The skies were still clear as the sun steadily approached the horizon. Like clockwork, the intercom jingle sounded at the same time it always did.

"I don't know about you, but I always sleep better with a belly full of warm food," he said with a chuckle. "And I'm sure you can all rest easy now that you know we're doing everything we can to prevent the latest bug from spreading further. The illness is nothing serious, of course, but you know that old saying -- 'A healthy patient is a happy patient, and a happy patient is a happy hospital', hmm?

"Well, okay, I just made that one up, but my point still stands! We'll now be preparing for lights out. Sleep tight, everyone."

The message ended on a warm note, but anyone who had spent more than a day in this place knew that such reassurances were horribly misleading.

As soon as night settled over the Institute, static swelled over the speakers until the Head Doctor's chuckling filtered into each and every room.

"I suppose some of you expect me to shake my fist and give some kind of speech over how irate I am with you for throwing a wrench in my plans," he said. "But, then, I suppose most of you really don't know me as well as you think you do. Perhaps we should all take a moment to be grateful that you haven't all turned into wretched beasts. It certainly could have happened without my even raising a finger, but you're just full of surprises. At least it makes my job...interesting."

The static grew louder, and an automated voice could be faintly heard over the garbled noise. But then the Head Doctor's voice drowned out any feedback with one last laugh.

"Enjoy your evening," he sighed, "and do try not to get lost."

With that, the intercom abruptly cut off, and the patients' doors simultaneously unlocked.

((If you haven't already, read tonight's event information here. Thanks!))

Well, that... Wasn't creepy at all. Really. Mikado looked up at the intercom suspiciously, but it was more from a concern about sanity rather than safety. It didn't change anything, however. If there was some kind of infection going around, enough so that they would immunize (or fake immunize) people for it, it'd be something to gain information on. At least, that's what Mikado thought. The medical wing was on the other side of the building, by the stairs, and he thought to go there.

Never mind that Mikado had no ability at all to understand things like medical charts or that sort of thing. He was hoping mainly that there would be some kind of easily read notes there... But since when did doctors have easily read notes, or easily read anything... Ugh, there wasn't really any point to going there, was there?

He had no other ideas at the time being, though, so he finished dressing into his own clothes, and shouldered his bag across his chest. At least he'd have a direction to go.

[to here]

[from here]

For once it seemed like barely any people were out. Was he really that early, or was there some other reason things seemed quiet? It wasn't a good idea to think in the dark with a large blind spot, and Mikado regripped his flashlight nervously.

Maybe he should have contacted Izaya again tonight. But he didn't want to bother the man more than necessary. Despite the circumstances, Mikado was probably just someone Izaya was assisting, not someone to be considered a friend.

...Did Izaya have friends back home? It made Mikado think for a moment. How weird. No one was readily coming to mind.

[to here]

[from here --and waiting for Ryusei!]

There still wasn't a lot of people in the halls, and it was starting to make him nervous. Maybe he should try to find someone to hang out with tonight. Snow and Celty had insisted on how Mikado shouldn't be alone at night--it wouldn't hurt to take their advice. But it would be strange to just go up to someone and ask to walk around with them.

...Wouldn't it?

He made a face, and paused in the hall, looking around. He was more aware of the bandages covering his eye in the dim, and even wearing his own clothes didn't negate that uncomfortability. He was suddenly starting to think he should have just stayed inside.

(In room M73)

Loki waited until his roommate had departed before completing his preparations for the night. He pulled out the rest of the surgical supplies he had left over and carefully removed all of the gloves, wraps, masks, anything that could act as a barrier to blood. Considering potential splashes and sprays carefully, he put on the gloves and other protective gear over his hospital uniform. Then over that, he carefully layered the sheets from his bed and then the winter gear to obscure himself entirely and bulk out his shape.

Last he used surgical tape to secure five scalpels, one to each of the fingers of his left hand. It made a crude set of claws, but such a thing was necessary for effect. He pulled a regular glove on over that, then pocketed the two little throwing knives.

It would do. He'd be primarily using illusions anyway, but this would confuse the issue further if he was unlucky enough to be sighted.

Loki slipped out of his room and hurried, using the dark as a shield, toward the other M-Block.

[To here]

[From here]

Loki slipped out the door into the larger hall. Here, he was cautious enough to burn one illusion to make himself invisible. The distance he needed to cover was small enough that he'd only need to use one in this fashion.

Hopefully he'd be able to find his target quickly enough in the other M-block. The annoying part was that he still didn't know what room was Scar's so he'd have to lie in wait potentially, but he was fairly certain the man was in M-A; Loki had never seen him departing from M-B.

Loki didn't think of himself as sadistic, and didn't take particular pleasure in killing.

Most of the time.

This, he was looking forward to, as a service to at least temporarily make the institute less stupid.

[To here]

[From here.]

The pain was growing stronger.

Why?

On top of that, why was his stomach suddenly rumbling? True, he hadn't eaten his dinner, but usually he was too focused on survival during the night to notice if or when his body was requesting more energy...

At least there didn't seem to be anyone else out of their rooms yet. Zero was making a habit of being early, which was good in this case, if something unfortunate was really about to happen to him. It wasn't so much himself that he was concerned with here... It was the other prisoners. His allies. His friends. If he transformed, then obviously they were in grave danger. He was not about to let that happen a second time.

[To here.]

Castiel had actually managed to keep down the juice he'd drank and the small amount of turkey that he'd eaten, at least so far. Kobayashi had confirmed what Kratos had told him about the healing flower. Seeing how he wouldn't be capable of doing anything more strenuous, a search of the greenhouse seemed like a decent enough way to spend his night.

St. John's Wort. Of course he knew the flower, as well as the man it was named after. Not that they'd ever met, but he'd certainly observed him, back in those days.

When Kobayashi left, Castiel slowly eased himself up from his chair and leveled a stare at the crutches leaning against his desk. The question was, how was he supposed to do this? He'd watched plenty of injured humans use these things, but doing it himself was another story.

The basic concept behind it was simple enough. He had to finagle with the settings on them until he got them to a proper height for his arms, and then he went about the awkward practice of doing a few test runs as he tried to find his balance with the artificial limbs.

The act of moving around on them put a lot of strain on his arms, but so long as he didn't clench his abdominal muscles, it looked like he would be capable of getting around. Not quickly, though, and for someone who was used to teleporting, it had been bad enough being forced to walk everywhere. This was a step lower than that, and it was nothing short of maddening.

Moving at a slow pace was better than spending another night passed out in that bed, though, and so once Castiel was ready (with his flashlight and radio shoved into his trenchcoat pockets), he hobbled his way on crutches down the hallway.

[To here.]

Ryusei had just about dozed off when the intercom went off, and the haphazard way he'd flung himself onto the bed came back to bite him when he fell off of it, and as he flung his arm out for balance, he grabbed the pillow and only succeeded in bringing the pillow to the floor with him. That'll teach him, he thought as he got up. More importantly, what was this flashlight doing here? Nightlight? He could have bludgeoned her with it. Not...that he would.

Probably just one of those things she'd never bothered to explain. He put the pillow back and lay down again.

No, it was beginning to bother him again. Whoever did the announcements here was a total weirdo. And he didn't seem to be getting anymore sleep anytime soon, so he got up and poked around all the drawers on his side of the room again. Eventually he made his way to the door, and found it unlocked.

... This was surprisingly coincidental with his flashlight discovery just a few minutes ago. And with what the weirdo had said. Still, he had to weigh the risks. He'd get in trouble if someone caught him out there. On the other hand, he wouldn't get caught if he was careful enough. He picked up the flashlight and slipped out into the hall.

He should stick to what he knew first, so Ryusei started along the route he'd walked the past two mornings.

[to here]

[from here]

Shuffling along the wall would make too much noise, so Ryusei walked normally along this hall. He was worried, but with the exits at the two ends, he'd see someone coming long before they saw him. He could always duck past, but— He'd deal with that if it came up. For now, he had to think about where he would go from here. Routine said the cafeteria, but logic dictated otherwise; there was no point to going there. How about the front door? That— That was an option, wasn't it?

... It...wasn't a good one.

... He'd made it without mishap. Next.

[to here]

[From here]

Loki slipped into the bathroom with the barest movement of the door, listened, and only turned on his flashlight when he was certain it was empty. He contemplated just stuffing the rolled-up bundle behind one of the toilets, but just in case, he couldn't resist a little fun, just in case someone came along to appreciate it. He took the bloody gloves and coat and artfully draped them over one of the toilets, as if someone had been wearing them while sitting and then simply... dissolved.

After checking that his boots were cleaned of blood (or at least well disguised) by wiping them down with the sheet and a bit of mucky water, he re-rolled the much smaller bundle up tightly and and sank it into one of the other toilets, the one farthest from the door.

If anyone wanted to go fishing for that, they deserved what they got.

He washed his hands with a grimace of distaste in the "water" that came from one of the sinks, then gave it up and used a few alcohol wipes he'd kept from the gear acquired in the medical wing. He would need to pay that area another visit tonight, it seemed.

Loki slipped out of the bathroom again, making himself invisible until he reached a more populated area.

[To here]

"Helloooo~? Is anyone here?" Fai held a gloved hand up to his mouth as he bellowed, peeking his head out the bedroom door and glancing down the rather stark hallway. Having woken up in an unusual bedroom was really not that strange to him, but waking up without his normal traveling companions did strike him as a little odd.

"Kuro-rin? Syaoran?" Even Mokona seemed to be missing and usually the small white creature was not far from his side. For a moment, Fai wondered if perhaps something had happened as they were transferring worlds. It wouldn't be the first time their group had gotten split up. It would be the first time he was left on his own when it happened though.

Taking a step into the hallway he placed his hands on his hips as he let his one golden eye wander and take in the scenery. They certainly had found themselves in a bizarre world this time. He wondered just what it was going to take to locate the others. If nothing else he could usually sense Kurogane, many thanks to the bond of blood that they now shared. However, even the familiar presence of the ninja seemed to be lacking. There was a hint of worry that pinged deep inside of him but he tried not to get too worked up yet. "It's not nice to start playing hide and seek without telling me first!"

Deciding it was time to continue his search, he started down the hallway, placing his hands behind his head as he strolled in a rather relaxed manner, despite the uncertainty that was boiling inside of him.. He could sense something about this place that was a bit off but it was going to take a little time to figure out exactly what it was. He didn't sense any magic, or at least none that he had ever felt before. "It's not like Kuro-tan to play games. This isn't quite the Clow Country that I had envisioned either. I wonder if something went wrong while we were traveling. Nothing felt different.."

Now Fai was starting to worry a bit. Not letting it show quite yet though, he placed that energetic smile on his face that was his norm and called out once again, "Excuse me~? I appear to be lost? Is anyone around? I could use some help! It would be greatly appreciated!" Fai wasn't sure if he was really yelling to anyone at all, but he figured if he kept hunting he would run into someone eventually. And if he kept talking, someone might hear him and come to him. He knew that it wasn't time to get worried yet. He just had to keep on walking and eventually something was bound to happen! Of course..he wasn't sure if it would be something good or bad..but he tried not to dwell on the specifics too much.


[OOC: Free. Goes to here]

Third-rate. He was working for a third-rate madman, and at this point, Albedo didn't even care. There were things to do, beings to kill, and a cure to rationalize within his mind. And at the moment-- At the exact moment-- Albedo could do none of those. There was a very real need to reach out and touch his brother, to again refortify his reason for movement. For motive. For desire.

So his mind emptied of thoughts, even the ones he needed to accomplish. Mechanically, he took his weapons and equipment, and placed them on his person. There was a stark and quick urge to stab another in the gut, perhaps one with long blond hair, but it passed, seething, beneath the surface.

He opened the door and left.

[to here]