Day 16 - Therapy Room 2

[thermal_shift]

He didn't like the way they were being moved around today. It was all too much, too fast, especially with all the new people being announced. It made his wonder what the staffer were trying to keep them all distracted from. Then there was this lockdown thing they claimed was for repairs. He looked around the empty room he'd been escorted into with

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[snake_bites]

When Martel woke, she found herself strapped securely into a wheelchair. There was a certain numbness to her limbs, and the nurse that had greeted her in her room appeared before her, another syringe poised between her fingers. This one, however, was empty. The nurse smiled at her, tucking the needle away.

"Now, Miss Williams, I've given you a little something to wake you up, all right? I'm going to bring you to the therapy room, where you can meet a few of the other patients, doesn't that sound fun? As long as you promise to behave, we won't have to take you back to your room!" The nurse said brightly, walking behind her and grabbing the wheelchair. Without waiting for any of Martel's replies, she pushed her a short distance down the hall.

The nurse swung the door open and wheeled Martel into the room, which, to her surprise, was mostly empty, aside form the single figure slouched in his chair. She scowled slightly to herself. She did not want to meet the other crazies they kept here. And she certainly did not want to go to any

[snake_bites]

She stared at him silently for a moment. "Of course I am." She replied with a frown. "Where else would I be from?" She laughed slightly at him. He was being ridiculous. When they were obviously in... Wait a minute, where were they? Martel frowned to herself, looking over at the odd pair across the room. They certainly did not seem normal, either.

She glanced back at Ashi as he freed her. She grinned to herself, standing and stretching a bit. That felt good. Especially since she hadn't stretched when she'd first woken up. She pulled her arms over her head and let out a contented sigh. She quite suddenly felt sympathetic towards the poor disabled people who spent their whole lives in a wheelchair

[thermal_shift]

"No one knows exactly. Part of the problem with trying to get away, but if you talk to people you'll find out that they're from a lot of different places." He moved back to his seat, hands folding carefully in his lap as he watched her. 'This place has a way of taking what you think you know and dumping it on it's head."

[snake_bites]

They didn't know where they were. One of Martel's first ideas would have been to pinpoint her location and go from there. Find outside sources, escape routes, study the surrounding area... But, this, well. This put a damper on her plans.

It appeared that typical military tactics would not work in this situation.

"What kinds of places?" She asked, cocking her head to te side, slightly. "Are they... Strange? Like, different countries?" The other two occupants of the room seemed to have an exotic flavor to them, when she glanced over again. They definitely not from Amestris.

'What you know and dumping it on it's head'... Huh. Another cryptic answer. She pressed her lips together. What did she know? She knew about fighting and war and the military and chimeras and homunculi and she knew this place was utterly insane. Martel sighed and tilted her head back, looking up at the ceiling.

"... Where do the monsters come from?"

[thermal_shift]

"Some might, but most seem to come from very far away indeed. Plenty have never even heard of Amestria or alchemists. For instance, would you recognize the name of an island called Ja Pan? And from what I've overheard they can be very strange by our standards."

He frowned at the last question, slouching down in the chair. "I'm not entirely sure, but it looks like they're based on normal creatures and just… twisted. Made bigger and meaner and harder to kill. At night the rats are as big as cats and you don't want to know how big the cats get."

[snake_bites]

"Ja Pan?" She repeated, rolling the word around on her tongue. It sounded odd and utterly out of place. What kind of person named their country after a cooking utensil? Martel shook her head and heaved a sigh. She had to wonder if there were a lot of people from this place. And if they were any good at cooking.

She glanced over at Ashi, as he flopped into a chair. Personally, Martel was in no mood to sit again, but her legs felt as wobbly as jello. Probably from lack of use. Even so, she remained standing, firmly defying gravity's pull.

"These creatures..." She muttered, and paused. She turned to Ashi again, cocking her head to the side. "Are they like chimeras?" She asked. If they were, Martel couldn't help feeling an odd sort of kinship with them.

[thermal_shift]

He looked up at her sharply, frowning. "How would I know? That sort if thing is mostly forbidden. Even if the state conveniently forgot that for a while." He shook his head and looked away. "They don't look like mixes, but I very much doubt they're natural."

[snake_bites]

She stared at him silently for a moment. He knew about the state's illegal drabblings in creating chimeras? She bit her lower lip and looked away from him. Was he from the military? All the answers seemed to point to that. She supposed that wasn't really the issue. The issue was, could she trust him?

It was then her gaze landed on the patient that had most recently arrived. A hollow young woman, with rumbled clothing and wild hair. She laughed sightly. "Are there actual crazy people here, too?"

[thermal_shift]

He looked over at the dark haired woman, frowning slightly as he studied her. "Not the sort they claim we are, but they take all sorts. I'm not sure about that one. She seems to be new. She may just be drugged or in shock, probably drugged if she gave the nurses a fight."

[snake_bites]

Martel laughed. "Putting up a fight, eh? She looks like she'd break if you brushed against her too hard." She replied, shaking her head. "I tried to strangle a nurse, and I don't look that bad..." She paused for a moment, suddenly self-conscious. Her hair was as short, so there was no way it could be messy or askew. Of course she looked perfectly sane. She supposed being pushed in bound to a wheelchair passed for crazy... But she didn't look that bad, did she?

"Hey," she added after a moment. "Do you wanna go talk to them?" She jerked a thumb at the crazy woman and the man she was speaking to.

[thermal_shift]

He looked back at the pair consideringly for a moment, then shook his head. "I think I’m just going to watch for a bit, see if anyone else I know ends up in here. No reason that should stop you though. It's good to have allies around here."

[snake_bites]

Martel cocked her head to the side and laughed sightly. He was all right, she supposed. He'd given her some information on the crazy house, after all. And he hadn't been entirely unhelpful either, she thought, with a glance at her wheelchair. She'd consider him a "friend" or "ally" as he'd so aptly described relationships within the institution. She smiled at him.

"Suit yourself." She replied, shrugging. "Thanks for your help though," she added as an after thought. "You're all right." She gave him a mock salute and made her way over to the other pair.