Anise couldn't get out of the Cafeteria fast enough. The stench of rotted food was overwhelming, and she was starting to feel sick. Most of her nausea came from seeing the people around her eating it, though. Even her friends! Anise didn't know what to do... What if lunch ended up being the same?

The Sun Room didn't feel like it was nearly far enough from all the rot, and Anise was convinced she could still smell it even after leaving the Cafeteria. She considered ducking into that blanket fort to get away from it (wait, blanket fort?), but decided distance was a better buffer than a pile of sheets and cushions (but seriously, blanket fort?). After giving the bulletin a quick look-over (No one had said anything about the food yet. It wasn't just her, was it...?) she decided to duck into the Library. With her privileges, Anise probably could have run off to wherever she wanted, but she figured it would be too boring to do that if she wouldn't have anyone to talk to.

Come to think of it, Anise hardly ever came to the Library, even though she liked reading. It just never felt like there was enough time to read. The first and last time she came was the day she had that fight with Aidou. She wondered how he was doing. Maybe it was about time they made up...

The last time she came, she'd been looking up Earth myths and legends. Anise wandered back to that section, looking over the rows of books as she considered giving that another shot.

While she stood there, her stomach growled, and she set a hand on it with a groan. "Like I could even stomach a meal right now..."

[Tear.]

[from here]

She moved from the cover of the trees into the open space provided. In this, at least, they had been right. And these in front of her fit the idea of 'ruins' precisely--imperfectly so, as the result did not match the time. She eyed the buildings warily. And where would the new radio persona be, if he was indeed here? There were few buildings at least to choose from, but there still remained a few options.

The trek from the institute had affected more than she thought, despite Tear's healing. Her hand slid into her jacket and pulled one of the two stronger tablets the man had given her. She had no want to lose any lucidity, but a lack of pain as distraction right now would be useful. She dry-swallowed it, then glanced off at the town. "Ideas?" she asked quietly. "We could explore each or determine the likelihood."

Because it couldn't be simple, of course. Ah, she was letting things affect her. It couldn't well be simple and she understood that. If he was simple to find, they would not be the only ones hunting. And she didn't think Marc would like to be caught, despite the recent company he was keeping.

[From here]

The ground snow grew thicker the closer they drew to the forest ahead, and the air cooler. For once in her life, Utena kind of regretted wearing nothing on her legs but thin bike shorts. At least she knew that if they kept moving, kept running, she could stay warm enough to not freeze.

"Still doing okay?" Utena asked back over her shoulder to Renamon about mid-way to the forest. She paused then as another question occurred to her on the heels of the first. "By the way: how do you guys know each other?" she asked the both of them, realizing that she'd probably been pretty rude in not saying much to Tear directly so far. "You been working together long?"

[From here]

The three were mostly silent as they kept moving, which suited Utena fine for now. Maybe she would've preferred to talk with her new companions on any other occasion, but for right now, the most important thing to them was speed. The less distraction they had going on, the faster they could get through the building and out to the forest.

Utena didn't speak again until they were outside. She rubbed her arms as they made for the high walls of the yard. "Ughh, when did it get so chilly?" Utena asked to no one in particular, crunching through half-melted snow. She already knew that the change in weather had probably happened while she was out of commission, but that didn't mean she couldn't complain about it.

"Here, someone give me a boost up," said Utena as they reached the wall, reluctantly taking her hands off her arms.

[from here]

Whatever was happening to her, Rita was going to fix it. She could fix anything. She was a genius.

That heavy pounding in her chest, that light-headed feeling... those were just getting in the way. Rita tried to will it to stop, for her body to simply stop being anxious, but the feelings persisted. She had to hurry... Even if she didn't know what she would do to help herself, that just meant she was going to need more time to figure it out once she reached the Medical Wing.

Rita broke into a run, dashing through the hallway and around the corner.

[to here]

((From here.))

As he stealthily moved through the hall, Spock noted that it was quiet and dark. He didn't detect other patients, nor any hostile lifeforms. Perhaps the rest of the way leading to Dr. McCoy's quarters was in a similar state.

Regardless, it was best to move as quickly as possible. The early portions of the shift tended to be the quietest, which meant Spock needed to take advantage of the still hallways while he could. He hadn't forgotten about the military's cryptic message, or the unusual silence toward the end of their meal period. It was possible something would interrupt their plans later, which made time of the essence. If they were caught in the middle of a meld, the results could be disastrous.

Walking at a brisk pace, Spock allowed his light to illuminate his immediate path and continued ahead.

((To here.))

[from here]

It was really dark.

It had been a long time since Anise last tried to navigate the halls without a flashlight, but with both her hands full, there was no way she could carry one. She had her handy little mini flashlight tucked away in her coat pocket so she could use it after dropping off the pipe.

It looked like the night was going to start on a positive note, but Anise couldn't help but wonder about that weird announcement from earlier. The military was probably up to something really shady. Anise just hoped they didn't put anything weird in her food again.

[to here]

It was nighttime, but Anise still hadn't made any plans. She didn't want to let the night go to waste, and she didn't want to try anything too dangerous, either... Maybe she could just go find some useful supplies to collect, so they'd be there when she or her friends needed them! That seemed like a pretty good idea. If things got dangerous, she could turn around and run back. No problem!

Before leaving, Anise made sure to slip on the tough leather jacket from her closet, and to gather her equipment. She tied an empty pillowcase around Tokunaga's neck so she could fill it with things later. The bracelets she was given last night were left in her possessions box for safekeeping. It'd be bad if she broke those before they figured out what they were for. Finally, she put Tokunaga on her back and picked up both her meat tenderizer and her pipe.

First order of business: delivering that pipe to Tolten! Anise wished Utena good luck, then slipped out of the room and into the dark hallway.

[to here]

[From here.]

He set off, a little man with a toothpick and a flashlight, past his room's hallway and into the adjoining one. To be frank, he hadn't really cared where Castiel was cooped up before. Of course the lack of knowledge was going to bite him in the ass. Big surprise there. While he didn't intend to stand in the hallway all night, leaning next to the bathroom door, he could stay long enough to make sure Michael wasn't going to pass by on an innocent route to exploration.

Besides, he was probably having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that the doors unlocked when night hit. It was too bad he wasn't going to have a fun power-trip via intercom to contend with in his logical, human mind as well. That would've been amusing.

[In M24.]

In the end, Peter hadn't been able to do a thing while Sam had been taken by the soldiers. Even though they'd made it clear that it wasn't for the normal things -- experimentation or brainwashing -- he couldn't help but feel both nervous for his roommate and useless over not being able to stop it. But Peter had his own plans for the night and while the soldiers didn't seem as quick to sedate them as the nurses had been, he hadn't been able to take a chance with that.

"Hang in there, Sam," he directed at the door that his roommate had disappeared through, dragging a hand through his hair as he did his best to calm down. First Sam had been called out to meet that lieutenant (or whatever the rank was; Peter wasn't good at that kind of thing) and now he was suddenly being dragged somewhere by soldiers in the middle of the night. It definitely stood out, and not in a good way.

However, Peter could only worry so much about that, seeing how he had people who would be dropping by to give him extra supplies. Soma he knew, if only from a brief meeting right after she'd been experimented on, but the other girl -- Utena, right? -- would be new to him. Still, the fact that she'd made a post to offer up supplies to whoever needed it already made it clear that her heart was in the right place.

He only hoped that they both showed up quickly. He was going to have to go meet up with Max afterward and while he doubted that the man was going to rush off somewhere, he still didn't want to make him wait. With how nervous the guy had been during their talk earlier, he'd probably assume the worst and Peter didn't think Max needed to worry more than he already was.

Of course, expecting people to rush when they were doing him a favor was asking far too much, and so Peter did his best to be patient, taking a seat on his bed as he tried to relax. There wasn't even an announcement for him to mull over to pass the time, and so in the end his thoughts simply returned to worrying over Sam. He knew his roommate could take care of himself, but all of the possibilities of where he might be going kept flitting through Peter's head.

[Waiting for Utena and Soma, then going to meet ZEX Max.]

The dinner announcement came as something utterly unexpected. Rather than Harrington's excited tones, the calm accented voice of the General drifted through the intercom speakers.

"Code 1-8. I repeat: Code 1-8. All personnel are to report to your stations. No exceptions."

The intercom clicked off, leaving no explanation behind. The staff appeared to take the words to heart, however, as evident by their thin-lipped faces and snappy tones to the slower patients. They were in an obvious hurry to get everyone back to their rooms.

For what cause, they refused to divulged.

[ Those participating in the forced drug trials, please ensure to read this lounge post before posting to dinner. Thanks! ]

As his eyes combed over the latest mission reports, Berg let out a small breath in frustration. While mission #57-1 had been a success, the data delivered during #57-2 had mysteriously disappeared. There was no reason that should have happened -- the base radioed a messaged confirming the case's safe retrieval, but now it seemed like no one could give him any straight answers of what ultimately became of it. His first inclination had been to assume that those two girls had done something, but, as far as Berg knew, the discs hadn't been found among their belongings. Otherwise, their retrieval would have been undoubtedly reported to him, and the resulting punishment would have been firm and swift.

As things stood, it appeared the error hadn't been on his end. That was all the more frustrating, because it meant the outcome had rested outside of his immediate control. They would need to intensify efforts to root out every pocket of rebel influence.

"Damn," he murmured with a slight shake of his head. As he turned to tuck the files away in his cabinet, he could only hope that today's set of missions would produce a 100% success rate.

In the meantime, Berg expected another set of subjects to arrive over the course of the shift. One amazing aspect of this project was the way they'd managed to gather such a wide range of people and creatures under one roof. From what he understood, he could expect to meet with two individuals with the potential to revolutionize their respective worlds -- one a willful adolescent girl with a talent for sword duels and the drive to become a noble prince, the other an intelligent young man who possessed the power to bend and shape the will of those around him.

With two cups of steaming coffee waiting on the desk, Berg glanced at his pocket watch. His first meeting would begin at any moment.

[From here.]

The room was mainly empty when Michael reached it, which was fine by him. It wasn't that he didn't feel sympathy for the other patients, but he also didn't know if it would be helpful for him to talk to them. The staff seemed to think that forming bonds amongst themselves would lead to recovery, but to him it felt more like they would end up feeding on each other's delusions.

Of course, being reclusive was a problem of his in general. He threw himself into work, into dealing with the scum of the Earth; rape, murder, assault. Someone had to deal with those people and make them pay for their misdeeds, of course, but --

No, he was thinking too much like Castiel. Thinking in a vocabulary that most normal people wouldn't. As he found a couch and fell onto it, Michael winced his eyes shut and realized that the shower hadn't helped as much as he would have liked.

Either way, he couldn't say he was in the mood for talking to anyone.

[For his bro.]

Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of felt like she was floating and bobbing in the water.

But she was alive.

Knowing how close she came to death last night, and remembering the lengths her friends had gone to in order to save her, there was no way Anise could let a little discomfort get her down. She had to be at her best today so she wouldn't seem ungrateful to Guy and Claude. On that note, she had to remember to thank them properly, now that she was better able to express herself.

While getting ready, Anise was surprised to actually run into Claude that morning. He came to her room asking for the notebook he stored there (or maybe it was an excuse to see her cute face again), so Anise happily located it and handed it over. She was pretty tired, but the big smile she gave him was genuine. Who wouldn't be happy to see her savior so soon after a dramatic rescue?

After he left, Anise finished re-tying her pigtails into a low position so the military beret would fit on her head, and then she was ready! Even though her stomach wasn't feeling that great, she figured sitting down to a decent meal would help normalize it. And luckily for her, she was among the few who had the privilege of eating such a meal. Anise filled a plate with french toast topped with syrup and fruit, accompanied by small portions of each of the available side dishes.

It looked like she was early, which meant there weren't a lot of people around. That was okay, though. Anise could get a good head start on her meal before any company came around. She sat down at a table by herself and started on her sausage first.

[for Tolten!]

[from here]

There wasn't much to see here--a bed and some outdated technology, and little else. And it was cramped. Uncomfortably so. Soma couldn't quite pinpoint what about the place set her off so much.

Maybe it wasn't the room. Maybe it was Utena, right behind her, getting in the way...

She moved towards the door immediately opposite. "There has to be someplace a little more spacious than this."

[From here]

Utena shivered immediately upon entering. Why was it so cold in here? There were machines everywhere. Were none of them on? They were supposed to keep things warm in a room, right? Was someone blasting the A.C.? God, it was making her sick, and she hadn't even been in the room for ten seconds yet.

"Well, it's a bigger room. Maybe that means we'll find more?" she tried to reason (though, she could feel something base inside her brain trying to turn off any kind of reasoning).

Before she started looking for things, she had to set her box down. She had to rub her arms to warm up, or scratch, or do something. In this cold, the pinpricks in her skin were really starting to burn—

"Aauh!" Utena suddenly felt a sharp pain seize up in her torso. She doubled forward, dropping the box before she could finish setting it down. She clutched at her ribs, and cried out again as the pain started flaring up in her limbs and head. It felt like bones were shifting. Her heart pounded madly, and she struggled to keep breathing as the pain kept jolting her, shifting the position of things in her body. She could swear her arms and legs were starting to get shorter. "S-Soma!" she coughed, on the verge of convulsing.

And the cold. The cold was getting to be unbearable. The only relief she found was that a new heat seemed to be burbling up inside her, intense but somehow familiar. She willed that heat to grow. If it helped drive away this damn cold air, then let it grow, she thought, scrunching her eyes shut and clutching her stomach.

[From here]

Just like the janitor's closet upstairs, the space was cramped. Unlike the janitor's closet, however, it looked like everything in here was a bit harder to get at. Most of it was packed up in cardboard boxes or in closed cabinets. From what she could see on the labels, though, at least some of the stuff looked like it might be worth picking up. She wasn't much for medical stuff herself, but she knew others were; it was good to get that stuff out in the patient blocks where it was safer than making people come find it in places like this.

"Guess this is the part where we get to do a little shopping, huh?" she remarked with a faint grin, starting by pulling down a box of spare hospital gowns and slicing it open with the edge of her sword. She dumped most of the gowns out in a corner, but kept a couple in and held onto the box itself. It was going to be useful for carrying things, she thought as she made for the cabinets.

[from here]

By no means was it very far for the two of them to walk, but there was still a risk. Though there was the feeling of accomplishment within Riku over the fact that he would have a wealth of information about this section of the hospital, he knew that it would be ineffective if he gained it with a price to pay. That was why the bat returned to the offensive position. He believed that Albedo, with his knowledge of the firearm's usage, but only in so far as the guy would end up protecting himself. There was no point in believing it would be any different. He seemed like someone who taunted for a reaction, and what better reaction than seeing how someone handled being attacked?

A fight, of course, would have the potential of being more complicated than that. If they were close, it might be different, but it would be a careful maneuvering that might not work out in his favor—or Albedo's. And despite what feelings he had on this guy that erred on the side of being irritated, Riku wasn't someone who would use someone else as meat shield. (Unless he had good reason. Which, to his credit at this point, he didn't.)

He made himself relax as he hit this new area. Now that he was here, he knew it was better not to focus on his ill-chosen nighttime partner and rather his surroundings. There were quite a few doors and each promised to probably deliver the same thing, but he still went to the north-most one that was closest to the hall and opened the door to look inside. "We should check them all out," he decided. "See if anyone's here. This is where people would be kept, right?" These words were delivered before he took in the surroundings of this first room.

There was no point in waiting for Albedo's response, given Riku's proclivity toward handling things on his own. He stepped in further and looked around. Nothing ... interesting, at least, was his first mental note, but he wondered what Albedo had to make of it. The only thing worthy of Riku's attention was how sterile it was—just like everything else in the right places of Landel's.

[from here]

For as direct as they were being, Riku understood how much of this section of Landel's remained unexplored. They were so focused on acquiring the drug that it hadn't occurred to them to stop—or, if it had, it was a thought stopped by his frustration with his partner for the night. To think he pushed off some old man because he thought he'd be irritating, but he found something just the same in Albedo. Maybe he hadn't said as much yet, but the feeling he got off him set him on edge. It also made a different side of him come out. It was the side that was smirking now as he looked around, head held high, like this wasn't a problem at all.

That arrogance was more natural in this situation. Riku realized that if he got too caught up in it he wouldn't be able to think clearly, but for now, he was okay. He needed to match abrasiveness with just that. Sora would have done it differently, and so would Kairi, but Riku didn't believe in killing someone with kindness. (Not that kill was in his friends' vocabulary when they were so chipper and easy with their hearts; it was just the way they functioned. He always admired it.)

Upon noticing what could only be the aforementioned concoction, he turned back toward Albedo. His mind had already processed the surroundings. Outside that set up section, everything was the way he imagined it was supposed to seem. If someone was sick, they came here. If they needed help, they called a nurse. In a way, he thought that some of the people he came up against could learn a few tips from Landel when it came to subtlety. Then, maybe, they wouldn't have gone down so hard at the hands of Sora. Though it was better that for whatever their backgrounds were, their own flaws came against them. Riku wondered if that was what happened here, if Landel's own pride and pompous handling of himself led to losing his stronghold.

That question could be asked soon. But first, he asked, "What do you think this'll do?" Not that it wouldn't stop him from taking it. He needed something to give him an edge for his lost time. Truthfully, he was curious about what Albedo had to say. Would he lie and make it look innocent, or would he possibly tell the truth and show ignorance? In Riku's mind, those were the only two options.

[from here]

He glanced idly at the doorways as they passed them, and yet still none read infirmary. "It's only a waste of time," he replied. "If you can't find them. Which would be a bit pathetic in a small building like this."

There was another hallway to the left and Albedo ducked into it, coming up short. Draping his hands behind his head, he walked back to the other, tilting his head. "Especially since I saw Sora about twenty minutes ago. Hopeful with hair at unrealistic angles?" Which would make sense. Sora was sky and didn't Riku speak as shore?

It was annoying, that. It spoke of a beach, and that reminded him too much of a girl.