking a tiny bit more and more frustrated at the prospects of getting out, doing something, anything at all, Locke searched the remainder of the bed, the dresser-and whatever he found, he left it at its original spot. No use carrying all of them around, right?
And finally... the door. As he approached the exit, he kneeled down and looked at the knob. Locked from the outside, but not the inside, huh. Typical. And no room to pick at the lock on the side... it didn't give Locke much of an option, a lockpick in hand or not. They really thought this one through, huh?
"If you can't run, then..." he trailed off, turning the knob-no such luck in figuring out the door completely, of course. Nothing was ever that easy. "... take down what's already established. You're telling me no one's ever gone against the doctors head-on, here?"
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"You better get used to them," he said nonetheless. "Everyone has to wear them, at least during the day." At night anything was possible, but if you weren't lucky enough to end up with your own outfit, then the only other options were going around shirtless or with the garment turned inside-out. The first was reckless and the second was a bit too much effort for no real reason.
"But I'd rather my roommate didn't go crazy on me, so try to kept it together, all right?" he joked as he watched Locke inspect the room at his own pace. He didn't take it apart too intensely, but he was also thorough. And the way he examined the lock of the door seemed to indicate that he knew what he was doing. Too bad the locks were pretty much impenetrable. Zack didn't know if they had some sort of spell on them, but he wouldn't be surprised if they did.
When Locke brought up the other possible option for how to handle their situation, Zack sighed and shook his head. "That doesn't work, either. The second someone steps out of line they're assaulted by an army of nurses with syringes. The sedatives are apparently pretty powerful." Zack had managed to avoid the prick of a needle so far, but that was because he was pretty good at laying low when he had too. Angeal would have been shocked, but it was true.
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"You know, I might be crazy to begin with," Locke commented, finally standing up and stepping back from the door. He would kick it, in hopes of knocking at least his frustrations out on that door, but that was out of the question-he didn't want to draw any unwarranted attention to himself, did he now? Instead, he finally sat down the only other chair in the room, and leaned back. "... someone, but what about a whole group?"
Though, the risks in that kind of plan... too high. It would lead to people being left vulnerable, and that was the last thing anyone would want. Locke shook his head at that thought, closing his eyes. "Either way, from the way you're putting it, we can't make a move until nightfall."
Finally, he stared up at the ceiling, bright white just like the room's walls, letting out a sigh. This institute was something beyond his realm of knowledge-rare, especially when it came down to places as odd as this one. Beyond his world or no, it was still a stab at his pride.
"Guess I can cross out Kefka in having a hand in this. Just my crummy luck," he murmured.
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"Pretty sure a whole group must have tried it by now," Zack said with a sigh as he turned back toward his dinner and grabbed for the caramel apple, taking a testing bite as he went back to watching Locke. He considered urging the man to eat, but he knew he hadn't had the biggest appetite when he'd first woken up here, so it would be sort of hypocritical of him.
It looked like regardless of complaint, though, Locke had gotten the point. Zack nodded when night was mentioned. "That's right, yeah. Luckily, night should be coming on pretty soon, so you won't be stuck in here for much longer." It was the only time when they were completely confined, but Zack didn't mind so much so long as he had someone to chat with. Unfortunately, this was one of the only dinners so far where he'd been given that luxury.
Even if it seemed like Locke was mumbling to himself, Zack couldn't help being curious. "Kefka?" he asked as he took another bite of his apple. "Who's that?"
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Or, well, so he hoped. Discipline wasn't one of his strong suits, but it couldn't hurt.
"That doesn't leave a lot of options open," he replied, more tired at the sudden influx of information than anything else. He welcomed it, of course-any information was better than none-but even Locke had his limits, especially when caged in an unfamiliar room. He sighed. "Nothing to do but eat and wait..."
But, when Zack had asked about Kefka, Locke jumped a slight bit, letting the chair fall from its leaning position with a neat 'thump,' its legs once again, settled firmly against the floor.
"Never heard of Kefka, huh?" Locke questioned, arching a brow. There goes that idea. Even the previously reclusive knew of Kefka, back in their world, and the only other explanation... well! That made a lot of sense. A place like this-especially populated places like this-couldn't go under Locke's radar. That was his specialty, wasn't it?
"Let's just say he belongs here more than anyone else I can think of."
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Whoever this Kefka guy was, he was apparently pretty well-known wherever Locke came from, considering how he asked that question. Either Locke had figured out that this world wasn't his, or he thought that Zack had lived under a rock or something. He just brought his hands up in the air to show that he didn't have a clue, but then frowned when the other man gave his explanation.
That sounded like Sephiroth to a T, although Zack had to admit that he was glad that the general (or ex-general, as the case might be) wasn't here. It was better that he wasn't around to terrorize people, and was instead staying defeated or whatever it was that had happened to him. More than that, Zack just didn't know how he would react if he had to face him again. There was a whole jumble of feelings that he had about the man, and he didn't really want to have to sort through them, especially not here.
"I think I know what you mean," he said with a sigh. "But I don't think sanity has much to do with whether or not you end up in this place." Who even knew what the criteria were? Zack hadn't really made much of an effort to try and figure it out, but he was pretty sure he was better off for it.
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But this waiting... he hated nothing more than sitting around and waiting for something to happen. There was nothing worse than that, in his mind, and opened them up to nothing but vulnerabilities. Locke exhaled, tipping his chair back once again. "Either way, our captors are pretty generous." Or confident about their abilities. Fact of the matter was, it would have been more advantageous for them to keep their prisoners in their cells, day and night.
Lucky for them, huh?
But if Zack hadn't heard of Kefka... all the better for them. That means here, in this facility itself, he didn't make himself known-or even better, exist. He would have to make certain of that, in any case, but for now, Locke was willing to put just about anything into the category of good news.
"Well, if night's as bad as you say it is... guess I've got to keep an eye out."
((ooc; wrapping up thread sometime soon? IDK, anything you want, bb. :C))
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