Icarus took his lunch on the roof today. This wasn't anything unusual for him. Last week he'd taken his lunch in the lunchroom, in the courtyard, in the auditorium, under a stairwell, and in an unused club room. Each had had their own charms. The lunchroom had been a symphony of voices and activity, the sounds all building on one another until it was all just one big sound. The courtyard had featured the sweet wet smell of freshly cut grass. In the auditorium every sound he made was amplified and played back to him. Under the stairs had been cozy and enveloped him in a shroud of shadows, making him feel like he'd discovered a secret place. The club room was clean and white but when he looked a little deeper he still found evidence of the people that had been using its last year, marks carved under desks that proved this place had a story.

For the rooftop the charm was definitely the view. From up here he could look out on the beach side jewel that was the city of Port Crescendo. Sparkles shined off the windows of high-rise buildings. Cars and people hurried along, heading for work or home or out to a shop or out to eat and he felt the rhythm of the city sweep over him and was nearly overwhelmed by the majesty of it. This was something that worked. It was enormous, sprawling, chaotic, a million different people from a million different places coming in and out and yet it all combined into something that [i]worked[/i].

The sight was well worth the risk of coming up here. Technically he didn't think he was allowed to be most of the places he had eaten lunch, but the school was just so big, especially compared to the five rooms he was allowed into at the Institute, and the only time he had to explore it was right now. So there he sat, enjoying the gentle breeze and the rhythm of life, and ate.

He saved the apple for last. He picked it up, held it in his mouth like a luau pig, and took a deep breath through his nose. Then he sent a call out through the Enlil Network to the Institute. A white a hot stab of pain gouged its way through his temple as the connection was made and he felt juice dribble down his chin as he bit into the apple. A moment later the flickering image of Dr. Johannes was in front of his eyes and the pain was just a weird inch in his scalp. He spit out the apple and waved hello. "G-g-g-good afternoon D-d-doctor." he said. "M-midday ch-ch-ch-checkup."

Dr. Johannes was a heavy set and pale woman, with auburn hair done up in a tight bun on her head and a kind face. Between the flickering and image tearing Icarus could almost make out her smile. "Good afternoon to you, Icarus. How are you today? Any changes? Feeling better? Worse?"

Icarus ruefully shook his head. "N-no changes." He'd had been hovering in the Lagrange point between "better" and "worse" for over a year now with no sighs of moving. It's partially why they'd agreed to let him out of the lab. Maybe exposure to something in ordinary society would prompt some change. 

"Well, that's good." She said, sighing with a mixture of disappointment and relief. "I'll see you when Steven brings you back then." 

"I c-c-c-could ride the train." Icarus said quickly. He couldn't really tell, but he thought he saw he smile drop at that. Nevertheless, he pressed forward hopefully. "Or I c-c-c-could wa-w-wa-wa-alk b-b-back. T-the Instit-t-t-tute isn't th-that f-f-far. S-s-s-steven doesn't have to c-c-c-come get me."

Somehow he could feel her stare through the damaged feed. For a while that's all she did. Then she said, in a sad, hard voice. "Icarus, I  understand that this feels smothering. But the Institute agreed to let you come to this school because it is a controlled environment. There are people here to look out for you. If something were to happen to you in some random place where [i]you shouldn't be[/i] then it could be hours, days, before anyone lets us know. You understand that, right?"

Icarus hoped that he was coming through on her end badly enough that she couldn't see the blue sky behind his head. He nodded, dejected. 

"Why don't you join an after school club?" he heard he say, voice softening. He perked back up at that. "Club sign ups should have begun by now. If you want to stay out longer I'm sure I could convince our administration that you'd be under proper supervision under their care."

"You me-me-mean it!" He shouted.

"I mean it." She replied. "Don't just go and join the first one you find though. Really think about this. Don't join just to quit and try something else. And don't try and join all of them! You'll have responsibilities. Icarus, are you listening?" He had been nodding dreamily along to her words but his eyes were already somewhere far in the distance. She shook her head. "Well, so long as you're having fun. See you when you get home."

The connection and Icarus felt that weird itch go away. A club. If he could prove he was all right in a club, maybe they would let him go other places. Icarus smiled, picked up his apple where it had landed on the ground, and bit into it. It somehow tasted sweeter.