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

[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]