Day snorted out a dry laugh. "Tell that to the Reformers." He finished his last bite or two of food– or at least as much as he was willing to eat– and put the tray on the ground next to his bed. He sat there for a minute, debating on whether it was worth the pain of movement to lay back down– and eventually deciding on yes, because sitting up wasn't too comfortable either. Frankly, nothing would be considering his current physical state. He sighed as he stretched back out. "Maybe there's supposedly some hope somewhere, but I'd like to know where the heck it is, because it sure ain't here." By here, it was unclear if he meant in this place or in his mind.
Zanna watched and snorted with him. She shrugged and thought for a moment. The Reformers lost hope, had they? Probably explained why the war ended when it did. She understood him not finding hope in this place considering her was being tortured and such. Her eyes saw him stop eating and figured the only thing left for her to do was put his leg back on and then she would have to go, "There's always hope somewhere. At least, I think so. Do you need me to put your leg back on?"
"… Unless that commander broke it, I think I can get it back on." Day grunted as he forced himself back up. Something felt awkward about laying down on his stomach while trying to reattach a leg. But he was definitely gonna need it if he expected to function at all. Escaping aside, it was downright awkward trying to so anything with only one leg. '"Where is it?"
"Right here," Zanna grabbed the leg and offered it over to Day. It didn't appear to be that broken, but it very well could have been. She didn't know how it worked. She would wait until he reattached his leg and then she would leave him to his thoughts. Tomorrow she would hope his wounds were still bad so she had reason not to torture him. Though Ward would probably make her anyway.
"Thanks." Day took the leg back and looked it over before he started putting it back together. There were a lot of wires in it– obviously, since it was cybernetic. After a few moments, he let out a small, "Hm." Then he glanced up at her. "Well, I'm pretty sure it's fried. The circuits didn't survive that little taser spree you guys put me through, so looks like I'm one-legged for awhile." He dropped the leg onto the ground and chewed his lip, thinking. "Unless you could convince them to fix it for me."
"I might not be able to do that," Zanna responded back as she thought for a moment. It had been trouble enough getting the leg back so having them fix it would not be a likely option. She bit her lip for a moment, "It was hard to get the dang thing back to you. But, I might be able to fix it. I'm no engineer, trust me, but I do know somethings if guided right."
"Hmph. Okay, well– You might as well give it a shot. If not, we'll figure something out. I'll convince your commander to make them fix it," Day responded, glancing at the leg. "Or I'll get beat up trying. Whatever works." He'd make the commander mad, but Day was fairly confident that he could convince the man to fix the darn leg– if all else failed, of course. Day would much rather Zanna fix it if possible.
Zanna nodded and looked at the leg. She hadn't messed around with cybernetics ever. Weapons, yeah that's how she got her electric gauntlets. Tools, a bit since she got bored of using the same old same old. Limbs? She had never gotten the chance. She studied the inner wires for a moment trying to figure out where they connected and how she might fix it, "So, how would I go about fixing this?"
"That's a good question." Day stared at her and the leg for a moment, thinking. "And I don't have the answer. I'm not good with that stuff, or else I'd fix it myself. I didn't even make the leg in the first place. Had to have someone else do it for me."
"Okay, so I'll just mess around until it works," Zanna responded picking up the leg from its place on the ground. She studied it closely her hands gently prodding at the wires, "If that's fine with you."
"Yep. Go right ahead." Day watched her work, silent for several long seconds. He sniffed absently, shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Thank you, by the way," he said, his voice heavy with– was that sincerity?
Zanna paused as he thanked her. He sounded so sincere and she didn't know how to respond. She blinked a few times before going back to messing around. She just wanted to get a feel for the mechanics in the leg, "Um, your welcome. I'll need to take this back to my room where I have more tools, so um, I'll see you later."
Day didn't respond, only nodded slightly. He laid down on his side– which proved painful considering the wounds in his shoulders and thigh that had still yet to heal– before eventually ending up on his stomach again. An irritating way for him to lay down, but the only option he had, considering his severe injuries. Even on his stomach, everything hurt. But, that was one of the side effects of torture, so he'd have to get over it.
Zanna made her way out of the room with his leg heading back to her own room. She made a pit stop to grab some extra tools on her way. Once in the privacy of her own room, she began to mess around with the leg even more. This would be a challenge, but hopefully she could fix it by the end of the not.
((Let's see… should we do a timeskip now? To when, you think?))
(Hmmmm, next day is a possibility. But we could always skip further ahead.)
((Considering the severity of his injuries– and Thomas's overall irritation due to the slight injury he received– they might not torture Day for the next day or two. So we could skip to maybe about two or three days later. It's likely that nobody has really went to see Day in the meantime except for when Zanna has delivered food to him.))
(That sounds good. It could be like almost escape day or something close to that. Also, I would probably bet he has his leg back at this point.)
(Yes. This is likely. I shall post.)
Several days had passed without interest. The torture sessions were put on hold– much to Thomas's discontentment. Obviously, Commander Ward was more than eager to beat the heck out of Day some more, make the man wallow in infinite misery, but the superiors had clearly expressed their concerns: Continuous beatings like this would kill Day, and they weren't risking it. His leg was eventually repaired– and no one complained about Zanna returning it to him because nobody wanted the job of having to take care of him if he were to be left without it. They just made sure he was secured with his chains and collar as well as emphasized that he should be muzzled when not eating– an extra measure Day was not fond of.
Aside from a few walk-by checks by the Commander and other soldiers, no one had been by to visit Day aside from Zanna– and she was the only one to enter his cell at all during this time. Day was fine with that. He hated everyone else in this place except for her, anyway. And he had only recently gotten over his bitterness towards her for the intense beatings she had given him. But, he realized he had to forgive her for it at some point– even if it hurt and he felt shamed by it– because she was the only one willing to help him get out of this infernal place.
She was the only one who remotely cared.
But today, Thomas approached Zanna before she went to visit Day. He stopped in front of her, offering a salute. "Good morning, Storm. What's the status with Day?"
Zanna had continued to make an escape plan for Day only missing a few of the finer details. But it was mainly there at least in her head. She had shared as much of it as she felt she could with Day during her visits. Speaking of Day, he had seemed to have finally forgiven her for the beatings she had given him. The few days of rest he had had most likely helped with that along with the return of his leg. Though she knew he wasn’t happy about wearing the muzzle. With an escape plan mainly there and Day in decent condition, she figured today could be the day she broke him out. That was until her commander arrived as she was on her way to visit him. She now had two options, lie and risk ruining everything or tell the truth and delay the escape further. Zanna opted for a half-truth. She saluted her commander back, “Good morning Ward. Day has been recovering well and we should be ready to resume sooner than later.”
"Yes, well, there has been in a change of plans. In three days, Day will be transferred to another location for his official trial, and he'll no longer be our problem." Thomas seemed happy about this, though maybe a tad disappointed. Undoubtedly, he wanted to torment Day some more. "The superiors have instructed me to keep severe punishments at a minimum, because he will need to be at full strength if the trial happens to give him corporal punishment instead of capital punishment. Their methods are a little harsher than ours, and the superiors don't want to kill him unless the judges agree to have him executed."
The good news is that Ward showed no sign of knowing diddly squat about the planned escape– and, if things went as hoped, Day would be out of here before the trial.
Zanna hadn't known about the transfer and this only further cemented that they were getting out of here either today or tomorrow when possible. She nodded along to Ward's words glad that severe punishments were no longer a viable option. Her eyes studied him silently relieved he wasn't suspicious of her. She responded once he was finished speaking, "Of course. I had no plans on doing anything severe yet, considering the last time ended up taking precious days away from our time with him."
"Yes. But I think we got a fairly strong message across to him with that punishment, so maybe it wasn't a complete mistake." Thomas hesitated. "Nonetheless, I will let you get back to your work. Feel free to do whatever you like with him, so long as it doesn't cause him extreme damage. After that, we'll be done with him and can get back to more pressing matters– such as hunting down the remaining Reformers and bringing them in." He didn't wait for her reply, but rather walked off, probably to attend to some other matter.
Zanna gave him a nod and continued her way to the cell. Oh, thank God he hadn't decided to come with her. She needed to talk to Day and get a set timeline for the escape. Mainly so she can gear up and get ready to bust him out, hopefully with minimum casualties. She didn't want to harm or kill any of her fellow soldiers. They, they didn't know any better. She did now, and it felt like a responsibility to right the wrongs. She stepped into the cell looking to Day, "Hello, we need to talk."
