[Plot] The Center for Research of the Uniquely Abled

[Diego Zapata]

"About as close? Figure of speech or is there somewhere closer?"

[Narrator]

The unnamed 'ghost' girl narrowed her eyes at Diego.

"Tell them you need to use the W.C. and I'll meet you in there. You keep staring off into space for much longer and Gemma is going to catch on."

[Diego Zapata]

"Will do."

Diego turned off his glowing eyes and caught up with the others.

"Excuse me, but which way to the little catboy's room?"

[Narrator]

Gemma could seemingly endlessly exposit about the grounds, all of the different activities and resources available to a patient of the facility. As such, she had been blathering for awhile now when 'Alex' suggested he needed the lavatory.

"Oh of course! I should have offered to begin with, my apologies! Follow me!" She would lead the small group to the facilities, and of course wait outside to allow even 'Charlotte' some privacy if she needed to use the ladies.

[Diego Zapata]

Diego thanked the woman and ducked into the bathroom before letting his eyes glow again to see if the 'ghost' was there yet.

[Narrator]

They were.

Slightly more androgynous now in a tuxedo suit with a dapper masculine cut, the astral projection was now checking themselves out in the mirror, fixing their coif.

"The Dark Dorms are as bad as it gets here. " They start to explain, primping their eyebrows.

"But it doesn't take much to get taken away for 'acting up' around here. And none of us know where exactly people go from there.

If your friend was an upstart, I may not have even seen him before he was unceremoniously shipped off somewhere else."

[Diego Zapata]

CRUA had officially become shady AF. They were on the right track.

"And what constitutes 'acting up'?"

[Narrator]

"Some of it seems obvious. Refusing to take medications if you need them, constantly fighting with staff, attacking other patients...

In some cases though it seems incredibly arbitrary. I once watched a person get blackballed for refusing to eat their breakfast because they don't like beans."

[Diego Zapata]

"Do the arbitrary cases have anything in common that you know of? Like a certain kind of mutation or useful ones?"

Diego was quickly realizing that there was more going on than just Basil and his terrible father figure.

[Narrator]

"Not that I've noticed, but that doesn't mean there isn't some other connection I don't know."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette felt very sad for the residents of the place, but she couldn't find much fault with it. The halls had a foreboding feeling, but that may have been due to how such buildings had been portrayed in movies she'd seen. Still, the patient rooms felt more like prisoner cells than places for people to recuperate. She shuddered a bit internally at the thought that, had things been different, she might've grown up in a place not dissimilar. Her father had grown up in an orphanage after all, and he was not fond of talking about his experiences there.

"Does the Center organize any activities for the patients as well?" She was trying to come up with good questions while Diego was occupied. She didn't know exactly what he was doing, but she was pretty certain that his absence wasn't for reasons of bodily function.

[Diego Zapata]

"And do the other residents have any theories or claim to have overheard something?"

[Narrator]

"More or less the same." The projection replied, then ran their tongue over their teeth and popping their tongue.

‐‐----------

" Oh yes. Gaming nights, movie nights, all the usual sorts of things. We also have a book lend program to bring books in from the local library."

[Diego Zapata]

"Thanks for telling me. It definitely points us in the right direction."

[Narrator]

"Yep. " After a moment, the dapper projection disappeared through the w

all.

[Diego Zapata]

Diego covered his bases by flushing a toilet and washing his hands. After drying them, he returned to the group.

"All better," he said.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette nodded at Gemma's answer before her "face" turned to look at Diego as they rejoined the group, then back to their "tour guide".

"Would it be possible to see the cafeteria, or a weekly menu? You are capable of accommodating special dietary needs, I assume."

[Narrator]

"Absolutely. The weekly menu is always posted in the cafeteria, if you wanted to follow me?" Gemma asked, not seeming the least bit suspicious of Diego.

[Diego Zapata]

Diego softly cleared his throat and scratched his chin, the agreed-upon signal that he found something.

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette followed noiselessly, being a good girl and sticking with the tour. Even if all of this proved to be a wash, it was proving to be an... informative experience.

[Narrator]

The rest of the tour was pretty uneventful. Gemma would show them around the facilities some more, and cordially thanked them for their time. She made sure they had all the contact information they would need in case 'Charlotte' decided she indeed want to stay.

Unless they had any further questions for her, she would leave them where they started, back out in the parking lot.

[Diego Zapata]

"So what was it you found out?" Chase asked Diego once they were alone.

Diego answered, "My sight power was actually useful for once. I had a nice chat with a ghost lady."

"A ghost lady?" Chase responded dubiously.

"Well, more like an astral projecting telepath. And this place is definitely shady AF. It seems we're dealing with more than just a wrongful commitment. Patients are getting singled out and taken somewhere else, under the guise of arbitrary conduct violations and probably some legit ones too. If Basil was here, and that'd be a ginormous coinkidink if he wasn't, he was shipped off before she ever laid eyes on him."

[Colette Rosenhof]

Colette didn't say anything until she was safely in the car, though she maintained he persona for the time being. There might be cameras, or other means of watching them. Once they were back in the car however, she felt free to talk.

"So, what is the plan now? I am really hoping that it does not involve me becoming a patient."

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"No." Chisaki replied. " At least, not yet.

I think we need to fall back and decide if it's time to involve the school, or not."

[Chase Delacroix]

"I'm leaning towards yes. Sprinting Basil was one thing, going after whatever this is is something else entirely."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Do you zink zat we have enough evidence for ze school to believe us?" Asked the pinkening girl as she resumed her more standard visage.

[Chisaki Watanabe]

"We have enough to at least borrow some further resources."

[Chase Delacroix]

"Agreed, we need more resources to determine if what Diego's source claims is accurate and where the patients are being taken. Then we'll definitely need backup to resolve this."

[Colette Rosenhof]

"Zen let us not waste any more time. We need to get our information collected properly and ready to present."