damned_institute | Nightshift 30: M31-M40 Hallway

Entry tags:

Nightshift 30: M31-M40 Hallway

[M39]

Being dragged away from ZEX mid-conversation was something of a mixed blessing. On the upside, it meant that Zelnick would have at least few minutes to regain emotional balance before spending the whole night with the guy....

Well, perhaps it was more of a mixed curse. Normally Zelnick didn't begrudge allies their oddities, but ZEX had this amazing ability to jump straight from normal conversation to oh-god-awkward innuendo-laden flirting, and Zelnick couldn't do much but hope that he'd keep away from the latter.

In any case, he paid closer attention to where they took him, this time, not just his room number, and he realized he was actually really close to Yuber's room. Wasn't that convenient?

Once he was in his room, he started to get ready for the night; skillet, knife, pestle, all loaded into the apple basket that had wound up in his closet, along with a couple pens and the radio (hadn't Yuber said it spilled hints at night?). This meant he couldn't take all the apples with him, so Zelnick wrapped them in one of the extra shirts and left them in the corner of the closet. All that was left was to get the flashlight, which he found under his pillow like he did last night.

Then the intercom clicked on.

So that was their lord and master, in this place? After spending the first night confused and the first day hearing the voice of the Head Nurse, he found that the guy sounded pretty sane, until he admitted to killing someone. "The man on the radio--" did he mean whoever was on the other side of the little antique, sending out hints? And the method of death sounded... frighteningly personal.

He unloaded the skillet from the basket and held on to it as the doors unlocked, and sat at his desk to wait for ZEX.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Their... host, for lack of a better word, seemed a bit nervous, and Zelnick did his best to look friendly. "I'm Captain Zelnick-- of the New Alliance of Free Stars, if it means anything," he introduced, smiling at both Sai and Usopp. "It's nice to meet you, too." He set the basket on the bed Yuber indicated.

Sai looked a little aggressive, actually, despite his friendly expression. (A ninja? He'd heard the word before, but it wasn't a profession he was familiar with. Piracy, on the other hand... but Usopp seemed more jittery than pirate-y.) Smile turning a bit wary, Zelnick stepped back, closer to Yuber-- he was still holding the skillet, though loosely at his side, and it was a comforting weight for if something went terribly wrong. (He hoped it wouldn't, and Usopp had seemed nice enough on the bulletin, if a little bemused.) "We found some nicely nasty stuff upstairs," he added, in as chipper a voice as he could muster. "Hopefully, we can put it all to good use...?"

More humans! How delightful! And so unique as well... Sai's skin was so light, and Usopp had such an interesting facial protuberance... it reminded ZEX a little of his natural trunk. Was it flexible? Prehensile?

He stared, as usual, and waved a hand strangely near himself, a VUX gesture that never translated as well as he wanted it to. "I am Admiral ZEX, formerly of the VUX military, and quite pleased to make your acquaintance."

ZEX again gestured strangely, fingers all pressed together. "I'm afraid I come bearing nothing particularly useful, but I hope to be helpful in perhaps other ways. I'm most interested in what can be made of what we have..."

"Oh. Right." All these titles being recited reminded him. "I'm the fearsome Captain Usopp, and... are those eggs?"

His train of thought derailed successfully yet again, Usopp gaped at the carton Yuber was holding out. Since the first night he'd arrived here, he'd wanted...

"You got me eggs!" Overcome for the moment with joy, Usopp gave the large and imposing Incarnation of Chaos a big hug. "Thank you! Thank you!" He let go, stepping back, looking back over the eggs some more. If he'd been asked for one gift from the Radio Man, that would have been it...

... right after gunpowder. "Sai, look, they brought eggs!" And what was it? "Saltpeter too?" He turned to Zelnick and ZEX hopefully.

Oh yes, the eggs. Sai still wasn't sure what his pirate friend wanted the eggs for, but at least he had them now and was looking quite a bit more cheerful than he had before. Usopp being in positive spirits was good. He might be able to get more things accomplished.

But of course there was still the matter of him having a difficult time focusing. And if he planned on making explosives...

"What were your plans for tonight?" he asked suddenly, directing the question at everyone in the room at once.

Absently noting Zelnick’s gravitation towards his position, the knight had more pressing matters to concern himself with as the arrival of the eggs brought about a surprising reaction out of the pirate. In his entire time of being within Landel’s, Yuber’s demeanour showed its surprise for the first time as he suddenly found arms weaving their way around his body.

It took far more will power than he would have thought not to out rightly attack Usopp for the hug, and as it was his face took on an almost disgruntled expression that he had let his guard down enough for such a thing to happen in the first place. “You can thank me by never doing that again.” Why humans saw the need for affections was beyond his comprehension, but he’d make certain such a thing never happens again. Human customs always seemed so unnecessary and unneeded to the knight, and the rituals behind such emotional gestures was something he could do without.

Schooling his features back into an easy smile, Yuber levelled Sai with an even stare as he murmured. “Tonight doesn’t appear to be the night for it, but Zelnick here is rather well versed when it comes to chemicals and has offered his aid to us… but considering the state Usopp is in it might be best if I head back out in search of further supplies.” His gaze slid back over towards Zelnick and ZEX as he added. “That is if you’re both interested?”

"Fearsome" hardly described Usopp, or the enthusiastic hug he sprung on Yuber. Yuber was obviously less-than-pleased by Usopp's thanks, in a pretty funny way-- a few years ago, Zelnick probably would have laughed at Yuber's expense. As it was, he drew a few drops of tact and managed to keep his reaction down to a quickly-muffled amused noise.

"Yeah, saltpeter, too," Zelnick said, amusement clear in his tone, despite his best efforts. "As much as I could find. Also ethanol, ammonia, formaldehyde, hydrochloric acid..." Not as nice as missiles, but still plenty deadly. "Oh, and a mortar and pestle. Which will probably be useful," he added. "I don't suppose you have sulfur or charcoal on hand for gunpowder? Or even just charcoal?"

At Sai's question and Yuber's reply, Zelnick shrugged. "Resources are never a bad thing." He'd been short on them often enough... "I wouldn't mind looking for more."

What an interesting gesture! Clearly a sign of affection between two humans, even if one had seemed less than receptive. ZEX would have to remember it later, and perhaps try it on the Captain some time.

ZEX kept his smile and hoped it looked natural. "I'd be glad to accompany you on your search, my Captain." He looked over at him fondly. "With my... limited knowledge of chemistry, I think it's the best option."

"Sure, no problem, you got me eggs!" Usopp, if intimidated by the Incarnation of Chaos or even aware of the danger he was putting himself in, didn't show it. The downside of being perpetually terrified was that, once he stopped being terrified of something or someone, it tended to stick. And he was no stranger to dirty looks from tough guys, thanks to Zoro.

Instead he was busy grinning over the eggs, then looking excited despite himself at the information Zelnick gave. A mortar and pestle! They had brought so much stuff for the party, what could he...

"I have some things. We shouldn't duplicate. Or we should agree on what to duplicate, or..." But what should he tell them about? Or show them? Not the treasure, but maybe the rest of it... He looked at Yuber, not sure why he made that choice, when Sai was the more logical one. Maybe because Yuber had brought these people into his room. "You know where their rooms are and would go stab them if they tried and steal anything, right?"

What was Usopp going on about? Duplicating? He wanted to create more of something? "Usopp," he warned with a smile. "Please take a deep breath and concentrate." It was about all he could do for now. If he knew what the pirate wanted a bit better he'd be able to help his friend get the message across, but he didn't.

"Were any of you sedated today?" he asked, looking to Yuber in particular. He needed to find out if what had happened with Usopp had happened to anyone else in his situation. He kept himself situated between the pirate and the closet, though he didn't think any of these men would try and go in without their permission.

Nodding his head once when it appeared he wouldn’t be travelling alone, Yuber’s attention flickered back over towards Usopp as the pirate began rambling over what to do with all of their stock. He held no doubt that whatever little invention created would be rather interesting to him, and if this ‘gunpowder’ did anything remotely similar to what he believed, then he was most definitely interested in it.

As Usopp’s attention fell on him, Yuber’s demonic iris thinned subtly in pleasure at the subtle order given to him. “I will appropriately deal with things should anything unsavoury enter their minds.” His voice was smooth and controlled, but there was a definite undercurrent in the tone that spoke of the seriousness behind his threat. While he was more than willing to work with others to accomplish his goals, he held no qualm in ridding himself on anyone attempting to impede his ambitions. "But I doubt we have anything to fear hmm?" Yuber inquired with his snake-like grin as his mismatched gaze slid over to the pair in question.

Sai’s question caught his curiosity as their gazes met. Huffing a small amused breath, the Black Knight waved the question off casually as he replied. “I was unable to participate in this morning’s events.” Despite the chaos that had ensured and the temptation to join, the knight had held himself in check over the participation. If Sierra had been within the battle, however, that might have been a different story since he wouldn’t have minded ripping the life from her body if given the chance. “I take it you didn’t participate either Sai?”

Zelnick almost objected to ZEX coming along-- he couldn't hold a fork, how useful could he be in a fight?-- but quelled the urge. Greatest military mind in the galaxy, right, he couldn't be all that useless...

"Right, duplicates. More of some the chemicals are never bad, but we don't need excess, either..." Distracted from his previous wariness, he went back to the side of the bed, dug his journal and a pen from out of the basket, and started scrawling out a list as the conversation continued.

Then the topic of stealing came up, and his writing paused. "I don't like to steal when I can get something more honestly," he said, honestly. "And I never steal from allies." Which was as much of a promise as he was willing to give, despite Yuber's unsettling acceptance of the idea-- and he was pretty sure Yuber didn't actually know where his room was.

At Sai's question, Zelnick shook his head. "I spent breakfast talking about... our situation. Having it more thoroughly explained to me. That was distracting enough that I hardly noticed the riot until it was halfway over."

He held his notebook (http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c37/AranamiToumaChan/ingredientslistcopy.png) out to Usopp. "Here's what we brought tonight. If they restocked the storage room during the day, we could try getting more from the same place."

ZEX watched Usopp, faintly amused, but mostly kept his distance, observing. When he spoke, he kept his tone calm and pleasant.

"You have nothing to fear from me, humans." Casual speech patterns worn too familiar for him to think that referring to them as humans might have been awkward. "I would not steal from you. It's quite the last thing on my mind. We're trying to help each other, are we not? Theft would be... counter-productive."

ZEX brushed some hair from his one open eye. "I wasn't involved in this morning's altercation." Was that perhaps why that human was so nervous? ZEX wasn't quite sure how human sedatives worked, or how long they lasted.

Usopp really shouldn't be doing this sort of thing with strange people, especially when he couldn't think straight. Sai was full of common sense when it came to things like this. In fact, if Yuber were Chaos, Sai was Common Sense. Which would make Usopp... confused, still.

But he'd also met Yuber on a chance and that alliance had gone so well. Zelnick's words did register, even if Usopp's brain found itself trying to concentrate on any one item on Zelnick's list and failing. It seemed as though Zelnick mostly had materials, and they had a lot more hardware...

"Okay. So. We're all allies, then? And if anybody breaks it, Sai'll stab you too. And me. And I don't know anything about stabbing people, just shooting at them, so it'll hurt more, I'll be bad at it." He considered that a bit longer. "Maybe if I shot with like a cactus star it'd count..." That wasn't important right now, was it? "Most of this you can get anyway, if you look." That was the truth. Putting it together was the tricky part.

"I don't have any charcoal or sulfur. I think. Might be some in the cleaning stuff or the medicines..." He sighed, then went over towards the closet to open it. If everyone were really in agreement, Zelnick seemed to be describing what he had all openly, Usopp could at least do the same for the stuff he'd raided. Oh, right, I wanted Sai to... "Sai, I'm normally smarter than this, right?" The timing of the question was pure accident.

Edited 2008-03-01 04:45 (UTC)

Sai kept his eyes trained on the others in the room as Usopp prattled on. He was making sense, but in a disjointed fashion, not ordering his sentences and phrases in a way that made for easy deciphering. He moved aside to let the pirate to the closet, but otherwise didn't remove his hand from the trowel.

"Usopp was involved in the riot," he stated, sticking to his earlier topic. "The sedation should have worn off, but he seems to be suffering from it still. Something, at least, is keeping his thoughts clouded. I can only assume the sedatives are the cause, but I'm not sure because I haven't seen anyone else in a similar situation yet."

He paused, expression falling blank and serious. "He won't be creating anything explosive tonight."

Usopp's behaviour hadn't seemed to improved since they had spoken on the board earlier in the evening, and he began to silently consider reasons behind the cause.

"There possibly was some form of airborn sedative or sleeping spell introduced into the cafeteria to end the battle between the patients and those who work here. There's no other method they could use to knock out such a large room of patients for transportation back to their quarters. Perhaps that in addition to the sedative given to Usopp has caused further complications ending with these results." Yuber offered thoughtfully while gesturing over towards the affected pirate. It was a plausible theory, and the conversation he'd previously with Reno.

Whatever amusement that had been on his face previously vanished as he glanced over to Sai. It would be more beneficial to their little alliance if they spent this night collecting further supplies - especially with his ally's mind in such a state. Yet, the pirate's safety was his first riority, and he would hardly continue on with the search if there was any doubt to their protection.

"I'm certain you'll be more than capable of protecting Usopp here without our aid?" He stated more than asked Sai. There was no doubt within his mind what the answer would be, but in doing so Sai and himself would have entered into a verbal contract within his mind... even if the ninja wasn't aware of such things.

If Usopp thought they were allies, that was good enough for Zelnick; he'd trust that he could trust Usopp and his friend. "I'll do my best to see that no stabbing has to happen, Captain Usopp," he said, solemnly. Especially now that he'd seen the impressive collection in Usopp's closet-- even if he wanted to steal from the other captain, at the risk of getting stabbbed, there was no way he could carry it all with him.

Glancing at Yuber, Zelnick said, "Well, they could be using some sort of electronic implant, or mind control. A gas would've knocked out everyone, not just the rioters-- unless its sedative effects are triggered by stress and strenuous activity? But then it would've affected the staff, too..." He shook his head and looked like he was going to say something else, paused, and then added, "They might have put something in the dinner of anyone who rioted? It's not like you guys were hard to pick out, with all those hulking bodyguards-- it might not be too hard for one of the staff to slip something into the food, either as you're getting it or while you're distracted by conversation...."

The theories danced in his head, though they weren't exactly the most important thing at the moment, and he shook himself out of their grasp long enough to say, "Pity we won't get explosives tonight. I'm better at fights that involve lots of things that blow up." He smiled sadly, and said wistfully, "Like the other guy's ships." Oh, what he wouldn't give for his beautiful Vindicator...

A sleeping spell, as in magic? The thought hadn't even crossed ZEX's mind, given that magic had become outdated and largely forgotten in his time. While it could explain the numerous strange things that happened here, that seemed to have been the entire point of "magic" as he understood it... to explain things temporarily until factual, real evidence could be found.

But there still was the nagging fact that everyone, even these humans who ostensibly knew nothing about his species or the galaxy as he knew it, was speaking his language. No good thinking about it now. "I'm sure there have been opportunities during the day to discreetly inject those who misbehaved with a variety of chemicals... perhaps some designed to activate after a certain period of time has passed."

A shame that they wouldn't get what they'd came for, but as long as he was with his Captain, it didn't matter too much. At the Captain's words, ZEX smiled again a bit awkwardly. "If only this involved interstellar combat... that's a field I'd have a great deal more confidence in."

"Okay. That's good. Sorry. You can't trust everybody here. There's some people who'll kill other people just because. Even if the Institute isn't controlling them." Usopp explained disjointedly, then added with an awkward smile. "And I get paranoid when I can't think right." True, he was paranoid most of the time, but it seemed to come out verbally worse than usual.

Concerning why he was confused, he offered, still standing in the doorway with it open, "They can make us all pass out at once at night. So they could make me... y'know. From a distance? They don't really need needles." It should have occurred to him when this whole phenomenon had started, but instead it took all this discussion to make that thought float up in his brain.

As for Sai's matter-of-fact statement that they wouldn't be making explosives, he found himself a bit muddled again. "We can't make explosives. We don't have everything. OH! We could make poison gas. I have lots of bleach." Why they'd want to make poison gas was beside the point; he was sure the potential was there, with the bleach and ammonia. Something else, too...

He reached deep into the closet and pulled out one of the little red paper mache spheres he'd created. "I made it in arts and crafts. It's paper mache. With gunpowder and a fuse it's a bomb!" He put it in Zelnick's hands, even though there was an admiral around too, because the admiral didn't really seem to be in charge of things and also was maybe having trouble getting used to being human. Space people! Hadn't something about that been in his conversation with Luffy at breakfast, before... stuff?

Having handed over the sphere, he sighed wistfully, "Blowing up other guy's ships is fun." He was thinking mostly of wooden ships and cannonballs but the principle was the same. "I have a toolkit. Broken glass. Eggs! Um. Air freshener. Medicine. Bandages. Spare batteries. A treasure. A sign that says 'wet floor.' More bleach. Lots of piping. I was gonna make a flamethrower. Flour and chili... I made some smoke bombs. Kind of. There's other things..."

Edited 2008-03-02 18:44 (UTC)

"Usopp," Sai warned with a sudden rather harsh glare when the pirate started going on about what they currently had stashed away. As friendly as these people seemed, there was no reason to tell them everything about that. Especially after all the trouble they'd gone through to get a good deal of it. He was still a bit bruised from the spider.

As his friend continued, Sai ended up taking a couple steps towards him and slipping his hand over his mouth. He tugged Usopp's head back just a little but none too gently, hoping to get the point across. After completing this action, but not without letting go of his friend, the ninja once again smiled at the others.

"Thank you. I'll take all of that into consideration." And he would, though the issue was still puzzling and their ideas hadn't put any of it in a more positive light. "Please be careful if you decide to venture into dangerous territory."

Yuber watched with interest as Sai abruptly halted Usopp’s babbling explanations. A slender golden brow rose up in quiet amusement at the sight before he chuckled softly. “You have no need to worry over such things.” The Black Knight murmured in reply to Sai’s words of warning. What he had come across so far within these walls had been rather lacking, to say the least, but he welcomed the possibility of studying further unique creatures this place creates.

“If there’s nothing else,” The stated question was directed towards Zelnick and ZEX before he gave a slight nod over towards the door. “We’ll leave you both in peace.”

[repost for radio >.>]

"The difficult thing with poison gas is keeping from breathing it yourself," he said, a bit ruefully. "But if there was a way to limit the effects to a small area...." Well, they could figure it out when Usopp was a little more lucid. Zelnick examined the little paper balls with interest. "I never would've thought of this," he admitted, handing them back. "It's a good idea. Maybe you could show me how to make them sometime? Assuming we need more, that is." He smiled at the prospect of needing more shells to put gunpowder into.

Zelnick tried to keep track of everything Usopp was listing off-- before he got cut off by Sai, that is-- and after Usopp had been muffled, he suggested, "Ethanol is flammable, right? you could try that for your flamethrower." He grinned cheerily.

At Yuber's suggestion, Zelnick shrugged. "We don't need to stay longer, I don't think." Turning his attention back to Usopp, he promised, "I'll do my best to find more useful things-- especially for gunpowder, of course-- and you can take care of what we got last night." That said, he took the basket and sorted out everything they had gotten from the lab-- every resource he had listed in his notebook-- and laid them in fairly neat rows on the bed, leaving himself with the kitchen knife, his radio, and the basket itself. "I'll let you figure out how to store this stuff," he said, since Sai was obviously wary about letting their newly-minted allies have too close a look at their trove. "And stay safe."

Barely a moment passed before his radio clicked on and began to play music, and he listened attentively all the way through the-- the new girl's speech, he guessed, though he hadn't ever heard the voice of the man who had died.

It was utterly charming how Usopp and his companion interacted with each other! It seemed so easy and natural... ZEX almost found himself jealous. Someday he'd get the hang of human culture and interaction, he was sure.

ZEX smiled and, still with an air of unfamiliarity, nodded just slightly. "I do wish you the best of luck, and hope your thoughts clear soon, human. It can be a dreadful thing to not be thinking clearly." It was too bad he had nothing he could personally offer Usopp for their cause, but he hoped to change that over the course of the night. "I hope we can meet again soon to... develop a closer relationship."

He turned back towards the human Captain, face muscles twitching in an attempt to move non-existent head tentacles. "I'm ready to set out when you are, my love."

Usopp blinked as he found his train of thought, finally running down a straight path, cut short by Sai's glare and the utterly unsubtle hand over his mouth. "Mm?" And he hadn't even gotten to the fruit juice or the baskets or the ketchup or... but he found himself nodding to Zelnick, and waving goodbye to Yuber and ZEX, without trying to speak again.

They'd agreed, on risk of stabbing even, and they'd left presents--he was inclined to think nicely of them, although he had a bad feeling Sai was going to fuss at him for being an idiot when they left. I can't help it, my brain's all... things.

The voice on the radio was a woman. The radio guy had gotten a sex change? But hadn't he died? Usopp's mind was too preoccupied to catch much of the message. At least Zelnick and ZEX seemed to be understanding about Usopp's problem. And ZEX sounded like he wanted to be friends--that would be nice. A person couldn't have too many friends.

Sai noted the announcement on the radio only because it was a different voice than usual. Apparently the death of the original radio man had not brought an end to the nightly broadcasts. The ninja usually left his own radio behind, since something that might crackle to life at any unknown time wasn't particularly conducive to anything that required stealth. If there was anything important to hear, he was sure he'd be informed.

Still not releasing his hold over Usopp's mouth, Sai nodded his goodbyes to those that were leaving. "Thank you again. You've been very helpful, and we'll see what we can do." And this was the truth. He had no reason not to help Usopp repay these men, but spilling information on what they had was still something to be frowned upon. For being a pirate, Usopp was far too trusting.

[Ack! Sorry that I took so long guys =\ uni classes went back this week and I’ve been stuck doing a crapload of stuff for that until today =_=;; but I I’sh back!]

“Until next time,” Yuber slightly inclined his head towards Usopp and Sai after the ninja’s words. He’d need to speak to the pirate when their mind was clear of whatever was inhibiting them tonight, but that could be at a later time; he was in no rush after all.

Glancing at the pair going with him, the Knight did nothing more to suggest they follow him as his silent movements took him out through the door, and back into the hallway. They still needed to pick a direction to go in tonight, but from what he could tell, the second floor held the more useful items.

[To here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/301449.html)]

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33

Re: @M33