damned_institute | East Wing, Hall (2-)A

"Yeah." How could she forget? That closet was the first place she had a nice, hefty taste of exactly what kind of monstrosities Landel's could provide. On a normal night, in a more normal place, the details may have escaped her, but that spider and the fight those other three engaged in left quite the imprint on Yukari's mind. Huh... She wondered what ever happened to them after that night. She hadn't seen them since.

Gripping tighter on her own flashlight, Yukari pointed its light not too far down the hall. "It's the third door, over here." To show Renamon, she trotted ahead of her, stopping only in front of the aforementioned door. Yukari lifted her free hand to the knob, pausing mere inches away from it.

Okay, they were here, and there had been no problems along the way... Just like last time. Then, they had no idea what to prepare themselves for-- now, Yukari knew better. She prayed over and over for it to be completely devoid of anything inside (well, anything alive) before finally trying the knob.

And it was locked. Figured. Why would it have been any different now? The only problem was that Yukari still didn't have a definite strategy for opening locked doors, and her own brute force wasn't enough to take them down.

"It's locked," she announced unsurprisingly. "But I know it's possible to break it."

Edited 2008-08-19 01:51 (UTC)

She followed Yukari and watched her try the door. It looked like it was just a knob lock. You can either twist them to break them or... "All locks can be broken, just as all doors can be opened." She leaned her weight on her right foot. "Stand back."

Renamon lashed out with her left foot, once, twice, right underneath the knob. The door bowed there, then gave, the frame splintering where the lock forced its way through the wood.

[to here]

[back from here]

There was some shifting involved until she was comfortably holding her flashlight, clay shard, and new staff. Holding the latter at a lower angle, she cautiously slid back out to the hallway, seaching for anything. It was still eerily empty. "Still seems safe out here," she said, moving farther down the hallway.

Even before Renamon gave her the okay, Yukari was slipping back out with haste. She collected both broomsticks with one hand, resting the ends on her shoulder, and flashlight in the other, and without further ado pressed the door back shut. At least if anyone decided to come by next, they wouldn't have to deal with a lock.

This certainly was becoming more of a smoother night, wasn't it? Yukari brightened some at the thought, idling down the hall in Renamon's direction. They weren't completely safe yet, she knew this much, but she had what she needed-- maybe now, she could finally get back in touch with Adelheid. If only morning could come sooner!

"So, the possessions room is next?" That should have been either of the doors further down... "Do you know what's in there?"

Renamon continued walking down the hallway. "Items of ours, supposedly. I don't own anything that's physical, so if I have a box, the possessions are most likely a hoax." She thought for a minute. She knew that, so why was she even trying to get into the possessions room for items that weren't even hers? Part of it was for others... people like Toph and Toboe, Dairine and Orihime, and even Yukari herself. For their things, if they were, that might make this a little more bearable with items from home for comfort or use.

The rest of her reasoning would be explained away by lines that she was simply searching for more information, seeking to learn about how the Institute runs. In all actuality, her reasoning was simple--plain to her subconscious and becoming clearer to her as time went on.

These things were keeping her sane.

Meaning and purpose kept Renamon's mind focused and aware. Having a goal meant she had something to work towards, something to work for, something to do. Something to distract from from everything that her mind wasn't used to dealing with. Having a human body, with human sensations and emotions, having the personal details of her life known to others, being attacked by monsters that mimicked ones that had almost killed her, meeting people who's lives echoed her own, and just being without Rika, without anyone or anything familiar, with no simple way of 'breaking the game' as it were. She was becoming more and more sure that the only way out would be if Landel or his cohorts allowed it.

Renamon shook her head violently for a moment. This was why she gave herself these 'missions'. She couldn't afford to think on anything other than information gathering and theories, or she would quickly fall into something she'd rather not name.

She had stopped without realizing it, and she quickly started walking again. Today had been far too taxing for her nerves.

Huh... A hoax made sense. They couldn't possibly have anything of hers-- anything useful, mostly-- in a room so easily accessible. Aside from the clothes on her back before awakening here, because she sure as hell wasn't wearing her current attire beforehand. It was awful, and the only thing saving her from embarrassment over it was everyone else wore them, as well.

Renamon had paused suddenly, and Yukari wondered why; she didn't look like she was thinking about which way to go, considering they more or less knew where the room was anyway. She began approaching, but she moved forward again. Mm... Whatever it was, maybe she decided she should let it slide.

"I don't know why they bother trying to convince us we're something else," Yukari responded flatly, and continued on with growing bitterness in her voice, "They already know everything about us anyway." At least she figured as much, if what Ken had told her this morning was any indication.

"I don't think they do..." Renamon replied in a softer tone than normal. "They may know the facts of our life, and the meaning behind the choices we've made, but they don't know how we work." She took a moment to try and communicate clearly. "You can study someone all their life, and still never know them. We have something they want. That's the point of this." She shook her head.

"I still haven't learned the 'point' of this, but whatever it is, is related to that fact. If they want to test us, if they want to find out how we do certain things, if they want to know our reactions... We have something they want. If we ever do really want to affect them, all we'd have to do is play along during the day and sit in our room at night." She made a noise that might have been a start of a laugh. "That would indeed make this Landel angry."

And then she remembered something. She half-turned to look over Yukari. "...You forgot your radio, didn't you?"

Yukari made a small huff to herself; it made sense, in a way, but they probably didn't care enough to bother with what they thought or how they felt. It didn't make her feel any better about anything.

"Probably," Yukari agreed, although she seemed less amused by the idea. She may as well be making a death wish by staying in her room. Heh, must have been nice to have someone normal around for dinner, it didn't sound like most people had the same problem she did. Great, so why her? She didn't need the extra trouble. "But making him angry isn't going to get us out of here. Don't you think he'd try something else if we did?"

Then, a hand immediately to her waist, as if something was supposed to be there. Obviously, there was nothing, and Yukari made an exasperated sigh in response. Oh, more great news-- she told Renamon she was going to keep track of that, too! Yet, it honestly was the last thing on her mind when the night began. She only wanted to get out, and didn't bother trying to remember everything else. "Sorry," she apologized. "I guess I forgot."

And what a lame excuse that was.

Renamon hadn't forgotten Yukari's condition at the beginning of the night. "I guess you were distracted. That's fine. Will you try for tomorrow?"

By now they had reached the possessions door. Renamon made no move to go inside, still stuck in thoughts made worse by her day. She crossed her arms, thinking. "Probably," she replied in turn. "But then he might do something, instead of us just wandering aimlessly."

An angered Landel and the missing radio obviously drew her thoughts to something that she'd been thinking about it since she first heard rumors from the man called Adel. "By chance, Yukari, do you know anything about an 'Alec Doyle', or 'Mr. Radio'?"

"Yeah," Yukari answered lamely. She also stopped a bit away from where Renamon had, resting both brooms against the nearby wall. Rolling the shoulder they had rested on, she made a small frown. "I don't know if I want to find out what that is. I don't think it'd be anywhere near good."

She then paused, mulling over Renamon's question... with an alias such as the latter, it was simple enough to put two and two together. "... Not much," Yukari replied slowly, almost mournfully. "Except a few nights ago, Landel claimed to have killed 'the man over the radio'." What a night that was. The announcement was hardly anything she needed to hear about at the time, especially after a certain event happening so recently...

... Had it already nearly been a week? It felt incredibly disrespectful, coming from a disastrous event back home to here, having to push aside that for the sake of surviving with their own lives now. Uhg... There was absolutely nothing right with this picture.

Much as she hated to deliver this news, Yukari knew Renamon would want to know this-- she was after all sorts of information. With this, she finished, "He... left his body somewhere for anyone to find. Supposedly. I don't know what happened after that."

[0_0...I completely already replied to this.... -_-;]

"It'd be a kind of progress however." Movement. She knew the girl didn't agree with her, that much was clear, but Renamon remained steadfast in the knowledge that this neutrality was worse than most deaths.

She was silent as she listened to Yukari, seeming for all the world like she was contemplating the door in front of her. Landel killing Alec Doyle went along with what she was told. For some reason she wanted to know if anyone had found the body. She'd ask over the Board, maybe. Supposedly this man was something of a savior to some people, and if he had the power to control this game, she'd do well to learn about it. And the man himself was caught in intrigue. Of course Renamon was curious.

She was silent only a moment more, then rotated her neck. "Right then; thank you. I suppose we shouldn't stay in the hallway any later than necessary." Her stillness was disrupted a second later when she brought her heel down on the knob, cracking the whole thing off. Things were bothering her, that was certain, but far be it for her to let it affect anything other than how hard she fought.

[to here]

_{[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/432778.html?thread=35584650#t35584650)]}

“Did you grow up in Japan, then, or study elsewhere?” He spoke over his shoulder this time, taking a moment to examine the nearby doors. Some locks were still intact. Nobody had come this way yet?

The two girls he’d seen were still in the hallway--he could see their flashlights and hear their voices, even if he hadn’t gotten a good look at their faces.

The patient possessions room was at the very end of the hall… maybe it’d be as free from creepy crawlies as most of the hallways they’d traversed. He wished. As much as he’d like to see the woman behind him show some of her skill, he didn’t really want to see it in use.

"I grew up in Japan," Naomi answered, nodding. "But I moved to America, for college, when I was eighteen." Still no monsters. It was like last night - empty hallways, and monsters in the final destination. And she had a feeling they may encounter something worse than bats.

"I ended up just staying," she went on, secure in her cover story to discuss her supposed life casually. "I liked America, and...well...I don't think I could go back to Japan now."

"America, huh?" There were a lot more foreigners in Japan now than there had been ever before, but the doll's world, for all its strangeness and versatility, was tied to Japan. More often than not, Jigoku Tsuushin's reach stayed within the bounds of the island. "Never been."

Call him a homebody.

He glanced behind him at the sound of others, recognizing both Arlene's roommate and the British accent of Arlene's friend. Well, he was sort of there as a guest, so it was up to Maki to attract their attention or not.

"Did you end up leaving your family behind in Japan?" he asked lightly.

Following in the path of the other two girls, he tried to see exactly what they were up to when they broke the lock on the door and went inside. Guess they were after the same goal.

"My parents," Naomi said. She didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that her roommate was in the same area. She had things to do, and they were so close....

It looked like they wouldn't even have to break in themselves.

"They...wanted a different sort of life for me," she explained. "And I knew exactly what I wanted. Things didn't exactly turn out that way, but I can't go back to Japan. I can't go back to that sort of life."

Where she was expected to be a wife and mother, to put aside her dreams and goals and do the right and proper thing. She'd never wanted that, and it had taken too much for her to realize her mistake in giving in.

"I see. I suppose as long as you're happier where you are, right?" he offered congenially, his tone more solicitous than curious. He didn't want her to clam up by showing interest, or likewise openly pry. Asking about life wasn't usually a delicate situation. Usually. He was used to deep, dark secrets and regrets, the kinds of mistakes or character flaws that drove people to ask for their help in the first place. He was used to innocent questions turning into ugly affairs.

"America's culture's so much different; sounds like an interesting place to live."

Since it'd been made abundantly clear that that there were many differences in how the two sexes went about their business, which continued to mollify Wanyuudou, no matter how many foreigners he dealt with. Ren didn't get involved with society's trappings all that much, existing above that sort of thing. He only knew what he'd been forced to live.

As they came up to the door, he spoke again, if only to give some warning to the two inside. "What did you want to study?"

"I do okay."

She couldn't say she'd been happy. But she supposed 'Maki' was. Maki was good natured and friendly and didn't seem to let the fact that life had landed her working in the sex trade bother her any. Naomi supposed if she was stuck having to use that as a cover, at least the persona she'd adopted wasn't some battered, shrinking woman.

"It's a lot different. But...I don't know, I love it. And I love Los Angeles, and I loved Boston. I love the places and the people and everything else." She smiled a little.

"Oh, I wanted to go into Gender Studies," she said, thinking that safe enough as she paused outside the door. "Study women in history, the women's right movement, the sexual revolution.... I really couldn't do that in Japan. I wanted to go into writing, too, and my parents....wanted me to settle down with a nice man from a good family and have lots of babies."

_{[into here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/442593.html?thread=35675873#t35675873)]}

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/432778.html?thread=35646602#t35646602)

Interesting. The Bride's flashlight illuminated the back of her roommate a bit further down the hallway. She was curious if her and her 'date' were heading the same place she was. A couple moments later and they had moved past the door she wanted. Maybe she'd ask Maki later on what she'd been up to.

"Fourth door on the right," she told Donna as she slowly headed down the hall.

"It's not that simple for me, then." Nothing ever was when it came to her family anyway. "And they're not here right now to see you being stubborn. Fat chance you'd tell them either."

"Of course not," Beatrix replied, carefully watching for creatures. "There's no need to trouble my wards with my injuries. Especially, Hanyuu." She sighed. "She's the youngest and reminds me a lot of my daughter."

And the depression that the littlest of her wards seemed to have fallen into was troubling. Maybe she should tell Mion about it; perhaps Hanyuu will respond better to someone closer to her own age.

"Good, so listen to the one who could guilt trip you like they might, but won't because she doesn't think you've been stupid enough to deserve one... yet," Donna snapped slightly, yet still kept all that sarcasm that made her who she was. With how things had gone between the two, it was doubtful a conversation devoid of any sarcasm would ever come up anyway.

And now she was mentioning a daughter. Donna could play to that. "I bet your daughter would throw a fit if she knew you were here. She doesn't, does she?" Donna's own family wouldn't know she was here either.

The Bride's voice suddenly turned cold and deceptively calm as he eyes narrowed.

"They took her from me when they captured me. I don't know how, but she was with me just before I woke up here." A pause, her voice thawing a bit. "She must be very scared..."

A separated family. Maybe Donna had said the wrong thing.

"Hey, it's all right. At least she's not here, yeah?" Donna didn't actually know where the girl may've been, but it was better to hope that she really was not in a place like this than to hope that she was.

"I don't know," the Bride replied, her voice actually breaking a little. She gripped the knife so tight her knuckles stood out white. "It doesn't seem like it. She must be elsewhere."

She stopped in front of the door she wanted and sighed, trying to make herself calm down. It was locked. "Sorry... remember I'm a little crazier than normal because of her. Well, ready?"

Donna set a hand to the woman's shoulder and peered around and up at her a little. "It'll be all right. Like I said, that Doctor's here and he always gets things back to normal no matter what. And you're no crazier than some people," and things, "I've met, so don't think anything of it."

'I want to meet the Doctor; if he somehow manages to find my daughter I'll..." She fell silent for a moment. "I don't know what I'll do. I hope he is worthy of the faith you place in him."

Beatrix gave donna a small, tired smile, and then pointed at the door with the knife. "Do you want the honors of kicking it open or shall I take care of it?"

"You will, probably. He's around here somewhere, figuring things out I bet." She looked up, thinking that he was in that basement mentioned, running like his life depended on it. No doubt he'd made something else mad. "And he is. Terribly," she looked back down, "But don't use 'worthy'. It'd go to his head if he ever heard that." And him being even more egotistic was the last thing Donna wanted to deal with.

She gave the door a look. "Unless you've got some frustrations to take out, I wouldn't mind giving it a go." It wasn't wood like in the Library, but Donna had confidence in her ability to take out a door of any kind. Or die trying.

I'll try to keep that in mind. We can't have another egotistical British man competing with mine," Beatrix replied in an off-handed way, not quite realizing the phrasing she'd used when her mind wandered to Mason.

She then stepped back and gestured grandly at the door. "Give it what for."

"I told you, he's not British." Or from Mars either. God, had she just sounded like him? "But I'd love to see another guy put him in his place for once. Not that it's a bad thing to see us women do it."

Since Arlene didn't have a problem with letting Donna deal the blow, she squared up the door, took a deep breath and aimed a kick right for the handle.

"Ah yes... yes you did. My bad," the Bride replied. That was odd of her to forget. She supposed the oxycodone was affecting her mental capacity more than she'd thought. No matter, she was still fine. She'd onyl increased the recommended dosage by one pill.

Not that Donna knew that.

"Decent kick. Did it do any good?" She shined the light on the handle to get a better look.

"Not sure." He foot was tingling slightly, but you couldn't get anywhere without a little pain. She brought it down and gave a look at the handle. "Dented it a bit. One more kick should do." She pulled back again and aimed another at the same spot. This time the handle went clanging to the floor while Donna's foot felt a little numb. "Whoo, there we go!"

"Not bad," Beatrix replied, moving the handle to the side with her foot. "Kick doors in often?"

Donna shrugged, "Every now and then." She waited a little before actually setting any weight on her foot and found that it was not as bad as she'd thought. "Helps a lot when you're running for you life."

"Running for one's life is never pleasant," the Bride replied, pushing the door open cautiously. "Especially, when there's a skilled killer after you."

[to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/444226.html)

[from here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/444226.html?thread=35811906#t35811906)

Once in the hallway, seeing no creatures poised to attack them, Beatrix glanced back at Donna as they walked. If the woman wanted any of the items they collected, she better speak up.

"Not sure what I'd need any for..." Donna took a moment to think, then gave the bag she held a glance, "Maybe I should take something in case." Pain medicine could always be used for something.

"Never hurts to be prepared," Beatrix replied. She mused that the phrase was one of those children groups' motto or something. She'd never been in one of those groups... unless 4-H was counted, but she liked to pretend she'd never participated in a stock show and the like.

[to here] (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/441093.html#comments)

[From here.]

"If that's the case then you're better off without the shovel altogether." While it would've proved to have some use in defense considering the potential strength that it could endure, having a weapon he had little to no expertise in would do more harm than good in the end. Sync wasn't sure why the kid was even carrying it around in the first place, but it was obviously too late to back down now.

The God-General quickly turned the corner into the next hallway, catching sight of at least a few people lingering around and frowned at this discovery.

Huh, people? That was actually kind of surprising, seeing as how he and the green-haired kid had spent most of the night in relative silence. The streets of Shibuya, this was not. Though on the other hand, it was good to know that Sync wasn't one for crowds; another tidbit of information stored away for a rainy day.

As for the obvious point? Joshua sighed and shrugged his shoulders. "Some white-haired guy gave it to me, and I really couldn't turn down such a kind-hearted offer. ...besides, one of us should have a backup just in case, right?" Unless his partner was good with his fists... even though that seemed like such an underwhelming choice, given the clawed monstrosity he'd seen in the Sun Room.

Sync stood back and watched as an array of people meandered into different rooms, taking a note of who was in what so he could go for one that wasn't occupied by people. It was a real disappointment too, especially since he could hear out snippets of a conversation in the janitor's closet nearby.

"Sure, a backup." The God-General didn't think they'd have to use it, but upon further inspection the door across from the janitor's closet seemed to be locked. He gave it a few tries before glancing over his shoulder at his 'partner'.

"Hey, you're in luck. Why don't you put some use in that thing and open this door?"

"Is it natural for you to go at locked doors with a shovel?" Joshua would have preferred a key, himself, either that or someone nice and big to batter the door down for them. Especially when the door seemed rather solid to him, without much space to slide the metal edges in and pry them out.

So then, why not throw the question back at the other boy and see what exactly he had in mind? "I'm afraid I've never tried it that way before. Exactly how should I go about it?" And yet, somehow, his tone of voice made it sound like Joshua found the question both droll and horribly amusing in its simplicity.

"It's called 'improvising'. Ever heard of it?" Really, what kind of question was that? It wasn't like he could pull out a ring of keys from his pocket, and so brute force was, by far, the best method for getting through miniscule obstacles like this. Sync was half tempted to just take the shovel, but before he could even move someone else was already attempting to kick the door down.

The God-General just raised a brow and watched as a pair of women made their way inside before wandering back out a minute or so later. It didn't look like they took much with them, and so the teen merely shrugged before stepping back.

"Ladies first."

"Well yes, I have. I'm just curious about how you apply a shovel to a-"

And then the question was answered by the door being kicked down in front of them, much to Joshua's gratitude. He hated sweating if he could possibly help it, and someone else wasting energy for his benefit? He couldn't find anything at all to complain about that.

After the green-haired boy said that, Joshua giggled. Oh, this was just like before; his partner was snarky and upset, and left himself open for some teasing. So why not? As Joshua slipped into the room, he answered, "It's customary to say that before they come into the room, not after they leave. You're going to have to be a lot faster if you're going to be my partner."

It was times like these where the God-General was unsure whether he wanted to laugh or break his 'partner's' neck, but he decided to take it with a bit of good humor in the end.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sync answered in a teasing tone as he followed the latter into the room. "I still see one right in front of me."

[To here.]

_{[from here]}

There were people in this hall, unlike the last. Two new faces, two old. Both groups were relatively unharmed and weren't being attacked by more giant, rotting bats, so that, at least, spoke against any monsters lurking in that hall.

Because really, if there were any predators nearby, they'd go for the more vulnerable targets. It was basic instinct.

Aidou's tongue flicked out to wet his lips, another sign of a satisfied appetite, and continued down the hall with swift, silent footsteps. Vampires were difficult to sense coming even at the best of times, and he wasn't too worried about being spotted or otherwise held up.

_{[to here]}

Edited 2008-08-31 05:22 (UTC)

East Wing, Hall (2-)A

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject