Sad though it was, Harvey was used to waking up in a bed feeling like Hell warmed over. Well, maybe not used to it, but he'd definitely been through it a startling number of times in the past three weeks or so. However, even with that in mind, this morning was particularly rough. All of the pain that he'd struggled with last night was still there, and it hadn't even faded that much
( ... )
So, after being given his sack lunch (a step up from the gruel of yesterday), he climbed up into one of the buses. One of the first people he saw was Ruby, and Harvey almost tripped over himself trying to move past her. Other than that, though, the bus was mainly crowded with kids, and he almost felt like he'd gotten onto the wrong one
( ... )
The way Peter's mouth dropped open seemed to be a clincher all on its own, but Harvey knew that he couldn't get ahead of himself. The kid might have just been responding to the sight of him, since his bandaged face wasn't the sort of thing that most teenagers would be able to get used to after just one talk
( ... )
Bloodless surroundings meant little to a fissured mind, and despite assurances to the contrary, Nigredo wondered if his brother died in the transition. Fortunately, the link confirmed a complete survival--Albedo was indeed very much alive. Moving as well. The younger no longer had a need to hold last night's tension, and he relaxed for the first time in days.
He contemplated returning to sleep. The Doyleton trip could continue without his presence. He almost passed out, in fact, but his borderline dreams were interrupted by an annoyingly tall man wearing hospital attire. His military escort. Nigredo blinked up at him as the man lowered a stack of clothing on his face
( ... )
Five sessions, three groups? All the sessions (granted, this was a sum total of two) had had an even number of players, though there was no particular reason a chain couldn't be formed with fewer. It lent itself less well to a balanced stalemate, opposing teams locked in a futile battle -- but the game had to be flexible. Roles mixed and matched -- what had GC been going on about, between the sarcasm and the sniffing? S33R 0F M1ND P4G3 OF BL00D KN1GHT 0F BR34TH M41D 0F T1M3, wasn't it? Something like that, though a few might have gotten swapped. The image of Strider in a maid's costume had been worth remembering, just to tell it to him. For ironic purposes, of course
( ... )
Five minutes were indeed better than nothing, though they proved a bit more to his mind. The murmur of atmospheric noise registered as figments in a dream, and without wanting, he envisioned familiar people doing not-so-familiar things. The dream was weird--weirder than most--and nothing in him could properly decipher its meaning. When Nigredo awoke, his head snapped straight up, last recalling movement at his side.
To the variant's surprise, there was an actual girl in the seat next to him, eating what looked to be an apple. Her somewhat casual demeanor suggested they had long since departed from the institute, though when he glanced outside, the bus hadn't moved from its initial position. That begged the question: how long was he out for?
Nigredo shifted his gaze back to the girl, the move a combination of awkwardness and curiosity. "Uh..." His usual eloquence was unfortunately gone, taken by an impromptu nap. "How long have I been asleep?"
"It's difficult to be certain." He'd been asleep when she'd climbed on the bus, after all. "More than five minutes, less than thirty." That assumed the reveille had been universal, but nothing she'd seen had suggested anything but linear time.
"I take it we're awake now?" It was a measure of adaptability, or a tendency towards psychosis, that this had become a normal question. Her world was gone; survival rested on deciphering the arcane workings of this game, starting with anything and everything she could interrogate, psychoanalyze, dismantle, or blow up. Since she was equipped only with breakfast and her own cunning, the former two would have to suffice.
This time, Rapunzel had blacked out not long after she had actually achieved her objectives for the night. Maybe she hadn't been able to heal Kratos all the way, and maybe the frying pan wasn't quite as big as the one she'd had back home, but that was all still a fair shade better than the night before.
She wasn't sure what the man in the ceiling had meant by "Five sessions. Three groups." before the end of the night, but she could ponder that later. Right now, it seemed like they were going on a trip oh my gosh oh my gosh really?! A trip?! Are you serious?! Rapunzel's face had lit up like a firework at the news. So what if it was a prison-sanctioned trip? Who cared? With Mother Gothel, it had just been tower, tower, all the time. Not even one little trip to see the floating lights had been allowed. If her new captors were actually going to trust everyone enough to let them go out somewhere, they were already doing about a thousand times better than anything Gothel had done
( ... )
The intercom had crackled to life just as the artifact clicked into place, and Sasuke had barely had enough time to swear before the voice was announcing the end of the night (and whatever plans there had been -- five sessions, perhaps of patients undergoing experiments, but what of three groups?). He blinked awake under his blankets a moment later, frustrated enough to punch the soldier dropping a weight onto his bed before realising that that meant it was the day they were taken to the village
( ... )
Rapunzel looked up from biting face-first into a muffin, cheeks already smattered with a collection of crumbs (she was hungry for real food, okay?). A voice had come from the seat across the aisle from her. Was someone talking to her, or someone else? When no one else answered, she turned to face the dark-haired boy who had spoken - and had to smile at the cheerful-looking coat he had on.
"Oh, uh, not really! Not specifically, I mean. This is all just kinda new and exciting. I wanted to get a look all around here," she answered. Then she laughed, adding, "I guess that means I am looking for something. Just that that something is everything."
The boy looked a little lonely without a seatmate, and not many people were headed for the back of the bus yet. It didn't take much effort for Rapunzel to shuffle across the aisle, her hair and bag in tow. "Mind if I sit with you?" she asked, standing to the side of the boy's seat.
New and exciting? Sasuke raised an eyebrow, caught somewhere between surprised and almost amused. Strange and terrifying or unexpected and frustrating tended to be more the consensus on the Institute as a whole, but this patient seemed to be downright cheery about the visit. Interesting.
He nodded when she asked to move next to him, sliding further toward the window to make room. "Everything? Have you not been to Doyleton before?"
With that attitude, maybe she was too new to have properly experienced the Institute at all. Or maybe she was excited about the credits as well, which -- Sasuke wasn't excited, and he was far from happy about anything that was handed to him by the staff whether they were Landel's or Aguilar's. But equipment from dubious sources was likely still better than none, especially when they were strapped for it as they were.
It took him a moment to realize he didn't remember falling asleep at all... and he definitely didn't remember returning to his room. He'd had his own clothes returned to him and he'd gone out; he'd seen with his own eyes that there really were creatures roaming the halls, and he and Dexter had come under attack by them... But now here he was, sitting up in bed, dressed in uniform like he had been the day before.
The speaker came alive as he pulled out of bed, and the man on it introduced himself as Lieutenant General Berg. Firo headed for the closet as Berg began to speak about what was apparently an upcoming trip, looking for the box that had held his clothes. It was nowhere to be seen, and Firo frowned. Last night... He was sure it had been here; he hadn't just imagined everything... had he? Yet here he was, as if everything last night had been a dream. It had seemed real, but maybe he was going crazy
( ... )
And the next thing she knew, Lion was slowly being awoken by the voice over the intercom.
It was disconcerting, because in what felt like moments ago Lion was still upstairs in a hallway, and Franziska had just asked her if she were capable of getting a locked door to open. Not that she could-- or at the very least, didn't know if she were capable of doing so. Nonetheless, the sudden change in setting was one way to get Lion to wake up quickly, eyes darting around the room as if she hadn't been sleeping at all.
The bag had held breakfast, as well as a couple of papers (the coupons that had been mentioned) along with a card that Firo couldn't help but stare at as he turned it over in his hands. It looked like it was made of plastic, and had a color photograph he didn't remember having taken on it, along with the fake name he'd been assigned. It must have been for identification, but the card seemed too fancy for so little information...
He was still staring at it when a voice cut through his thoughts. Shoving the card into the pocket of his coat, Firo looked up to see a blonde that looked maybe a couple years younger than him.
"Go ahead," he answered, gesturing towards the seat in question. "I don't mind."
Night had been a blur; his senses told him though, that even when he woke up, Yue, and Yuki for that matter, weren't there anymore. Where exactly did that leave him? Estranged from the man he'd thought of as a friend, a traitor to the people he was trapped here with, and now missing another of the people he'd been foolish enough to let himself care about. Much as he didn't want to admit it, he couldn't deny a twist of guilt; bad things always seemed to happen to the people he was around, the people he actually cared about
( ... )
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He contemplated returning to sleep. The Doyleton trip could continue without his presence. He almost passed out, in fact, but his borderline dreams were interrupted by an annoyingly tall man wearing hospital attire. His military escort. Nigredo blinked up at him as the man lowered a stack of clothing on his face ( ... )
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To the variant's surprise, there was an actual girl in the seat next to him, eating what looked to be an apple. Her somewhat casual demeanor suggested they had long since departed from the institute, though when he glanced outside, the bus hadn't moved from its initial position. That begged the question: how long was he out for?
Nigredo shifted his gaze back to the girl, the move a combination of awkwardness and curiosity. "Uh..." His usual eloquence was unfortunately gone, taken by an impromptu nap. "How long have I been asleep?"
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"I take it we're awake now?" It was a measure of adaptability, or a tendency towards psychosis, that this had become a normal question. Her world was gone; survival rested on deciphering the arcane workings of this game, starting with anything and everything she could interrogate, psychoanalyze, dismantle, or blow up. Since she was equipped only with breakfast and her own cunning, the former two would have to suffice.
Reply
She wasn't sure what the man in the ceiling had meant by "Five sessions. Three groups." before the end of the night, but she could ponder that later. Right now, it seemed like they were going on a trip oh my gosh oh my gosh really?! A trip?! Are you serious?! Rapunzel's face had lit up like a firework at the news. So what if it was a prison-sanctioned trip? Who cared? With Mother Gothel, it had just been tower, tower, all the time. Not even one little trip to see the floating lights had been allowed. If her new captors were actually going to trust everyone enough to let them go out somewhere, they were already doing about a thousand times better than anything Gothel had done ( ... )
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"Oh, uh, not really! Not specifically, I mean. This is all just kinda new and exciting. I wanted to get a look all around here," she answered. Then she laughed, adding, "I guess that means I am looking for something. Just that that something is everything."
The boy looked a little lonely without a seatmate, and not many people were headed for the back of the bus yet. It didn't take much effort for Rapunzel to shuffle across the aisle, her hair and bag in tow. "Mind if I sit with you?" she asked, standing to the side of the boy's seat.
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He nodded when she asked to move next to him, sliding further toward the window to make room. "Everything? Have you not been to Doyleton before?"
With that attitude, maybe she was too new to have properly experienced the Institute at all. Or maybe she was excited about the credits as well, which -- Sasuke wasn't excited, and he was far from happy about anything that was handed to him by the staff whether they were Landel's or Aguilar's. But equipment from dubious sources was likely still better than none, especially when they were strapped for it as they were.
Reply
It took him a moment to realize he didn't remember falling asleep at all... and he definitely didn't remember returning to his room. He'd had his own clothes returned to him and he'd gone out; he'd seen with his own eyes that there really were creatures roaming the halls, and he and Dexter had come under attack by them... But now here he was, sitting up in bed, dressed in uniform like he had been the day before.
The speaker came alive as he pulled out of bed, and the man on it introduced himself as Lieutenant General Berg. Firo headed for the closet as Berg began to speak about what was apparently an upcoming trip, looking for the box that had held his clothes. It was nowhere to be seen, and Firo frowned. Last night... He was sure it had been here; he hadn't just imagined everything... had he? Yet here he was, as if everything last night had been a dream. It had seemed real, but maybe he was going crazy ( ... )
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It was disconcerting, because in what felt like moments ago Lion was still upstairs in a hallway, and Franziska had just asked her if she were capable of getting a locked door to open. Not that she could-- or at the very least, didn't know if she were capable of doing so. Nonetheless, the sudden change in setting was one way to get Lion to wake up quickly, eyes darting around the room as if she hadn't been sleeping at all.
... How did this happen ( ... )
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He was still staring at it when a voice cut through his thoughts. Shoving the card into the pocket of his coat, Firo looked up to see a blonde that looked maybe a couple years younger than him.
"Go ahead," he answered, gesturing towards the seat in question. "I don't mind."
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