damned_institute | Night 64: M-B Block Hallway

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Night 64: M-B Block Hallway

[From here.]

As the first one to make it out into this hall (which wasn't surprising these days), Guy found it hard not to just jet over to Claude's room. But in the end, he knew that there wouldn't be much to say until they met up with Anise and she explained herself, so for now he was going to have to try and be patient.

The medical wing wasn't an area he had explored very thoroughly, so he hoped that they would be able to find the room that Landel had named. He doubted that Anise and Claude had any better idea of how things were laid out there, either, seeing how they usually spent their nights with him.

Still, the three of them could do just about anything if they put their minds to it. That was one thing he believed with little to no doubt. It was how he was able to push himself to leave his room each night, and he wasn't going to stop working until they found a cure for Anise. This was no different from Tear or Luke falling sick. They would make it right somehow.

He was getting ahead of himself, though, and so he let out a breath and tried to calm down, keeping an eye on Claude's hallway. He was going to have to deliver the news about Okita before anything else, after all, and he couldn't say he was looking forward to that.

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[From here.]

There weren't many people in this hallway. Skulduggery had gathered, from the angry streams of notes on the bulletin board, that most people were stuck on a group of buses outside of the Institute last night, leaving the hallways clear. That didn't really explain why there were still so few people now, but that wasn't really at the forefront of Skulduggery's mind.

He paused as he passed the bathroom door. Rita had said she needed to do something quickly before meeting him at the library, so he was going to end up waiting for her anyway. And really, it was beyond time for Skulduggery to know exactly what he looked like. Making the decision before he could change his mind, he pushed open the door, stepped in, caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. And even with the meager light filtering in from the hall, he could see his face.

It was a handsome face. It was a familiar face. But more than that, Skulduggery finally realized, it was the face he'd been expecting to see all this time. His own. The face of the man who hadn't been there in time to stop Serpine from killing his family, the face that had died centuries ago and should have stayed buried. But Skulduggery had known what his reflection would show from the moment he first learned about the extent of Landel's power. He just hadn't wanted to believe it. He'd delayed the inevitable for as long as possible because he didn't want to face himself.

Well. Now he knew. It might take a while to accept it, but at least now he knew. Another mystery solved, even if it didn't really count because it had never been a mystery in the first place. After a few minutes of not moving, Skulduggery gave himself a little mental shake and let the bathroom door close again.

Time to move on.

[To here.]

((From here.))

Although Claude had plenty of experience with handling weapons, his sword felt unusually heavy as he trudged through the hall. Even though he wasn't moving that fast, his pulse raced, and he had to admit that he felt a bit clammy. Was it because of his illness? Or was he nervous about facing Guy now that the rash creeping up his arm was in plain sight?

It was true that Claude could have gone out of his way to hide the more visible symptoms, but he didn't want to do that around his friends, least of all Guy. After all, they'd made a promise, and he hadn't exactly been making a conscious effort to lie about what was happening to him before now. He sure as hell wasn't going to start now.

When he caught sight of Guy, he tried to muster a smile. "Hey..." Maybe he should have sounded more enthused, but Claude honestly felt like he was running on empty tonight, and he knew they would probably have a long night ahead of them.

[from here!]

Was it Murphy's imagination, or was his room deeper in the bowels of the Institute than the one he'd first woken up in? This didn't look like the hallway he'd emptied out into last night...

Where the hell was he, then? He'd figured he could at least head back to the entry room. He knew where that was, after all, and he didn't have anything else to go on. Of course, after what they'd found there last night, he wasn't thrilled at the prospect. But one thing hadn't changed: what he wanted didn't matter. Harvey had mentioned the medical wing, but he hadn't the faintest idea how to get there.

Sighing, the ex-con set down his chair and leaned against the wall, deciding to give a little thought to how he should proceed. It wasn't something he did often, but the intercom message hadn't given too much to work with. Not nearly what he had grown used to.

Maybe if he just kept heading south...

[For Tsurugi!]

[from here]

Moving through the hall was a strange experience. The configuration was a bit similar to the hospital, but he wasn't familiar with anything around him, or used to walking around in the darkness like this. The overall effect was surreal, and a little creepy, but overall, he was finding his lack of knowledge about his situation more irritating than alarming. There were beams from other flashlights, and Kyousuke made his way towards them, but once he reached the next hall, he had to pause. Things seemed to open up a little more here; there were several other halls, and a door in the distance. There weren't very many people, or much movement, and he frowned, at a loss at what to do next.

He could continue without knowing where he was going, or he could call out to someone to see what they knew, but he didn't feel particularly keen on either. Instead, he did what before: held back and simply observed, in hope that it would give him some sense of direction.

He'd wasted enough time standing around, Murphy decided. But when he pushed himself off the wall to grab up his chair once more, his flashlight beam passed over something that stopped him dead in his tracks.

That...that was a kid.

"Hey!" Murphy wet his lips and passed his flashlight beam around the hall, looking to see if the kid was alone or maybe a responsible adult was just behind.... He felt his stomach churn and he held out his free hand, half waving for attention and half beckoning.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Kyousuke hadn't been expecting to be called out to himself, and the combination of the dark and having his thoughts elsewhere made it jarring, and he found himself tensing a little. He turned to face a man... carrying a chair, which the boy eyed dubiously, but chose not to comment on.

"... Fine," he answered automatically. It was true, in the sense that he didn't think he'd given much cause for concern, but he knew better than to simply leave it at that. That he was here, and not at home where he should be, was definitely not okay.

He paused for a small moment, considering how he should mention this, but he'd never been very good at delicacy, nor was it time to be worrying about appearances, so he could only ask plainly: "... Where is this?" It probably sounded questionable, but right now, all he wanted was an answer.

Edited (how does spelling??????) 2012-06-22 18:35 (UTC)

The sight of the hard hat was a welcome one by this point, and Guy smiled as Claude emerged from the hallway, right on time. Unfortunately, that expression soon fell away when he realized just how tired Claude looked. In fact, that was a pattern that he'd been vaguely aware of since the Doyleton trip yesterday, and he didn't like the implications.

Even though Guy had been through the thought process already, he once again was second-guessing himself. Maybe Claude was sick after all, but Guy just didn't like the idea that his friend wouldn't have mentioned it until now.

Delivering the news about Okita would need to wait a few more minutes, it seemed. Guy pushed off of the wall and gave Claude a more probing stare. "Hey," he said, though his tone made it clear that he was distracted, that something like a greeting was more or less the last thing on his mind at the moment. "How are you feeling?"

If it turned out Claude was sick after all, at least they'd be able to kill two birds with one stone. Guy just didn't like the thought of the two people he worked with most closely here being ill, even if there was supposedly some kind of cure.

Murphy shook his head, shrugging apologetically.

"Nobody knows. Did you just wake up here? It's not safe at night." He closed the distance between himself and the boy, offering what he hoped was a reassuring smile. He felt his heart breaking, thinking that they brought kids here. What was wrong with them? At least he'd been right here. If he was this new, like Murphy himself had been last night, he couldn't have been out very long.

"But hey, it's okay. I'm not gonna leave you on your own."

When Guy got down to business and asked him how he was feeling, Claude wondered if his friend had picked up on his symptoms on his own, or if the question was just a precaution in light of what was happening in the institute.

His pace slowed once he drew close to Guy. "I'm, um..." Trailing off a moment, he wondered how he ought to approach the issue. Claude hated having to say anything at all, but he couldn't keep lying to himself that everything was okay.

"To be honest, I haven't felt well lately," he finally admitted as he averted his gaze. "At first I thought it was just a fluke, or at least unrelated to what everyone's been talking about. That's why I didn't say anything before now."

Looking the other man in the eye again, his mouth curved into a worried frown. It was better to just rip the band-aid off when it came down to it, wasn't it?

"Guy, I think I'm sick with what's been going around."

[from here]

Okay, so...where was he? Niikura had checked his maps just before he left, so he knew the way, but it still felt like stepping into unknown territory. And he was still in the patient blocks. So far, it was just the same, except he'd had to walk a little bit more to reach the door leading out to the next hall. He picked up the pace: he'd save time where he could.

[to here]

Edited 2012-06-23 07:00 (UTC)

.... That wasn't the answer he'd been expecting. Did that mean nobody else belonged here, either? But there were other ways of finding out besides simply asking around, so Kyousuke pushed that aside for now. There was no point in pressing something he wasn't going to get an answer for.

"Not safe how?" he asked instead. He didn't see what was dangerous about a dark building, but he hadn't seen much so far, so he wasn't in much position to make judgments yet.

But that, at the end, took him aback, especially from someone he didn't know, and he could feel his eyebrows drawing together. ".... No, I don't need it," he responded, a little awkwardly. "I'll figure something out." Not that it wasn't a decent gesture, but it was a bit different from working with friends, and he was perfectly capable on his own. He certainly didn't need anyone looking after him like he was a little kid, at least.

Murphy knew he was going to sound insane, but what else could he do?

"There's monsters. Two people were killed last night, maybe more. I know this probably all seems really messed up and pretty impossible. Trust me, I went through it, too. But this place is some kind of secret hell hole that kidnaps people, or something. And...you do need it. We all need it. I mean, I don't want to be wandering around here alone."

Which wasn't just something he was saying to win the kids trust. He was older than...well, he was older. Maybe eleven or twelve? Murphy was bad at guessing ages. But old enough to resent adult intervention - he'd been the same way, around that age.

"I'm Murphy."

"... What?"

For a long moment, Kyousuke simply stared at the man. He'd seen and heard some strange things in his lifetime, but this? This was insane! .... Yet, he hadn't given any reason to doubt what he was being told, either. He had no plans of simply accepting what he was being told at face value, but he wouldn't turn away from it, either; he could at least give the credibility a chance. This guy was kind of pushy with his concern, though, and whether it came well-intentioned place or not, it was still frustrating to deal with.

Didn't want to be left alone, huh... ... Well, fine. If what he was saying was true, then who would?

"Tsurugi," he introduced himself plainly. He normally would have given his full name, but he didn't have much desire to get too familiar, so that was good enough. And without pause for a response, "I'm going to look around." He turned away, and started to head towards the door in the distance.

If Murphy wanted to follow him, he was free to do so, but Kyousuke wasn't about to accommodate him, or let himself be accommodated for. Right now, he was only focused on getting himself some bearings and seeing whether any of these claims had any truth to them, and he'd do that on his own terms. It wasn't really a matter a of trust. Some things... were just hard to accept without seeing them for yourself.

[to here]

Edited 2012-06-22 23:55 (UTC)

So it was exactly what he'd been scared of. Guy was between feeling upset that Claude hadn't mentioned something earlier and wanting to kick himself for not having noticed before. He'd had suspicions, but it was clear now that he should have spoken up a while ago.

Well, there wasn't much that could be done about it now except look for the cure, and now that Claude's secret was out of the bag, Guy figured it only made sense to mention that it was the same for Anise. They would be investigating the medical wing for both of them now, after all.

"Anise too," he said after a pause. "At least we do have some people who are trying to help us fight this. We'll figure it out." There was no other option as far as he was concerned, especially now that two of his closest friends were caught up in it.

"We better go find her," he continued, turning his gaze toward the exit door. "She's probably worried." And knowing Anise, she was probably eager to go check out this X-Ray room herself. Guy figured he could explain about Okita along the way.

"I was afraid of that," Claude sighed with a grimace. It was bad enough knowing he was sick for obvious reasons, but it also meant he might be hindered in his efforts to help Anise. Of course, it was possible she'd feel the same way about him. For now, all they could do was their best by working together and looking out for one another.

Were they both in danger of transforming like those nurses? He hoped not. The thought made his skin crawl, even if he knew they needed to prepare for anything at this point.

Thankfully, Guy was there to keep him focused on what to do next. "R-right," he said with a nod. Without another word, he began leading the way onto the next hall.

((To here.))

[From here]

As he turned into the large block hall he realized he actually didn't know where he should go. He hadn't really been paying too much attention to where the nurse had led him and he didn't know, exactly, where he was in relation to the hall where he and Tolten usually met up. He leaned against one of the walls, trying to recall the early maps he'd made after his very first night here.

It felt like so long ago, he knew he should have looked at the maps more closely before dashing out the door...but the intercom announcement made him antsy and a little paranoid, feelings he was already staring to have from dinner.

What if one of them did transform? When would it happen? Would there be any warning? If it was Tolten, Locke didn't think he'd be able to attack his friend. No, he couldn't. Not that he actually had anything to attack with. And if it was him? what if he hurt Tolten? He wouldn't blame the other man for killing him, a part of him hoped the king would know that he had to; that Locke would rather that then hurting someone....

No. No. He was trying to think of the map. There was no need to obsess over something he, clearly, couldn't control.

Edited 2012-06-26 10:53 (UTC)

[From here!]

Back straight and gate far more purposeful and militant than normal, Tolten strode into the next block. His sword was almost in reach. He held his flashlight beam steadily before him and while his stride didn't change when the beam fell upon his Locke -safe and human and oh thank his ancestor! - but his expression softened some.

"Locke!" he called out as he approached, beam held down so as not to blind the other man. He extended his other arm and gently tossed the pipe when he was practically right in front of his...well...whatever Locke was to him.

"Catch."

The beam of light shook Locke out of his thoughts and he looked up with a smile, though he could feel it was weaker than normal. He was happy to see Tolten, yes, but more than that he was so, so, relieved. Tolten was here, fine, and human, and that was all Locke could have hoped for. It seemed they'd dodged whatever this sickness really was...which was probably the best news he'd heard all day.

He caught the pipe thrown to him and looked first at it and then back up to Tolten. "You're in a better mood tonight. What's up with this? Don't you need it?" He didn't mind Tolten's obvious confidence boost, in fact, he liked it. However, Locke hoped it didn't mean he thought he could get away without a weapon.

"We're going to get my sword."

Tolten's voice was hard and strong, something it rarely was. But his anger was fueling him and as long as he held to it he knew he could be strong. And gods knew that was needed tonight. And every night after. He couldn't afford to be weak anymore. He'd had plenty of time for self pity.

He met Locke's eyes, his blue ones bright and fierce.

"And then we're going to the Medical Wing."

The Med Wing, huh? Well, he wasn't about to argue with that. Perhaps now, with both of them armed and Tolten with his new determination, their venture would turn out better than their previous ones. Tolten's determination must have been contagious because suddenly Locke was feeling better about tonight than he had only moments before.

Locke stepped closer and brought his free hand up to the back of Tolten's head so he could pull him down just enough for him to meet with Locke's upturned lips. The kiss was only meant to be brief, but he tried to put as much affection in it as possible; firm but sweet. After a moment, he broke the kiss just so he could use them again. "Sounds like we've got a plan, then. Let's go have some fun."

Edited 2012-06-27 12:26 (UTC)

The kiss caught Tolten by surprise, almost, which he supposed was madness. They were...a pair, regardless of whatever terms one wished to use. And it was so nice. The young king returned the kiss with far more enthusiasm than that first time, and his face stayed close to Locke's when the treasure hunter pulled away.

"I think this is the fun part," he teased. "But I'm very glad to see you, too. Come. Let's pick up my sword and make haste to the Medical Wing. It's the only clue we have!" He paused then, frowning. "Ah, do you know where the M40 rooms are? I can't say I've been in this block of cells before...."

And that would be easier than walking up and down hallways and hoping!

[from here]

Stepping outside the room, the Once-ler was irked to find that the hallway was similarly darkened. He elected to ignore the other doorways along this particular hall, assuming they would just be more of the same two-bed rooms. The entire layout was reminiscent of a hospital, or possibly a very low-star hotel.

The man turned left when he reached a junction. This hall had two doors, and he was not inclined to go asking around in a bathroom. The Once-ler moved towards the other doorway, questions bouncing around in his head.

He really needed to find out where he was.

[to here]

Edited 2012-06-27 23:14 (UTC)

Locke paused, his mind going back to that map he'd been trying to think of before. He hadn't actually spent a whole lot of time here when he'd come through his first night, but he knew this block was set up like the one he was used to.

He nodded towards the hall nearest to them. "My new room's M65, which is up that way. Assuming this is set up like the block you're in, then any number higher than 65 can be found in these few doors here and the next hallway." He gestured to the halls to their left. "And anything less is that direction." He took Tolten's hand with the one not holding the pipe and led him further down the hall. "If every hall has ten rooms, then the one you're looking for is...here." He stopped at the last hall in the block and pointed with the pipe. At least his head was clear enough for basic math and logic.

[To here]

Edited 2012-06-29 17:19 (UTC)

[From Here]

And back into this hall. While he didn't want to start out running should something show up that they would need to run from, (imagine trying to fight that creature they'd seen upstairs?)he wasn't exactly keen on strolling their way to this med wing either. If only he had his sprint shoes back.

[To Here]

Edited 2012-07-17 01:50 (UTC)

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Night 64: M-B Block Hallway

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