damned_institute | Nightshift 28: Main Hallway, 2-Center

Entry tags:

Nightshift 28: Main Hallway, 2-Center

[From Here.]

The hallway seemed to open up to a large area after moving more towards the balcony, and it surprised him to see so much the further he moved. What was behind all of these doors? The ones on his right seemed a little disconcerting in his opinion, and it left him with a feeling that he’d be better off away from them. What was this darkness he sensed?

Walking over towards the railing, there seemed to be a commotion in the room below. Wasn’t that that Sun Room? He thought as he peered through the gaps in the railing and into the room below. “It seems that there are dangers even within these walls.” Pulling away from the railing, the sword glanced over towards Car as he warned. “We’d be best to tread carefully.”

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"So it would seem." Scar replied to unfortunate though obvious news. He, too, had glanced over the railing, observing the commotion in the room below. Rather than the deformed nurses he had escaped from earlier, this enemy appeared to be different (which didn't necessarily have to do with the fact it didn't look so deformed). Though the lion wasn't going to judge something he didn't even know, it was still rather interesting to note.

He briefly glanced in the direction of all the doors, not even having the slightest clue which would lead to what. Where in the world would they need to begin? At the very least, he had been given his landmark.

"We are in strange territory." he said. "Perhaps we should investigate the general layout of this area first before heading for these doors." Taking such matters head on without actually knowing what they were dealing with had never been a good idea. At least not without knowing any escape routes.

[To here]

As they moved down the hallway, Roy glanced to the railed area that was coming up ahead before noticing a large door to his right. He only had a vague memory of coming up here before, most likely because he had been worn out from a transmutation and had been relying on whoever he was with to lead the way. It was relieving to get a clearer picture now.

Moving to the door, he found it lightly locked, which meant that there was no way it could be forced open, but one of his keys might just work. He grabbed for the keyring and tried the two that he hadn't found the right locks for yet, but neither one even fit.

With a sigh, he turned to Mark and shook his head. "We'll be going through a lot of that, I'm afraid," he said gravely.

Keys. Primitive, old-fashioned keys... but they, and the locks Roy was trying them on, seemed to be firm enough. Alchemy seems to be able to create metal in specific shapes, judging from the requests... "Can you make duplicates with spare metal?" he had to ask, quietly. "It might make testing go faster." They didn't have any spare metal on them at the moment, but perhaps for other visits, if they didn't find the matches to these doors... Or if the colonel wanted his groups equally able to access rooms. On the other hand, maybe this small a shape was harder to replicate--or maybe the colonel liked having exclusive access to those keys in his hands.

Over the railing, he could hear the sounds of a fight. Already? Well, the halls they'd traveled had been fairly empty, but that didn't really indicate how many people had successfully entered the building by now. Maybe everyone had tired of the absolute chaos outside and opted for absolute chaos inside instead. Less chance of rain that way.

Making copies was something he had considered before, of course, and even had suggested to him in the past, but he had been forced to make a decision one way or another. "I can, but weapon forgery is really the top priority around here, so I'd rather not use my energy making the duplicates." He wasn't sure if it would even tire him out that much, considering it was a fairly small task, but he knew better than to risk it in a place like Landel's.

It might have made the job go faster, but as far as he could tell, they were all going to be stuck here for a while no matter what actions were taken. It was a pessimistic way of looking at it, but considering how long he'd been stuck already, he could imagine his stay extending for quite a bit longer.

It was time to keep moving, so Roy turned left toward the railed area. He had noticed the sounds of the fight as well, but it was to be expected. The Sun Room was always the prime area for huge fights at night, and the patients who were seen in wheelchairs the next morning were usually the ones who had ventured there.

At the first door to his left, Roy stopped and tried it. It was locked, but loosely, which he had learned meant that it could be broken down and wasn't a door that required a key. "Doors like this can be kicked down," he explained, as he figured Mark could do to learn. "We're looking for only the tightly locked ones to try the keys on."

Weapons were the top priority, over keys that might lead to some answers or route to escape? Surely weapons could be improvised, and keys couldn't. A desire for a monopoly?

But Mark realized he could easily be overestimating the value of those keys. Colonel Mustang valued them enough to spend his evening testing them; nonetheless, what would these doors lead to? The primitive keys were just a part of the odd historical setting, and likely what was behind the doors locked in such a fashion was part of the setting too, more of the 'hospital.' Perhaps useful parts for the game inside, but not keys to get out. Less than weapons for day to day survival. Fine.

He nodded at the explanation of the weaker doors. Without testing the door himself he couldn't be sure that he could kick it down on his own, but he had plenty of mass behind his muscles even if his kicks might land lower than another man's. "All right. Just curious, what have you found behind doors you matched to keys in the past?"

Mark's question was fair enough, and yet Roy found his normal secretive nature kicking in. He realized that information needed to be shared if any progress was going to be made in this place, though.

Before answering, he moved to the next door and tried the knob. When it opened without a fuss, he left it alone and started to move on. It might have seemed odd to not even look inside, but Roy wasn't in search of the places that he could already get into.

"I've only found one match so far, but it's for the front door that leads out onto the grounds." He had gotten a look at what was out there now, after the trip and the chaos that followed, but he obviously hadn't had the time to really look it over, especially with how dark it had been.

Mark glanced at the door but didn't try to enter as Roy went ahead. He had no intentions of wandering off alone in this place. The Colonel might be friendly (for a military man, outright gregarious) but he didn't want to test Roy's patience in saving clueless new patients from problems they got themselves into. Better to keep close and learn what he could. At least he was getting a better idea of the layout of this place.

"I see," Mark answered. Only slightly useful--trying to hike to the 'town' was impractical, at least for Mark it would be, and while the controls for this strange retro horrorland might be outside in the woods his instincts told him that they were on-site. What instincts? You're not Miles... "I hope these keys lead to something more immediately interesting, then." But they probably wouldn't, as Roy doubtlessly realized himself. After all, these were keys the Institute had allowed them to grab.

... From where? Hidden in drawers, maybe? Following up question with question might be a bit too much even for Roy, particularly after the subtle pause. A question to hold onto for later.

"We'll see," Roy responded, though his tone made it clear enough that he wasn't certain they would lead anywhere particularly helpful, either. It was something he had felt the need to check out, however - if he had these keys, and had fought for them, then they had to do some good, even if it wasn't that much.

The next door also opened easily, but Roy was soon distracted by the larger opening to his right.

"So this is where the chapel is," he remarked, moving closer toward the room. He peered inside, and it came off as eerie as he would have expected. Roy had never been fond of religious places because he wasn't fond of religion itself. He had never seen this one before since he had skipped the daytime visit there - come to think of it, wasn't that happening again tomorrow?

"A chapel?" Mark repeated, glancing around Roy at the room. He had never been very religious, but he knew that... Mother had strong faith. "What religion is it?" If this were really a mock-up of 20th century Earth, it should be Christian or Muslim, assuming he remembered his history correctly.

Of course, it could be a non-denominational worship place, as were especially common on space stations and Beta Colony. Somehow he didn't think this place would be quite that considerate towards the patients.

"I don't know," Roy responded with a shake of his head. He didn't know much about religion in the first place, so he couldn't exactly hazard a guess. Seeing how this wasn't Amestris, the religion was probably one that was native to this world, which meant he knew nothing about it.

Then again, the institute didn't usually leave clues about what world they were in, so maybe it was all supposed to be generic.

He spent a few more seconds looking the chapel over before he moved on, but before they could make any more progress, morning came without warning.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nightshift 28: Main Hallway, 2-Center

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject