Naruto was glad he'd managed to make it through a whole day, for once. AND he still had the kunai Sakura had given him a couple nights ago. That meant all he had to do was find her, or Sasuke, or someone he could trust, and they could try this again.

Okay, okay, so it was kind of annoying that they weren't really getting anywhere. But it couldn't be that way forever, right?

[to here]

[To here]

"Made it..." She whispered triumphantly as she walked quietly into the dark and quiet hallway first. It was hard to decide where the best place would be to stand since once others began to flood in, Asuka could easily be overshadowed by the taller adults. "Hmmm..." The best she could guess was to hug the opposite wall by the doorway and hope she would pick out the two members once they entered.

Remember, Asuka, you aren't the veteran here.

This wasn't NERV anymore. She had no one under her to display her impressive and extensive training to. The redhead was a newbie like the ones she was going to be working with, though perhaps a bit more intelligent. This first mission was important for popularity's sake. She needed to play nice for now, gauge their strengths and weaknesses until she knew who she could topple the easiest.

[Waiting on Agatha and Zevran]

[From here]

Another bare hallway, Asuka observed once she poked her head out of the F-A block and shined her light back and forth. Even when she left her room rather promptly, there was almost always a handful of patients coming or going. Maybe she had just been way too uptight tonight for this mission. But was that such a terrible thing? This initiative clearly displayed her commitment to the club. The eva pilot had to show Okita that she was determined, that she showed leadership qualities so she could rise through the ranks. Higher rank gave her access to better resources, which got her closer to getting the hell out of this place.

No, there was nothing wrong with a little hustle at all. The other new members could learn from her, certainly. Keeping her objectives in sight, Asuka kept following the hallway until it split into the common area that most patients used to rendezvous with others.

[To here]

The intercom jingle was slightly different for this shift, almost as if it had gone up in quality. The Head Doctor gave a sigh of relief, his own voice clear as a bell despite the usual electronic buzz.

"Hello, everyone – from our new and improved intercom system! We've had electronics rehauling our circuitry, and you can hear the result quite nicely! A whole bunch of improvement! Right, anyway...

"As I'm sure you've noticed, we have a whole new bunch of patients that have joined us recently, and because of the changes in our roster, we've updated our roommate assignments, so some of you might be enjoying the company of someone entirely new tonight! Please be polite and friendly to anyone you might encounter!

"Which brings us to... dinner! Tonight, we'll be having a delicious 'bento box' meal consisting of fish and vegetable tempura along with chicken teriyaki, a bowl of steamed rice, miso soup, salad, and... green tea! Decaffeinated, of course. We can't have you bouncing from wall to wall when there's sleep to be had! Our usual assorted drinks and alternative meals are also available. Oh, and... dessert! Green tea ice cream, with a topping of red bean paste.

"I think that's all for now! I'll speak to you once more before bed time."

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. Please refer to the updated room assignments before posting. Thank you! ]

[From here.]

As expected, nothing had really changed since the last time he was there. Sync took the time to shine his flashlight throughout the cramped space in case any monsters were hiding in the darkness, but in the end there was nothing.

There was no doubt that they probably restocked his files as soon as he took them, but it wouldn't hurt to see if they updated anything. It was convenient that Spike had opened the right room, even. 'Stephen Lansky' wasn't it? Without a word the God-General moved passed the brunet, searching for the proper cabinet.

However, it was hard to when the cabinets themselves were organized by unidentifiable symbols...

[from here]

There was no one here yet. And wasn't that strange? If she remembered correctly, there was a male patient block here. Even if it was away from the others, it should still be fairly well occupied. Were they all just staying in for the night? It was also odd that no one from the female block had come up this way yet either. Either it was just too early, or something had happened in her absence that kept others from coming this way unless they had a larger group with them (or not at all).

Callisto stopped to shine her light down into the adjacent hall, seeing if she could pick out anyone heading out of their room. She thought she heard the sounds of people moving about on the other side of the wall, so it couldn't be completely empty. Was there any point in waiting around? She didn't need someone to accompany her, and it had only slowed her up in the past anyway.

She would wait a bit, perhaps, if only to sate her own curiosity before moving on.

[From here]

Unlike the western section, the central portion of this hallway was completely deserted. On any other night, von Karma would have used this to his advantage to arrive at one of the upstairs locations before anyone else did. The Janitor's Closet, for one, contained a large cache of metal that he could use to compensate Mr. Geeste for the work he would do for him three nights later.

But for now, von Karma merely had to go as far as the very first doorway to his right, which led straight into Waiting Room 1. This was far more important -- though less pleasant -- than his prospective metal scavenger hunt. Besides, by the time he had replied to Mr. Geeste's notice, Ms. Taura had already accepted an assignment from that blasted History Club. He would simply have to try to contact her tomorrow morning as soon as possible before she could accept another one.

Shaking his head, von Karma turned the door knob, expecting to have to jimmy it open, but instead discovering that the door wasn't locked after all.

[To here (with Court's permission to just go on ahead <3 ) ]

[In M93]

Heiji hid under the covers until his roommate left, dinner untouched, hands clamped over his ears. He had been pretending to sleep all throughout dinner, but in reality he'd just been listening to the wet footprints run the length of the room. It was looking for him, it had to be. But why could he hear it through his hands?

He couldn't go out like this, he was going to kill Himura, he knew it. Someone was going to get hurt, at the very least. Honestly, he didn't know if he could stand both survivor's guilt and hurting someone else against his will.

Though the idea was that no one would have to be hurt. Himura might be able to keep him in check. He might be worrying over nothing.

He might snap Himura's neck from behind.

[from here]

It looked like the hallway opened up over here. Guess he couldn't expect to just run around and follow a linear corridor forever, but now he had to figure out which way he wanted to go. Normally, he'd just run down whatever hallway he happened to lay eye on first, but again, he was running a liiittle blind here.

He still wasn't seeing any people anywhere. Maybe everyone was hiding. If everyone knew the staff turned into monsters and tried to eat them, then it'd make sense that they'd try to keep low. Thankfully, he'd be taking care of whatever was wandering around this place, so they wouldn't have to stay hiding for long. Once that was done, they could blast their way out of there and he could find his way back to the others. Couldn't keep everyone waiting on account of him, right?

[running across Rita, The Trickster, and hopefully, a freaking flashlight]

[from here]

Was she really the only one out in the hallway right now? Minako certainly couldn't hear anyone else, and she didn't see any flashlights out there in the darkness. Brr. That was kind of... creepy. When it was dark the hallways seemed a lot more echo-y, and she couldn't help but think about the stories about monsters and things that might be lurking where she couldn't see.

"Stop being a scaredy-cat," she muttered to herself, then turned to her right and resolutely marched onward. Out to the main hall there, down a bit, then left. That would take her to the hall where she'd run into Arthur and the fake-Alfred the night before, which thought reminded her that she hadn't talked to either of them today. Maybe she should've left them a note or something on that bulletin. Oh, well. Tomorrow.

[to here]

As expected, after the allotted amount of time had passed, the nurses started to move through the waiting rooms to inform the visitors that it was time for them to leave, whereas in the Sun Room King Kong was turned off and the staff quickly sprung to action to put the equipment away.

Meanwhile, the sound of intercom turning on cut into the hustle and bustle, but it was Lydia's voice which came through. "Mr. Landel is taking a quick nap," was all she said by way of explanation, as she seemed to be beyond making lengthy excuses for the man. "Nurses, once the visitors have said their goodbyes, escort the patients back to their rooms for dinner. Tonight there is steak and fries on the menu, with a slice of cheesecake for dessert and vegetarian options if requested.

"Enjoy your food and have a good sleep." Keeping it short, the intercom then turned off.

[From here.]

It was a sad thing to know that Sync had experienced more in the four years he lived than most people did in their entire lifetime. He'd long since been desensitized to the idea of death, and anything associated with it was often met with a scoff or sneer.

Falling wasn't a foreign concept either. After all, he'd left the world like that once already, so there was no point in getting worked up over it again. In the end there was very little that could shake the God-General, and he preferred to keep it that way.

But this? This he didn't expect in a million years.

Sync was suddenly hit with another wave of vertigo as he moved out of the closet, vision momentarily blurring the moment he stepped outside. His stomach lurched forward when his foot connected with nothing but air, almost as if the whole floor had just given away beneath him. Sync had lost his balance, twisting out of reflex in order to grab hold of anything nearby. However, his hands grasped nothing but air, and with that the God-General fell backwards entirely.

"GAH!"

But it didn't stop there. Everything had disappeared, the once cramped hallways having already transformed into something else entirely. The next thing he knew the wind was rushing past his ears, hair whipping angrily against his face as he plummeted from the sky. Sync looked about wildly, for once shock and horror marring his features as his brain desperately tried to catch up with everything else.

Just what the hell was going on?!

[ from here ]

Most people would have been a little wary, or at least curious as to why this part of the hallway seemed to be completely abandoned. However, Rolo was almost pleased by the quiet and stillness, even though he had a feeling it meant something was wrong. So, it wasn't something to be happy about, he guessed, but...

It was nice to keep the distractions down to a minimum. This section of the main hallway was as uneventful as the rest of it, and since his companions were respecting the unspoken rule of silence that the group imposed on itself, this trip was almost pleasant. Almost. Rolo took another glance behind him to see if Stephen and Greta were also following him. Unfortunately, Stephen was, and fortunately, Greta was.

"... Almost there," He muttered, though it was mostly to himself. Once they reached the doctor's offices, as long as he didn't look like he was doing anything too interesting, he was sure Stephen would get bored and wander off. Or he could get bored and start something.

Damn, he hated that guy.

[From here]

Another moment of disorientation, and here they were in... an actually marginally useful place. What a surprise. "You wanted tools last night? This is the room." He was hoping that Agatha's priorities might be in a sensible place, he wouldn't stand for any 'there's no time, we have to save my friend!' hysterics.

The return trip had proved inconsequential, no significance beyond increasing rainfall and silence between brothers. If he missed a crucial detail, Nigredo would not have known--the sharpness in his arm had occupied all thoughts, bringing wayward attention to the background. He spent the bus ride leaning his forehead against the window pane, consciousness slipping in and out of sleep.

A nurse who had observed the child's behavior noted the probable cause and took him aside when they reached the front entrance of the institute. Before escorting him back to his room, she administered a dose of painkillers. "Vicodin," she had explained. The lowest available dosage. It still managed to be potent enough to hinder awareness, and before she could properly take him back to his room, Nigredo had drifted away.

Unlike the cold and clammy sleep on the bus, this was warm. Constant. For once, the child who rarely dreamed did so in vivid imagery, events he had once set aside now returning in full vengeance. He dreamed of the time in the Conflict, shortly after he had given up on his search for the eldest to return to their rendezvous point. The decision had been a mistake, Nigredo recalled. The consequences had been nearly fatal. But for all the blood spilled and bones broken, he could only concentrate on a violent glee in his brother's actions, magenta and U-DO and hatred mixed in the expressions.

And he couldn't recall what he might have done to earn such a thing.

He blinked awake as if returning from ordinary rest, and carefully tumbled out of bed. Sounds of rain and thunder rang in the distance as Nigredo situated himself, the dull haze of medicine rendering the task difficult. He was surprised to find no trace of his previous clothes; the nurse, it seemed, had replaced him back in the uniform while he had slept. She even provided a sweatshirt to account for the temperature. For convenience, Nigredo surmised.

A soft sound alerted him to an entity in the room, and his eyes found a dark form on the other side, indicating the presence of a sleeping roommate. Impulse had him reaching in his bed for the handgun (it was only right, after all), but the recall of a brother's face left the weapon unused. Instead, he quietly wrapped the holster around his waist and exited to the hallway.

[To here.]

[From here]

Maybe she should go snatch up her patient file? Possessions, too. Yuffie'd never say no to free stuff, even if it was a bunch of crap from a lie of a life. If she was lucky, she'd get somethin' handy. Handy like a cellphone, or, hell, even a laptop! Yuffie wasn't a technical genius at the best of times, preferring to leave all that stuff to Reeve and the guys in R&D, but if she could get 'em up and working, they'd be like a gift straight from Leviathan.

[To here]

Unlike the nurses, some of the other patients, and the residents of Doyleton, Naminé actually was enjoying the light drizzle. It was a little cold, but the damp feeling in the air was one she was not used to, and that was probably why the Nobody spent the better part of the morning lounging around town, enjoying the light rain. Rain, real rain! It was probably sad that Naminé hadn't actually experienced real rain too often, especially not when she was back on her own... part of the universe. However, the rain picked up and Naminé found herself being shooed into town, to take shelter in a building.

Naminé was feeling hungry, and upon mentioning this, the nurse shoved her inside the Twin Pines restaurant, saying something about how fast food was unhealthy for a growing girl anyway and she had the choice to eat at a better restaurant. To be honest, Naminé didn't mind either, and that ball pit at Tasty Burger actually looked somewhat intriguing...

The decision was made though, so Naminé quietly took a seat near the wall, wondering exactly how this was going to work. She hadn't eaten here before, so she didn't really know what to order. Scanning the walls of the place seemed to suggest the "country fried steak", whatever that was. Maybe that? The witch deliberated on her meal silently, staring at the menu with an unusual amount of concentration.

She only had one coupon, so she had to make sure that she would eat what she ordered!

[ For Riku ♥ ]

[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.

"I look like a hobo," Yuffie whinged.

"You look lovely," her nurse consoled.

Yuffie was having none of it. "Hobos aren't lovely," she argued. "They're smelly and gross and they try to steal your small change." And then they realize who you are, and why they've suddenly got their feet jammed up the exhaust pipes of two separate trucks. And then they wet themselves (though that might've just been the cheap booze they'd been guzzling; she hadn't stuck around to find out).

Plucky sighed, ushering Yuffie firmly onto the bus. "Sit by the front," she said, still affecting that disconcertingly soothing air. "In case you feel ill."

In case? In case? "There's no 'in case' about it! You could always let me walk, y'know. Or, like, hook up a skateboard to the back of this bolt-bucket. That'd be mad cool, huh, don'tcha think? Near death-experiences always did help keep dinner down the trap-hole." Well, it was true. They did help, adrenalin being awesome like that. Unfortunately, Plucky was a prude, stubborn, and a complete party-pooper. All she did was shove a breakfast bag into Yuffie's hands—orange juice, thank gawd—before gliding away.

Left alone, it was all Yuffie could do not to fall into the biggest sulk of the century. If she didn't look like a hobo, she at least looked like she'd crashed into three separate wardrobes and come out wearing whatever fell on her first. And, and! And, the jeans! Why in Leviathan's name would anybody consent to wearing something so restrictive? They were like death in denim form.

Admittedly, part of her ire—most of it—was down to how far she'd gotten last night.

Because she hadn't. Gotten far. At all. Ugh!

She dropped her head forward, then knocked it back once, hard, against the seat. It's just one of those things, she could hear her old man say. Nothing you can do, he'd add, so you might as well go along with it. Crotchety, senile old jerk, always talkin' like he had the answer to everything right there in the palm of his hands. What a dumb way to live.

[Kurogane?]

"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! ]