damned_institute | Day 20: Nightshift, F1-40 block near Women's Bathroom

[[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/35233.html?thread=1633185#t1633185)]]

Fox cautiously moved in behind Snake, turning to look at the other soldier when he made a comment about visiting all of the ladies. "You know, that's not a bad idea, the night is young, after all, and I haven't seen too many female patients." He whispered in reply.

"But her name is River, the sword-girl who responded to your bulletin board message." Someone else who had been turned into a weapon by the government, that intrigued and angered him, and he felt obligated to talk to her at least once. No one should be forced to go through something like that, people weren't meant to be weapons or tools.

Fox could hear talking down one of the halls, so he started advancing slowly in that direction, listening.

"I remember River," Snake growled. "The sword-girl. The one who didn't make any sense."

He steeled his shoulders a little. His experiment on the message board had brought out a lot of interesting people. If he had to meet any in person, though, he would have liked to meet the marksman-agent-corpse-terrorist who had a way of asking the right questions and not asking them too hard, or else the wickedly-quick little schoolgirl who talked about soldiers with glowing eyes. Even the tempter of Man or the talkative food fetishist would be better than nothing. The bad-handwriting scientist he had already taken against, but if the schoolgirl was right he knew about this other-worldly genome program, something which set off a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach of a universe repeating itself.

Otacon had told him, once, the principle of alternate universes; how they varied and were infinite. If the people here were being snagged from other worlds - he was cynical about the theory, but had to believe the evidence - then maybe there were instances where his history had been repeated, even in a warped way. The idea of there being another Liquid or Big Boss here made him feel almost sick.

"At least it's not that one which the man with the most past lives called President," he decided. There was a man who deserved killing, or at least would do eventually.

"She made sense to me, but... I guess that might just be from the fact that we've been through similar experiences. I'm surprised that you don't understand her... given your circumstances." Then again, Snake had been created to be a skilled soldier, not a weapon.

He started very quietly sneaking down towards the voices he could hear, three distinct female voices. "It's hard to judge a situation if you don't know the entire story." Fox whispered, sneaking up till he was closer to the trio of women.

[[Sneaking here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/32146.html)]]

[[Coming from here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/32146.html?view=1722002#t1722002)]]

Fox walked calmly back to where he'd left Snake, slightly concerned that he hadn't followed, but guessing that he'd had his reasons for staying put.

"Hey, Hans. I found some ladies here who know River, but apparently she isn't around here." That was worrisome, either she had managed to sneak out before they'd gotten here, or she hadn't been taken back to her room. He was concerned for her, but didn't show it.

After everything he'd been through, he didn't trust hospitals. At first he'd been concerned they would experiment on him, but perhaps they'd decided to do something to other people first.

"They want to look for her with us." He was fairly sure they just didn't want him to find her without them, and that was understandable. He was accustomed to people not trusting him, because he generally didn't trust anyone either. He was just a lot more subtle with his suspicions.

They could split up to cover more ground, but Fox couldn't think of any split that would be acceptable to all of them.

The most logical split would put Fox and Snake in different groups, but he was reluctant to risk that. It was true that he felt a lot better now than he did in Shadow Moses, but he hadn't seen any combat, and didn't want to risk losing himself and attacking people who probably couldn't stop him.

The other obvious split would be to just go in the separate groups they'd started in, but he had the feeling that the women would object to that, and aside from the one who hadn't given her name, none of them seemed particularly capable of taking care of themselves if things got rough.

"So," Snake asked, "why isn't she there?" He thought. "If she knew you were going to try to find her, why would she slip out?"

A sudden thought crossed his mind - the brainwashing he'd heard talk about. Perhaps they'd taken the sword-girl. Someone who claimed she was a weapon would be all the easier to use. He decided not to voice his concerns.

"I doubt you heard," he said, changing the subject, "but it sounds like we have a number one fan of ours in here with us."

He fished the radio out of his pocket and presented it to Fox, allowing him to examine it.

"It switched itself on," he explained, "and started talking - a man's voice. He spoke like a madman - no, he spoke like a man with a lot to hide - but from what I can gather we're being watched by him, and he said something about this all being fake." There'd been more Christmas references, too, but he decided not to think about those. Who knew what timeline this place operated on? For all he knew, last night could have been Halloween.

"But that wasn't all," he continued. "He said, 'The dead speak, if you're willing to listen'." He gave Fox a pointed look. Perhaps that would make more sense to him. "And that 'the number of the dead is six and one'. I've no idea what the madman's talking about or if he should be trusted, but he sounded like he had a personal vendetta against the Head Doctor. I don't even know what his advice means."

If he could work it out, he knew he'd follow it to the letter. Even if it led them into a trap, that would at least gain them some easy information.

"I'll let you introduce me to the ladies, then," he smiled. "Put in a good word for me."

Zoe had followed Fox with her eyes and ears open to what was going on around her. She moved silently, mostly unaware of the way that her feet pressed to the ground to make as little noise as possible. She was also very, very aware of the movements of Inara and Kaylee. She had to make sure that both of them were safe, after all, and she would never forgive herself if anything happened to them.

She watched this new man as he spoke, and took in everything he said about the radio. She had found one like it in her room but hadn't taken it with her because it had seemed like such poor technology. The kind that was used so long ago that nothing like it existed anymore, and anything that had survived had been so modified it didn't look like it anymore. Then again, a lot of the tech in this place was old. The flashlight in her hand for example, but she had taken it because it was heavy and could have been used as a weapon if need be. There didn't seem to be much sense in lugging a small radio at anything that might attack them.

Zoe did not care about introductions. They seemed pretty pointless to her. At least they were until they found Mal. That was what was most important. Until then, everything was only about getting to where he was.

"There might be some sort of clue in the radio itself," she pointed out. "If they're playing games they might have left some sort of clue. We might be able to figure out a little more about where we are if there's any sort of marks or brands on it." It was long-shot, and she hadn't noticed anything when she looked at the one in her room, but it was someplace to start. She turned her head to look at Kaylee. "What do you make of it?" Kaylee's area of expertise was engines, Zoe knew this, but she could also be handy with little gadgets if need be. Zoe certainly trusted the girl's opinion about it much more than she did the opinion of these two men.

Snake was too quick for her.

"So," he began. "Who might you be?"

Without waiting for a reply, he handed her the radio. "I already checked for a brand name," he explained, "but it's blank. And it's not as if it's been scrubbed off or painted over either. I think it's custom made."

He rapped at the case, still holding it out towards her. "I would take it apart, but I don't want to risk not being able to put it back together. Besides, there's better times to do that."

Inara was vaguely startled by Fox's hasty retreat, but she followed Zoe from a distance nonetheless, keeping her own eye on Kaylee all the while. The man at the other end of the hall must be the companion he'd spoken of. They seemed to be discussing the strange radio they all held on their person, a helpful if somewhat obnoxiously cryptic device. There had to be some meaning to the messages they played...

"It's probably for the best to keep moving now. I've heard they find you easier when you remain stationary and in large groups. I know a good many of the troubles I've witnessed held true to that advice," Inara chose to pipe up.

What could he do, come night? Simon Tam often had a remarkably one-track mind. Or, that was inaccurate. This place set him on a single track, enhanced with anxiety and a distinct feeling of unrest.

Flashlight in hand, Simon walked from his room ready to jump at the slightest noise (he'd heard about things, picked up pieces of conversation that had to be ludicrous, but, better safe than sorry). Having earlier gotten River's room number from her, Simon set off for that destination. His progress went without event, until he neared the hallway. Voices. They sounded like patients, and so Simon continued, the pale light of his flashlight bobbing unsteadily ahead, marking his intended path.

It caught Inara and Zoe, first, or their backs. Simon did not recognize them from that, given how little he knew them, and so he neared F37, seeking his sister. Best not to be rude, still, and so he called out a tentative "Good Evening!" that had sounded much more confident in his head.

"The radio really isn't important right now." He glanced to Zoe, and then looked at Snake for a moment. "You do remember what I was like at Shadow Moses, don't you? This could go very badly if they've done something to her, she probably won't specifically go after people that she knew, but we can't rule that out either."

But how to deal with this? He turned towards the women in their group. "You three know her better than I do, if you know something that might help, I'm open to suggestions."

Fox immediately focused his attention down the hallway when a man approached. Quickly, Fox sized him up before stepping forward to meet him. "Good evening." The man looked very stressed and nervous. "I know it's dark here but if you don't mind, would you turn off the flashlight? We wouldn't want to attract unwanted attention from the hospital staff, who will certainly kick us out of the women's block." He also didn't want to get caught by the monsters he'd heard so much about.

[Sorry about the delay! I'm back now!]

Kaylee, too, was fascinated by the radio. It was so...primitive! She fiddled with the dials, producing more static-y noise than was probably safe, given their situation. The mechanic turned it over and over in her hands, positively itching to get inside it. She looked at the man Fox had lead them to, who obviously had a similar idea. "It's so old!" she cried, glowing (and, again, making more noise than was prudent). "I bet it still runs on tubes...check out the antenna! Totally analog...probably won't even pick up digital." She would have gone on to describe in detail precisely how she thought this relic still managed to function when she was cut off by a very familiar voice.

"Simon!" Kaylee walked over to him, smiling widely. Without River there to occupy his attention, maybe the doctor would finally stop tripping over his finely-clad feet and they could actually get somewhere in their relationship.

If it was even that.

Zoe felt relieved when Simon appeared. He was a good man, but he wasn't exactly good in a fight. Her expression didn't change when he appeared, though she nodded.

"We were just looking for your sister," she informed her. "Looking for the whole crew, actually. Glad to see you're still in one piece." She allowed him a small smile, to let him know that despite everything she was very pleased to see him safe. Her eyes glanced at Kaylee, after all, in Zoe's mind Kaylee and Simon were already jumping on each other whenever they thought they were having a quiet moment alone. There really was no such thing on Serenity though and Zoe was forced to remember that not so long ago that had been her and Wash. "You seen Jayne or the Capitan yet tonight?"

Inara had to smile despite herself as Kaylee approached Simon, smiling like a school girl. A touching reunion to be sure, as she was fairly certain that the younger girl hadn't yet run into her dear doctor as of yet. Still, they should move, and quickly, if the rumors about this place were to be believed. So far, they'd seemed fairly accurate with little exaggeration.

"Simon, it's good to see you safe," she added to Zoe's own greeting. "But we really must move on, and quickly. These gentlemen here apparently had a meeting set up with River, but she's nowhere to be found. Perhaps you and Kaylee would accompany them? Since there's such a large group, I doubt there would be any need for all of us." She looked to Zoe. She'd wanted to find the others unaccounted for, particularly Mal, as well, and Simon often considered protecting River his own duty, one he'd fulfilled time and again. "Besides, it isn't safe to wander alone, and I imagine locating everyone would be ideal if possible."

Snake softly laid a hand on Fox's shoulder from behind.

"Your sword-girl worth all this nightmare?" he asked, softly as he could. "These people have more of a history with her, and they're all doing their bit. I'm not sure you have the right to join in."

He sighed. "Meeting up with a girl you found interesting on a message board. Sounds like something Otacon'd do."

"Oh, right," Simon had replied, a bit stupidly, and fumbled vvith turning off his flashlight. Ironic, that he had done as much the other night, but could not help but prefer visibility tonight.

VVith Kaylee's approach, it took him a moment to recall her name. "Kaylee," he acknovvledged, not too put off by her gladness to see him. She had seemed like a friendly girl in the brevity of his knovving her, and any familiar face vvould surely be vvelcomed--but, Simon lost his easy reasoning vvith Inara and Zoe's comments.

"My sister?" Simon asked, taking a step back, his eyes adjusting to the dark and not liking vvhat he savv, narrovving. An easy, logical bias. "Hovv could you-- VVhat do you knovv about my sister?"

And just like that, the sputtering on of a light bulb(or off, if you vvould, of that in a flashlight), those early suspicions of the Firefly's crevv having turned him and his sister into the Alliance, and perhaps not gotten the revvard vvanted, returned. The brief things he'd heard, hovvever briefly, in regards to the time confusion of the place vvas lost beneath instincts and the reality of vvhat he knevv, remembered.

"And vvhat do you mean, svvord girl?" Simon snapped, everything spinning a little too fast for his tastes.

Fox had been about to reply to Snake when Simon spoke up.

"It was how River introduced herself. She informed him that she use to be a girl, and that now she is a sword. In fact, that's actually what we have in common." It disgusted him that the military would resort to using a young girl, and a civilian, no less, for their experiments.

"Some time ago I was... heavily injured. When the government recovered my body, and found out that I wasn't completely dead, they decided that I would fit nicely in one of their experimental programs... Since I was legally dead, they didn't have to worry about anyone searching for me." River's situation had to be different, though.

"When I heard what River said... talked to her briefly, what she said struck far too close to home. I know what you two are going through. I've been there myself. River asked me to meet her, so we could talk without being... supervised by the staff here." Fox was excellent at controlling his emotions, suppressing them, hiding them, pretending they didn't exist.

This place pushed the limits of his somewhat fragile control. Shadow Moses, and his years as a test subject, had taken a lot from him. He teetered on the edge of controlled anger and an empty, emotionless need to fight and destroy. All of it was quickly becoming too much to deal with, Snake, these people, River, who was missing, and Simon, who was likely very protective of his sister.

His muscles were tense and he was quickly getting a headache, so he brought one hand up to rub the side of his head, doing his best to keep himself under control, eyes closing while he thought for a moment.

"Splitting up is a good idea. We can cover more ground that way. I'll go scout ahead, wait a few moments and then follow." He looked at Snake after he finished talking, giving him a look that told him in no uncertain terms that Snake better give him a few seconds to sort himself out; he didn't need very long. After saying that he made a rather hasty retreat, moving to one of the walls and only half-trying to be stealthy on his way out. It was very dark, and he didn't have to spend make much effort to move silently along the wall.

Splitting up was a good idea, but more than that he needed to get away from the crowd for a few moments, needed to put himself back together before he fell apart entirely and hurt someone.

[[Retreating to here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/35233.html)]]

[[Following Fox like a good little soldier here (http://community.livejournal.com/landels_damned/35233.html?thread=1881249#t1881249)]]

[ooc: I'm pretty sure that it's my turn, but the post order is a bit confusing. I can always erase this if I'm going out of order.]

Kaylee had opened her mouth to back up what Zoe and Inara were saying, but Simon's reaction made her forget that there were supposed to be words coming out of it. She gaped.

"Simon, it's us," she said warily, unconsciously backing away. "What's gotten into you? Of course we know about River." The mechanic was leaning against the wall, slightly pale. Something had gotten into Simon. He wasn't right in the head or something. "It don't add up," she muttered, still staring at him. Was he sick? The only times Kaylee had really been in the infirmary for extended periods of time was when she herself had gotten shot, and while visiting other patients. Zoe was okay at taking out bullets and sewing up holes, but they were humped if the doctor himself was ill.

As the two men moved further down the hall, Inara had to take a moment to give Simon her own wary look. How could he possibly have forgotten? They'd all been together aboard Serenity for the longest time... They'd fought Reavers, dodged the Alliance, and even flown to a planet abandoned and secluded because of the secrets it held at the whim of his sister's uncanny insight.

It seemed as though her were surprised that they even knew who River...

And then it began to add up. Inara was a sharp woman and had been commended on such often enough in her profession. Reserved and proper as Simon Tam was, he acted almost as though he were nothing more than a stranger, trying to be polite to familiar faces for no other reason save the fact that they were familiar. And he was suspicious that they seemed to know River. Could it be that he didn't remember anything save his first coming to Serenity? Or perhaps he hadn't even lived it...

"Right now the important thing is not leaving those two men alone to search for River. Their intentions seem honorable, but I'd hoped to accompany them in case they weren't," she explained quickly, trying to sound as genuine as she could. "Please, trust me when I say that I'm worried about your sister myself. All will be explained later, but right now, we simply don't have the time."

With that, Inara turned on her heel and hurried off in the direction the other two had gone. She was nearly positive that the doctor and Kaylee would be quick to follow. Simon was a logical man and somewhat desperate when it came to the subject of his sister, and Kaylee would be wise enough not to let herself be left behind.

Us, it's us, it didn't mean anything to him. He might have said as much, but the talk of one of the men had him occupied. River had talked of herself like that? VVhat on earth had gone on, had they done to her? And that she vvould identify vvith this stranger, no matter hovv much they had in common. It unsettled and baffled him, and once again Simon vvas reminded of the pecularity of time here.

Hovv long had she been there? Then Kaylee. Simon looked at her, at the pretty young mechanic vvhose eyes made him feel shifty and dirty, like he vvas somehovv in the vvrong. He opened his mouth, a bit like a sputtering fish, vvhen Inara's interjection gave him sounder vvisdom, and his preferred, if not more logical, thing to focus on. River. Inara, at least, made a modicum of sense. She had seemed to be the most reasonable about the Firefly.

"I--" Simon shook his head, unable to look appropriately apologetic in his current stance of self-righteous confusion, and follovved after.

Day 20: Nightshift, F1-40 block near Women's Bathroom

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((breaking posting order, kill me if you want))

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