Loki (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
complicatedliar) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
damned_institute2012-08-12 12:14 pm
complicatedliar) wrote in damned_institute2012-08-12 12:14 pm
Night 65: M71-M80 Hallway
Loki had turned his attention to the books as he finished dissecting his dinner. He listened to the intercom announcements with a growing sense of annoyance. He would like to have seen that clue for himself - and it would have presented the perfect opportunity to sow a bit of violence and confusion. Unfortunately, he had appointments that needed to be kept.
But the continued insistence of the oh-so-helpful resistance to have the worst timing possible (as far as Loki was concerned) grated.
When the lights went out he set up his flashlight and continued to read through the pharmacopoeia. He made notes for Soma on a sheet of paper torn from his notebook. Once that was done, he'd need to review the anatomy; all his studying needed to be done before Lust came to his room. He wished to give her his full attention.
[In M73, waiting for his ladyfriends.]
But the continued insistence of the oh-so-helpful resistance to have the worst timing possible (as far as Loki was concerned) grated.
When the lights went out he set up his flashlight and continued to read through the pharmacopoeia. He made notes for Soma on a sheet of paper torn from his notebook. Once that was done, he'd need to review the anatomy; all his studying needed to be done before Lust came to his room. He wished to give her his full attention.
[In M73, waiting for his ladyfriends.]
M73
And here was Lingormr's room. Soma paused just outside the door to catch her breath. Then, squaring her shoulders, she knocked once, firmly.
"Lingormr? It's Soma."
Re: M73
The nervousness was not feigned. This wasn't the sort of thing they did in Asgard, and Loki had never been all that interested in healing in general. The thought of cutting open one of his few friends wasn't one he found particularly comfortable, for a multitude of reasons.
"I think if you are all right with it, it would be best for you to be wholly awake during... proceedings." He offered her the list:
Sponges (several packages preferably)
Bandaging (large gauze pads and "kerlix" would be best)
3x retractors (size A)
2x suture kit
Ketamine or propofol (for injection)
Lidocaine (or anything else ending in "caine" if available)
1x bag of "normal saline"
3x 16g needle
2x syringe
Forceps (size c)
"I have the barest essentials of what is necessary already if none of these things can be found, but I believe I saw most if not all in the supply room for the operating theatre. This will still be quite bare bones and ugly, but I think will give us both a better chance of surviving a thoroughly unpleasant experience." He offered her a crooked smile.
Re: M73
"I'd rather be awake myself," she said, taking the paper from him. At least, she thought she would be. The thought that she might be a few hours away from major surgery was still a little difficult to grasp, and it was probably better if she didn't think about it at all.
"That's where I was planning on heading," she said, scanning the list. "It's right across from the x-ray room, too. I thought I might be able to take a look."
She looked up and tried to return the smile, with little success. "Maybe there'll be something useful in there tonight."
Re: M73
Though having an easier cure, while a momentary, personal relief, would make his other job much, much more difficult. But Loki was also not one to believe in luck; if such a thing even existed, it was all bad.
Re: M73
She didn't quite smile, but she met Lingormr's gaze and nodded slightly. "I guess the faster I get down to the medical wing, the sooner we can start. Good luck with your studying."
Re: M73
But he'd be damned if he'd do it again in the future. He'd had good reasons this evening, and it still twisted his nerves.
Re: M73
[to here]
M71-M80 Hallway
The other fact was the words Landel had used--human. Gabriel was certainly human, here. But he wasn't, originally. It made him wonder: what was the point of having a non-human turned human, if the experiment was to test humanity? Strange. Possibly he had pieces missing.
The Archangel listed them as things he could ask Castiel--if he had the chance. As it was, Landel's statement made Gabriel's gut twist. Castiel was ill. One of the five? It didn't matter. Gabriel had to get to his room as quickly as possible.
Room thirty-nine, he reminded himself. His room-mate wasn't much of a talker. Gabriel glanced at him, regretting the need to separate and hoping the other man would be okay, and spared a moment to wish him well. Then he slid through the door with torch in hand; rosary around his wrist; pens, radio and several pages town from his journal in his pockets. He moved quickly down the hall to the corner, footsteps quiet, his back prickling and human senses straining, feeling blind.
[to here.]
M79
... He should have paid more attention to the board today.
Despite the threat and his confusion, Zero found himself growing curious, especially since the words preceding that message were experiment and Harrington. Harrington was...a name he remembered hearing when the military were in charge here. He wasn't about to believe the military could be fully on their side - they probably just wanted control back, and helping the patients out to spite Landel was acceptable to them - but still...
What could that clue be? And was it legitimate?
As he contemplated his course of action for tonight, Zero quietly watched his roommate leave, and then he started to gather his own supplies. Combat boots, maps, flashlight, loaded handgun...he'd leave the pipe behind this time around. The first aid kit...he'd take with him. Who knew, maybe its contents might be needed. Besides, there was a chance his allies knew more about it than he did.
Allies being X and Harpuia, of course. No, he was not planning to wander off without them, despite earlier warnings. If there were really going to be transformed patients running around, then they needed all the protection they could get. And as far as Zero knew, neither of them had a chance to arm themselves yet.
He needed to hurry.
[To here.]
M73 - please don't reply, parade of ladies
The impulse to stay put, to curl up in bed and relax, was almost overwhelming. L knew that going out was especially dangerous, not only because his own speed and reflexes were compromised, but also because of the anxiety Landel had driven, that stronger patients would begin to pick off weaker ones. Yet he didn't feel that he had a choice.
He had worked through more severe illnesses, at any rate, but in those situations, he had been able to remain sedentary, and he'd had Watari to step in when his fever got high enough to cloud his thinking or to be a serious danger. He hadn't had to be in any kind of fighting shape, and he hadn't been injured.
He was sitting in the desk chair nursing the latest lollipop—cherry—when the evening's announcements began. When it ended, two aspects stood out.
The first was Landel's claim that five people would turn. Someone had left a message on the bulletin claiming that "five people" had had separate conversations with a man "about things happening currently" in a way that involved "choices and rewards." The wording of the note indicated a very small pool of candidates for its authorship, in L's opinion, and responses had suggested that at least a few of the five had "come to an understanding."
Were the two numbers related? It was the kind of situation where an absence of information on the bulletin board didn't tell L much. If the meetings were to tell people that they were going to turn, wouldn't those people have been more frightened? Then again, there had been a lot of uneasy faces passing through the Sun Room, and some of the people involved might even have stayed in bed. The people conversing on the bulletin board didn't sound threatened or frightened... so what would the purpose of meeting with them have been?
Next, which man? Marc, Harrington, Landel, or some unknown quantity? Five separate, private meetings would have been difficult for anyone outside the Institute to arrange. They might have taken place over several different nights, which would have been easier, but in that case, why would none of the people have mentioned them prior to today? And what would their purpose have been? Among other things, blood samples could have been taken from sick patients by the rebels, perhaps in pursuit of this supposed cure. However, the tone of the conversation on the message board didn't suggest any such thing.
Maybe they had been offered a cure in advance of other sick people, in exchange for spying. If that were the case, then the man in question could have been any of L's suspects, or even some unknown quantity. It would have been easiest for it to be Landel, though: in the previous day or so, he had had the most opportunity to stage private meetings with a series of patients. L already knew of two who had been taken for Special Counseling—that was opportunity, if Landel was indeed the man under discussion—but that didn't mean that those two people had necessarily been among the five. The list could have included either, both, or neither of them. Furthermore, if it was a matter of spying and assistance, it didn't seem that Marc or his friends would have needed to bribe patients for their help. Most would have offered it freely.
There was also the possibility that the matching numbers were a coincidence, or that someone—a few someones—had seen an opportunity to cause trouble by sowing confusion, and that none of it meant anything. Was it possible that the messages had been a childish prank? Or that Landel had been aware of it and chosen to use the matching number as a direct reference to it?
It frustrated L how he could know so much, suspect so much more, and be unable to prove any of it, or even settle on a single definitive theory. The best he could do was weigh the probability of various scenarios. He had doubted, for some time, that proof would be completely necessary... the events of the previous Tuesday had demonstrated that it was not likely that Landel would survive a fall at the hands of his patients. But L still wanted to have a clear, accurate picture of the situation and all its variables.
The second element that stood out in the intercom announcement was the more obvious one: Harrington's contribution. "I wasn't lying," he began—it seemed defensive, as if he knew that his credibility was in question. Harrington must be aware that his actions the previous night had had yet to help anyone at all.
What did Harrington really want? How much faith could they put in him? He had driven a number of patients to consider risky pseudo-medical procedures that day, just by means of a vague clue... why not just say what he meant? He might have agents in the Institute, nurses who would do what he asked during the day, or help him sneak in. His access to the premises had to be limited, and that could account for some of the vagueness. Still, the circumstances made his motives questionable, made it possible that his "help" was an elaborate charade after all. L felt he had to pursue tonight's information, but he wasn't sure how much to trust it.
There was always the chance that, once Landel had had whatever entertainment he was getting out of this, everyone who survived would be restored to health. The fact that L and Lunge had both suspected some kind of purge of patients in the past didn't mean that one had happened... they certainly hadn't been able to find any good evidence of it. Another possibility was that Aguilar had conscripted patients en masse, but L doubted it; it seemed like a detail like that would have come out at some point around the time of the military takeover. The easiest explanation for the scenario that had caused L's suspicions to begin with was that a number of patients had been successfully "cured" at around the same time. It was possible that a purge had happened in the form of a transformation of patients in the past, but Landel had made it sound as if he were trying something new to make a point.
Landel's didactic side really was extraordinarily tedious.
As he considered these possibilities, L got ready to leave. His preparations were similar to the previous night's. For logistical reasons, it seemed better to wear the ring that linked to Doyleton than the one that linked to the basement; the basement ring went around his neck, under his sweatshirt, strung on a length of gauze. There was no sense in changing clothes, but he added the lightweight boots. He put the radio in his left pocket, then belted the holster around his waist, so the Walther would be on his right hip, easy to access if he needed it. Lunge's hunting knife went into his right pocket. Things like his journal and file and the shield were all stowed in the locked desk drawer.
After a moment's thought, he pulled out one of the small first aid kits: it wasn't anything impressive, but it might help with minor scrapes, he doubted that Nina Fortner had acquired anything like it yet, and he had several spares. It wouldn't be hard to carry it to the point where they were supposed to meet. He could tuck it into the sling closer to his elbow, then carry his flashlight with his left hand.
With a single nod to bid farewell to Lingormr, L stepped out into the corridor.
[To here. This is set prior to Soma's arrival.]
M73
No, it hadn't taken as long as Lust had feared. While the hallways were hardly empty, the way between the men's and women's rooms had hardly been choked.
She knocked, but only to announce her presence rather than to entreat an entry. She was expected. The door opened slowly under her hand, lest she was interrupting something What, she couldn't begin to fathom. Both their other plans came later in the night.
"Lingormr?"
Re: M73
He wasn't really used to being nervous. He didn't like it, at all. He was beginning to wish that he hadn't agreed to do this mad thing for Soma.
Lust was a welcome distraction, and he gave her a warm smile as he approached the door. "Lady."
Re: M73
She wasn't used to that outside of Scar. And she wasn't used to being worried, or confused, or feeling as though she had no control.
At least here and now, she wasn't confused and had all the control she desired. Forgoing other greetings or any pithy kind words regarding the night before, Lust simply placed her hands against Lingormr's cheeks and pressed her mouth to his in a hungry kiss.
Re: M73
Loki decided that he rather liked that about her. He could very much respect someone who knew what she wanted and would not be stopped. It was even more charming when what she wanted was him, which was really a new and thoroughly pleasant sensation.
And after the day he'd had, the stress piling on his shoulders? All the better as a distraction.
Loki returned the kiss with equal hunger. He slipped one arm around Lust's waist, pulling her in tightly.
Re: M73
And she wanted him. She wanted him and she could have him and no one could tell her no.
It was such a strange and new thing, being held in the arms of a man who didn't give a whit what she could do for him, or what wealth and power she could bring. She clung to him, pressing herself against him as her lips parted beneath his.
Re: M73
He'd had his fair share of encounters with lovers of all stripes in the past; his silver tongue was good for far more than ust telling people what they wished to hear. But knowing that there could be no political motivations behind this was something to savor, for all that they didn't have much time.
A shame, that, but hopefully there would be other nights.
He turned them both, guiding Lust to get her back pressed firmly against the wall.
Re: M73
But there was one thing she felt the need to say. Her hands tangling in the soft hair at the nape of Lingormr's neck, she pulled her mouth away for a moment.
"I've never just been with a man before," she told him. Her fingers twined in his hair and her breasts pressed against his chest. "For my own pleasure and the wanting of the man. You should consider yourself lucky."
Re: M73
Re: M73
Re: M73
Re: M73
M73
And now she was to go and see to Scar.
For what, she still couldn't begin to fathom. She wondered if she should feel guilty but couldn't see any reason to. Her want for Scar hadn't changed, but what point was there in pining for something she wasn't going to have? He had made himself clear.
And yet he had reached out to her for some reason. On the night she took her love, Scar had reached out to her. There was something almost unsettling about it. What would she tell him, if he asked her specifically what she'd been doing? She didn't want to lie to him. But she didn't quite want to tell him the truth, either. He didn't like Lingormr - and she did understand why. Scar was like an open sore, and Lingormr a mischievous medic who couldn't help but prod. They were oil and water.
Sometimes the forces guiding everything could be rather cruel in their ironies and jokes.
It didn't matter. Lust didn't regret what she'd done, and would gladly do it again. Hoped to, honestly. It had been good. It had been…real, in ways it hadn't been before. She didn't feel as though she had some new, enlightened understanding into human intimacy… But she knew what made her feel things she never had before. And that was enough.
She wished she knew what it was that Scar wanted of her….
With that in mind, she slipped back out into the hallway to seek out the other man's room.
[to here]
M73
Soma only let the pillowcase of supplies sink to the ground when she reached Lingormr's door. Marie was still whirling busily in her head, throwing out possibilities and theories that made little sense to her. If anything, all that managed to do was make her feel even more ill.
It was impossible to hide the fact that even a trip as short as this one had drained her, and she barely had the energy to knock on Lingormr's door. "It's Soma," she managed, and forced herself to stay upright. She'd be doing enough lying around helplessly in a few moments as it was.
Re: M73
"Come in, please. What did you find for the so-called clue?" he asked, then hesitated before adding, "And something rather strange has happened. I don't know what to make of it."
Re: M73
Lingormr looked worried--not that she could blame him. Still, showing her own worry wasn't likely to do much good. A smile was beyond her at the moment, but she did her best to look determined, if not entirely confident.
"What happened?" She frowned a little. "Something wrong?"
Re: M73
He took up the pillowcase that Soma had set down, assuming those things were for him. Before he answered, he took a moment to unpack it, arranging the things she'd brought for him meditatively.
Finally, he turned to her and extended one hand. An instant later, the carefully crafted illusion of a horse galloping (in miniature) floated in the air over his palm. He let it go for a moment before dismissing it. "I could not do that the evening before yesterday. Why can I do it now? But I can only bend light, nothing more. I don't understand it. Is this a common effect of... what happened to me yesterday?"
Re: M73
Lingormr began unpacking their supplies, and she was quiet for a moment, hating the tense silence but unable to think of anything especially relevant to say. Then he turned back to her, and she started briefly as a galloping horse appeared over his outstretched hand.
He'd said his magic was sealed off. Hadn't he? So... "I've never heard of anything like this happening before," she said at last. "Usually people have their powers reduced to begin with, not taken away entirely. If you got some of it back after Special Counseling last night..."
There were a number of possibilities, if she thought about it. "Maybe Landel made a mistake when he limited your powers again. That's the first thing that comes to my mind."
Re: M73
Hopefully that would be enough of an implication that Landel might be setting him up as some sort of scapegoat.
He sighed. "I just find this greatly disturbing. And of all the things I could be able to do again, this? I'd rather something more useful, like being able to heal. That would certainly be relevant." A hint of hopeless bitterness crept into his tone.
Loki opened the medical text books again, turning them to the pages he'd marked with scraps of paper. He shook his head. "I will have to attempt to give you an... IV. So let us do that first. If I can't accomplish that simple thing, it should warn us not to proceed."
Re: M73
She had to agree with Lingormr about the usefulness of letting him have his illusions back, though. At best they might distract a monster for a few seconds, if anything. "How big can you make the illusions? It might come in handy during a fight, at least."
But any further discussion of that should probably wait until they had this over with. Soma sat down at the edge of the bed, taking a deep breath. Pulling off her shirt, she extended her arm and waited. IVs were straightforward and familiar enough, at least, and she was fairly sure she could assist Lingormr with what she remembered--at least until the actual surgery part began.
Okay so this is the part where it starts getting gross.
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