damned_bulletin | [usual anonymous, handwriting now slightly uneven]

The last two nights have seemed unusually long to me - my best estimate is between six and eight hours between nightfall and when I lost consciousness.

I was attacked by one person - an old enemy who also happens to be here, and not the person who underwent Special Counseling last night - and then traveled with one...very good friend. I was injured rather severely, so we wound up simply going back to his room in the end.

Edited 2008-10-10 21:53 (UTC)

Thank you.

This place does seem to bring out the worst in people sometimes.

I only got about one hallway over after I left my room when I met two other people. We were talking for, like, ten seconds and I was back in bed and it was morning.

That's weird, yeah?

Weird for the outside world, but unfortunately, somewhat par for Landel's course. Thanks for the info.

There is no risperidone in the pharmacy.

But you'll be pleased to know that the dates and types of the other medications do in fact correspond with the date you've presented of October 2008.

Strange. You checked for both the generic and the trademarked name of risperdal, I assume? I'm under the impression that supplies replenish every night, so that indicates the contents of the pharmacy are not static.

Thank you for independently verifying my findings.

[I fail; Near's earlier post is in disguised handwriting too.]

Of course.

I have experiments in place that will verify what is replenished and what isn't, if anything isn't. I'll be happy to let you know the results, if you wish.

Certainly. We did agree that we should all work together to help, after all.

~~2008? Huh.~~

I was in bed for at least five hours before I left my room. After that, I'd say maybe fifteen minutes? I was alone until I got to the hall in front of the Sun Room, then there was blood and guts everywhere. Looked like someone had exploded into gore confetti. Where you, uh, there when that happened?

Oh, then I was attacked by a little armless frog-thing.

- Johnny C.

I wasn't there. It seems like other posts have more information about what happened, though.

It seems that Landel is able to use some kind of mind control even on the nights when patients aren't brainwashed in the traditional sense.

So I didn't dream that part?

No. It's quite commonplace here, unfortunately.

((Anonymous))

I'd guess about six hours, though I sadly didn't have a clock on hand to make sure. I met up with one other person near the end of that time, and we went from the balcony over the sun room to the next hall over before I woke up. As I'm sure plenty could say, I saw 'Sparky', as it's been dubbed, with its light show.

Of course, I'm a new arrival, so would you terribly mind letting me in on what you already know?

Clocks are hard to come by in the institute, it seems. Don't expect to come across one.

At night, the institute is affected by time dilation particular to the traveling group. I'm trying to determine what variables affect it, so that we can maximize the time we spend awake.

Different groups in the same area can experience different rates of time. If two individuals or two groups interact with each other, the slower time will become dominant.

If you pass through a room twice and see the same group both times, it's likely that they're moving at a slower time rate and it would be best to avoid them. This is probably why your night seemed to end shortly after you started watching 'Sparky.'

As others will point out, it's not safe to travel alone. Small groups are the best compromise between safety and efficiency.

((Anonymous))

Ah, if I had my cellphone I could keep track. Among other things. Don't expect you'd know where things like that might be kept?

Interesting to find out about this time dilation, though. For what it's worth, 'Sparky' seemed to move normally for me, the same with the people it was fighting. I wonder if monsters are subject to the same effects, or if they take on the speed of the people they interact with.

There's a place on the second floor where possessions from our supposed former lives are kept. It's possible that your cellphone's there, but it would almost certainly be without any supernatural powers it possessed on the outside world.

Even if it powered up I doubt you'd be able to get a signal, but I'd be interested in finding out.

((Anonymous))

Only one way to find out, I suppose. Though honestly, who ever heard of a cellphone with supernatural powers?

2008? Would you mind explaining how you came by that year? You seem to be accustomed to temporal oddities.

As for your request:
Ten minutes, if that.
Two.
Just outside the Women's quarters.
None.

[a piece of a magazine cover has been tacked beside this post, dated October 2008]

I've been monitoring the institute's medical journals. The assortment of brand name and generic medications in storage also reflect the pharmaceutical patents of 2008 America.

Thanks for the information.

I see. Thank you very much.

- An hour or two.
- A man I happened to meet.
- No farther than the main hallway outside of the nurse's station.
- Two abnormal looking cats.

I'm afraid I don't understand all of what's been written, but you mean to say that time is acting differently for each person?

Thanks for the information.

Yes, that's right. And when two or more people join together, the slowest perception of time should become dominant.

To the best of my knowledge, this only happens at night. The institute's population as a whole functions as one group on the grand scale. It seems that more than a month passes in the outside world for each day that we perceive, but I haven't been here long enough to determine if there's a consistent ratio.

I'm happy to help any way I can.

You really think more than a month? It's true that it's a different season here than it was for me a couple of days ago... whoever or whatever can manipulate time like this must be incredibly powerful.

I hope the information you get is helpful!

It was at least a few hours. I can't be sure, but it felt like a really long time.
I traveled with just one person and we went outside the building, over the fence by the greenhouse and then we found an old wrecked town. There weren't many buildings left standing ~~and-~~
We got attacked by some really scary dogs. They were rotten and nasty and really vicious!

Interesting. Can you give me any more information about the town?

I hope both of you are okay.

There were 3 buildings still standing I think. It was hard to see sometimes ~~because I~~ We went to an old wooden store first. There were lots of cans and old stuff there, but most of it wasn't helpful. I found some bandages in what looked like an old doctor's office or something. I'm not really sure, but they had bandages and some different pill bottles and stuff.
What else... um... later I was looking around for some blankets because the store didn't have any. I found an old school first, but it was really run down and empty. Like, there was a bunch of old desks and a bathroom, and then a weird shower thing, but that's really it.
The last place I saw was really, really bad, you should stay away from it. It was an old church I think. But inside there were a bunch of bodies. Like... I don't know how they died, but it was really awful! Like, really, really gross. And there was stuff painted on the walls, words and I think it was in blood. I found some blankets in a back room there and some old clothes, but not much else. Does that help some more? I don't know what happened there, but I don't ever want to go back that way.

I'm ok. I just got bitten on the leg, but my friend's arms got cut up really bad. I tried to fix him, but I'm not very good at it I think. I hope he's ok.

That's horrible. I wonder how something like that happened...

It's good you're both safe now.

I'm not sure. It was really awful though!

Thanks. Be careful if you decide to go that way, I wouldn't recommend it.

How far away was this town, if you remember?

You and your friend, too.

It wasn't that far. Maybe a mile or so? I'm not good at judging distances though.

It's all right! Thank you for trying, anyway.

Strange.

Often, when their community was confronted with something terrible, people would seek shelter in a public area like a church. There are reports of similar mass deaths by infectious disease or starvation in colonial New England. Are you familiar enough with western history to approximate a time frame based on architecture or supplies? I'm sorry to ask you to dwell on the subject, but it's possible that this discovery could tell us something about the institute's history.

Could you read the words on the walls? What language did they seem to be written in?

Ew! Wait, wait, you don't think the disease was still there, do you?! Ew, I didn't touch any of them though, so maybe it's ok?! Ugh, that's even worse, how terrible!

Sorry, really, I don't know Western history very well at all. Oh! But I did find a bottle of some kind of drink. I think its wine? It might have a year printed on it, do you think? I still have the box of stuff I found in the church if you want to look through it. I'm glad I can be of help, so I don't mind answering questions at all, it's ok!

Mm... that language stuff again? Someone asked me about this before. It looked like Japanese to me. It said: YOU WILL BOTH BURN. In like, big, scary characters.

Don't worry, I highly doubt it was an infectious disease. I was just providing an example. It seems more like supernatural horror, especially after seeing the text of their messages. I assume the writer meant Landel and Doyle.

I'd like to look through the box, if you don't mind. Perhaps some time tonight?

I was probably the one you remember asking about language. The fact that you read it in Japanese means that it was either created after the institute was founded, or that Landel's controls affect the interpretation of language rather than the expression. I've been wondering for some time about the mechanism of his translation.

Oh good. I'm glad. That would be really icky! Do you really think it was talking about them? But if that's right, then it wasn't either of them who wrote it, was it? It's like a mystery book isn't it?

That should be ok. I have to take my friend to a healer, but we can wait for you first. My room is F10.

Ah! Is this Willow-san? You were asking me on the bus about it. I'm not sure I understand, but it's what makes it so we can all understand each other, right? It almost seems like some kind of magic.

It might be better for me to meet up with you later tonight, or tomorrow if that's not possible. I'm having a meeting (http://community.livejournal.com/damned_bulletin/288722.html) shortly after nightfall, which you're welcome to come to if you'd like.

I can't be certain that it was talking about them, but it seems like the most likely possibility.

I'm not Willow, no. Sorry. I've asked on the bulletin before, and I assumed that was what you meant.

Oh, um, I guess I can come. I have to take my friend to a healer first, but it sounds like the healer's room is right by yours. I might be a little late, but I'll bring those things I found.

Oh, sorry! I think I remember someone asking about it before, but I must've overlooked it.

It seemed like hours passed slowly, about four to five I would say.
I had meetings in the hallway: with three others, and a fourth came by.
Just to the female halls.
None.

You got much information on Monsters?
Humanoid, no features. Glowing. Solid flesh.
Found it upstairs, need to find a weak point.

I guess it took about an hour or two. I was with one other person, and we traveled around the patient blocks for a while before heading upstairs to where they were took people for experiments.

We ran into one monster along the way. It looked like it was just limbs sewn together, and it had some weird kind of tentacle that came out of its mouth. Like some sort of weird horror movie monster.

How'd you get that it was October 2008, and what do you mean about time?

[usual anonymous, handwriting now slightly uneven]

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