damned_institute | Night 64: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

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Night 64: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[From here.]

Still no one. Harvey imagined that before long these areas were going to be flooded with sick people who were going to follow that clue, so he was glad that he'd beaten them to the punch. It wasn't that he thought it was contagious anymore -- by this point, they would have known -- but he didn't need to be surrounded by a bunch of miserable, sniffling people, either.

Relieved that he'd dodged that bullet, at least so far, Harvey reached the end of the hall and took a right toward their regular meeting spot.

[To here.]

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[from here]

Kyousuke tried to keep a close eye on his surroundings as he walked, and outwardly, it probably looked passable, but the truth was, it was taking most of his focus just to drag his exhausted limbs and control his breathing. This was ridiculous. He couldn't even remember the last time it was so hard just to walk.

The hall had some life in it, though, and unlike like their encounter from before, nobody seemed to really pay them much mind. They must have been like them. Kyousuke took this as a cue to feel safe; if something came, someone was bound to notice even if he didn't, and they could probably use numbers to their advantage. He leaned against the wall again, casually watching people talk or come and go like he was deliberating, but that wasn't quite the truth. They hadn't even walked that far, yet he needed a small moment to make it feel like his extremities were less on fire.

Was this going to happen every small distance they traveled? If so, they weren't going to get anywhere very quickly. This ... might not work.

Murphy just shrugged. It had looked pretty great to him. and neither of them were dead, though Tsurugi looked like maybe he was fading fast. Either from the fight or from fear, and the ex-con considered both valid reasons.

"This isn't really a hospital," he offered, attempting the conversation thing again. "But they've got medical stuff. If you need anything. I still don't have a map, but...sometimes you can find your way around without one. I haven't been here that long, just...woke up here last night."

He figured he shouldn't ask 'are you okay' again, since he'd probably just get the same answer. And he didn't want to push this kid away. He knew he fucked up, had a habit of doing the exact wrong thing, but he was determined.

"So...where are you from? I'm from Boston."

Kyousuke wasn't surprised to hear this wasn't a hospital, really. It looked like one, but the rust and decay wasn't exactly very sanitary, and it would be hard to keep people alive without any power. Maybe it was one at one point, but at the moment, it was pretty defunct. As for medical supplies, he doubted that was going to him any good.

"... I just need rest," he admitted plainly; pretending he was okay wasn't going to do much good if they ran into anything again, especially since he wasn't quite convinced he'd even be able to run away this time. But still, "It's not the time. I can worry about that later."

He wasn't entirely sure what to make of the fact that Murphy had already been here an entire day without slipping out of an exit, but Kyousuke choose not to comment on it. Hearing where the man was from, however, gave him some pause. Boston... Wasn't that in America?

"Inazuma-Chou, in Tokyo," he responded slowly, not sure that he liked where this was going. His eyes narrowed. "You really don't know where we are?"

It was probably pointless to repeat the first question he'd asked, but Kyousuke couldn't shake the feeling something was wrong here, apart from the obvious. What happened if he was really that far away from away from home? Even if he got out of here, he'd still basically be stranded. That... wasn't good.

"Do you want to go back to a room and rest? They're supposed to be safe." Murphy couldn't honestly swear they were, but that's what he'd been told.

"There's not much good wandering around drained is gonna do," he went on, countering Tsurugi's insistence of worrying about it later. "When it's morning they won't let you rest. They pretend it's a hospital and we're all crazy. Nobody knows where it is, other than someplace in America probably." He offered a small smile, trying to stay calm and hopefully forge some sort of trust with the boy.

"Wow, I've never met anyone from Japan before. You speak amazing English." That wasn't rude, was it? It was true, Murphy would never have guessed Tsurugi wasn't from the US. Sure he had a foreign name, but plenty of kids did. "I don't know that much. But we're trapped for right now, and everyone I've talked to says no one gets out through escaping. I dunno if it's true. But I do know it's really hard to get out of a place that doesn't want you to leave."

That was a less meddlesome response than Kyousuke had been expecting, a fact he was a grateful for. It still wasn't quite ideal, but at least he'd stopped treating him like a child. That was all he could really ask for.

The rest... was a lot to process. He assumed "they" to mean whoever had brought them here, but crazy? What was the point of that? What was the point of any of this? He tried to sort through what he knew to see if he could piece something together, but his headache disrupted any attempt to collect his thoughts. ... He just couldn't concentrate right now. Then there was that other part, about being in America. ... That was problematic. He had no money or passport, and he doubted his parents had the money to help him on such short notice. Maybe if he found his way to a consulate, they could do something... His head flared again.

"That's only if I stick around that long," Kyousuke countered eventually. He was exhausted, but he could still move, even for all the effort it took, and that was what counted. He wasn't going to waste an entire night if he could find a way out now.

Yet Murphy kept talking, and it far from assuaged any of Kyousuke's worries. "I—what?" he responded, totally bewildered. English? He wasn't speaking English... And Murphy didn't look like he was joking, either. He didn't know what that meant. He didn't even know how to respond to it, or address the obvious discrepancy.

"... Yeah, I guess," he said vaguely, still confused. He really had no other response. Either something was wrong with this guy, or he was one good actor.

The rest made about as much sense. What was the difference? Escaping was escaping. In fact, he probably would have made it if Murphy hadn't stopped him; those few seconds of pause were the difference between slipping over the wall and that robot appearing. He probably still could have made it even then if this guy hadn't been so passive and interfering, a thought which gave him a new swell of irritation, but the boy put that aside for now. But... 'A place that doesn't want you to leave.' He had to frown at that. This was just some run-down old hospital. It wasn't like it could think for itself.

"What do you mean?" he asked carefully.

Murphy only smiled sadly and shrugged a little.

"I really wish I had answers," he said. And he did. "I was in...a weird place before I woke up here. That honestly sometimes doesn't seem so different. And I don't know why they want to keep us here. There's a lot of us though, I could tell during the day. They give us different names and insist that's who we are. I know it sounds insane, I think it sounds insane." He ran his hands through his hair, clearly frustrated with his own lack of knowledge.

"My roommate...he got me up to speed as best he could. They let us out at night but there's monsters all over. People die a lot. I saw two of them last night. The military was here, I guess, but I don't know what they've got to do with anything. And no one gets out. Last night...I was out with a woman, we were in another part of the building. The front door. And then I was waking up in the room I woke up in first and it was morning and a nurse was there."

He looked up and down the hallway, keeping his eyes open for anything that looked dangerous heading their way.

"......"

Kyousuke remained silent, suddenly feeling like he'd been stabbed by some unidentifiable emotion. He had no idea how much truth that story held, but it was difficult to wrap his head around, especially as he was. A lot came at once, and he couldn't seem to process his feelings.

"So, what you're saying is... People get brought here, told they're insane, and get attacked because they want leave. They're here fighting against their will." He said it deliberately, more to himself than anything, trying to string his own thoughts together.

People died. Murphy had mentioned that before, but Kyousuke hadn't thought to put it into context, and doing so made all the difference. He'd seen people's emotions toyed with before, and he'd seen people try to ruin others' lives, but not quite like this. Never on this level. It was repulsive no matter what the scale, but death? ... There was ruining a life, and then there was ending it. At least life held a little hope, even if it sometimes seemed impossible. But dead was just dead. There were some things you could never regain. ... He thought of his brother, and how how hard his loss had been, and then what would have happened if he had lost even more, but the idea was so unfathomable it just made it insides recoil. But according to Murphy, people were being forced into just that.

"Then leaving won't change anything," he realized. His head burned, over-strained from his lack of energy, his limbs felt sluggish and heavy, and he was starting to feel sick, but his anger overrode all of that. "People will just keep getting hurt."

... He couldn't save only himself. He knew his brother would never stand for any of this, and his friends would never abandon anyone. Kyousuke wouldn't either. His course of action couldn't be any clearer: "We need to bring these people down." He looked Murphy directly in the eyes as he said it, intent and challenging.

"That pretty much sums it up," Murphy agreed, nodding. No, it didn't make any sense. But there were only so many things a man could reject before he had to trust what was happening around him. At least to some extent.

He had to smile a little when Tsurugi stated his...challenge, he guessed. He was right, though, and the ex-con agreed with him. Though he didn't know what they could actually do, if this place had been around as long as people claimed. But it had to be stopped. They had kids here.

"Yeah," he said. "There's a doctor who's in charge, comes on the intercom a lot. He's different at night, too, but he's running things right now. I don't know anything about him, except his name's Landel and I guess the military doesn't like him."

When it came to detailed information, Murphy was seriously lacking.

At least they were on the same page. He relaxed a little, knowing he wasn't going to be met with protests, although there was still a certain kind of frustration in it: things would have been a lot easier if Murphy had just said all of this from the beginning. It didn't matter, though. At least now he was on the right track.

The question was, what did he do about it? Everything he was being told was vague and insubstantial. He had a basic idea of what was going on, but no real knowledge of how the other side functioned or what they were trying to accomplish. ... It was strange and unfamiliar being so far out of the loop. There had to someone who knew something they could use...

"... There have to be more people trying. What about them?"

That was the best lead he had. Moving around alone in the dark could only get you so far, in both senses of the phrase. Kyousuke wasn't keen on cooperating with just anyone, but with the right people, they might be able to manage something. And from the sound of it, they were all in this together, whether they liked it or not.

Now Murphy understood why Harvey had seemed so annoyed earlier.

"I've only been here maybe twenty four hours," he said again. "I don't know who's trying to do what. People have groups that I think are trying to bring this all down. You'll be able to find someone who's been here longer and knows more when it's daytime. They just let us all out together for food and activities and stuff."

Which was a step above prison, most certainly.

"i'm sorry I can't tell you more. I'm sorry I don't know more. I really don't want to be here, either."

Right.... That was plenty to find out more by Kyousuke's standards, bit it couldn't be helped if Murphy didn't know too much. He decided to refrain from asking anything else, only able to assume he'd exhausted everything he could. If he had to press for details, he could get them somewhere else. Kyousuke briefly pinched the bridge of his nose, half in frustration, and half to ease his headache. From the sound of it, he'd just have to keep an eye out for any of these alleged groups.

"...."

The last bit made Kyousuke shift his gaze. ... There was really nothing he could say to that. He knew he was being demanding, but he didn't have any reassurances, and he wasn't one for apologies or petty excuses, which put him at a bit of a loss. Maybe acknowledging it was enough; it wasn't like there was anything else he could do.

"... Let's go," he said quietly, turning his back. They weren't accomplishing anything by standing around.

[to here]

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Night 64: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

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