damned_institute | Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-West

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Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-West

[from here]

Kirk ran into the main hallway and found nothing there except more pink light coating everything. His gut feeling said that if something was happening, it should've happened already, but he was a loss to explain what was going on. The system (if he could call it that, vague as it was to describe the whole Landel's torture/experimentation assembly line) had broken down at least once already, on that night when I.R.I.S. had first(?) appeared, and the whole of the building flickered like a malfunctioning hologram. Was that what the glowing cover was for? To prevent... he didn't know. Something. Something bad enough to warrant a Code Red.

(What had killed that creature?)

Waiting around here was already bad enough on normal nights, what with it being an open space with high traffic, but he'd picked it because it was the quickest and most obvious meeting place for all of them. Now with the whole area lit up like the inside of a strip club, Kirk was starting to feel like a lone piece of meat wrapped in a gold ribbon and tossed out for the wolves. He made a face for a second as he considered the unfortunate implication of mixing those similes, then decided that the dumb thoughts which crossed his mind ranked considerably lower in priority than, you know, paying attention to his surroundings and not getting himself killed.

Kirk swung the lead pipe in his hand once, just to focus, and shook his head as pain rippled out from the still-healing gunshot wound on his right arm. Take it easy, Jim, he admonished himself silently. It was still early in the night. Someone would be along shortly. And if not... he was giving his crew one minute. One minute, and then screw it, he was tracking down everyone himself.

[KIRK TO ENTERPRISE]

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Running indoors here was a given and had nothing to do with his mother, yet arguing as much wouldn't have gotten him far.

"But there's a--!!" he tried, unable to properly thank her for stopping him as panic had him glancing back. Even with the hope that it hadn't followed him, Brook knew better than to think that the creature hadn't kept right on his heels. Sure enough, he could see the thing's red eyes bouncing ever closer through the dark. "Noooooo!"

Looking back to his savior, he nearly started pleading that they should run, but then he realized something. While he'd registered that the person was a woman from her voice, he hadn't processed until that moment just how beautiful she was. And that made all the difference.

"Ah, one moment..." he told her instead in a very calm voice, almost a whisper, and turned back. Running was fine if it was just him, but with a beautiful woman behind him? How could he run when she was right in the pathway to get hurt?! That would simply tarnish his reputation as a gentleman!

So he stepped back, keeping between the dog and the lady and praying his sword would be able to hold up for how cracked it already was. The opponent was in a narrow area at least, and with how energized Brook felt this night, he had the feeling his prayers might hold up for a change. He took a step and his sword flashed, and before the dog could realize it Brook had passed him by and was slowly sheathing his sword. The man didn't fret though, even as the dog continued heading right on and for the woman, simply muttering, "Hanauta Sanchou, Yahazu Giri!"

The click of hilt to sheath finished the move and the dog instantly split in two, its halves thumping to the floor before causing any harm.

"It cracked some more..." Brook frowned as he returned his cane to his arm, then forgot his sword in favor of a more important matter. "Ah, miss!" he called, waving a hand back up the hallway, "Are you all right?!"

And there was the 'something'.

Before Lust had a chance to react, the tall stranger had it under control. It happened quickly and she could hardly even make out what the beast was. It might have been a dog at one point....

Well, well, well. Now what are you? That display of fighting prowess wasn't human. Good. If he turned out to be some sort of threat, there was a common bond she could work on. But so far he didn't seem to be giving any indication she should worry. And besides, he was a man. She could handle men.

"I'm fine," she responded, when he called after her health. What a gentleman. "In fact I'd even go so far as to say I'm impressed. You certainly handled that with...flare. What on earth was that thing and why was it chasing you?"

She didn't ask why this place was draped in remains. She could gather her information without being so obvious about it. While she didn't know where she was or how she'd gotten there, she knew damn well to act as though she belonged. As long as you did that, people didn't tend to question.

And she did seem to be outfitted in the local fashion.

She certainly sounded all right, and that was what mattered. Brook knew he'd need to be careful in using his sword anymore as it was sure to break the next time, but he would worry about that when the time came. For now, he had a lady to speak with.

"I believe it was a dog at some point..." he took a guess, stepping back through the hallway and glancing down at the carcass he'd left. He frowned at the mess before coming up before the woman. "But it shouldn't be bothering anyone else anymore. I hope it didn't frighten you too much, miss? There are so many scary things around here..." As he explained, he found his attention moving beyond her and then around at the rest of the hallway.

While he knew he'd left a mess of his own, the rest of the hallway was quite a bit more gruesome. It looked as though someone had gone on a killing spree of some kind with the Institute's creatures as their targets. For all Brook had seen in the place, the sight was one that went to the top of his list for grossest things he'd viewed.

"What on Earth...?" he breathed, trying to figure out how so much had happened in such little time. The hallways were never this bloodied! At least not so early in the night.

'At some point'. A chimera, then. Lust found her perplexity growing. It all seemed as though she was in another one of her master's laboratories, hidden in some government complex. But it wasn't. She only had to look down at the uniform she wore to know that.

She started to say 'I've seen worse', but stopped herself. It was better to play the distressed damsel card a bit more, to figure out where she stood. "I didn't get that good a look at it," she continued with a small shrug. At least he seemed as confused about the obvious battle as she was. People and creatures had fought here recently, but why? "And I haven't seen anything else scary here, I don't think. I'm afraid I may have gotten a bit mixed up...where are we, precisely?"

She kept her voice sweet and somewhat demure, hoping to project a blend of girlish confusion with bright eyed hopefulness. She was a lost, confused young woman in a horrible place who needed this big, brave swordsman to help her.

Really.

As Brook wondered if the strange announcement was the cause of such bloodshed, or maybe the pinkness everywhere, the woman's voice reminded him that the cause didn't matter just yet. Explaining for her did.

"Ah, yes well, there are certainly a good number of this kind of thing around," he admitted, "But if anything more shows up, I'll be sure to keep it from harming anyone else!"

Oh yes, the woman had found herself one of the best kinds of "big, brave swordsman": the kind who helped everyone, even those he'd just met.

When she asked about where she was, he again sent a look around. "It's a bit redder than usual... but I'm pretty sure this is the west hallway..." he provided, missing her point as he waved a hand, "But it doesn't matter where you are; scary things are everywhere here. For such a beautiful young woman to be wondering around alone is dangerous! Were you heading to meet anyone in particular?"

"No." Lust shook her head and took a step forward. She lifted one pale hand - bare, how odd! - and placed it gently on the tall man's wrist. Her voice was very soft and her eyes were lowered. "I'm afraid you don't realize how mixed up I am. The west hallway of what? I don't want you to think I've been drinking, but...I'm not quite sure where I am or how I got here."

Well, she figured she may as well go for broke. Her hand was on him, it he proved an enemy she'd simply dispose of the problem.

"I woke up in a little bedroom and when I came outside I found hallways covered in blood and body parts. No people, just blood and darkness..."

She hoped she sounded properly frightened. She didn't often pay attention to silly, fluff headed girls. It could be difficult portraying one sometimes.

Brook blinked and looked down at his wrist when she touched it. He had thought she was used to being there as a patient, but he was quickly realizing that she was new! No wonder she sounded so scared! To wake up on such a blood-splattered night, not knowing where she was had to be terrible! Worse given that she'd had a dog-thing heading for her not but a few moments prior.

The poor thing!

"Eh? Oh! So that means you're new?" he asked quickly despite knowing the answer. He brought his free hand over to pat the back of her own. "If that's the case, then there's just one thing I have to ask you..."

He paused then, bending lower than he usually did when speaking to others so that he was more level with her and looking into her eyes. When he was certain that he had her full and undivided attention, he set his mouth in seriousness and asked very politely:

"Would you be so kind as to show me your panties?"

Well.

That had been...unexpected. When he had leaned down in such a conspiratorial and graven manner, she had expected some question as to her survival skills or faction alliance or something like that. The way he spoke made it sound as though people often woke up here not knowing how they got there....

The actual question shocked her for a moment. She thought maybe she had heard wrong. Not that being asked something like that was a surprise, as such, simply the context in which it was being asked. Of course if this somewhat licentious man could give her information, skewering him would be rather counter productive. And really, she found she had no real desire to kill someone over so small a slight.

She offered a tight smile and raised an eyebrow. It didn't take much to turn these things, really. "I don't even know if I'm wearing any. I don't know who's clothes these are or why I'm wearing them. I don't know what this place is or why I'm here or how I was brought here. I shouldn't be here! Maybe if you would be so kind as to offer answers to any of those questions we can discuss the matter of my panties and your chances at seeing them. Hmm?"

I don't even know if I'm wearing any.

Brook's mind plummeted with those words as did his senses as he started shaking for the glorious mental image the woman had given him. "Ooh, ooooh my!" he barely got out, sniffing back what he knew had become a bloody nose. He almost wanted to ask if she was a mermaid, but he kept his wits enough to know that wasn't the case. Not wearing panties and never wearing panties were two different things.

Different, yet very, very good things.

His mind reeled again, enough so that even he had to shake it out to make sure he hadn't imagined the whole thing. When his afro stopped moving from the action, he had just enough of his wits to catch the last few words she was saying - what basically amounted to him answering questions would mean potentially getting, for once, a positive answer to his own!

"Questions! Yes! You... you had... questions?" he eventually managed, trying to return himself to the conversation. She'd probably asked him already, but he knew he must have missed any words after the ones that mattered the most. "Ah, I apologize," he straightened and smiled, "What questions would you like answered?"

Lust thanked whatever god it was that watched over homunculi that she had ben crashed into by a pervert. It made things so much easier. She could get what she wanted out of a man who thought with his libido. It was practically her speciality.

"Yes," she repeated, her smile widening some. It took on a flirtatious cast. She kept her hand on his wrist, applying just a hint of gentle pressure. "I have some questions. What is this place, and what are these uniforms? And if you know the answer, how did I come to this place and why? I was...in a warehouse before. It was raining."

And I was dead.

That was the thing that truly didn't make sense. She had been bound, sealed and pierced through her heart with a blade. She had died.

"Oh goodness," she went on, tilting her head down coquettishly. "Where are my manners? I'm Lust."

Right, yes! The questions always asked by those who had just awakened in Landel's Institute. Brook should have known better, but he had been understandably distracted by other things. While he was still slightly distracted by the prospect of said things, he could at least manage a proper explanation now that he'd heard the questions.

"This place... it's a bit difficult to explain..." he admitted, "but I shall do my best to do so regardless! I believe it is meant to be a kind of facility, though its purposes are somewhat confusing. During the day it treats those here as though we are insane. Ah, like a mental hospital of sorts. But then when the night comes..." he pulled his hand up to indicate the bloody mess around them, "things become quite different. Monsters are sent out in the hallways and the one in command taunts us from above."

After pointing to the ceiling, he frowned. "It's all very strange, even down to the clothes and how any one of us got here. I was on a ship before awakening here, and the clothing is what everyone wears apparently."

Unless it was a day they were visiting the town. He didn't feel he needed to bring that up just then, however. There were more important things to explain than field trips. Introductions being one of them as she reminded him.

"No no no! I'm the one with terrible manners! I should have introduced myself immediately!" he waved his hand before sweeping it before him to give the look of a small bow. Lowering his head to her, he smiled brightly. "You may call me Brook, Lust-san. My apologies for having not said as much sooner!"

"Lapses in manners can be forgiven, Brook. These aren't normal circumstances."

Lust kept her smile on her face as she looked up at him, but it was meaningless. The explanation offered very little, actually. A facility? Run by who? In what country? It made little sense. But who was she to judge? She was a dead woman walking. And at least she knew she wasn't some singular or special case.

She could imagine, though Brook hadn't said as much, that it wasn't an easy place to get out of. That was alright. That was perfectly fine, really. This didn't sound like anything her master would be involved in, so chances are she would at least be hidden from those prying eyes. And keep her ears out for news.

And she could still ask questions.

"Thank you. You're being quite helpful, I appreciate it. Do you know what country we're in? What city?"

If Lust hadn't been such a looker, Brook might have thought her name was a bit strange, but like so many other things, that strangeness just did not matter in the light of her beautiful smile.

"Where we are... I wish I could say, Lust-san. That sort of information is hard to learn even when speaking with the staff during the day. All we're really aware of is that there are a number of places represented for where those trapped here have come from." He frowned again, remembering what he'd heard so many nights ago. "For example... have you ever heard of something called the Grand Line?"

"Is that another name for the Great Railway?"

But it told Lust something. This was normal - at least the odd abduction part. But it didn't sound as though they were in Central. Possibly not even in Amestris. All the better. And it wasn't as though she could keep Brook here all night, muddling through convoluted explanations.

Not that she entirely blamed the man, she could grasp that they were in a bizarre situation.

"It doesn't matter, I suppose. I'm sorry, have I been keeping you from something?"

What, she couldn't even begin to imagine, but politeness could go a long way. And she had a feeling she'd glean more information by asking indirectly.

"I've... never heard it called as such," he admitted, though that did not rule out the title being one of some culture's designation for the Grand Line, "Ah, but the Grand Line is an ocean that goes around the world. Or, at least the world I come from. If you've never heard of it before, then chances are you're not even from the same world as myself!"

Or, at the very least, from a very landlocked culture. For how many people he'd met there however, her was betting it was the other world option.

Again Brook waved a hand. "Oh no, you're not keeping me from anything! It's my pleasure to explain circumstances here as best I am able for any newcomers!"

It wasn't that Brook had forgotten his intention to visit Sai. Far from it, actually. The intent was still there, fresh as his continued concern for the young man's health. And yet when he compared that engagement against the confused and exceptionally beautiful face of Lust? Well...

Sai wouldn't mind waiting until the morning, right?

"Oh, I don't know much about the ocean," Lust admitted. Not the same world? Brook said it so casually, as though it were so normal and reasonable. Was this...the other side of the Gate, then? She didn't know quite what lay beyond it, but from what her master had said....

It made as much sense as anything else.

"Then I'm in another world. I...I suppose I must have passed through the Gate...."

And at least she was safe from her master, beyond her grasp and reach. Though the idea of another world, one she didn't know and understand, was frightening. And she was in some manner of prison here. Prisons can be broken out of. Cultures can be learned. Don't be a silly little girl, Lust.

"It's better than being dead...."

Now she felt a true stirring of unease and fear. What had become of her?

If she didn't know much about the ocean, then the chances were even higher that they were from different worlds. Brook was about to tell her that it wasn't uncommon for such a thing to happen and that she shouldn't worry too much since, at least during the day, they were treated relatively well, but her comment about being dead changed his words entirely.

"Anything is preferable to death Lust-san, of that I can assure you!" he told her firmly, yet softly as the subject hit particularly close to home with him.

There wasn't anything to be had when you died except for bones. Brook may have been the exception to that, but otherwise that sentiment held true. And Lust certainly had the right train of thought to be saying as much.

"Mmm."

Lust wasn't in the mood to argue, though she could think of a few things she'd find death preferable to. It didn't matter.

"Well...look, I don't know what what's going on with monsters at night or whatever, but I'm sure there's something we could be doing other than just standing in a horror show hallway." The gore didn't bother her, but it gave things a queer cast. She felt like she was in a scene from some strange, avant garde play. Or a weird book. It didn't seem real in some thin way.

She didn't argue, and Brook wasn't expecting that she would, so his smile simply returned to its usual place. "Ah, that's true. This isn't the most pleasant of scenes," he admitted, looking beyond her.

If this hallway was such a mess, he could only imagine what the others looked like. There was the chance that this was the only problem area however, though knowing this place, the chance was likely small. And yet what else was there to do on such a night then explore? That alarm had made him a little more hopeful about chances for escape.

"I... suppose I could give you a tour?" he questioned, both at her and to himself as his eyes turned upwards in thought.

Touring Landel's Institute during the night... probably the worst idea Brook'd had in quite a while. If it had been the daytime he would have been all for it, but now? Even with a pretty woman at his side, it still wouldn't end well. Not that any night ever did, really.

He looked back down. "Though to be on the safe side, perhaps we should simply go to a room instead." Perhaps discuss the matter of her undergarments, again?

Lust smiled and dropped one hand, lowering her eyelids.

"I'm not too worried about being safe," she admitted, stretching her claws out lazily. She could guess what he was after, and it wasn't surprising. He had been helpful, and answered her questions as best he could. "But it is dark. And I don't think the decor is too appealing this evening. If you know of a safe room, lead on."

If nothing else, a safe room would be a good thing to know about. Obviously, she wasn't getting out of this place soon and monsters were a nightly occurrence. She didn't think they could kill her - she was a homunculus! - but they could do damage and she didn't like pain.

For some reason, Brook was momentarily reminded of Robin and how casual she was about such things as danger, but his thoughts of the Archaeologist dropped when Lust gave a favorable response to finding a room.

"R-really?!" he blinked, astonished that a woman was actually letting him take her too a room. Before he ruined the chance though, he coughed into a hand and straightened. "Ah, that is to say, I would be more than happy to escort you to to a room! Right this way, Lust-san!" he announced more properly, offering a hand to her.

They would have to make it back to the patients blocks first, of course, but with what he believed was riding on getting to one, Brook was a bit more determined than most nights to press through the hallways. He had one more chance to strike with his sword, he thought, and if worst came to worst, grabbing Lust and running wasn't too bad of a plan either.

"You did just say it was the safest place...?"

He was an odd fellow, this Brook. Lust couldn't quite figure him out, beyond the most basic and surface. She knew damned well there was more to any man than his libido, but his nature eluded her. She wasn't worried about being alone with him or wondering if he would turn on her. But there was still something off about him.

At least he was more or less helpful. He'd had no reason to be, and if what he was saying was true, he'd delivered her some relatively good news. Monsters and madhouses she could handle. Her master was far away.

She took Brook's hand - she knew how to play this game - and inclined her head to the tall man to lead her.

"Ah, yes, however I'm not so used to... favorable responses, shall we say."

It had been well over fifty years since he'd gotten one, and the last time had turned out to be a prank cooked up by Yorki and some others from his crew. Brook had never lived that night down, and it had made furthered attempts all the more depressing. Thinking on it now though, he could only smile for how his captain would have been put in his place had he seen the woman at Brook's side. Brook knew for a fact Yorki had never gotten such a gorgeous women to even give him the time of day!

You sure she's not just playing you this time? Yorki's voice echoed mockingly.

Brook laughed suddenly, then shook his head and apologized immediately to Lust, "Of course that isn't to say I'm not happy for it! You've been so wonderful to meet this evening, Lust-san!" And with that he started leading on.

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Night 59: Main Hallway, 1-West

Warning: One Piece physics ahoy!

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