Night 55: Entry Room

[scarefaux]

[From here.]

Even with the change in staff, the Entry Room looked the same as it did during his first nighttime visit, save for the lack of Mele and her conjured fire. Oh, thinking about her brought back a twinge of guilt- knowing how the town was at night, she surely wouldn't approve of his heading there, even if he was in good company. Well, he couldn't sit in his room forever, and there was no guarantee the rooms were safe- after all, that was where the nurses collected people for the Sleep Studies. Besides that, he'd not been outside of the Institute's walls at night on his own volition. It was high time he changed that.

He frowned to himself in the darkness. Now that he had his body, what would he do with his time at night? He was still no closer to rescuing Dorothy or any of his friends from Wizard Landel's brainwashing, and the General had hinted that things would only get harder from there on out. He knew they had to be stopped, but how? And what could he do? He wasn't a fighter like Depth Charge, or a witch like Mele; he was not a doctor or professional or even someone with a working brain. The fact that he was seemingly useless was what grated on him the most. However, if there was anything the Scarecrow knew, it was that he couldn't give in. Even if it took him forever, he'd think of something. He had to!

The Scarecrow swept the room with his light before heading in, trailing along the wall for safety's sake. "So you've been to town at night?" he asked. "Aside from the time we were left there?" There was also the time the doors were enchanted, but there was a chance not everyone had ended up there that night.

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[rocksthecourt]

[ from here ; time skipping and moving through with permission ]

Klavier took a quick sweep of the room with his flashlight before walking through completely. The last time he had been in this room was when he'd gone off exploring by himself. He already knew that heading out the front door was a bad idea and that the desks were relatively useless as far as finding information went. So he ignored both. Instead, he walked in far enough for the other two to enter after him, then turned his flashlight to illuminate first one door to their left then one to their right.

"There are actually two file rooms here. I'm unsure as to how they're segregated, exactly." It could have been anything, honestly. He turned his light to focus on the first room. "Both are locked, but I was able to break through the lock with relatively little difficulty." His attention went to the two. "...It would probably be simplest to approach this in order and start with the first room."

[savagesolitude.livejournal.com]

To be completely fair, he had a point. "I guess I can understand that. Anything to get out of their system, right?" Claire conceded, casting a glance down at her own clothes. "My stuff's pretty old and raggy, but at least it's mine. But just be careful, all right? Wearing white at night is as good as putting a target on your head. I could see you almost clear as day, even when the torch wasn't on you."

His civility was helping his case. And, surprising, he didn't act one bit like most boys his age. Aggravating, self-centered morons, chugging booze and grabbing at girls. Not that there was a steady supply of either around here.

Then he called her name pretty, and suddenly Claire was all burning cheeks and smiles. "Thanks. Thank you. Um. I've never heard the name Battler before." It was incredibly strange, even for a foreign name, but after the compliment she couldn't bring herself to fault him for it.

Their destination was closer than expected. Claire ducked into the new room, holding the axe aloft with both hands. Just in case. She had never been to this part of the hospital before, and so took extra time to note the obstacles, the exits, the general layout and function of the room. Her eyes settled a large set of doors opposite their group, peering intently. If she remembered her map correctly, then this would be somewhere near the front of the building. She took silent steps after Klavier, leaning closer with a whisper. "Is that the exit?"

[dreadofthegrave]

Now that the tension in the atmosphere was starting to die down, Battler could feel himself slowly beginning to relax. It was hard to completely, when they were wandering around in a hospital with little to go on but the light their own flashlights, but even though he was a little on edge, he could still at least carry on a normal conversation.

"Something like that," he nodded, "though you can't really call something that was handed to you any kind of rebellion, can you? In fact, being given something like this at all is kind of insulting." He ran his fingers down the embroidery on the lapel, with the hand with a gold ring engraved with same insignia. His thoughts on it ran a bit deeper than that, but for the sake of keeping things light, he decided to keep those to himself unless asked.

"Well, at any rate, I don't plan on letting myself get hurt so easily, so there's no need to worry about that," he grinned. It was a naive statement and he knew it—it wasn't as simple as something not happening just because he willed it—but there was also something to said about confidence, wasn't there? ... Caution was good, but paranoia was only inviting a disaster.

He laughed faintly at the reaction to his name. It was definitely among the milder reactions he'd gotten to it, aside from the people who intentionally ignored it out of politeness, though to be honest, it was a little easier when someone actually said something about it. Even Battler was more than willing to make fun of it. "You're not the only one. It's pretty, um... 'unique.' I seriously question the judgment of the parent who named me this."

Ha paused for a moment when the exit was mentioned, mentally taking note of the heavy doors. They were totally useless to him—if it were as simple as just walking out, being here wouldn't even be an issue, and even that situation, it still wouldn't solve anything at all. Even if they could casually walk out and try to find their way home, that wouldn't solve the root of the problem or help anyone else. But it was good as reference point, and even if it was stupid to try now, there might be a point in the future where it came in handy.

Taking Klavier's suggestion, Battler made his way over to first room. It was locked like he said, but he could definitely see where he didn't have any problem getting in. .... The doorknob was weak and totally rusted over. You could tell at a glance that it would probably be broken, which made him frown slightly. Did they really keep anything important in a place like this? Wasn't that a little too easy....? ... Well, whatever. It seemed kind of dubious, but he could only assume the guy knew what he was doing. Since the flashlight he using seemed sturdy enough, he used it as though it were a hammer, slamming off the knob and pulling out the lock from the newfound hole in the door. After that, the door could be pulled open without any resistance.

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