[From here]

"It wouldn't be much of a music room if they didn't," he agreed. Interesting to know that Edgar at least had those where he came from. A part of him was sure it would be interesting to sit down and compare what was similar and what was different between all the different places the people he'd talked to so far claimed to come from. That part was quickly distracted by a strange moment of vertigo as he stepped through the doorway. He would have blamed it on his less than perfect health, if not for the fact that this also didn't seem like where they'd been meaning to go. It was an office of some kind, with no other exit he could see which would conceivably lead them towards the shed his roommate had mentioned.

"Edgar? I don't think we can get outside from here."

Maybe the other man had simply gotten disorientated in the halls. He could see how that might happen.

[from here]

"... tall, dark and handsome only goes so far, you know?" Donna ended with a grin as she stepped foot into the Entryway.

Entryway?

There were cars in the Entryway. Cars... no heaps. Of junk. And windows all around them, some shattered and definitely larger than any outside of the Sun Room. Also rain, both easily seen and heard, pounding on the roof and windows where not broken. Donna blinked at what she saw, pointed, then let her arm fall to her side when a flash of lightning illuminated the place for her to see. Yup, there was no denying it now. She was seeing what she thought she was.

But some part of her was still in denial. Slowly, Donna paralleled her index fingers before her, looking at them as though the left was "point A" and the right "point B". After staring a moment she began moving "point B" in circles to get a better picture in her head. Because she just could not get her mind around how the Center Hallway led not to the Entryway, but to what she thought was some kind of auto garage. Additional visuals were a must here.

A round of thunder and a secondary flash of lightning and Donna was able to drop her hands once more and huff. "Yeah, all right, I get it," she hissed and looked back at Ludwig, "This? Not normal. By a long shot. We should be in the Entryway, but it doesn't seem like the building wants to cooperate with that tonight!" she explained, emphasizing specific syllables as she kicked out a pile of scrap near her. Oh this, this was aggravating! All those nights of smooth sailing, doors going where they were supposed to go, etc. and now this? Someone would be answering for it! Once Donna tracked the man down.

[From here.]

If they had exited back out into the hall, maybe Peter would have been able to write off the misplaced refrigerator as some kind of weird fluke -- or Landel messing with them, either worked. But when he felt that same strange sensation, almost like something was shifting as he walked through the door, it was clear that this was somehow intentional.

Is this what Landel had meant by reconstruction? If so, he had a pretty weird way of describing things. At least this place was a more bearable temperature, and it also had things more interesting than food in it.

The glow of the computer ahead of them caused Peter to take a step forward. He turned around for a moment to stare at Sam, shrugging his shoulders to show that he had no good explanation for how this was going on, or why. Teleportation still seemed like the most likely answer, but if that was the case, then it was being done in a very precise way, and from a long distance. Most powers required touch to activate; Peter knew that from his jaunt with invisibility. On the other hand, if someone really developed their ability, there was no telling how sophisticated they might get at using it.

"It's going to be tough to keep everything straight at this point," Peter said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his hair. "Have you been here before?" It was clear they were still in the institute, but where exactly was a mystery to Peter.

[from here and outside M4.]

"Haseo?" Endrance knocked once, having finally seemed to learn his lesson about just walking into M4 without knocking or stating his identity first. Once he'd knocked, though, the nerves really set in. What if Haseo wasn't there? What if he'd been taken again? What if --

Stop. Stop that line of thought. He said he needed you...and he'll be here. He'll be here, and if he's not, then you need to pull it together...for his sake. You can't be there if you're falling apart...

He took a deep breath, bracing with one hand against the wall, and waited. A few minutes would tell the story, either way. He could be patient that long.

[for Haseo.]

Although the trip was longer than usual on account of the rain and wind, the buses did eventually – and safely – reach Landel's Institute. No strange happenings yet; the patients were escorted off the buses according to the usual protocol and made to go to their rooms and change back into their normal uniforms while the nurses temporarily left them to retrieve their dinners and, in some cases, new roommates.

It wasn't long before the Head Doctor made one of his usual announcements:

"Welcome back, everyone! I regret I was unable to join you on your foray today, but you'll soon find that we had some new guests to attend to in your absence! And now, for your dinner: lamb curry, spicy, but served with naan and mildly seasoned steamed vegetables for anyone who might have a sensitive tongue! For dessert, we'll be serving each patient a slice of banana cream pie, and our usual drinks and dietary alternatives are available.

"I'm hoping you all didn't get too wet, and hopefully the hot dinner will warm you up in no time. Nurses, please escort our newer patients to their new rooms, and everybody, I'll speak to you again soon!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. Find new room assignments here. ]

Aside from sightseeing, the most Brook had managed to do by the time they were escorted back to the buses was to get all but completely soaked. A little rain had never hurt anyone, especially when it came to exploration, and since it was always a challenge just to find clothes that would cover him, finding a proper raincoat had been overlooked that morning. Not that anything would have managed to get over Brook's head of hair. There just was not a hood that existed, let alone one he could trust not to mess up his afro that would have done the trick.

"A shame we have to leave..." Brook sighed to himself since the nurse wouldn't have any of his 'lip'. He really didn't see how she could be so worried about him catching a cold when he hadn't had one in half a century! But it was nice that she was concerned, he guessed.

Taking a seat near the back, Brook glanced out the windows and waited for the return trip, hopeful that by the time they'd rolled out he would have a seat-mate that would not mind some conversation. With all of his wandering, Brook hadn't had the chance to speak to a soul all day! There was one thing he could blame the rain on - it made it so difficult to run into others on the street.

[free and soaked]

[From here]

There didn't seem to be much to see at first as they entered, not least of which was due to there being no light inside and little remaining sunlight coming in from outside. At least the place wasn't worn down so much that it was leaking or flooded, she thought with some relief. At the very least, even if they didn't find anything, they could stay in here for a while and dry off.

"You think they'd find us if we just tried to stay here until the buses left?" Utena asked Hanatarou curiously as they took a few more steps inside. It wasn't exactly an ideal hiding spot, what with there probably being mold or critters running around this old place, but she could think of worse. She squinted around as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, trying to make out any interesting shapes.

[ Continued from here. ]

The damn burger place was actually the last place Haseo would have wanted to revisit after the previous week, but there was little other choice when practically dragging the distraught Endrance along with him and trying to find an appropriate shelter: he couldn't be certain anywhere else close would have somewhere to sit down, and the only other place he'd actually been inside of - the grocery store - had been somewhere Endrance had also been in when the town had been full of zombies.

This was where Haseo had been with Leon and Kibitoshin when the nightmare started, but... well, he couldn't remember if he'd ever mentioned that particular piece of information to Endrance or not, and at the moment going somewhere that wasn't as bad to Endrance, even if it was more unsettling to Haseo, was more important. Most of the places were enough to make Haseo feel secretly sick to his stomach anyway.

Hurrying through the door, he immediately guided the Blade Brandier to the side, behind a dividing booth and by a window sporting a display that mostly blocked it. He couldn't keep from staring around a bit (was that chair over there the one he'd used as a weapon?), and his mind was strangely blank, but he'd gotten alright at doing things without thinking. If only that could work all the time.

"Sit," he said seriously, and made to do the same.

When the rain started coming down even harder the nurses showed up to interfere, one shooing Senna off and the other insisting that Hanatarou find some shelter from the rain. Considering how cold and wet it was, and that he had only a jacket and hat to protect himself from the rain, he didn't really have any reason to argue, but still he might've liked to go wherever Senna was going so that at least he'd have a friend there. He glanced up and down the gloomy rain-wet street, sighed, and shuffled off in search of somewhere interesting to spend the next little while.

After a block or so he finally decided the "interesting" part wasn't likely, so he finally wandered into the next door simply because it led to somewhere warm and dry, and absently dragged the sodden hat off his head to let it drip onto the floor as he glanced around at the surroundings. He'd never been in here before, and it had...tools? A lot of tools. Not really all that interesting, but it was certainly better than going back out into the wet.

[helloooooo ninja]

[From here.]

Easily forgiven? Unlikely. A pair of (presumably) mental patient committing theft. No, it was highly unlikely they would be easily forgiven. Conscience-wise? It wouldn't even stain his thoughts, really. Nothing like ten years of judgemental slaughter to make your mind jaded against the simpler crimes in the world.

Either way, it could prove to be... okay, he didn't want to say fun because not much about Venom was even slightly amusing (and Edward was very much ignoring the teenage part of him that was all ready to rebel), but it could prove to be adventurous. Especially since he didn't have the agility nor the power to make the feat easy. Having Alice play the stock market wasn't exactly the most hands-on way of stealing after all. It couldn't really be called stealing, after all... it was just using her naturally-created gifts to further the family's fortune.

So his morals were a little skewed. That was okay with him.

Once he'd left the polluted bus behind him - fresh air, thank god - he smiled to see the sky completely overcast, the smallest drops of water misting through the air. He shrugged into the obnoxiously bright raincoat he'd been given, tucking the coupons and the untouched breakfast into one of the pockets, covering his face with the hood. The suit he was wearing was a little worse for wear, but the vampire wasn't exactly looking forward to marching around damp.

Waiting just off to the side for Venom, Edward surveyed what he could see of the town so far. It didn't seen very big... which was good, he supposed. That way it would be easier to navigate. Now that the first order of business had been planned, they would need to find the right outlet for their theft opportunity.

Lingering around where the buses were parked made him feel too much like a lost tourist—especially with that woman looking at him like that—so Sam headed off to the park instead. Not too far since he knew Dean would want to see him. Not for anything specific, obviously. It'd just always been automatic to find each other after whatever crazy stuff happened to go down in the night.

Though what they were gonna talk about this time was beyond him. Oh sure, he could ask Dean what went on last night and Dean would probably ask him the same (to which he'd leave out any mentions of Ruby), but that only took up so many minutes. Then what? The job? Not much hunting was getting done. Just another thing that bothered him because yeah, being surrounded by the supernatural wasn't anything new, but a few memorable occasions aside, they looked for these things, not the other way around. Picking up a job or chasing down a trail wasn't the same as having that trail chase you down. It was hard to appreciate the role reversal.

Besides, any discussion of all of this was superficial at best. They were talking around things, not about them, and he knew Dean must've noticed, too.

Still. Screw it. Maybe it was time he pushed all that aside. Dean might've already made the deal—hell, for all Sam knew, Dean's contract might already be up—but he didn't remember the last year. They could...start over, as much as they were able to. Wasn't that the whole reason why he'd decided to keep all this quiet? To make sure Dean didn't have to deal with his crap?

Frowning to himself, he leaned back against a tree, resting his foot flat against the trunk. The skies were seriously looking grey and heavy, but man, he almost wanted to say he missed getting caught in the rain or other generally bad weather conditions. There was something so insanely controlled about the institute, it creeped him out. Kinda nice to see that at least the weather was one part that hadn't gone all The Giver on them.

Well. That and a communal breeding program. Presumably.

[say hi, big brother. :( ]

Morning hit without warning, with the sheer knowledge hitting the Digimon before anything else that today they were going back to Doyletown. Her feet hit the floor and she rotated her right shoulder experimentally. The skin stretched tight, soreness persevering, but it moved fine. She stretched her fingers then curled them into a fist, staring at the tanned skin that was her right arm. If something happened this time... She would be more useful. Her mind replayed the events of last week, and Renamon stilled, considering.

There wasn't much time left to her as the nurse bustled in with an armful of clothes, the same shade as the weeks before. The woman murmured a cheery complaint that it was too cold for skirts and left Renamon to change. The pants were preferable to the past two weeks, though the other item she was left with gave too much to irony. She frowned at it for a minute, then slid it over her head, reflecting that this motion in days or weeks past would have left her shuddering. It meant she was becoming used to this human body, and that was nothing that boded well. She grabbed her notebook before being led to a bus, and slid into a seat halfway down the aisle, pressing against the window. Again, the previous night had been more than short. Was it just her, or was there something more to it?

[for Haseo!]

[From here]

The pair were forced to slow down a good deal further as soon as they hit the denser part of the forest. They could barely go more than a few meters at a time before having to dodge a tree or a stand of bushes. The ever-present mist wasn't helping matters much, either. Utena let herself catch her breath at last as they settled into a quick walk rather than a run.

"Feels like a maze in here," she commented as they wandered. Utena looked back over her shoulder; the Institute was no longer in sight. The only indication they had about which direction they were headed was the terrain, which stayed a little more even in this part of the forest than it looked like it would have been further north or south. "Ah, I'm sure we'll get somewhere if we just keep going straight, though. No worries, right?" she added, giving Himemiya a reassuring smile.

[From here]

And here he was once more, not unlike the night before. Of course, then he'd been falling subsequent to a certain yoctogram. The memory brought a smile to his face. Now he was the prime factorial in that equation.

Checking the darkness once more with the flashlight taped to his arm, Sho didn't immediately notice anything that could pose a threat to him. Just as well; any deciles dumb enough to deal with him would be learning about the force of impact associated with the multiplication of his arm by his shovel.

However, it was just as Sho passed by the hallway of doctor offices that he heard the sound waves of an approaching attoliter...

[For the spider]

[From over here]

While the prospect of loitering in the hallway he had just passed was tempting (just what was the Keybearer and his friends up to?), X was officially timing himself out of lack of anything else to do. There was no one to speak with, nothing to look at, no cards in his possession, but Time would never abandon. She was always there to focus on, so that was what he did.

Fifteen minutes to reach this hallway in silence...? He could do better, but since he saw no sign of his conspirator, he was not going to rush. Still, that didn't mean he was going to stop moving. The open doors of the Sun Room and the closed door across were ignored for now. They could be explored later when he had no further obligations.

As he kept timing his stride and paced ever forward, Luxord began to wonder if entertaining the idea to paint these walls garish colors would be fun or not. He could even make a game of it, should others get involved...

[lalalalala]

[from here]

Another hallway, which meant that he needed to slow his steps to a jog and turn on his flashlight. His light shifted over the walls quickly, up, down, around him, and even toward the floor, as if little black heads with yellow beady eyes would suddenly pop out and attack him. Though he didn't have any idea what most of the monsters looked like here, Riku doubted that he would see anything like the heartless. They may have the Darkness to change Kairi completely, but it didn't seem like the type of thing they would use against their patients. Making them into heartless would only be useful in the situations where Nobodies might be involved. Some people here might be strong in heart, much like Sora had been, much like Kairi had been, but he doubted that would be the intended result of their experiments. No, they were probably going for something else.

But what?

Riku shook his head uncertainly before he picked up his pace again. Nothing seemed to be clear. Not even the Darkness of this place seemed like that Darkness, even as he tried to see if it was the same way. But with every aspect of him feeling relatively weaker, it was no surprise he couldn't really check, couldn't really differentiate to tell for certain. He also knew there was a possibility that his senses were weakened. That would slow him down more, but they didn't bother to remove his experience or knowledge. Those were still things Riku pocketed and kept. They were what would help him help his friends.

[to here]

[currently in M7]

The lights went out and the doors unlocked and Hanatarou bolted to his feet, hands moving to clutch nervously at the strap of his healer's bag. It was night which meant that people were supposed to be coming here at any minute and he had to pretend to know what he was doing or at least be able to offer some advice to anyone who knew what they were doing and might show up. Or something along those lines. But people were going to be here soon and he wasn't even ready.

But Sora hadn't left yet, so the healer swallowed hard and tried to keep his voice level as he turned blindly toward him (wishing yet again that he'd gotten around to fixing his flashlight). "Er, you're going to, um, be careful tonight...right?" Sora didn't really seem like the type to go charging blindly into trouble, but he hadn't met the "friend" who wanted to look for danger, so he didn't know for certain.

"AACHOO! Ahem!" The Head Doctor's slightly-better-but-still-congested voice came on clearly over the intercom. The sound of Nurse Lydia sighing and pulling out a tissue from somewhere in the background was also audible.

"Ah! Yes, thank you..." the Head Doctor muttered before continuing: "Well, it seems like today, like all days, must come to an end, even if it wasn't quite as bright and cheerful as we would like, hmmm? In any case, everyone will now be escorted to their quarters.... mmaahh... AAACHOO! Ah! Erb– yes, to their quarters, where they'll be served some Atlantic wild-caught salmon seasoned with garlic and herbs, along with mashed potatoes and a small garden salad. Our usual vegetarian alternatives and drinks are also available, along with a chocolate mousse dessert.

"And that's all... all ...aaaachoo!"

The intercom clicked off.

[ All room threads go in response to this post; please post your character's room number as the subject line of the initial post. I think Court said something about the new roomies not being completely sorted out yet? :O She'll probably post about that later, so hang tight! ]

So much for a relaxing shower. Anise couldn't possibly relax around someone with a voice like that! This was beyond weird. How could a girl who didn't have any relation to Sync have the exact same voice as him?

And what made it even weirder was that this wasn't even the first time Anise had encountered something like that. There was a boy, who also had tattoos like hers, who sounded just like Luke. What was his name? It was so long ago, Anise couldn't remember. Maybe she'd know it if she heard it again, but...

That gave her an idea. She wasn't using her journal for much besides cooking notes, recipes, and a few room numbers, right? Maybe from now on, whenever she saw or heard something really strange or suspicious, she'd write it down. Then, if it happened again or she learned more about it, she could look back to the entry and add the details. She'd call it... 'Anise's Mystery Diary.' That sounded kind of cool!

During the lunch shift, Anise worked on putting as many memories as possible to paper. The radio man, the rumored third floor, the ruins she found last night, things like that. By the time fourth shift rolled around, she wasn't quite done yet. It was getting harder to think of more things to write about, even though she was sure there were hundreds of mysteries in the institute. Maybe she'd feel more inspired if she took her writing outside.

"Oh, Dolores!" A nurse came to stop her as she was walking out the door. "If you're going outside, you should put on a coat! We wouldn't want you catching a cold." Even though Anise disliked being assisted by the nurses, she cooperated as the woman helped her into the coat, quickly putting Tokunaga back in its place on her back when they were finished. It did look kind of cold out, so there was no point in arguing.

Outside, Anise found herself a bench to sit on while she wrote some more in her journal. Occasionally she'd pause and fidget with the pen for a bit, or doodle some stars and other shapes into the corner of the page she was on, unsure of what to write next.

[free!]