damned_institute | NIGHT 54: West Wing, South Hall 1-B

So, she could either go up the stairs close to the Sun Room, or up the stairs down the hall. Bella instantly knew which staircase she was going to use, of course; the one near the Sun Room.

"What's so wrong about going the easy way?" After all, why waste time and go down the hallway, then head down the hallway towards the Chapel when all she had to do was go up the stairs right near the location she wanted to be? It made absolute 100% sense to her. Sure, she might be instantly thrown into the deadly grip of whatever person or monster or robot or whatever else there was potentially guarding the room, but still.

Why am I still talking to myself like this.

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1040784.html?thread=75840912#t75840912), skipping F-A block]

Leela still wasn't sure what she ought to do. She thought the rebels had to be doing something by now, but could they be counted on? There hadn't been a peep from them all day. Leela could see biding your time for the right moment to strike, but this was getting ridiculous. This was seeming like they were awfully picky about the right moment, like it needed to be opportune and have the wind blowing from the east and have three virgins, or 'virgin's, as the case may be, wandering around the recreational field.

Well, nuts to that. Leela had her boots, and she had her righteous indignation, and they'd always served her well before. She decided to take the shortest path to outside.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1042392.html?thread=75839192#t75839192)]

Edited 2011-02-10 06:42 (UTC)

[ from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1044793.html?thread=75847737#t75847737) ]

It helped that her assigned hallway was close to the doors to the main hallway. That made it so that it took a grand total of about four steps to head on over and out into the breezeway that connected the female hallway to the one that contained the stairs and the one that opened up to the outside or the boys' (Pete's, she mentally noted) hall.

She breezed through that, too, straight past the nurse's station that had grown all too familiar. Kind of a constant reminder of her first night's failures, like it was mocking her for not being able to open it. Whatever. She'd been through there enough times to not care too much about what might be behind that door anymore. As long as it wasn't anything that was going to try and kill her right now, she could just head over to Peter's room and think about all the stuff that nagged at her nerves when she got there.

[ jumping over here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1043064.html?thread=75848568#t75848568) ]

Edited 2011-02-10 11:15 (UTC)

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1042734.html?thread=75857710#t75857710)]

Erika had not yet arrived.

Had he still held the essence, Xemnas may have found this mildly surprising. After all, was the young detective's room not much closer to their assigned meeting place than his own was? As it was, the Nobody moved towards the wall opposite from the female block's entrance and set down the metal he had carried all this time. He had allowed her to accompany him, therefore, he would wait for a small while.

[For Erika!]

[ from here ]

It seemed like she took a little too long to get ready this time - Xemnas was already waiting for her as soon as she exited out of the hallway. How convenient for the both of them, then. Erika waved her flashlight once to signal her arrival, and gave him a nod once she was close enough to him to see her.

... Hm. Had it really been that long?

"I apologize, it seems like I made you wait," Erika smiled, looking none too apologetic at all. If anything, she probably should apologize for what she was going to say next, even though she knew Xemnas well enough to know that he didn't seem to care about much of anything.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news - it seems like there's going to be interesting things happening tonight. I don't think I'll be accompanying you on your errand. I want at least one of us to observe the phenomena that will happen." The way she said it sounded very straightforward, like it was already decided and she was merely reminding Xemnas rather than making last minute changes to her plan.

Her eyes trailed down to the metal that was set on the floor next to him. It was... Well, she could say that if someone wanted to make a proper weapon out of that, they were going to need a lot of tools that one wouldn't normally find in a place like this. How peculiar.

Edited 2011-02-11 03:02 (UTC)

It wasn't long before Erika finally emerged from the female patient blocks. The apology she offered was an empty one, yet it did not matter to a man lacking the ability to care for such things. The comment that followed, too, failed in bringing forth the faintest glimmer of annoyance.

"Project 2911. Indeed, it would seem something of interest will occur tonight," Xemnas responded, offering a nod. He had heard observed all that had occurred today, all that had been spoken over the intercom by an alien voice. Yes, tonight will be an interesting night. "It is a shame that I will likely not be able to perceive this occurrence myself." He sincerely doubted this appointment would allow him a proper opportunity to observe the phenomenon, so he would have to resort to the findings of another. Erika was an acceptable solution to the problem; he was confident she would not disappoint.

"Very well. Then, I hope you will be able to inform me of tonight's occurrence." Though the words were spoken it a fairly polite manner, it did betray the fact that Xemnas would expect no less.

He noticed her eyes trailing down to the metal, yet he did not comment on it. He, too, was curious about how Leon would create a pair of blades from these.

Normally, Erika would have been satisfied, even proud, with Xemnas expecting her to give him a report. It wasn't like Erika thought she owed him anything, but Xemnas was by far the only person who was even worth speaking to about the mysteries of the institute. So, normally, she would have accepted his words and would have left by now to investigate. Normally.

Tonight, however... Erika had a strange feeling about his request. It meant that Xemnas, whatever he was doing, would be preoccupied for the whole night. It should have made sense that crafting a usable weapon out of scrap metal would take the whole night, but Erika didn't buy it. Maybe it was more like she didn't think a mere patient, a piece on this board, could accomplish that task at all. Which meant either Xemnas was visting someone extremely powerful, or he was lying.

Erika didn't really like how difficult Xemnas was to read, all of the sudden. She only gave a wry smile in response and turned around, about to head down the hallway. Yet... She didn't know why, but it really bothered her. Really, truly bothered her. At the very least, Erika wanted to know where Xemnas was going to be. Actually, she wanted to confirm it, with her own eyes. She couldn't simply trust his statement, especially if she didn't know who he was supposed to be meeting with.

"At the very least, let me accompany you, Xemnas-san," Erika decided, turning around and walking back towards him. "I'd like to know who makes these weapons. For future reference, of course. I won't interfere, as you requested." She remembered his warnings well, and suddenly, they seemed more ominous than she remembered.

Edited 2011-02-15 20:22 (UTC)

Xemnas took notice of the young detective's hesitation, the uncertainty that had seemingly taken hold of her heart. The wry smile before she turned, the pause and the question that was accompanied by her return; was the desire for both pieces of knowledge truly the cause for her indecisiveness? The Nobody did not believe it was the case. No, it was something else.

The Superior experienced a mild curiosity. What had caused this particularly fickle behavior in the girl? For that reason, Xemnas would allow her to accompany him once more. Furthermore, Erika had already proved to be a worthy source of information; it would seem a certain amount of flexibility was required in order to maintain her usefulness.

An echo of smile crossed his lips, implying the faintest memory of amusement in the girl's indecisiveness. "The heart can be fickle, indeed," he spoke before making sweepy gesture towards to the direction they were heading in. "Then, let us be on our way."

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1042392.html?thread=76023768#t76023768)]

Edited 2011-02-16 19:29 (UTC)

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1045798.html?thread=75899174#t75899174)]

Not too many people out yet. That was usually good. She used her carefully-honed ninja skills to creep through the shadows and stay out of sight. Or she would have, if she hadn't tripped over her own feet and nearly toppled over in a mess of red and pink.

WHAT THE HELL. Her inner voice was screaming with irritation and she couldn't help a frustrated grunt as she caught herself. She didn't feel any different, but she was making mistakes and tripping left and right just like Naruto the day before graduation!

She was strong! She was confident! She had trained her muscles and nerves until they resembled liquid steel! SHE SHOULD NOT BE TRIPPING OVER HER OWN FEET IN THE MIDDLE OF A TILED HALLWAY!

"SHANNAROOOOOOOOOOO!" she growled and swung her fist at the nearest wall in an attempt to quiet her frustration.

A pained yelp followed when her fist failed to make an impact.

Dammit what is wrong with meeeee?! she bit her lip and cradled the bruised fist as she hurried along, hoping no one had seen or heard that.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1042734.html?thread=75882030#t75882030)]

[from here]

A thump and a shriek sounded from the next hall, but by the time Taura got there, only a few people were hanging out, none injured or even agitated. A man stood watch over a pile of metal; looked like someone would be having a productive night.

She hoped hers would be just as useful, whether to herself or to Aigis. How hard could teaching be, anyway? She'd sparred, and she'd had to learn how to adapt techniques made for an unaltered human to her own frame; adapting them back had been simple. She knew this body now almost as well as her own; it wasn't as fast, or as durable, but she'd learned how to move it, and in doing so, learned how to relearn instinct. It was a skill she'd never expected to need; bodies didn't grow on trees, after all.

[skipping a hall to the Rec Field]

Edited 2011-02-12 23:13 (UTC)

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1044793.html?thread=75835961#t75835961).]

What could have happened to make Anise forget? Tear had a couple of guesses. The first involved the mysterious Project 2911; however, the chances of this were low at best. Her own memory remained intact (as far as she could tell, at any rate) while it was pretty obvious the project had been implemented against all patients. Unless circumstances dictated otherwise, it was better to set that reasoning aside.

The second, on the other hand, involved an odd circumstance. Somehow, somewhere between today's activities, Anise had been released and readmitted. The probability of that was almost as slim as the other one, but it was the one that made the best sense. It also meant changing her approach to tonight's activities.

Tear slipped through the open door, eyes and ears trained on any anomalies. Sensing none, she turned to the other girl. "Landel's Institute is a prison in another world." A sigh. "I know it sounds impossible, but we're no longer on Auldrant; instead, we're on a planet called Earth. Luke, Guy, Natalia, Sync, you, and I all arrived here at varying times-- Actually, I believe you and Guy were the first to come here a few weeks ago."

A prison on another planet? Following alongside Tear, Anise stared up at the older girl like she'd grown a second head. "But... that's just crazy!" she protested. The whole 'alien abduction' thing was absurd enough by itself, but there were lots of reasons that the prison part couldn't be true, either! "If it's a prison, how come the doors are unlocked?" And there weren't any guards! And Anise had all kinds of things in her room that a prisoner would never get away with keeping.

But seriously, another planet? Tear was right that it sounded impossible. Even hearing it from her, and knowing that Tear would never make up outrageous stories as a joke, Anise couldn't bring herself to believe it. Even if Tear wasn't lying, couldn't she be mistaken somehow?

"So... everyone's here except the Colonel?" Even though she didn't know what to believe, Anise went on with trying to process everything she was being told. Why was Sync included in there? He didn't exactly fit in with the rest of them.

And, most important of all... "Wait, you're saying I've been here for weeks!?" Was she asleep that entire time? She felt like it couldn't have been more than a day since her duel with Arietta. How could weeks have passed!?

As much as she hated to think it, Tear understood the sentiment. If she hadn't met with Luke first, she would have thought exactly that: crazy. Nothing made sense. As it was, however, she had kept a promise to trust his words, even if Tear herself hadn't witness most of the phenomena. "I know," she answered calmly as she started in the direction of the meeting place.

"This isn't a normal prison," she continued. "They pretend to be an asylum in the day while at night, we're free to roam the area." For what purpose had yet to be fully explored, Tear noted. She wished she had more on the reasons, but given her length of stay, she couldn't really speculate beyond what was heard. "No one knows why, though a few have said it's probably an experiment of some sort."

Tear briefly glanced at Anise and attempted her best assured expression. Its effectiveness was debatable. She pressed forward, regardless. "Also, they keep us here through other means: restricting our artes, taking away our equipment, preventing us from getting too far out of the area..." There was a sharp inhale. "Monsters tend to be everywhere here at night so watch your step."

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1042392.html?thread=75930328#t75930328).]

[from here]

Nothing of note here, at least for the time being. As far as Soma could tell, the hallway looked exactly the same as it usually did.

Still, that was no reason to let her guard down. She eased into a jog as she rounded the corner to the main hallway, but she kept her eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary.

[to here]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1045798.html?thread=75987238#t75987238) after skipping one hall]

She knew her father's room number. It would be a short trip, albeit a bothersome one, to go there and rummage through whatever was left. To be honest, Franziska wasn't sure anything would be left, but she had to try. For once, she was grateful Gumshoe or Kibitoshin or anyone else was with her for now because it meant she didn't have to project her usual persona. She could be...herself for once. The person she was when all doors were closed and she was alone in her home, between cases, when she realized there was no one's shadow left to chase.

But there were people in the hall.

As long as there were people around, she had to remain Franziska von Karma. Until she was alone in his room, she couldn't break.

Refocusing her attention, the prosecutor stalked forward, flashlight beam pointed at the ground. She would retrieve the items and leave. Nothing more.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1042734.html?thread=75904814#t75904814)]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1040784.html?thread=75938192#t75938192)]
With all the other patients already milling about and heading off to their many and varied destination, Miku started out slowly. There was no need to hurry, not really, and she wanted to see how much everything had changed since she left. If it had changed.

Her new room was two rows in from the main doorway instead of one. That was important. If she had to run quickly, that would be something she'd need to know. Miku held her flashlight under her arm as she wrote that down in the notebook. Just being out by herself made her stomach clench in fear, and after finishing, Miku hurried down the hallway and into the main hall.

Another bare hall. Were they being slow tonight or had more than the usual amount of patients decided to play it safe and remain in their rooms now that Landel's staff were no longer beating around the push when it came to their nightly "projects". It was unlikely, seeing as how plenty of people were willing and eager to erupt into violence at the drop of a hat. Nothing had been accomplished during breakfast, but that was never the point. You always had to keep trying, no matter how dim hope shined.

"Almost there..." Tifa voiced quietly. It didn't need to be said, but it took away from the dark stillness that seemed suffocating.

Edited 2011-02-17 06:01 (UTC)

Oh, even past the distraction of mentally regarding the invading soldiers, Lightning could sense that sudden tension from Tifa- put with what had just been said, she didn't need to reciprocate the question to know the other young woman was definitely trained to some degree too. It did make Lightning wonder though, about the whys and hows of that. Inside Cocoon, being able to fight was a phenomenon mostly restricted to military personnel. You had people like Snow, of course, but... that man was all brute strength. His technique was abysmal.

She sighed to herself. And then you had these people. Vanille and Fang both used weapons, but Lightning was almost completely certain that at least the latter could hold her own without it as well. It nearly made her feel sorry for them, living where it was necessary to learn how to defend yourself... but considering the state of the Sanctum government and its outlook on the people under it...

Needless to say, Lightning was fine with staying silent and entrenched in her own thoughts as they walked, her attention to what was going on around them acute but automatic. Tifa's soft comment made her think though, and she looked up at the dark form of the woman, silhouetted in what little illumination was bouncing back from the lighting devices.

"So, who's your friend, anyway?" she asked abruptly, though quiet in response to the deserted state of the current hall. The likelihood of Lightning having met the mystery person was extremely low of course, given the tiny number of other 'patients' she'd met out of the larger population sample, but she might as well have a name and possibly a bit more information before they met up, right?

"His name's Zack," Tifa started, unsure on how much she should say. "He's a friend of a friend." It sounded odd to her ears: a friend of a friend. A dead friend, who had been magicked back into existence here.

"He's got spiky black hair, kinda tall with blue eyes," It was probably irrelevant, but Tifa explained anyway for Lightning's benefit in searching. It felt nice to be useful even if it was superfluous.

-- Zack. Seriously? Lightning sighed quietly at that sudden revelation, then pressed her lips together. That just figured, after everything that had happened so far; maybe she should have guessed or even known by this point.

"Yeah, I've met him before," she said, but then trailed off unusually, so that when she continued her voice was quiet and dark. "Pretty popular guy, apparently." And supposed to be dead, if the odd behavior and testimony from the man she'd met in the sun room was at all credible. Lightning still wasn't sure whether it was coincidence, a mistake, or yet another result of the institute's seemingly endless mental meddling...

[ Still walking, to here. ]

[From here]

There were a few more people in this hall than the last, but it still sounded like most of the activity was further ahead. She wished that weren't the case. Having more patients around would have made her feel at least a little bit more at ease. As it was now, everything seemed to echo around her in the near-empty hallway, from the soft conversations around her to the shff-shuffing of her hair along the ground.

Speaking of which: was it just her, or was her scalp feeling more pull than it normally did? Did having shorter hair for a day really make going back to normal feel like a strain so quickly? She wasn't sure. Either way, she was feeling a little self-conscious about her hair around these other patients anyway. For the time being, she gathered it all up into a big bundle in her arms, leaving only a small trail by her feet as she moved on. She would set it down again whenever she got to where she was going.

[To here]

Edited 2011-02-19 12:24 (UTC)

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/1044793.html?thread=76050233#t76050233)

As for where they were going, that was easier. "Upstairs," she answered cheerily. There's a janitors closet up there with some stuff that can be used, metal pipes and two-by-fours and other stuff. Actually--" Huh. That, too. "There's also a shed outside that has some bats and stuff, though that area is usually home to some brainwashed patients at night. We'd probably have a harder time out there."

She shrugged loosely. "Your choice, though! What would you prefer?"

Patients who had the ability to make weapons for others.... It sounded quite useful, if a bit far-fetched. What means had they had to make such duplicates? "Have you never asked?" Surely anyone who received a weapon would be curious?

A harder time was definitely not the desired outcome, however ironic the idea of fighting their way out in order to arm themselves. Or to arm Maya, at least. Senna seemed quite competent. "I'd be deadweight outdoors, I fear," she mused as she headed in the direction of the stairs.

[From here]

Something had happened. He had been conversing with Sora and then everything after that was blank. He didn't know how long he had been asleep--all he knew was that it was midnight and Bella had decided to sneak upstairs to do what Venom had been fairly certain was his side of a bargain that Bella had not entered in. Either she was under the impression he could not do it himself or something had most definitely happened.

She was just a girl. An untrained, human girl with no conception of personal safety. She was a danger magnet who couldn't listen.

What does she think she's doing?

Everything in the hall was ignored as Venom stormed through it. If she really was by herself...

[To here]

Edited 2011-02-21 01:04 (UTC)

[from here]

Gumshoe was confident that Detective Badd would be fine. All the same, he wouldn't mind if they happened to bump into each other. The younger detective knew what he was doing, of course (if a detective like himself couldn't manage it, what hope did the other prisoners have?). But on the rare occasion when things got a bit jumbled (even for him)--which might very well happen the older the night got--a second opinion was really helpful.

Who knew what was out there waiting for them?

Out of the people he'd met here from home (It's down to the five of us now, right?), Ms. Skye and her little sister were the only ones he didn't know that well. His scrappy collection of newspaper clippings (in all their jagged, yellowing glory) and the State vs. Skye TV specials over the past year hadn't told him what they were like as people (beyond what he'd learned from the short time they had spent together. And the odd call from Ema Skye, but those had been short, too. Long-distance rates were criminal in this day and age!).

Anyway, the point was he couldn't accurately predict what they might be doing tonight, with or without his finely-honed detective instinct. Maybe they had enough common sense to stay in their rooms, unlike the people he kept passing in the corridor.

Not likely, the detective mused with a sigh. He'd better go make sure.

The soft scuff-scuffle of slipper on tile stopped. Gumshoe had mistaken the locked-up Nurse's Station (that was what his map said it was) for the Womens' Block before. Thankfully, that wasn't the case this time. However, something up ahead did catch his eye. He turned away from the F Block entrance, raising an eyebrow at the solitary figure at the end of the hall, then headed towards them.

Curiosity prevailed once again.

[to here]

She took no time in determining the correct direction to turn, this time going the opposite direction she normally would have tread. Taura's instructions would be simple enough to follow. Without turning to consider the right or the left, she kept her arms to her sides and hurried along.

Edited 2011-02-24 07:20 (UTC)

NIGHT 54: West Wing, South Hall 1-B

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