Day 59: Cafeteria (noon)

[immortale]

By the time lunch rolled around, things still weren't getting any better. The voices hadn't gone away; instead, Firo was pretty sure they were getting more frequent. Ennis had been silent since last night, but Czes's voice had been an insistent buzz in his ear all morning

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[bastard_sadi]

Daemon slipped into the cafeteria a step ahead of his guard, his movements a graceful glide as he surveyed the room, the habit automatic now. Getting a tray of the food, he made his way to a table and sat down, pausing for a long moment as he stared at the bowl, as if sheer willpower would make it more palatable.

Ah well. It could be worse. At least there was food, he reminded himself as he picked up his spoon and began to eat. Keeping up his strength was an absolute necessity, which meant so was this.

[For Chipp]

[chippforprez]

Seeing Venom here should have cheered Chipp up a little bit, but it actually put a damper on his day. Not because he disliked Venom, but because they managed to get Venom, of all people. An organization that was more powerful then the Assassin's Guild? Chipp didn't even consider that something like that existed, but he couldn't let his attitude change; "bring it on" was all he really had to say about it. Besides, having Venom as an ally really was the best thing he could ask for (it could be worse: He could have had Ky Kiske here instead

[bastard_sadi]

Daemon glanced up at the sound of a familiar voice, startled out of his thoughts momentarily. he relaxed at the sight of Chipp, however, leaning back in his chair.

"Good morning to you, too," Daemon drawled wryly, lips quirking as he poked the stuff in his bowl. "It's certainly like nothing you'd find from home, but it's not all bad." Of course, it wasn't all that good, either. It just... was.

"They've been serving this same meal for breakfast, lunch, and dinner since I woke up a day ago. Perhaps a little longer. You have to eat it if you want to keep your strength up. I haven't found an alternative yet, myself. And from the amount of people swallowing the stuff down, I don't think anyone else has, either."

Unless they'd been here as long as Sora, but Daemon doubted there were many left that had.

[chippforprez]

That was all the food they had? Chipp could understand weird... pink oatmeal-gruel for breakfast, but for the rest of the meal? He just shook his head, not sure if he wanted to give the stuff a try now. "Nah, it's alright. I think I'll just catch something to eat tonight." He did most of his training in the mountains, so Chipp knew how to catch his own food, and even a crappy squirrel or something would be better then the ... glop... crap they were being served. But at the same time, Chipp was getting hungry...

Trying to find a subject away from food, which was proving to be very distracting, Chipp remembered his original reason for approaching Daemon. Well, one was to find out if the guy was alright since their interaction with Harrington got cut short, and since he found that out, all that was left was asking about why their interaction got cut short

[bastard_sadi]

"Be careful tonight," Daemon cautioned him, taking another bite of the gruel. "You may not want to catch the things you find tonight. They grow in size and danger when darkness falls. I've seen rats half my size. The spiders get even bigger. Everything twists and mutates like a nightmare after nightfall. I'm not even sure the creatures are edible. Most of them are rotting. They do not smell appetizing

[chippforprez]

The idea that he was going to potentially catch some big game was actually good news to Chipp, who started to grin at the thought. But then, that grin quickly faded as Daemon mentioned how all of the animals around here apparently mutated and were rotting, and Chipp just let out an aggravated sigh. Really?! He couldn't even go out and catch his own game? That couldn't be right, he stubbornly thought, but Daemon had yet to be wrong about anything he said about this place and Chipp didn't think that was going to change anytime soon. Still

[bastard_sadi]

Daemon didn't want to completely take away Chipp's hope for catching food, but his expression was still sympathetically apologetic. "I admit I haven't explored too far outside the walls, I spend most of my nights hunting within the building. But the few times I have been out there after dark... I'm not sure the mutation thing is confined to just this institute. It may be this entire realm. Someone I spoke to mentioned being caught in town after nightfall and all the town's inhabitants mutated as well. They might not all rot, however. I admit, I'm not an expert on what exists for wildlife around here. You could ask on the bulletin board if you're curious. Have you found that yet? There can be considerably useful information on there at times."

He waved away Chipp's apology with a small smile. "I understand, believe me. This place is more than frustrating. All the odds are stacked against us. And Harrington did tell us some things," Daemon pointed out, listing them off on his fingers

[chippforprez]

Leave it to Daemon to get all of the important parts. Chipp looked rather impressed which how much Daemon was able to squeeze out of Harrington's bullshit half-answers and avoiding their questions... They didn't get much, but what they did get became understandable to the ninja once his friend actually put it all out on the table. So, it was as he thought: Their enemy was this dude named Aguilar, but the real "master" of this whole screwed up place was a guy named Landel. It really was like the Guild; infighting and power struggles, which only served to make their enemies weaker. Yeah, if they wanted to destroy themselves, then Chipp was more then happy to help them out

[bastard_sadi]

"Where there's power, there's a power struggle," Daemon drawled, his tone dry as he took another bite of gruel. He knew of only one case where this wasn't really true, but that was a long way from here. "Landel was the one running this place when I first arrived here. It was run pretty much the same, but with more playacting during the day, more pushing their ruse about the state of our sanity. Oh, and there was actual food. Biggest downside I've seen so far. I don't miss the crazy smiley nightclothes they made us wear. At least Aguilar has dropped us in actual clothes."

Even if they were uncomfortable. Seriously, that was the biggest differences he could point out so far from what he'd observed since reawakening. Aguilar and Landel were both madmen who had to be stopped. but Aguilar was a soldier, he would likely be difficult to get to. Landel was another matter, but what he'd learned from Renamon about what he could possibly do added up. And also made him far more dangerous

[chippforprez]

A board in the Sun Room... Oh, he was talking about that big room with the open ceiling probably! Chipp thought he saw something like a board there, when he was circling that weird kind of blanket fort. He really ought to have taken another look at it, though maybe he could do that after lunch. Just a glance, since he couldn't think of anything to really write on it. Of course, he didn't think it was right to look at messages left for other people. Not unless it was messages he wanted to intercept, of course. As the ninja's mind continued to work in his mysterious ways, he tried to sort out exactly the kind of questions he had for Daemon, like why (or how) Landel left and was replaced with this other Aguilar idiot, and more about the outside and

[bastard_sadi]

"At least there's a familiar face for you," Daemon replied with a faint smile, looking a little more relieved. he hoped whoever this Venom was, he could look after Chipp. Not that Chipp might not be capable of doing that himself, but Daemon had a protective streak in him for his friends.

...And Chipp had managed to get himself set on fire within hours of waking here. Something told Daemon this one might need a little looking out for.

At the man's question, his smile faded a little. "I did. There were some here when I first arrived. This place, though... they did something to me. I'm missing time. A couple weeks. I went to bed one night and woke up almost a month later. Everyone I'd known and met and worked with was gone. I don't know if they got out, or if they're held somewhere. I don't know what they thought if I vanished on them with no warning like I did. So... I've had to start from scratch again. Last night was my first night back out again."

[chippforprez]

Missing time? Chipp looked just as confused as Daemon did, but that confused look turned into a worried one as he considered the implications of what the guy just said. So he was asleep for a month... and in the meantime, everyone he knew had gotten out of this place one way or another. That sounded exceptionally harsh, and Chipp also had to wonder why Daemon had been knocked out in the first place. A coma? Or did the military do that to him? He looked sympathetic for a moment, before nodding once to show he got the message

[bastard_sadi]

"I'm very good at keeping my 'shit' together, even when thrown surprises," Daemon chuckled, his voice wry, looking as if he didn't mind Chipp's words. In truth, he still felt a gaping hole whenever he thought of how much he was missing. His father and Lucivar. The others that had briefly appeared from home. Ren. River. Renji.

His Jewels, he mentally added, thumb rubbing absently over his ring finger where his Birthright Red normally rested.

He shared Chipp's frustration, watching as the man tried to vent it, but there was nowhere for it to go. Not yet. "You may have to get in line," Daemon chuckled, but the sound held little humor. It hinted at violence smoldering just below the surface, however. A deep icy rage just waiting for an outlet. "They won't be allowed to continue their game. They will make a mistake somewhere. No one is perfect, not for long. You're not the only one who's vowed to leave this place a rubble."