Night 61: West Hall

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

The hallway was a mirror of the one on the opposite side -- which made the doors they were headed for obvious.

"Rumor has it that behind that door there's a Sphinx, that told riddles. And it didn't sound like a pet." Mythical creatures were always popular. Any two-bit genetics lab could whip up unicorns. Ones smart enough to talk, though, required one more thing -- a flexible definition of ethics. They weren't much harder, unless you wanted them sane.

Taura wasn't sure what was going to be behind that door. "I think they were being literal."

Comments

[monkeyboy]

Rumors, Sphinx, and riddles. Goku had no idea what these girls were talking about. If he didn't know better, he was thinking they were leading him someplace intellectual and thus boring. All he could do was cradle his hands behind his head, follow, and hope this adventure didn't leave him wanting to start spinning in circles again.

But not far into the long, dimly-lit hallway, a smell hit the young boy and almost left him teetering off his feet. "Uwwa!" he whined, covering his nose. Immediately, his eyes honed in on the darkened crevice to their right that held a wide door. Whatever this pungent smell was, it was coming from someone inside the room. That meant he was probably really strong!

"Hey, hey! We're goin' in this room, right?" There was excitement in his voice, which meant he really wasn't going to be taking no for an answer. Running past the two women, the monkey boy ran right into the door and began pushing one the door, trying to get it to open, but to no avail on his own.

[overlimit]

Rita lingered in the ballroom for an extra few seconds, just long enough to prick herself with the broken ring, causing it to regain its original form. It was a handy little thing. When she escaped, Rita hoped to take it as a souvenir.

When they entered the next hallway, Taura finally explained what she'd found out about the room, though Rita had no idea what a 'sphinx' was supposed to be. "So what's a--"

She stopped at the sound of buzzing from behind her. Quickly realizing what the source was, she took her backpack off and pulled out the radio. "Wait," she hissed at the brat, who was trying to charge ahead.

So Marc was alive and still making broadcasts. Rita waited silently until he finished, then started packing the radio away again, voicing her thoughts as she did. "Lydia... the Head Nurse? And... Claude?" Was that the same Claude she knew? Rita wondered. Whatever the case, it sounded like there was a lot going on behind the scenes.

[ninelivesonce]

Taura's heavy brows knit as she listened to the radio.  Claude?  Was she supposed to recognize that name?  Because whether or not she ought to, she didn't.  And she couldn't tell if the way Rita had just breathed the name out was recognition or confusion.

The rest of the monologue, though, she could do something about.  "I wonder if we can trust him at all."  He was right -- he shouldn't have survived.  Though Landel hadn't, either, unless he'd faked his death-by-zombie, and the bulletin was covered in miraculous returns.  Why bother killing someone that could come back, if it would just increase their resolve?  

It wasn't really something Taura wanted to dwell on.  Dead should be dead, no matter how nice second chances should be.  But if it wasn't, that did change the tactical situation.  And that she couldn't ignore.  "I wish we could talk to him in person.  Went looking a few times, but he's hidden too well.  Guess that's sort of necessary."

She tugged the door and held it for the others.  "Even walking into a trap's better than sitting around doing nothing, yeah?"  

[monkeyboy]

"Ohhhh..." Goku exclaimed once he stopped pushing and let Taura help him. It was one of those pully doors. Thanking her with an exuberant laugh, the young boy wandered into the room first.

If this was a trap, he wanted to be first person to set it off!

[monkeyboy]

[To here]