Night 66: Main Hallway, 1-West

[dualistic]

[From here.]

That hadn't taken long. So much so that it looked like he was the first person to make it this far. Harvey took a moment to scan the hall with his flashlight, including near the stairs, but he didn't see (or hear) much of anything. It was the sort of thing that set him on edge.

Since he couldn't do much else, he leaned himself against the wall by the stairs and then grabbed for his gun, holding it near his side as he waited. Normally he didn't take the weapon out unless he planned to shoot it, but when there was a possibility that some transformed patient might come barreling down the halls in the next few seconds, he wanted to take precaution.

Hopefully Scott and Sangamon would haul ass over here before all hell started to break loose. If things got too hairy, Harvey was ready to make a run for it on his own. That was the logical thing to do.

[Waiting for S.T.]

Comments

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]

There was a light in the main hall. One light, singular. Panning back and forth in D-cell searchlight. S.T. followed the beam of reflective dust motes back to a face he could have done without seeing just after eating. Again.

"Harvey. We still on?"

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

She was the first of her group to arrive. And, it seemed, one of the few willing to congregate in the open. Or one of the few alive and well enough to try such a foolish maneuver. Harvey was, too, which was reassuring. He had a gun out, and Lana slid her left hand into her pocket, resting it on the grip of her own revolver. Harvey hadn't been ill; he wasn't a threat, but he knew she was. Good.

She just hoped Ryuuzaki was well enough to lead them tonight.

[L and Gumshoe]

[unpriest]

[From here]

Nearing the location near the wall where they had always met, Seishin noticed Silvestri-san wasn't there yet. One glance around the area told him not many had ventured as far yet, for that matter. His brow furrowed in mild concern. Was he early, or was it something else...?

He leaned against the wall, shifting his hold on the hatchet while he hoped he wouldn't have to use it. He didn't understand what Charon-san had meant when the skeleton man had offered them his 'gift', but he supposed they would find out soon enough. Whatever it was, Seishin knew it wouldn't include safe passage across the lake. It would be his turn to offer payment, wouldn't it?

He didn't particularly mind bearing that burden; Silvestri-san was the one who was able to fight, and it was one of the few ways the former priest believed he could be useful in some way.

[For Ilia~]

[dualistic]

There was Sangamon. Harvey turned to look at him, unapologetic about the state of his face. "Well..." Now that he thought of it, Harvey hadn't actually confirmed with his two companions during the day, like they usually did. But all things considered, what else would be going on?

"Well, I just assumed. None of us are sick, so we may as well press forward." Unless Scott had some girlfriend to deal with, in which case Harvey was seriously going to have to question the kid's priorities. Sangamon was here, though, and Harvey hadn't had to wait that long for him either. So maybe Scott would be along in the next minute or so.

[thisisyourgod]

> ==>

Here was the main hallway already, and the sun room was just a little ways down. He glanced around the hall but didn't see that many girls at all - none in this first area close to the stairs up to the next floor, anyway. There were people gathering by the sun room doors as well, however, and with any luck one of them would be who he was looking for.

Or he'd end up standing there awkwardly for a while, which was the more likely result.

> Karkat: Find the girl.

[toxicspiderman]

"I sacked out all day." Normal thing to do before all-night ops, even if it took chemical assistance. Or the soothing drone of the GEE van rumbling down I-95 with a commando squad zonked out in the back. Except here it was the first symptom of terminal apathy. Their group had been picked off one by one. Down to fifty percent. Harvey was right, though. None of them had gotten sick. Just dead.

"Landel do anything other than kiss waffles and eat babies over the intercom?" The vague threats and hints at dinner were batting a thousand, but this whole long-term strategy thing was weird. Maybe General Asshole had scared him out of instant gratification.

[dualistic]

"Believe me, you didn't miss much," Harvey said with a shrug. Now that he thought of it, he sort of wished that he'd just slept through the day. It would have been a good idea to catch up, seeing how their nights hadn't exactly been calm lately. But hindsight was 20/20, and chances were that Sangamon hadn't planned to sleep the day away.

It was a bad sign -- everyone knew that -- but Harvey didn't say anything about it. Instead, he kept glancing around for any sign of Scott, but nothing so far. "In case you forgot, it's your turn to give up a sense." Or his voice. The skeleton didn't exactly set it up in a way that made complete sense, but that was no surprise.

[gald_digger]

[from here]

Anise reached the main hallway without much delay, and found that she was the first to arrive. She hoped the others were going to have an easy time getting around, too.

There were a few other patients in the same part of the hallway, and Anise kept a small distance between them and herself, nervously slipping her rash-covered hand behind her back and positioning herself close to a wall. Most people who found out about her illness had been sympathetic and understanding, but that didn't mean everyone would be.

She stood quietly as she waited, breathing slowly and silently taking note of her current symptoms. She didn't feel that much worse than she felt yesterday... could she assume that she was going to be okay for a while, like Claude? As much as she really wanted to think that, Anise didn't feel safe assuming anything at this point.

[faeth]

[ from here. ]

Orihime rounded the corner with a relieved sigh.

Another hallway, but this one wasn’t empty, and there she was, back flat against the wall and arms stretched out along it, as if she were balancing along the side of a high building.

“…Eh.”

She fixed her positioning by jumping forward slightly, back straight as she proceeded to make herself appear as natural as possible. “Um, please excuse me.” She strode forward past the waiting figures in the hall, shoulders squared. If she had the time, then she might’ve stopped for small talk, if only to be polite, but she was keeping everyone waiting already. Not to mention, the stagnant tension of waiting was so thick here, it was suffocating, difficult to even breathe much less to talk.

And it was still concerning that she couldn’t feel any reiatsu (from anyone, really), which made it all the more difficult to guess where everyone was. Ishida-kun was probably waiting in the hallway straight ahead even if she couldn’t feel him… and knowing him, seeing the way he’d acted all day, he was probably hoping to see the limits of her power, himself, before letting her take a chance to heal both him and Lloyd-san.

So.

Left it was.

[ to here. ]

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

There weren't many in the main hall, but there were more than she'd seen the last few times. Taura wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. None of them were collapsing and clutching their stomachs, so it was probably not too late to do something. She'd watch here for a while, and then move on.

[Goku and/or Rita?]

[avengingfists]

[from here]

Ilia strode into the Main Hallway with a look of great determination on her face, much like she had the night before. Then, it had been Rose's condition that turned her grim. Tonight, it was Anise and Claude both. Those poor kids....

No, I'm not going to worry about it! she berated herself sharply. She located her traveling companion quickly enough and hurried to his side, forcing a smile.

"Sorry I'm late. Ready to get started, then?" Ilia asked, glancing at the bad Seishin held. It contained their 'gift' from Charon. He said it would make things easier on them. She was curious what exactly that might entail. Hopefully their wasn't a price to pay along with it.

[unpriest]

Seishin was relieved to eventually notice Silvestri-san approach. "Please don't worry about it," he answered to her apology, and despite the fact that he did not particularly look forward to whatever awaited them in the caverns, he forced a small smile on his lips.

However, there was something else that he wished to discuss before investigating Charon-san's gift, as they might not have the opportunity later.

"My apologies, but please hold on a moment," he said, and he would have held up a hand had they not been full with all the items he carried with him tonight. "Despite Charon-san's... gift, I'm sure we'll still have to pay the toll to safely cross the lake. It would probably be best if I did, but I... will not be able to voice as much."

[dispersive]

[From here]

With how few people stood in the main hallway tonight, those he knew were easy to pick out. Anise, apparently, was the only one besides him to have made it this far and he hoped the others wouldn't be too far behind him. Time had not been on their side these last few nights and it looked like it wouldn't be for any days following. What a damn pain!

When he got closer, the replica called to her, waving his fontech torch above his head. It was hard to say if she looked any better, but at least she wasn't passed out on the floor, so that was a definite a point advantage for them. Still, despite his worry, Luke kept a smile on his face all the same. It was probably as transparent as the rest of him always was, but he was trying!

"How, uhm, how're you feeling?" Of course, it wasn't until after he had already asked that the redhead realized he probably shouldn't have. There was no point in reminding her of what they all already knew and feared.

[avengingfists]

Ilia nodded, willing to listen to anything her teammate had to say on the matter. Because... that's what they were. Teammates. The closest thing to a partner she had here. She missed Rose. She missed Captain. She missed Roddick. She missed having a full team that she could rely on, but for now Seishin would do. And she was going to appreciate him for however long she had him.

What he said made sense. Charon was probably going to be a constant obstacle for them. They couldn't rule out all difficulties just because they had something to make things "easier."

"Yeah, you kind of have me to blame for that," Ilia sighed, wincing. She had definitely played a big hand in that fiasco. But... oh well. Not much they could do about the past. "I'll see what I can do about getting him to agree to going with you taking today's penalty. Just keep pretending to be shy or something."

[unpriest]

Seishin nodded. "I'll try playing the part for as long as I can," he said, attempting to hide the wave of embarrassment he felt. "As for my penalty, I wouldn't mind giving up my sense of touch for tonight."

Smell had only been a one-time freebie, and his voice was out of the question considering the circumstances. The other remaining options were his hearing and his sight, of which neither seemed practical to lose. Touch it was, then.

Opening the cloth bag Charon-san had given them, the former priest found its contents to be a pair... of bone bracelets? He blinked at them as he pulled the items from the bag.

"He has given us... jewelry," Seishin commented quietly, trying not to think about the fact that the skeleton man who had given them these bracelets was the same skeleton man who had flirted with them. Nonetheless, he looked a bit disgruntled as he held one of the bracelets out to Silvestri-san.

He had to remind himself that the jewelry probably served another purpose. Or at least, so he hoped...

[gald_digger]

Luke was the first to arrive. Anise matched his smile as best she could - she didn't want to look too miserable.

"I'm okay right now," she said in response to his question. While she still felt awful, it seemed to be about the same level of awfulness she'd been feeling since that morning. That meant she wasn't getting worse... right? She sure hoped so.

An idle hand reached for Tokunaga's paw, which hung over her shoulder, and grasped it nervously. "I wonder what we should do tonight..." It sounded like the others weren't sold on the surgery idea, and while Anise wasn't too keen on it either, she was getting more and more anxious as the days passed. Was this really the time to be worrying about taking risks?

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

There were people here, again, but then that wasn't all that surprising, and the sight came with new understanding. Everyone had somewhere to be, she knew this now. Flora looked around, trying to ignore the doctor's words, but it was difficult. Impossible, actually. There wasn't any suspicion to be found in her appraisal, just concern. She hoped everyone here would be alright, that nobody would be forced to face one another. That no one would die.

Instinctively, she took a step, but none further after that. It was very difficult--she wanted to just to follow a group, any group to make sure they would be okay, even if she couldn't do much, but that was it: she couldn't do much, and what was available to her was best used elsewhere. She hated it, but it would be for the better in the end, at least she hoped so.

Feeling her steps heavier for it, she went upstairs. Alone.

_{[To here]}

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

The first floor, she made it. Flora wanted to sigh. This was a small relief, but she couldn't let her guard down just yet.

The hand around her pillow case tightened. Just a little farther, yet.

_{[To here]}

[avengingfists]

"Sounds good. I'll work to convince him, then," Ilia assured him. No matter what Welch said, Ilia knew she could sweet talk any man who was receptive, and Charon was certainly open to a little flirting.

Ilia didn't hold the same notions that jewelry automatically indicated femininity but whatever kinds of bones they were made of did give her pause. Where had he gotten these things? "Well, maybe they're like the transportation rings. Have you heard of those, Seishin?"

Ilia knew her roommate had one to help her get back to the safety of the bedroom should her late night adventures go awry. They were rare commodities, though. It was possible Seishin didn't have a clue about them. Taking hers in hand, Ilia held it poised to slip on her wrist. "Ready?"

[unpriest]

...Transportation rings? Seishin shook his head. "No, I haven't."

Still, they probably did what the name implied. Were the bracelets the same in that sense, then? How would such a thing even work? Were they simply to slip it on and off they went?

Seishin realized that he had stopped being skeptical altogether: a week ago he would have doubted the possibility of jewelry with such abilities, after all. It was interesting how quickly one's perception changed, wasn't it? But he had already fallen down that rabbit hole, and the world had spun from his perception of 'reality' long ago.

He frowned at his own bracelet for a moment, before he hesitantly mimicked Silvestri-san and held it poised to slip on his own wrist. He nodded, although he was unsure what to expect, exactly. "...Yes."

[nobleman]

[From here]

As Guy rounded the corner into the main hall, he spotted Anise and Luke almost immediately. And most importantly, Anise looked like her normal, pigtailed self. "Hey!" Guy smiled in relief as he approached the pair. He could barely believe that both of his sick friends had gone this many days without transforming.

Though that just reinforced the fact that they really couldn't be wasting any more time. Guy was well aware of how shoddy their leads were when it came to the cure, and he didn't like it one bit. He doubted that any of his friends felt any better about the situation, either.

"So," he said after a somewhat awkward pause. "Are we going to look around river tonight to see if we can find any plants that match the ones Claude and I found last night?" It was the only solid plan they'd be able to come up with, and Guy almost hoped that someone else would come forward with a better idea.

[somesoulsearching]

[dramatic, samurai!zombie entry from here]

Amidst the rush of footsteps and the hushed tones of patients moving out for the evening, a faint, yet distinct sound of a wood striking tile echoed out of an adjacent hallway.

Clack, clack, clack, clack.

Steady and slow, the sound repeated with the same rhythm, one clack after another, drawing louder with each successive sound. Footsteps. Ones unlike any that should have been sounding through the Institute's dark corridors. Their steady pace and growing volume spoke as if in warning to the hallway. And as slow as they were to arrive, so too was their owner in coming to a stop when he finally stepped into view of the main hallway, taking two more steps before finally halting.

There would have been no mistaking his form as it was, by some measure, human. However the absence of certain features detracted from that assumption. Black holes where eyes once had been stared darkly around the expanse of the hallway as the figure's head, dried and bandaged, turned slowly.

There was something he wanted.

A light broke the darkness just to the side of him. There. That was what he wanted. A dried out hand slowly drew up to grasp the hilt of a sword, and suddenly whatever patience the mummy had had was lost. The blade flew and so did the owner, his attack aiming at the one bearing the light.

[earthling]

Really, it wasn't so surprising that Guy and Lloyd had met. Although he was glad to hear about it, Claude didn't get a chance to say as much. Once they stepped into the main hall, their attention was drawn toward the pair waiting for them.

Claude let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Thank goodness Anise was still okay! Well, as okay as either of them could be right then, anyway.

When Guy phrased their potential plan that way, he had to admit their idea sounded pretty shoddy. As far as he knew, the leaves he found weren't even that special. "Do we have any other leads?" he asked with a frown. He hoped Luke or Anise had something new.

[dispersive]

"Uhh..." With his mouth hanging open, the redhead looked to Anise for a comment because Luke sure didn't have one. He had read a little about this river some of the patients had been writing about on the bulletin board, stating that it might have some connection to a painting or something that was hanging up in the X-Ray room.

Honestly, it sounded like it was worth a look if only because there would be others searching there and that could turn into a better brainstorming venture. It was their only lead anyway. If nothing came out of it, well... Luke didn't want to think about it. It made his palms sweat.

"I think it's our only one, but it's worth a shot! Maybe we'll learn more from another patient there. I mean, it sounded like other people were going to go..." They had followed some pretty bizarre leads in the past, why stop now?

HOGAWD I AM HERE

[monkeyboy]

[From here]

"Taura!" Goku shouted from behind her, waddling as quickly as he could on two stumpy legs. Despite the rash that covered him, the strange cramps, and the generally dizziness, the young boy was not letting that stop him at a chance to leave a trail of destruction in his wake. Nothing ever really hung out by the glass house except nosy white witches, but he was betting that changed during the night like everything else. It was enough to hold attention at least.