Night 74: Main Hallway, 1-West

[fourstonewalls]

[from here]

The main hall was not, in fact, full of people. There was a light down the hall, though, where a figure was obviously waiting for someone, and not especially patiently. She could do better than what looked to be a teenager, and settled up against a wall to wait.

If Ryuuzaki wasn't along in a few minutes, she'd call him on the radio, but she'd slept all day; she wasn't exactly the model of punctuality herself.

[Ryuuzaki]

Comments

[envy_the_sinners]

[jumping from here]

Scar slipped into the main hallway silently and quickly, trying to ignore the shudder of relief when he once again had his back to a wall. Why was he so damn skittish tonight? Perhaps it was because of all the disappearances lately...

He was starting to wonder if they would all be gone before they could even reach their goal. He wouldn't be surprised at this point.

Tense, perhaps more than usual, Scar crossed his arms to wait.

[Lust]

[a_sin_for_him]

[from here]

The quietness had gotten under Lust's skin by the time she reached the place where she met with Scar, half fearing she'd find it empty as well. She could remember when the halls were alive with throngs of people. Or so it had seemed in comparison to this...

But the edges of her light showed that he was there, as he ought to be, and she let out a small sigh of relief. It sounded far too loud in the darkness and swallowing silence of the institute tonight.

[envy_the_sinners]

"The Elrics are off on their own." Of course that was a standard greeting, don't be absurd. But Scar had his own moment of relief when Lust rounded the corner from the women's halls. Everything was getting emptier and emptier. A fool could have seen it.

"We thought more streamlined groups may be more efficient." He doubted Lust would complain. Much as Scar didn't like the idea of them on their own in here... It could end up being better for the lot of them in the long run. They were a walking train wreck at best when it was all four of them.

[a_sin_for_him]

Lust couldn't argue with the logic. Or the splitting of the groups. She nodded as she joined Scar, standing perhaps a touch close. As though to assure herself he was solid and real, and not some manifestation.

The emptiness was making her nervous.

"Then let's go."

[envy_the_sinners]

Scar nodded and brushed past her. It was true; the halls grew more empty with each passing night. Was Landel pushing some sort of agenda faster now that he was under pressure? What became of those who were gone, then?

Scar wasn't so naive as to assume that it was anything good.

He maintained close to Lust as he started down the hallway toward the Sun Room.

[To here]

[ryuuzaki]

[From here.]

The distance between his newest room and the meeting point was short, just around a few corners. He moved through it with casual, unaffected determination to get to where he wanted to go--except for the long glance he took to his left when he reached each of the right turns in his route. He saw nothing to be worried about.

Nothing indeed: when he reached the main hall, there was Lana, holding up the usual wall. He sighed when he saw her, then his eyebrows twitched down, just for a moment. He hadn't expected that he would be so relieved to see her.

By the time he reached her, his expression had cleared again. "Good, you're here," he said, pleased. Then, more dryly, "Long day?--Don't worry, you didn't miss anything."

It would have been useful to have her circulating in conversations, but it was more important that she was here now.

[fourstonewalls]

Lana didn't roll her eyes when she heard a familiar sigh; it wasn't, really, a commentary on her competency. Staying awake and showing up to things on time was a skill she'd mastered somewhere between college and law school, but it only worked when time behaved.

"Very comforting." She had made it out to the Sun Room for long enough to trade a few messages, but if Ryuuzaki had sent her one, it hadn't been on the board when she'd been there. She wasn't even sure when that had been. "You won't be rid of me that easily."

She pushed herself off the wall and started down the hallway -- there was no question as to where they were headed, nor any reason to wait.

[to here]

[ninelivesonce]

[from here]

The main hallway was clear -- including of anyone she wanted to see, as well as any ambush. She waited awhile, but no one else arrived.

Even if no one was attacking, she wasn't going to get anything done by waiting. She'd never had time to wait.

She pulled out her radio, and sent a message. Two messages. A first, again, to Rita. No answer. "Blasted thing," she muttered. Not the radio's fault that no one was at the other end, but she couldn't curse at Rita or Goku if they weren't here.

[Soushi]

[ever_loyal_dog]

[from here]

It didn't take long to walk the short distance from his room to the larger halls, though it seemed many of the patients had already come and gone. He cursed his luck and the day's bleariness; he didn't have a moment to waste, even as directionless as he was.

He was about to continue on as he caught sight of another patient in the area. Normally, the woman wouldn't have earned a second-glance, but for the way she was fiddling with her radio. Almost as though it wasn't a radio at all. It was far too large to be for sending text messages, but the similarity was enough to spark his interest. He schooled his features, donning calm concern.

"Miss? Are you alright? It's not safe to be alone in this place."

[ninelivesonce]

Taura's head jerked up, looking at the man in front of her. "I'm fine," she said, shaking her head ruefully. "But I'm worried about my friend. She wasn't here last night, either."

She'd slept the entire day -- if they were going go on a fault-finding mission, they were both to blame, but Taura was here now.

She straightened up and tucked her radio into her handbag, making the other contents clank. "I guess I'm on my own, unless you're not waiting for anyone, now?" Her tone turned it into a question -- she didn't want to head upstairs by herself, but she couldn't stand around all night again, and it couldn't hurt to ask.

[ninelivesonce]

Before the man could answer, though, the radio Taura had just tucked away switched itself on.

Marc. She hadn't been looking to make her way out, but as he spoke, she thought about it. It felt like running away, but was that cowardice itself talking? The unknown was scary, after all, even when compared to a torture chamber full of monsters. She'd escaped one already, though, and it was her duty to. Besides, she owed it to all the people she'd made promises to...Armand, TK, Leela, von Karma, Son Goku...herself. And whoever had made it to the coliseum.

Her eyes widened. "Sechs?" she whispered, barely more than a breath. He'd been talking about going down there. Was it him? Or...someone he'd killed? Either way, it drove the last shreds of hesitation from her mind. She muttered an apology to the man she hadn't even gotten the name of, and bolted without looking to see if he'd followed her -- or even reacted.

[to here]

[rebonding]

[Jumping from here]

Korra swallowed as she stepped into the main hallway to see... almost no one. She knew that their numbers were dwindling, but was it really by that much?

Keeping up this bravado of 'we'll win no matter what' only worked for so long. What if they didn't?

[thecamellia]

"Right!" she echoed, as was her customary way. She felt like Black☆Star was with her in the moment, pushing ahead with his brazen disregard for anyone or anything who tried to stop him, and she wished some of that strength would rub off on them now.

He wouldn't have cared about following the rebels' orders or listening to Landel's warnings, he would have just charged straight up to the third floor until he found something that set him on the correct path. Maybe they could do that, too.

"We're almost to the Sun Room," Tsubaki offered on their way past to keep Korra's energy up. They could win.

_{[to here]}