Night 71: Main Hallway, 1-West

[redcladidealist]

[From here.]

Still keeping a wary eye out for any kind of threat, Lloyd stepped into the hall and shined his flashlight around. Still nothing, and the stairs were just up ahead. He crossed the distance swiftly, planting his feet on the first stair steps.

[To here.]

Comments

[freewill]

[From here.]

Like the night before, this area -- which was usually so populated -- was completely empty for the moment. Castiel could speculate about it all that he wished, but in the end it wouldn't change anything.

Kratos generally didn't keep him waiting long, and so to pass the time Castiel focused on his radio. He might not be fond of using technology like this, but it would be for the best if he could puzzle out how it worked before he had an essential need for it.

He started to turn knobs and push buttons, piecing through what each thing did as best he could. The radio kept spitting static back at him, but that was a normal occurrence for an angel, and he ignored it.

[For Kratos.]

[forsworn]

[from here; after Lloyd passes through for the first time]

Kratos noticed Castiel almost immediately; it was difficult not to, since there were so few people in the hall. He walked over, grimacing as the sound of white noise filled his ears. It was incredibly loud - painfully loud - and it was the recognition of the pain that caused him to realize what was happening: the crystal the doctor had installed was, for whatever reason, taking effect. His eyes began to water as the world zoomed into incredible focus, and eventually, Kratos had to hastily look away for a moment to wipe them on the back of his sleeve while he tried to acclimate to the constant, smothering buzzing of the radio in his ear.

"Castiel," he managed to say without sounding too pained. "I received something tonight that you should see." Kratos tucked his flashlight under his arm so he could fish out the note from the rebels; the tips of his fingers had begun to accordingly go numb, so it was a slightly more difficult task than it should have been. Eventually, though, he held it out for Castiel to take. "It pertains to the third floor."

[freewill]

When Castiel caught sight of Kratos walking over, he switched off the radio and dropped it back into his pocket. There wasn't much point in using it now that he had met up with his traveling partner for the night. He turned to face Kratos when he started searching for something to show him, and tilted his head to the side as the note was handed over.

Surprisingly enough, the note was different from the one that he'd received. It was more direct, if lacking in some proper spelling and grammar. But the important thing was that it contained some new information. Teleportation pads? Castiel had never heard of such a thing...

He handed it back and nodded. "I received one as well, though it wasn't quite as informative." Nonetheless, he pulled it out of his pocket and handed it over as well. "Have you ever encountered a teleportation pad?" He and Kratos seemed to have a similar confusion when it came to electronics, so Castiel doubted it.

[forsworn]

And then, just like that, the buzzing ended as Castiel switched his radio off. The quiet was beautiful, even though he could still hear conversations going on in the background. Those were much easier to ignore, though; he'd had years and years and years of practice.

His equilibrium thus restored, Kratos exhaled and began to read Castiel's note. As Castiel had warned, it didn't seem to reveal anything that they hadn't known before, with the exception of this mysterious "archive", which his note had clarified as a "records archive". What those records consisted of remained to be seen.

Kratos nodded as he finished reading. "I have. They're often used for transportation between non-adjacent regions of a building. As the name implies, it's instantaneous. The experience is not unpleasant." He returned Castiel's note. "You are unfamiliar?"

[redcladidealist]

[From here.]

Even though he hadn't stopped for long in the previous hall, the time it had taken to talk to Al and Ed and get his new sword made was enough that Lloyd wasn't nearly as out of breath as he had been a few minutes back. He wasn't running anymore, but his footsteps were still urgent. He had no idea how long Kratos might have been waiting. He needed to find him so they could get going. They still had so much ground to cover tonight.

Once he rounded the corner, he swung his flashlight to scan the hall. Where was he-? There. Even if Lloyd didn't recognize his form in the dark, the white uniform with all those belts that he'd worn when he'd gone back to Cruxis couldn't have belonged to anyone else. The younger man grimaced at the sight of it, and the memories it dragged up, but he shoved them back impatiently. He had more important things to focus on now.

"Kratos." He kept his voice low as he approached, eyes darting to the other man standing with his father. It looked like the two had been talking. Who was he? Lloyd could only vaguely recall seeing him around the Institute before. "I got the sword, so I'm ready. I tried to come as fast as I could." He probably looked it, too, hair disheveled from his mad dash down the halls. With his hand that was holding his flashlight, he tried to tug his jacket straight. Not exactly an easy thing to accomplish. Maybe he could turn his flashlight off and tuck it away in his belt, since there were two other people standing in the hall with their flashlights turned on now.

[freewill]

From what Kratos described, these pads were something foreign to Castiel, but he could understand the basic concept. Angels did something similar themselves when they flew, so this seemed to be a technological version of that. How someone had made that possible even for humans was a mystery to him, but he'd experienced something similar in this place before.

"Yes, other than when the doors here have been set to send us to unexpected places." That had happened once or twice in his time here, and it was definitely enough to disorient. If the third floor was made up of that, then they were going to have a difficult time finding what they were searching for.

The odds were stacked against him, but that wasn't going to stop Castiel. He took his note back from Kratos and was about to suggest that they get moving, but then a young man approached them. Castiel didn't recognize him, but from the way that he spoke to Kratos it was clear that he was an acquaintance at the least. Not the sort of person that Castiel would have expected Kratos to be familiar with, but that was besides the point.

"We have a third tonight, then?" Castiel didn't particularly mind, but he hadn't been told. It might increase their chances, especially if they came up against more obstacles on the way there. The newcomer was armed as well, which would help.

[forsworn]

"I see." Thankfully, teleportation pads weren't devices that required previous technical knowledge to use--and even if they did know the mechanics inside and out, that probably wouldn't be helpful in getting them to the records archive as fast as possible anyway. "Well, I assume you will be well-acquainted with them very soon if all goes well tonight."

Kratos heard Lloyd before he even said his name: he had picked up the sound of someone approaching him and Castiel, panting as if he'd run a great distance. "Lloyd," he said, acknowledging his son before he'd even turned around to see him. "I'm glad I didn't have to call." His eyes moved swiftly from Lloyd's messy hair to his wrinkled jacket to the new sword in his hand...the first two could be forgiven; Lloyd had said that he'd come as fast as he could, after all.

He turned back to Castiel. "I apologize for not telling you earlier, but yes, we have a third. This" - he gestured toward Lloyd - "is the help I was able to secure. Lloyd, this is Castiel. Castiel, this is Lloyd. We are from the same world, and have worked together in the past." Kratos's hand came to rest on Lloyd's shoulder. "I can vouch for his ability."

[redcladidealist]

Lloyd nearly opened his mouth to echo his surprise that there was anyone else coming tonight. Kratos certainly hadn't warned him. It wasn't even that Lloyd had any problem with having someone else along that bothered him, it was the fact that Kratos was keeping things from him - things that Lloyd should know. It was an irritating habit he had.

The words died on his tongue, though, his whole body stilling under the weight of Kratos's hand on his shoulder. That hand, and those words...

I can vouch for his ability.

Eyes wide, it was suddenly hard to catch hold of his own thoughts. Kratos... sounded proud? It was hard to hear anything in the tone of his voice - it was always hard to do that - but Kratos avoided physical contact with anyone, especially anything-

Affectionate. His mind tried to stall on the word. It didn't fit. It wasn't Kratos. Kratos was distant and professional and...

And...

And yet part of Lloyd remembered wanting this acknowledgment, wanting it so badly he'd started calling Kratos his teacher, his master in sword training, back before he'd known who Kratos really was. He'd thought of Kratos as something like an older brother then. How much more did that acknowledgment mean coming from his father instead? His hand on Lloyd's shoulder... It was almost like... almost like he was acknowledging that Lloyd was his.

Still stunned, it was several moments before Lloyd realized that he'd been just standing there too long, that he should say something back. "I... uh... Hi..." He struggled to pull his attention onto the other man. His hair was dark brown or black - it was a little hard to tell in the light - and he might have been a little taller than Lloyd. His clothes were a little strange, but standing next to Kratos, Lloyd couldn't really say anything about that. "You're coming with us?"

In retrospect, the answer to that was obvious, but Lloyd's mind was still trying to catch back up.

[freewill]

Castiel was willing to become very acquainted with those teleportation pads if it would allow them to find something vital to their escape from this place. What help records would be was beyond him, but he was willing to hinge everything on this single clue they'd received, because desperation had driven all of them that far. The fact that the rebels expected them to be able to get to the pads at all seemed to indicate that it was possible, if nothing else. Or maybe it was more wishful thinking.

Though he may have preferred the advance warning, Castiel didn't mind the addition. Lloyd seemed young, but that was no reason for him to doubt his ability. Castiel viewed all humans as young in comparison to his almost inconceivable age, so it hardly mattered one way or the other to him. So long as Lloyd proved himself capable, all would be well, and Castiel found it hard to believe that Kratos would invite along anyone incompetent.

He nodded, glancing from Kratos to Lloyd. The stunned expression on Lloyd's face was a difficult one to decipher, and it was almost as if he'd just missed everything that Kratos said. Castiel narrowed his eyes, but decided to leave it alone.

"Yes. And we shouldn't waste any more time." Without waiting for an agreement from either of them, Castiel turned and led them down the hall.

[To here.]