Night 66: F-A Block Hallway

[faeth]

[ from here. ]

Learning process: she knew the monsters were there now, lurking behind every corner, within the shadows her flashlight cast whenever she redirected the beam. Last night had been a blur of confusion and apprehension, and this night was quickly turning out to be the same.

Or perhaps it was even more pronounced in all of its unknowns. A sharp blur of anxiety and fear that crept up on and crippled her more than the supposed limits imposed upon her powers, than her legs that felt like jelly beneath her with every successive step until she worried that they would trip her up as they had done the night before. It took a considerable amount of effort to tell herself that the monsters didn’t frighten her. A Hollow, Dracula, a Godzilla-sized Kon could pop out at her at any moment, but she knew – she was not afraid.

No, the monsters did not frighten her, but her imagination did worse. As Orihime made her way down the corridor, she attempted to instill some confidence in herself, to talk and try to start a conversation in hushed, whispered tones. “Ayame, Shun’o… You two are okay, right?” How apt, she thought, that if this asylum held any credibility to it, then perhaps she really was talking to the voices in her head, to the fairies that lived in her hairpins that allowed her to heal the wounded.

Putting it into perspective like that, she quickly realized she did not like the aforementioned perspective very much.

Learning process: she bypassed the door to the women’s restroom and made it to the door leading out to the bigger hallway she was led down earlier in the day. At the very least, she thought, it was progress.

[ to here. ]

Comments

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

Lana's heels clicked on the tile floors. She slowed her pace, trying to avoid making noise, although that merely changed it to soft squeaks. The flashlight beam was a much simpler give-away, so she sped up again.

Were they all going to change, and the question was merely when? If so, Landel was right -- they would be attacked by their own friends, precisely when they least expected it. They'd gotten used to the threat of brainwashing, inasmuch anyone could, but the uncertainty made this worse. No one had described the process, at least not that she had found. Was it sudden? Did it happen at any particular time? Why hadn't she found a way to ask these things during the day? The staff weren't stopping people from posting fairly detailed report, especially when they'd been distracted by an extremely juvenile display of vocabulary, but she hadn't done more than read the answers.

Why hadn't she been able to find an answer before Prosecutor Faraday had done the one thing she would never have thought him capable of? He'd attacked children. And if he could, so could she. She touched the gun in her pocket. Had he had any time at all to realize what was happening?

She wouldn't make that mistake tomorrow. Presuming, of course, that she didn't have first-hand experience. And if she did, she'd post the answers instead. Or she'd be joining Faraday in the morgue, as penance.

[to here]

[she_is_ruin]

_{[from here]}

The female cell block was dark and quiet when Yomi passed through it, but then that was no great surprise. It was a little early for the fun and games to start. At the moment, they were still in the eye of the storm--the deceptive moment of calm before Landel sprung an ambush, or a prisoner-turned-spectre started rampaging in the halls.

At the door leading out into the rest of the hospital, she slowed a little, head cocked as if listening. What the sesshouseki heard, she wasn't about to say to anyone.

_{[to here]}

[avengingfists]

[from here]

Ilia let her annoyance fill her steps with a determined march. She wasn't going to look back on tonight with any regrets, she decided then. There were things to do, places to be, and monsters to avoid all the while. She wasn't going to let herself become a victim by worrying about others who had more of a control on their situation than she did herself.

Hurrying along, she dodged down the hallway without looking back.

[to here]

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

And here it went, again. Flora flicked flashlight on. It was very dark, despite that. She had a better idea of what lay waiting in it, and if she was honest to herself, she was scared. It was night again, which made her think of yesterday's and what it had brought with it. She couldn't take a creature like that down all by herself, but she wasn't about to stay in and do nothing.

She kept her course, and went down the hall.

_{[To here]}

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

It was very quiet as Flora came back down here a second time, which only seemed to make her breaths and footsteps all the more loud, even as she tried to keep quiet. Something could still get her, so she wouldn't say that it didn't matter at this point, but she was very eager to get back.

_{[To here]}

[fallenbeanpole]

[from here]

Upon entering the smaller block hallway, the first thing the Once-ler did was check the number of the room at the end of the closest hall. F40. That was good. He checked the second hall as well to make sure he was headed in the right direction (F30), then moved directly to the last of the branches. He turned with a sense of satisfaction; he'd gotten this far with no trouble at all, and if the room number system was any indication, then F9 would be the second room down.

[to here]

[oneman_onekill]

[from here]

His heart began to pound as he barreled down the last hallway, things nearly driving him to a dead sprint. Niikura checked the numbers of the nearest rooms as he went by, waiting until he reached the third hall. It was here; he remembered coming here several times before, picking her up like it was some kind of twisted date. This time, it was more like...a really awkward house call, the doctor checking in on his latest patient.

[survives]

[from here.]

The hallway was just about deserted, and just as dark as ever, when Leanne entered it, the beam of her flashlight cutting a swath of light in front of her. Either no one had gone out yet or everyone had been through it already. Either way, she could only make out one other figure in the dark, not anywhere near them.

Shooting a glance over her shoulder, she looked at Tsubaki. "I guess everyone's gone on already..."

[thecamellia]

"Yeah, let's get started!" she said, before they exited into the cell block's larger corridor.

Landel's surprise presents raised more questions than they answered, it was true, but they were doing their part to keep their spirits high, so Tsubaki was content to turn her attention to the mission at hand. So long as Leanne was feeling better--physically and mentally--that was what mattered. For that reason alone, Tsubaki was glad Leanne had a chance to wear something that was familiar to her.

At the other girl's comment, she looked around before giving the exit a searching look. "Probably in a hurry," she answered. There was more reason than usual to get a move on; without a doubt there were prisoners trying to do the exact same thing they were and find some relief for their sick friends...

Cautiously, she made sure she positioned herself ahead of Leanne before they left the cell block. Sora was probably in good hands, but still... just in case...

"I don't sense anything. That's as good a sign as any!" She tried for a confident smile in the dark.

_{[to here]}

[idolism]

_{[from here]}

As they arrived at the female block, Aidou lifted his chin and said, "Well, on the bright side if Aigis went on a rampage and starting attacking other girls in here, I can't detect any evidence of it."

That was a bright side, right? After all, a transformed prisoner couldn't be too picky and would probably attack the first thing they saw... If Aigis had descended into a bestial state at the start of nightshift, surely there would be blood.

Since Aigis had said she'd be in her room, Aidou veered right and took them down the second hall where F21 was located.

_{[to here]}

[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

There weren't too many people out at the moment, which meant they were either early or late. She hoped it was the former, but you just never knew at night.

"Her room's F15," Soma said as she rolled down the hall. "Just around the corner."

[fallenbeanpole]

The Once-ler took several quick steps to walk in stride next to Soma, his flashlight once again in hand and on. No point in risking a surprise, even if they weren't going very far.

"Yeah, I saw on the map. It's convenient, isn't it?"

[to here]

[showmeyourwreath]

_{[From here]}

The hard part was over, mostly. Flora just needed water before she could get started. A part of her had to wonder how hard that could be, but she didn't think on it with any earnest dedication, certain that the institute would gladly answer her with some monster or other.

_{[To here]}

[fallenbeanpole]

[from here]

"It's a seed. The last of its kind." He hesitated. "I found it during dinner, all wrapped up. I don't know who put it there, but I'm really glad they did. I was... worried about it." An understatement by far; the Once-ler had been in a panic when he first thought of it.

If there was any question of where the Once-ler was taking Soma, the answer would be clear enough as he turned left towards the exit, rather than returning her to her room.

[madeinthehrl]

The Once-ler's answer gave her almost as much pause as the direction he took did. So he wasn't going to take her back to her room after all. Whatever she'd said must have worked, although she was still clueless as to why.

Still, it didn't stop her from offering him a brief smile as they rounded the corner.

[to here]

[stylebythemile]

[from here]

They had to store them somewhere, right? That was what she was going to find out. It was possible that they weren't being stored in the Medical Wing, or that there weren't any left. But she had to start somewhere.

As always, she exited the block with caution.

[to here]