damned_institute | Nightshift 22: 2nd floor, top of stairs by the medical reference library

Entry tags:

Nightshift 22: 2nd floor, top of stairs by the medical reference library

(from here)

"I'll take your word for it," Jack said. "All I ate was the cake." And as cake went, it had been pretty good, he had to admit.

And then they were at the top of the stairs. He hugged the inside wall for a moment, before slowly easing out into the new hallway, listening for anything untoward.

So far, so good.

"Looks like we have three choices," he said quietly over his shoulder. "Left, right, or straight."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Let's see what else is down here," Lyta said, swinging her flashlight about. The needles were a start, but she wanted something she knew could kill. Otherwise, she knew she'd get herself in a tough situation.

But they'd just have to keep looking. And she had taken charge of the group - it was what she did. Though her resistance force back home was a lot more useful than the one she had now. Of course, if she could hand pick her own team out of the patients she knew...

The telepath gave Envy a slightly knowing look as she passed him.

"No, it isn't," she said, in response to his comment as she headed into the hall. "You are trouble."

The Queen followed behind the boy, keeping up the rear. It would be better to keep the injured between them both, so one of them could keep an eye on him, while the other could keep their own eyes on the way ahead.

"So he attracted his own injuries?" Padme asked wryly. It was true that some people did things that brought on a retaliation in kind. The Trade Federation invaded her planet, she had retaliated: they'd attracted their own loss of face in the Senate because of their actions.

It was just something else to call someone to task on it so openly. It was a bit harsh of the other patient and that bluntness wasn't too common among the Naboo advisors around her.

It was refreshing, in a way. The boy probably wouldn't find it too amusing though.

He just blinked initially, surprised at her frankness. He had been thinking it, and then she just said it so plainly. It was stunning at first, and then... almost amusing. A little frightening, but amusing. Though all the things she said were more and more revealing her to be quite astute, and that did put him on edge. The girl spoke neutrally, almost sounding mildly offended on his account, at least the way he heard it.

Hesitant to let on any to any other revelations, he raised one side of his mouth in a wry smirk and said,

"I get that a lot."

Hopefully, something more important would come along and they could stop discussing him. It wasn't as easy to fake nice in these circumstances.

"That's not exactly what I meant," Lyta said, glancing up and down the hallway to check for creatures. She could feel the emotions off of both of them, and she was almost tempted to have a little more fun. Almost.

She wasn't completely lacking in morals, after all. And she may as well let Envy know how she was managing to be so observant.

"I take it you two don't have telepaths on your worlds," she went on, casually. "Of course, even if you do, you wouldn't have telepaths like me. You see, I've got this neat little gift. I know things about people without needing to be told. All kinds of things. Even the things you don't want other people to know. Usually I can control it, but here..." She shrugged, lying easily. "I can't seem to get a handle on it anymore. This places fucks with powers and abilities." She glanced over her shoulder, smiling.

"But don't worry, I'm really good at keeping secrets."

"We have Jedi, where I come from." Padme said. At least this woman recognized that there were other populated worlds. It was a start "You aren't one then, are you?"

Perhaps she was reading it wrong, but it almost seemed irresponsible. The Jedi she knew - admittedly few though - didn't go around reading minds out of curiosity's sake, or without other's permission. Although that was more of a general ideal. Master Jinn had turned that image of a Jedi on its head. His apprentice was someone more along those lines, but the Jedi Master himself had been anything but. Wise, serene, but far too willing to bend a too many rules here and there, even so much as taking risky actions once he assumed he'd been out of her sight.

The Queen's face was carefully neutral. The thought of someone being able to root around her memories and thoughts, without her even knowing about it, and with (very likely) no way to prevent it, didn't sit very well. If the woman was telling the truth, she knew her true identity. The other patient didn't, however.

"I hope you're as honorable as you claim you are."

It was an unexpected little revelation, one he hadn't calculated for to say the least. He was rather at a loss as to how to react, in the newness of the idea; that sort of 'magic' was reserved for fairytales where he came from, but if there were other rules here...

A neutral bearing and a well acted fake calmness were usually his saving graces when he had things to hide, but the idea of being unable to pretend in front of someone who could literally see through him was alien, and the idea made his adopted cool exterior skip a beat. She didn't need to read his mind if only she'd have looked at him right there. The words "Oh, fuck!" were clearly written on his face.

A quick attempt at recomposition and he sorted out that maybe she was bluffing. He wasn't going to risk testing that assumption for fear of pushing her, but... well if she really was, she'd prove it on her own. Adopting an acted stance, albeit with some nerviousness, he replied with a familiar, bemused tone of mild sarcasm.

"Well isn't that special?

"I'm a telepath," Lyta repeated. "I'm not sure what a Jedi is, but I've only run into one other telepath here. There are people with mind-gifts, but not telepathy." She shrugged, running her flashlight over the walls in case there was something important along them.

"Look, I can't control it here. I come in close contact with someone or I touch someone, and that's it." She looked over her shoulder. "Trust me, if I could keep out, I would. Do you have any idea how annoying it is to constantly hear a streaming jumble of other people's thoughts? It's like having ten different vids going in the background, or ten different radios going. And you can't tune them out."

She couldn't help but snicker.

"It's funny how everyone always assumes what they think is somehow important to me. I'll let you in a little secret - most of the time, what's in your head? Isn't all that important or interesting to other people. Sure, there are a couple of exceptions, but not often. I'm not going to be going around telling people anything." Besides, if information was shared freely, it lost its value. She'd played the 'I know your secrets' game before.

"So relax, both of you." She glanced over at Envy. "Especially you. Let's just say I've got some personal experience with some of what I saw in there. I think you and me have a lot in common."

He raised an eyebrow at the way she casually passed off the importance of other peoples' minds, thoughts. It was meant to be a defensive cover, but it came off almost with a hint of disdain for people in general. He smirked faintly, the way handled the subject seemed to be genuinely jaded and unimpressed.

And yet, he was still uncomfortable, especially to wonder what she meant by 'some of what I saw in there'... It wasn't so much a matter of embarassment, but that there were certain secrets he guarded fiercely; knowledge and memories that only those most deserving would be awarded. And the last comment... he iced up a little to that out of habit. That sentiment from others was far too familiar. When someone tried to sidle up to him with some kind of contrived 'sympathy', it always made him grow indignant and defensive. He scanned the doors they passed, distracting his thoughts before he slipped to think something nasty. After all, it wouldn't serve him well to treat her poorly even in thought, if her abilities proved true. She could be useful, even...

"So... if that is the case," He said, edging away from the potential conversation that might have been stirred up from her last implications, "I must wonder if you've extracted anything useful from the staff."

Lyta paused for a moment, her lips tightening at the question. He had to bring that up, didn't he?

"I can't get anything from the staff," she admitted, her shoulders tense. "They're blank. Like... like they don't have any thoughts at all. They're not blocking me or using shields that I know of, they just aren't there. Like these patches of silence in the noise. The monsters are the same way." And she didn't have any explanation for it, either. She wanted one, but she couldn't come up with anything. Even machines felt like something.

"There isn't any pain like when I try to break through a shield," she explained, to give a slightly better explanation. "If someone who's stronger than me is trying to keep me out, I have to fight them. It's like pushing against a wall. But with the staff, it's like...like the wall is made of oil, and I just slide right over it. It's not like anything I've ever felt before." She huffed some, clearly frustrated.

"People say they're human, but I've never encountered a human or humanoid mind like that. And I've been in a lot of different minds." More than she could count, and more species than she could name. And as painful and distorted as some of those had been, they'd still been there!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nightshift 22: 2nd floor, top of stairs by the medical reference library

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject