damned_institute | Nightshift 40: M11-M20 Hallway

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Nightshift 40: M11-M20 Hallway

[M12]

There was this 'Avatar' again, the thing that supposedly linked one's consciousness within this video game. Klavier couldn't quite understand how such a thing could help anyone fight, but he was certain that this connection had something to do with how and why Endrance was taken. If this really wasn't something every player experienced, then there was little doubt others might find such a thing interesting, yes? He still wasn't sure how this all worked, but preserving this connection had to be the point of it all. At least in this particular case.

Any further discussion on this or the strange 'Kira' murders was cut short with the intercom announcement. If one could call it that. Herr Doktor's voice and demeanor changed come nightfall, true, but this was stranger than usual. In fact, he couldn't even be sure if it was the doctor. It was far too raspy to identify either way.

This was getting more bizarre with every evening. First taunting then what may or may not have been snoring... and now this strange dilapidated voice?

"Open the box?" he repeated. What could he possibly mean by that? ...Wait. Was this voice even addressing the patient population? It seemed too specific a thing to say to everyone. Could this be a message for Herr Doktor? Or was this a message for a specific party? Maybe someone had managed to do something recently...

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"I will." There was an unintentional note of relief in Yue's tone, a bleedover from his other self; they were both of a similar opinion in this matter even if Yukito was more demonstrative of it.

The guardian hesitated for a moment before he glanced down, releasing Touya's arm again as though he'd forgotten he was holding onto it. "It's strange, though," he observed, turning away abruptly. "They've never stationed anyone so close to the rooms before that I know of. Normally this is the safest place in the building at night. Perhaps something has changed."

And if their rooms were no longer safe, what would they do? It wasn't a pleasant prospect.

Touya looked down at his arm when Yue did, as though wondering if there was something on it he should be worried about. But then Yue just let go of it and turned away from him. What the heck was that about...?

"Maybe something to do with that weird announcement?" Touya proposed, leaning his bat against Yue's desk and crossing over to the bed. If that guy was as powerful as Yue thought, they might be here a while. He sat down. "I couldn't even tell if it was the head doctor guy or someone else."

"It's possible." Even though Touya sat down Yue remained standing, folding his arms across his chest as he considered, frowning thoughtfully. "It was certainly different from any that I've heard before, but I don't know what would have changed."

Not that he really paid that much attention to what the other groups were doing at night, apart from what was written on the board. It was possible that someone could have found or done something - but was it progress toward getting out of the place, or trapping them more thoroughly?

"But if the rules have changed, I'm not sure what we'll find out there," he added, looking even less pleased. "It could be even more dangerous now anywhere in the building."

"Sounds fun," Touya said wryly, laying back with his hands behind his head. Even if Yue wasn't going to relax, Touya was still moving rather slowly. But the exhaustion was slowly lifting, thankfully.

"If things are more dangerous, we'll just have to run faster," Touya said with a small smirk. Not like that plan of action would actually work, but it was something at least. "We can't just sit here, though, and wait for somebody else to find a way out. We need to move forward."

Yue had once felt that strongly about escaping, but - somehow that had been lost over the last few days. Between everything that had happened, had dragged at him and tried to pull him into giving up out of despair, he'd been starting to give in. And yet he hadn't even realized the extent of his growing apathy until faced with Touya's untouched determination.

"Hn," was all he replied, though, gaze sliding sidelong and away from Touya as he suppressed a flare of guilt. He shifted a little, trying to adjust wings that weren't present, and after a minute added, "Are you feeling less tired tonight?"

Hopefully he would be. If people healed faster here, it seemed right that Touya would likewise recover more quickly than he had at home.

"I'm fine," Touya replied, his tone somewhat edgy. "But you don't think we're going to get out, do you?" he asked, looking directly at Yue. Most likely, he wouldn't look back, but Touya stared him down nonetheless.

"It's pretty obvious," he continued. "You didn't even open your mouth, and you looked away from me. Then you changed the subject." Touya had an uncanny ability to tell things about people--even when he'd just met them. He didn't even notice it, half the time. It just seemed natural.

"Yukito can't lie to me, and neither can you. Sorry," he shrugged. "That's another thing you two have in common."

"...I don't know." There was a pause before the admission, which was given grudgingly and with Yue still refusing to look at Touya even though he was well aware he was looking at him.

He shouldn't have been surprised that the evasion had been noticed, considering that this was Touya. At the same time, though, he realized that he'd been considering this Touya separate from the Touya he'd known, if only because of the shared history that was lacking.

The guardian sighed softly, casting a wary glance toward the door at the sound of the scuffle in the hallway; he was still uncomfortable at the idea of just waiting for it to end but his reasons still stood. "People have been here for weeks and there seems to be no progress. Unless those who have "disappeared" somehow managed to find their way back home."

"Everyone else doesn't matter," Touya said firmly, standing up and moving into Yue's line of sight. He glared at the guardian for a moment. He wasn't going to let this go by. He wouldn't let Yue go on thinking that everything they did or were going to do was pointless. It would drag him and Yuki down.

"...you haven't stopped fighting though. If you had, you would have told me to stay in my room and just be safe all night. Every night. Instead the first thing you told me I needed was a weapon. If you didn't think there was any hope, you wouldn't have put me in danger like that.

"Screw 'there seems to be no progress'," he finished.

What he said was true, and Yue couldn't deny it. His first impulse had been to protect from inevitable danger - danger that would be encountered in the hallways, not while cowering in dark rooms and waiting for the end to come.

Or we would have given in and left with them, Yukito whispered, with distinct sympathy. They had already chosen not to believe what the Institute told them, and wasn't the futility of escape just another one of them?

The guardian's expression softened just a little, as he couldn't help but meet Touya's eyes. For a moment Yukito smiled both in acknowledgement and encouragement, but then Yue straightened and cleared his throat quietly. "Where did you want to start, then?"

Edited 2009-04-20 04:39 (UTC)

Touya blinked, then smiled back. Yuki was in there somewhere, which he supposed was the source of the smile. But more importantly, his words had gotten through to both of them and Yue seemed willing to start in again.

"Don't look at me," Touya said with a small laugh. "You know this place better. What have people been aiming for lately? Any place in particular?"

"There are several options that I've heard of," Yue began, returning to his usual neutral expression with a small effort. "I wouldn't suggest the basement or outside the walls without a larger and better armed group, from what I've heard of it. They both seem quite dangerous, and therefore possibly promising."

He paused then to consider, frown deepening as he did, though not out of any apparent irritation. "I'd found a door in the library but haven't been able to investigate further, but to get there would require passing through the Sun Room, which tends to be one of the best-guarded areas at night. Or we could simply gather supplies for tonight, upstairs."

Alright, now they were getting somewhere! The basement sounded good, if people thought it was both dangerous and promising. Same with over the wall.

"If it's something to look into, then we need a larger, better armed group," Touya agreed. "We'll find one and go down there. Or over the walls. Whichever. It can't be that hard to find allies.

"Tonight, though, supplies sound like a good idea. What sorts of things do you think would be helpful?"

Yue shook his head slightly and moved back over toward the desk, retrieving his journal from the drawer and pulling out his maps. "I've not explored the second floor very much," he admitted, tracing a fingertip over the route he'd followed in the past. The last venture hadn't gotten very far at all before they'd encountered the brainwashed patient with a sword. Before that, though...

The guardian tapped a fingertip against one of the rooms on the map. "I've been to the so-called 'patient possessions' room, but nothing else in this corridor. There seem to be supplies of varying kinds up there, though, judging from the amount of people who were also heading that direction."

He paused there, though, eyes narrowing slightly as he lifted his head, looking as though he were listening to a sound only he could hear. "He's leaving," was all he said, before abandoning the map to glance warily out the door.

"Then we'll do that," Touya said. "Maybe do a sweep of the whole floor, see if there's anything interesting up there." Like a weapon that might be a little bit better than a bat. He could hope, at least. Medical supplies, in case of injury while away from the patient block, would also be useful. So would survival-type articles like ropes or extra batteries or water. They'd have to make a kit of some kind.

When Yue announced that the powerful person was leaving, Touya stood up and moved closer to him, waiting for the final verdict. "Is he gone? What about the other person?"

"He seems to be." Yue frowned at what he could see of the scene in the hallway now: he didn't recognize either the fallen man or the man dragging him to safety, but there didn't seem to be anyone else involved. As for the brainwashed patient he'd sensed (if that was really what it was, which seemed most likely tonight) there was no sign at the moment.

He glanced back at Touya again and shook his head slightly. "There's only one injured person, and someone else seems to be tending to him." Even if he'd had all of his powers, healing was never one of them, so there was little for him to do at this point. "I can't sense anything out of the ordinary at the moment." Although "ordinary" for here was entirely relative, of course.

"Alright then," Touya said, picking up his bat and shouldering it. If the injured person was taken care of and the threat was gone, then there was no reason to just stand around here.

"Let's head out, then. If he's gone, we just have to avoid him now." Which Touya hoped Yue could help with.

It seemed best to move now, before whoever-it-was decided to return, if he was planning to. Yue nodded slightly, but paused a moment before leaving. If they were going to be looking for anything that might potentially be interesting...

He stepped back into the room long enough to strip the case off his pillow, then hesitated and took Ken's as well. His roommate was gone and probably not intending to return, and if he did - well, there were other rooms and other pillowcases and they seemed to be replaced daily anyway. Yue just remembered how awkward it had been when he'd been upstairs the last time without a carry-bag.

In order to keep his hands free Yue almost absently folded the pillowcases and tucked then into the waistband of his pants, heading out without another word, only a slight nod in Touya's direction as he moved out again.

[going here]

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