Day 41: Breakfast

[oftemptation]

Endrance turned his head to look at the intercom, giving it a look that would wither an entire rose garden in an instant. He would never get used to ending up in his room again from somewhere else in the Institute

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[bitpartgod]

In the short time since he had woken up, Kibitoshin had learned several things. The first of these was that he was not dreaming. The second of these was that he was in some kind of mental asylum.

The third of these was that there had been a terrible, terrible mistake.

The nurse who had found him was very kind, showing him around and explaining to him that he was here to get better. But he wasn’t insane, was he? A little highly strung, he could admit that, but… but not crazy! Hopefully the note he’d left on the bulletin board would let whoever ran this place know that something wasn’t right. There was no point in panicking just yet. It was all just a big misunderstanding, right

[bitpartgod]

Kibitoshin broke into a sunny smile. Now that was something he could say about himself! Or, at least, he hoped he could... "I may not be as strong as Goku or Ve- ah, anyone else I know, but I'm no pushover! Well," he added swiftly, "I like to think I'm not." Whether anyone else would agree was another story. "Can you?"

Even if Javert didn't look like a fighter, that didn't mean that he couldn't fight at all. That was easy enough to understand. Or maybe he was a master of the mind, like Piccolo? He must have been doing something right to be okay after three weeks in a place like this, at any rate.

[unmocked_lawr]

Javert snorted slightly. "Well enough to stay alive." It was easier now that he'd gotten something actually resembling a proper weapon; spending the first two weeks swinging ineffectually at anything and nothing with a scrap metal bat hadn't exactly been the best of times.

"That's something I haven't talked about - Nightshift. What happens during the day is something of a nuisance, but one gets used to the nurses' pitying glances and the doctors telling one that one is hopelessly mad. At night, though, the patient doors unlock and we're permitted to roam free in the Institute." A dry laugh. "The only catch is that some patients are taken for experimentation; some are brainwashed, given their powers back, and told to fight against their fellow patients; and horrific monsters are set loose on all and sundry. Hence my question."

[bitpartgod]

It had been going so well. Javert had sounded smart enough to be reliable and trustworthy, and maybe even strong enough to not have to worry about. And then, just when Kibitoshin had thought things might be okay, he'd dropped a bombshell on him. Experimentation. Brainwashing. Monsters. Kibitoshin's blood pressure soared.

"What?!" he spluttered, voice shooting up by several octaves, "You... you can't be serious! There's got to be some way of escaping, there just has to be! That's just plain sadistic! Who in the galaxy would do something like that?!" He shook his head furiously. "I can't believe this! How am I ever going to get out of here in one piece?" The question wasn't rhetorical; staring desperately across at the table, the Kaioshin seemed to be willing Javert to have some kind of answer for him.

Splash. He'd just hit the bottom of the well.

[unmocked_lawr]

This time, Javert had been expecting the other man's reaction.

"Calm down," he said sharply. He wasn't smiling now. "I'm not going to say there's a definite way of escaping just yet, because if there is one, we don't know about it. But we're looking. Letting us loose still gives us the opportunity to search the institute, regardless of what Landel throws in our way. I've heard some patients have even managed to get outside of the building, though they still find themselves returned to their rooms come morning."

He fiddled unconsciously with the fork in his hand. "Those patients who were here before me have formed various organizations to deal with exploration and the like in a more efficient manner. If you see any advertisements for clubs on the bulletin board in the Sun Room, those are the organizations in question. I'd advise lending your services to one; you can make allies and travel relatively safely at night if you do."

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[bitpartgod]

The reaction was equally sharp. In an instant, Kibitoshin was sitting bolt upright in his chair and listening hard, trying his very best to project the very picture of a dutiful servant. “Y-yes, sir! I’m sorry, sir!” Under the table, however, his hands were clenched tightly, white knuckles out of Javert’s line of sight. No need to ruin a good image, after all…

“R-right. I guess I could do that. I think.” But what services would he have to offer to them? Especially since he couldn’t even use his instantaneous transmission anymore, and hadn’t that been his only major job back home? Glorified intergalactic taxi driver? “Umm… not pry, sir, but what have you been doing since you arrived? I can’t imagine you’ve been doing the same sort of thing every night. Not that I’m saying it would be boring or anything, but…” Great. Talking about being bored in a place like this. Really mature. If the Elder Kaioshin had been here he'd have him doing laps for weeks.

Re: [repost for html fail argh]

[unmocked_lawr]

Probably a soldier, or whatever the non-Earth equivalent of that was. At least it sounded as if Javert was being believed, which was saying something, considering he wasn't exactly giving the other man time to react properly. Definitely time to ease up from the sound of it.

"It tends to vary nightly. Sometimes I've done exploring on my own or with others; sometimes I've collected supplies or files from rooms upstairs. My pet project at the moment is investigating the experimental treatments that take place every other night." Which finally seemed to be taking off after nights of fruitless exploration. "If you're at all capable of defending yourself, I'm sure you'll be able to help in a variety of ways. What powers did you have before you arrived here?"

[bitpartgod]

It certainly sounded as though Javert kept himself busy at nights. And maybe, with everyone in the room all working at the same kind of thing, there really was some kind of hope for him

[unmocked_lawr]

"Quite a list." Javert's eyebrow raised. To be honest, he hadn't expected such an extensive range of capabilities. No doubt some or all of them had been weakened here, but it was still impressive.

Briefly he wondered when he had started thinking of the existence of mystical powers as 'impressive' as opposed to, say, 'preposterous' or 'ridiculous.' This place did do bizarre things to people.

The look on Kibitoshin's face said enough. "Powers a bit dulled now, are they?"

[bitpartgod]

"Y-yeah..." Kibitoshin nodded weakly. "I can't believe I didn't notice until now." And that begged the question of what powers he had left. It would be tough to check now, but if the night more open, like Javert said it was, he could always try then. Oh, why couldn't Goku have been here?!

Swallowing down his concern, he just about managed to give the man a grateful smile. "Thank you, sir! You've been very helpful. If there's anything I can do for you anytime, just ask!"

Not that he wouldn't have been able to do it better anyway, most likely, but it was always polite to offer.

[unmocked_lawr]

Javert shook his head slightly. "There's no need for recompense. It's simply best if everyone knows what's going on. If you've any more questions, feel free to ask me. Good luck, M. Kibitoshin."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his nurse approaching. With a final nod to Kibitoshin, he stood up and left with her.