Night 56: Entry Room

[thestormishere]

[ From here. ]

Deserted.

Regardless, Lightning took several steps into the large room, looking about and listening intently. Most importantly though, she was also trying to get a feel for the air there. She remembered quite clearly how it had seemed her first and second nights, how someone else going through ahead of her had caused the oppressive air inside to be stirred slightly, and figured that would be the best way for her to tell if anyone had already beat her out the door.

However, that didn't seem to be the case here, and as far as she could tell without walking all the way over to it, the entrance at the other end of the room hadn't yet been opened. Taking a hasty step backward, Lightning was quick to retrace where she'd come from as soon as she was sure of the possibility being struck out--

And then the sound of static from the radio trapped in her jacket, harsh and almost deafeningly loud in the darkened silence, nearly caused the already wound-tight l'Cie a heart attack then and there. Pressing her lips together in annoyance, she moved to retrieve the thing, immediately recognizing the first voice and then...

... That was-- was that the 'head doctor?'

Now almost outright scrambling, she quickly lifted the radio to not far from her face, first bending her head so that pieces of her pale hair fell forward as she listened, then promptly shaking it back, turning her back to the wall and leaning there, determined to keep an eye on her surroundings at the same time despite her surprise.

Much of the message went right over the ex-soldier's head still, but... they were working together- not even a child could miss that. Shaking her head in disgust, she started putting the noisy device back in the jacket pocket almost before the broadcast had come to an end.

Comments

[melodists.livejournal.com]

[It is timeskip time.]

Another's presence could be a calming effect in an emergency. In this particular situation, however, the woman was seen as nothing more than a hindrance, an obstacle to observe until it became too much. Tear had the choice of force--had, in fact, been given the approval to do so--but nothing in her wanted to agitate an already desperate scenario. The woman had to leave, true, but it did not mean an agreement could be reached.

The Melodist kept to the shadows for a moment, her mind running over her options. In the end, she stepped forward, weapon at rest and in clear view. A confrontation was always a possibility, but the teenager wanted to convey her preference for talk. Inciting the woman to violence was an unintelligent course of action.

"Excuse me," she called out. "I need to ask you to leave."

[thestormishere]

And right when Lightning had nearly gotten her thoughts all back in order, yet another surprise appeared, swiftly throwing them all into disarray yet again: the voice of a young woman, asking... what?

Well, needless to say, Lightning wasn't exactly in a friendly mood, and as she lifted her light to shine on the newcomer, the former soldier's mind went immediately to trick, in the vein of the shadowy apparition that had taunted her so cruelly several nights before. Lightning was sure she'd never seen this person before, though- in an instant she'd taken in the girl's odd attire, the strange weapon in her hand...

"Who are you?" she asked warily, her voice quiet but harsh, movements smooth as she settled immediately into a readier stance. The grip on the woefully-inadequate sword in her own hand was tightened, the weapon making a slow arc through the air by her side. She'd been through here twice before without challenge and she didn't like this at all - just what was going on?

[melodists.livejournal.com]

The light-haired woman was alarmed but not panicked. Cautious but far from reactionary. The chance she would attack haphazardly was slim. Therefore, Tear kept to speech, in hopes the other would do the same. No reason existed for either to get into a confrontation, especially when the soldier refused to lose to anything.

"Locrian Sergeant Tear Grants. 1st Platoon, Oracle Knights Intelligence Division," she answered, stating off name and rank without skipping a beat. "I've been stationed here to keep civilians from leaving the institute due to the miasma problem outside. It's very important that you stay away from all entrances." Hopefully, that should make the reason for her request glaringly apparent.

[thestormishere]

Lightning's eyes narrowed at the response, rankled in a way this 'Locrian Sergeant' probably hadn't even intended at all. She may have given up her own military rank back during the Purge, but she was still not a civilian by any means. After days of being a prisoner, it was an odd distinction to stick so close by, but all the same one Lightning was not at all ready to give up on yet.

If anything else, the warning just made the woman wonder even harder about what might be outside at the moment. 'Miasma' wasn't a word she was unfamiliar with, though whatever might be described as a 'miasma problem' beyond that darkened front door escaped her.

The l'Cie's eyes narrowed. It didn't make sense, and yet-- she didn't have time to be messing around right now! With a nearly imperceptible start, she glanced towards the door back into the interior of the building, realizing belatedly that aside from wasting time interacting with this strange girl, she'd also been doing so already when she'd paused to listen to the radio's newest message.

"Who put you in charge?" she demanded quickly, already noticeably antsy about getting a move-on. As annoying as the request was, she had no intention of defying it unless there was explicit reason to- namely, Hope's welfare. "Has anyone else been through here?"

[melodists.livejournal.com]

Tear could sigh at the reaction. People honestly needed to control their emotions, especially when it came to an emergency such as tonight's. At least the other had yet to lash out at her with brute force and instead, had asked questions.

Questions, Tear found, were far more easier to deal with in this case.

"That is classified information, I'm afraid," she answered, unchanged in expression. "And no, you're the first to come here." How fortunate. If the number of visitors did not increase, perhaps she could call this mission a success.

[thestormishere]

Lightning pressed her lips together in further annoyance at the answer. She was not the type at all to bend to a strange and unwanted order without question, but when it came down to it, she knew that this time it was going to have to look like she did. There was a choice here, sure, but when it came down to it, in her mind it was already made. Spending any more of her night trying to get to the bottom of this, questioning the young woman over not only what she meant but why, wasn't in her bank of interests, no matter how irritating she found the situation.

She had very little reason to actually believe the girl's words, but it wasn't like she hadn't already determined the likely truth for herself beforehand. With a soft but harsh scoff as her only response, she stepped back and sideways until she was at the door, then felt behind her for the handle using the hand that still had the sword. Normally she wouldn't have done something so clumsy, but she also had a marked interest in not losing sight of 'Tear' until she was out of the room.

[ Slipping back out to here. ]