Night 73: Security Checkpoint 2

[his_legacy]

[From here]

The sensation of being pulled from one point in space to another was one Link had grown well used to. Not for the first time, it dawned on him how useful having Oocoo here would have been.

He stepped off the pad, shining his light about the area to ensure its security.

There was strange machinery in here... Link frowned, taking note of the portal in the opposite corner of the room. He inspected the large machines, searching for switches or dials... Some indication of what to do next. He moved to wander between the prongs of the metal detector.

Doorways didn't exist for no reason.

Comments

[forsworn]

[from here, before Sora's group]

He could count the number of times he'd gone through one of Landel's teleportation pads on one hand, but by now, Kratos felt like he was starting to adjust to the strange sensation of stepping onto the pad--and then suddenly finding himself stepping off of it in a totally new room.

"Huh." They were in the room with the metal detector again, contrary to what he and Castiel had been expecting; Kratos still swung around to check to see if the other two had both made it through. "Interesting." Interesting, but at least they weren't separated, which pleased him more than their abrupt step back in progress. It wasn't too bad, though: the previous night, Castiel and he hadn't made it much farther than this room.

Having confirmed that everyone had made it through, Kratos made his way over to the conveyor belt, unbuckling the single belt at his waist as he went.

[freewill]

The most disorienting part of the process was not the actual transition, but rather not knowing where he would end up when he reached the other side. Castiel blinked, taking a few seconds to adjust as he realized they were back in the room with the metal detector.

He felt similarly to Kratos about it. It was a minor setback all things considered, and at least this meant that they were all still in the same place.

"Let's make this quick," he said as he stepped into position after Kratos, setting down his blade, flashlight, and radio on the belt. He knew by now how this all worked, and so there was no need for them to spend any extra time in this room.

He walked through the arch as well, collecting his items as he waited for the others to do the same. While there were other doors they could have tried in this room, Castiel chose to wait near the teleportation pad. They seemed to be the only way to truly get anywhere, so searching any other avenues would only waste their time.

[redcladidealist]

It was interesting, and a little perplexing, too. Lloyd had expected to have to race to catch up, but when he stepped off the warp pad, the others were still with him, in the same room they'd made it to two nights back. The brunette frowned as he thought about it, trying to figure out what could explain why the warp pad had "saved" their progress from one night, but not Castiel's and Kratos's from the next.

"Maybe it's because I'm with you," he hazarded a guess. "I didn't make it as far." His eyes swept the room for any sign of a threat, but it was empty. The only other thing in the room besides them was the metal door and the conveyor belt - which, to be honest, was ominous threat enough. "Or maybe it's because this is where we got the keys." It would make sense if the keys were meant to be used to get back to this room.

Though he hadn't be through this exact routine before, Lloyd quickly copied Kratos and Castiel in taking off in taking off his utility belt, placing it and his sword on the conveyor. For good measure, he emptied his pockets out, too. Better to be safe than sorry, he figured. Feeling vulnerable, but confident, he stepped through the door.

Or tried to. It should have gone smoothly. He'd taken every bit of metal off.

Every bit of metal but the Key Crest on his hand, a fake, but still similar enough to something he'd worn so long that he'd forgotten its presence, forgotten what it was.

Electricity arced, and Lloyd's strangled cry was cut short when every muscle in his body seized up in shock, sending him staggering, toppling to the floor. "Augh-!"

[forsworn]

Kratos had just walked through the gate when the intercom turned on. Landel's voice began pouring through, but bizarrely enough, wasn't directed at the patients for once. It seemed the rebels had decided to make another move, this one to directly sabotage whatever equipment Landel had stored on the second floor. For a split second, he was gripped with the sudden urge to turn around and see if they could somehow take advantage of the situation, but then he reminded himself that they were headed for the archives, and that he himself had already told both Lloyd and Castiel that he intended to focus on that regardless of what else came their way.

That, and then Lloyd managed to electrocute himself again.

It was so unexpected that, unlike in previous instances, Kratos couldn't even find the time to panic; instead, his body simply moved on instinct, sliding to catch Lloyd with an arm before he landed on the ground. Of course, not panicking also meant that he was more aware of the fact that Castiel was watching, but since their relationship had been made blatantly obvious by this point, he wasn't as concerned.

"You should be more careful," he admonished as he pushed Lloyd back to his feet, checking him for the errant piece of metal. There was nothing, though, so why had the shock initiated? Was it possible that perhaps they had been wrong in assuming that the gate only responded to the presence of metal? If that was the case, then what could--

Kratos looked at Lloyd's hand and understood: "...ah. Wonderful." He stepped back and went to go collect his things from the other half of the conveyor belt, looking just a tad frustrated. "Let's keep going," he said to Castiel. Hopefully, somehow they'd get far enough to set the keys to a room after the metal detector.

[freewill]

The announcement came and went suddenly, but the reason for it was clear enough. Landel was having some trouble with the rebel forces, and while Castiel also felt the urge to help, he realized that there was no turning back at this point. With any luck, those rebels would be able to manage things for themselves. He doubted they would have broken in here if they weren't prepared.

But at that moment Lloyd let out a cry from being shocked yet again, and Castiel tilted his head in confusion. Lloyd had unloaded all of the metal on his person just as he and Kratos had, so what had he forgotten?

A gleam of light off of Lloyd's hand explained it, and Castiel remembered how Kratos had told him that those crests were meant to enhance someone's fighting ability. So Lloyd had one too, and it was going to make going through this room a struggle for him, as it could hardly be removed.

When Kratos indicated that it was time to go, Castiel only nodded, moving up to the teleportation pad. Next stop would be a locker room...

[To here.]