Night 73: Suite 1 (Third Floor)

[redcladidealist]

[From here.]

Maybe during the day the room Lloyd stepped into would have felt homey, maybe even luxurious as far as apartment rooms went. There was a nice, wide bed, a desk with a chair, a boxy item sitting on top that Lloyd vaguely recognized as a computer, though its screen was completely dark. There was a small kitchen alcove and a bathroom adjoining the room, the sinks in both dark with grime. Lloyd grimaced at the thought of trying to get drinkable water from either faucet. He didn't even want to think about the tub, too far recessed into the alcove for him to see. Something about the whole place felt eerie, disturbing. Fortunately, that wasn't what he was here for.

"There's the next warp pad," he said, striding across the room with purpose. His nerves only twitched a few times now from the memory of electrocution. Shining his flashlight as he walked, just in case there were monsters lurking, he almost didn't notice the small case sitting on top of a nightstand in the corner of the room. He blinked, the red cross on the box seeming familiar somehow. Where had he seen something like that? "Hey..." His footsteps slowed, the memory nagging. "What's that over there?"

Comments

[his_legacy]

[From here]

This room wouldn't have caused Link to frown if it hadn't seemed completely out of place in Landel's little dungeon. It was a bedroom, though far more homey than anything the patients slept in.

Probably not lavish enough for the egomaniac himself, though.

That left the question of its purpose, though at least they seemed to be alone.

[lighthearted]

Sora hardly could have expected what they found next. He'd only gotten a glimpse into some of the other rooms, but stepping into this one, he could tell that it was a place where someone was supposed to live. There was a bed, a kitchen, and even a bathroom further in.

He used his flashlight to inspect every nook and cranny, and found that the bathroom in particular was in terrible condition. It was full of blackened water -- or at least, that was what it looked like in this lighting.

Maybe it would have made more sense to keep moving. Sora didn't have a good feeling about any of this.

"... I wonder who lived here. Or lives here." There was no one asleep in the bed. Was it one of the doctors who did those terrible experiments? Sora's blood ran cold at the thought.

[knightspirit]

"Live-in staff?" Kyousuke guessed. "Hospitals usually have places for the staff to sleep, but..." He'd never heard of whole apartments, nor would he exactly call this a hospital, no matter what their attempts to claim otherwise. ... Hospitals were there help people, not torture them. He clenched his jaw, making his his way further in.

While Sora played with the faucet water, Kyousuke made his way over to the computer. ... Maybe they could find some kind of incriminating files on it. Unfortunately, however, the ancient machine wouldn't even turn on, making the idea short-lived. "No good, huh..." the boy said to himself. "We should probably get moving."

[damned_monsters]

The problem with good advice was that it was usually heeded too little, too late. The only sound from the bathroom was the regular drip-drop of the bath faucet, forming soft rings across the stagnant black water filled to the rim. The wary travelers could never have predicted it was nothing so harmless as a leaky faucet. It was a summoning, a call to feed for the bottom dweller that slept within the fathomless depths of the bathtub.

Silent, a bloated hand slid up the side of the porcelain tub, gripping tightly as it hauled the rest of its sodden body from the black water. Ratty black hair--More akin to frayed rope than hair, really--slipped from the water, clinging to a nauseatingly blue face with sunken holes for eyes. They dripped black muck down her face like bloody tears. It wasn't until her mouth finally surfaced did a heavy, watery cough finally break the silence. She expelled the water from her lungs onto the floor before a rattling breath took its place.

Like a limp rag doll, she flopped across the side of the tub, the only thing compelling her was an insatiable hunger that had not been quenched in so long.

[his_legacy]

Link's ears twitched, picking up the dripping bath faucet. Then the nauseating cough...

He whipped the bow from around his shoulders and took aim in the direction of the sound, eyes wide and brow furrowed. What he wouldn't give for a beast's senses at the moment-

"Shine the lights over there," he hissed into the darkness. How convenient, that they had only just stumbled upon a weapon so useful. Battered, yes, but better than charging in blindly with a sword.

[lighthearted]

Sora was on his way out of the bathroom to join the others by the teleportation pad, but that was when he heard the sound of dripping water and then the splashing of someone rising up out of the bathtub.

The bathtub, which had been full of dirty water.

Sora spun around right as Link spoke up, grabbing for his flashlight and aiming it at the tub, to see a bloated body covered in black hair. He gasped, remembering the bodies down in the lake under the institute, the way they had grasped for them like they wanted to suck the life out of them.

It wasn't like it should have been a surprise for a monster to appear out of nowhere like this, but while it wasn't the same as the ghost made of hair that Sora had run into before, it was too close for him to want to stick around for very long.

"We should just go," he said under his breath. "We can't afford to waste time on a fight right now."

[knightspirit]

Kyousuke was already turning sharply towards the sound of the cough before being asked. "Who's there!?" he cut in. But what he found was more of a what than a who, and for all of his usual coolness, it was hard to restrain his surprise at seeing what he could only describe as a living corpse. A ghost of some kind...?

It didn't matter, though. Sora was right. They should leave before they found out. Kyousuke had no problems with fighting if he had to, but they had nothing to gain by doing so here. He made his way over to the next teleport pad quickly, but he kept his back tuned towards it for now, instead continuing to focus on that ... thing pulling itself from the murky waters of the bathtub. Only when he sensed Sora and Link beginning to step onto the pad did Kyousuke tear his eyes away from the creature, following them to wherever their next destination was.

[ to here ]

[forsworn]

Thankfully, it hadn't taken too long for Lloyd to find the next portal, and Kratos had swiftly abandoned the next door he'd been considering to join his son in the room. It looked like some kind of living complex - in fact, it vaguely reminded him of his quarters in Derris-Kharlan. He wandered over to briefly examine the computer, only to have his attention pulled away by Lloyd once again.

"Hm?" Kratos frowned as he approached the box sitting on the nightstand. He was tempted to tell Lloyd to ignore it in case it turned out to be a trap of sorts, but something told him that this box was worth investigating. With the edge of his flashlight, he knocked the lid off and then quickly shone the light into its contents, checking for anything suspicious.

"What have we here..." He picked through the various items stashed in the box: pills, bandages, a full canteen of what was presumably water, a blanket, compass, lantern...rather than suspicious, the box was apparently a minor windfall. "Unusual things to keep by your bedside," Kratos noted wryly. He moved out of the way to let the other two take a look.

[freewill]

They hadn't checked each and every door, which meant there might be another path open to them that they were missing, but that was something they could consider the next time around. For now, Castiel followed the others into the room. This was definitely someone's living quarters, provided it was still used. The room was run down, but that could be a result of the strange effect nighttime seemed to have here.

Castiel was ready to approach the warp pad, but when Lloyd drew their attention to a box sitting on the bedside table, he rerouted to take a look for himself.

Between the symbol on top and the supplies held within, Castiel was able to identify it. Not that he'd ever had need for such things, but he still recognized it. "A first aid kit," he said, though that should be obvious enough to the others. "We might want to bring it with us." It could be that they were going to need it soon enough. Was this a kind of warning?

[redcladidealist]

A first aid kit? Lloyd stepped over and leaned close enough to take a look inside, then hesitated, staring at the contents indecisively. They definitely looked useful, especially if they ran into trouble, but...

"Unless one person wants to carry it, we'll need to split it up." The box was too big to fit in someone's pocket, but carrying it by hand meant that one of them would have one less free hand to try doors, hold flashlights, or defend themselves with. "I already have bandages and pills for pain, so someone else could take that. I bet I could hook that lantern on my tool belt, though." It wasn't all that big. It shouldn't get in his way. He picked it up, then poked through the contents of the kit some more. Antiseptic, alcohol wipes, something with a weird sounding name (imodium?), a strange stick he didn't recognize... He picked up the antiseptic, then stepped back. The rest either didn't seem like something he'd need, or he figured someone else could use it. The compass was tempting if they ever made it outside, but he felt confident he could navigate well enough without it. There were definitely advantages to growing up out in the woods with Dirk. He knew how to orient himself. He had no idea if Kratos and Castiel could do the same, though, so he'd leave the compass for one of them.

Slipping the antiseptic into one of the pockets of his tool belt, Lloyd headed over to the warp pad, fiddling with the lantern while he waited. It didn't seem to have a wick or any oil, but there was a crank on the side that he could turn. After a few seconds, he started in surprise as the lamp lit up. "Whoa! Hey, that's pretty cool!"

[forsworn]

Kratos, for his part, picked up the rest of the medical supplies. Lloyd didn't seem interested in any of it beyond the antiseptic, and he wasn't sure if Castiel was familiar with first aid at all (If he didn't know about batteries...), so it made sense for him to take them. After all, thanks to his long-ago tenure in the erstwhile patient clinic, he'd learned a bit about the medicine in this world - enough, at least, to navigate through some of the more generic items.

He flinched as Lloyd suddenly lit the lantern they'd found, but quickly recovered enough to sigh in partial exasperation. He didn't know why he'd been so surprised; after all, Lloyd's penchant for playing with the various gadgets that entered his possession was almost legendary. "That isn't a toy."

[freewill]

Castiel didn't mind waiting for the others to take the items they wanted from the kit. He would have taken some of the medical supplies if they'd been offered, but he didn't particularly mind when he already had some stored in his room.

He was left with the compass, which he gladly took and tucked into a pocket, and a small clear stick that he didn't know the purpose of. He picked it up and turned it around in his hand a few times, but there weren't any instructions printed on it either. "Hmm." Chances were it served some use, and so he also pocketed it.

Lloyd seemed to be entertained by the lantern, possibly because technology didn't work that way where he was from. Castiel raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, leaving Lloyd's father to handle the situation in a very parental way.

It looked like they were all ready to go, and so with a nod Castiel stepped first onto the pad.

[To here.]

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

Lana's flashlight hit a chair, first, and then a bed. The beam, that was, not the flashlight, a voice in her head pointed out, sounding far too much like one of her more tedious law professors. She'd walked into a small, well-appointed suite. It would give the luxury rooms of the Gatewater a run for their money in style, if not in floor space. There was a computer on the desk, but it was dark, and the chair had been pulled back from it, suggesting either someone was actually living here, despite the lack of personal effects, or she wasn't the first to consider trying to boot it up this evening.

More importantly, there was a familiar daïs in the center of the room. "In here," she called out. "There's another transport device." She'd give it a moment -- it was, after all, quite possible that Ryuuzaki had found one as well, and she didn't feel any particular need to argue over which one they took.

[ryuuzaki]

L had only had to duck his head into the room across the hall to confirm that it wasn't part of the transport system. When Lana called out to him, he followed her almost immediately.

"Nothing across the hall. This is it, or it'll have to be good enough." He could hear his own grimness.

He wasn't as exasperated as he had been the night that they'd slogged out to the river in the rain, but it was frustrating to have to use the nauseating, disorienting pads one after another when walking would have worked at least as well.

Landel liked to make the patients jump through hoops, L knew: liked to complicate things that could be accomplished very simply and then call it training, but what it was training for had never been completely clear, not even when the military aspect had been revealed. They could never be allowed to pass through the halls without some kind of resistance.

It hadn't yet been physical resistance on the third floor, not if you discounted the snake, but it seemed very likely that they were being forced to take thirty metaphorical steps where ten would have sufficed. This hall wasn't near the Sun Room, but it might be over either the east or west side of the building. It was so completely internal, closed in on itself, that it was hard to guess without being able to use the rest of the building for orientation.

The room itself was a kind that was familiar to him, like a small hotel suite--a little too small for his tastes, but just as impersonal. This one would have been attractive if it hadn't been run down. Was this where Aguilar had stayed during his visit, or would it have been somewhere nicer than this? Was there such a place on the grounds?

It really didn't matter. There was little chance that the computer in this room was part of the system that they apparently needed to sabotage. Pressing forward would be the best thing to do, so he joined Lana in the center of the room, and they stepped onto the pad together.

[To here.]