Night 72: Secret Stairs

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

The door rumbled open, and Taura hurried in, her stunner and flashlight aimed side-by-side up the moving staircase. The light in here flickered; it did bad things to her night vision, and it wasn't like they could hide on the way up.

"When we get up there, we move, yeah? We need to put together the layout." Searching each room would be nice, but they were strong, armed, and could handle an ambush. Finding a lot of dust and some hallways wouldn't cut it.

Comments

[overlimit]

Rita nodded. "Naturally." She didn't want to get cut short like last time.

As the moving stairs carried them upward, Rita's gaze wandered back to the Library below. When she saw Estelle yesterday... That really was an illusion, wasn't it? She was certain that if Estelle really was at the institute, she would have already tried to contact Rita. In the end, it was hard to say whether it was a relief or a disappointment to know she wasn't there.

They reached the top, and Rita didn't waste any time. She marched straight up to the entrance ahead - which, fortunately, was still unlocked. As she entered, she took note of the floor beneath them. Was that the same device she saw in the other room...?

[to here]

[freewill]

[From here.]

The room with the escalator was just as Castiel remembered it, and so he took a moment to turn back toward Kratos, looking him over. His body language still hinted at weariness, and his clipped response earlier more or less confirmed it.

Now wasn't the time for them to have an in-depth discussion, but as Castiel led them onto the escalator, he realized that they had some time to kill as they waited for it to transport them to the top. (They could have walked up the moving steps to get there faster, but he didn't know if Kratos had the energy for that.)

"So... if it's not what I think, then what do 'angelic abilities' entail?" he asked, his own tone on the short side.

[forsworn]

For a moment, Kratos was silent, eyes focused straight ahead at the approaching door. He looked down as if in resignation, and then returned his gaze to the door - only this time, he spoke:

"I'm sure you've noticed this before." He held up his left hand to show the blue gem set into the back of it. "Lloyd has one as well. It's called an Exsphere. When attached to a host, it amplifies the host's abilities beyond their natural limits." He let his hand fall away. "During my time in the military, I became involved in a project that sought to increase the power of the Exsphere and in doing so, pave the way for a new kind of super-soldier. The results were overwhelmingly positive. Not only did the new, so-called 'Hi-Exspheres' successfully enhance their users' senses and strength to astronomical heights, but they also granted them supernatural powers: virtual immortality, the ability to teleport at will, reduced dependence on food and sleep…" The corners of Kratos's mouth twisted upward into an ironic smile. "…wings."

He looked at Castiel. "Naturally, you can see how the designation of 'angel' might have suddenly seemed appropriate. But, it is a misnomer. I am human; my abilities are artificial, products of clever science and nothing more."

[freewill]

Castiel had noticed the gem that was embossed into the back of Kratos' hand, though he had never thought to ask about it. He'd always assumed it was some kind of decoration, maybe an indication of rank, rather than an enhancement.

It was difficult to imagine that a stone would be capable of giving a human that kind of power. Everything that Kratos described were aspects that Castiel himself had -- or at least, that he was supposed to have, when he wasn't limited.

But Kratos was right. Though he might share some of those abilities, it did not make him an angel. Which meant that it wasn't quite as egregious that Kratos had kept it from him. Castiel imagined that Kratos had felt awkward about admitting to it when he was speaking to the real thing.

"I understand. Where I come from, no such technology exists." In other words, it had been easy for him to get the wrong idea in response to Lloyd's words. "Is that what makes you capable of healing as well?"

[forsworn]

"That's fortunate," Kratos said shortly, and he sincerely meant it. Exspheres were terrifying things; he would have never used one if he could have helped it. Unfortunately, the war had seemingly necessitated that level of inhuman power, and by the time he'd thought of discarding his Crystal, he had become helplessly dependent on it.

By now, they had reached the top of the escalator, and strangely enough, the door to the first teleportation pad was locked. For a second, Kratos was at a loss, but then it occurred to him that perhaps this was the purpose of the keys they'd found (although why they hadn't needed any last night was now a mystery). As he fumbled for them, he took the time to address Castiel's follow-up question. "It's not. I underwent a different procedure to gain the ability to cast magic." He found the keys, inserted them into the lock, and pushed the door open. "Neither was pleasant."

[to here]

[rebonding]

[From here]

"Woah..." Korra's eyes widened as she stepped into the startling light of the stairwell. Her eyes took their time adjusting, and she squinted to make out... a moving staircase? More strange things that they had at good ol' Landel's Institute, then. She watched it ascend near-silently, tentatively reaching for the moving rail.

[thecamellia]

Going from utter darkness to bright, sterile light was a shock for Tsubaki's system. Although her eyes adjusted quickly enough, she couldn't help squinting all the same, holding tight to her kusarigama.

So this was it. The part of Landel's Institute the rebels wanted them to break into. For a secret passageway, it seemed like a miracle not to be bombarded by monsters or more aggressive patients waiting to bar their way. Instead, there was only the two of them and the escalator.

"I never thought something like this would be here..." she murmured. Upon glancing at Korra and seeing the other girl's uncertainty, she added, "It should take us up to the top if we step on."

Once Korra got her balance she'd be fine, but until then Tsubaki got ready to step onto the escalator behind Korra in case she slipped.

[rebonding]

"If you say so..." Weird future people...

Korra stepped onto the escalator easily, the nervousness quickly fading. No problem! This thing was just really weird. Moving stairs... Why would you ever need moving stairs? Were people just lazy in the future?

"Apparently there are 'teleportation pads' upstairs. Any idea what that is?" More future stuff, Korra could venture to guess.

[thecamellia]

Tsubaki followed suit, resting a hesitant hand on the railing. She glanced away from the rest of the room and turned instead to look up at Korra at the other girl's question.

"Um... from what I know, they can transport people over distances without them needing to go anywhere," she ventured a guess. "You start out at one spot and end up somewhere else. Something like that happened here one night, only the Head Doctor made the doorways teleport people around. Going through a door could take people across the building so when you stepped through you were somewhere else entirely."

And who knew where these so-called teleportation pads really led....

[rebonding]

Korra pouted, eyes widening as she turned around to look at Tsubaki. What?

"So like... a portal? From one place to another?"

Yeah, definitely future stuff. She reached the top of the stairs, stumbling slightly off the landing. This was it.