Day 43: Chapel

[constellates.livejournal.com]

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]

Comments

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

"What a wonderfully practical point of view," she noted, completely serious. Sure, for some gods, it was their mission to help the weak and defenseless, but truly, of what interest were they? Those who needed divine aid to just make it to the border of average above failing would probably never make it above mediocre. But someone who stood on their own two feet, well, at least then, whether or not their prayers were heard, they'd be somewhere.

"That kind of confidence is even better than depending on outside assistance," she complimented with a lazy smile. "Especially in a place like this, where it seems we've all been cut off from the outside that we know." Yukari herself would not have minded help from Suika or Yuyuko right now; she was sure nothing could keep the oni imprisoned for long, and with the ghost... well, they'd think of something.

"Yukari Yakumo, by the way," she added, sitting up from her slouch to greet him properly. "And you are..?"

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

"Kurt. Wagner," he added, smiling a little. He was still in low spirits from the fight last night, though he hoped Yukari wouldn't hold it against him. He also tended to be more mellow and well-behaved while in religious places, as a rule.

"But, if we all depended on outside assistance, we wouldn't get anywhere, right?" he said looking to the front of the chapel. "I'm not the type of Catholic who believes that God's hand is going to come out of the clouds, pick me up and carry me out. But in the face of such wrong, He could only be on our side."

The side of the people caught in a war that they had nothing to do with. It wasn't exactly a new thing.

He turned to Yukari, smiling. "Were you just curious, or are you here to pray as well?"

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

"It's nice to meet you, Kurt," she said amicably. Catholic? That was a sect of Christianity, wasn't it? Her grasp of that particular branch of religion was fuzzy at best, being both European and still going strong enough that their chances of being forgotten like those things of Gensokyo were, for the time being, slim.

"Well, I couldn't imagine anyone who sided with the doctor being any good," agreed Yukari. Of course, good or not, most divine beings sided with their followers, and she just couldn't imagine an egotist like Landel bowing before any god, Christian or otherwise.

"A little of both," she admitted. "Curiosity has always been one of my favorite motivations." Right up there with restless boredom. "And while I didn't come here for prayer in the strictest sense, this room seems like an appropriate place for reflection." Even if it was just a sham, like the rest of the institute. "It has certainly been a busy time since I arrived."

[fuzzy-diablo.livejournal.com]

"Mm," Kurt agreed with a nod. "I think that even if you aren't Christian or whatever, a church should be a place where anyone can come for reflection or guidance. I mean... I guess this place isn't really a church or anything, but it's a place where everyone can come together in quiet thought and just... hope together."

The young mutant laughed awkwardly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all sappy there. But it does seem to be the quietest room in the building, doesn't it?"

[mind-the-sukima.livejournal.com]

It really wasn't a church; they didn't even have a staff pastor much less mass or any other bits that made up religion. This was just a decorated room. And it definitely didn't have any proper relics or artifacts or other items of power. Still, if enough people, even - especially? - desperate, trapped people, gathered their faith in one spot, perhaps a miracle could really occur.

"No, no, it's not a bad thought at all," Yukari said with a gentle smile. "Hope is a very powerful thing. You may not always notice it, but when a people have none, it's absence is sharply felt." A lot of meaningless rituals served the sole purpose of creating hope where there otherwise was none.

"And it certainly much quieter than the Cafeteria, or even the Sun Room," she agreed. "So, were you praying anything in particular, or just a standard 'give me the strength to survive this madhouse' plea?"