Nightshift 31: M1-10 Hallway

[bond-off-lame.livejournal.com]

[From here.]

[Specifically outside M1]

Nope, no one here either.

Axel sighed loudly. It wasn’t like he wanted to frolic around with two dozen or so people scrambling about, but he didn’t want to become bait for anything that was hiding in the corners either. He didn’t have much of a choice in the matter, but someone was bound to crawl out of their rooms at some point.

It didn’t take long to reach the end of the hall, but he made no move to knock at Roy’s door. It looked like the guy was expecting a few visitors and he was pretty sure that he wasn’t one of them. Nah, all he had to do was wait for the rest of his teammates to arrive, drop off whatever they gathered up and off they’d go.

Leaning his weapon against the wall, Axel followed suit and nestled back against the hard surface.

Comments

Re: M3

[cnflctofintrst.livejournal.com]

"Just one more thing," Mello said. He knew he needed to start on the night's work as well, but the clinic shouldn't be busy this early in the evening and he didn't know when he'd have his next opportunity to talk to L. "Kira." While investigation and public relations were two of Mello's strong points, there were a number of inconsistencies between what he'd observed in the outside world and what L was telling him about their earlier foe.

"This place is a den of unapologetic criminals," he started. It took one to know one, after all. "Over thirty percent of the inmates have killed someone, and a bunch of those victims were innocent. But Kira doesn't care. Why?" His face read deep concentration and the radio swung slowly beside him as he paced, biting the now-ragged tip of his ring finger.

"Kira didn't start this shit because he wanted control," he continued. "There are way better routes to power for a person with a death note. Blackmail. Extortion. All kinds of threats. But instead, he started picking off criminals...criminals who'd never affected him or his family."

Mello stopped walking and closed his eyes to concentrate. His thoughts raced faster than his mind could phrase them, and although he was certain he was on to something, he wasn't sure he could convey it to L. "Everything he did, he did to build a utopia. He thought he was doing it for the greater good, and he never acted out of spite or a desire for personal revenge. Even after I--"

His voice cut off abruptly and a tense silence presided for several seconds. Mello wasn't used to giving monologues: he preferred shooting first and asking questions later, and he never needed to justify his actions. It was harder than he expected to verbalize things he understood intuitively.

"It's over," he finally said. "The whole thing is over. Nothing either of you do can affect what's out there. This is your world now, and although Kira's an obvious sociopath, he's obsessed with justice and his idea of ethics. Unless you stand between him and his perfect world, he's not going to kill you, and in a place filled to the brim with murderers and other criminals, you'd make a much better ally than a victim."

"What you've gotta do now is figure out why Kira is associating with the type of people he would kill in a heartbeat if he had his note. He has a larger plan, yeah, but it's not about you. Something makes him think that by befriending and using those people, he can turn this place into the world he wants it to be."

He flopped back onto the bed with a soft thud. "I'll take care of Kira. If he's trying to collect smart and influential friends, I fit the bill and I know enough about his psychology to mimic the other traits he's looking for." Mello reached for a pen and lifted the end to his lips. "Any time or energy that you waste on paranoia or competition is energy that would be better spent solving this puzzle."

Mello's voice was cool and matter-of-fact. It was obvious that every shred of irony in the statement had cruised miles above his head.