Day 58: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of

Comments

[blood_and_pocky]

[closed for Aigis!]

Objectively speaking, Aidou shouldn't have been surprised that the Institute promoted arbitrary death matched under its floors. When one had power and limitless depravity, what was ensaring one's captives in an overglorified piece of theatre? The basement trials, all of them, the labyrinth, the talking sphinx, the hall of weapons, they'd all had a theme, and that was to test whoever went through them. So no, he shouldn't have been surprised that they had culminated in bloodshed. Blood was the foundation upon which the Institute stood, when all things were said and done.

Knowing that didn't lessen the crime.

The noble wouldn't have died for Sai, and Sai hadn't died for him, but the human had been made a sacrifice for his companions all the same. A wasted death. No matter who would've found it easiest to kill, no matter who would've found it easiest to die, it was all just... a waste. And the blame was all on this place

[no_dont_go]

Aigis didn't remember much more beyond blacking out the night before. The silent tears that had stained and dried on her cheeks, leaving her feeling empty inside as she clutched the Evoker to her chest. Minato was gone. The impossibility of her leader truly having fallen to the institute's lies had left her on the breaking point

[blood_and_pocky]

Cursed soldiers! They were puppets, had been puppets all along, but Aidou still felt it difficult to look at them, more than usual. He wasn't entirely sure if it was out of disgust or... wariness. Even the puppets were pushing the limits of sense, pushing the them farther and farther back with every strike they launched against the prisoners. But he was breaking the rules by not sitting and eating like an obedient subordinate. Like nothing had happened

[no_dont_go]

Aigis took her time swallowing the gruel, still finding its consistency foul to her tastes. It may have seemed as though she were taking her time to answer him, but really, it was only that she was having difficulties getting the stuff down.

Having taken that challenge up and met the goal, Aigis finally managed to turn her full attention to the vampire beside her. "I am only a problem if you wish to make me out as such."

What had she been doing lately? It was hard to define. She smiled slightly, grimly. "Surviving. Trying to keep from falling to this place." She paused, turning her eyes away. Her voice softened and became a whisper. "... Dealing with lost friends."

She gave him a thoughtful, questioning look at his last inquiry. "It has been two days since we last spoke. That would make today Monday, I believe." She hardly thought the day of the week was altogether important to know, but he seemed to honestly care about the answer. Had something happened to make him forget recently?

[blood_and_pocky]

He stared her down, his attempt at stifling the urge to leap up from his chair belied by his eyes, which were a little too bright and iron hard. The night had reminded him a little too much of Akatsuki's disappearance, and he couldn't quite contain those thoughts

[no_dont_go]

His insistence that she was a problem gnawed a bit at her patience. She was doing what she could to uphold her end of their armistice. She had not outright attacked him or defied his nature. She had won little solace from him that day, so she believed she was at least owed a little good faith if nothing else

[blood_and_pocky]

The noble felt like slapping the table repeatedly in his impatience. Maybe just breaking it in half altogether. Not informed of anything? Like he believed that! It was just another loose end he would have to deal with on his own time, one that traced back to its source: the Institute, and its new dictator, Aguilar.

"Let's just drop the pretenses!" he interjected. "She had to have recognized your wound. What did you tell her?"

Because they both knew who had fed on her. He couldn't imagine the other girl, Ayanami, keeping her mouth shut in the face of such a blatant coincidence. His stomached pinched uncomfortably at the thought, not because of the consequences of his feeding activities--which, in the aftermath of the last two nights, were paltry things to be concerned about--but because of all the sour connections being created and broken by this imprisonment. Ayanami had talked to Sakura, too, and Sakura was... Regardless, the investigation would be the last thing on her mind, wouldn't it

[no_dont_go]

He was insufferably paranoid, but in a twisted way Aigis could appreciate that level of paranoia. A threat to one's own safety was normal, human. Even if Aidou was a different being altogether, his reactions to a possible threat were just the same as any creature. And it also meant he had a weakness. He feared strength in numbers, perhaps

[blood_and_pocky]

The Institute had heightened his dislike of not knowing things by ten fold, but Aidou had little qualms about denying others information. After scouring her mien for the truth of her words, he was content believing that Aigis probably hadn't told this friend of hers where to look for her vampire attacker. So that girl was likely still tangled up in her own suspicions, the same with the girl in front of him.

That gave him a small reprieve. He wouldn't have to deal with infuriated females throwing themselves at him today--at least over his feeding. That just left... everything else.

Everything else, plus one unexpected death.

Ugh, the daylight hurt... But if anything, the growing pressure behind his eyes just made him more restless. That boy, Sai, he was dead but the rest of them still had to go on and ensure their captors paid all of their debts, including every coliseum battle they'd staged so far. With more to come if people keep going down there."Because Landel was finally in a position to give the gift," the noble added,

[no_dont_go]

At least he seemed to drop the subject of Rei. Aigis would rather not have her involved with her issues with Aidou, if possible. She had an Evoker now, so she could handle him better if it came to blows, but she didn't need the extra distraction of her friends getting involved.

... and suddenly, Junpei's issues with Evangeline became incredibly easy for Aigis to understand. How had she been so blind to his reasoning until now?

So Aidou seemed to have a general idea of what had gone on. At least about the first part. His vehement dislike for Aguilar was a little surprising for Aigis, but she felt similar sentiment. Aguilar was not better than Landel. They were two face to the same coin, even if their strategies were dissimilar.

Aigis physically drew back when Aidou's rage reared up again. She caught sight of his fangs and her eyes narrowed slightly, almost imperceptibly. "It is as I said. There are now drug challenges to anyone foolish enough to take the bait." She certainly wasn't one of those people.

[blood_and_pocky]

The vampire barely noticed her reaction, too caught up in the coil of helpless energy that plagued him without his powers. Even so, his lip lowered over his fangs again, concealing them from sight.

"I heard you, I heard you! But is that what he said, he'd reward people who let themselves be experimented on?"

Bitterly, a part of him knew he was doing exactly what he shouldn't--bristling at Aguilar's challenges. But how was he not supposed to!? First Landel and his regime, and now this!? There was no end to it. He hadn't even cared for the human, but Sai had died for such a stupid reason, for this ongoing reward system.

Why was nothing working to take these people down, damn it?

[no_dont_go]

"Yes," she responded rather patiently, despite his continued aggravated tone. "He said the reward would be a pin or a 'fitting' weapon." How the pin versus weapon selection was handled and how they deemed a weapon 'fitting' was beyond her imagination. It could just as easily be a lie for all she knew. In fact, she didn't doubt there was some deception going on there, but she hadn't been foolish enough to fall into their little trap. Neither would she ever try, even if they promised to give her back her full body again for keeps.

"You seem agitated today." It was an understatement, but she felt it needed to be said. "Getting worked up will only draw negative attention to yourself from the staff." She also didn't want to get drawn into his punishment if they were thought to be causing a scene together. She had experienced sedation once. She didn't need to do so a second time and only by association.

[blood_and_pocky]

It was an effort to not toss his beret across the room, knowing it was a part of the reward system he was so disgusted with. Privileges or a weapon. Trinkets, either way. Hardly worth ingesting some untried and untested "medicine." The food... the food was one thing. People couldn't survive without eating the Institute's meals. But willingly jumping at the chance to have them experiment on you during the nightshifts?

He thought about Kyon and his forced transformation into a vampire and felt his appetite become more curdled than before.

The noble brought his hand to his mouth, pressing his fangs against the edge of his crooked forefinger while he thought. Was this going to be an ongoing thing? This medical wing crap?

His gaze flicked to her face and away again multiple times as if not fully processing the addendum she tacked onto the end of her explanation. Until the moment he did, dropping his hand to give her a harried look. "Of course. I think I have a right to be!" Well, of course, she didn't know what had happened, but it

[no_dont_go]

Aigis bit off a remark about how he was no more entitled to feel that way over anyone else held captive here. It seemed pursuing points that did not match up with Aidou's own would only cause arguments, and that was counter-productive. Instead, she forced another bite of porridge in her mouth and ingested it as quickly as possible.

Downstairs? She wasn't entirely certain what he was talking about. She tilted her head at his abrupt cut-off. "Please, go on." Perhaps it was just so horrific he could not recount it in words, but she was curious. She leaned forward in apprehension. "I would like to know, what happens downstairs? I was unaware of such a place."

[blood_and_pocky]

He gaped down at her, too stunned to mind how he looked. No way!

Before he could kick his brain into gear, he had to first elbow aside the deep-seated horror at finding something physically amiss with himself. Because there was something wrong, a disconnect between his brain and his mouth that was not at all natural. He gestured wildly with both arms as if he could force the words out by force of will alone, or at least get the girl to clue in.

No, no, no, this couldn't be a problem with speech alone, that didn't make any sense! Growling in his throat, he mentally retraced his steps.

"Downstairs!" the vampire blurted. "The basement.... right, the ballroom! The east and west doors. The trials. The armory..." Pulling random facts about the basement from memory was fine, there was no mental block. He could hear himself saying the words. But when he had been thinking about the Coliseum... "And then," he started, followed by...

... nothing!

If possible, Aidou grew paler. Jeez, he really couldn't say it out loud.

[no_dont_go]

Aigis could tell there was something wrong with Aidou, and it didn't seem like a natural thing for him to be this undignified. This place, it had to be Landel or Aguilar that were imposing these constraints upon him. The eloquence that he often used to tear into her was missing, and even in his anger she could not imagine Aidou losing that grace he generally carried around with him. Unfortunately, she didn't have any clue how they could be making this happen. She only knew it was possible for this place to manipulate a person's greatest strengths and turn them into weakness. It was the same for herself when using Athena, or even trying to run a simple area scan. It was pitiful, but a weakness everyone here shared