Night 62: Women's Bathrooms (F01-F40)

[no_dont_go]

[skipping the F-A block from here]

Aigis walked into the bathroom and waited a moment in silence. She didn't hear or sense anything that would immediately be dangerous. If something stealthy chose to show itself later, that would be unfortunate, but for now this would suit their purposes.

Aigis turned around and faced her companion, then held out her claws to him as if offering them. "Please, take these."

Her gaze fell and she felt a chill, which sent her into a short shivering fit. If it wasn't obvious now, she would make it clear with words. "As to your question, yes, I believe I am. And I need your assistance in a matter before I change."

Comments

[idolism]

It was good that the girl didn’t expect him to understand her sentiments, because although he could, he didn’t want to. Soft feelings had the power to cloud one’s judgement, and there was enough about Landel’s Institute that Aidou didn’t understand even when he was totally clear-headed. Worrying about the prisoners on top of everything else seemed a lost cause. And worrying about prisoners worrying about other prisoners… ah, it was a never-ending cycle!

After a moment, he shook his head and said, “Well, whatever--”

However, he broke off once he realized she wasn’t even listening to him anymore. Just like that, she was walking off down the hall. What the hell? He didn’t have all night to decode her cryptic demeanor!

“Hey, I didn’t come here for a tour, you know,” he directed at her back. Ugh, this was turning out to be more troublesome than he’d anticipated. “Where are you going?”

When Aigis failed to turn toward the exit or stop at any of the cells, it became apparent that she was walking a straight line toward the girls’ bathroom, of all places. Bathrooms were, in general, not places he typically frequented at night--especially not the women’s one, given that he was a man. But gender-based protocols seemed a silly thing to fret about after everything that had already happened. Reluctantly, he followed in her wake, wondering at her lack of an answer. If she needed extra privacy to address her state of health, that couldn’t be a good sign.

The bathroom was thankfully empty, leaving the two of them alone in the dark. “And why are we here?” he asked, nose wrinkled. It always smelled worse in these types of places… He still had his arms crossed, so when she turned and held out her weapons he could only stare at them blankly for a second. He didn’t unfold his arms. “Why would I want those?”

Disarming oneself was definitely not a good sign. His suspicions had hit an all time high by the time she expressed her fears about herself. So she was infected… or at least, she believed as much.

But the symptoms couldn’t be too severe or surely he would’ve noticed them…

He appraised her with narrowed eyes, seeing her again in a new light. Maybe he should’ve been more surprised by the confession… but was there even a point to being surprised anymore? He had just assumed (or unconsciously hoped) she wasn’t, yet the chances of anyone he knew getting sick were just as high as a stranger’s. No, not sick, he corrected himself. Made to transform.

He had already unloaded a great deal of questions on her, but these were of greater importance than the rest: “How? When?”

The rest of it didn’t matter. If she was indeed infected, then that changed everything.

But before she could answer or he could find out what kind of assistance she wanted to solicit from him, the intercom squealed to life again, filling the building with the sound of broken song lyrics. Insufferable timing, as always. Aidou cast a dark look at the nearest source of the noise, unable to contain a feeling of satisfaction when the thing abruptly cut off.

The situation was morbid enough without needing reminders.

[no_dont_go]

As annoyed as Aidou sounded with her as she had led him into the bathroom, Aigis couldn't let that annoyance win out over her logic. Things had to be done. There was no time to waste.

He still had not taken her claws, so instead she placed the on the bathroom sink. She then moved to place her Evoker on the side of the sink. Those were her only weapons. Her only defenses that she had kept on her person. She stepped back and away from them, just in case something triggered within her and she became as she had several nights ago; controlled, manipulated by the institute, and willing to cut anyone down who posed a threat.

His questions were simple and the answers just the same. "My heartbeat. And," she shivered, "my body. They are reacting oddly without any perceived stimulus. It started this morning, after Landel made his announcement about the changes."

Then came the noise of the intercom, setting Aigis on edge again as the robotic voice of the I.R.I.S. sang it's dreadful, broken verse. Then Aigis could see it, a little red spot growing on the back of her hand. It felt uncomfortable, and she ran her finger across the puckering red flesh. Another chill ran down her spine. But now she had more proof, and she held her right hand up for Aidou to see.

She was marked. She couldn't protect anyone in this state. She couldn't even help herself. So, she needed someone else to take action. Against her. "If you could, I would ask that you... If I were to change, would you please do whatever you could to stop me?" She held his gaze with her own, unflinching. "Lock me in a room. Tie me down. Incapacitate me. Kill me, if you must."

[idolism]

Aidou hadn’t noticed anything, but then he hadn’t been looking closely, either. Although he couldn’t deny that he was more attuned to the girl now after he’d had her blood, he also tried not to let his instincts drift too far in that direction.

“What does that mean, it started out of the blue just like that?” he questioned, and it was partly an accusation, a demand for Aigis to think harder about it. There had to be something, right? Some kind of trigger point? An origin? Granted, anything could’ve been injected into the food or the air; he’d already surmised Landel had the capabilities to target specific people, and he didn‘t have to leave traces behind if he didn‘t want to. “You didn’t experience anything strange or out of the ordinary?”

Silly hope to hope there might be a discernible cause. Hadn’t he already learned that lesson? Landel’s Institute was and had always been a breeding ground for the random and the impossible, and the proof was in the color of Aigis’ hand when she went to stroke it. There was a small, inflamed circle on her hand when only seconds ago he’d would’ve sworn her skin had been unmarred as she’d been holding out her weapons. The circle was too smooth, too perfect to be a natural process. Had he disbelieved her other symptoms, that, certainly, was irrefutable proof that there was something amiss with her. And whatever it was, it was becoming more noticeable.

His need to understand what was going on, to figure out the illness and Landel’s warnings, warred with hesitation to get near the rash. Aigis was right, she was marked. But it wasn’t fear that made him think so but a sinking feeling that it was already too late to do anything to reverse whatever Landel had put into motion.

Somewhere, the man was laughing while the infected’s symptoms worsened. A true sadist.

For a moment, he kept staring at her hand as she made her request. Internally, though, the pieces were falling into place; now her desire to take him aside made sense. She was seeking a solution, in case Landel was right and she did change. In case she lost her mind. In that case, there had to be a contingency. It was a logical thought, even if her choice in executioners was perhaps not. She was asking him to do what he had already said he would do if he had to--kill her.

And if Landel was right, and people did change? Yes, killing them was a possibility. He had seen that clearly the moment Landel had confessed his deeds.

“I see, you’ve been busy planning,” he said lowly. His tone was even. The request was neither new nor strange to him--in that sense, she had gauged him rather well. “If you are to change,” he repeated, “and I catch you in time, then I will deal with you. I have no symptoms, so it seems likely I’m unaffected. Now that I know, we’ll have to keep an eye on you. He said himself that there will be signs over the coming days.”

To think he had started the night out without ever knowing that one of his acquaintances was ill. Now Landel's threats about transformations were right in his face.

[no_dont_go]

Aigis tried to think back. Had she done anything to prompt this reaction in her body? The past few nights had been spent on attempts to make it to the basement or as supply runs. She couldn't think of anything that would lead to her contracting this, unless it was instilled stealthily. She shook her head.

"Unless general attempts to thwart Landel's power were somehow triggered, no, I cannot imagine any reason why I should have contracted this. Unless..." She tilted her head. "There is always the possibility of random sampling, but we have little data to conclude that for certain. I will look into the matter."

Aidou was at least attempting to take her plan seriously. He held little regard for her life, she was certain. In fact, it would do him a great deal of good to be rid of her. With great relief, she nodded. "I am glad I have your cooperation if the worst should occur."

Talking about Landel gave her the strength to bring her game face back into play. Her mind was cool and collected; talking about death and the grim possibilities the future could bring was easier than she would have thought, even though a part in the back at her mind recoiled from the idea. "We shall have to be on the look-out for more changes."

She touched the mark on her wrist, her brows furrowing. "I do not expect to hope for a cure. And Landel has no need for lies when it seems his very will can be brought about with merely a thought to his whims." She wasn't getting out of this. There would be no way.

[idolism]

The vampire shook his head, harder than he necessarily had to. “Not knowing is part of the scare tactics, I bet. It means anyone one of us could experience changes. If it is was so easy to isolate the cause, this wouldn’t have snuck up on the prisoners.”

There was an acrid edge to his tone. Although Aidou could deal with the situation as he’d dealt with all of Landel’s insane experiments in the past, it didn’t mean he had to like it. Not by half.

This was not supposed to have happened. This was degrading business.

“Don’t consider it a special favor,” he went on. “It’s not like I can just ignore it now.” Having prisoners-turned-monsters running around was not that unlike prisoners under Special Counselling. They were a universal obstacle for everyone, him included, as well as her friends, most of whom probably be out to protect her (or protect others from her) once they found out. “Did you warn your acquaintances about your suspicions today?”

Aigis couldn’t be the only exhibiting strange signs. How many others out there were ill, about to change? A handful of people? Dozens of people? Half of the prisoners? Aidou would have expected a flood of messages hinting other cases, but then again, over the course of the day people might have assumed any signs of sickness really were just the flu.

Now, though, everyone knew better. At least Aigis was trying to prepare herself for what may come.

He could’ve agreed with her, that her chances of a cure were slim… but that would’ve been overly callous. “Show me your blood,” he said instead. If there was even the slightest chance he could identify something that she couldn’t, well, that was a chance worth taking, wasn’t it? For whatever good it would do.

[no_dont_go]

He was right, about the way Landel used their lack of knowledge to instill greater fear into them. Perhaps it was impossible to find out how the Head Doctor had caused her this misfortune. The moments between the patients blacking out and waking up in their beds was completely unaccounted for, after all. Any number of things could happen to them during that time, not just the generally bandaging up for the next day.

"Understood." Aigis did not expect this to be a favor done out of kindness as much as necessity. She needed help, and if he managed to help her then he invariably helped himself. She would never expect more with their current relationship as it was.

Aigis opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. "No. I did not." She glanced down a moment. "I did not run into many friends today. And my roommate seems to have been... released. But I may do that tomorrow, if I am able." Who knew what her condition would be by then. If she could even get the word out without demonizing herself to the point of no return.

Aidou's request struck Aigis as odd, but he was the blood expert. As he had not yet taken her weapons, Aigis carefully used one of the claws to draw a small line down the pad of her right forefinger. The slightest bit of pain could be seen in the set of her jaw, but other than that she did not react. Holding her claws now in her left hand, she moved it to her side and offered the cut for inspection.

[idolism]

Problem solving was supposed to be what he was good at. For a mind like his, one that could assess possible actions and their outcomes faster and more objectively than any human’s, stripping the situation down to its bare essentials was supposed to be easy. And it was, to an extent. He could see the facts as they were: the girl was infected. She could become a liability. And he could see what might have to be done: that, if she changed, steps would indeed have to be taken to contain or eliminate her.

Still, despite the impersonality of his calculations, there was a niggling sense of disbelief. Had things really come this far? Had Landel really defied nature in this way?

“Let’s assume there’s enough of you that it soon becomes apparent to the general population,” he said, forcing himself to continue with the conversation. “They’ll find out soon enough. Better to warn them in advance.”

Speaking the words was always easier than doing the deed, however. It was the same with asking her to expose her blood. Making the request was easier than facing the stench of sickness that wafted off the small red beads of blood on her finger. His nose wrinkled slightly; it was obvious by the turn of his head that a brief smell was enough. Landel’s zombie virus had smelled worse because of the rot it caused in the body, but Aigis’ body clearly wasn’t unaffected by this recent infection, as much as he might‘ve hoped it wasn‘t. He didn’t have to taste it to know. There was a sign of illness inside her, something that hadn’t been there before.

The speed with which Landel had contaminated her repulsed him more than the physical evidence did. That bastard. How had he managed this?

“Yes,” he started, and the word was almost a hiss, “your blood’s different than it was earlier, I can tell already. But if you’re changing, the evidence isn’t there.” Yet. “It’s still human.”

[no_dont_go]

Aidou was right, of course. Aigis couldn't hide it long, and it was likely she was not the only one. How miserable everyone else must feel to have to go through this. "Understood. Then I will see what must be done to warn them."

Aidou's obvious disgust worried Aigis more than she would have thought. Was her blood really that unsavory in its current state? She couldn't tell the difference. There was still some relief, however. "If it is still human, then perhaps I will be safe a while longer then."

She pressed her bleeding finger to her palm, expecting the pressure would take care of the healing for her. She felt a little faint, but other than that and the other symptoms she still felt like herself.

[idolism]

For more than one reason, he found it difficult to turn his attention away from her blood. The scent was spreading through the air like a blooming flower, and being so close he received a full taste of it. In a twisted way, the fact that the quality of her blood had changed was an advantage for him--strong, healthy human blood had the strongest pull, and right now he couldn’t be distracted.

He looked away. “He didn’t give any hint of how this was done. The only other time I’ve seen a prisoner undergo a bodily transformation, it was because they’d been injected with a substance during experimentation.”

[no_dont_go]

"Experimentation?" Aigis narrowed her eyes. She should not have been surprised.

She had no inkling of Aidou's problem holding back from her blood. The cut had fallen out of her mind, even as she continued to keep it pressed to her palm.

"Just because I do not remember undergoing nay type of experimentation does not mean it was not done." She hadn't checked herself for anything like needlepricks, but with the accelerated healing rate this place provided, it was likely those had closed up before she would have seen them. "There is never accounting for the period between us passing out and waking up in our beds."

[idolism]

“Yes, from what I understand,” he said, turning to face the line of bathroom mirrors. Although he didn’t have a problem seeing in the dark, there wasn’t much to see in the grimy glass.

She had a point about the similarity of her own situation--a very valid point, actually. There was no way to prove she hadn’t undergone the exact same kind of guinea pig procedure that Kyon had. If Landel could squelch their inherent abilities with a mere device, it stood to reason that he could manipulate their bodies in other ways just as easily. In the mirror, his reflection narrowed its eyes.

But to admit that they might never fully understand how or what he had done… ugh, it wasn’t a pleasant thought for someone who valued understanding above all else.

“You’re right, of course. So far the only answers are guesses.”

[no_dont_go]

"And since that is the case, and speculation can only get us so far..." Aigis shook her head, clenching her fist all the harder. Her nails dug into the heel of her palm, threatening to draw out more blood if she kept up the pressure.

Aigis found herself sinking. Her body drew downward into a crouch, her fists moving to her sides and to prop against the ground. She drew in a strangled breath, hissing out through her teeth. "We haven't any clues, nor knowledge of how Landel managed to create this infection. If we have nothing like that..."

She looked up, her eyes slanting in anger. "... then we must be prepared for the worst."