Day 55: Cafeteria

[bodhiandspirit]

Though five days without bathing was hardly unusual for Rita, she was actually looking forward to showering today. To her, the last shift had been somewhat enjoyable, if only because it allowed her an opportunity to be alone with her thoughts for a bit. Of course, she couldn't be completely alone in the communal showers, but no one was rude enough

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[zack_fair]

That conversation he'd had with Lightning had gone in unexpected directions, and Zack was left feeling uncertain as he was led away from her and back inside. He hadn't realized that it was going to go in that direction, and how could he have known? As someone who tried to keep his deeper-seated issues close to the chest, he hadn't felt so comfortable sharing the details, and he'd done best not to. Even though Lightning had had every right to ask all those questions, the whole discussion had left him more drained than he'd expected

[tasteoftruth]

He was insane. Let's just go with that. It was a combination of drugs and stress and the horrific crazy situation around him that had driven him into hallucinations. When the shift change came Badd wanted to ask, like a schizophrenic, 'Do you see him?', but stopped himself just in time. If he was going insane he refused to bow to it and instead fled into the hallway to escape the phantom's presence

[zack_fair]

While two hundred might have sounded like a lot of jumping jacks to the average person, it really wasn't a big deal for someone who was in shape, and so Zack continued to keep a mental count in his head as he jumped up and down. He could have felt ridiculous, but he'd been made to do drills in front of others enough back home that this was really nothing new for him. He was already moving past the fiftieth one

[tasteoftruth]

"Hm?" Oh, was it talking? Badd blinked, shaking himself back into reality. "It's nothing. Just a little headache

[zack_fair]

A little headache, huh? It looked like more than that, seeing how the guy was barely talking and generally acting like the world was over. Maybe that was just his default expression, but Zack got the feeling that something was wrong

[tasteoftruth]

Badd looked to the guard, who seemed absolutely apathetic to his plight. If an aspirin was hard to come by in prison, it would be even more impossible here. "Doubt they care," he said dismissively, holding himself up by one elbow. And even if they did it wasn't that kind of headache and pills were probably part of what started the problem in the first place

[zack_fair]

All right, so maybe these soldiers weren't as sympathetic as the nurses, but Zack still thought that was unfair. Just because they were now being treated like trainees instead of mental patients didn't mean that they shouldn't be given a simple pain reliever if they asked.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the man was talking to him, someone who was in the middle of being punished. He hoped that wasn't the case, but Zack also realized that the stranger didn't seem too set on getting himself some medication. If that's how it was, then it was probably best not to push it

[tasteoftruth]

While Zack kept up his jumping jacks Badd idly stirred the pink gunk they'd handed him in lieu of food. He was hungry, true, and as fickle as things seemed to be now it would be a good idea to eat quickly before they decided to revoke food privileges but right now he couldn't have worked down a steak lunch without feeling ill.

To Zack's thanks he could only return a small shrug. He hadn't even been thinking of demonizing him, not when there were real demons like Gant lurking in the building. The guy who'd actually touched it off, now he deserved a good kick in the face, but not this one.

"You're not the worst of the scum here," he said, trying to be generous. Aside from the obvious physical attributes Zack just seemed...stupid. Or at least too perky to last. This place really had a thing for perky overconfident teenagers, maybe they made the easiest subjects.

[zack_fair]

Not that worst of the scum here, huh? That more or less counted as an underhanded compliment, as far as Zack could tell. Then again, the guy clearly wasn't in the best mood at the moment, so he wouldn't hold it against him, and his original statement still held true. The guy hadn't thrown insults at him for being the reason for the cleaning they'd had to do earlier, and he appreciated that. More than that, he didn't seem to be questioning his motives for what he'd done yesterday either, though that might be due to the fact that the man didn't seem talkative in general

[tasteoftruth]

It would have 'slipped Badd's mind' if he had given his name, keeping his identity close to his chest was a purposefully ingrained habit. Even seemingly-carefree teenagers could be hiding a dark side.

Hm. Seemed they still weren't allowing him to sit. Aguilar was playing this right book. Badd had done a few of these in his time before regulations got a bit tighter (and even afterward, when the chief made sure nobody would be watching--it had been convenient at the time for obtaining confessions but knowing what he knew now the memories just made him feel ill). He stirred the pink stuff again and then dropped the spoon back against the bowl.

"How long do people usually last here before they start going insane?" he asked wearily. "Seems like half the population thinks they're from another planet or that time travel is possible, or..."

Phrase it cautiously. Carefully. Make your tone seem dismissive. You don't actually believe this, it's only other people who do. "That the dead can come back to life again."

[zack_fair]

A glance around the room made it clear that most people were reluctant to eat the food, and Zack wondered if that slop was going to be on the menu for dinner too. Would it be what all of their meals consisted of from now on? Even Shin-Ra hadn't been that cheap.

Though the sudden question that came from the man caused Zack to turn to him with a raised eyebrow. Did he really believe that people went nuts while here? He was about to speak up and assuage the man's concerns, but the the guy kept talking and quickly caused him to rethink.

Another plant, time travel, and coming back from the dead. Zack was someone who believed in all three of those things because he had to. This place wasn't Gaia, and he'd seen his own planet's future while here because he hadn't lived to that point. It was all tied up in a neat little package for him, but

[tasteoftruth]

Well, Zack hadn't immediately jumped to claim that he was from another planet and that Badd was insulting him by doubting his heritage. That was a point in his favor. He twisted the spoon between his fingers like a bare lollipop stick, forcing down his desperate fear and covering it with another casual shrug.

"Just some old guy. He said his murdered partner came up and started talking to him, trying to convince him that he was still alive. Funny thing was that this guy seemed pretty stable on his feet otherwise, he just thought a dead person had reappeared alive again."

[zack_fair]

Murdered partner, huh? While he and Cloud hadn't exactly been partners, the situation wasn't all that different when it came down to it. Zack wished that the man would give him some more details on who these people were, since this was the first he'd heard of someone else who'd been dead before coming to this place.

Still, he was glad that his existence in this place hadn't made Cloud feel like he was going crazy and losing his sense of self all over again. That would have been enough to break him at least a little.

"Maybe tell the guy who saw his dead friend to have a conversation with both you and the dead friend involved? Then you can see if this supposedly dead guy is really real or of it's one big hallucination." Zack already knew that this guy who was back from the dead was one-hundred percent real, but getting a skeptic to believe that would probably take a lot more work. It was better to take the position of the sane yet rational advice-giver at this point.

[tasteoftruth]

Badd shook his head. "Well, what's the guy going to do after he realizes that his dead partner's a hallucination, which I'm pretty sure he already does? It won't make the hallucination go away. He'll still have a ghost following him around."

Now that was just out of the question. 'Hey, Lana, would you come talk to me and Byrne, we're trying to settle an argument. Yes, my partner. Can't you see him?'. As if his credibility wasn't publicly low enough as it was. Badd refused to admit the possibility that it was not a hallucination, because in that case there was still no way for it to be a real figure and not be Byrne Faraday. And he was not that mad yet.

Badd took a firm bite of the pink stuff and winced. It was bad enough to make him miss prison food, at least you could find some form of taste and texture in overboiled vegetables. If the kitchen was left unlocked tonight he could bet on where most of the inmates would be congregating after lights-out.

[zack_fair]

The man wasn't really getting the point. What Zack had been implying was that maybe that ghost wasn't a ghost after all, seeing how he sure as hell wasn't one, but there was no way of proving that. Not that he needed to be tripping into any more people and giving them images of his death, though he got the feeling that that had only been in effect last night. He hoped so, anyway.

"Guess that's true," he said with a shake of his head. "That's got to be pretty disorienting, I've gotta say. Maybe getting some information about it over the bulletin might help, though? If other people have been through the same thing. It's possible we're being dosed with hallucinogens somehow."

Zack imagined it wouldn't be the first time that an army was given drugs to make them more docile. He was lucky that Shin-Ra had never gotten to that point; no, that company had just experimented on its employees, only to turn around and get rid of the black mark on their record by any method possible. That was why he'd bit the dust, after all.

[tasteoftruth]

Now that wasn't something he'd have thought of, what with assuming far too many people were crazy to be reliable. "Hallucinogens won't make you think you're from another planet," he pointed out. "You'd have to screen out the real loonies somehow. Even so, it's a thought. I might put it up the next time they let us out."

Something in the tear gas, maybe, or in the food, or in whatever it was that made them fall asleep before sunrise every night. It wouldn't be hard to slip everyone a bit of something. Drug experimentation with unwilling participants actually seemed low on the list of Aguilar/Landel's sadistic capabilities and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more easily manipulated population.

Another forced bite, followed by a scowl and a large swig of water. He'd choke it down and fill himself like a car with gasoline, disgust aside it was still nutrients. Probably.