damned_institute | NIGHT 50: F21-F30 HALLWAY

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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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Like Suzaku and Nunnally, Lelouch was quick to begin listening to the intercom next, but he was just as quick to regret it. His attentiveness to every sound emerging from the damnable thing, while undoubtedly not making him quite as sensitive to the eventual noise as Nunnally was, nonetheless made hearing it painful in a way he found just as hard to consider ordinary. The radio in his hand fell to the bed as he clapped his hand to his ears in unison with the others, and-- was it his imagination, or did the barriers do little to block out the sound at all?

As the sound died away, however, he was far less concerned with trying to figure out the underlying nature of it as he was with checking up on Nunnally. Again, it had to have sounded especially dreadful to her, but as he watched, she gave Suzaku a smile and overall seemed remarkably composed for what had just happened. She must have been starting to get used to this place. Lelouch wished it were otherwise, but...

He dragged himself from his thoughts again and sought out her hand again, giving it another squeeze. "I haven't, either. It must be something new." New and most likely dangerous, given the trouble just putting it into play had caused the patients (the unmistakable sound of typing before it went into effect-- another program?), but he couldn't feel any ill effects just yet. "If either of you notice anything out of the ordinary about yourselves, each other, or your environment, let me know," he said to them, frowning to himself. "That program could have done anything."

Suzaku wished Nunnally’s smile could offer him more reassurance, but he knew her well enough to know that even if she was suffering, she would smile to try and make him worry. Not that he was any better. He would do the same thing with Euphie. That thought triggered something in his mind, urging him to draw a conclusion, but his head was still ringing. He’d have to come back and revisit that thought later.

“Mm.” He turned around to study the door. Outside he couldn’t hear anything or feel the ground vibrating in any way. For now, this area was still safe but he wondered how long that would last. “They can affect us through…” He didn’t finish his words. While he was in this place, he needed to suspend some of his hold on reality. The fact that he suddenly and inexplicably found himself here was proof that anything could happen.

“It’s hard to believe a place like this exists.” He shook his head for a moment, but quickly cast his doubts away. He turned around and took another step between the two, but he didn’t move directly over to them. Another look was given towards the door. If something had happened and some of the monsters were on the prowl, he wanted to be between the creature and the two of them. There wasn’t much information he could offer to be useful, but he could protect them. No, he would protect them from any dangers that might be lurking.

"I don't feel any different," Nunnally replied, her free hand involuntarily lifting toward her right eye as she considered it; she realized what she was doing before completing the gesture and lowered her hand back to her lap again. Nothing had happened there, not since Suzaku's arrival. Nor was there anything else about either of her companions, though she'd be certain to pay attention just in case. If whatever he'd done pleased the Head Doctor, then it likely wouldn't be good for his captives.

She hesitated for a silent moment, then brightened as a thought occurred to her. "Oh! I almost forgot," she began, hoping that the others wouldn't mind an interruption. They couldn't simply sit there and wait for something to happen, though, not and stay at all positive, and she'd just remembered what she was going to tell Lelouch earlier before the multitude of distractions. "I found one of the rings they mentioned, earlier. It was in my desk drawer."

And was still sitting on her desk, beside her dinner tray, Nunnally noted as she half-turned toward it. "He said that only one person would get one, so -- am I the only one?" She turned back toward her brother with a questioning look. How did they calculate who was in which "group" for distribution of the rings? Perhaps her group was herself and Renamon, and Lelouch and his helpers were another? Though... if the rings took them to the last place they'd been the night before, all of them had been in the same place. So perhaps not.

"They can affect us through anything," Lelouch said softly in response to Suzaku, then gave him a slight shake of the head to indicate we'll talk about that later. There were still some things he didn't want Nunnally to know if he could help it, even if that particular program...

He forced those thoughts away and focused on his sister again, unable to keep a smile from appearing on his face at both the news and in reflex to the fact that it was Nunnally speaking. Some things never changed. "Really?" he asked, pleased and doing nothing at all to hide it. "I'm glad. I was worried I'd have to barter with one of the other patients to get a hold of one, and yes, I think you might be. I searched my desk, but I didn't come up with anything." Apart from the gun that had already been there, but he thought he'd keep that to himself too for now. Suzaku would need to know later, but Nunnally...

"May I have it? Even if we don't figure out how to reset the location, getting back to that store should be useful." Worried as he'd been at the time, he'd still taken in just enough of his surroundings to realize that they were in one of the stores he'd visited the previous week. Having access to all of those electronics, even for one night only, could prove invaluable.

Suzaku hated all of this waited. He wanted to know now so he could be more proactive, but there were times when patients was key. Once the evening passed, Lelouch and him were going to have a long talk. Partially about what went on here and partially about what was to come once they escaped. Though for now, learning more about this place was his key objective.

It still marveled Suzaku to think that if Nunnally wanted, she could get up and show them them what it was she was talking about. She'd be able to find it without having to touch everything on the desk, pick it up, and use her legs to move herself over to the two of them. If only Britannia had found a way to do this, rather than the people at this institute.

"What was he talking about anyways? I caught that he was talking about portals and a ring..." But it still didn't make a ton of sense to him. It sounded like the ring let whoever owned it transport themselves in some way. Which wasn't that far of a stretch for him, since Britannia had some pretty impressive technology. "If it let you leave this place, I'm sure everyone would be gone for now. Is it limited to the building?"

Since she was looking at Lelouch at that moment Nunnally noticed his silent response to Suzaku, but she didn't comment on it; if he didn't wish to speak about something she had to wonder why, but she could inquire later. She didn't like the idea of Lelouch keeping things from her, even if she understood why and appreciated the sentiment -- any information she had about this place could be potentially useful, no matter how upsetting it might be. Suppose he'd decided to withhold information about the experiments performed at night? That was certainly something she'd needed to know.

Still, though, there was no reason not to let him have the ring. Nunnally didn't particularly want to visit that place again without reason, but it was entirely possible that he had not only a reason but a plan. She hesitated for only a moment before nodding slightly and pushing to her feet, giving her brother's hand a light squeeze before she released it. Perhaps she could have asked Suzaku to get the ring for her, since he was already standing, but... she liked the fact that she was capable of getting it herself. Even such a small task was a delight, simply because she could perform it unaided.

"Perhaps the man on the radio will return and explain how to reset it, as well?" It took only a moment to pick up the ring from the desk and return, and she held out the ring for Lelouch to take. "I suppose it would be much faster and safer to use that ring to get there than trying to walk there at night, but it seems rather dangerous as well." From what she'd heard, at least.

It had to be frustrating for Suzaku to arrive when he did (and Lelouch was becoming increasingly certain that this was Suzaku, unless of course the monster somehow became dormant while inside patient rooms... no, it had to be Suzaku), what with everything that had been happening over the past twenty-four hours or so, and after a short glance at Nunnally, he finally decided to take pity on him and explain at least a little more of what was going on.

"Last night, the doors were functioning as portals, sending those who traveled through them to random locations throughout the institute, the surrounding area, and the nearby town. Some people, myself included, were sent to places that strongly resembled our home worlds." Another glance at Nunnally, if only because he had neglected to inform her of this part. He'd been too busy worrying over what her Geass had been doing to get to it, unfortunately. "I found myself in Ashford Academy, but as I said, it seemed to be only a facsimile. The campus was completely empty, and you know how loud it usually is."

He took the ring from Nunnally next, giving her a soft smile as thanks. "He should," he said to her, absentmindedly fiddling with his radio at the reminder, "or at the very least, he'll try." He had his doubts about whether or not it would succeed with whatever program the Head Doctor had initiated, but they would see. "And it will be faster, but you're right about it being dangerous. Doyleton isn't very hospitable at night."

“This place really is something else.”

He wanted to see more of it, experience all of these things for himself to gain better insight. If the doors could turn into portals and take people to places that resembled their home worlds, who knows what else could happen. Again, however, he needed to learn more before he went anywhere. So far the institute seemed pretty peaceful, but it was a big place. For all he knew there could be a monster or a deranged nurse attacking someone, somewhere else.

He was grateful for the information that Lelouch shared with him. The explanation helped him understand some of the other things that were being said, but he still didn’t have a full picture. He wished he could contribute something more useful to the conversation, but it was better to just let the other two sort things out. If something came to mind he could always chime in, until then however, the best thing for him to do was listen. He studied the ring as it was passed over to Lelouch. If people at the institute could understand how the rings worked, they’d gain a very valuable tool.

The part about Lelouch visiting an imitation Ashford was news to Nunnally, and surprising news at that. Was that why it had taken so long for her to find him? If the possible locations included not only rooms in the Institute and buildings in town, but the entirety of the school where she'd lived for so long....

She shook her head slightly to dismiss that thought. That was a possible explanation for why the doctor had specified locations on "this world" in his intercom announcement earlier; it was something that had puzzled her but she'd dismissed it as simply another example of the man being needlessly cryptic. Perhaps more of what she thought cryptic was significant, after all? It was something to consider, certainly.

"You don't plan to go alone, then, do you?" Nunnally asked in a clearly worried tone, as she lowered herself to sit on the bed next to her brother again. She glanced from him to Suzaku again with a small smile, including him in the question. It was fortunate that he'd arrived when he had and could help, but... it wouldn't stop her from being concerned about either one of them.

"Of course not." The brief, panicked moments he'd spent in that grocer alone and running from zombies before Suzaku had come to his aid had left more than enough of an impression that Lelouch was more than confident of his answer. It was nice being able to deny to his sister that he was planning anything overly dangerous and be telling the complete truth.

"Besides, we've just gotten our pack mule back." He sent the knight a faintly mocking smile, falling into old habits for Nunnally's benefit. It was just as much for his own, but he could easily ignore that. "He'll be coming along, too." Deciding things for Suzaku like that was hardly fair, but as it seemed only natural for Lelouch to bring the person he trusted most into that sort of area...

"Don't worry, Nunnally. I don't intend to head back there until I've planned everything out-- including how to get back in one piece."

Suzaku didn’t seem the least bit put off when Lelouch made a decision for him. After all, he was the Knight of Zero. Even if he had been planning to bring an end to Lelouch’s reign, it hadn’t happened. Until then, he was Lelouch’s knight and would go where he goes. Plus, this was a way for him to be useful. Right now all he could offer was his presence and in his mind, that wasn’t much of a comfort.

“Lucky me, already being put to good use.” A small, amused smile found its way on his face. No matter how dangerous this place turned out to be, he felt confident knowing that Lelouch was beside him. The two of them had taken over the world together. If they could do that, then they could take over an institute together.

“We’ll be careful and you know what Lelouch is like. He won’t be satisfied until he’s come up with every possible scenario that he can think of. And then he'll find a way to add onto that.” He teased Lelouch good-naturedly. “Is there anything else that can be done on the mean time?” Try as he might, the anxiousness was nagging him. If there was anything he could do, even a quick patrol of the hallway, he was up for it.

It was almost like they'd gone back to their time together at Ashford, a time when they could sit together in friendly camaraderie and she could listen to the two boys and their friendly banter. Almost. So much had happened since then that sometimes it felt like another life, and moments like these left her momentarily lost between then and now.

As she smiled at Suzaku in response to his comment Nunnally's smile turned briefly wistful and a little sad; she wished so much that it could be real, that they could be together like this again at home, though even if Lelouch found a way to keep his promise it still seemed uncertain. It lasted only a moment though, for she realized quickly and smoothed her expression out again with a shake of her head. "I'm glad you're here to help, Suzaku," she replied, before turning back to Lelouch again. "Will your other friends be willing to come along as well?"

She hadn't caught the names of the two men with him the night before, given that they'd been occupied with other matters. If they could help, though, if there were four of them exploring town rather than just two, it would make her feel a little less concerned. If only a little.

"There's nothing wrong with being prepared," Lelouch replied, fully aware that he was being teased but not minding all that much. It really was just to be prepared, and besides, Nunnally seemed to be... almost enjoying herself. "Just because you like to rush headlong into things doesn't mean everyone else does, Suzaku. Some people lack the thick skull necessary to deal with the inevitable crash."

Both the knight's and his sister's question gave him pause, however. Suzaku's was easy to answer, of course, but Nunnally's... "In the meantime, you can work on associating yourself with the way the institute is run. Luckily, I have something in my possession that will help." He brought out his journal, flipping it open to the copy of Edgeworth's primer he had written out on his very first day. "Most of these topics are ones I've covered already, but there are several I have not. Read them and let me know if you have any questions." It was quicker than having him spell it all out, at least, and with the added benefit of the primer having some mention of the experiments patients underwent, he wouldn't have to broach the topic out loud where it might upset Nunnally.

That solution meant Lelouch had ample opportunity to try and tell his sister about why his "friends" might not be able to join them, however. It would be easy to omit certain relevant details and keep her from realizing the exact nature of their "friendship," of course, but... "I can always ask, but I'm uncertain about whether or not they'll accept. They may not be interested." ... That sort of worked, but he supposed he'd see whether or not she accepted the (really very basic) response.

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