damned_institute | Night 43: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

"I'll be fine, Sou-chan," he replied calmly. Kio took the cigarettes quietly. There was no point in arguing now. He'd spotted the others. Who else could it be but Red and the Sullen Glittery One? Well, Kio could manage. He was a big boy now.

He pocketed the extra cigarette. If they didn't take it, he might keep it. Cigarettes could be useful sometimes. Lying. Another small lie. Anything to keep things going.

Kio watched his friend saunter down the corridor, dead inside. No words came to mind. Nothing to overcome the paralysing nausea in him. He would be fine. He always was. With a sigh, he made his way towards the ones holding the key to Sou-chan's freedom.

Rude...well, he didn't frown at Cissnei, but he might as well have. Why was she alone? Elena was supposed to be here too, unless she was still tired. Rude ought to check up on her. When Yuffie had asked after her, it had thrown him a bit. She was...alive and was gonna stay that way, but that didn't always mean people were okay. Well, some people. Rude and Reno generally felt pretty damn fine if they were still standing. Elena was still young though. And a girl.

But so was Cissnei. But...was Cissnei ok? Rude had completely chickened out of talking to her about serious things. Whatever. Reno's kinda thing.

Kinda...nice though. This. Lurking around dark halls to make mysterious exchanges and all that. Felt almost normal. Just needed his suit.

Rude watched the weird guy he'd thrown at Reno approach. Apparently he was the one after all the crazy shit. Didn't seem the sort to have a mini operation set up, but whatever. He nudged Reno to make the exchange.

"Well," Raz began to explain, "there would probably be a lot of PSI-blasts- err, which are psychic lasers, basically. And we would be using shields to guard ourselves and stuff, maybe levitate around or pick things up with our minds... Really, it's just like a regular duel with swords or fists, but in a psychic duel, your only weapon is your mind." He tapped his head lightly with his finger to illustrate his point.

"So, whaddya say, Abe? Interested?"

"Oh, you mean like telekinesis!" That sounded far safer for children than pillaging each other's minds. Psi-blasts were also foreign, but he supposed one might heat the air at a certain point in a straight line making it similar to a laser.

Abe shook his head. "I appreciate the offer, but I was planning on exploring further tonight. Perhaps another time?" It did sound quite exciting.

"Oh..." Raz said with a tinge of disappointment. It would have been nice to hang around a psychic that wasn't a psychotic math fanatic, but there was only so much he can have, he supposed. The boy shrugged. "Well, suit yourself. I'd explore around too if I hadn't already had this scheduled."

"See you around," he bid farewell to the tall man, but continued to say, "By the way... there are monsters around I hear. Be careful."

The Psycadet waved goodbye and headed south.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703548.html?thread=58643004#t58643004)]

Such strange goings-on here. Abe made a note to find out in the morning who won.

He took the other path, heading away from...Abe hadn't even gotten his name. Oh, well.

[To here. (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702705.html?view=58371569#t58371569)]

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/705712.html?thread=58685872#t58685872)]

Recluse made his way quickly and quietly through the hallways, heading for the rendezvous point. The odd flashes of half-formed images he was seeing out of the corners of his eyes certainly seemed to suggest what he'd suspected since he'd first woken here: the possibility that this was some manner of illusion or simulation.

Still, it was unlikely that he would be able to exit any such construct without knowledge of its interface, or a more thorough breakdown of functionality. Until then, his most immediate concern was whether he would be accosted by Marcus tonight. He'd probably get a glare like that from a disapproving parent for wearing his Arachnos uniform as usual.

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702380.html?thread=58704044#t58704044)]

The institute seemed to be in a very strange state tonight. Phantom images, halls and doors that he knew weren't there. Marcus spotted Stefan's familiar outline, and quickly noticed that he was in his Arachnos uniform.

Marcus had been about to comment on that, when a series of explosions distracted him, followed by a much larger one that shook the institute. That was no doubt a very damaging blast. Although Marcus wasn't sure where the damage was, it sounded like it came from above.

Ah, there was Marcus, and as predicted, looking ready to scold. How wonderful.

Fortunately, reality seemed to be on his side. Those explosions were very well-timed. Recluse casually turned his head in the direction of the noises, bracing slightly against the shockwave. He had the air of one distinctly unimpressed.

Once the noises died down, he turned back to look at his 'friend'. "It seems that more work has just arrived."

The statement of the obvious was met with a scowl. Yes, Marcus realized that there was more work. "Lets go. That sounded like it came from above, there may be people injured up there," Marcus took off at a quick jog. He couldn't see as well as Recluse at night but his hearing would alert him to any of the institutes minions that might attack them.

Hallways, hallways, hallways... at least something could be expected every night. Sokka wasn't complaining so much about not having windows anymore because of it, but he still wouldn't have minded just a bit of a change every now and then. Running along creepy hallways was pretty, well, creepy no matter how many times you did it each night.

Holding the blade and his flashlight close, he entered the next hallway.

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702746.html?thread=58731802#t58731802)]

Finding himself back in this position, Rorschach carefully considered his next course of action. He knew where turning left would lead him but perhaps he could find something if he went the other way. An Institution had to have files somewhere, perhaps they would give him some much needed perspective.

Hands in pockets, he slowly made his way down the opposite hallway.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703548.html?thread=58731068#t58731068)]

[Argh, sorry D: Didn't get notifications or anything -_-]

Cissnei seemed oblivious to Rude's frown, or at least, she made a good show of deliberately not noticing it. Perhaps she should have waited longer, but she was a big girl and could take care of herself. If he hadn't realised that by now then there was probably no hope for him. She nodded at Reno and then tensed a little as she heard someone approaching, moving up beside the other Turks in case it was an enemy or a monster. It was neither, but she still eyed the man warily as he approached. A trade? What were they trying to get hold of? And what did they have to trade in any case?

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702705.html?thread=58745841#t58745841)]

Almost there. Just had to get through this hallway and then one more before reaching the stairs.

There it was again. He could have sworn he'd seen a door this time, but when he turned to look, it was just another wall. Okay, this was happening way too many times for his comfort. Especially since this hadn't happened before.

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703548.html?thread=58747708#t58747708)]

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702705.html?thread=58700785#t58700785)]

He aimed his flashlight at one wall, and then the other, as he quickly walked through the next corridor; this hallway was similar to one he had gone through before, too. He eyed the two doors to his right as he neared the end of the hallway—on his way back to his room, he had seen some of the nurses going in and out of there. It must be some sort of staff-only room.

A quick attempt at the doorknob revealed that the door was locked. He was probably right, but he wouldn’t be able to check unless he got a key from somewhere.

Time to follow the path of least resistance for now, though. Minato turned his attention back to the open hallway and hurried onward.

((From here.)) (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/702746.html?thread=58750490#t58750490)

The question that Joshua had to ask was how, and whether, this I.R.I.S. bit actually played into what had already gone on. It was odd to introduce another voice as a leader this far into the Game, and 'she' was certainly quite a bit different than the individuals who had already shown up thus far. What was going on, Joshua had to ask himself.

Ah well. Joshua followed along as they went through the hallways, quiet for the moment. One week before the Heaper tried to finish him off, and he still wasn't making progress fast enough. For that matter, he was still nowhere near close enough to taking over the place for his own tastes. Such sloth was inexcusable, and yet, how to make things go faster...?

Sanae had opened his mouth to answer, but right then another garbled intercom message shot through with more screaming, wailing, and - a new one - ominous messages. "--As I was about to say, it's a nice change of pace - well, for now, at least. The mental asylum angle gets pret-ty routine, you know? So while I've got my questions, I at least appreciate the expansion of the horror game-like aspect. Think we'll get repercussions in the daytime, or are they gonna keep restricting things to night?"

In the end it meant more work for them since more obstacles had presented themselves, but that could be managed - although, neutralizing Minamimoto came first, of course. They had their priorities straight.

[Going here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703548.html?thread=58778172#t58778172)]

[to here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/703548.html?thread=58787644#t58787644)]

((From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/706079.html?thread=58648095#t58648095).))

The intercom was still being weird. Most people probably would have taken that as a cue to be extra-careful while walking down the dark corridors, but Luffy moved with confident, happy strides. Even though he would have been all right without the extra company, it was nice to have someone new and interesting to hang around with.

"So if you're not a ghost or a pirate, what are you?" he asked as he tossed a curious glance back toward his traveling companion.

Not that he expected or even wanted anyone's life story, but after all the cool things he'd heard about from other patients, Luffy couldn't help but want to ask a few questions about everyone he met. Maybe Kaworu was from a rainy planet like that one guy he ran into. Maybe that was why he was so pale!

[From here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/706079.html?thread=57977375#t57977375).]

Soubi walked slowly, keeping an eye out for Kio, half curious as to who it was that was making the exchange. The whole thing was just a mess now anyway. Ritsuka didn't want it, but he wasn't going to decide. He was leaving it up to Soubi again, which in some ways made sense. He was supposed to be the adult. But he wasn't good at independence. He could live on his own, sure. And he could make ends meet. But his primary role was serving a master and that influenced every other decision he made. The jobs he took were easy to dismiss if needed. College was a higher risk, but he attended enough to get the work done. He learned to drive to make it easier to work around Se- his Master.

He seemed to be surrounded by signs, but none of them were clear. He was just so incredibly lost right now.

Maybe tomorrow he'd refuse to do anything at all until directly ordered. He'd breathe. But that was all. Eating, talking, moving...they were all things that had to be ordered.

"I am an Angel," he said, although no matter how true it was, the words seemed strange. He had already decided that there was no cause to obscure that truth any longer, but he had never had a reason to say it until coming here.

While he had been growing up, everyone around him had simply known. They floated in and out of his life with very few questions for him. They would ask their charts, tests and machines if they needed to know anything further. Even Otacon had the information at his fingertips, and it was Kaworu who had been less informed.

The rest had found out when he had revealed himself, but it didn't require Kaworu to say anything. With one action, his identity became clear. Again, he hadn't needed to say anything. Shinji simply knew, and there were outside sources that had explained everything to him. The only questions he had were ones that Kaworu could not find the right answers to.

Saying it aloud made Kaworu feel a little isolated. His world was more private than ever.

Reno was about to ask about Elena, but the approaching figure distracted him. He tilted his head. Kio. Yeah, he remembered him. Kinda fun. Not a bad kisser. He hadn't expected to run into the guy again, though, but the again, he hadn't given it enough thought to expect not to see him, either.

He shrugged a shoulder, pointed a Rude. "He's running the show. Tell him to haul his ass."

Which was true. Anyway, wasn't like he wanted to lurk here forever, either. That'd be sort of a weird thing to want.

Night 43: West Wing, South Hall 1-A

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