As the scene grew more and more hectic, Staple held up her hands defensively towards those who spoke toward her, as if verbally asking everyone to calm down, before looking toward the man named Trevor.
"I think you've said enough, sir. You're confusing and upsetting my patients for one thing, and what's more, you're not even authorized to be here in the first place," she said to the man sternly, before turning toward the two security guards who maintained a vice like hold on the man.
"You two, please escort our uninvited guest off the premises, before he makes... an even bigger scene than he already has."
With quiet nods, the two men did as they were told, beginning to force Trevor back even more before the man could respond to any of Clark's questions. Interestingly enough, whether despite or because of the tactical armor he was wearing, the man named Trevor might have looked to most like two low-rent guards should have been little matter to him, but for whatever reason, he couldn't bring himself to push through them.
"H-Hey, get off...!" He struggled in vain as he was practically carried off through gritted teeth, until eventually seeming to cease struggling for whatever reason, whether because he couldn't or because he chose not to in the end.
"Fine... If that's how you want it. I see your game, doc, and if that's how you wanna play it, that's fine by me!"
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"Hold on, they can't just--" Peter began to exclaim, before stopping as he saw Fujiko shake her head.
"They literally can," the woman said drolly with a wide shrug.
As Trevor was forced toward the door, he peered over the two guards for one final word, looking straight at the group.
"Just one thing! Things aren't what they seem! Please, just remem--" He yelled out, before the doors automatically closed in front of him.
"Don't know who that guy was supposed to be, but if you guys think he's a dead vet or something, well..." Fujiko gave a sidelong glance toward Flynn and Clark.
"I hear if you say "orange" slowly enough, it sounds like gullible. Try it sometime. If nothing else, I'm surprised we didn't pull some sort of active shooter drill or something, with the get-up he had on," she breathed, remembering her days at work where she had to practice going through a hypothetical stick-up.
"I... guess that's true," Peter sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"That obviously had to be a fake name, right? That's the only rational explanation..."
With Trevor's disruptive presence removed as swiftly as he had appeared, Staple cleared her throat, clasping her hands together.
"I know things seem confusing right now, but I'm asking you all to just trust me, trust in the program," she said gravely, seamlessly signing her words as well for Michelle's convenience.
"This is a critical time so I was hoping to wait just a bit longer before springing all this on you, but... it's true. For the duration of your treatment, I had to restrict visitations, for your own sake. After all, do any of you even remember what you were all like before you came here? You were hardly in any state to have any grounded conversation with your families, and more than that, the treatment was so intensive, it required absolute focus. I couldn't abide by any distractions, after all," the woman began to explain at length.
Toward Sylvia's concerns about the appearance of Isaac, she sighed softly to catch her breath.
"He wasn't part of the sign-ups, originally."
"What?" Fujiko blinked, not even sure why she found Staple's choice of words strange.
"I said, he wasn't part of the original roster. Mr. Clark came in a bit later than the rest of you, and by the time it happened, so deep was your therapy, Ms. Li, it would have been disruptive to introduce outside elements."
"Well, look, okay, slow down," Peter raised his arms.
"This is a lot to digest. I'm not even sure how to feel about what I'm hearing... What about you guys?" He asked the rest of the group.
"I feel like... Did I sign off to this? I guess we must have, right...?"
@Jeremi @Takumi @Not a Writer @Josh @Rwac96 @Ottonomous Ghost @Minerva @Sark @Neko Shogun @Yun Lee @Atomic Knight @Crunch @York @Lucky
Meanwhile, in the Activity Room with Erin alone by herself, she would be left undisturbed for several moments, until eventually, a faint yet distinct metallic creaking sound could be heard in the distance, down the hallway.
If she felt inclined to look toward the source of the sound, she would only just see a shadow creeping past the end of the hall, barely visible from the inside of the Activity Room. Whereas everyone else had run around to the left corner of the t-crossing, the shadow moved down the right side of the hall...
@Capri
