damned_institute | Night 68: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

[from here]

The door opened, just as before, into a larger hallway, one he recognized easily enough from the trips he'd made back and forth with the nurses. It was empty though, devoid of life, and gave off an eerie sort of feeling.

Atavists weren't to go out at night for good reason. Their presence was practically a flashing beacon to any full-blooded demons that might be wandering about. Did the same hold true here? Demons and monsters and all sorts of experiments were said to walk these halls, but he'd yet to see proof that it wasn't just the other patients or excited nerves.

He hesitated for a moment, glancing back down the hall. One way led outside, he remembered, the other toward the rooms they used in the daytime. The Sun Room, Lingormr had mentioned, could be particularly dangerous and was usually inhabited by some sort of dangerous presence. On the other hand, he could seek out his belongings. His clothing, perhaps, his photos... If his cell phone still had any sort of charge, he might make a call, or a text, or some word to the outside world. If he didn't find it tonight, he was almost certain the battery would be gone with the morning. At the very least, he might find some kind of clue there. Something to tell him where he was, where his master had gone, and how to return to her, if it was at all possible.

He eyed the hallway ahead, training his light on the empty tile before him.

[Ryusei]

Edited 2013-01-25 06:50 (UTC)

[from here]

... That wasn't Ryuugamine again, was it? No, Ryusei had met him in the hall farther along than this one. And this person was taller.

He'd pass right by, but his light would give him away. Ryusei wasn't exactly being very subtle about shining the flashlight every which way. "Excuse me.... Are you going somewhere?"

Ryuugamine had told him not to go out at night alone. Maybe this guy was waiting for someone. And if he was, Ryusei had time enough to ask him a few things, if he was receptive to it. For Ryusei's purposes, collecting information couldn't be a bad thing; it'd speed up his mission somewhat if he could glean anything useful.

Soushi paused when he saw the beam of another flashlight and someone called out to him. Going somewhere?

He turned with a faint but friendly smile on his lips, and found the other was a man, probably a few years his junior. Soushi had to wonder if this was how he'd seemed to Lingormr, showing up out of the blue the other night, but thus far, he'd been met with fairly friendly, if not outright helpful patients.

"I'm looking for the room where they keep our things," he said honestly. Might as well be straightforward about that much at least. His bulletin post had proved fruitless, but perhaps there were those here that knew.

"Do you know of it?"

Uncanny. But there was no reason to be suspicious; surely one of the first instincts upon waking in this place was to get one's things back. Ryusei couldn't be the only person who might have had something important confiscated. "No. But I'm looking for it, too."

Then he hesitated. More prudent to get this guy's name and then split up. But he couldn't ask this guy to wait around if he had other things to do after finding it. If it'd been Ryusei, if he hadn't needed to get to that room, he might already have started to break out of here.

Or not. Ryusei frowned, but this wasn't the time to think about Jirou. "Are you waiting for anyone?"

Soushi blinked. It seemed either terribly fortunate or terribly suspicious that they were both looking for the same place. Ryuugamine had mentioned it too, hadn't he? Maybe it wasn't so farfetched. Soushi shook his head slowly at the young man's next question.

"It isn't that. I'm just not certain where to start looking, I suppose," he admitted, glancing at the floor then back down the hall. But if this other patient was still looking for the same thing, there was some chance they could narrow their search.

"I'm Miketsukami Soushi. If it's to our mutual interest, perhaps we might seek it out together? I've heard it's quite dangerous to explore on one's own."

"Sakuta. Pleasure to meet you."

'Heard' it might dangerous, Miketsukami had said. Might be more dangerous to stay in the rooms, but there was nothing they could do, it seemed, to stop from being taken.

Never mind that. The weirdo on the intercom had mentioned something about friends, hadn't he? Traveling with someone else as a precaution might not be a bad idea, seeing as the weirdo had also mentioned the patient numbers dropping. That wasn't necessarily sinister, as it meant patients were presumably being released. But Ryusei didn't like the vagueness. And there was no reason to taunt them about it, either, unless he really did mean it threateningly.

There was the possibility that Ryusei was remembering wrong. He'd only been half-listening, and he had to admit that he'd been preinclined to think poorly of whoever ran the place. But he only thought that because the asylum's normal operation (or what he assumed was normal operation) was baffling to him.

"How much ground have you covered? I... got stuck, yesterday." As good an explanation for what happened last night. The intercom guy had used the word 'portals.' That had been true, hadn't it? But he hadn't seen Ryuugamine all day, either. He hadn't been paying much attention, though, so that might not mean that Ryusei had been imagining things last night. "Do you know the dimensions of this building?"

"Sakuta-san, it's nice to meet you as well," he nodded, committing the name and face to memory.

"I'm afraid last night was my first attempt at exploration. I went through several rooms, but because of the confusion I can't be certain as to their location within the building. I have not yet determined the dimensions of this building, I'm sorry," he replied, hoping that Sakuta might have a bit more experience than he in this place. If not, he would go alone, of course, but Soushi wasn't above trying to make his work a bit easier.

"I thought the second floor might be a good place to start, as it sounds like this level is primarily for medical treatments and housing its patients."

[from here.]

This hall was a lot longer. Much longer than the others, where the doors were so close to one another. That meant there were more people in there, too. More people, a lot of shadows, and a memory of shadowy vines snapping toward him.

Gabe's step faltered, his voice wavered, but then he forced himself onward, his whole body shaking. The first time someone hurried past Gabe couldn't help but shrink against the wall, his heart suddenly leaping to his throat. It felt like the fear was rattling all in his body, making his gut clench and roll, his limbs rubbery with the exertion he hadn't actually performed.

It took a few moments before he could move again, lifting his eyes to focus upon a light in the distance, down the hall. "Actiones nostras, quaesumus Domine, aspirando praeveni et adiuvando prosequere: ut cuncta nosta oratio et operatio a te semper incipiat et per ta coepta finiatur--"*

He was so focussed that when he came upon the pair speaking in the hallway he was almost startled by his arrival to them, cutting off with a slight gasp. For a moment the Archangel was almost disorientated, his face pale, the fear written large on it; then he managed a wobbly smile as his mind processed what he'd overheard as he came nearer.

"Hello. Looking for something?"

[*Go before us, O Lord, we beseech Thee, in all our doings with Thy gracious inspiration, and further us with Thy continual help, that every prayer and work of ours may begin from Thee, and by Thee be duly ended.]

Hmm. Miketsukami. Are you used to reporting your findings? 'Yet' determined the dimensions of the building, he'd said, as if it were normal for him to have done so; it wasn't like Ryusei had had a certain expectation when he'd asked the question.

In any case, there was only the far side of the Sun Room that Ryusei hadn't yet seen on this floor. No, more appropriate to say that he hadn't yet seen it properly. It seemed Miketsukami had been through the portals nonsense from last night. The two of the couldn't have been having the same dream, could they? He couldn't remember if the intercom person had said anything last night to subliminally affect their psyches; Ryusei had nearly fallen asleep last night before the intercom had gone off.

But never mind that. He could work it out as they went. "Then let's—"

He turned around. Oh, someone else who wanted a 'friend'? The intercom person had mentioned that today. Was that paranoid thinking? He had met Ryuugamine before that announcement about the friends; maybe it was just common sense around here. He couldn't think why that would be, but surely Ryusei couldn't be the only one who'd received that kind of warning, if the patients were going out every night. Come to think of it, Kurogane had just told him not to go out at all, and it might have just been that Kurogane was telling him to go to sleep, but Ryusei didn't think so; he didn't seem like the type of person to make multiple escape attempts and then tell someone else to sit still. More likely it was....

Never mind that for now. "We're looking for our stuff," he answered. "I feel like changing out of these clothes. Do you know where it is?"

Soushi glanced aside when he heard the foreign words being spoken down the hall. Perhaps last night had been a fluke. Tonight, it seemed there were plenty of people he could have gone exploring with. None of them seemed quite as bothered by him as Lingormr had been the night before.

The timing was suspicious, of course, as had been the fact that he and Sakuta were looking for the same place, but Soushi put those thoughts aside. Ririchiyo-sama was not here to look after, which meant that as long as he survived, he could continue seeking her. He might be outnumbered now, but with any luck, these patients were not the sort to go after one another.

"Miketsukami Soushi," he nodded to the newcomer, bowing ever-so-slightly. Sakuta was quick to answer the immediate question, so introductions seemed best, "a pleasure to meet you."

He could already hear other monsters, roars, screams, and thunderous footsteps overhead. Was it better to avoid them? None sounded familiar. He gestured toward the hall that led toward the Sun Room and beyond. "If not, may I suggest we take the route furthest from wherever that ground-shaking noise is coming from?"

Of course. That idea had never even occurred to Gabe; he hadn't had anything to bring in with him. Even his clothes were usually just a metaphysical manifestation. But that didn't mean he might not have any, if his life before the Institute was supposed to be a human one. It was worth checking.

"I wasn't," he admitted, then bit his lip and looked at them hopefully. "But I lost my torch last night, and there might be another one in the same place, if it's for storage."

Maybe they'd let him come. Especially now that he had something to ground him, and those distant sounds were filtering in to make it more difficult all over again. He gripped his rosary tighter, breathing slow and deep, and tried to ignore them with a bow back at Soushi. "Gabe. Just Gabe. May I attend you? I don't know the way, but I'm--not too bad at defence."

Even though he really, really did not want to fight again. Landel had implied he might not have a choice.

"Sure." Maybe Miketsukami would mind, but Ryusei didn't really care. In any case, if Miketsukami was going to have Ryusei along, he didn't think he'd mind one more, and anyway if that were the case, Miketsukami wouldn't have bothered to introduce himself.

Probably.

"What kind of defense are you not bad at?" Maybe not a good question to ask to calm Gabe down, but Ryusei was genuinely curious. And maybe talking would distract the guy. And actually, it would be useful to know, if Gabe snapped somewhere down the line.

Not that Ryusei would do anything.

[to here]

Night 68: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject