Night 61: Main Street

[diamondstorm]

[from here]

"Much like the nurses back at the institute," she went on, stepping out into the street. The darkened town rose around them, buildings enshadowed in the gloom. Renamon's eyes darted between the shadows, wary. "They are human during the day, no doubt. But at night some become... something else. I'm not quite sure what exactly. Some kind of creature...." She trailed off, before again shaking her head.

"Just the same as anything, really. The cats that resided in the sun room become large and vicious at night, and likely the same goes for the other animals as well. Instead of saying that they're originally something else, it's probably more apt to say, they're normal. And at night, something comes upon them." It could be anything. She disliked lacking so many answers. "A spell, a virus, some kind of gas or taint," she murmured, moving farther down the street. "But they are innocent to begin with."

Comments

[survives]

Leanne gripped the second gun tightly as she followed Renamon out, not daring to put it away just yet, not while in her current outfit. Vashyron would have definitely had something to say about gun safety if she'd ever tried that during a job (not that he'd ever been that big on it himself...). It wasn't exactly ideal, carrying two guns like that, but in case anything happened, at least she'd be able to use them at a moment's notice.

The explanation on the townspeople had her more tense than she would have liked to admit, her heartbeat speeding up the way it always did when she was out on a job, anticipating being attacked any moment. The speculation didn't exactly make her feel any better either, that talk of viruses or gases (and spells... well, a few minutes weren't going to make her believe in them any more than before). If the people in this town really did turn into monsters too, Leanne would make sure they weren't caught off guard.

"That's terrible..." She shook her head, frowning. "The nurses act like nothing ever happens at night. They probably don't even know what's going on either, do they? What..." Leanne breathed out a sigh, breathed in deeply. "I wonder if that Landel guy did this to them."

[diamondstorm]

There was nothing in the dark. Compared to the last three times she was here, this one was nearly tame. She continued forward as Leanne spoke. Only to shake her head in agreement. "I don't think that they do. Their reactions are too genuine and have never differed in the month I've been here. They may have been trained well to become used to irregularities, but I do not think that they know what's actually going on."

And on the subject of Landel... The Digimon sighed. "It's almost guaranteed that he did. I met a man--Marc, the one from the radio at night--recently, and he alluded to the fact that Landel has more power than any normal human should. I spoke with someone after, and they seemed to be certain that the entire institute is likely powered by Landel alone." There had been a few things in that discussion that Renamon hadn't taken lightly. "There's more to this that is obvious at a glance."

[survives]

All too suddenly, the air around her seemed colder, much colder than the night should have been, the streets around her slightly less of a welcome, albeit temporary, freedom. Any moment now, something, one of those people even, could attack them here in the dark, just like inside the institute. Whatever illusions of freedom they ever managed to grasp in this place...

...No. Leanne shook her head, biting her lower lip. It was all in her head, all her imagination, only brought on by what Renamon was telling her about Landel. It was just the idea of one man holding so much power, more than any normal human should? What did that even mean? Was it like Rowen, who practically held all of Basel beneath him? Or was it...

...Things maybe better left uncontemplated.

"You met him?" she asked, turning to look at the girl, even as she kept reminding herself to keep her cool. "So he really knows a lot about Landel, doesn't he? He probably knows just how he runs this place too..."

[diamondstorm]

"I have," the Digimon replied. "Though I'm not sure if he knows as much as we'd like to think. He stated outright that he couldn't be sure all that Landel was capable of. If anyone," Renamon mused. "Would know what that man is truly capable of, it would have been Doyle, but he'd been gone for a while now."

The discussion, however, prompted another bit of information to unearth in her mind to share. "Actually, though, a colleague of mine did learn recently that there's a group working to undo all of this. The note's in my room currently, but it basically tells who the military mole is, and that Lydia or Jill, if you know of her, was working with them." And another aspect, in which she had half-written off but Byrne, upon reading had held closer. "And that people being held here is in response to a threat upon this world."

[survives]

Leanne took all of that in silently, her face set in a frown. She couldn't say she knew who this Doyle person was (besides having a name similar to the town's, at any rate), but in the end, the basic gist of it was the same. No one currently in the institute could hope to even have an idea of what the Head Doctor was really capable of, much less of how to stop him.

She grit her teeth, shaking her head as she did so. Whatever. It didn't matter. It didn't. Whether they knew or not, they still had to stop him, find a way to survive in this place. There just wasn't any other option.

As Renamon continued, Leanne found herself relaxing some, albeit only marginally, as the conversation turned away from Landel. And the thought of a group actually working to stop all of this? It almost made her feel... lighter, knowing they really did have someone helping them.

"And... did it say anything about what that threat is?" she asked quietly, almost afraid to find out the answer. Whatever it ended up being, she couldn't be sure she'd like what she had to say. "If they're working to stop all of this, then... That's probably one of the things they'd want to find out, right?"

[diamondstorm]

It was a valid question, and yet one there was no answer to. Renamon glanced the streets again, then shook her head. "That would likely be too simple. All it said was that something 'devastating' had attacked the planet, and that the ones in charge would go to any lengths so that it did not happen again." She made a sound of disgust. "Any lengths being kidnapping and using others while treating them as second class living creatures, it seems."

Something Renamon had experienced before, and was still highly disgusted to experience it here as well. And here, it was not even secluded to digital lifeforms, but instead was any life in general-- Any life that had not originated on this planet, and had been taken from a separate world. Her mouth thinned. "...Even if there is such a risk, their behavior is reprehensible." Even if it was true, Renamon did not know if she would do anything to assist them. "It's unforgivable."