Day 56: Bus 3

[rocksthecourt]

Waking carried a sense of disappointment along with it for the first time in a long time. Klavier actually sighed in irritation when he realized where he was. Damn it all. So they hadn't managed to move quickly enough to cover as much ground as they had hoped. It was a shame, really. Last night had actually proven to be relatively productive. If

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[tasteoftruth]

Badd's eyes fluttered open, and his first thoughts were of Byrne. Last night had been a miracle, an impossibility. Time travel did not exist and the dead did not come back to life, but it had felt far more real than any trauma-induced nightmare Byrne's corpse had ever wrought upon him. If it had all been a fantasy

[zack_fair]

Waking up in a warm bed was never something that should be cursed, though Zack realized even while half-asleep that he was just telling himself that

[tasteoftruth]

Hm? Oh, it was the soldier from yesterday, the Zack with no last name. He'd be a good place to start. "Didn't wind up needing it," Badd said, feigning interest in his bagged breakfast. "I had some things come up instead. Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that. You sound like you know a lot about this place." And about the time traveling weirdness that surrounded it.

At least he still seemed willing to talk. Badd wasn't sure how many potentially useful people he'd managed to alienate by yelling at them for their crazy beliefs, but once he got back to the bulletin board he had a lot of apologies to make. Skye's he'd say in person...she deserved more respect than he'd given her, she'd told him the truth even when she knew he'd dismiss it as nonsense.

The line inched forward and Badd mounted the bus, jerking his head to the side to encourage Zack to sit beside him.

[zack_fair]

He'd had "some things" come up?

Zack crossed his arms over his chest as he considered that. It was pretty vague, but this guy had been skimping on the details of his whole situation here since they'd first talked the day before, so there was no big surprise there. Still, the fact that he was now wanting to talk to him made it seem like he'd taken the time to think a bit harder on what they'd discussed

[spandexorgtfo]

Once Rapunzel and Soma had kindly removed themselves from his room, it hadn't taken Kratos long to fall asleep - grudgingly, he had to admit that it was partly thanks to their healing "intervention

[madeinthehrl]

For once, Soma awoke with a sense of vague accomplishment. So she and Rapunzel had managed to be of use after all, and Rapunzel had even gotten a weapon of her own, even if it hadn't really seemed like one Soma would have chosen for herself. Her own weapons were gone again, but that was all right, now that she knew they would be returned to her at night. On the other hand, though, it made smuggling anything into Doyleton impossible. That was irritating, especially since she doubted Aguilar would be the sort to leave them be even outside of the institute

[spandexorgtfo]

The back of the card only had a dark strip at the top and no information on how it could possibly be used as a method of payment. He flipped the card over again, lingering a little longer on the picture of "himself", just as someone sat down next to him and asked a question that only two (or perhaps three, if he counted Sora) people in the Institute had any right to ask.

Kratos looked up briefly to confirm that it was indeed Soma who'd approached before turning back to scrutinize the card. He couldn't possibly imagine how this thing could live up to its proposed function, but perhaps he'd had a stroke of good fortune: Soma was from this world and a time that seemed close enough; she might be able to tell him--once she had finished taking an unnecessary interest in his well-being. Yes, this scenario did seem vaguely familiar, mostly because something like it had played out only the previous morning.

"Did you manage to complete your other business?" A question to answer a question: he was being stubborn.

[madeinthehrl]

"Yes," Soma said promptly. "We reached the second floor and Rapunzel found a weapon." No need to mention what sort of weapon it was; she knew perfectly well what sort of reaction that would prompt. "Now how are you feeling?"

Kratos seemed to be puzzled by his ID card--did they have them in his world? Not that that was particularly important right now. If he was confused, she could explain later.

[sanguinario]

It was no surprise that morning broke too early and too inconveniently, leaving Edward feeling frustrated with his own hesitance and his inability to remain unbroken for more than one night. The collarbone was the worst injury he had received - no, the burns were, now that he thought about it. He realized he nearly discounted those because they had not lasted very long thanks to Claire's blood. The broken collarbone was bad enough on its own, however. His awakening only led him to discover that his arm was still tied tightly to his body, but with fresh, white bandages.

He was significantly more thirsty than he had been last night, and to his surprise, there was still a row of full, heavy bottles in the box he had been given. They were pungent, the smell of blood leaking out and already tasting sour in the air. He had a moment, only a moment to take advantage, and he wanted to with a sleeping roommate and no soldier in sight. If he could just coat one finger in it

[autophoenix]

Waking up was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it meant getting out of the nightmare she'd been trapped in and feeling the sturdy, albeit lumpy springs of her mattress under her. Much more solid than the decaying landscape she'd been stumbling around in. She sat up quickly, confusion wrinkling her forehead as she looked around the room. Bella, it seemed, had already gone, but there was a man wearing an orderly uniform waiting for her, holding a brown sack lunch and a stack of heavy clothing

[autophoenix]

The first two buses were docked and loaded by the time she got outside, and she hurried up, looking flustered and distracted mostly from her own mental processes about the previous night and how she was going to explain that one when she broke it to Peter that she hadn't found anything worth mention -- other than whatever monster had been causing the hallucinations. Again. At this point, she wouldn't call it crazy if someone said the thing had it out for her.

Peter … She saw him as she climbed the stairs onto the bus and ducked quickly into a seat that was further toward the front. Sure, she wanted to talk to him, but not before she could decide if she was going to tell him about what she'd run into or not. On the bright side, seeing him had been enough to assure that he was looking a lot better. She could breathe easier knowing that. Now if only she could catch a glimpse at the younger one …

Finally, she looked at the seat beside her, realizing she'd dropped next to someone and saw …

Edward.Great. This was going to end well

[sanguinario]

Not having been acquainted with Claire for very long - and being trapped in a bus with a myriad of other chattering, loud voices - he didn't catch that it was her thoughts particularly until they were suddenly at his ear and a wave of heat was hitting the side of his body facing the center aisle. It didn't happen terribly often, but there were just some social situations in which the vampire would have been more than happy to crawl away and avoid the interaction altogether. This was definitely one of those moments

[scientist_skye]

Although Ema supposed she should have been disappointed in not getting first-hand experience with whatever happened last night--if anything at all--she honestly couldn't bring herself to care all that much. A full night of sleep was what she needed, physically and psychologically. After the emotional lows that had punctuated much of yesterday (not to mention that nighttime in the institute tended to be horrible), time to simply sleep and not worry about what sort of experiments were being run was just short of wonderful. The only thing that marred the experience was the fact that she still had to wake up here, still as imprisoned as she was when she had gone to sleep

[fourstonewalls]

Another player enters. General Berg sounded far too reasonable for this place. As had Aguilar, speaking just before night ended, though what exactly he'd been referring to was something she had yet to determine. Lana couldn't see how their explorations the previous evening fell into either group; they had attained one of their objectives, but it had been a modest one. She hadn't wasted time reading the files they'd found, merely stowed them, hopefully to appear this evening, but the ordinariness of the stash had been confirmed. She'd flipped through a half-dozen files, skimming them for anything noteworthy, but they'd been uniform in their blandness. Names, faces, stories -- all of them a pack of lies, but she would be surprised if they didn't match up, like a smudged fingerprint, to the lives of those they detailed

[scientist_skye]

"You're welcome," Ema answered, keeping close to Lana as the line boarded the bus. "I just remembered how scared I was that one night when I couldn't get into your room, so I didn't want you to worry about me. Especially because I didn't know I'd changed rooms until dinner." After sixteen years of living with Lana and especially after their tenure in Landel's Institute, Ema was pretty sure that Lana would have been distraught at the site of Ema's room being completely empty and the unspoken possibility of Ema being released that went along with it. Leaving a note to assuage her fears seemed like the obvious course of action; Ema cared too much about her sister not to. They were, after all, the only family the other had

[fourstonewalls]

Lana leaned over and wrapped an arm around Ema's shoulders in apology. Point taken -- she'd find a way to stay awake long enough to leave a note, next time. Ema did look refreshed; whatever the rumor mill might say about a good night's sleep, this one seemed to have been a good idea.

"Not at all. Just a few cuts, and it's almost healed." They'd been a little more than surface cuts, but the rest of that was completely true. Now her leg just kind of itched.

Lana cast around for a new topic, one that didn't involve monsters or shouting or even the research she and Ilia had done. Something safe, or hopefully so. "Do you have a new roommate?"

[nobleobliged]

Anise. Hands clenching into fists over the blanket, Natalia sat up with a jolt. She woke, thus had slept, and the tension left her limbs with resignation to the morning. However she'd come to sleep through most of the day before, she'd woken too late into the night shift. That, along with the apparent changing of at least her room, caused her to fail Anise. She would need to apologize to the girl posthaste. Hopefully, she further thought as she pushed down the sheets, the young woman from last night would find her answers with the daylight -- perhaps Natalia would find her at breakfast. But, Anise -

Then, the intercom sounded, and Natalia's expression shifted from indecision to confusion. Lieutenant General Berg? Her mouth shaped the title, the name, without comprehension. Doyleton? But, that was the town the majority of her fellow captives had been visiting on her first day. The once-a-week trip by schedule. It had not been a week, unless they had shorter weeks in this world? This probable "Earth". Where "dollars" must be the

[nobleobliged]

"My," she murmured, taking a step back at the size and peculiar shape of them; earning an impolite shove forward. Pursing her lips, Natalia quickened her pace to the third bus. Once handing her papers, a card, and a bag, the horrible woman pivoted and strode back a distance, to observe the scene. Natalia forced herself to inhale, then exhale, and again, to still the angry quivering in her hands and wrists. She hardly noticed the movement of the line, hardly paid mind as she slid into an empty seat and looked, with blank, dark eyes, at the items given.

How dare she. Breathing in, breathing out, nostrils thin. Once a little calmer, she shifted in the seat, taking in the queer interior, searching for a familiar face. She recognized some, but not well-enough to place names; merely that she'd seen them over the past few days. In the cafeteria, elsewhere. Not for the first time, an idea rose vital in her mind: to know each and every person, to unite them, to truly-- to truly

[full_score]

By now, waking up to the familiar crackle of the intercom had become more than routine. But the voice was all wrong, and Claude still hadn't quite gotten used to the restricting feel of the new uniform. There was a small spike of panic when he realized his possessions were gone. After abruptly sitting up, though, he remembered that the soldiers had already confiscated them.

Letting out a breath, he listened to the rest of the announcement from "Berg", perplexed that the military actually wanted to cart them off to town. Maybe they want to make us run laps around Doyleton, he grumbled to himself. The minute the door opened, though, Claude promptly got out of bed and straightened his posture

[nobleobliged]

Not so immersed in her frustration as to be impervious to outside stimuli, at the sound of her name in a welcome voice, Natalia looked up, her hand falling. "Claude!" she exclaimed in turn, "Good morning!" Her smile was automatic, if a touch shadowed by the effort to appear in good spirits.

He'd already seen her poor show. The sight of Claude, of a friend, caused a surge within her of the awareness of her failure by yielding to difficulty, in permitting herself to express it so obviously. Yet, as she began to resolve to do better, he asked, and she couldn't quite help but to take hold of the card and lift it for his inspection, with a tremendous frown. "Isn't this awful? I don't look anything like myself! I suppose Guy would be more interested in how they managed to make it, but really, couldn't they let us