They're coming to take me away, ha-ha...

[Bjorn]

Taking off his clothes (Maybe that'll drive any peeping toms blind), Bjorn steps into the bathroom.  After making sure his impromptu mirror-curtain is still in place, he turns on the shower, and then sits down on the toilet.

Okay.  I've got to focus on how to escape, and how to use my bracelet.   For both, I need focus of mind.  Guess it's time to start getting serious about my meditation....

And with that, Bjorn half-lids his eyes, and begins breathing on sevens, settling his ki into his tanden as he was taught.  As he gets deeper, he begins, tentatively, to imagine pushing the ki into and through the bracelet, as if it were part of himself.

[Brian]

Bjorn: Trying to treat the bracelet as an extension of yourself is an interesting exercise, but doesn't seem to make the bracelet do anything right away.

You lose track of time ... which is easy in this place, but make no real headway.

Shade:  You wake up in a bed in a room furnished with a bed, a dresser, and a basket full of stuffed animals and sock-puppets.  There's a bathroom (with a door, AND a curtain, for some reason) and another door leading elsewhere.  There's a wall-switch for the lights, and no visible windows anywhere.

[RangerShade]

Death checks himself over, then goes to the bathroom to use the facilities.

"Its always something, isn't it."

After that, Death decides to go through the drawers and investigate the sock puppets to see what kind of material they're made of.

[Brian]

Yarn and felt, with button eyes.  There sure are a lot of them in your room....

Your dresser has changes of jumpsuits and clean underwear.  That's apparently it.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn stands up.  If the meditation didn't provide him with any answers, at least it has helped him focus his will -- and in this place, that's a weapon.  He quickly sticks his head under the shower spray to wet his hair, and then turns off the shower, and returns to the main bedroom to dress.

He isn't quite sure how much time's passed (stupid to lose track of that), and so he heads out back towards the Playground.  At the very least, he can talk with Mikey.

[Brian]

It's 'day' again, and Megan is awake.  Mikey is sitting next to her -- Lazarus automatically reaches out to you as he regales them with another story.

After Jonah and the whale, and the story about turtles, Lazarus is now telling Mikey the story of the Emperor's New Clothes.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn listens for a while to the story, and then points his mental blackboard towards Megan.  Apropos of nothing, do you know a Workshop agent named Jessica Taylor?

[Brian]

Megan actually looks at you sidelong, then turns her attention to the river beneath the cement bridge.  She was in section three until ... a while ago.  Something happened.  You get a brief chalk drawing of someone wreathed in shadow.  Something bad.

She lost it after that.

[Bjorn]

Hmmph.  The more fool me, then.  Bjorn broods for a bit -- but very surreptitiously, because many people confuse brooding with sulking, and he's decided it's much easier not to deal with that.  What happened with Jessica still confuses him -- she seemed very sincere, and the attack seemed to be directed at her as much as at him.  Was she really a willing agent of the Workshop?  And if so, how much of what she said were lies meant for Bjorn, and how much was lies told to her?

Well.  That's one mystery I can't settle.  Time to go for one of the other two.

Waiting for a proper and polite moment to interrupt the story (telepathic etiquette is a new sort of thing), Bjorn asks, Lazarus, could you tell me what the limits on your mind-linking is?  A hesitation, then, Specifically, could you let me talk to Ashnod?

[Brian]

Lazarus's thought-stream breaks off when posed with this question, and he looks somewhat alarmed, but also thoughtful.  I can only link with people who I can see, he relays slowly.  The link can be maintained after I see someone, for as long as I can stay awake ... but I'd need a way to see him, or see him through someone else's eyes to make that connection.

He seems thoughtful, and Mikey nods, as though the story hadn't broken off.

Why do you want to talk to Ashnod? Megan asks.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn looks down at his hands, not meeting anyone's eyes.  Partly because I owe him an apology.  Because I thought the worst of him, and so I didn't try to help him escape the Workshop.  And, uh, I hit him with my car, but that's probably relatively unimportant, even if I feel bad about it.

But also because... I think he recognized my bracelet.  At the very least, there was something about it that he seemed to... want.  And the more I learn about this thing, the better chance we all have of getting out of here.  He grimaces.  Or, at least, our chances don't get any worse.

Behind the blackboard, I hope.

[Brian]

Megan looks at you sharply, and then away.  You can't follow it, but you get the impression that something is passing between her and Lazarus.

Mikey begins to him, and rocks back and forth slowly, staring up at the cieling.

After a while, Lazarus sighs, and shakes his head.  That's the first time you've seen him make an audible noise.  Megan can take me to him to make a link, he thinks slowly.  But I don't know if he will be able to help.  You may--

He cuts off, as Dr. Peterson strolls through the door, two guards with him.  He looks pensive, as though he's not sure what he should do, and looks directly at Bjorn for a long moment, before consulting his clipboard.

[Bjorn]

Judging by the look on that bastard's face, Bjorn "writes" with grim glee, I'd say Richmond had his way.  Good.

Anyways, if getting in touch with Ashnod will be any sort of risk to anyone, then let's not do it.  Like you said, he might not be of any help -- why do you think that, anyways? -- and while an apology might make me feel better, getting anybody hurt or in trouble would make me feel worse, which is a bit of a zero-sum game.

[Brian]

Ashnod's like Victor, or Ezmereth, Lazarus indicates pensively.  He's not left with the others because he's too dangerous ... he's always in private room, and under much tighter guard than the rest of us.

Peterson crosses his arms over his chest, and chews on some gum thoughtfully.  He nods, and takes a decisive step towards you, but he's halted when the door opens again, and Richmond stumbles in, looking slightly winded.  "Peterson," Richmond calls out, just loudly enough for you to hear.  "I need to talk to you about your planned test."

The two lower their voices, but Lazarus transcribes the conversation -- you're not sure where he's getting it from.

Peterson says, "I want to run the M series on Mr. Christianson, and then run a conclusive D series.  Is there a problem?"

Richmond counters, "We haven't completed the rest of the run, and I wanted to pre-empt with a C series -- it seems promising, and when he was near the C series test chamber, there was a reaction."

Dr. Peterson stops chewing his gum and raises his eyebrows at that.  "Really?" he asks.  "Fascinating.  Very well....  I will take Megan, and we'll run a conclusive P-series test on her -- we've gotten a replacement for her role."

Dr. Richmond looks very unhappy about this.  "A replacement?  This means we can step her down, give her a little time to recover, and resume the B-series for anti-aging, not--"

"Taylor can get a good read from her.  We've got an ID on Ezmereth, so we'll need this boost, and once we have Ezmereth back, we're that much closer to getting hold of the Wanderer."

Megan stiffens nervously at this last, and looks at Bridgett worriedly.

While unconvinced, Dr. Richmond nods slowly.  "You're the director," he aquisces, if not agreeing, at least conceeding the point.

"I'm glad we agree," Dr. Peterson says pleasantly, as the doctors break apart.  The two then approach, Richardson shooting quick, doubtul glances at Peterson's back as they draw near.

"How are you doing today?" Peterson asks Megan.

She just stares at him blankly.

[Bjorn]

"Oh, I'm just fine," Bjorn says cheerily, raising his head and wilfully misinterpreting who the doctor was talking to.  "What about yourself?  You don't look very well, if you don't mind me saying so -- did you sleep alright last night?"

On the mindboard, though, he quickly writes out, This doesn't sound good, and looking at you makes it seem worse.  How bad is this?  Is it time to up the schedule?