damned_institute | Day 73: Library (2nd shift)

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Day 73: Library (2nd shift)

Don't let them snoop? If Lloyd didn't already know the secret the library held, that would have practically been asking him to poke around as much as his nurse would let him. But since he did know about the trick to the secret door, he settled instead for searching for Kratos or Castiel. If he didn't find one of them this shift, he'd have to think about putting up a note on the bulletin, but considering what he wanted to talk to them about, it would probably be better if he kept it off the board and spoke to them in person.

"Here, why don't you settle down with a nice book, Nigel?" his nurse encouraged him as she guided him toward a chair. "Poor dear. I noticed you didn't eat anything for breakfast. Maybe you just need to get your mind off of whatever's tying your stomach in knots."

Lloyd made a face at that comment, unable to hold himself in check. "Maybe if the doctors gave me my Key Crest back it wouldn't be a problem."

His nurse sighed, shaking her head. "I thought you were making more progress than that, Nigel. Here," she said, handing him a book. "I'm sure a good book will help."

Lloyd grumbled, but accepted the book anyway, albeit reluctantly. He should have known better than to expect anything from his nurse. Rather than cracking the book open, though, Lloyd set it in his lap and watched the room. Surely one of his companions would come in soon...

[For Castiel.]

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The night before had taken a bigger toll on Sechs than he would have liked to admit to himself, a fact that was later proven once he realized he had slept in through breakfast. Despite the healing he received from Athena, Sechs' hand remained stiff and bruised from being struck by that brainwashed patient's sword. It was better than losing his whole hand or having it bound by some restrictive wrist brace again. Still, Sechs' mood was burdened by exhausting ache and hunger. It didn't help that the nurse who escorted him from his room wouldn't let him get any leftovers from the cafeteria. Instead, he was left to brood to himself in the library.

Uninterested in reading, Sechs took over a couch and grumpily lazed about on it, resting his chin in his uninjured hand as he pondered over last night's events. He knew he and Aigis were one step closer to finding something real important in the basement. Yet the dangers they encountered the night before bothered him. He and Aigis were capable fighters in their own right, but what if Landel had something bigger in store for them...?

Meanwhile, something about the library was nibbling away at Sechs' concentration. It was getting hard to focus on the future when the spot he sat at was reminding him of the past. The last time he was in the library was when he and --

No, don't think about it...

Sechs shook his head. The recollection of his lost friend brought a twinge of pain into his chest. It was too hard to think about. Sighing, Sechs steered his mind away from the past and back to planning for the night ahead. He to focus on the present to help bring Landel down for everyone's sakes, even for those who are no longer around...

[For Taura!]

The library? All of them? Taura sprang out of bed, and blew straight past the nurse without a backwards glance.

Did Landel want them to figure things out? Plans upon plans upon plans, and none of them made sense. Unless it was just all sadistic glee in watching them scurry. Taura was scowling as she jogged to the door of the library, and through it, all the way until she planted herself in front of the first person she recognized.

"Do you know what he's up to? Landel, I mean." She realized she was looming, and sat down next to Sechs. "Every time I think I figure something out, he starts his games again." And I hate games, she added to herself, though it probably was obvious.

The sudden appearance of a very tall patient sent Sechs' chin slipping off his hand and onto the armrest of his couch with a dull thud.

"Wuh--?" Blinking, Sechs recovered from the abrupt derailment of his thought train and looked up to find a familiar face. "Oh, hey Taura."

Rubbing his chin (which was a bit sore now after hitting the armrest like that), Sechs pushed himself upright on the couch and turned to face the towering woman. She seemed pretty agitated while her energy caught on Sechs like a contagion, waking him out of his gloomy mood.

"Other than him playing up to his role as the Head Asshole?" Sechs replied with a scowl. "I wish I knew, like why he keeps so much weird stuff beneath the institute..." He curiously tilted his head at Taura. "What? Did you find something new?"

Beneath? Oh, Taura knew that anger. Weird things, and horrific things, and weird-and-horrific things. "We found the third floor."

Actually,Rita had found it, and she'd found it a few days ago, but they'd finally gotten a good look around. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "The secret door is in here," she said, and glanced around. None of the nurses seemed to be paying attention, so she pointed at a shelf. "There's a lever attached to a book of poetry."

Then she scowled, matching Sech's expression almost exactly. "Why would he send all of us in here if he didn't want us talking about it, though? He knows we've been exploring." If they did what he wanted, they were back at square one. But the alternative was giving up and doing nothing -- and that wasn't something Taura could do.

Which he knew, and this was all too many layers of complicated for her to deal with.

"You did, huh?" Sechs' eyes widened, his interest clearly piqued. "I heard people were getting up there, but I haven't been able to talk to anyone who's made it to that floor themselves yet..."

The Replica's eyes only got bigger once he heard what Taura had to say next. He snapped his head towards the aforementioned shelf, unable to believe that such an elusive path to the unknown third floor had been right there in the library all this time... "Y-you kidding me?" Sechs hissed, turning back to Taura. "And Landel knows that we know now...?"

That sure sounded suspicious... Did Landel have some sort of trap for those who dared to pull that lever? "What's it like up there?" he cautiously asked.

Her brow knit as Sechs followed her line of thought. She didn't know for sure, but how could he not know?

She could do him one better -- she pulled out a notebook and began sketching. The floor she drew matched the bottom two in shape, the lines quick and precise. "The stairs lead to here." Which was right above the library, despite the fact it felt like they'd gone through some sort of transport, like when the doors had been disconnected. "It's an exercise room, and the only other room we saw was the computer room."

She labeled the computer room, and then paused. "And on one of those computers, we found a map. If we believe it, this is Doctor Landel's office." She added in the other rooms, staring down at it. "I don't think we can just knock and ask to see him."

It might be worth trying, though.

[The map she's drawing does not include the teleport pads, and the labels are a little less specific than the player maps -- not every hall is numbered, etc., but it is accurate.]

Sechs intently watched Taura sketch out a map of the enigmatic third floor. To him, it was like witnessing a long-known mystery relinquish some of its answers at long last. Excitement flooded his veins as he listened to Taura's descriptions, bearing his teeth slightly at the mentioning of Landel's office. After all these weeks of being trapped in such an intangible world, this small revelation gave Sechs a solid idea on Landel's limits and a hearty boost to his wary sense of hope.

"Mind if I take that copy?" Sechs asked, pointing to the make-shift map. "I can make copies of it and give 'em to some people I know. The more prisoners who learn about this, the more people we can get upstairs to not just knock on Landel's door -- but knock it right down!"

Taura added the last few rooms, and slid it towards him. "I've got a copy right here," she said, tapping the pen against her temple. "That's exactly what I was hoping you'd say."

"It might be a trap, but I'd rather walk into one with my eyes open than sit around doing nothing." Her eyes flashed with the anger that had been simmering all morning. "At least we can go down fighting, yeah?"

Sechs gratefully took the map and folded it up before eagerly stuffing it into his pocket. "Great!" he growled with a grin. "I'll make a bunch more copies later. Everyone's gotta know about this..."

The Replica's eyes met Taura's and he gave her a stern nod. He knew exactly what she meant. "Yeah, this damn place has been screwing around with us for too long... Landel's karma is gonna come back and bite 'em in the ass sooner or later!"

Remembering his mission to find answers in the basement, Sechs felt his vigor to besiege the third floor drain away. He couldn't back out from his current progress underground yet; the last upper level of the institute would have to wait. "I've got some unfinished business to attend to in the basement tonight," he added.

Sechs gave Taura a meaningful gaze, one usually communicated between two fellow fighters. Taura was one of the few remaining warriors Sechs knew, he would hate to lose her before he could ever get the chance to learn from her or challenge her to a duel later. "If you're going up to that third floor later, all I can say is..." He turned his focus back towards the forewarning bookshelf. "Be careful up there and come back alive, alright?"

Taura was thinking it was less about karma and more about a building full of angry prisoners, some of whom were more than capable of biting back. Or, er, attacking, since teeth seemed inadvisable. But Sechs was still talking, and...oh. She returned his look -- she wanted to tell him not to do it, that it was a bad idea, but they'd never actually figured out what they'd earned by letting Landel kill Goku. And whether or not the boy was back for good.

"You, too." Her throat closed up on any other words -- the basement protected itself. "I'll bring you more information, for next time."

Promises like that ran rampant among the troops -- everyone had their superstitions. Taura wasn't an exception; while every day she was alive was a gift she hadn't expected to see, that still didn't mean she wanted to die, or that she wanted anyone else to.

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Day 73: Library (2nd shift)

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