Nightshift 62: Main Hallway, 1-West

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

Taura took up station midway between the two halls leading back into the dormitories. Alone with her thoughts; the hall was quiet. Too quiet. Dead quiet, a little voice hissed in the back of her mind.

This was no time to be getting superstitious. It was unavoidable, really, in a profession with so much risk involved in daily operations, that those who survived found things to credit. Beyond their own skill, because they'd all seen better men/women/herms when their luck ran out, and skill only improved your odds.

Her luck was holding, tonight. Was Rita and Goku's?

[Rita and Goku]

Comments

[forsworn]

[from here]

--And here he was. Kratos cast a casual eye around as he assumed his usual waiting posture by the wall. There were very few people out; he had left early, perhaps almost too early, since usually Soma was here waiting even when he arrived, by his definition, on time. They would need to talk, the two of them. Something about unmerited opinions...

...speaking of things that had happened last night, there was Lingormr. He hadn't seen the man's name on the club listing earlier, so perhaps he had decided not to join. That certainly made the impending report that much easier, if that was to be the case.

[for Soma and Sonia]

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

Kratos was already waiting by the wall when Soma spotted him, and she jogged up, inclining her head in acknowledgment.

"Good evening," she said. Already she was itching to ask about his run with Lingormr last night--by Lingormr's account, it hadn't gone too badly, but you never knew. Still, it was probably better to let it sit for now. "What's the plan for tonight."

[forsworn]

Kratos nodded as Soma joined him. "Good evening." He resisted the urge to ask her immediately about what she'd told Lingormr about him, instead focusing on the matter at hand: the night's agenda.

"I haven't quite decided. I was thinking about the basement, seeing as how our leader for the night seemed interested in it..." He glanced down the hall for any sign of Sonia. "Your input is appreciated."

[madeinthehrl]

"I'd be interested in the basement as well," Soma said promptly. Maybe a little too promptly? She was well aware of the warnings about the basement, but nobody had provided anything specific so far. It only served to pique her curiosity.

"I've never been down there before. Do you know anything about it?"

[stylebythemile]

[from here]

Sonia made herself pause to look around the corner. She couldn't let her guard down! Not after what she had seen of this place so far.

No monsters in sight. She saw Soma and Kratos and hurried over as fast as she could. Then, when she was close enough that the people around them wouldn't be able to hear her, she softly asked, "Do either of you have the symptoms Landel was talking about?" She made sure not to sound angry or frightened. She knew she hadn't had a chance to prove herself to them, but they needed to work together on this. She needed their trust. If they could find out who was infected, they might be able to isolate them before things got worse. Landel had given them time to get ready for it (a bit less than a week, maybe?), but not a lot of it, so they'd need to work fast.

[forsworn]

"I went down there a few times several weeks ago," Kratos replied. "Nothing much came of either trip, although on one occasion we did manage to make it to an armory of sorts. Unlike usual, though, none of the things we obtained there were in our possession in the morning."

He turned his head to greet Sonia as she approached, and felt a slight stab of relief that he was able to say with complete honesty, "No", and then add, "Do you?" Usually, he ended up with the short end of the stick, but for some reason, this time, he had been spared. It was almost refreshing.

[madeinthehrl]

An armory. That was enough to pique Soma's interest, though if Kratos was right, it was probably only there to irritate them. Still, it was better than nothing, and as far as she knew, nobody had managed to map the place out. If they had, they certainly hadn't bothered to show it.

"No," she said, even as Marie stirred uneasily. Granted, it felt as if she had a light head cold, but that was nothing unusual. She wasn't usually sick, but given the way this place tended to grate on people, it was almost bound to happen sooner or later.

[stylebythemile]

"I don't think so," Sonia replied. "One of the 'nurses' told me I was sick yesterday, but I don't remember that at all. I'm fine now."

"And what about the others? Was there anything that was off about them today?" Sora was the one she was worried about right now. Hopefully he had just decided to sleep in after a tiring night.

After a moment, her gaze settled on Kratos. "Are we going to the basement?" she asked him, looking curious. Finding the entrance wouldn't be a problem, if her companions didn't already know where it was. She remembered seeing it marked on the map Scarecrow had shown her; right above the kitchen, first floor.

[forsworn]

"I wouldn't know. I didn't talk to anyone else in the club today." He rarely did, too--but that didn't need to be mentioned. All that mattered for the time being was that neither of his two teammates were exhibiting the symptoms Landel had named: Kratos had already been forced to kill someone who had transformed into a monster long ago, and he was not keen, to put it lightly, to have that experience again. He didn't even like lingering on the possibility, as real as it still was.

In any case, their good health also meant that they were now free to pursue their original agenda, which was definitely welcomed."As for our destination tonight, Soma and I were discussing that possibility prior to your arrival. I've been there twice before, so it would be nothing particularly new for me, but Soma said she would be interested. I assume you also have an interest in seeing it as well?" If both of them wanted to, he would accede to the majority and allow himself to be dragged down there again. Who knew, after all; the third attempt was supposedly the favored one.

[madeinthehrl]

Soma inclined her head slightly in acknowledgment. "What's it like down there?" she asked Kratos, curiosity getting the better of her. "I've only ever heard rumors about it; people seem strangely closed-mouthed about it on the bulletin board."

Hopefully Sonia would be up for the trip. The sooner they got moving, the better.

[stylebythemile]

Well, at least no one in their group seemed to be infected.

"It depends on what's down there," Sonia answered, putting her hands on her hips. "The only thing I know about it is where the entrance is." If Scarecrow's map had been reliable. She was about to ask Kratos what it had been like the first two times he'd gone there, but Soma beat her to it.

'Closed-mouthed'. So either there was nothing down there, or nobody wanted to mention it on the board. Why the secrecy? Were people afraid? They were all in this together, weren't they? Unless there really was nothing down there.

She glanced from Soma to Kratos, wanting to hear what he had to say.

[forsworn]

"Uncharacteristic," was about the only thing Kratos had to say. It was difficult to sum up the general feeling of a gigantic ballroom hidden beneath a mental institute coupled with barbarous-looking tapestries hanging in hallways. "I think it would be better to simply see it for yourselves."

With that, he turned to go. "We should get moving." They had already spent enough time talking, in his opinion.

[forsworn]

[to here]