damned_institute | Nightshift 49: The Labyrinth

The new room was at least free of any furniture that might have fallen victim to Ivan's wrath. The new room was, in fact, so empty that he could see nothing at all save for gray walls that extended into a dark haze. He frowned, usually cheery smile gone and replaced with a cold, calculating stare. At first it was just fun and games, but it hadn't stopped, hadn't relented, and now it was turning into something else entirely.

He hadn't survived for so long only because he was stubborn and more than a little sturdy. Experience had taught him that he always had to be ready, no matter who the enemy might be. Whether it was a self-proclaimed ally or crafty enemy, or even his own General Winter, he was rarely taken by surprise (with the possible exception of Belarus. Belarus was completely unpredictable and terrifyingly good at masking her presence and someone he'd very much prefer not to see right about now).

"Do you recognize this room as well Sergeant?" he asked, turning slightly to glance at the other man. He seemed to be well-acquainted with the layout, but this hadn't followed any kind of predictable pattern.

"No, I don't, sir," 622 said, peering down the hallway. "Which either means this is on the third floor or the basement level, likely the latter. The basement, from what I've seen, is far more openly and randomly a test for the prisoners." Like that... what had it been. A sfinks? He still couldn't believe he'd actually gotten that riddle. "But that means there's likely a way out of here, we just have to find it." Probably while dealing with some other bloody terrible problem along the way, 622 thought, because he was not exactly the most optimistic of persons.

So just going through a few doors that should've led them back into the hallway had now led them into completely unfamiliar territory. If the sergeant was right, it was even some kind of testing ground. That in itself was completely ridiculous as well as insulting! Test? In what way did he need to be tested? He was a soldier, had been through several wars. He knew how to fight, even in the coldest and most difficult terrain on earth. The fact that so many countries had already fallen to him and many more would follow, wasn't that already proof enough of his strength?

"Then let us find it," Ivan replied with more than a little false cheer. He stalked ahead through the darkness and haze of the hallway, almost daring anything to get in his way. He'd actually prefer it right about now, just to have something he could take out his frustrations on. Books and chairs were fine, but nothing was better than bruising flesh and breaking bones.

[Gah, sorry for the wait! This weekend was really crazy.]

622 followed behind Russia, examining the blank hallways. Visibility was unaccountably poor, and that made him nervous.

They didn't come to anything of note until a curved wall suddenly came out of the haze, with several back turns radiating from the central wall. "that might be a hub. Should we try one of the back paths? I can keep track of our heading and the turns we've taken." Somehow, he really doubted staying on their initial path would lead them anywhere.

[I have to apologize right back! Sorry for not tagging sooner! D8]

Nothing but more blank walls. At least now there was a choice for which path to take, though the thought of being a rat in some madman's maze was more than enough to upset and frustrate him. Russia glanced down the rounded pathway, doing what he could to push away the anxious feelings bubbling up inside him.

It looked like there were about four paths, though they were much too high to climb and since none had broken yet under his icy stare or the occasional kick he aimed at them, he had to imagine they were fairly sturdy too. It was almost like a roulette game. So long as they picked the path that led them to safety instead of their own deaths, everything would be fine.

Without a word, he passed the first hall, glanced down the second, and finally turned down the third hallway, no hesitation in his gait as he walked on ahead.

[Aaaaand back from hiatus! Sorry, but should be normal posting from now on!]

622 followed Russia once the decision had been made, trying to form a mental map of where they were in relation to the junction and the other hallways.

Once they reached another junction, he still had his bearings and considered their options. "This one could lead in the direction we want," he pointed down one end of the hall. There had been a wall in that area that had given him the impression that there was a path leading into the round junction there. He wasn't quite sure, but since this place had mostly been designed in long, straight paths so far, it seemed a decent bet.

Without waiting for a reply, he started down the path. It didn't precisely lead them in the right direction, but they could backtrack if necessary.

[How convenient, I just got done being sick! I'm still a bit fuzzy-brained, so if I get anything wrong, just tell me!]

If it wasn't strange room jumps, now it was a maze. At least this made a small amount of sense, even if it was sorely trying his patience. He followed the stormtrooper, frustration melting into a vague annoyance with the situation. Patience he had, time wasn't a problem, but if this was all some ruse or some trick to play him for a fool, well... it wouldn't be so bad if America was made to look just as stupid, but he still had his pride. Spending a night wandering in circles and looking for an exit wasn't his idea of a productive evening.

[to here]

Whatever Kirk had been expecting for their next unpredictable room jump, it was not... well. "What is this?" He pointed his flashlight around their new location, but the light barely penetrated a few feet into the strange haze that surrounded them. Not that there was much to see, apparently: grey, featureless stone walls in any direction, except for the large door right behind them. Closed, as if it had a mind of its own, like all the other doors they'd encountered tonight.

"Okay, this isn't the Institute or Doyleton." Impulsively, Kirk reached out to try to exit the same way, but... there didn't seem to be any way to get it open. No handle. No doorknob. He glared silently at the damn thing, trying to decide if a bruised shoulder was worth trying to ram open a door of this size.

First the man-frog-shark, now this? Somewhere out there, someone had to be laughing at him.

Roxas felt almost like they were getting punished for hopping from room to room so quickly. When this door snapped shut, it was with a rather final thud. From the looks of it, there wasn't any way to get it back open - pushing on it didn't even shutter the thing in its frame.

So they were being forced to stay in this room. Great.

If one could... accurately call it a room. The walls reached so high that their connection to the ceiling was barely visible from the glow of the flashlights, and they were all solid gray stone. The stone walls themselves weren't all that kept visibility to a minimum; the room seemed hazy, like it was filled with fog.

So options were limited. Well.

"Might as well start walking," the Nobody suggested, already taking off on his own. He kept one gloved hand solidly on the wall to his right, dragging his fingertips along the uneven, beaten stones.

Where was Luxord when you needed him? He was probably good at mazes.

Chekov turned around after following Captain Kirk through the storage doorway. Kirk's decision had gone against Chekov's recommendation, but it wasn't as though the recently promoted captain hadn't gone against dozens of recommendations and regulations before. And he'd come out of it a captain, so honestly the decision was probably sound.

At least, Chekov had thought so until he realized the door closest to the party had no handle and couldn't be pushed open. A small wrinkle of worry creased his forehead as he looked around their new environment, but he made no comment. Captain Kirk looked as though he understood their situation quite well, after all, and there had been no reason for the next room they came upon to lack a functioning door.

No ceiling, from what he could see, and the walls were somewhat nondescript. Visibility was low as well, making attack a definite possibility. His frown deepened as he wondered what sorts of things made their habitat in a long hallway with walls that were virtually impossible to scale. Unsurprisingly, not many pleasant things came to mind.

"Go ahead Keptain," Chekov said with a small nod of his head towards the direction Roxas was going. "I will take ze beck.

"Zat is a good strategy," Chekov commented to Roxas with a smile. "Did you know it was deweloped in Russia?"

Kirk tore himself away from his staring contest with the door to follow the two teens, letting Roxas take point. It wasn't until Chekov made his comment that Kirk realized why Roxas was walking with his hand on the wall: the surefire way to navigate your way out of a maze was to keep sticking to one wall until the exit. It was a technique he'd picked up not in Russia or Starfleet, but as a young man growing up in a state which loved its corn mazes. He'd never thought this knowledge would have any practical use outside of Iowa, but... then again, Kirk could see how Landel's Institute could get boring enough to warrant the time and effort to carve a maze out of stone.

Assuming this was the Institute. For a certainty, they were still under Landel's sadistic jurisdiction, but if the head doctor was keeping a labyrinth somewhere in his hospital, it wasn't on any of Chekov's maps. And then there was the silence. For hours, no matter where he was, the falling rain had lurked in the background, but here... nothing. Less than nothing. If there was any sound at all in this place, it was coming directly from the three of them.

"Let's pick up the pace," Kirk ordered as they came out of the long hallway into the first set of passages. Oh, why did he have a feeling that this place was going to be huge? "And stay alert. We don't know what else is here with us."

Half an hour later... Or was it an hour? Two hours? Five? There weren't any clocks here. There wasn't goddamn anything except grey walls and mist and the echoing of their footsteps. Nor was there taunting from the intercom, or periodic radio messages to mark the passage of time and reassure them that they weren't going to be trapped here forever. Their latest turn (he'd lost count after the first five) took them past a spot where it looked as though someone had futilely tried to scratch their way through the wall, because that wasn't creepy.

"Who the hell needs a maze this big?!" demanded Kirk.

At least the walls didn't have thorns this time. It made this particular maze a lot easier than the last he'd been in. Though he wanted to give Chekov a questioning gaze behind him, he was actually afraid he might somehow forget which direction he was going in; the place had turn after turn, and if he lifted his fingers for one moment and turned around...

No thanks. Getting lost in a cold, stone maze was one of the many things Roxas would be happy to announce he had not done.

"What's Russia?" he asked, still trying to gauge the distance in which he was able to see through the fog - three feet, maybe. It kept him from hitting his nose on any perpendicular walls, at least. Again that night he was wondering where Luxord was when you needed him: he'd be a great ally to have in Wonderland, since the Nobody had a gift for time and places that didn't make sense. They hadn't gotten lost in the rose garden because of that.

This is so dumb, he was thinking after a time, where the fog hadn't let up and the rough texture of the wall hadn't changed. Had someone dumped them underground? It was cold, sure, but for this much fog? And he was getting tired. Physically, and of looking at gray walls. At least the roses had sometimes been fantastic colors.

Chekov, even after traversing the maze for what felt like hours, was still going strong. Marathon training had done something for him, at least--his stamina while under duress was excellent. Bringing up the rear had also afforded him the opportunity to sketch as they moved forward. A partial map of the area would be useful at the very least, though part of him hoped they never had to return here. The fog and the scratches in the wall were only the tip of the glacier as far as this whole maze was concerned.

"A crazed man bent on driwing eweryone in ze building insene, sir," Chekov offered, checking over his shoulder again. "Zough where he keeps his maze... perheps underground." Though if his influence reached as far as Doyleton, it was anyone's guess where they were. If they were underground, they were many many stories underground.

"Russia is my homeland," Chekov said, answering Roxas' question. He tried not to look too mortified. "It is where I was raised, until I went off to school."

The navigator shone his light down a corner opposite the wall they were following. Nothing down that way, thankfully. For how long they had been walking, it was a near miracle they hadn't come across something more aggressive than the fog. Still, he was beginning to wonder how big this maze was, and if they'd ever find the way out.

For his part, Kirk actually was feeling all the wasted time and walking and teleporting piling on top of him, but like hell if he'd ever let his body accept something as normal as exhaustion. There's always an exit, he'd said earlier, and the last thing this place was going to do was make him a liar. His flashlight barely penetrated the seemingly constant haze ahead, but still Kirk didn't let his hand drop as they continued pushing through the winding passages of the maze.

Underground? It was definitely a possibility. "At this point, nothing would surprise me." At least this was better than trudging through miles of freezing tundra and getting chased by horrifying eldritch creatures. Maybe. There was still time for that to happen, but if a hulking monster was planning to jump them on the next turn, it was being frighteningly quiet about it.

The conversation between the two young men thankfully filled the silence, and helped set Kirk's nerves at ease, letting him focus on getting out of here. He hated the stillness of this place, the monotony; and missed with sudden fierceness the noise and activity of Starfleet, even during the whole Narada crisis. No matter what the circumstances, Kirk always knew who he was and what to do while in the thick of conflict.

"Where do you come from?" he asked Roxas curiously. Not Earth, or at least not their Earth. It was unlikely a native Human wouldn't know the name of their largest country. "We're from a world called Earth. Same name as this world, apparently, but a different version of— Is that a door?"

Kirk stopped in his tracks for a second, but only a second. If that really was an exit, they weren't spending another frustrating second in this place. Without another word, he strode past Roxas, and pushed it open.

[to here]

Edited 2010-06-12 19:57 (UTC)

A door. After hours of searching, finally they had been rewarded with a way out of the foggy, desolate, endless maze--with all of their limbs in tact. Apparently Landel was happy enough watching them struggle through the maze, since they hadn't encountered another multiplying animal or worse. Face breaking into a relieved smile, he followed the Captain and Roxas towards the door. Nothing could have been any worse than this maze. At least the next place they were transported to might have a readily accessible door. Captain Kirk pushed open the door leading out of the maze, Roxas followed, Chekov right behind him.

The door closed behind Roxas, nearly pushing Chekov back into the maze. It might have broken his nose if he hadn't stepped back, at the very least.

"Keptain!!" Chekov shouted, mostly as a reflex. Part of him knew that the Captain and Roxas were long gone--already in a new room somewhere in the prison. He felt a cold chill run through him, realizing that he had been cut off from any form of communication with anyone, left in a deathly silent, foggy maze with only one way forward.

But the same door would lead to a different place. The closet door had opened into the closet, but let them out to a different place. Was it possible that the door would lead him to the same place, though? Were they all linked to a completely different place, or was the transporting truly randomized?

He had two options: stay in the maze and wait for the morning to come, or attempt to reconnect with the Captain no matter how many doors he had to run through. His choice was simple: Captain Kirk was his captain, and not making an attempt to rendezvous was unacceptable on professional and personal levels.

Chekov turned on his flashlight and opened the door. It was dark, but that didn't mean anything. Whatever came at him, whatever obstacles he encountered, he was a Starfleet officer. He would do everything in his power to find his Captain and continue with their mission. Which meant stepping into the unknown.

The young ensign straightened his back and stepped through the door into the dark void in front of him.

[from here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/881968.html?thread=70019888)]

Upon entering the room, Sai froze - firstly, because it wasn't supposed to be a room. The ninja had walked out the door leading to the Rec Field numerous times over the course of his stay and never once had it led to... wherever this was. Turning back to the door they'd just entered through, he realized it didn't even look like the one he'd just entered.

It was unexpected, to say the least.

But could they turn back around and go back? They'd been ordered to run, and there was no reason for them to head right back into the combat zone. There only real option was to go forward. And who knew? This could be a new opportunity.

"...Do either of you recognize this location?" He asked, even as he listened carefully to see if they'd been followed.

Artemis felt himself being dragged towards the Recreational Field and away from the fight, the chaos not quite drowning out his sense of direction. They would be running for quite some time, he wagered--what with the rain and whatever was lurking in the rain.

But as they passed through the door, Artemis felt the distinctly unpleasant feeling of being thrown out of a window while spinning. Only instead of landing on pavement below, he was still standing when the feeling subsided. Another shocking thing: he wasn't being pelted by water. He was inside.

Blinking, he took stock of where they were and quickly realized that something had gone very, very wrong. As in, "Go Through One Door, End Up In A Place That Door Definitely Does Not Lead To" brand wrong.

"No..." Artemis said slowly, casting his flashlight around the foggy corridor. "I have no idea where we are." Which, he had to admit, was a little unnerving considering Artemis Fowl almost always knew where he was. At least which timezone.

Haku was already tense enough, he really didn't need to add this to the mix. "No," he said softly, looking around and straining his ears for sound.

"I've never seen this place before." Which made it a dangerous place and one he would very much like to leave. "It would seem we're at the whims of Landel again."

It looked like the door behind them had locked shut. Somehow this didn't surprise him. "I suppose our only option is to move forward." Even if visibility was bad. "Stick close to me or we might lose each other."

The path in front of them appeared straight and linear, but it was difficult to see very far ahead of their current position, and anything could be waiting in the thick fog. Things could get ugly if they were attacked, since it would be easy to separate them so he couldn't see his charge anymore. Haku could handle himself, but Artemis... "Stay against the walls as well."

This hall had to lead somewhere, even if it was just into further danger. Sai kept his machete ready.

Artemis swallowed lightly and nodded. Out of the frying pan and into the smoky-nondescript hallway, he supposed. At Sai suggestion that they stay close, Artemis gently took hold of Haku's shirtsleeve. He'd almost forgotten how much he hated unpredictable situations, and this certainly was classified as an unpredictable situation.

He proceeded down the hallway with the other two ninjas, looking around as best he could in the gloom. So far, he could only hear Haku next to him--nothing else was giving off a magical peep, so to speak. Then they came to a split in the hallway, and there were three more directions to go in. Artemis' brow creased in thought, then he looked quickly around the corner. Another fork in the hallways was just barely visible.

"It's a maze," Artemis commented, looking up at the walls. "We've been dropped in a maze." But why only them? Why couldn't he hear any other patients? Why had they been singled out, so to speak, for this particular 'whim' of Landel's?

Well, there was only one thing to do, besides run questions over and over in his head. He put his right hand firmly on the blank stone wall closest to him. "We follow this wall," he said. "It may take us all night, but it's the only certain way that we'll find our way out." It was basic mathematical theory, after all. Follow one line in a maze, the end of the line was sure to come.

Haku frowned thoughtfully. A maze... He glanced over at Sai. "That sounds fine to me," he offered softly letting the other ninja decide if he wanted to follow that wall as well.

He couldn't hear anything in the maze aside from the three of them and the soft flow of air around them; the silence was more troubling than anything. Who knew what could move so softly and sneak up behind them all?

"It would also help us stay together should there be danger." Which, this being the sort of place it was, there almost certainly would be.

Sai had to take a moment to consider their options and what Artemis had suggested. The hallways surrounding them were all identical, reaching up to the ceiling to avert any attempt at escape by climbing over them. It was at a time like this that someone from one of the leaf village's clans known for their tracking skills would come in handy. If he'd had full use of his chakra it wouldn't have been much of a problem even for him.

He pulled his ink and brush from his pocket, along with a folded piece of paper. "Give me a moment," he muttered as he got down on his knees and began painting a couple dark mice. His techniques hadn't worked as they should have the last time he'd tried, but they'd at least formed off the paper. If he could still bring to life the mice he used for reconnaissance, then they wouldn't have to trek all over the maze to find an exit.

It was clear the moment he brought them to life, however, that things weren't going to go as planned. They wouldn't hold their form well, and the moment they stepped off the paper they fell into puddles of ink. It appeared that Landel wasn't going to allow him to make this any easier, and he was left with a temporary drain in chakra that caused him to remain on the floor a little longer than necessary.

When he at last got back to his feet, he nodded at the youngest boy. "...All right. We'll use that method then."

Artemis watched Sai work, curious as to what he was doing. He'd seen Haku's abilities in action, but not Sai's. He immediately saw why the marks Skuld had put on Artemis' back were of such interest--Sai apparently worked with ink and paper. The drawings moved off the paper, but then couldn't continue onto the floor. Artemis guessed that should Sai have unlimited access to his power, the drawings would have retained their form off of the page.

"It was a valiant effort," Artemis assured him, offering a small smile. "It honestly would've made things much easier, most likely."

They walked on, Artemis keeping his hand against the wall, even as they turned corners. He wouldn't put it past Landel to switch the walls around if Artemis didn't keep a hand on the line they were following.

It felt as though they had been walking for hours, though the scenery could have made it seem longer. Artemis' hand wasn't a firmly on the wall anymore, and he skimmed his fingers along the wall lightly. "How far have we gone?"

Haku frowned at the surroundings. He kept thinking something was going to happen, but it felt like they'd been walking for hours without a break in even the scenery. "It's difficult to tell distance," he said softly. He wasn't tired so they can't have been walking far but ...

"I'm not ...sure how far." And that was a bit annoying to have to admit.

This whole affair would have irritated Sai more if he hadn't still been dwelling on the matter with Okita, and if he hadn't been... himself. He knew they'd backtracked at least twice just following the walls until they reached a dead end. This method was definitely the slowest one, and they were lucky not to have run into some sort of creature yet. He expected any moment for something to come at them from around one of the dead ended paths.

Is this how patients were lost, he wondered? They randomly found themselves here? Would the others from the Leaf Village be asking about him tomorrow? Hopefully he was just over-thinking this. Unfortunately, ideas like this couldn't just be shoved aside here, since he'd learned that just about anything was possible.

"Some ways," he muttered. "It's hard to measure distance here."

The fact that both Sai and Haku didn't know how far they'd come made Artemis feel even more tired. If they were feeling the wear of walking through this maze, Artemis would be feeling it doubly no doubt. His legs were heavy, and he dearly wanted to stop walking.

But that might be akin to stopping for death. A rest might mean something finding them and slowly choking the life out of the small, confused traveling party. His shoulder was still sore, though he still kept his fingers in the hem of Haku's shirt and his other hand skimming the wall as they moved forward. He kept quiet, thinking that the rest of his observations concerning how far they'd come wouldn't be met with much enthusiasm or be very helpful. The only thing left to them was continuing on.

"I wonder where this place is," he said quietly, slowing his pace slightly.

Nightshift 49: The Labyrinth

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Backthread?

I'm down for that. (Sorry for being slow.)

Same. D|