Timeline - Day 45
This is the day of the "real life" event, during which some patients have been successfully brainwashed to believe the Institute's story about their real lives. Daniel Laurier's file.
First Shift: Howl: "Daniel" wakes up and is, er, overcome by the error of his ways.
- He can't remember how his leg was injured, chalking up the events of NS as a dream.
- He tries to reject ideas and habits that he associates with his "L persona": basically, most of L's representative characteristics, like seating position and food preferences. (This is mostly because he's embarrassed to have been institutionalized -- that is, to have failed so completely -- and because he still values his relationship with Watari, who he thinks is his father and who he fears he has alienated. He misses Watari about as painfully as is possible for him, which is sort of brainwashed shorthand for what would ordinarily be his drive to get out of the Institute.)
- For the rest of the day, he attempts give-and-take in his interactions with others: instead of trying to lead the conversation in directions that will encourage them to reveal details about themselves, he's more of an active participant. He believes that this will help his recovery.
- He meets Howl in the cafeteria for breakfast. It becomes apparent that they have different memories of the last few days, and Daniel introduces himself.
- Daniel and Howl get into an argument about the Institute. Just about all of Howl's points are correct, but Daniel either explains them away or dismisses them outright.
Second Shift: Javert: Daniel makes a stop in the library, where he has to come to terms with the fact that Holmes, Dupin, and mystery novels in general are off his literary menu for the foreseeable future. The Hunchback of Notre Dame doesn't hold his interest. He asks to be moved to the Sun Room, where he chooses to sit next to Javert, who is going by the name Philip Hunt.
- Lots of business with a cat.
- Lingering upset from argument with Howl (not very specific, since we were backthreading that argument long after first shift ended). Humiliated, troubled, unusually fragile.
- Pain from combination of injury on right calf and an attempt to perch in a chair in the position usually associated with L.
- Remembers Javert's "detective club" message on the bulletin board earlier in the day. Daniel is deeply interested in the club but wonders whether he should stay away from it; he decides that involvement in it might de-glamorize law enforcement for him.
- Explains the basis of his delusions to Javert, but downplays any illegal actions. It's his third day there; he can't remember how he got there, and thinks his father might have hired people to bring him from Japan to Landel's.
- Javert asks about L without Daniel mentioning him, and also has a brief vision of L working with the NPA task force. Daniel's assumption is that Lunge outed him, after considering the idea that Javert is a plant by someone who wants to keep an eye on him.
- Daniel dismisses "L" entirely: imaginary, pointless, etc.
- Daniel suspects that "Hunt" is the guy who thinks he's Javert.
- Javert has been there for three weeks. He committed himself on the urging of a coworker after a suicide attempt. (Coworker is "John" -- Jean Valjean -- but this is not mentioned to Daniel.)
Third Shift: Sylar: Daniel skipped most of breakfast due to his argument with Howl, so he helps himself to a vegetarian burrito and chips. Mexican food isn't as common in the UK as in the US (the closest Mexican restaurant to Winchester, at this writing, is more than a 30-minute drive away), and there's no reason to think that L has picked up a liking for it on his travels, so Daniel has little experience with it. He eats his burrito with a knife and fork, and tries to stack his chips, which are inferior for the purpose.
- The injury on his leg is bothering him, both because it's annoying and because it's unexplainable, but he decides to eat lunch instead of checking it out.
- An attempt at "alone time" was foiled by nurses. His tablemate is Zachary (Sylar), who is also under the effects of the RL event.
- Zachary is injured, but Daniel rejects the strong impulse to ask how or why. Instead, he makes awkward conversation, in an attempt to "show an interest in others." (Interacting with people instead of merely spying on them makes you 10% less of a creepy stalker, Daniel.)
- Things he learns about Sylar:
--- He's been at Landel's for two weeks.
--- He doesn't expect to go home anytime soon.
--- His delusion involved having superpowers.
--- He likes Mexican food.
- Things he reveals to Sylar:
--- It's his third day at Landel's and his first day of "sanity."
--- He would like to go home and see "his father" (Watari).
--- He is certain that he did something to merit hospitalization.
--- He is curious about progress that patients might make: "something empirical in the system."
--- He wonders if identity-based delusions are the specialty of the Institute.
Fourth Shift: Mello: Daniel, still looking for alone time, decides on a difficult, skill-based solitaire/patience game, Forty Thieves. (Note to self: there is some mild munfail in the mechanics of this game as described in the thread. Be more careful next time; maybe lay out the game itself?)
- Mello comes in; there is some back and forth, "You look like someone I knew," etc.
- Daniel recognizes Mello as "Michael," one of the boys at the children's home which his father sponsors; he doesn't understand why the age seems off.
- Essentially, Daniel believes Mello is there because he needs to be, suspects that some of it might be attributable to his own influence, and urges him to work towards sanity. An oblique mention of the Kira case is brushed off.
- Daniel decries the existence of L entirely; when Mello argues for it, Daniel begins to believe that it's a test of some kind, and he's more firm in his denial.
- Mello storms off, and Daniel feels a degree of pleasure at having shut him down and irritated him. (He's won his solitude for the rest of the shift, and, at least to an extent that satisfies him, he's made the point he was trying to make.)
Dinner: Sephiroth: Daniel wonders what happened to his roommate, Gale, and meets his new roommate, Sephiroth. He's unable to hide his curiosity, and eventually says hello.
- Sephiroth has unique coloring, and his bright greenish eyes are both unusual and similar to Gale's.
- As per the RL event, Daniel eats chicken teriyaki without complaint, though he still leans towards the other components of the dish.
- Sephiroth admits social awkwardness related to his inexperience with roommates.
- Daniel explains that he's only had a roommate for three days (insinuating that's how long he's been there) and makes equally awkward small talk.
- Daniel does not get Sephiroth's name.
Night Shift: Exploring the Ruins with Lunge
Due to the RL event, "Daniel" is under the following strictures:
Your character hears the doors unlock and is able to venture out into the hallways. However, unlike the other characters, they neither see nor are affected by any Nightshift antagonizers or atmospheric changes, and do not hear any of the Head Doctor's announcements. To them, the Institute appears as exactly as it is during the day, except with patients wandering around freely due to a malfunction in the security system (or some other mundane cause) and the orderlies and nurses being absent for some inexplicable reason. If you choose this option, monsters and antagonizers will ignore your character as if they aren't there at all and phase through them if they accidentally make contact. If any patients around your character are attacked, your character either perceives it as patients hurting themselves, attacking each other, or simply hallucinating - anything that would mundanely explain away their friends being knocked around. (Actual violence between patients they can see - minus any otherworldly abilities, of course.)
After dinner, Daniel writes in his journal and decides to take a nap. (Slight munfail here: he did not hear the second intercom announcement, as the event would have prevented it.)
M21-M30 Hallway (M26) - For various reasons, many of them involving disproving the rumors about the Institute, Daniel agrees to keep the plans they made before he "regained his sanity." He suspects that the greatest risk is that of being intercepted by a night nurse and sent back to bed.
M-A Block Hallway - Daniel begins to explain his current mindset to Lunge. He may not be deluded and immature enough to think he's L anymore, but the intelligence is still there.
West Wing, South Hall 1-A - He continues to explain his rationale for participating in what he thinks is a pointless jaunt. He both wants to disprove the silly rumors about the Institute, and attempt to develop his ability to be an empathetic friend to another person.
West Wing, North Hall 1-A - Coats are put on. It's cold outside!
Recreational Field - No, really, it's cold outside; Daniel wishes he had a hat, scarf, and gloves. He also notices the absence of the nurses, and wonders how they will get over the wall. Lunge's answer? Vines.
Outside the Institute - North - Lunge has a somewhat easier time getting over the wall than Daniel, who has a mysterious injury on his leg (a relic of NS 44). Daniel worries about the possibility that his injury will make him unable to get back into the Institute before morning.
Outside the Institute - East - Lunge attempts to question "get to know" Daniel, who is embarrassed about his psychological problems and does his best to change the topic.
Ruins - Daniel and Lunge reach their destination... or one of them does, at least. Daniel can't see a thing, and can walk right through the "walls" of the "church." Lunge is gobsmacked.
Ruins - Church - Daniel, getting tired of being asked what he sees when nothing is there except grass and rock, decides to take a seat on the ground.
Bulletin Posts:
Note:
This is proving to be pretty hard for me to play, because Daniel is turning out to be a lot more appalled with himself, embarrassed about screwing up enough to wind up in a psychiatric hospital, and therefore kind of emo, than I initially anticipated. Since it's just the "first day of sanity" for him, he's very serious and aggressive about his recovery, but not as much as he might have been after a few weeks. His self-esteem has taken a much larger hit than I expected it to.
He has no therapist helping him along yet, so he's trying to make decisions that might "help." These basically involve haphazard attempts to negate L's most characteristic traits and any temptation to re-adopt them. If he can do this, and extricate himself from the way the personalities have merged, L will go away forever and Daniel can live a normal life, or so he thinks at the moment.
Nonetheless, I think he's more embarrassed about winding up in the hospital and jeopardizing his relationship with his father (who is based on Watari) than about any particular thing he's done, and I think that, at heart, he would still love to be L if he could. He's just mad at L for doing something dumb enough to get them both caught, and he's good at denying his own inclinations when he thinks there's something to gain from it. Hopefully I'll be able to bring this out more throughout the day.
"Ignorance is not bliss; ignorance is impotence; it is fear; it is cruelty; it is all the things that make for unhappiness." - Ingrid Holtby
First Shift: Howl: "Daniel" wakes up and is, er, overcome by the error of his ways.
- He can't remember how his leg was injured, chalking up the events of NS as a dream.
- He tries to reject ideas and habits that he associates with his "L persona": basically, most of L's representative characteristics, like seating position and food preferences. (This is mostly because he's embarrassed to have been institutionalized -- that is, to have failed so completely -- and because he still values his relationship with Watari, who he thinks is his father and who he fears he has alienated. He misses Watari about as painfully as is possible for him, which is sort of brainwashed shorthand for what would ordinarily be his drive to get out of the Institute.)
- For the rest of the day, he attempts give-and-take in his interactions with others: instead of trying to lead the conversation in directions that will encourage them to reveal details about themselves, he's more of an active participant. He believes that this will help his recovery.
- He meets Howl in the cafeteria for breakfast. It becomes apparent that they have different memories of the last few days, and Daniel introduces himself.
- Daniel and Howl get into an argument about the Institute. Just about all of Howl's points are correct, but Daniel either explains them away or dismisses them outright.
Second Shift: Javert: Daniel makes a stop in the library, where he has to come to terms with the fact that Holmes, Dupin, and mystery novels in general are off his literary menu for the foreseeable future. The Hunchback of Notre Dame doesn't hold his interest. He asks to be moved to the Sun Room, where he chooses to sit next to Javert, who is going by the name Philip Hunt.
- Lots of business with a cat.
- Lingering upset from argument with Howl (not very specific, since we were backthreading that argument long after first shift ended). Humiliated, troubled, unusually fragile.
- Pain from combination of injury on right calf and an attempt to perch in a chair in the position usually associated with L.
- Remembers Javert's "detective club" message on the bulletin board earlier in the day. Daniel is deeply interested in the club but wonders whether he should stay away from it; he decides that involvement in it might de-glamorize law enforcement for him.
- Explains the basis of his delusions to Javert, but downplays any illegal actions. It's his third day there; he can't remember how he got there, and thinks his father might have hired people to bring him from Japan to Landel's.
- Javert asks about L without Daniel mentioning him, and also has a brief vision of L working with the NPA task force. Daniel's assumption is that Lunge outed him, after considering the idea that Javert is a plant by someone who wants to keep an eye on him.
- Daniel dismisses "L" entirely: imaginary, pointless, etc.
- Daniel suspects that "Hunt" is the guy who thinks he's Javert.
- Javert has been there for three weeks. He committed himself on the urging of a coworker after a suicide attempt. (Coworker is "John" -- Jean Valjean -- but this is not mentioned to Daniel.)
Third Shift: Sylar: Daniel skipped most of breakfast due to his argument with Howl, so he helps himself to a vegetarian burrito and chips. Mexican food isn't as common in the UK as in the US (the closest Mexican restaurant to Winchester, at this writing, is more than a 30-minute drive away), and there's no reason to think that L has picked up a liking for it on his travels, so Daniel has little experience with it. He eats his burrito with a knife and fork, and tries to stack his chips, which are inferior for the purpose.
- The injury on his leg is bothering him, both because it's annoying and because it's unexplainable, but he decides to eat lunch instead of checking it out.
- An attempt at "alone time" was foiled by nurses. His tablemate is Zachary (Sylar), who is also under the effects of the RL event.
- Zachary is injured, but Daniel rejects the strong impulse to ask how or why. Instead, he makes awkward conversation, in an attempt to "show an interest in others." (Interacting with people instead of merely spying on them makes you 10% less of a creepy stalker, Daniel.)
- Things he learns about Sylar:
--- He's been at Landel's for two weeks.
--- He doesn't expect to go home anytime soon.
--- His delusion involved having superpowers.
--- He likes Mexican food.
- Things he reveals to Sylar:
--- It's his third day at Landel's and his first day of "sanity."
--- He would like to go home and see "his father" (Watari).
--- He is certain that he did something to merit hospitalization.
--- He is curious about progress that patients might make: "something empirical in the system."
--- He wonders if identity-based delusions are the specialty of the Institute.
Fourth Shift: Mello: Daniel, still looking for alone time, decides on a difficult, skill-based solitaire/patience game, Forty Thieves. (Note to self: there is some mild munfail in the mechanics of this game as described in the thread. Be more careful next time; maybe lay out the game itself?)
- Mello comes in; there is some back and forth, "You look like someone I knew," etc.
- Daniel recognizes Mello as "Michael," one of the boys at the children's home which his father sponsors; he doesn't understand why the age seems off.
- Essentially, Daniel believes Mello is there because he needs to be, suspects that some of it might be attributable to his own influence, and urges him to work towards sanity. An oblique mention of the Kira case is brushed off.
- Daniel decries the existence of L entirely; when Mello argues for it, Daniel begins to believe that it's a test of some kind, and he's more firm in his denial.
- Mello storms off, and Daniel feels a degree of pleasure at having shut him down and irritated him. (He's won his solitude for the rest of the shift, and, at least to an extent that satisfies him, he's made the point he was trying to make.)
Dinner: Sephiroth: Daniel wonders what happened to his roommate, Gale, and meets his new roommate, Sephiroth. He's unable to hide his curiosity, and eventually says hello.
- Sephiroth has unique coloring, and his bright greenish eyes are both unusual and similar to Gale's.
- As per the RL event, Daniel eats chicken teriyaki without complaint, though he still leans towards the other components of the dish.
- Sephiroth admits social awkwardness related to his inexperience with roommates.
- Daniel explains that he's only had a roommate for three days (insinuating that's how long he's been there) and makes equally awkward small talk.
- Daniel does not get Sephiroth's name.
Night Shift: Exploring the Ruins with Lunge
Due to the RL event, "Daniel" is under the following strictures:
Your character hears the doors unlock and is able to venture out into the hallways. However, unlike the other characters, they neither see nor are affected by any Nightshift antagonizers or atmospheric changes, and do not hear any of the Head Doctor's announcements. To them, the Institute appears as exactly as it is during the day, except with patients wandering around freely due to a malfunction in the security system (or some other mundane cause) and the orderlies and nurses being absent for some inexplicable reason. If you choose this option, monsters and antagonizers will ignore your character as if they aren't there at all and phase through them if they accidentally make contact. If any patients around your character are attacked, your character either perceives it as patients hurting themselves, attacking each other, or simply hallucinating - anything that would mundanely explain away their friends being knocked around. (Actual violence between patients they can see - minus any otherworldly abilities, of course.)
After dinner, Daniel writes in his journal and decides to take a nap. (Slight munfail here: he did not hear the second intercom announcement, as the event would have prevented it.)
M21-M30 Hallway (M26) - For various reasons, many of them involving disproving the rumors about the Institute, Daniel agrees to keep the plans they made before he "regained his sanity." He suspects that the greatest risk is that of being intercepted by a night nurse and sent back to bed.
M-A Block Hallway - Daniel begins to explain his current mindset to Lunge. He may not be deluded and immature enough to think he's L anymore, but the intelligence is still there.
West Wing, South Hall 1-A - He continues to explain his rationale for participating in what he thinks is a pointless jaunt. He both wants to disprove the silly rumors about the Institute, and attempt to develop his ability to be an empathetic friend to another person.
West Wing, North Hall 1-A - Coats are put on. It's cold outside!
Recreational Field - No, really, it's cold outside; Daniel wishes he had a hat, scarf, and gloves. He also notices the absence of the nurses, and wonders how they will get over the wall. Lunge's answer? Vines.
Outside the Institute - North - Lunge has a somewhat easier time getting over the wall than Daniel, who has a mysterious injury on his leg (a relic of NS 44). Daniel worries about the possibility that his injury will make him unable to get back into the Institute before morning.
Outside the Institute - East - Lunge attempts to question "get to know" Daniel, who is embarrassed about his psychological problems and does his best to change the topic.
Ruins - Daniel and Lunge reach their destination... or one of them does, at least. Daniel can't see a thing, and can walk right through the "walls" of the "church." Lunge is gobsmacked.
Ruins - Church - Daniel, getting tired of being asked what he sees when nothing is there except grass and rock, decides to take a seat on the ground.
Bulletin Posts:
Note:
This is proving to be pretty hard for me to play, because Daniel is turning out to be a lot more appalled with himself, embarrassed about screwing up enough to wind up in a psychiatric hospital, and therefore kind of emo, than I initially anticipated. Since it's just the "first day of sanity" for him, he's very serious and aggressive about his recovery, but not as much as he might have been after a few weeks. His self-esteem has taken a much larger hit than I expected it to.
He has no therapist helping him along yet, so he's trying to make decisions that might "help." These basically involve haphazard attempts to negate L's most characteristic traits and any temptation to re-adopt them. If he can do this, and extricate himself from the way the personalities have merged, L will go away forever and Daniel can live a normal life, or so he thinks at the moment.
Nonetheless, I think he's more embarrassed about winding up in the hospital and jeopardizing his relationship with his father (who is based on Watari) than about any particular thing he's done, and I think that, at heart, he would still love to be L if he could. He's just mad at L for doing something dumb enough to get them both caught, and he's good at denying his own inclinations when he thinks there's something to gain from it. Hopefully I'll be able to bring this out more throughout the day.
"Ignorance is not bliss; ignorance is impotence; it is fear; it is cruelty; it is all the things that make for unhappiness." - Ingrid Holtby