damned_institute | Day 43: Chapel

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Day 43: Chapel

And just like that, the disorienting feeling of blacking out just to wake up in an unfamiliar bed came again. Alkaid had wondered if it would - everything about last night had been different, all the way from the zombies to the eerie emptiness of the Institute to the strange broadcast at the end of the night. Had the Head Doctor been shot? Damn, someone had gotten to it before her. And who was the voice at the end there? It was like she'd been allowed access to some kind of strange mystery that she could not understand, one that had been going on for a long time before she had arrived and would be going on for quite a while in the future, after she was gone. Had these strange sets of circumstances been bugs in this place's programming? Who could say?

The morning's intercom greeting was strange, as well. Federal training whatsit? It didn't seem like this happened very often, from the sound of it, but so much had happened since the last day she remembered that the former Demon Palace Emperor was ready to take pretty much anything at face value.

The room she woke up in was still empty. Wondering where to stick the half-cracked bat that she'd picked up last night, she shoved it under the mattress hastily when she heard footsteps in the hall.

The stupid nurse was the same as ever, though. Some things never changed. "Ahh, good morning, Eileen. It's so nice to see you awake."

Alkaid rolled her eyes at the nurse's chuckle, and shook her head. She didn't care that the NPC thought it was nice, she just wanted to see the rest of the institute already.. see what had changed! "Yeah, it's fantastic. Whatever! Just take me where I'm going and be done with it!"

It was just then that she realized that she was not wanting to devour the flesh of the nurse in front of her. And that the pain on her arm had kind of abated - she couldn't see through the thick bandages they had covered her arm with, but she wondered if her skin was still rotting off like a zombie. Had they somehow cured her infection overnight? Or was the nurse not human, like Alkaid had always thought?

There was only one thing for it: she had to go somewhere else.

"Chapel, sun room, or cafeteria, then?"

"Does it look like I care?"

The nurse sighed, then started walking Alkaid down the hall, up the stairs, and down another hall to the chapel. No one here yet, huh? That was weird. She couldn't imagine that no one else'd show up, but who could say? This place had been turned on its ass.

The chapel was empty so far, and kind of nondescript. She shooed the nurse away, and stood in the middle of the space between the pews, standing akimbo. What would happen today? What would she learn about herself... her situation? How long had she been sleeping? Was she really still going freaking undead, or had that been somehow taken care of?

All this would come to light really soon. She hoped. Geez, too many mysteries!!

[unwittingly awaiting Haseo]

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Alkaid pulled her legs up to her chest, her heels resting on the edge of the pew. She was keeping her hands to herself now. But... what was this? It was almost like - he didn't even remember that she'd come back. When he said it that way, she wondered how much he had remembered about her when he had been here before. Haseo was an expert at being reticent, so he didn't know how much he'd remembered about her before she'd been put out... but this was getting really wacky. And she frankly didn't like it. Not one single bit!!

"Haseo..." she started, still staring in front of her, taking a long pause before she spoke again, trying to collect her thoughts. "I know for a fact that I've seen you with three different job extensions. You got another one while I was gone. You gotta believe me!"

She swallowed, remembering the time that the Haseo-from-before had run up and hugged her. Had he too not remembered that she had come back? Or was he somehow unexpectedly excited or something that she'd come to see him in this hellhole? Heh heh, it was probably that.

Trying to change up the growing-somber mood, she stuck her tongue out. "Aaanyway, I guess if you don't remember what happened before, that means I've got the keys to your future, druggie!" She slapped him on the back, grinning. "We had a lotta fun, ya know."

Maybe that last part had been a fib (she'd done some hardcore leveling up since she'd been back in The World, and not enough making Atoli jealous, which had grown to be a pastime of hers) but messing with Haseo might prove to be a little fun. Actually, running around the other night with this guy and Badou had been pretty exciting. So maybe they did have fun. Whatever!

Expression intentionally neutral, Haseo stretched his arms in front of him, forced to hide a wince at the pain in his left when he turned his attention to it. Another Job Extension? He had no real reason to disbelieve her, but... he couldn't help but think people would stack on the accusations of cheating even more if he was running around with access to four different weapon types when the system really only allowed two or three depending on what Classes were chosen in the process of making an Adept Rogue character.

"Hey, I'm not a druggie!" he protested, and resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he gingerly settled back into place. Lots of fun indeed. Training that was hot and intense or whatever, surely. Geez... she always had had a thing for abruptly changing the subject. Haseo, however, couldn't quite let it go. Or have the patience at the moment to reminisce about times that had passed.

Fingering one of the bandages again, he turned to Alkaid and raised his eyebrows, "Oh yeah? Then what Class is this... mysterious other Job Extension?"

Alkaid grinned. "Are too a druggie. Probably not by choice, I can tell. Musta made them really mad, huh." The effects of his sedation were a little obvious to her by now. The Haseo she knew wasn't ever in such a 'blah' state!! He was strong, and fast, and - well, awesome. Not this slow-moving, eternally-dazed creature! Stupid nurses. Rrrgh.

When he asked about the other extension he'd received, she frowned. She had never played an Adept Rogue character in The World, so she wasn't entirely sure how the Adept Rogue setup happened, but she knew it had been a special class. Maybe he'd been privy to a new event or something, but... how to explain it?

"Uhh... I don't know, actually. I never saw anyone fight like that! You used guns, and wore white! Like a modern white knight or something!" Pff, like he'd believe her, but it was worth trying. "It was way cool! Not as cool as this good ol' design, though." She patted her chest.

"Punched a nurse," Haseo answered blandly. He didn't mention his suspicions about the zombies and how, yeah, he probably would have been pretty fucking mad if he hadn't already been knocked over chemically when he got up. The anger at that burned low and he swallowed tensely, acknowledging the detached emotion even if it was... a little off. He'd definitely have to check on the others to be sure they were actually alright, though that was harder to do without short mail or similar... he had the sense to be slightly embarrassed at himself and his current behavior now, although there wasn't really anything that could be done about it. The desire to give up and drape himself over a pew to sleep had to be pushed aside.

He drew back a bit at being praised, tilting his head. Guns? His first thought was Steam Gunner of course, but surely Alkaid would know what that was if she saw it- they weren't all that rare, and she was an Arena Emperor even if her Title had been appropriated by Endrance and then himself. "Uh, thanks, I guess," he said, eyes drifting downward to follow her hand.

-- Er.

Turning forward, Haseo studied the room with renewed interest. He thought it seemed strange, although admittedly he wasn't all that familiar with what a chapel or whatever was supposed to look like, other than vague memories of what he'd seen in media and, well, the Hulle Granz Cathedral - Δ Hidden Forbidden Holy Ground from a Chaos Gate... and apparently the entryway to this very building when that weird "Kite" guy had a hand in it. The Adept Rogue stared, frown deepening as he imagined a glowing mark manifesting at the front of the room, even though there wasn't really an altar to correspond to what was on his mind.

"Hey Alkaid," he said, and glanced back to meet her eyes, "So, have you... seen Shino around then?"

"Punched a nurse? Ahh, way to show 'em, Haseo!" She was kinda geeky for stuff like displays of power. Yeah, way to give this stupid place the ol' heave-ho! ...Even though they had drugs that The World never had in game, and affected them like a human body receiving a sedative might. "I never did anything like that. Didn't think the NPCs were worth my trouble, but after last night, I wanted to punch 'em, too." She rubbed her left arm unthinkingly.

"Yeah, I'm gonna make them pay for that," she added, a little quieter. Not that she knew how she would do that, or how they'd done it in the first place. But it was their fault she'd been convinced of her own death last night... That was terrorism!!!

At his question, she cocked her head slightly, looking at him. She'd never heard of someone named Shino. "Shino...? Uhhh, nope. Sure haven't. Who's that?"

Even if it was someone Haseo knew from The World, he had never mentioned her, and they'd never been in a party together. She hadn't really been in a party with too many different people when he had invited her along. Mostly it had been Atoli, like when they were training for the Arena all together.

.... In the end he seemed to be one step closer to an answer that would relieve so many of his concerns, but left just short of finally reaching it. Of course.

Haseo's demeanor seemed to wilt just barely, Alkaid's exclamations against the Institute going mostly ignored (he hadn't even really been conscious when he'd struck the nurse anyway, so). What a way to rain on his parade-- not that he wasn't glad that Alkaid was okay, but...

"Really?" He leaned forward a bit, avoiding eye contact only half unintentionally, "It's-- she's... a Harvest Cleric. Looks a lot like Atoli...." Or rather, just this side of being identical to Atoli if it wasn't for the differences in color scheme, but the details were hardly important.

He would have really hoped that if Alkaid woke up, then so would Shino. At this he fought the mental haze harder than before, trying to figure out what it all meant. Perhaps it was possible that even if Shino got better, she and Alkaid would still run in different circles despite both being friends with him. That is, if she came back to 'The World' at all. After what Ovan had done... it'd be understandable if she didn't want to log in.

There was also the fact that the chances of brain damage or other complications increased the longer someone lied comatose. Shino was bad enough, and had already scared them on several occasions... Haseo had been at her side in the real world for over six months and-- what if?

"Haseo..." Alkaid sighed, voice a little gentler. She wasn't sure what to make of Haseo's current downtrodden demeanor. But it was kinda obvious that this Shino person was someone who meant a lot to her good friend, and she couldn't help but feel a little envious. It was like... instead of him being really happy that she'd come back, there was this big emotional wall there that not even she could hop over.

Maybe it was because of the drugs.

She tried to think if she'd seen anyone who was the spitting image of everyone's favorite cheerleader. "Someone who looks like Atoli, huh? W-well, uh.. I thought I saw someone who fit the description pass us- er, pass me a few nights ago, but I think that actually was Atoli. And that was in the Institute, so..."

She paused, searching for something else to say, then ended up lamely. "Ummm... Um!! Don't lose hope, though, Haseo! Your girlfriend's probably okay."

And that was a test. She'd see how he reacted to it.

Haseo paused a moment longer, not quite sure what to do next. At Alkaid's assurances however, he finally broke from the spiral of close thoughts, looking up and breathing out slowly.

"Don't worry about it," he said, and tried to force himself to act like normal-- even if "normal" for now involved blatantly dismissing what was dragging him down. "Heh, if something happened to her, I probably wouldn't have... huh?" Without warning he cut off, feeling his brow draw together as he examined her expression. What was with the not noticing something she'd said until it was a bit too late this morning?

"Shino... isn't my girlfriend," he responded, and though it sounded steady, directly afterward he seemed uneasy, shifting and clearing his throat. Just a friend... probably. Er, a really close friend. Not that he was going to be making assumptions without her say, that is.

So far he hadn't been inclined to think that in these cases people weren't really taken from another time period or something- just that they didn't remember the the stuff between the present and what "future people" thought happened. After all, it had happened to him before, although it had been nearly seven years... maybe he should inform the nurses about his history of memory issues, haha.

He was tempted to ask how long she thought it had been from when he'd defeated Taihaku and Sakaki at the Sage Palace Tournament, but he also wasn't sure he even wanted to know. Instead he diverted his eyes once more to their surroundings, soon catching sight of Kibitoshin. Well, he seemed alright, which was... good.

"Wait, so were you in town last night?" he asked then, though he didn't look back. He should probably be more worried... dumb hags and their preemptive sedation.

"Town...? No, I was stuck in this semi-hell," Alkaid said, looking disdainfully at the Westernized chapel around her. "Showing a couple of noobs the ropes of this place. It was so quiet and dark, it was kinda eerie. Nothin' like normal. Oh, and the zombies were there for some reason, just to mix it up a little. Haha."

It had made her worry, in a way. Not that the great Alkaid worried about anything, but only hearing two other alive people besides her immediate group had shaken her normally-solid foundation.

But any more talking about the zombies and he might start asking about her obvious injury, so she'd talk about Shino some more.

So she wasn't his girlfriend, huh? So even the plebeians had some hope with this guy! That was a good thing. Even so, she felt the serious need to comfort Haseo, 'cause talking about it obviously made him nervous, what with the clearing his throat and the tone of his voice and everything. "Well, even if she isn't, you caaare about her, don't you?" She poked at his shoulder, hoping to urge an answer from him. "You wouldn't have whaaat? This is total news to me, so you gotta tell me all about this Shino person."

So the zombies had been here in the building too? Haseo couldn't even begin to consider all the uneasy possibilities brought forward by that revelation... and he kind of hoped Alkaid's comfort with the idea was a front of some sort, though it wasn't like he was about to go challenging her over it. Especially since the drugs made it so tempting to just resign himself to putting up his own practiced facade of indifference and try not to think about what he'd been forced to do in order to just make it through the night... and what might occur if it happened again the next time the lights went out.

Rrgh, but then Alkaid grabbed hold of the Shino topic and dragged it right back into the open, and more than ever Haseo wished that for once she could just leave something alone. He would have preferred not having to relive those scenes in his mind at the moment- he'd done it enough without one of the victims continuing to press it and insist on more information about the other. Then again, he'd already made the error of letting it go with Atoli, and that had... not turned out particularly well.

"About six or seven months ago she was the assistant guild master of the Twilight Brigade... it's not really a secret or anything," he muttered. Surely even if she didn't read the boards, she'd have seen the Arena match where Ovan was blabbing about being in the same guild... even if talk about Shino had since faded....

"Oh... that Shino, huh. I get it." Actually, Alkaid didn't pay too terribly much attention to other guilds, choosing instead to train herself and become a strong Twin Blade fighter. Being in Icolo hadn't exactly broadened her view of The World, instead narrowing it so that her life had revolved around being the Demon Palace Emperor. And when she had lost that to Endrance, it had almost been as if her purpose in The World had dwindled, and she had done whatever she could to get her position back, and even that had been for naught....

No, suffice it to say that she didn't pay much attention to other guilds at all. But even she had heard of the Twilight Brigade, and a small spark of recognition made her nod. Still, what were the other names associated with the guild? Ovan? ...oh, Haseo was one of her former guild members! Ahhhh, that made sense. She worried about people like Sirius, too. Though it looked like he wasn't caught up in this business, thank goodness.

The nurses were starting to haul people out of the chapel one by one now, so she knew she didn't have much time to continue their conversation. Still, she enjoyed Haseo's company, even when he was kind of being overly reticent about everything for what seemed to be no reason at all, and when he wasn't nearly as happy to see her as she'd have liked, in a perfect world... So she'd stay put until the nurses came to get them. That was the least she could do, probably.

She bit her lip for a moment, then spoke, controlling the slight bitterness in her voice. "Well, if I find anything about her, I'll let you know. It was.. really nice seeing you again, Haseo. Sorry."

"I think I'd rather... have it so nobody else shows up here who we'd know," Haseo said surely, if still clearly slowed in the way he spoke and held his posture. Even if someone who'd have a better idea about what the hell is going on here would help... but nobody deserves this.

He let out a long sigh as he too watched the nurses begin to escort "patients" from the room, but Alkaid made no move to leave just yet and that was something Haseo could live with for now (even though he'd managed to keep the conversation running so awkward somehow). He felt the slightest bit guilty for just going on like the misfortune was restricted to him... that was probably half the reason people seemed mad at him all the time- for not thinking of others...

He cleared his throat again, irritation breaking just barely as he aimed the ghost of a smile toward his found-again friend for the second time that day- even if this time he kept his hands to himself. "Likewise, Alkaid... thanks. If you see anyone else you recognize... tell me, got it?" Another beat passed, and he glanced at the nurses out of the corner of his eye, tone turning solemn once more, "And... if you need anything, just say the word."

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Day 43: Chapel

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