Day 58: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of

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[spandexorgtfo]

Another day, come and gone. Kratos sat up almost mechanically as soon as he opened his eyes, first taking notice of the return of the military uniform (--which he admittedly vastly preferred) and then of the mention of the possibility of "rewards" later in the day. That was...pathetically transparent, but was about what he expected from the military management. They didn't need to bother with pretenses at all- except when visitors came to call, apparently

apologies for lateness, but i'm always fashionably late

[brb_burgers]

Waking up had been jarring, to say the least. It hadn't been the same dramatic Hollywood mumbo jumbo with him sitting up and patting himself down, but instead a sudden snap from asleep to awake. His room, he was in it and his roommate still wasn't there-- where the hell did this invisible man go? The act of even turning his head was painful but in a dull throbbing sort of way.

So what had happened the night before wasn't a hideous nightmare. Well, that didn't bode well for him. Sitting up gingerly (since when was he so damn weak?) he rubbed at his neck and frowned as he looked around the room. Time to get up, fall into step and get back into the swing of things. Only this time he was less dismissive of it. In no time he'd dressed up proper, knowing how to make himself look sharp in a uniform, even if it wasn't his own uniform. He'd even caught the attending military goon by surprise when he'd opened the door as they stood there to retrieve him. Okay, that had felt good, even if it was a small victory and maybe he imagined

o mai :3

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos looked up in the midst of chewing one of his aforementioned squares of toast with a look of mild consternation on his face. Of course someone would ask to sit here; it was his unfortunate luck that he could rarely enjoy a meal in peace. (This was in fact false, but he was surely welcome to exaggerate the issue in his head.) A quick, discrete glance around him revealed that there were no other places to possibly direct the other man; breakfast was well under way, meaning that most of the seats had been filled. So he had no choice.

He swallowed and deadpanned, "Go ahead."

Approval given, Kratos turned his attention back to his breakfast. The logic was simple: even though someone was sitting across from him, that didn't necessarily mean that they were required to talk to each other. There was some saving grace at the very least.

[brb_burgers]

No one could resist his charm no matter how hard they tried, he was smug in this respect, grinning to himself as he sat down and took to his eating utensils like cowboys twirled pistols. "So," unfortunately for this guy, if he was hoping for a quiet morning, Alfred had just had one of the worst nights of his life (which was fairly long) and he wanted to put it far, far behind him. "My name's Alfred, what's yours?" he took a bite, not really waiting for a response. "Breakfast here isn't so bad. I've had worse. Not that I've been institutionalized before but they have the same sort of cook system set up as the military

[yin_yang_fox]

The sound of a cheery voice was the first thing that prompted the Digimon to wake. For a moment, her mind worked to place it, before noting it as unfamiliar and putting it aside. She swung her legs out of bed, feet touching the floor as she idly noted the uniform had changed back to military wear. So that was a show just for the visitors then. As should have been expected. She

[allineeded]

[from here.]

The woman didn't speak to her again. She only led her through several hallways. If asked, Leanne would have had to admit she had no idea what any of them even looked like, still stuck in a daze. When they finally reached their destination, however, a large room with with several long tables, she instantly perked up. There were other people in the room.

None of them seemed to be paying her any attention, which she supposed was for the best. It likely meant she hadn't been brought here for anything too dangerous. It also meant that she could probably quietly find someone to talk with, someone who could give her some answers. At least one of them had to be more talkative than her current companion.

Leanne shot a glance at the other woman, but she paid it no mind, only kept moving. She directed her to take a tray of something, before pointing her to the tables

[yin_yang_fox]

The Digimon had near finished the amount that she was going to eat. Most meals were bread and salads and little else, but she took her fill today--despite the questionable aspect. Renamon was one who cared little about what she consumed; that she was given actual food seemed near wasteful. Ah. Well.

She needed to hear from Utena and see if the girl would like to try again for Renamon's plan. If not, she could go alone, however, it would allow for the Digimon to question the teen on her time away. There was little to expect, though. She had been through these interviews before.

She glanced up at the sound of someone approaching, a small girl, polite enough. "Of course," she answered, inclining her head. The appearance and voice weren't placed within Renamon's mind. She was new, whether by hours or within the past day. The Digimon waited for the girl to get settled, then tilted her head in question. "Are you new here?"

A question already answered, but human decorum had begun to keep within her.

[allineeded]

Leanne froze, eyes fixed on the girl across her. The girl had known, just like that. Just one look at her and she'd known. How had she--

...But it didn't really matter how she'd known, did it?

Breaking out into a grin, she relaxed, already feeling her heartbeat slow down some. She should have expected it, really. The people here probably all knew each other already, were probably all here for the same reason, whatever it was. Of course they'd know she wasn't one of them.

"Yeah, I guess." She nodded, resting her arms on the table in front of her. What did she even mean by 'new'? The girl hadn't seemed perturbed by it at all, almost as if she regularly just happened to meet people who'd been dragged here from their homes. "I just woke up here this morning. I was in my own bed before that."

How she'd woken up there instead of her own room was one thing she definitely needed to find out, preferably as soon as possible. The idea of someone sneaking in on them in the middle of the night... It made Leanne's chest squeeze uncomfortably

[razing_phoenix]

The relief that Guy felt when he woke up with a healthy set of lungs and a completely dry set of clothes was hard to describe. He realized he shouldn't ever be happy to be stuck in the same bed again, but still being in the institute was far preferable to death. He didn't know for sure that anything they had done last night had actually advanced their plans for escape, but he could only hope it had counted for somethingEither way, challenges that required them to trust each other and work together were much easier than the Coliseum, where they had all been pitted against each other and forced to spill blood. He couldn't say that he'd found the jump from that cliff or the race to save Anise enjoyable, but they'd been successful at both and that was something

[believein0]

[From here.]But this escort was far from cooperative. Zero asked the human plenty of questions as they walked, and each time he was either given the silent treatment or one of these unhelpful responses

[razing_phoenix]

While a patient sat near Guy, the fact that he was a few chairs down from him meant that it was hard to know if he really wanted to talk. Considering the fact that he spent a few minutes looking at his food and probably trying to will himself to eat it, Guy figured it was best if he left him alone for now. He focused on his own food, something that was much easier to look at and to get down, and tried not to feel guilty about the fact that he was given special privileges. He had earned it in a way, if being stuck in this place for weeks on end counted as such

[believein0]

"Hm." So the mush was food after all, made merely for nutrients with nothing appealing to human comfort. Well, the lack of comfort wasn't that big of an issue for Zero now that he knew the mush was something that would benefit him. It wasn't like he knew anything about 'good flavoring', anyway. Taste was one of those human abilities that a machine like him didn't understand very well, if at all. Would that prove to be an advantage or a disadvantage now that he was human? The former was obviously more preferred

[ofthemotions]

...And he had fallen asleep. A wonderful start to an imprisonment, because Mikado couldn't even check to see if what he had been told was true. He sighed from his position on the bed, the heels of his hands pressing into his eyes. All right, then. He was still here, check. Now in new clothes, which lined up with what Peter said. Though... the outfit and the guy on the speakers made it seem like they were in the military and that... Could not be right in any way

[unit67]

Hopefully, Mikado didn't want to be alone with his thoughts, because seconds later a blond girl bounced up to the seat opposite him, placing her own platter on the table with a quiet clatter that made the pink gruel quiver nauseatingly. The morning had come abruptly just as it had the night before, but at least this time she hadn't been interrupted in the middle of a fight. As such, her mood was much better, and the wide smile she gave the boy was genuine with only the weakest hint of shyness. "It's not that terrible," she said cheerfully as she picked up her spoon. "At least they give us something, right?" A spoonful of the slop slid neatly into her mouth, and she looked up at the ceiling as she considered the taste, thoughtfully rolling her tongue around the oatmeal-like texture. Finally, Lily wrinkled her nose and swallowed. "No, you're right. It's pretty bad

[ofthemotions]

A cheerful voice was enough to take him from his own thoughts, and he glanced up surprised. There was a beat of hesitation, then he sighed. "It's not," he gave, resigned. "But I'm not looking forward to eating it again." The girl wasn't familiar to him--looked a bit younger--and if he had to guess, her hair was probably naturally blond instead of dyed. She was cute, though, and optimistic enough to provoke a smile back from Mikado.

"Ryuugamine Mikado," he answered on habit, full name, despite remembering yesterday and the problems a couple had with pronouncing it. More reason to believe we're not in Japan, I guess. "Lily-san?" he wondered at her name, thinking for a beat. Then it clicked and he raised his eyebrows in question. "Like the flower

[unit67]

"Some people get better food," she observed, watching a blue-haired girl cut a pancake with her fork. Lily's expression was mild confusion as she scanned the room, trying to notice a difference between themselves and the people who'd been given more ordinary meals. Nothing noticeable, or, at least, nothing she could notice. "I don't know why, though." It might be random, or maybe they had done special things like whatever Rose had done the night before

[tasteoftruth]

The first thing Badd did upon opening his eyes was to check the color of the walls. Normal boring Landel's Institute paint, not the sickly cream yellow of Cece Yew's hotel room, and not streaked with blood from the hooves of a monstrous sheep. At least he wasn't hallucinating again.

Byrne.Badd was out of bed long before the guard came, pounding at the door. "Where is he?" he shouted. "I took the damn pills, where is he

[corvus_veritas]

[ooc; there are a few things assumed from a backthread here, but all has been discussed so it should be okay!]

Byrne was miserable. Of all the days he'd been here, he'd never woken up feeling like a literal train wreck until today. His neck ached heavily from the injection he'd been given the night before, but it couldn't compare to the ache he felt in his chest. The emotional ache from everything he'd seen strapped to that chair.

It hadn't been real. But goddamnit, it had felt real, and he hadn't known it wasn't real until after they'd finished 'torturing her'. He wanted to vomit just thinking about it.

The bulletin board was Byrne's first objective once he was led from his room. Luckily, he was one of the first ones there. No doubt Badd would come by here before breakfast trying to see if there was anything left for him. The prosecutor scribbled a very hasty note to his partner, slapped it on the board, and then made his way to the cafeteria. He hadn't noticed the shiny new M-U pin on his beret yet, but that was probably a good

[tasteoftruth]

There. Badd was so grateful to see him alive that it was a moment before he noticed the look on his friend's face. The agony on Byrne's face chilled his soul.

Badd shoved away anyone in between them in his haste to get to Byrne. His friend was moving oddly, hesitantly, and it worried him. He'd seen so many horrible cases of assault and torture that it gave him too many ideas for what they could have been doing to Byrne all night.

Up close, Badd couldn't see a mark on him, but...that still meant nothing "I..." he started, trying to find some way to excuse his negligence. "I'm sorry. I didn't know," he stammered, finding it hard to breathe. "I tried to come find you. The doors were locked." No excuse. There was no excuse for abandoning his post. Hadn't the hallucinations been reminding him of that half the night?

[corvus_veritas]

His partner's apologies were making Byrne feel even worse. Why was he sorry? It wasn't his fault. It was the institute's for setting this all up in the first place. But more than that, it was Byrne's for submitting to it, for letting them toy with his emotions and memories. Maybe he hadn't sworn ultimate allegiance to them, but he'd still buckled under their pressure. Now they knew what to do to make him obey them, to turn on his own morals. That was just as bad as siding with them.

And what had Badd done? Try to find Byrne like any good friend would. No, he shouldn't be feeling bad, not in the slightest.

Byrne shifted his feet nervously, finding it harder to keep eye contact. "It wasn't..." He paused, feeling his face grow hot. "Wasn't your fault. They outsmarted us." Always one step ahead. They knew everything about everybody here, Byrne imagined, and all these people were just playthings to whoever was in charge. Not human beings.