The final, rattling breath of the patient on the table was the only sound in the room as the four doctors stood back to watch their experiment fail. The man on the table was in his mid forties. He was once a military operative trained as a sniper. The idea of Dr. Greene was to test the serum to see if it would sharpen his eyesight, maybe give him night vision. Anything was better than the norm that is the human senses. Pulling a sheet across his body, Doctor Greene sighed and pushed his glasses up on his nose, his brow furrowed slightly. "Take him down to the morgue. Tell the coroner that he had a heart attack from PTSD. Tell them that I will file the report and send it down to them as soon as I can. Don't let the other patients in the common room see this. It will only stir up a riot."

One of the other doctors looked up from what he was cleaning and cocked his head to the side. "How do you suppose we get him passed them without drawing attention?" The short, balding man asked Doctor Greene sharply.

Greene turned back toward the man, a hard gleam in his eyes. "I don't know, Stephen. Dump him in a laundry bin for all I care! Just get rid of him!" Greene snapped, her voice acidic as he slammed the door behind him. He ran his fingers through his hair and let out a deep sigh. 2 year. They had been doing these tests with the serum for nearly 2 years, and only four patients had actually survived past the third injection. Doctor Greene shoved his hands into his white coat pockets and casually strolled by the common room and cafeteria, watching the patients out of the corner of his eye, taking in their every move and action.

Reaching his office in the south wing, Greene unlocked the door and pushed the heavy wooden door open with his shoulder, grabbing three files from the basket hanging from the wall beside him as he entered. The day was just getting started for him it seemed. He sat down behind his mahogany desk as flipped through the first of the files, trying to find a new "patient X".

---

The sound of a squeaky wheel echoed across the hall as the orderlies pushed a gurney down the hall. It was empty, but from where she sat in the window sill, Jo could see the faint stains of blood on the white sheets. Her eyes narrowed just a little as she watched the two doctors whisper back and forth and disappear down the hall, heading toward the 'restricted section' of the hospital. The faint smell of cleaner and gasoline wafted up from the elevator doors that they had just opened. The doctors try to hide what they do down in the basement, but they have patients here that were specifically trained to hone in on their senses and specialize in picking up minute details.

Jo leaned her back against the wall and looked over at two other men sitting at a table, conversing quietly. They had seen it as well. The one on the right, a tall man with dark, curly hair, nodded slowly as he met Jo's eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out as a long sigh. She had been her for nearly 5 months now, and she had watched countless men and women go down that elevator and never come back up. It nearly made her sick to think about what was actually going on down there.

Footsteps echoed as Doctor Greene emerged from the elevator and made his way toward his office. She lifted her chin slightly as he looked around the room, watching and noting every movement. Her skin seemed to crawl as his eyes landed on her and he smirked slightly. Jo turned her head away and stood from where she had been sitting. The white walls, white floors, white coats, everything in this place, it nearly drove her mad. She couldn't seem to sit still for long periods of time without doing something. As she started walking towards the door, three guards stood up from behind the counter and crossed their arms over their chests.

"I'm going to get breakfast. Stand down, you filthy apes," she snapped and tossed her hair over her shoulder. The one on the far right lunged forward at her, but the other two held him back. Jo smiled sweetly at them before walking lightly out into the hall and toward the cafeteria wing. If there was one thing she loved while she was imprisoned there, it was teasing the guards. They never seemed to fight back, but they definitely reacted. Jo made her way between the long, tan tables in the cafeteria and stood in front of the bar. It reminded her of a high school cafeteria. Grabbing a tray, she let the ladies behind the Plexiglas barrier drop food onto her plate behind picking a seat near the window.

"The ants go marching one by one hoorah, hoorah. The ants go marching one by one hoorah, hoorah," Xander sung as he made his way down the hallway toward the dinning hall. Guards separated ever so perfectly down the halls, the organization of them made him want to spew. As he passed one chit chatting with his buddy he continued the song, "...The ants go marching one by one..." He stopped, looked one up a down and finished, "The little one stops to suck his thumb." The guard didn't know where he was going with this but he was upset by this attempt at insult either way. Puffing out his chest the guard flexed toward Xander. All Xander could do was smile and keep making his way to eat. Entering the dinning facility he glanced over the crowd and thought to himself Ah the usual suspects ay watson? Allowed the cafeteria workers to do their job and gave him food. Once he found a table to sit down at he said under his breath, "And they all go marching down to the ground to get out of the rain, Boom...Boom...Boom." From there he just enjoyed his meal.

Nancy was determined to have a good day. Refusing to grit her teeth and instead taking a long, slow inhale followed by a long, slow exhale, she forced a smile on her face. Her back was aching and she hadn't even done anything! Maybe she had twisted in her sleep or something. But she was not going to take a pain killer yet. She was still too new, and this wasn't like a regular hospital. This place had unstable people. She wanted to be fully alert. Or at least as alert as her back pain allowed.

Softly, she knocked on the door to Dr. Thomas Green's office. "Sir? It's Nancy Harper, the new nurse. Do you have a moment?"

Kevin one of the guards and someone who usually doesn't like to walking the halls of the hospital, The patients freak him out but some of them weren't bad and he didn't mind the lot of them. Making his rounds in the hallway keeping his hands to himself trying not to peak into the rooms for fear of being noticed by them.

Elizabeth's predictable routine walking down to the cafeteria was just like every other day. She had a notebook in one hand and a crayon in the other, because heaven knows the bloodshed that the staff would be responsible for if pencils or pens were given out to the patients. Her demeanour was that of someone who had taken this walk way too many times and was beyond bored with it, her eyes purposely avoiding the guards around every corner who she was sure were just itching for some action.

Not tonight, Josephine, she thought to herself, her lips forming a slight smile at the reference. It was at that moment that Elizabeth got lost in her own thoughts, her mind taking her to some other place outside of that miserable hospital moments before she nearly walked into one of the guards who hurried off down the hall without as much as acknowledging her presence.

"Goddammit! Doesn't anyone have any respect around this place?"

Elizabeth was loud, but not enough to cause a disturbance. She knew better than to step out of line.

Joshua's eyes scanned the cafeteria for the nth time. He was unlike other guards. He was leaning on the wall with one foot on it and his hands in his pockets. No one really cared how he did he job; he just had to do the basics. He had been here for two and a half years already, so he was by no means new. He knew every nook and cranny of this place like the back of his hands, burning in his memory the patients and what rooms they were in, and those patients who had died and the rooms that are now vacant. It was tiring doing all of this but it was a force of habit by now on his part.

However, what he did not know was what was going in the basement. He had escorted many to the elevator, mostly patients, but he was never allowed to go down. Even in all the years he had served this hospital, he still wasn't allowed. What made matters worse were the patients that he escorted don't go back up and he assumed them to be dead, considering that their names were removed from the roster. The fact that Ichi never wanted to approach the elevator made him uneasy but never showed it. Whatever happening down there was the doctor's business, and theirs alone. If they told him to go, he would. He just hoped he wouldn't end up as one of the 'missing' people.

Ichi barked once and Joshua placed a hand on the dog's head before rubbing it. He turned his head back to the entrance hallway to the cafeteria and his eyes landed on Elizabeth. She had said something along the lines of someone not having respect. But he paid her no mind. As long as there was no disturbance, he wouldn't have to say anything. However, when she would pass by, he would give her a nod and a small, "Greetings." It was the usual routine with him. Greet the patients as they passed by. Some might be out of their mind, but most were sane and you just had to get used to things around here.

After finally reaching the cafeteria, Elizabeth came across the same image as every other day--patients eating, chattering amongst themselves in their small groups, save for the loners who preferred their own company, and also the strong presence of the guards watching them all like hawks. She couldn't help but smile when she noticed Josh, probably the youngest guard within the facility, casually leaning against the wall as if he were in some boring frat house party.

"Greetings", he said to her, and she returned the gesture with a quick wave.

"Josh, my favorite guard!" Blatant lie, she equally disliked them all. Nothing personal, they just stood between her and her sweet freedom. "How open are you to doing favors for someone like me? You know I've never given you any trouble, not in the two years and some since you've been here."

She was hoping like hell that he'd bite, and maybe then he would actually become her favorite person there.

Joshua raised his eyebrow as she said that she was her favorite guard. That was the first time he'd heard of that. From her, of all people. Made him think it was insincere, considering what her previous job was before being placed in this 'hospital'. It was highly likely that it was just a joke. So he opted not to reply to it as his face retorted back to his neutral bored face.

"Depends on the favor. As long as it wouldn't result with you going around stabbing people or escaping from the hospital, I bet I can do it." He replied. While he doubted that this favor would be entirely innocent, he knew that Elizabeth doesn't really want to cause an uproar. After all, the consequences would be a bullet in the head... or more. And besides, she was right. She hadn't caused him any grief in the years that he worked here. Not a lot of patients did. The other guards were a different story though.

While conversing, his eyes drifted to the are around them. He was a guard, first and foremost, and he couldn't put too much attention in a conversation with a patient. While he doubted that any of the other guards were slacking like him, it was still a job. And he was willing to be that someone would approach him and berate him for talking to a patient for long amounts of time. It was something unbecoming of a 'strict law enforcer' so they said. But he never really cared either way.

"If it's extra food, that should be easy enough." He joked.

@Xandrya

"If only it was that easy. No, it's something much more...personal."

Elizabeth's eyes began to water a bit, but she refrained from breaking down in front of Josh. With years of practice, she had nearly perfected her manipulation of tears. But it should go without saying that her mother's death did indeed cause her terrible pain.

"13C, that's my room number," she continued, wiping her eyes with the back of the hand that was holding the crayon, "I'll explain everything later when you happen to stop by for a random inspection." She then took a few steps back looking down at the cute dog but knowing she'd get her hand bitten off if she attempted to pet it. "Alrighty then, I'll leave you to your job before we both get in trouble for fraternization or whatever term they like using around here."

@Polaris North

He began to study Elizabeth as she spoke. It was a personal matter, she stated. Joshua knew what a person looked like when they're about to cry, he's seen it so many times before that he had become an expert at it. Elizabeth was no exception. But the only problem was, Joshua had no idea whether to believe her or not. His eyes travelled to his dog who was looking happily at the patient.

He took note of her room number. Well, he knew it anyway. He nodded at her, "Fine." He doesn't know whether to trust her or not so he thought about bringing his gun. Well, he brought it anywhere to be honest. Joshua had some confidence in his reaction time so this should be fine. "Fraternization... we use that term here too." He said with a nod in reply to her. Catching her eyes drifting to the dog, he wondered if she would actually crouch down to pet Ichi.

She did not. Maybe she feared the dog. After all, Ichi was well trained. But the dog sensed no aggression from the female but made no move to actually show anything.

"See you later Elizabeth." It would probably be after lunch, the meeting. He was scheduled to patrol at that time and he was assigned to that sector anyway so it shouldn't be too suspicious. Hopefully.

@Xandrya

As he ate his food, ever so slowly, he scanned this room as per usual. What minds we have in here huh? I wonder how many of these people are actually insane and how many fall into my category of thinking they are sane? his thoughts wondered off as he noticed a "patient" and guard talking to one another. The guard seemed to never let down his guard, naturally, as he talked to her but the interaction seemed odd. "Ahh whatever, probably just bored I assume," Xander said in sort of a hushed tone to himself as he brushed it off. Everyone in this place needed some form of entertainment to get them by, lord knows he did. This then prompted him to let mindless dribble fall from his mouth. "Well, this food has to have been made by those who have attended the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu," he then turned his head over to the food workers and finished, "My hats off to you and your wonderfully prepared excuse for sustenance." Those of the kitchen staff that heard his idiotic remark grimaced. Xander then turned back to his food with a smile and finished it off.

There was no response. Nancy sighed. Maybe he wasn't in. Maybe he didn't want to talk. She wasn't sure. Another nurse had informed her that there were some papers she needed to sign. Documents committing to confidentiality or something like that. Apparently there were levels of these documents new employees had to sign due to the nature of the patients, and she had no idea who it was she needed to see to get the forms from. There didn't seem to be any administrative assistants in this place. She hoped the other nurses weren't just hazing her in some weird fashion. They didn't seem like the kind of people with a sense of humor, though, so it seemed unlikely.

That's unfair. She told herself. They probably just try to keep things professional here. Who knows what they're like socially?

She glanced down at her watch. Breakfast was well under way. Nancy rolled her eyes, determining to come back later and figure out what the story about these forms was. Now, though, she had to get the morning medication ready. Most of the pills had to be taken with food, and she was apparently the best on staff at sorting the pills.

Yeah, right. More like no one else wants to do it. Nancy's back pain was causing her sour mood to boil over, no matter how hard she tried to contain it. And sorting pills was tedious, boring work. So was making sure they were taken. She had to look in the mouth of every. Single. Patient. Multiple times a day.

She hurried down to the mess hall and entered into the little pharmacy right next to the doors. Inside it was a small room with shelves of pill bottles, trays, and tiny paper cups. A binder kept a one-sheet log of every single patient, including a picture, what pills at what dosage needed to be taken with what meals. The pages had to be updated every time a patient met with a doctor, just in case the prescriptions had changed. It was a huge binder, all in alphabetical order. Of course, the patients never came up in that order, just making everything that much harder to handle. Breakfast had only just started, really, and thankfully the overnight crew helped out by getting the breakfast pills as sorted as they could. Last night they had gotten them mostly done. It must have been a quiet night.

She smiled, her mood lifting a little a this favor, and she arranged the pills in the paper cups. They reminded her of the ones she would put ketchup in at the Braum's, her grandfather's traditional birthday restaurant.

Nancy took a moment to ready herself, and unlatched the sliding metal grate that secured the tiny pharmacy at night. Her back yelped in protest, but it was over in a second and now she could just wait for the patients to come get their meds.

Xander wondered if he should watch his mouth sometimes. Then he remembered that his humor was the only thing keeping his mind from wandering into the abyss that was his anger. Collecting his tray and such he flashed another grin to the kitchen staff and said ,"Until next time you beautiful devils you." What a loud mouth I have, you would think getting older I would tone it down a bit. he worked his way over to the trash to get rid of the disposable silverware and place the tray in a nice fashion for the workers.
Making his way out the door he noticed that the pharmacy window was now open for business. Oh me oh my, I wonder if my favorite staff member is working today giving himself a smile at the thought. By George it was Nancy probably one of the few people he had grown to start respecting in this place because of her work ethic. Xander slid over to the open window and announced, "I have arrived for my daily dose Miss Nancy, got anything new and exciting for me today? LSD perhaps?" As much of an insufferable person he could be he always tried to at least make those he decided were decent people smile.
@inda

Nancy smiled. Her first patient was one of her favorites. She couldn't help having favorites and didn't try to. It was part of the nature of the job, and it came with a bittersweet sense of wishing them to be out of the hospital where she would never see them again. But that only meant they had gotten better, and wasn't that the point of her job?

"I have arrived for my daily dose Miss Nancy, got anything new and exciting for me today? LSD perhaps?"

"Good morning, Xander." She said with a laugh. "No LSD today. But..." she added in a whisper. Conspiratorially, she reached into the pocket of her blue and brown scrubs and pulled out a tiny bag of jellybeans, which she tore open and poured into a second pill cup. She held out the one with the actual medicine before giving him the jellybeans. She winked at him, and let her voice go back to business.

"Swallow all the pills and then open your mouth, please."

She had noticed that not once in her small amount of time here did any mail come in for the patients. Or maybe she just didn't see it. In a mental facility she had interned at, there were daily mail calls and care packages from loved ones were handed out, containing treats, letters, and simple things like favorite soaps. That kind of thing was important to the healing process, and she wondered why that wasn't something that seemed to happen here. She just hoped she had somehow missed them. In the meantime, she was testing what her limits were supposed to be by bringing in tiny tokens like that to a select couple of patients. It was one of the only things she had found to look forward to lately.

"Anything for you Nancy," and with an awkward look at the pills he let them ride down his throat to do whatever it was they were meant to do. Without missing a beat there was the terrible medicine taste he always had to deal with. Xander's face puckered up momentarily as he shook his head. "I swear if it wasn't you giving me these Meds Nancy I wouldn't know how to bear their god awful taste," He said with his body giving a final shiver.

The pills reminded him of the endless shots and medication the Army use to give to him. Those were the days huh? All medical issues taken care of on the armies dime! Well, that also brings up a bad point too, it was all of my medical issues taken care of on the armies dime Xander gave a quick smile at the thought of it. Propping his shoulder up on the counter he said to Nancy, "So Nancy, when are you gonna escape with me from this prison?," He looked back toward the obvious line that was forming and pointed his hand to the sky, "It is a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would hate for you to miss out on?"

After seeing him swallow the pills, Nancy slipped him the pill cup full of jellybeans.

"I'm not sure when we would be able to do that. I've not seen a lot of opportunities for it, anyway. Why, have you got some tricks hidden up your sleeve?" She eyed him, never able to tell when a patient was just joking around or partially serious about leaving before their treatment was done. And Xander worried her a little. Not because of anything he did, but because to her he seemed so... normal. She could easily imagine him out and about at the grocery store, at the gym, maybe at a nightclub... She honestly had no idea why he was there. The pills he was supposed to take indicated something about anxiety, maybe? Or maybe because of the combination hallucinations? Pharmaceuticals had always been the area of nursing she was worst at. She could sort pills, identify, all of that, but knowing exactly what the pills were for and how they combined, well, those tests she hadn't done quite as well on as others. So she really had no idea what they were supposed to treat.

In fact, everyone here for the most part seemed extremely high functioning. Her internship had gained her experience with people who could barely walk on their own, who sometimes needed help even being fed. This place was totally different.

Nancy decided Xander was joking. She didn't want to report his statement and get him into trouble.

"Maybe once we do, I can show you my favorite Indian restaurant."

Shooting her a smile as he slid the cup of jelly beans to him he sighed. "Indian food, well I tell you nothing is closer to me then foods from around the world. You truly know the way to a man's heart Nance," as he was saying his remark he pocketed the jelly beans.
"Nance, you know a true magician never reveals his secrets! However, I guess with all of the kindness you show me I would have to tell you about my tricks sometime."Winking at her as he peered over his shoulder at the rest of the line. He could tell he was overstaying his welcome here.
"Well it is always a pleasure chatting it up with you, but I wouldn't want to enrage any of your other customers. I will be back here tomorrow...of course. I hope the rest of your day is grand Miss Nancy." As he began to walk away he gave a wave to Nancy. Why do I always have to meet decent woman in such terrible situations? Guess I am a magnet for ridiculous circumstances thinking to himself as he began walking down the hall to return to his room.
Ridiculous circumstances? That was an understatement for the predicament he was in. Over the months he had become lackadaisical locked up here. It must be because of the monotony of it all. Xander always did his best to mask his true fury and passion for those that had locked him up here with humor. However, one of these days he was bound to snap. You could say he was a ticking time bomb.

Nancy sighed as Xander walked away. She hadn't had a date in a very long time, not since well before her Grandfather passed away. It figured the first guy to catch her attention would be severely off limits.

Denying any chance that she had a crush developing, she turned her full attention back to the next ones in line, trying to process through them as quickly as she could.

"Hi."

"Good morning."

"Swallow all the pills then open your mouth please."

"ALL the pills."

"Thank you."

"Please lift your tongue. Yes, I saw you hide them."

"No, you can't have seconds."

"Yes, we nurses answer to the imperialist doctors, now take your medication."

"It's good to see you, too."

"Still not sleeping? I'll let the doctor know."

"You are not allowed to walk away until you take your medication."

"Yes. The yellow ones taste like lemon."

"No, I don't know if they're organic."

She flipped through the binder as quickly as she could, matching the faces and names to the names written on the paper cups. There HAD to be a better system, but while she was swamped with getting the pills passed out she could not spare a thought for how to improve it. She looked at the guard who came up to assist gratefully. When there was a guard there, simply standing next to the window with the patients, it always went a little smoother. She still didn't know the guards names. She barely knew the names and faces of the patients she dealt with regularly, much less people she only saw randomly every couple of days.

Xander was just about to make it to his cell until he noticed the guard, Kevin, wandering his hall. With a smirk he said, "Well if it isn't ole Kev Kev." Apparently Kev Kev was a good thing to say at the time. Xander just sort of went with it as he approached the guard. "Making your rounds again around the "super scary" inmates here?" Saying with a bit of a laugh.

Whenever Kevin would walk past his cell, or he noticed him in the halls he was always super stiff and rarely seemed to look into the cells.

"Oh no, it must not be because of the scary business no, no, no that can't be it. Hmm," with much animation he put his hand to his chin, "I know what it is bud, you haven't found the right one you fancy then huh?" Xander knew it wasn't smart to make fun of a guard but for some reason the medication always made his emotions all crazy.

@Eviledd1984

@Americore

"Nah these fuck heads don't care me" Kevin said with a slight scold on his face before turning around to face the man that was speaking to him, "Ya need assistance getting back to your cell? or should i get the jacket for ya?" Kevin said trying to hold back the urge to wail on Xander with his club but didn't he had some self control after all.

Quickly peering into one of the cells seeing a man masturbating furiously having his hand covered in a white fluid which Kevin moved away form the door just as the white fluid flew across and onto the floor near his feet. Slamming his baton on the door furiously yelling for the man to put his dick away or he would rip it off.