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damned_institute2010-10-12 06:49 am
36-24-35.livejournal.com) wrote in damned_institute2010-10-12 06:49 am
Night 52: F1-F10 Hallway
Tifa wasn't sure what to make of the strange promise heard over the intercom. The only conclusion she could come up with was that perhaps this would be another wild goose chase, running into one door, but coming out in a completely different room, time, or world. The first time had been exhausting and fruitless enough, she didn't really want to go through the ringer a second time. There was nothing she could do about it on her own, so she got up and tore through her closet for her ice materia and the knife she had borrowed from Yuffie. The former she tucked into her bra as usual so her left had could easily hold the flashlight.
She wished her roommate good luck and hoped that she returned from the night unscathed, or at least in one piece. Tifa would have offered to take Lightning with her, but it probably wasn't a good idea, not where they were going. The door was opened as quietly as possible and her yellow light was quickly flashed down both directions of the hall. Now that the coast was clear, she left the room just as silently down the hallway where it connected with another.
[To here]
She wished her roommate good luck and hoped that she returned from the night unscathed, or at least in one piece. Tifa would have offered to take Lightning with her, but it probably wasn't a good idea, not where they were going. The door was opened as quietly as possible and her yellow light was quickly flashed down both directions of the hall. Now that the coast was clear, she left the room just as silently down the hallway where it connected with another.
[To here]
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Well, that sure sounded promising…
Yuffie wondered what it was gonna be tonight. Teleportation? Languages blowing up in their faces? Zombies? All three? Evil clowns and broken mirrors, Geostigma seeping out of the walls?
No time to waste thinking about it, though. Yuffie double-checked her inventory (sheathed wakizashi on her makeshift belt, two knives, shuriken pipe-cleaners, ring hidden deep down in a pocket, small bundle of notes and sketches for Okita…) before setting off down the hallway, a perfunctory skip to her step. As long as they got something done tonight, preferably with all limbs in-tact by the end of it, she honestly couldn't bring herself to care too much.
"Just gotta take it as it comes," Yuffie murmured to herself as she set off down the hallway. Then punch it in the face, tie it to a tree, and rob it blind. Godo'd always taught her to milk a situation for all it was worth; he'd never liked it when she'd turned it back on him, but, hey, opportunism was a ninja's bread and butter.
[To here (http://community.livejournal.com/damned/989523.html?view=73444691#t73444691)]
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She changed into the sneakers in her closet and tied her makeshift belt tightly around her waist, tucking the gun in and making sure the safety was on. The spear she slung across her back, and after a moment's thought, she took the ring, too. If there was a clue leading upstairs, a shortcut might be helpful.
There. Switching on the flashlight, she glanced around the room one last time and left.
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F10
Minako blinked up at the ceiling, or where the ceiling would be if the lights were on, realizing after half a sleepy second that this couldn't be her bedroom at home, which thought led to memory of just where she was. But why was it dark? What time was it, anyway?
After a moment of fumbling around under her pillow she found her flashlight and clicked it on, quickly turning it away from the sleeping form of her roommate lest she wake the girl against Kagura's wishes. That led to the sight of an untouched tray of food on her desk, and... wasn't the only meal served in the rooms dinner? Dinner? Maybe they'd changed things today or something, because otherwise it meant she'd somehow managed to sleep through an entire day, and that was just plan weird.
She didn't have too much time to think about that, though, because half a second later the intercom switched on, allowing Dr. Landel to do his best horror-movie-mad-scientist impression and confirming that it actually was the beginning of night. Hopefully it was the next night after the one she remembered -- it was disorienting enough to think it had been that long, much less more than one day. Though at least she was well-rested before heading out?
Heading out... where, though? Minako pursed her lips thoughtfully for a moment, then gave a mental shrug and moved to gather up her chain from the closet, where someone had yet again left it waiting for her. She could always just go explore somewhere. It was better than waiting all night for nothing to happen.
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F8
He'd been disappointed with their findings the last time, but that hadn't been her fault; they'd had to do some quick reconfiguring, but they'd made it to their destination intact. Her hand had half-closed to knock on the wood -- real wood, not textured plastic -- she opened it and set it face down. We make our own luck. Superstitious nonsense was a quick way to get themselves killed; the previous mission's success neither insured nor damned this one.
Still, it never hurt to give fate a hand. She extracted her gear from the closet, and checked it -- all cleaned and ready, even if she wasn't sure she'd been the one to do it. The claws went in the carryall that had been the one big win of her last trip with von Karma; the throwing star she just carried. The flashlight would go in the bag as well. She could see well enough without it for now, and they might need the batteries later. There was a nasty thought -- there wasn't any charge indicator on them. She held one up, and then tossed in the spares. Much brighter.
Taura gave her roommate's untouched dinner one last affectionate/greedy glance, and then she was out the door.
[to here]
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Not like there were a whole lot of things she wanted to think about, in any case. Today had just been a perfect example of unpleasant thoughts. Just have to focus on what I can do.
She grabbed ring and knife, and stole quietly out the door. In the hallway, she leaned on the wall while she slipped the ring on her finger (most efficient way to carry it, after all) and adjusted her grip on the knife. She wasn't as adroit with her left hand, but her preferred weapon had always been one that came in a pair; she could do well enough left-handed. And the knife didn't look like it could do that much damage, anyway; the arm she wielded it with wasn't likely to make a difference. (Punching with the ring on her finger also didn't seem like it'd make a difference either, so she'd put it on her left hand.)
Replacing her right hand on the hallway, Mele proceeded. There was a reason she'd taken so much care to memorize the route to the stairs—by now, she could traverse it without light.
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Tifa's words had been pretty far from anything like what Lightning expected or wanted to hear, and as much as she would have liked to just dismiss most of it, despite everything it had managed to unnerve her slightly. Studies and brainwashing? Nobody knowing why they were here? All that, a confirmation that everyone was simply pulled back by morning, and a strange warning that made it once again sound an awful lot like the dark-haired girl already knew Lightning was a l'Cie.
So what to make of all of this? Even with her now-expanded knowledge of Gran Pulse, Lightning's world-view was still extremely narrow, and her mind went immediately to one thing: fal'Cie. Cocoon fal'Cie, Pulse fal'Cie... in the end, she didn't see much of a difference, and as she considered, the answer in part seemed fairly clear. From what she understood, the Pulse fal'Cie wanted the same thing the ones on Cocoon did- to bring back the 'Maker'. So was this prison, filled with confused Pulsian natives (and two Cocoon outcasts), some sort of back-up plan? Brainwash the people of Gran Pulse into destroying Cocoon and themselves as a bloody sacrifice to the fal'Cie's lost deity?
It was sort of like an Ark, but more supervised... really, like a pen of animals. And what that likely meant was that at least some, if not all, of the others here were l'Cie too. If true, it also served to neatly explain another thing that had been bothering her- was that why the guards and other prisoners found nothing unusual about her and Snow wearing Pulse Brands? Why she'd found herself incapacitated with barely a fight?
They knew what she was, then... just probably not as well as they thought.
Once Tifa was gone and the lights went out, the ex-soldier pulled out the strange light-device from the night before, turning it on with much less trouble than the first time. The near-threat piped over the intercom didn't impress her much, as interesting a scare tactic as it was, and she had let Tifa off by herself without question- there were some things you just left alone, and the actions of her 'room-mate' so far seemed to her to be one of them. She couldn't really stand still, though, and soon afterward she moved from where she had been standing, stepping forward to the room's entrance and through the primitive doorway with little second thought.
[ To here. ]
F1
She crept through the hall, glad at least to be saving some of the flashlight's power. She tucked it into her side pouch, freeing her hand up to hold a kunai instead. They couldn't be sure how long the lights would stay, but she'd use it to her advantage while she could.
Re: F1
F3
"Greta...?" Battler's mouth formed awkwardly around the two syllables, his eyebrows unconsciously drawing together. He had a funny feeling that nothing would ever change the unease he got using that name, when he was really thinking something completely different. Still.... This wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He couldn't let on that something was wrong. ... No matter how it felt, he had no choice but to be strong for both of them.
The name received no response, so he knocked lightly. ... Nothing. Come on, was she playing a joke on him? Something like this was possible with the little girl he knew, but not this one. Not that sullen young woman from that cruel future.
He gingerly pulled the door open, shining the flashlight around the room, but what he found was.. nothing. Nothing at all. The room was empty, the beds were made, the furniture was perfectly in place--there was no indication that anybody had been in here at all.
All except the creepy-looking volume resting on one of the beds. Out of curiosity, he flipped it open, and was met with white pages, young feminine handwriting, childishly innocent recollections, bright illustrations... He closed it almost as soon as he opened it. He'd never read it himself, but he was at least vaguely aware of the contents. ... This was Maria's diary. What was this doing in a place like this...? This was something Ange would take with her or tuck away in safety, not leave lying around carelessly. This book was important to her.
.... Something wasn't right here. It wasn't just the diary lying out in the open. After all, hadn't she asked to meet here? Where was she? There would be no real reason to leave the room when the patients blocks were so close together, and she wasn't the type to do something needlessly. She wouldn't have asked to talk if it hadn't been important, especially given the current circumstances. Well, maybe she was going to the bathroom or something. Girls had certain things to deal with every month, right~?
Or so he joked, but it really didn't make him feel any better. He sat on the bed for a while, intended to wait for her whenever she returned, but.... After a while, it seemed obvious he was going to have to move on. In that case, what did he do with the diary? It didn't seem like something he should just leave laying around, and he didn't have much way to tell the proper place to put it. Eventually, he shrugged and slipped it into his jacket. It seemed like the best way to ensure it was safe. After that, he could just leave a note in the morning and hand it back later, right?
Before leaving the room, he couldn't help but glance back at it warily, still wondered what happened. But what could he do? That question was going to have to wait until the morning.
[jumping here
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Back in Germany she'd rarely been without a case. The few times she crossed the ocean to America it had been for a case. There wasn't a day in her adult life from the moment she learned to talk, walk and prosecute via logic that she didn't have a case. She'd been raised on case studies, faux trials, interrogations and cross-examinations. Now she had nothing. Nothing.
She couldn't sit around and wait for something to fall in her lap, however. She had to get out. She had to do something. Snapping to her senses, Franziska grabbed the leash and her flashlight, tucking her notebook into the back of her waistband and then headed out the door long after her new roommate had already departed.
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Before the intercom had clicked on, Yomi had gone about finishing her preparations for the night, slight as they were. The sweater she had grown accustomed to wearing over top of the stupid uniform remained in the closet, however. She had a little errand in mind before she caught up with Okita and the other girl; if said errand went according to plan, she’d need to come back to change before meeting them. After all, it was pointless to stand around waiting if she could use the time to wrap up some side business, and it was possible she’d be done before Okita.
Flashlight in hand and folded bed sheet tucked against her, Yomi gave the hall a glance over, then headed for the bathroom door. Laying waste to the bathroom would be easier with the pipe she had--it was sturdy enough to stand up to the task.
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Hokuto was out of the way once Yomi got back, which was a plus. She shoved the damp bundle beside the rest of the metal and went around her side of the room without turning on a light, pulling her button-up sweater and a shirt from the closet. Her bra was soaked through, too, so she grabbed a clean one from the dresser along with another pair of sweats.
The temperature of the building was on the cold side even fully dressed, probably on account of the atmosphere. Naked and wet, she could feel the chill more clearly. But, she observed as she pulled the t-shirt over her head, it was nothing out of the ordinary, nothing that would hint at another of Landel’s surprises.
The night was still young, she supposed.
Once changed, Yomi straightened her ponytail out before taking up her pipe again. Okita had said he’d consider bringing a 'blanket' for her, but she wasn’t about to trust he’d come through on that. Smarter to have something on her. When she was ready, she took off for the second time.
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She did not pause, and left her room.
[to here]