damned_institute | Night Shift 23: First Floor Cafeteria

Entry tags:

Night Shift 23: First Floor Cafeteria

((From here.))

Closer and closer still, and all the while without creatures to deal with. Homura knew that sort of luck would only last for so long, and it was best to make as much progress as possible while it lingered.

But Landel's certainly wasn't built to encourage easy traveling, especially for the mind. Only darkness and a memory of the day's layout greeted the group once they opened the cafeteria doors, so effectively hiding whatever might be waiting for them.

"Ootori Kyouya." Homura's voice was firm despite being quiet, leaving little question that Homura's words were to be taken as an order. "Turn on your flashlight. We'll need the light in here."

But Homura's own flashlight remained off as he stepped into the room, despite the observation. While he didn't have any desire to expose the weakest member of the group, Homura's light would have to be used as a weapon should they fall under attack. Better that Kyouya's already be on, and lessen the chance of accidental blinding.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"A 'cyborg'?" Kyouya muttered at Reinforce's offering, disbelief slipping into his voice. He'd been here for a little over twenty hours, and in that time, had accepted magic and mutant creatures and alternate dimensions and time travel, but there was a line. Cyborgs with energy blades, how ridiculously sci-fi — it was bad enough being here without bringing in even more improbabilities and inconsistencies and...

No, no. He wouldn't lose it. Honestly. Kyouya couldn't remember the last time he'd been so on the edge, and that was saying something. His irritated thoughts slowed down as he listened to River's slightly disjointed review, and tried not to get worked up again when she mentioned dangerous patients.

It wasn't surprising, really, considering his current company.

By the time Homura issued his command, Kyouya's hands were steady. He shone his flashlight beam across the room, eyes sharp for any small movements. "I don't see anything," he said at last, but he was open to correction.

"I don't either," Raine admitted, looking around. Despite her curiosity, that was a good thing.

...still, though. "I'd be interested to hear about those cyborgs later," she said to Rein. "I'm familiar enough with energy blades, but I don't think I've heard of cyborgs before." Again, familiarity did little good--her previous experience with energy blades didn't mean she really knew how to defend herself against them--but, well, she was a scholar! She just liked knowledge for its own sake... and there was a lot to learn here.

"A humanoid-form mechanical weapon with some biological components. Its eyes, and probably its brain." Reinforce expanded once satisfied the room was clear. "It was exceptionally fast and strong, and too well-armored to damage with weapons, but had no magitech systems and suffered damage when attacked by... supernatural methods." In her reality it would have been an aberration; no one would engineer a weapon with such impressive physical capabilities when for the same cost you could build a magically armed and shielded flight-capable drone that had no need for them. She wondered what sort of world had produced it...

Like Raine, her interest and goals in describing the cyborg were purely academic. While the eyes and susceptibility to magic represented points of vulnerability, with its strength and skill she was loathe to encourage an attack on it. The group she'd been with had been full of skilled fighters but had been outmatched in their fight with it.

As they all discussed the topic of cyborgs, an aspect of science fiction River might've scoffed at had she not been psychic, the girl found her focus being drawn elsewhere. As Kyouya shined his flashlight into the corners of the facility, sweeping it along the walls and the floors, she stepped away from the group. Her steps did not stray more than a few feet from the rest of them, and she fiddled with a pen in her left hand almost absent-mindedly. She lacked a flashlight, but she moved through the darkness slowly but surely, every footfall certain of its destination.

It was the way or things. It was the way of her kind.

River's vacant gaze was focused on the counter, or so it would appear if anyone were to look at her. Her head titled to one side curiously, but she said nothing.

Knowledge itself was a very good thing, and with purpose, it was better. While Raine's and Reinforce's interests may have been academic, Homura's goal in the question was quite obvious: to learn what he would have to face, and defeat, in order to escape this place.

And there seemed to be no end to the things that could pop up, cyborgs and spiders, and who knew what those things were that Homura fought last night. Which only served to remind him of the goal of the trip, because while he may not be able to reclaim most of his powers, he could have a sword.

The pauses in speech were just long enough to let Homura hear River's steady footfalls, the light barely enough to let him make out her movements away from the rest. Brave girl, perhaps foolish, perhaps not, depending on her power. She moved towards the counter that they would have to go around to get to the kitchen, so focused on it, as if it had enchanted her.

"Do you sense something?" River had already proven beyond Homura's doubt that she had abilities beyond what most mortals possess, and even beyond most gods.

And in this room where sight was so limited, any forewarning to danger was welcome.

Kyouya was trying very hard not to join the conversation with comments along the lines of "this is so unbelievable"—some irrational part of him suspected the hospital might throw a cyborg at them just for that. Then again, this whole place was irrational. Maybe thinking irrationally was the only way to keep from going insane here.

"I hope you didn't have to fight it anywhere near here," he said, managing a rather light-hearted tone.

Energy blades, cyborgs... so both women were very obviously not from Earth. Delicate-looking River too, by her own admission, had been capable of taking down three other patients (how? Kyouya was almost intrigued, despite himself). Homura claimed to be a demi-god that rebelled against heaven.

And as for himself, well... Ootori Kyouya was a high school student. But by no means a regular one. He supposed he had that much to comfort him.

Kyouya smiled wryly as he scanned the room again, noticing River's movements at the same time as Homura. Somewhat assured of their safety, he also stepped away from the group, slowly walking in the general direction of the kitchens and the girl.

"River-kun?"

"I'm still hoping to start classes soon, preferably tomorrow," Raine said to Reinforce; if they kept their voices down they should be able to have a conversation without worrying about being caught by surprise as a result. "Beyond the other obvious benefits, I'm looking forward to having a group that meets regularly just to talk--it's almost staggering to realize most of us literally know nothing about each others' worlds." In her mind, that was a wrong that needed to be corrected as soon as possible. "I'd like to open the first class on that topic, but I'm not certain where to start." This was entirely new to her, but she suspected Rein thought differently. Having her as essentially a co-worker sounded entirely beneficial to Raine; working with a living book would be... well, Raine kept slipping into something akin to Ruins Mode at the mere thought of it. Which she mostly managed to keep to herself, but her eyes kept lighting up as yet more possibilities occured to her. She'd kept quiet about--most of those.

"Although for practical reasons, I would like to find out what lifeforms everyone is familiar with; it seems the most efficient way to discover the weaknesses of the monsters here." She was also... curious to know how other races were treated in everyone's respective worlds, but that had to come second to more practical matters.

She hadn't forgotten where they were or what they were doing, but you certainly couldn't tell that by listening to her. Regardless, she spoke without looking at Reinforce much; like the others (save possibly River) she was straining to see in the dim light, gaze constantly flicking from spot to spot in an attempt to not let them be caught by surprise.

"It was on the second floor." Now that Reinforce had decided to take Kyouya's affected levity as a way to deal with the nightshift environment she was all cool confidence, even as Homura read unseen danger into River's move forward; she even responded to Raine's broaching of her lesson plans as a topic, though a hand moved to her pocket to withdraw her enspelled bullet.

"Do you intend on a forum or lecture format?" Having open discussions without the feeling of give-and-take bartering that went along with many of the conversations she'd had here was to Reinforce's taste, and Raine's words suggested that was what she wanted, but Rein didn't want to box her in. Open discussion would probably inevitably drift to their current situation, if it even ever started anywhere else, while lectures could be address the mundanities of arithmetic as easily as the more pressing matter of their mysterious collective captivity. Which best served Raine depended on what she wanted to achieve... "Before that- what's your goal?

Truth be told, Reinforce was no pedagogue. Her powers had made her knowledge instantly available to her masters... and their corruption had made the knowledge of those she consumed instantly available to her. Traditional learning was not something she had much experience with. A change in methods, though, was no reason to lose her enthusiasm.

River didn't immediately respond to the inquiries regarding her sudden journey into another world. In another world, she couldn't hear them. Or at least it was nice to pretend that she couldn't, nice to pretend that there were options. Brown eyes flew open, more alert than they'd been just a moment ago. Maybe ever.

"It's not a monster, if you're scared. I don't... I don't think." River tilted her head slightly to the other side. "Or maybe it was once. Maybe there is," she mused quietly, turning to regard Kadaj and his brother. With his brother by his side, the girl could only wonder if he would attempt something in the form of petty vengeance. It would be met easily enough, and yet it wouldn't be at all ideal. No, he seemed to merely want to be left alone. Tempting and yet.

"Unstable. Almost had to be put down," she elaborated, raising a finger without directly looking at the pair to point. Kadaj and his big brother. "Pieces and wholes. Neatly assembled and then broken apart. Should keep an eye on the short one. We had a nasty argument."

And in less time than it had taken to cross the room, things seemed to have exploded in their own way. Voices filled the silence, both familiar and not, and those that he did know had begun chatting about something entirely irrelevant to their current situation. It could be confidence, or it could be fear; Homura's only concern was that he knew neither well enough to know which.

And then there was River, wandering away with her whimsical step. As a weapon, she could likely defend herself, and Homura had little doubt that she could sense approaching danger. Of all of them, she caused Homura the least annoyance, except that again, he didn't know this for sure.

Kyouya, however, did know, had admitted to Homura that his fighting abilities were nonexistent. He of all people should be cautious and focused, and that did not mean wandering out of Homura's range as he pleased. Now the war god began to wonder if his decision to take the boy had been too much of a careless one; he may have liked Kyouya's attitude, but he also liked common sense on the battlefield.

In all, it amounted to a frustrating situation, one that threatened to distract Homura, to give the man another entirely unnecessary weakness. A pang of longing struck him, remembering the comfortable way he fought with Shien and Zenon at his side. Each knew the other, knew his movements and knew how to fight with the other two without instruction.

But of course, that had only come with time, which Homura didn't have the luxury of now. And if worse came to worse, he could abandon all of them here and continue alone. Not what he preferred in his unarmed state, but he had been the Toushin Taishi, and he had fought impossible battles alone.

There was no reason he wouldn't do the same now, should it come to it.

But perhaps it wouldn't, as River's declaration held promise. While he of all people was not scared, he was cautious, and it was good to know that what had drawn her away was not a monster. From the sounds of it, it had been another patient, perhaps even one in this room, though River didn't make that clear.

What was best about it, however, was it gave Homura an opening to press forward. They had spent enough time here, and any further delay risked the group coming apart completely.

"I'll keep that in mind." Really, the random phrases had sparked Homura's curiosity, and he intended to ask River about it should he see the woman during the day. But this was night, and better suited for action than casual conversation. And act he did, heading around the counter, the confident pace making it clear that he would leave any who lagged behind there.

"We've spent enough time here. Let's move on."

((To here.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Night Shift 23: First Floor Cafeteria

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject