damned_institute | NIGHT 50: F21-F30 HALLWAY

[F23]

Once finished with her dinner Nunnally had reached into her desk drawer in search of her journal, thinking to make some notes while she had nothing more to do than wait for the approach of night (for that was all she had to wait for, certainly-- they wouldn't return again tonight... would they?). Though the journal was there, she found something else that she hadn't expected: a plain silver ring, set with a red stone. It quite willingly distracted from her original purpose and worries, and she drew the ring out instead and turned it over in her hands, curiously examining it for any kind of mark or identifying engraving, but found none.

It seemed a peculiar thing to her, as everything else in the drawers served some kind of known purpose-- pens for writing made sense, as did a notebook for writing in, but what use would a supposed mental patient have for a ring? She tried it on and found that it fit, so apparently it was meant for her, though she'd no idea why. Well. As with all unexpected gifts from a place such as this, perhaps she should be wary of it? Though what a ring could do, she'd no idea.

When the intercom announcement came her curiosity only increased further, but so did her concerns. The last place she'd been the night before? The memory flashed before her eyes all unwilling, and she shuddered lightly before firmly placing the ring on the surface of her desk. Lelouch was sure to stop by her room as soon as he could, and perhaps this would make more sense to him.

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[from here]

Lana walked up to the door and rapped twice, the same quick rat-tat she would use as a first warning to an oversleeping younger sister. It likely would wake her if she'd fallen asleep, but that was an unavoidable risk. Lana had no intention of waiting out here all night with only her radio for company.

Perhaps they could find somewhere less dangerous to talk, whether that was Ema's room or somewhere nearby. The investigation was not, for once, on an abbreviated schedule; they could wait a day. Sit down and talk about...something. Anything. Scientific investigation, if Ema had her way, and Lana could afford to let her. The investigation itself could wait until morning.

[for Ema]

Ema was very much awake in her room, packing a makeshift bag as fast as she could given the severely limited light provided by the two flashlights she had in her possession. Unfortunately, Agatha's taser-weapon was nowhere near complete, but some of the tools might come in handy--in they went. Her journal and a few pens quickly followed, as did her radio; just because it had been useless so far didn't mean it couldn't somehow come through for her tonight. As it was, Ema needed all the help she could get.

The reason for the rush, of course, was the fact that Agatha had been taken just after dinner. Agatha had gone after her, and Ema was prepared to return the favor. With any luck, the doorways would function like actual doorways so she could actually make progress. She just needed to find Lana and appeal to her for help, since Ema wasn't quite reckless enough to run blindly into the night, and then she would be ready to start the rescue properly.

In her rush, Ema almost ran Lana down when she opened the door and started to exit. How convenient!

"Lana, we have to hurry! They have Agatha!" Ema started to maneuver around her sister, assuming that those eight words were explanation enough.

The door opening and Ema practically flying our was not on the list of contingencies Lana had considered. She'd been prepared for grief, pain, fear -- anything but a relentless determination more suited to the real version of the counterfeit Ms. Fey. Or maybe it suited Ema just fine, and it was one more thing Lana had missed. Either way, if she didn't stop thinking and start moving, Ema was clearly going to let it carry her out the door and into who-knows-what sorts of danger.

"W-wait! Hold it! Took Agatha where? When?" She reached out and grabbed a handful of Ema's T-shirt, trying to avoid anything that would exacerbate already-sensitive nerves (in more than one sense), but whether or not she stopped voluntarily, she was going to stop.

Tonight wasn't another experimentation night, which meant Agatha had been brainwashed into attacking her fellow patients. What, exactly, one teenage girl could do intentionally against armed, grown adults was unclear, but that she wouldn't hesitate to try was. Ema was right to be concerned. "Do you have any idea where they were taking her?"

Edited 2010-07-13 21:59 (UTC)

Ema yelped as Lana grabbed her shirt and forced her to a full stop, a combination of surprised and pained as inertia allowed her to keep moving a half-second longer than the fabric itself, causing the cotton to press against her skin. Luckily, the sensation was both minor and short-lived; there were more important things going on than the inconveniences of Ema's increased nervous activity. Agatha needed to be found.

Rounding on her sister in what strongly resembled a panic, Ema shouted, "Right after dinner! They came in and took her, just like they did to me!" Honestly, why was Lana wasting time making her answer obvious questions? What other opportunity was there to take Agatha away to this "special counseling"? "I don't know where she is, just that she's gone and we have to go find her. She came after me..." Her voice trailed off briefly at the reminder of her own experience at the hands of Landel's men, but she quickly forced herself to rally. This was about Agatha. "Have you heard anything about special counseling before now?"

Ema had a point. Several, in fact, if Lana bothered to acknowledge them. They were both worried, and both seeking familiar actions. In Lana's case, reviewing the facts with the witness. In Ema's, incipient hysteria.

"She's armed, dangerous, and under the control of the staff. If we're going to help her, we have to proceed accordingly. She can and will attack us." Lana's voice was serious, and she looked Ema straight in the eye. Sometimes presuming she was a capable adult had the result that she was; if they were going to accomplish anything, she'd have to.

And Lana would need to take the questioning through a sharp bend to the the ridiculous. Again. "Do you know if she has any supernatural abilities?" Agatha had seemed fairly confident in her safety last night, but she and Ema had defended themselves only with two flashlights a few nights prior. It was a valid question.

"They brainwashed her?!" The question was completely unnecessary--what reason would Lana have to lie?--but Ema couldn't stop it from coming out anyway. This was worse than the institute taking people for experimentation. At least with the 'sleep trials,' all one was expected to do was endure. To make patients fight for the bad guys against their free will was unthinkably awful.

Ema took a minute to think about Lana's question. She needed to focus and pull herself together. "I don't think so, but she's a scientist. She's trying to make a taser out of my broken flashlight, so if the institute gives her enough time and resources, she might have a death ray or something." It was a bit of a leap, scientifically speaking, but not impossible. This place had already proven that it could manipulate time and space somehow, after all.

"I'm afraid so," Lana murmured, while Ema tried to collect herself. It was outrageous, but Ema was getting worked up enough for the both of them. She did manage it -- good. While Lana had some serious misgivings about either of their fitness to take on anything other than a Masterpiece Theatre marathon, this place had backed them into a corner.

There were no options other than to go on, without even a destination. "Let's hope she's not quite that much of a genius, shall we?" Lana said, raising both eyebrows. Had that been a joke? A tiny quirk at the corner of her mouth was the tipoff that it just might. A door opening just a crack, asking Ema to go with her, not just alongside her on whatever foolishness they were about to start. "We'll just have to find her before she invents something we can't handle." That, on the other hand was pure bluff -- and Ema would know it.

"Prosecutor Edgeworth's notes indicated the Sun Room and the Courtyard as being common points for an ambush at night, though he did not specify further." The basement and one of the upstairs rooms -- the animal cages, understandably -- had been listed as well, but that might be pushing it. "It would make the most logical sense to hit them in that order." And with that, she tipped her flashlight so that the light spilled further down the hallway and waited for Ema to go first.

Lana might have been joking, but Ema didn't find it terribly funny. It wasn't nice to pick on another scientist's ability, especially in a grave situation such as this. The subsequent bluff, while obviously intended for Ema's benefit, didn't help matters, either. Ema frowned at her older sister and hoped that she would just move on. Thankfully, she did.

"So we're going to the Sun Room?" That was a good place to start; Ema actually knew how to get there. "Let's go, then." The opening of the door, metaphorically speaking, did not escape Ema's notice. They were going to be working together as opposed to one tagging along with the other. She wasn't sure when she'd earned that kind of faith from her sister, but she wasn't about to argue it.

Ema added her own light to Lana's and followed the beam of light down the hallway.

[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/936512.html?view=71107136#t71107136)]

Edited 2010-07-15 16:44 (UTC)

NIGHT 50: F21-F30 HALLWAY

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