Penelo leaned on her fist while the numbers flashed in front of her. Here she was, running her diagnostic on Naminé, and contrary to what she'd expected, it was boring as piss. The girl really didn't seem to be any more than a standard series of 0s and 1s- an expertly programmed computer-to-English translator. But Penelo could smell magic all over Kairi and her little creation. For all she knew, both of them could be working some crazy mojo on her right now. But of course, she wouldn't know.
Oh, Naminé. You've got me, she thought ruefully. I'm rubber, and you're glue. Any magic you use bounces off me and sticks to-
"You!" Penelo nearly fell out of her wobbly and uncomfortable chair, but managed to compose herself. "Stop that," Kairi finished irritably, and Hayner obediently swept the paper footballs he'd been stockpiling into a nearby trash can, muttering under his breath. The rest of the team was, of course, doing research on Kairi's command, except for Olette, who was taking a break to do maintenance work on the POEM. POEM stood for Point Of Entry Machine- an inappropriately cutesy name for the terrifying claw-like thing that had the ability to convert human beings into data. The DIZ Team loved acronyms, but ironically, none of them were quite sure what DIZ stood for. On an especially dull shift, Penelo and Olette had decided it meant Deep In Zhit, and that seemed about as fitting as anything else she'd heard.
"Anyone find anything good?" Pence asked timidly, trying to break the awkward silence. Only awkward silence replied to him. Kairi wasn't nearly as snappy today as she usually was- in fact, she'd been almost disturbingly quiet all day, ever since her and Penelo's heart-to-heart the night before. Well, if you could call getting attacked a heart-to-heart. Penelo almost wished that this was a real job so she could get some reparations for that. Seriously. She'd been assaulted by her immediate supervisor not once but two times inside of a single week. Though it hadn't escaped her attention that Kairi hadn't tried to use her powers on her the second time. Whether that was because Kairi figured her out, or because she had been too drunk to care, Penelo couldn't be completely sure.
"What are we researching today?"
"Michael Adey."
"Oh. Uh, cool. Why?" Penelo answered her own question almost immediately. "Oh wait, that whole Rock thing."
"Heh. Yeah. The whole Rock thing." Penelo wished she could see more than data from the fight Roxas and Saïx had had- it was almost definitely one hell of a match. The thought of forcing individuals to fight like roosters or dogs under the guise of 'research' made her queasy, however, so maybe that wasn't such a good idea after all.
"So far as we can tell, he never left Australia. Well, before coming here. According to this woman who claims to have known him when he was little, he was deathly afraid of flying…" Pence mused.
"Ha! Sorry, that's kind of funny," Hayner laughed, resting his feet on one of the computer monitors. No one bothered to stop him- after all, if he broke it, he was the one who would have to fix it.
"Well, the same lady also says he ate live cockroaches and howled at the sun. So, not the most reliable source. Next…" Pence dramatically clicked, signaling his move from article to article. Another long silence settled over the group, each member doing her or his own work quietly. The POEM beeped and buzzed as Olette put it through the motions, making sure everything was still working properly. Suddenly, it let out a loud clank, startling the room out of its reverent concentration, and Olette swore under her breath. Hayner, who had been glancing over at her every few seconds for quite some time, ventured to speak.
"So, uh, Olette. How's the POEM machine?" he asked politely.
"Point of Entry Machine Machine?" Kairi quipped, without looking up from her work.
"Oh, just shut up," Hayner spat. Kairi smiled to herself, obviously keeping score in her head, but let the subject drop. Yes, she was much more subdued today than normal. There was always the possibility that she had just drunk herself into a stupor, but Penelo didn't smell any alcohol, so that probably wasn't it. Kairi was unpredictable at best, but this sudden calculated quietness was downright dangerous. The rest of the DIZ Team seemed content just to appreciate and take advantage of the blessing of their boss's relative good humor, but Penelo was more on edge than ever. She just wished Kytes were here so he could tell her what was going on in that girl's mind.
Penelo had signed on to the DIZ Team approximately six months before. 'Approximately,' because there was no time here. She hadn't seen sky since the day she moved in. Kairi sometimes got to go to Ansem's office on the top floor of the Shinra Building, so they could rest assured that the outside world still existed. Or maybe it didn't, and Kairi was staging an elaborate hoax designed to make the four of them so crazy that they would lose it and start having sex all willy-nilly and unconsentingly repopulate the human race. There probably weren't even Nobodies, or even a DIZ Team. It was probably all an elaborate hoax to keep them stuck here. Oh God, she was coming up with conspiracy theories. I've got lab-in fever.
The paranoia was hard to avoid, however. Penelo spent all of her time spying on Kairi and Naminé, and she knew something was going on. She had heard their conversation about the memories of the thirteen Nobodies; she had heard them discussing how they were going to hide it. Kairi had jumped to the conclusion that she was feeding information to Ansem. The girl was brilliant; she would be a formidable opponent were she ever sober.
"Miss Smith?" Kairi looked up, along the rest of the team, who could never resist a spectacle. Just a standard security guard. That meant that Kairi was being summoned to speak with Ansem. Again. Twice in two days? Normally Ansem couldn't be bothered that the five of them existed, except for footing the bill for food and lab coats. And then, instead of complaining about it and dragging her feet, sometimes literally, like she usually did, Kairi just flipped her laptop shut and left with the guard. What was she up to? As soon as the door slid shut, the mechanics let out a heavy sigh of relief and stopped doing their research. Even Olette stopped fiddling with the POEM.
"Ding, dong, the witch is gone," Hayner muttered. Penelo figured that Kairi was in fact a witch of some sort, but that that probably wasn't what Hayner was going for. Being around another Other in such close quarters had made her paranoid. Once she was gone, the lack of magic in the room was almost comforting. Except, of course, the faint traces radiating off of the computer, which now held Penelo's undivided attention. She ignored Hayner as he clipped all his things shut and prepared to leave.
"This is pointless. I'm out. Anyone coming with?" He directed the question mainly at Olette, who shrugged.
"She'll get pissed if we're gone, and there's nothing to do outside that we can't do here anyway… might as well stay," she reasoned. Hayner rolled his eyes.
"Well, your loss. Come find me when you get bored." He strutted out of the lab like a peacock in full bloom, leaving the remaining techs in a peaceful and unaggressive atmosphere. Penelo hadn't noticed before just how intense Hayner and Kairi made everything. Though, she also hadn't noticed before today how obviously Hayner had the hots for Olette. Might as well get some fun out of this, since they were stuck here.
"I think he likes you," she told her friend, grinning. Olette blushed, but opted to play dumb.
"What?"
"I think she's right," Pence agreed. "He's so obvious about it, too. Did you see when he asked you about the POEM machine?"
"He was just trying to be nice!" Olette continued to feign ignorance. The girl really was pretty, with an exotic combination of light olive skin, jet black hair, and pale green eyes. Kairi, too, with her dark red hair and dark blue eyes and the dusting of freckles over her nose. Penelo herself was the shortest and the chubbiest, with the biggest hips, and coarse white-blonde hair that in her opinion made her look washed out all the time. She knew objectively that she shouldn't care, of course, but couldn't shake the feeling that being the dumpiest girl in the room was never easy. Her twin brother Vaan had taken all of the tall-and-skinny genes in the family, and she was still incredibly bitter about it.
"Exactly. When has Hayner ever been nice?" Pence joked easily. He was far too good-natured to ever say anything genuinely mean about anyone.
"Oh, you guys." Olette's blush deepened. "You really think so?"
"Most definitely," Penelo smirked.
"One hundred percent," Pence concurred.
"Oh. Well, if you say so…" Olette flipped her hair over her shoulder and giggled, just the way someone used to attention from boys would react. Penelo sighed and went back to Naminé. The diagnostic was nowhere close to being done. She supposed that the glimmer of teenage normalcy that the Hayner/Olette flirtation represented should be treated like the breath of fresh air that it was. The DIZ Team's peers out in the real world would be going out on dates and getting ready for proms right about now, not having conversations with computers and playing babysitter with a bunch of braindead criminals.
Penelo had volunteered for this position- in fact, she had actively sought it out. She had not, however, in her wildest of speculations, expected an Other to be immediately supervising the DIZ Project. That in and of itself was insane beyond all reason. What the Shinra Corporation was doing to Others here- how did Kairi live with herself? She glanced over at her DIZ Team peers. Did they know what they were doing? They'd all been living together for six months, and she barely knew anything about them. The thought gave her a twinge of guilt- she really hadn't bothered to find out anything about the people she was spending her life with. Well, might as well start with the basics.
"So, uh. Do you guys have last names?" she asked, somewhat awkwardly. It was rather embarrassing to admit that you'd been spending close to all of your waking hours with people for several months and had no idea what their surnames were. Pence and Olette stopped the card game they'd apparently started while she was focused on Naminé, and stared at her, then each other. Pence shrugged and spoke first.
"Yeah. Pence." Pence Pence? "My first name's George. I absolutely hate it," he clarified. Encouraged, Olette spoke up next.
"My last name's Sheridan. You know, like the hotel? I'm pretty sure my family's not related to them, though. I mean, I clearly don't have any hotel fortunes coming my way." She laughed at her own joke, a pretty sound that matched her face and mannerisms. George Pence and Olette Sheridan. Penelo felt that she knew her workmates a good deal better, just by knowing that much.
"I guess it's just me, then. I don't have one. I got orphaned as a really little kid- I don't even remember my parents. I picked out the name Penelo for myself, when I ran away from the orphanage where they stuck me," she explained, realizing as the paragraph went on that this was probably a much more serious and depressing story than her coworkers wanted to hear. Leave it to her to suck the joy and amiability out of a room.
"Whoa," Pence said quietly.
"Why did you run away?" Olette asked curiously. They probably hadn't heard such a dramatic story in a while- the most exciting thing that ever happened on the DIZ Team was Kairi 'accidentally' spilling her drink on Hayner and trying to blame Naminé for it, which happened often enough that it really shouldn't be funny anymore, but it so totally was.
"I ran away when-" When I found out I was an Other. "I dunno, I just felt trapped. I just up and left one day." She averted her eyes and twiddled one of her long braids, a habit she had when she was nervous. She'd just shared much more information than she was planning to. Luckily, Pence and Olette were cool about it.
"Then how'd you end up here?" Pence tried to joke, to lighten the mood.
"I know, I know. Ironic, huh," Penelo smiled. She knew she wasn't meant to answer the question.
"Really, though. How did we all end up here?" Olette murmured. She fumbled with the cards in her hands- "cards" she'd made herself from computer paper and a pencil. All of their personal belongings were taken away when they'd arrived. Well, at least they got to keep their names, right?
Right?
"Hey, Zexion. Hey." Demyx nudged his bunkmate in the shoulder, rolling him back and forth, one and two and one and two. "Zexion. Wake up. Please." Demyx always asked nicely.
"Just close your eyes, it'll be ok," Zexion mumbled, rolling over away from Demyx.
"My eyes are already open," Demyx replied, confused.
"Be quiet, Demyx." The bunk next to theirs housed Saïx and Luxord, and the former was the one who spoke. He had never liked Demyx very much, Demyx knew that. After some thought he decided not to reply, since Saïx wouldn't listen anyway, so it would be a net waste of energy. He almost missed Luxord's correction.
"No. You should be louder. Someone's looking for you." Demyx didn't process the words fast enough to get a chance to ask who.
"Demyx?" Zexion finally woke up, and was staring at him. Demyx realized he was still hunched over Zexion's bed. Well, the better to tell him what happened.
"Zexion, I had the thing. I saw things while I was sleeping," he whispered excitedly.
"Really?" Zexion's eyes widened and he woke up fully, sitting up in bed.
"Yeah." Demyx nodded vigorously. Wild images swirled in his mind, and he steadied himself, preparing to share with Zexion the wonders of what his subconscious had decided to show him. His dream was indescribable- he had seen things he didn't even know existed.
"What did you see?" He opened his mouth, and took a deep breath.
"I…" Then he closed it again. His mind was blank, as if everything had suddenly leaked out his ears. He thought really hard, squeezing his eyes shut. Nope, nothing. "I don't remember," he whined, defeated. Then he did remember something. "I was all wet." That was all that was left- the sense memory of having water on him. He slumped his shoulders, miserable at having lost the memory he so desperately craved.
"I don't remember, either," Zexion comforted him. Demyx felt a little better.
"Do you think it'll happen again?" he asked. He wasn't sure whether to be excited or worried, and settled for an in-between of very high-strung excitement, which was making his heart beat uncomfortably fast, so maybe that wasn't such a good idea.
"It happens to me every night." Zexion murmured, probably more to himself.
"Do you ever remember?" Demyx asked quietly.
"No." Demyx was beginning to notice that he talked more than Zexion. In fact, Zexion didn't talk very much at all, and he almost never asked any questions. He supposed that was just a difference in… what was the word? Personalities, that was it. Zexion had a different kind of personality.
"We should tell Axel and Roxas," he said definitively. Maybe they had been seeing things at night, too. Maybe that was why Roxas was acting the way he was. Or maybe that was just his personality, as well. Personality was a very useful concept for Demyx. He wondered why he had forgotten it. Did he have a forgetful personality?
"Ok." Zexion agreed with a shrug, and the two of them set off for the shower.
The shower was already full, since Zexion and Demyx had been the last to get out of bed, so they took the last two shower heads (for there were exactly eight), which were at opposite sides of the room. The showers turned on automatically. While he was being cleaned, Demyx entertained himself as he usually did by making funny shapes with the water on the floor. The puddles morphed themselves into a man running, then a bed, and then a bowtie. A bowtie? Demyx shook his head to get rid of a sudden headache, and the water spread back into its normal shapelessness.
After showering, the students all went to the cafeteria for breakfast. Today's breakfast was some kind of oatmeal or porridge. Demyx was hungry, so he didn't really focus on what it was. He and Zexion sat at their usual end of the table with Axel and Roxas, who Axel had taken to dragging everywhere to make sure he wouldn't wander away or stay by himself.
"Hi," Axel said simply to both of them, as he tried to get Roxas to eat his breakfast with utensils instead of his hands. He was having limited success.
"Hi, Axel," said Zexion and Demyx.
"How are you?" Axel asked distractedly, grabbing Roxas's hand to stop him from smearing oatmeal on his pants. Roxas squeaked in protest and hit Axel with the spoon he was clutching in his other hand.
"Good," said Zexion. "Bad," said Demyx, at the exact same time.
"Bad?" Axel blinked. Roxas won the battle, and triumphantly wiped food all over Axel's pants. Yes, Demyx was not feeling very well this morning.
"Axel, do you ever have dreams?" Demyx asked, dropping his voice to a whisper in case anyone was listening. For whatever reason, it felt like having dreams was not the natural order of things. Like someone would punish him if they found out, and take his dreams away. He was desperately protective of them.
"What is that?" Axel asked irritably, cleaning himself.
"Do you see things while you're sleeping," Zexion explained again.
"No, I don't think so…" the red-head said slowly, raising an eyebrow.
"Do you, Roxas?" Demyx asked.
"I'm Roxas," Roxas said proudly, dipping both his hands into his breakfast. Suddenly, his shoulders twitched, and he pulled his hands back out with a yelp.
"You see things while you're sleeping?" Axel asked, nudging Roxas worriedly.
"Yes," said Zexion simply, in what Demyx had just discovered to be his one-syllable personality.
"It happened to Zexion, and then it happened to me," he explained more clearly. Axel was interested, but Roxas had zoned out, staring at a distant point on the wall.
"But you don't remember?" Axel asked skeptically. Demyx remembered when he had been skeptical. It felt so long ago, now.
"I remember water- I was wet," Demyx said defensively. He, of all people, should be trusted to remember something where water was involved.
"I always see a girl but I don't remember who she is," Zexion mumbled.
"What's a girl?" Axel asked curiously. Demyx wanted to know, too, but Axel had gotten there first.
"Like Larxene," Zexion snapped. He was cranky because he didn't like talking about his dreams. Demyx knew that. Wait, a girl? Like Larxene?
"So that's what she is?" Demyx asked, amazed. He remembered that day in the shower, where he'd had the showerhead next to Larxene, and accidentally glanced over and noticed that there was nothing there. He'd asked her what happened and she'd just walked away. After that, he hadn't broached the subject with anyone. Until now.
"What happened to her?" Axel asked worriedly, his eyes wide. So, he'd had the same thought, then.
"Nothing. Girls are just different from boys." Axel and Demyx looked at each other. "We're boys," Zexion finished flatly, rolling his eyes. Roxas stared curiously down at his crotch.
"How do you know that?" Axel asked suspiciously.
"I just do." Zexion ended the conversation by getting up to leave. Demyx also knew now that Zexion didn't like questions.
"Zexion doesn't like questions," he explained to Axel. He was proud of himself for figuring out so much, all in one day. Thanks to the dream, of course.
"Do you like questions?" Demyx nodded. "You really saw something while you were asleep?" Axel's entire manner changed, and he leaned forward, his eyes wide and excited. He almost lost his grip on Roxas, who was trying to follow Zexion.
"Yeah. I did. Maybe you will, now, too!" Demyx smiled. He would have another dream, and next time he would remember. He was sure of it.
Kairi gracefully allowed the security guard to lead her all the way to the elevator, though she wasn't sure why they felt the need to give her an escort. Had Penelo told someone about their skirmish the night before? No- she couldn't have. And right now she was in the lab, performing her diagnostic on Naminé, where she of course wouldn't find anything. Kairi's own diagnostic was already finished and forwarded to the higher-ups. Was that why he wanted to speak to Kairi again so soon? Had he actually seen something? Impossible. Kairi was so sure of both Naminé's ability to hide herself and her boss's ineptitude with computers that she didn't even bother to get anxious. When they reached the elevators, however, the guard kept walking past them. Kairi stopped.
"Uh, we're not going upstairs?"
"Oh, no," said the guard. He was a nice guy, despite working for the Shinra Corporation. But if he had any contact with the DIZ Project at all, that meant he was dead to the outside world, and Kairi had enough ghosts in her closet already, thank you. "There was a problem in your apartment." Kairi's blood ran cold.
"What happened to my apartment?"
"Well, you'll see." The guard smiled goofily, and inappropriately, as far as Kairi was concerned. Anything out of the ordinary in the basement of the Shinra Building set off roaring alarm bells. Kairi had seen enough employees come and disappear forever to know that for sure. Employees here had quite the job-fatality turnover rate. But if she tried to ditch her impromptu tour, there would be more trouble for her down the road. She had to stick it out to the end.
Did the others stick it out to the end? Kairi's thoughts lingered on all of the members the DIZ Team had seen over the years. She tried to forget them, not get too attached. They went away much too quickly. Alive they were a threat to Shinra, so as soon as they weren't useful anymore… Kairi swallowed hard. Had she also outlived her usefulness?
Even after two years of living there, Kairi still didn't have the intricate hallways of Shinra's basement memorized, and so she couldn't shake the feeling that they were most definitely not headed in the direction of her living quarters. Her escort seemed to turn at random, getting even more lost than she was. Finally, she stopped.
"Where are we going?" she asked quietly, planting herself firmly in the hallway. The guard jumped in surprise at the sudden noise.
"Your apartment," he answered, as if the answer was obvious.
"We are not going towards my apartment. I don't even know where we are," she hissed. "And I am not taking another step towards wherever the hell we are going until you tell me wherever the hell that is." She crossed her arms. She didn't want to push it too far and get in a real fight, since the guard was armed and she was of course not. The guard, however, seemed to melt before her. They were trying to off her, and this guy was the best they could send? She was almost insulted.
"Oh, God. Don't tell anyone I told you, ok?" he said nervously. "It's not your old apartment. It's the new one. They told me to surprise you. Oh, God, please don't tell them I told you!" Kairi looked at him like he was stupid.
"Are you serious? Who thought surprising me by dragging me blindly through a basement was a good idea?" she asked sarcastically. She wanted nothing to do with whatever this new apartment was. It probably wanted her blood. "Why, exactly, am I getting a new apartment? What was wrong with my old one?" The old 'apartment' could hardly be called such- it was just a room with a bed, on a hall with many other rooms with beds, and a shared one-room bathroom. But still, it was home.
"Nothing! Nothing," the guard protested. "I don't know, I'm just the messenger! The door's right there, find out for yourself!" Kairi looked, and the door did in fact have a nameplate that read Kairi Smith. Curiouser and curiouser.
"Fine. But you're staying out here," she ordered, and she creeped over to the door.
"Fine." The guard moved to the end of the hallway and stood quietly. Assured that he wasn't going to figuratively or literally stab her in the back, Kairi turned the knob, and peeked inside. She threw open the door and gasped.
The first item that stole her attention was the queen-sized bed, which of course took up most of the small room. The bed was covered in thick white bedding, and adorned with fluffy pillows. At the foot of the bed was an actual reading desk and chair, and Kairi caught sight of another door in the corner. Her breath hitched in her throat as she walked over to it. She nudged the door open, and caught a glimpse of porcelain. Her own bathroom. No more pounding on the door at three A.M., waiting for Olette to finish her fifth shower of the day. No more needing to clean up Hayner's shaving cream (which she was convinced he didn't actually need) before she could brush her teeth. No more having to see Penelo outside of work at all. That was enough for Kairi, and she whooped with joy and threw herself onto her new bed, more than twice the width of the old one, and she rolled around gleefully. Too late, she realized that she had sat on a note. Apprehension tugged in her chest. She yanked the letter out of the envelope and opened it in front of her eyes.
Dear Miss Smith,
I am sorry for Mr. Wise's harsh words yesterday. The Shinra Corporation feels that your work is an invaluable addition to our company, and we hope to continue sponsoring you for years to come. Please accept these new living arrangements as both an apology for Mr. Wise's untoward behavior, and a thank you for your many months of excellent service.
Kairi read the note two times. It was signed by the owner of the company. The bathroom excitement was wearing off, and now the separation from the rest of the team was beginning to seem rather odd. Had they heard her conversation with Penelo the night before? Well, at face value, it would seem that the owner of the company thought she was more useful than Ansem did. Maybe they were fighting, and she was a pawn in some elaborate power play she couldn't hope to understand. In any case, her hands were tied, and she couldn't deny the gift without appearing suspicious, so she might as well enjoy it. She walked out to the hallway, and gave the guard a reasonably friendly grin.
"Tell them I love it. If you see them, I mean."
"Can do, Miss Smith." She went back inside, locked the door, cracked open a frothy beverage, and walked over to fully admire her new bathroom. All of it was beautiful. Her own toilet, her own sink, her own shower with a tub. Honestly, what more could a girl want?
Larxene lazily watched the other group, hunched together and whispering about something or other. All except the short one, Roxas, who was alternatively staring off into space and confusedly at Axel, whenever the red-head tried to get his attention. They were a weird bunch, those others. She turned back to her own group, all casually eating breakfast.
"I liked the lesson yesterday," said Marluxia. Larxene liked Marluxia- he smelled good.
"I didn't," said Saïx, who had a tendency to disagree with Marluxia.
"Lessons are not lessons," Luxord said vaguely. Larxene had learned to just ignore him long ago- nothing he ever said made any sense. She often wondered how someone like that had even gotten into Twilight Town Academy, a highly selective military school for gifted pupils. She had the entire pamphlet memorized.
Yes, Larxene wondered about a lot of things. Most often she wondered why she was different from everyone else. No one ever said anything about it, or treated her as if she were different, but she could tell. It was all hiding there in that one little word: she. All of the pupils shared a shower, of course, and she could easily see that her body was different from everyone else's, mysteriously lacking in one area in particular, and with mysterious additions in various others. She just didn't know why.
Suddenly, she was aware of everyone at the other end of the table staring at her. She glanced over, and saw Roxas intently considering his groin. So, that's what they were thinking about, then. She felt herself blush slightly and she turned back to her companions.
"There are more outside," Luxord told her in an attempt to be reassuring. She ignored him.
"Oatmeal tastes good," she said conversationally, turning her attentions to Marluxia and Saïx to get her mind off of things.
"Yes. I like the taste of oatmeal," Marluxia agreed. Saïx stopped eating. Larxene sighed as the bell rang, and gathered herself up to go to the work-out room.
Quick update this time, and with an extra POV, to boot! Tune in for the next chapter, wherein Zexion teaches everyone about the birds and the bees, Roxas finger paints on the nice white furniture, Axel starts a LOLshevik revolution, Demyx turns out to be Roxas's evil twin brother from a parallel dimension, Riku exacts some brutal vigilante street justice on some unsuspecting thugs, Pun-elo strikes again, Kytes loses a job because he smells bad, Leon refuses to rescue a helpless kitten from a tree until someone pays him for it, Vamp!Cloud licks bloody oatmeal off of the kitchen floor, Sora opens a high-end hatmaking business and then ignites a national uproar when he refuses to tell anyone the secret source of his hats' beautiful feathers, and Kairi decides she's going to wear her GOOD lab coat today, laundry be damned.
Q of the day: Who do you think the owner of the company is?
