Night 71: M01-M10 Hallway

[knightspirit]

Like most of the nights he'd been here, dinner ended up silent for Kyousuke, though it was hard to say whether that was a good thing. He ate quickly, and after that, he had nothing but his own thoughts to keep him company. ... That, and a certain photograph that had been resting on his desk for a while now, of the whole team after their national championship. Usually, it had been encouraging, but at the moment, seeing himself holding up the trophy with Tenma right in the center of the picture was a little much, and he had to gently tip the frame face down so he didn't have to look at it anymore. ... That Tenma was gone now. Or at least, until he could find a way to save him somehow. He didn't have a clue where to even start, but that didn't matter. All he could do was keep trying.

He began to sort through his things to leave for the night: radio and list of numbers in his pocket, flashlight in hand, and the ball in a net over his shoulder. He started to reach for the crowbar he'd collected the last night, when he came across a folded piece of paper he didn't remember having, and moved to open that instead. ..... Was this from those rebels Sora told him about? He wasn't sure how they'd managed to get this to him, but he had no real choice but follow its advice. He'd been planning to go to the third floor anyway, in hopes he'd find something up there he could use to help Kratos and Lloyd. Maybe there would even be something there that would help him save Tenma, but he didn't want to entertain that idea too much; he had to put his hopes in something real, not his own wishful thinking, or he'd be setting himself up for disappointment and failure.

For now, the best thing to do would probably be to talk to Sora about this note, since he was only meters away, so Kyousuke decided to step into the hall and rest his back against the wall to wait for him. The crowbar, he left behind; from the sound of things, he probably wouldn't be needing it where he was going.

[ Sora ]

Comments

[lighthearted]

It took Sora a little longer to get ready, for a number of reasons. First of all, he'd been talking to Link for most of the dinner shift, so that meant he put most of his nightshift preparations off until after the doors had already unlocked. Second, he had to dig his radio out of his box and take note of the number there, committing it to memory. Luckily, it was an easy number: 333.

Sora was eager to try out the radio, and he wondered if it might be worth it to send Kratos a message about the note he'd received. It was good to share information around, but he'd worry about that a little later.

The last hold-up was changing into his outfit for the night. Between all of those belts and buckles, it tended to take a while, but Sora felt much more at home in it, so he usually sacrificed the time anyway. He really only needed his flashlight and his updated radio (though he'd placed the creepy bracelet the skeleton man had given him in his pocket, just in case), so he was holding onto both of those items as he stepped out into the hall.

Link was off doing his own thing, but Sora wasn't bothered by that. In fact, he saw another familiar face almost instantly. Back when Sora had been sick, it had been both a good thing and a bad thing that Tsurugi was so close to his room. Now, it was purely a good thing, and Sora smiled as he walked over to the other boy.

"I found something in my box," he said. "It was a note from the rebels! Are you busy tonight?"

[knightspirit]

In contrast to his normal sharpness, Kyousuke barely even registered Sora until he greeted him, and he turned to face the other boy slowly. It did put him at ease some, seeing a friend he'd thought he'd lost forever due to his own negligence, but after his genuine relief had been completely turned on its head later in the day, Kyousuke was too emotionally exhausted to muster up much happiness. Not that he wasn't glad he was here, but it was hard to reach after getting buried in everything else.

"... I was actually waiting to tell you the same thing," Kyousuke answered. "It's about the third floor? I wouldn't mind taking a look." They probably wouldn't be the only ones, either; he doubted they were the only ones who got notes. But that was probably a good thing, since as far as he was aware, it was probably going to be dangerous. The more people there were, the better a chance they stood.

[lighthearted]

Wait, so had all of the patients received a note, then? Sora wondered if they all said the same thing. Either way, it sounded like they had a plan for the night. It was too bad that Link hadn't been able to come along, but Sora was sure that he could handle himself. They could always talk over things tomorrow, too. That was the benefit of having a roommate you got along with.

"Yeah, mine said that the way there was somewhere around the Sun Room, but it didn't say much more than that. I guess we could just search each room..." It might take a while, but it was their best shot and Sora didn't think this was something he could just ignore. He wanted to get back to Farwell, but these notes were probably from some of those rebels, so it also made sense to listen to them.

It was a little strange falling back into the routine with Tsurugi like this, but at least Sora knew that there was no threat of him hurting his friend anymore. He pointed the beam of his flashlight down the hallway. "Should we get going?"

[knightspirit]

From the sound of it, the contents of Sora's notes were a little different than his, but they could probably get into that later. "We don't have to do all that," Kyousuke answered. "Kratos told me where the entrance is earlier today. He's been trying to get there too. ... It's dangerous, though. Apparently, it's always guarded by something. He thinks that may be the reason why nobody's ever made their way all the way up."

Not that Kyousuke cared. Some things were worth doing because they were hard, and they'd never get anywhere if they kept gravitating to whatever was easiest. And if these notes were right, it was a place that they needed to get to as soon as they could. He just hoped this would be as worth it as the rebels were claiming.

The boy nodded when Sora asked if they should leave, and began to lead the way down the hall.

[to here ]

[armoredsoul]

Al quickly gathered his things together once he was done with dinner. His flashlight, blade, and the jar-bombs went into the tool belt, along with his radio and some paper and a pen. He grabbed the map he'd copied off the bulletin board, too--it only had the first floor, but he could fill it in as they went.

The talk of security breaches over the intercom perked Al's interest. Someone was trying to get inside? If they could manage to get some help, any help, it would be a huge relief. But he knew to not depend on that--they had to do their own work, not wait for someone else to get them out.

One he was ready he stepped out into the hallway, waiting for Scar to emerge. He still needed to get his own sword from Edward, after all.

[Scar]

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar had found that he had little of an appetite when dinner had come around. The day had not been particularly strenuous, but the entire experience of being here was taking its toll on him.

It was when he opened his closet to take out his things, however, that he found the slip of paper that was, infuriatingly, only reiterating what he already knew. Was it a taunt? Some kind of trap from Landel?

Or did it have something to do with that girl who'd been handing radios specifically to patients? He was more inclined to believe that, given the bastard's mention of security breaches.

Scar did as the note instructed, committed the note to memory. He changed into his robes quickly, frowning at the bandages still on his arm from that beast's claws last night. Murphy had never responded to his note, so he could only assume that the man had other plans. Scar did, however, notice Alphonse immediately upon entering the hallway.

"This was in my closet." He handed the note to Alphonse. "Still no instructions on actually getting up there, though."

[armoredsoul]

Al blinked and took the note, reading it over with a faint frown. "I wonder what it means by 'bouncing around'. But if there's a records archive up there..." Maybe that was a better place to find Lloyd's exsphere, or at least find out what they were intending with that cruel experiment. "We really need to get up there. Do you have plans tonight?"

It was probably childish of him, and it was certainly irrational, but he felt better wandering around the complex with Scar along. Not that he and Edward couldn't take care of themselves, of course, but knowing the older man was watching out for them too made the rotted halls a bit less ominous.

[envy_the_sinners]

"I do not." Scar had a few vague ideas about how he could spend the night, but this seemed the most productive, and Scar had already spent too much time wasting time. He glanced down the hall.

"Are we only waiting on Ed?"

[armoredsoul]

Al glanced down the hallway as well. "I promised to help a friend make something, but he was going to contact me over the radio when he got everything I need for it." He shrugged. "We may as well go meet Brother halfway, save us all a bit of time."

[envy_the_sinners]

"Fine. You have everything you need?" Scar turned his light down the hallway.

[armoredsoul]

Al nodded, patting his tool belt and heading down the hall. "It's all here. Let's go, then."

[to here]

[6toleadus]

6 didn't like the night. It wasn't that he was scared of the dark, or even scared of the dangerous things he'd heard were out there, but the night seemed lonely somehow. During the daytime there were always people around. Most of them didn't seem happy to be where they were, but they were still there. At night, everyone went off on their own. The halls were empty and even his roommate quickly vanished into the darkness. Well, there was only one thing for it; he had to go find something interesting to do.

[to here]

[his_legacy]

Having not corresponded with any of his night teammates throughout the day, Link was unsure of what the plan was for the evening. He decided, when Sora left, that he would at least check up on the meeting place first. He wanted to follow the directions left for him, but he wasn't about to leave them waiting for him, either.

Properly in his tunic, Link stepped out into yet another night with his radio in one hand and Soma's sword in the other.

[To here]