NIGHT 65: M-C Block Hallway

[repelling]

[ From here ]

Stepping out, he found himself at the end of the hall of rooms. It would be the M-C Block, he thought, remembering as he moved his first night. His first night and Kida-san: he had not seen him for days, warranting the most unpleasant of assumptions. Flicking on his flashlight once more, he looked over the corridor, pausing the light on the door the to bathrooms. He'd looked there then, examining the running water, the swirl of the flush, even the toilet paper. He remembered, so he knew: just down this hall, then through the doors to another. Head right, then through another hall, until the Main Hallway, and from there the entry room.

The entry room, and the file rooms. Perhaps even Kratos-san, though he could not explain his certainty that it was no longer the same day, the same night. Even if it was, through drugging or other, he had dallied, been too long, slept for some unknown portion of night. Someone could only reasonably wait for so long.

Without knowing how many hours were left until night ended, he still had no intention of wasting time and waiting for it. So on he walked.

[ For Riley. ]

Comments

[albuquerquesnorkel]

[From here.]

The radio remained stubbornly silent, no matter what knobs Riley tried to turn on it. Giving up for the moment, he shone the flashlight beam up one side of the hallway, and then froze as another flashlight somewhere to his right swept into view.

Without thinking, Riley pressed himself up against the opposite, door-less wall, hardly daring to breathe. He'd been so sure he was the only one here, and the realization that he might not be was not nearly as comforting as he'd hoped it would be. Maybe it was the darkness, or the ominous chill in the air, or the years of experience dealing with bad guys, but something about another person here was giving Riley the creeps.

Still, they... they had a flashlight. And as Riley slid quickly along the wall to peek around the corner, they didn't look bad.

Maybe he was misreading this whole situation. Maybe there was a lot more going on here than just a prank. Maybe Riley was in real trouble, and finding out sooner rather than later would be good. Right?

"Uh, hello?" he tried, stepping out into the open space. "Hey! Uh.. do you know what's going on here?"

[repelling]

Another light did not give Uryuu pause. He caught it in his peripheral vision; it darted behind, but the hall was so dark otherwise he couldn't have missed it. A passing thought: this other person was also getting a late start. Was he alone, did he have plans, or had he just woken? Or, and he tensed, it could be something or someone planted, given the same light to lower his defenses before an attack.

It wasn't his problem, he resolved, not unless an attack followed. He didn't stop, not until, when about to snap off the flashlight again (knowing the way and reluctant to waste his batteries), the figure behind called out. Footsteps followed. At least he managed not to jump; though he'd considered the possibility the other guy had just been taken, he hadn't expected to be addressed.

Almost at the doors joining this hall to the next, he turned, directing his light over the man. His voice and what he could see of his appearance placed him in his late twenties, perhaps, give or take. Not that age helped much, especially if...

"Ah," he answered, "You're new."

Which meant he had landed the job of exposition. He didn't mind, not much; it took from his already limited time, but it wasn't as though he knew how much of that had had left, anyway. Besides, explaining things was a role with which he had plenty of familiarity.

"Unless things have changed in the last-" hesitation, as he could not say with certainty how much time had passed, "...unless things have changed, I do."

Might as well walk closer, then. Once near enough that he could talk quietly, he started. Matter-of-fact:

"You've gone mad. Too bad." His hand lifted, pushed up his glasses.

"...Or, they'd have you think that. Welcome to Landel's Instutite. You may have noticed, but once night falls, things get a little strange."

[albuquerquesnorkel]

The light directed right into his face wasn't appreciated. Riley held up the radio to shield his eyes, even less of the other man visible while he blinked the spots from his vision. By the time Riley could see clearly again, the man was already talking, and had come uncomfortably close.

"New," he repeated dumbly, wondering how on earth that fit into anything. It wasn't like this was a fraternity initiation. "Right."

If this was a prank, it was an incredibly elaborate one. Too elaborate for Ben, who could barely keep a straight face when he was playing poker. Was this some kind of weird obsessed fan thing?

One thing became painfully obvious - this guy was a little off his rocker. Apparently, Riley wasn't going to get straight answers out of him. You've gone mad, except not really? What kind of an explanation was that?

Slowly but surely growing more panicky, Riley grabbed for the one thing that did make some sort of sense. "Strange?" He pointed his flashlight back down the hall. "Yeah, strange doesn't begin to cover it. I was sitting in my car two minutes ago. Was I drugged? No, wait." He really didn't want to know the answer to that, at least not until things were a little more under control. "Better question. Where are we?"

[repelling]

His beginning could have been more helpful, Uryuu knew that. Then again, it wasn't as if the whole story (or the limited version available to them) made very much sense. The best and only way to really believe it was to go through it. It almost made telling it pointless, but even if it was doubted (and he's not so blinded by pride as to not see that hearing this from a teenager might make it doubly dismissed), it would help once experience validated it.

Unsurprisingly, the other guy wasn't handling any of it well.

"You might have been drugged," he said, voice bland. "Like I said, this is Landel's Institute. The exact location is unknown; the stars outside don't match any Earth sky. The landscape has been suggested as American, but only knowing of America's topography through books and video, I cannot speak as to the validity of that. Furthermore, given what can be manipulated here, it doesn't do to trust what you think you can see."

See or hear. Such as languages, as he'd learned his first night, and from the Library books. However, this would be hard enough to swallow without telling him that Uryuu wasn't speaking or hearing his language (probably English), but Japanese.

"It looks a bit different during the day, this place. Right now, it isn't only that the lights are off, it's trying--rather too hard--to have a particular atmosphere. As you'll discover tomorrow morning, in the day there are nurses and doctors, meals and time divided into periods of entertainment and therapy. They'll call you by another name. Tell you your life as you know it was a fantasy, a delusion of insanity, and that you've been institutionalized to help fix you. It's theorized that patients who disappear are not returned to their worlds and lives, but brainwashed into believing their fake life and sent off to live it. By the way, I don't recommend that you make much fuss tomorrow, in protest or whatever else. You'll be sedated."

He stopped here for a moment, to gauge the reaction.

"Of course, there's more. Of course, I'm sure you don't believe any of this. Time will tell you sure enough. The next part is important for the immediate future, however. Shall I continue?"

[albuquerquesnorkel]

... Okay.

Okay, Riley was going to have to revise his earlier assessment. This guy wasn't a little off his rocker. He was completely, unequivocally, absolutely-no-hope batshit insane.

For a moment, all Riley could do was stand there, intimately aware of how alone he was and how dangerous this guy - this kid, on closer inspection - might be. Claiming not to be American despite his perfect accent, implying that they weren't even on Earth, and... what, that this place was supposed to be a mental hospital? Really? A hospital that brainwashed people?

The guy was carrying around a pillowcase, for God's sake. It should have been obvious from the get-go that he wasn't all there.

Riley slowly nodded, his grip on the flashlight and radio tightening, a careful smile crossing his face. "Well, that all sounds... like boatloads of fun, really. Look, I don't know if this is just to torment the new guy, or if you really actually believe all of this, but..." He paused, training his flashlight on the door behind the stranger. "By all means, continue. Don't mind me, I'm just gonna slip round here, and go through there, and find..." What? Somebody else wandering around, probably just as crazy? "A way out."

By this point, he'd walked carefully around the guy, but he turned back for a split second to shoot him another worried smile. "You just... keep on talking. Good luck."

[repelling]

It struck Uryuu, as he watched the man absorb the information and his expression shift into a tenuous smile, that it was one thing, to expect to be assumed insane and bypassed. One thing to expect it, and quite another to experience it. He tried not to bristle, to feel offense, at the way the guy spoke, but still his teeth grit as the man moved around him, heading toward the door.

Why should it bother him? What did it matter what this guy thought, or more importantly, what might happen to him alone? It was just as reasonable to assume that he could take care of himself as to think otherwise. He wasn't his responsibility. Uryuu had some experience stepping in on behalf of idiots who needed help; Abarai, over one hundred years this guy's senior, could testify to that. Could, if he wasn't (possibly) somewhere in this world calling himself Kyle.

This guy might not even encounter anything dangerous. And how to prove it to him, if he was so inclined? Summon the bow he likely wouldn't even be able to see, chip a hole in the wall or dent the door? Waste his energy showing off? Not an option.

Only- it would be irresponsible to watch him walk away without even mentioning the monsters. Besides, saying nothing else would be awkward, given that if the guy wanted out, they were headed in the same direction.

Thus, though he did not jump after him, he did raise his voice, words dry but tight. "Wait."

Sudden movements, chasing, even reaching out might be viewed as an attack, after all. The crazy person acting violent once his delusion was challenged.

"You might as well ask me how to get out, even if it won't do you any good. Besides, it's winter." Unless a great deal of time passed, but he sounded mad enough as was. "You aren't dressed for it. If you'd like to test it, turn left in the next hall; the doors at the end lead to a field."

[albuquerquesnorkel]

Despite the potential danger, and Riley's much better judgment, he did stop and wait. As crazy as the guy might be, he did have a point; he knew this layout, this... this place, better than Riley did. And he didn't act like a crazy person. He wasn't muttering to himself, or pacing, or doing much of anything but standing patiently and explaining what he thought was real with good, coherent, strung-together sentences.

He was also Riley's only lead right now.

Riley took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and then released it in a long, slow stream. He would just have to sort through the crazy to get to the facts, but it wasn't like he'd never done that before. Everything he ever did with Ben was nothing but crazy, and they still managed to find two history-changing treasures within the space of a few years.

Riley turned back around, although the suspicion never left his face. "Okay, then," he said, proud of how steady he managed to keep his voice. "I'll just go grab a coat." He'd seen at least one back in that room, and maybe if he searched the drawers a little more thoroughly, he'd find his own clothes. Of course, he was also barefoot, but there had to be shoes somewhere, right? Maybe in those closets, too. "Left in the next hall, doors at the end, got it. Thanks."

The stars outside didn't match any Earth sky... honestly. Riley didn't know much about astronomy, but he was pretty sure he could at least pick out the Big Dipper. It was mildly annoying that he even felt the need to confirm the craziness, but this whole situation was a little terrifying, and Riley would take whatever assurances he could get. Like making sure that he hadn't been kidnapped by aliens.

[repelling]

This was promising. A contrast: regardless of content, when Kurosaki told him to shut up, it was because 'you talk too much' or 'your story's too long', not that the information was flawed. This guy listened, even told him to 'keep on talking', but clearly thought he and what he had to say were absolutely insane. Not that Uryuu could blame him.

Reasoning away fault did not make less irritating that long exhale. He could be patient with skepticism, with suspicion, but he didn't have to like it.

Uryuu had not pointed the light at the man's feet, but the sound of him walking told enough: no heavy, hard soles. No material like the slippers, either.

"...No need for gratitude. That will take you to the field, yes. Marked for football- rather, soccer, if you prefer. It's probably walled, I haven't yet been properly out there." He'd poked his head out the first night, enough to ascertain what was beyond the door and get a good look at the sky. "The Entry Room is the other direction. Either way..."

Now he let the light fall, catching on the man's feet.

"There should be boots in your closet, along with a coat and two sweatshirts. The rooms, and what each so-called patient has access too, are identical. I could lend you a sweatshirt, but I'm afraid I don't have spare footwear. The terrain beyond the institute is extremely unwelcoming. The road to the next town is a long one, and your other options are a putrid forest, or mountains, or doubtless more I haven't learned of."

More to say: that he was running out of time, not that it mattered, since his goal was escape. Regardless of how far he walked, he would wake with the rest of them in the same way. That could wait, perhaps. For his next dishing of crazy talk. Monsters had yet to be breached.

[albuquerquesnorkel]

... A soccer field. Okay. Well, that was something.

"I..." Riley paused for a moment before heading back to the room. "I think I'll use my own sweatshirt. No offense, it's just... I don't know you, you could be anyone, and... I should probably go get boots, anyway."

And with that, Riley hurried back to the third door down - M98, according to the plaque his flashlight lit up - and, out of force of habit, flicked the light switch as he went in. Nothing happened.

Now that he was alone again, Riley couldn't help imagining all sorts of disastrous scenarios to explain why or how this was happening to him. People didn't just black out and wake up in mental hospitals. And even if they did, they didn't wake up in the dark with no sounds of nurse activity and nobody around to explain anything. And even if they did that, they didn't find convenient flashlights in their beds and portable radios on their desks and a random guy out in the hall clearly doing his best to explain complete and utter nonsense.

This was all feeling very much like it was planned. And not like a prank. In fact, it was feeling a little like a video game, and that thought didn't do anything to comfort Riley. He'd played horror games. He knew exactly how stuff like this turned out.

No. Okay. Get a hold of yourself, Riley chastised silently. There's obviously a perfectly reasonable explanation for all of this. You just haven't found it yet. Go and get the boots and the sweatshirt and the coat. Let's take this one step at a time.

Right. One step at a time.

With another deep breath - this time for calming down - Riley pulled on all the articles of clothing he'd come back to find, retrieved his flashlight and radio, and retraced his steps to find the random guy back out in the hall.

"Ah," he muttered, slightly disappointed and slightly relieved. "You're still here." He aimed his flashlight beam at the guy's chest. "You're not an alien, are you?" he asked half-jokingly. "'Cause aliens... I don't know, I kind of pictured more antennae and slime."

[repelling]

Had the reason not been tacked on, Uryuu would have seen no reason for offense. He had little interest in wearing other people's clothes, even if they were seemingly identical, and in this case, his might be a little too small. Shapeless and hideous as it was. No, but he had to add on the practical but insulting implication that his being a stranger made his clothing somehow suspect.

It tempted him to explain that he'd just woken up, that he'd hadn't worn any of it. Why would he have wanted to wear such unflattering things? A good thing, then, that the guy was already moving; that would have revealed that it had bothered him.

As the man disappeared down the hall, Uryuu found himself, to his slight surprise, not movnig. He did click off his flashlight, but otherwise he stood still, for all intents and purposes waiting. As if the guy had not been about to ditch him, as if Uryuu had any desire to stick with him, as if there was any responsibility. Sure, if he had walked off and left him to return to a deserted hall, the guy might have been more liable to dismiss the entire story. But, this had not changed: it wasn't his problem. He'd learn in time.

His thoughts were becoming redundant.

With every reason to leave, he stayed, and as time wore on (not that the guy took all that long, but every second counted), began to resign himself to the possibility that he would not be making headway with the files tonight. Footsteps sounded down the hall once more, now with heavy soles, and he turned his flashlight back on, to be less of an ominous figure in the dark.

At the alien comment, he raised his eyebrows.

"Your imagination is pretty limited, isn't it? No, I'm not an alien." Uryuu did not add the precise reason he dismissed his imagination: there were, apparently, aliens here. People from other worlds. Antennae and slime failed to mark them. Yet another fact that wouldn't help his case. After the truckload of information he'd unloaded earlier, it was best to stick to the essentials now. The absolutely need to know, which would be hard enough. No need to weigh it down with aliens.

"Come on. Have a look at the stars."

With that, Uryuu turned and walked through to the next hall, heading for the door labeled 'FIELD'. Actually expecting to be followed.

[ to here!! gs i am a tldr machine ]

[fallenbeanpole]

[from here]

Stepping out into the dark corridor, the Once-ler flicked his flashlight back on again. He swept the beam up and down the hall, more out of curiosity than caution. While he was no stranger to dimly lit surroundings, having a good light source made things much easier.

He stepped out into the middle of the hallway and turned back to his roommate. "You know where we're going, so lead on."

[brokensmolder]

Eugene was still blinking black dots (his roommate had conveniently shined the flashtorch thing right in his eyes) when they walked/limped out into the hallway together. They were going to have to move as quickly as their gimpy legs could take them. Injured as they both were, they would be sitting ducks if any monsters--or patients changed into monsters--happened to find them.

"C'mon."

[Time to get nommed by a Heartless.]