Night 54: Main Hallway, 2-East

[girlsandgadgets]

[From here.]

"It's lucky for me we're headed this way, actually," Edgar continued as they crossed the threshold into the hallway. He didn't wait for Ryuuzaki to lead this way this time, taking a few steps in the direction of the storerooms. "I've been meaning to return for the last couple of nights, but I've been unable to get as far as I..."

Edgar trailed off, pausing as he turned to look toward the western end of the hall. There was that odd feeling again- the same one he'd felt as they passed the Sun Room. It wasn't instinct kicking in, not years of keeping on his toes in delicate situations giving him warning. It wasn't the battles he'd fought making him aware of the presence of monsters lurking in the darkness, forcing him to keep his guard. It was an unfounded knowing. He couldn't prove it in any way, but he simply... knew there was something there.

More specifically was the distinct knowledge it was one of the brainwashed patients, someone who had been taken for the "special counseling." But how could he have known? Edgar listened carefully, trying to hear through the stifling atmosphere that pervaded every hallway. Aside from the murmuring of other patients, there was nothing outstanding: no sounds of intense fighting, no unnatural feel of magic coursing through the air around them, nothing to clearly indicate that it was one of the brainwashed sentries. And yet, he somehow knew.

But how? He disliked second-guessing his own judgment, but simply knowing sounded ridiculous in this situation. He kept his eyes down the hall a moment longer- he couldn't deny what he felt. He was absolutely certain there was someone there, another in the Sun Room, and two more outside.

Comments

[ryuuzaki]

Figaro had sighed on the stairs, and while L had noticed it, he hadn't thought much about it. However, when his companion trailed off in the middle of a sentence and turned his attention towards the other end of the hall, it was more difficult to dismiss. He took a moment to sweep the corners of the hall closest to them with his light before speaking.

"What's the matter?" The question was flat; it expressed interest rather than concern.

One way that Aguilar's regime mirrored Landel's, so far, had been the vague threat during the most recent announcement: Know that you're in part responsible for what happens tonight. Landel had made similar comments two nights earlier, when their shadows had come to life to taunt them, and on previous occasions, too. It's your fault, it's Jill's fault, I had to do this, Jack didn't care about collateral damage, and so on, said to people who had been abducted and imprisoned without their consent, as if they would ever have chosen to be in this situation and to put their well-being into Landel's hands. Whatever Aguilar had elected to do--whatever Project 2911 was--he bore sole responsibility for it. But Edgar's distraction was too reminiscent of Tuesday night's events to be ignored, and L wondered if it signaled the opening stages of what had been planned for them.

"We shouldn't stop for too long," he added. They had yet to check the hall that was their destination.

At that moment, the radio in the pillowcase crackled to life.

[girlsandgadgets]

Edgar had been about to reply, but was interrupted by both radios crackling: first Ryuuzaki's in his pillowcase, followed by Luxord's in his own pocket. A song chirped through the boxes before the actual broadcast began: it seemed news of Landel's deposition traveled fast. More alarming was the note about the food and its part in Aguilar's plans. Was it Project 2911? Probably, though it didn't appear to be poisoning... not yet, anyway. He'd eaten his dinner, and he wasn't feeling any ill effects that would point to-

He looked to the radio, pulling it from his pocket, then down the hallway again. Maybe the effects weren't those one would have expected. Perhaps the project was testing something else entirely. He couldn't guess what the purpose could be, but using kidnapped "patients" as test subjects didn't settle well with him. He'd seen what experimentation could do to the mind; it wasn't a pretty sight.

There was no certainty, but it did help to explain the strange sense he was getting for those undergoing the "special counseling." Edgar only hoped he wasn't imagining the entire thing. He smiled wryly- now wouldn't that be a story to tell? How the king lost his mind, and that a fake asylum drove him to legitimate madness?

"Word travels quickly," Edgar remarked aloud, returning the radio to his pocket, passing on Ryuuzaki's initial question for now. He still wasn't sure he trusted those on the radio, but it seemed they were on the same side for the time being. A part of him wanted to travel outside the walls to see if they would cross paths with the broadcaster; however, they had other plans for the evening. "Come on. You're right about staying in one spot for too long." With one check of the area around them with his own light, he led the way to the side hall.

[To here.]