Night 64: M51-M60 Hallway

[idolism]

Where the infected prisoners were concerned, Landel had been hovering over that particular soap bubble ready to pop it for days now. Aidou didn’t like the fact that there was someone out there set to transform, but… how to stop it now that it had begun? Landel had ensured an element of inevitability. If he wanted it to happen, it was going to happen, and in response to someone transforming, there was only so much one could do to stop them. Like restraining them. Or killing them. Or… finding the elusive means to a cure mentioned over the intercom.

Aidou wouldn’t have minded testing the legitimacy of I.R.I.S.’ message, but there were tasks he needed to see to before anything else. Checking in on Sasuke was one. Thanks to Landel’s warning, Aigis was coming in at a close second. He had no idea what their current statuses were; for all he knew, they were each transforming in their cells right at that moment.

And well… there was also the matter of promises involved. He had promised one that he would intervene if the infection became too much. The other, he felt obligated to do the same for without it necessarily needing to be said.

What other choice did he have but to inquire after their health?

That night, Aidou wore black. If blooded happened to be spilled over the course of events, it would be less visible on dark clothing.

M58 was the first stop he made. Throwing etiquette to the wind, the first thing he did when he stopped in front of the door was to make his presence known, and loudly. After a day of figurative radio silence, it was time to get the message across. "Sasuke! You had better be in there!"

Comments

M55

[oneman_onekill]

This was so weird. Even though the room was exactly the same as his old one, Niikura felt out of whack. Plus, now there was actually someone in the room--granted, he was asleep, but still. He'd liked having a whole room to himself. Ah, well, what did they say? 'Sharing is caring' or something like that.

He tried not to think to much about the intercom message. The X-Ray room was so tempting, but Shiina had told him that she didn't want to hold him back...urghhhhhh alright, he would just check one last time when they met up. Just in case.

[to here]

[firewhichrefines]

Aidou's voice jolted Sasuke awake so abruptly that for a moment he thought he was still running from the Aquila, new patient in tow -- so realistic was the sensation of desperate determination and reeking air blasting over the back of his neck that Sasuke propelled himself directly out of bed. It was only through the grace of long years of shinobi training that he managed to land on his feet, hand automatically groping for weaponry that wasn't there and Sharingan flaring in an attempt to catch the grotesque chakra flying above.

Instead of the glowing smears of chakra that was the extent of his sight these days, however, there was only radio blackness and the faint glow of -- his roommate. His room. Again.

Sasuke exhaled slowly, grounding himself. A night of running had been ... better than nothing. What Landel forced him to accept these days, he thought with something akin to bitterness, and then a familiar voice rang through the door again: Aidou, and doubtless irritated with yet another day of an ally being useless.

At least his roommate appeared just as useless, the lowered pulse of chakra having made clear that Albedo was also sleeping. Sasuke let the Sharingan fade as quickly as it had flashed into vision, turning instead toward the brief walk to the door he knew too well by now. Supplies were in their usual box leaning against the wall, and he clicked the box open to retrieve his sword before opening the door for Aidou.

The look of dark determination on his face and the sharp weapon in his hand might have made an intimidating picture were it not for the way the hair on one side of his head was still standing up strangely from too much sleep.

"Aidou," he acknowledged, chasing the sleep gravel from his voice. "... you've been awake today?"

[idolism]

Well, good, at least some one was where they were supposed to be. He’d been about two seconds away from banging the door open before the rustle of movement waylaid him. The short, raven-haired figure that appeared in the doorway shortly after eased some of his concerns. Sasuke.

A rumpled-looking Sasuke, but Sasuke nonetheless.

"Oh good, you haven’t spontaneously transformed into a diseased monster," he answered, lifting an eyebrow. "And yes, I have, despite all biological imperatives pointing to the opposite. I take it that since my visit has come as such a surprise, you haven’t?"

Stupid daytime rules about not being able to visit patients’ rooms. If he’d been certain Sasuke was having an extra long catnap, he would’ve woken the boy up much sooner. With slapping involved, if necessary.

"I'm going to have to install a tracking device on you. Lately you seem to be disappearing at the most inopportune times."

[firewhichrefines]

Spontaneously transformed into a -- for a moment Sasuke was sorely confused, but then the tail end of the Head Doctor's ramblings started to make sense. There had been veiled references to something happening among the patient body in the past few days, things that Sasuke had paid only half-attention to, his own mind preoccupied with the ever-present problem of getting anything done.

How did Aidou stay awake, if his kind were more typically suited for the night? It was a frustration and a question likely to go unanswered. Sasuke let Aidou's question go with only the slightest surly shrug of his shoulders: that answer was obvious, at least, and he felt no particular desire to visit the details.

Enough so that Aidou's last comment earned an inelegant snort in response. "I don't disappear," he said finally, irritation edging his voice. Less at Aidou, less at the Institute: his own willpower, dulling when he needed it most. But a blunt instrument was better than none. "I'm always here."

A wave of his hand indicated the room behind him, sleeping roommate and all, before Sasuke shut the door. The lingering haze of too-much-sleep found him continuing, before he could cut himself off: "I've slept more here than I have --"

But that didn't bear discussion any more than the other details of his life in the other world did, here. Neither his shinobi pedigree nor his learned insomnia had any weight in Landel's, it seemed. There was only strength of will.

"You think that it's the same thing this time?" He asked instead, returning to what had confused him at first. "The same virus?"

[idolism]

He supposed competing over who was more put out by the situation wouldn’t serve much of a purpose. Sasuke’s self-pity and his own frustrations ultimately extended from the same source: the Institute.

“Well, then you can be grateful I’m here to fetch you. Nap time’s over! And although I don’t see anything off about you, I should ask: you haven’t developed any symptoms, have you? No rashes, no fever?” If Sasuke had, and he presented anything like Aigis, Aidou thought he would be able to pick out the signs now that he knew what to look for. Better to make sure, though. He didn’t want to get his hopes up only to find that Sasuke’d blood had a similar tinge of infection to it.

“Which virus?” he resumed in answer to Sasuke’s question. “The one that nearly turned you into a zombie monster?”

Sad that he had to ask which science experiment Sasuke meant, but there was no denying that there’d been quite a few from which to choose from. Artificial ex-humans, zombies, and now horror movie monsters… It was all a bit much.

[firewhichrefines]

Grateful was a stretch, given how Sasuke could still feel the lingering aftershock of the adrenalin rush that had woken him. Still: that Aidou was useful, and by far the oldest ally Sasuke had had in the Institute, was undeniable. Of all the patients that had come and gone, with or without tangible benefit, Aidou was the only one who remained both present and with benefit.

None of that meant that Sasuke had to actually vocalise any of it. He brushed off the vampire's questions with a short shake of his head. The only ill-effect he could feel was the unpleasant headache that came from too much sleep, a sensation that he'd only recently learned thanks to the Institute.

"I've felt nothing like that time," he answered, cataloguing the various signals his body sent of wellbeing. The absence of chakra was an old ache, the dull emptiness something familiar enough by now to ignore. "Have other people been showing those signs?"

[idolism]

Granted, if Sasuke had a rash that didn’t alter the texture of his skin enough to discern through touch, it wasn’t like he could see it… But from what Aidou could see of his exposed skin, he was indeed clear. His hands were untouched by round, red rashes. Lack of evidence wasn’t necessarily evidence of anything, but in this case the symptoms of the Landel’s infection had become so visible to the naked eye that Aidou didn’t think he needed to check Sasuke’s blood. Not yet, anyway.

"I guess we can rejoice about that," said the vampire, adding, "I’m fine, too, in case you were wondering."

Though obviously Sasuke had been more occupied with slumbering his life away.

"Did you miss Landel’s initial warnings? People’s skin hasn’t been rotting away, but there have been flu-like symptoms that have been getting progressively worse. The infection’s in their blood. Tonight some misfortune individuals are set to undergo the transformation, or so he says. I was half-afraid it’d be you."

[firewhichrefines]

Sasuke had wondered, though Aidou hadn't exactly sounded like one plagued by a hideous disease. Even without the apparently-heightened sense of smell the vampire had, Sasuke had noticed his own decay last time (and it had been literal decay). It was enough to make one wish for an Inuzuka in this place, if the games were to repeat this much.

"I heard some of the earlier hints," Sasuke said, hedging out of giving detail as to exactly what -- mostly because he didn't know how much he had missed over the past days of uselessness. The closest thing to success had been escaping (or at least being in the process of escaping) the birds last night, and even that ... led to the question of exactly how he'd survived, if he'd blacked out in the middle of the chase.

He was going to have to see if the other patient had similar recollections.

"What is the purpose of it?" The question was half-rhetorical, muttered as Sasuke pulled the ring with its bauble off his finger, ready to use. "To have us have to attack other patients?"

[idolism]

“Some” was vague, but regardless of the fact, Sasuke wouldn’t need his eyes to see where things were headed soon. Aidou feared the results of Landel’s experiment were about to become painfully obvious.

Including its purpose, which, in Aidou’s opinion, was merely a show of power.

“He says it’s to test Doyle’s research and replenish monster ranks,” supplied the noble. “But it probably has more to do with reminding us we’re at his mercy.” Aidou doubted anyone under Landel’s influence liked admitting such things, but for a creature who was used to being on the opposite end of things, it never stopped being a bitter pill to swallow. Sasuke likely understood the feeling more than most.

As Sasuke reached for Landel’s ring, he said, “If you need any other supplies, grab it now. Mouthwash. A hairbrush, maybe. You and I are going to make something of our time--updates on what’s been happening can be done anytime.” From the sounds of it, Sasuke probably needed a recap, but a lengthy discussion like that could always happen during daylight hours when talking rarely impeded more serious activities. “Oh, but I do have one stop to make. There’s someone I know for sure is infected--I need to confirm they haven’t devolved on me.”

[firewhichrefines]

Replenish the monster ranks? That was the first Sasuke had heard of the monsters' numbers being depleted in any sense. Was it actually possible that patients had managed to kill enough of the creatures that Landel was feeling insecure?

Unlikely. If Sasuke knew anything about megalomaniac, self-absorbed people with more or less absolute power over their domain, Landel would have addressed a genuine lack of pets well before announcing any such weakness to the patients with such goodwill. That meant that Aidou was probably right, as the vampire irritatingly tended to be --

... but sometimes, Aidou was also just weird. Sasuke shot the vampire a look when the word mouthwash sounded out of his mouth, then a slightly amused one when hairbrush followed. Perhaps the days were getting to Aidou after all. "I'm ready. I can rough it if I have to."

The dryly entertained tone dropped when it was revealed that Aidou had an immediate acquaintance who was infected. It would be folly to pass up a chance to observe, inasmuch as Sasuke could, what this new infection was doing to the patients -- and sadly, an accomplishment that already ranked beyond some of Sasuke's latest days and nights.

"Let's leave, then," he said, cool efficiency taking over again as he turned to move, poised to follow Aidou's movements.

[idolism]

‘Rough it’ indeed. Aidou silently shook his head. If the human wanted to run around looking like he’d just rolled out of bed--which he effectively had--then that was his concern to deal with. At least it was dark; no one was likely to give him too many odd looks.

All in all, the prospect of prisoners turning into monsters vastly outweighed Sasuke’s lack of personal grooming, anyway.

The boy’s enthusiasm to get going was understandable, and it made things easier. With his cooperation, Aidou could hopefully find Aigis in quick order, and then they could be on their way. It didn’t much matter in what direction they concentrated their efforts that night--any accomplishments would be welcome.

“Let’s head toward the female block. Assuming she hasn’t run off, I expect we’ll find her in that area.”

The vampire was a little grateful that Sasuke seemed to have no further questions about the detour. Explaining why he was interested in finding Aigis was easier than explaining how he knew her in the first place.

_{[to here]}

[purgatio]

...Sleep loosened its hold slowly, and Albedo was thickly aware of the aspect of loss. It was something he couldn't place, couldn't think of, and the events from earlier slowed his reactions down to nothing. It took a moment. More than it should have. To realize that Nigredo was down below in a place Albedo would not allow.

The basement. In particular, a certain place.

The boy's eyes widened to their limits as a particular blank expression settled over his features. He was perfectly precise as he lifted one of the shotguns and checked the ammunition. As he clicked the chamber shut and then slid his two knives into the back of his belt. Opening the door, he stepped out.

[ to here ]