Day 49: Late Evening

[damned_intercom]

Although the trip was longer than usual on account of the rain and wind, the buses did eventually - and safely - reach Landel's Institute. No strange happenings yet; the patients were escorted off the buses according to the usual protocol and made to go to their rooms and change back into their normal uniforms while the nurses temporarily left them

Comments

M50

[unheroed]

Getting to keep that bus seat all to himself had left him pathetically relieved. Since when did not being bothered by someone on a bus ride count as the highlight of his day? Since he'd arrived here, he supposed. Just that bare fact was enough to annoy Harvey, though, and he frowned to himself as he marched back through the hallways of the institute toward his so-called room.

Good, he'd made it there first. He was quick to throw off both clothing and bandages (bandages first, always), and was in a fresh outfit in no time. The uniform was still unflattering and downright stupid, but dry was dry

[herr_inspektor]

All in all, a disappointing day. Now that he knew there was a camera outside of the doctor's office blocking his entrance, as far as he was concerned there was little of use in the town- to him, at least. For supplies and equipment he was sure it was extremely useful, but when it came to making actual progress in terms of information

[unheroed]

It looked like Jones didn't have too much to worry about, seeing how Harvey got to watch his roommate walk in and take his seat as if nothing was wrong. Both of them knew that wasn't the case, and yet it looked like Lunge was doing his best to pretend nonetheless. Maybe the man thought he wouldn't ask for politeness' sake, but Harvey wasn't that kind of guy. Even before his injury and everything that had come with it, he would have wanted to know

[herr_inspektor]

And blunt he was. Dent was in with his questions before Lunge even had a chance to start on his dinner. The fork paused over his plate. Slowly, he turned his eyes onto the man in a flat, impassive stare. "I don't remember the first part clearly- I would have thought that you could tell me that

[unheroed]

So Lunge did have things that got to him, if his avoidance of the question was anything to judge by. Harvey eyed him for a moment and shrugged. There wasn't much to tell about the side of the story that he'd been witness to. "They came in, sedated you, and took you away. There's not much more to it than that." He knew better than to try and go up against those orderlies, though he was curious about what would have happened if he'd pulled a gun on the burly men. Not that he'd ever take that sort of risk for Lunge's sake, but it was something to keep in mind if they ever came for him.

Even though he was annoyed by Lunge's question, he could understand the logic behind it. The two of them had barely exchanged words in their times as roommates, and the few that they had exchanged had bordered on hostile. Why play the curious roommate now

[herr_inspektor]

In and out. Lunge didn't think there would be much more to it, but it was worth knowing- the more solid an image of the evening he built up, the more certain he was that he would be able to deliver a fully believable account of it once he was out of the Institute. Details were key; they provided the little touches that often decided how true a story was for many people, the stranger the more likely in many cases

[unheroed]

So that was how it was going to be. Harvey stared at the drink which he'd set on his desk for a moment, trying to decide if any of this was worth it. Yes, the information would be helpful, and this was the largest reaction he'd gotten out of Lunge since they'd first been put together as roommates. But was it worth it, to give out information like that just to hear the story

[herr_inspektor]

The offer was too good to refuse- that ws precisely how Lunge had planned it. For one thing, he had phrased it as a very careful peace offering (even if it wasn't entirely heartfelt just yet). For another, he'd even given Dent options to choose from, as though he were actually offering the man some sort of freedom or power in the matter. Whatever the answer, he would find out something about both options- if he told him what he was hiding, it implied that the story behind those injuries was just as horrendous as it looked to be. If he told him about the scars, whatever he was hiding was so important that it would be worth searching the room for when he wasn't there.

Dent seemed to settle on the first option with relative ease and went straight for the bed; so it's a difficult story for you. Unsurprising. Facial injuries are the most personal of all- whatever did that to you must have truly hated you, to be willing to warp your identity so thoroughly. You've taken the bandages away now, though. Have you embraced it, then?As for what

[unheroed]

It wasn't much of a reaction that he got from Lunge, which was either good or bad. Could he really trust the man? Harvey was pretty good at telling when someone was lying, and he got the feeling that Lunge wasn't, at least not at this moment. He eyed the man for a second or two, trying to pick him apart, but he was already well aware that he didn't know enough about him to do that

[herr_inspektor]

The gun went back under the mattress, out of sight but not out of mind. Even taking it for one night was out of the question- Lunge was almost positive Dent would count the rounds left every night, now. Maybe Doyleton wasn't quite as useless as he'd first thought- though finding something of his own there relied almost entirely on their being trapped there again in a week's time, which in turn relied on him even being here then. Progress always seemed to rely on something out of his control, ifs and buts he couldn't wrangle into submission himself. And so they continued to be drip-fed information and ideas, all the while unable to divide fact from fiction, while more questions and possibilities opened up every day

[unheroed]

Eidetic memory. It wasn't exactly common, but Harvey had of course heard of it. It came up from time to time on cases, though usually people were lying about having it. He doubted that was the case with Lunge, though. He was too severe of a person to start making boasts that weren't one-hundred percent true. But that was a handy skill for a detective to have. In fact, that perfect memory was probably why he'd picked the job in the first place