Day 36: Waiting Room/Lobby 2

[notachick]

Okita hadn't been expecting it when his nurse suddenly appeared in the Game Room. He'd expected to be left alone like last week, but instead she gently took him by the arm and told him he needed to say goodbye to Kaden for now. Okita assumed it was time for his visitor and waved goodbye to him, only to be led off himself. The swordsman had

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[human_sponge]

By the time Peter had made it to the waiting room with his nurse, his stomach was bunching up due to nerves. Nathan disappearing from this place was one thing, but having to face him under these circumstances just couldn't end well

[damned_visitors]

Harrison Campbell was a busy man, and he showed this through the business suit cut to fit his figure and the souped-up phone in the palm of his hand. He showed off both as he walked into the waiting room, in the process of finishing up an email when he looked up from the screen to see his kid brother slumped in a chair.

He rolled his eyes, holstering the phone and walking towards him.

"You've made a hell of a mess out of things, you know that, Ethan?" he snapped as quietly as he could.

[human_sponge]

There was no denying that Nathan had a certain presence, and there really wasn't any way to miss him when he entered a room. So Peter caught sight of his brother right as he stepped inside, taking in his clean-cut, well-groomed image and struck by how familiar it was.

This was the Nathan he was used to, rather than the worn-down, scruffy person he'd met here at Landel's. Unfortunately, all of this was still fake, and he knew his brother would have hated knowing that his mind had been tampered with like this. It was like taking a backward step

[damned_visitors]

"Would you please cut it out with that 'Nathan' crap?" Harrison hissed, looking over his shoulder. Under his breath, he added: "You'd think they'd let us do these things privately..."

After a second, he shook his head and looked back to Ethan. "Whatever. Anyway, I came back to my senses is what happened, which," he reached for his brother's shoulder and grasped it firmly, "is what you should be doing, Ethe."

[runner_up_robot]

One of the nurses had, of course, helped Forte up after his leg cramped, and led him inside. He cursed loudly on the way inside, wondering just why this body couldn't have come with a manual or some instructions. There was always some little thing he didn't know. At least when he was a robot, he had Wily to do all the upkeep and repairs.

Forte had heard something about visitors, and there was some talk about them on the communication board, but he didn't pay any particular attention because he knew no-one would visit him - whether this was some kind of prison or research facility, even if someone knew he was here, none would care.

So, when the nurse said he should act more civilized for his family, he was confused. She led him into a room down the hall from the one he'd walked through the night before, and sat him down at a table to wait for his 'visitor.'

[damned_visitors]

It became apparent whom the nurse was referring to when a man walked up to the table, but didn't sit down. Instead, he seemed quite content with looking down on Forte with an unreadable expression. It wasn't hateful, but it wasn't welcoming, either. He seemed to be inspecting Forte, instead.

"You look well enough," the man finally concluded before his eyes narrowed slightly. "I suppose you still don't remember who I am, don't you?"

[runner_up_robot]

Forte jumped to his feet, slamming his hands on the table. He snarled, "So you did have something to do with this, old man."

[damned_visitors]

The man didn't seem at all perturbed by Forte's reaction, not even flinching at the sudden movement; instead, he smirked softly. "I had nothing to do with you going insane and getting committed, boy. You did that all on your own."

"You still think I'm that 'Dr. Wily' person." It wasn't a question.

[innovator_skuld]

So much for talking to Hughes. Skuld was a little... apprehensive as she waited; why would Belldandy visit? Technically it could be Urd or Peorth, too, but she kind of had a feeling.

Maybe she's checking up on me? This is a lot different than most tests... like, a whole lot longer. For starters. She hoped she was doing well enough--she hadn't missed a night of weapon-making yet, after all.

She was disappointed to see that Artemis wasn't here, since she'd been hoping to introduce Belldandy to him. Of course, if Urd came too, maybe that wouldn't have been such a great idea anyway...

[damned_visitors]

It bothered Astrid that visiting hours were only once a week, at Landel's Institute. She did understand, intellectually, that the patients needed isolation and time alone with their doctors and nurses in order to get better, but it was agonising not being able to see her little sister more often. But the day had finally come, and now Astrid was about to see precious Dalia again for the first time since she had been taken away.

Usually so unflappable, Astrid found herself wringing her hands just slightly as the nurse guided her over to Dalia. Would there be noticeable improvement? Could she take Dalia home soon? The doctors were vague, but hopeful...

[innovator_skuld]

There she was. "Onee-sama!" Skuld ran the last few steps between them and hugged her. She'd sworn to be strong, but she felt herself shaking just a little.

"I've missed you so much..." she managed to pull away enough to look into Belldandy's eyes, and tried to smile. "It is--kind of hard here," she confided in a whisper. "Give me a hint how much longer I've got?" At least the next part was about to begin; she kind of would have expected Lind, or at least Peorth, but the familiar face of her sister was preferred, anyway. Okay, I've been making weapons, but other than that I've mostly been staying in my room at night. What else is she going to tell me to do?

[damned_visitors]

Well, that just about broke Astrid's heart! She hugged her little sister close, feeling that faint tremble, and made a soft noise of dismay. "Oh, my poor Dalia. I wish I knew. It all depends on how well the doctors think you're doing."

Astrid stroked her sister's dark hair gently and tried to nudge her towards a chair. "Shall we sit while we talk, Dalia?" She of course didn't mind if Dalia wanted to sit in her lap, though the girl was really a bit big for it, but Astrid would prefer to be sitting down just in case Dalia had one of those awful panic attacks.

[brightlyshine]

A visitor? But that didn't make sense... She'd barely been here three days and she didn't know anyone in this world. Elena was more than a little confused. And Reno and Rude were already here, so who else would..?

The nurse said that she was in for a surprise, so Elena allowed herself to be escorted into the waiting room, studying the layout and looking for anything that would make a useful container for their mission tonight.

[damned_visitors]

She wasn't made to wait long. Her visitor was a man who was never late to an appointment, and that applied even in a case like this.

Wearing a suit that was in perfect order, with not a single wrinkle, he crossed the room, barely sparing a glance to any of the other patients. They weren't his concern, and this was more or less a routine check-up in his eyes. This girl was his responsibility in one way or another - perhaps he wasn't as fitting of a visitor as a family member might have been, but apparently no one else had been available.

His hair was neat without a strand out of place, and he was the image of confidence despite the unknown territory he had just stepped into. He didn't know what Lauren was doing, as she appeared to be looking around the room in a daze, but it seemed to indicate that she was still acting like herself to an extent.

He drew up to her side, and not wanting to startle her, he cleared his throat to get her attention.

[brightlyshine]

Despite his warning to approach her, Elena still couldn't stop her gasp of surprise as she jumped to attention at her visitor's approach. In her excitedness, she reached out to grab his hand.

"Tseng! What are you doing here? You've come to get us out, right? Do Reno and Rude know that you've come? Maybe I should go tell them! Or are we meeting to plan the escape first? I was so worried that Kadaj had hurt you the last time that..."

Oh. By the time her brain caught up with the rest of her body, she realized that she was being highly unprofessional. With a quick apology she dropped the hand, assuming a more professional straight posture.

"Er, sorry, sir. So what's the plan?"

[damned_visitors]

When Lauren grabbed for his hand, the man did look rather startled - but unlike the girl, he managed to keep his composure and held back a gasp.

It seemed that she was glad to see him, though he guessed any link to the outside world would be like a breath of fresh air to someone stuck in this place. Her behavior was out of line, but that wasn't nearly as troubling as the babbling she immediately fell into.

He had been given some idea of what her condition was, of course, but dealing with it face-to-face was something else entirely. His expression hardened, as he wasn't one to show pity or distress no matter the circumstances.

"There is no plan," he said, drawing his hand back once she released it and placing it in his pocket. "You're not well, Lauren. I've come to see you on orders, and I can't imagine anyone would want you trying to escape this place." Instead, she should have been working with the doctors to get better, but perhaps she didn't understand that. Just how far gone was she?

[littlegoblinjr]

Thanks to Brock getting him sedated, it took Harry a while to remember that he was supposed to have a visitor. Who the hell would be coming to see him? Peter was already here and he was sure MJ wouldn't be visiting him. Maybe it was Bernard? If it was, maybe he could convince him to get Peter and him out of there

Addled by the drugs and distracted by the possibility of leaving, it took Harry a while to notice the nurse was scolding him. Tuning in he heard her say "You be on your best behaviour, now. No more causing trouble or he'll think you're not happy to see him."

Sitting down heavily, Harry waited expectantly to see Bernard, barely aware of his surroundings thanks to the fog dulling his mind.

[damned_visitors]

"Yes, up by three percent," the voice said as he approached. "Couldn't be happier. I have another project in the works but I can't reveal too much until we have a working prototype."

His father, Norman Oswell, placed a hand on his shoulder as he stepped by and took a seat across from him, talking into a small black cell phone. "Yes, well, I can't leak anything here. I'm visiting my son, you see, but I think our investors will be very happy once we're ready to unveil it."

[littlegoblinjr]

Harry's head jerked up when he heard Norman's voice. Staring in shock as his father walked over and touched his shoulder - and he felt the contact. It seemed too solid to be a hallucination. Sluggishly looking around, he tried to figure out if anyone else could see Norman, or it was just him.

Not getting anything from the other patients or the staff keeping watch, he turned back to his father - and didn't that seem just like him, to be on the phone to someone or other even when he was just a hallucination.

Swallowing nervously, Harry tried to collect his more-scattered-than-usual wits. Even when he wasn't sure if he was real or not, his father always made him feel nervous. "D-dad?" he stuttered out uncertainly. "Is that really you?"

[damned_visitors]

"Just a second, son," Norman said to Harry while holding his hand over the speaker of the phone, then again addressed the whoever was on the phone. "Oh, nothing, I'm just visiting with my son. Alright then, here's what I want you to do. Start leaking about this new prototype to our competitors, but make it look like something to do with a new polymerized plastic using polyoctylene. Yes, yes, I know they're going to question such an unstable compound, but their scientists aren't as good as ours and they know it. We want to keep them off our backs, and if they think they know what we're doing it will keep them from sticking their noses where it doesn't belong, and you know that eventually someone's going to find out about it. This should just slow them down so that by the time they do find out what we're up to it will be too late..."