[from here]

He slipped silently down the hallway, flashlight (turned off) in hand, as he couldn't fit it into a pocket with both the bulky radio as well as the gun. A hassle, but bearable. Having a portable source of light handy with him while wandering dark corridors was actually rather helpful, even if normally, Vino wouldn't have bothered with it at all. Light showed up too brightly in darkness when he needed to be invisible.

Like a shadow, he passed through this larger hallway in his block, ignoring all the doors. He'd tried them all before. Besides, his job wasn't to break into a room. At least, not completely, anyway.

[to here]

[From here.]

Empty. Again.

Whoop-de-doo.

Less witnesses, good thing, yadda yadda yadda. Peter just wanted to get it all over with and get down to the good stuff. (Good being a subjective word here.) The basement. The coliseum of...whatever the coliseum had in store. A fight. Probably with lions. Three headed lions. The point was that they were finally getting somewhere, and now that the hour had come all Peter wanted to do was slice through every other bogus problem barreling his way and head straight for it. He was sick of worrying about Grell, about monsters, about the godawful crap Jessica and her attitude had brought him, about all the people that had left. Being fiction. Kirk had put a better spin on it, but that still did little to ease the grip on his insides every time the subject popped up. And if Captain freaking Kirk couldn't assuage him, then what could?

Getting down to business might. A chance to get answers would be even better.

[To here.]

Well, that was different. Anise had expected the military's announcement to be brief and to-the-point, but what actually came was a full-on rant. It looked like even Aguilar had a nutty side, too. Both him and Landel kept acting like they were doing everyone a favor with all their twisted plots. Who did they think they were fooling? They were both despicable as far as Anise was concerned.

It looked like the military was offering a new way to get weapons, though. But testing drugs in a place like this? That had to be seriously risky. Anise was glad that most of her friends were already armed, so she didn't have to worry about them being reckless and actually trying something like that.

In any case, it was time for Anise to go, and she needed to get an early start so she could deliver her gift bags. One such bag, a little drawstring bag with a white and blue floral design on it, was left on her desk with a small note reading 'Edgar'. She hoped he'd come and take it, as it was hard to tell whether he really intended to or not. The guy really looked like he could use a little help.

Next up were Tear and Ilia, who were fortunately in the same hallway as Anise. With her nightshift gear and the last two gift bags in hand, Anise gave Utena a quick goodbye before hurrying out of her room. The orange and yellow bag was left on Ilia's door handle, and then the pink and brown one was left on Tear's. Each bag contained granola bars (three for Edgar and Tear, two for Ilia), as well as gummy bears, fruit gummies, and chocolates - all separated by type, wrapped in colorful tissue paper, and tied with thread. All of them also contained a small to-and-from note with a few hearts doodled on the paper, just to make it look more cheerful.

There! She hoped that would help cheer her friends up, and maybe improve their health a little too.

Now that she was done with that, it was off to meet Claude and Guy! Anise quickly double-checked to make sure she had everything she needed - jacket, mallet, binoculars, Tokunaga, flashlight - then started to make her way towards the block exit.

[to here]

Window shopping--no, that was too lofty a word to be used with this quaint town. Looking at things all day (yeah, that worked much better) was all well and good until the chilly air became less than bearable. With the sun sinking into the earth, the shadows grew across the sidewalk and made pockets of frigid air. The redhead groused with each shadow she passed through. Frankly, this whole day had added to her grouchy mood. It was cold, she was wearing the most unflattering pair of jeans, and this jacket! She looked like a fat pink bird!

Horrible! This whole day was just horrible. The eva pilot couldn't even find a place worthy of her money. They had no beauty supply store, and what little the nail salon sold was just pathetic. So instead of buying anything worth her ten dollars, the second child decided to drown her sorrows in something containing amounts of chocolate and grease. Tasty Burger certainly had the grease part down, but Twin Pines had a better variety of heart clogging entrées.

Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one in this town with that line of thinking. There was a line and Asuka refused to take a table. She would sit in a booth, so there! Giving her name, the young girl found a seat at the entrance and waited as patiently as she could.

[Mein sugar daddy!]

[From here.]

After what seemed like an entire night's worth of walking, the pair arrived somewhere: it wasn't the town, but it certainly wasn't nothing, either. The ground gave way to a deep hole, the layers of the earth visible with every ridge that led into the center. The snow that covered the land and smoothed the surface was lumpier here, partially obscuring whatever was just beneath it- they could have been items, or they could have been somethings looking to nibble on their feet. Even more intimidating were some of the shapes the Scarecrow could see on the horizon, their shadows looming against the dim light from the night sky. For a brief moment, he was sure one shape was a brontosaurus, but its complete stillness said otherwise. Maybe it was just as scared of them as he was of witches, and stayed motionless in order to not draw attention to itself.

The Scarecrow took a step toward the edge of the hole, shining the light into it. The beam barely touched the bottom, and he could see ladders leading into the depths. He did his best to keep the light still- much like with his map earlier, his hands were shaking, though the pain in his arm was far less than it had been then. It had to be something else this time; he resolved to take another look at his arm when he had a free moment.

"What do you suppose this is?" the Scarecrow asked, feeling his knees shaking again. He took a step away from the ledge in the event his legs gave out unexpectedly.

[from here]

The field stretched out, wide and empty. Moonlight, even through clouds, made it bright enough that navigation would have been simple, if it weren't for all the snow. It was coming down heavily now; she could barely make out the walls on the other side.

Any footprints leading out would be unmistakable, even with the poor visibility, which meant they'd be leaving a trail anyone could follow, provided they did it quickly. Damn. This was a bad night for a scouting mission. The wall would be slippery; Taura didn't expect to have any trouble with it, but she'd never seen Asuka in action, and had no idea what to expect.

Okita wouldn't send out someone who wasn't competent, right? Right? For once, a trip to the basement sounded downright homey. At least it would be warmer than this. And the kitchen might have food. Dinner already felt like a lifetime ago; being full was a quickly-receding memory. Did Aguilar know what he'd started by taking away their food? He was going to have more than a minor riot to deal with if this kept up.

[Asuka]

Talking with friends usually put Anise in a better mood, but the subjects that she, Guy, and Tear covered at lunch were so heavy that Anise couldn't help but feel weighed down afterward. It was hard to think and talk about the terrible things that came about from her lies. She wasn't going to cry, not now, but she felt like she needed a little space.

Fortunately, children were going out to the Courtyard today, and that sounded like a good, wide area where she could get a little alone time. The fresh air could help her mood, too.

When Anise reached the door, however, a blast of cold air rushed in at her, and all she could see outside was a blinding veil of whiteness. For a moment, she simply stared at the sight. She never saw much for snow at Landel's, but here it had already covered everything in just one day!

"You might need this," a soldier said, presenting a black jacket to her. The color and style really didn't suit Anise, but it looked expensive. She slipped it on, and while it wasn't as feminine as she liked her clothes to be, the lining actually had a nice feel to it. On the left breast, she noticed a name embroidered over it. It wasn't her name, but it was still kind of impressive that they personalized these things.

Outside, snow had settled onto every surface, like a big fluffy blanket over the ground. Anise walked along the path for a bit, creating a single set of footprints in the otherwise smooth surface. Once she was a fair distance from the doors, she diverged from the path (which was barely visible to begin with) and walked to the edge of the pond, watching the falling snowflakes disappear into the water.

It was a pretty sight, but it wasn't enough to completely take her mind off of Ion. Before long, Anise found herself wondering if it was snowing where Ion was, too. Maybe he was really far away, though...

[waiting for her boyfriends ♥]

[ from here ]

Either she was the only unlucky person to experience a freezing shower, or she just hadn't built up the tolerance for it that the more seasoned patients had. Whichever it was, she was the first person into the sun room and while normally she wouldn't mind that, the soldiers were majorly creepy and she was kind of hoping for some kind of buddy system thing to be established to minimize the creep factor.

No such luck, apparently.

With one shifty look around the room at the soldiers positioning themselves strategically and then a glance upstairs to see if the doctors and nurses were lurking -- they weren't, which was possibly even more unsettling than when they were -- she beelined for the bulletin board to scribble a worried note.

Four days since she'd showered meant three since last seeing Elle around. That didn't bode well for anything, especially considering the last time they'd talked it was about just how dangerous Sylar really was to her. If she was dead -- Claire had promised Peter that they'd keep her safe, this was just about the furthest from safe you could get. And it would definitely add up to why she'd been able to safely run into Peter the previous night without slamming straight into Sylar when they were shacked up in the same hallway. Obviously, he'd been busy carving Elle up like a pumpkin with his brain.

So, she stuck the note up on the board and then tried to hover around a couch until she found something to do with herself. The anxiety wasn't going to get her anywhere anytime soon, but hopefully someone would show up with information on where the blonde had been those past couple days (an answer that involved intense actual therapy rather than implant things in your brain therapy would be preferred, but as long as no one was getting mutilated, she couldn't complain) and if not hopefully someone could just distract her from that impending sense of massive failure that was threatening to cause a nuclear meltdown of feelings in her brain.

[ free ]

[from here]

He knew this feeling all too well. As his fingers turned the door knob, everything around him seemed to flatten out into a single dimension. Sound intensified to the point where he could hear his own heartbeat, and faintly hear that of the people around him. His senses seemed to heighten when he was about to enter a battlefield and his nervousness only intensified because he had no way of knowing what was behind this door.

He couldn't hear any sound, but that meant nothing. The creatures here were usually silent until spotted and the ones that hid in this room had the advantage of complete darkness. Or, almost complete. As Okita swung the door open, the light of his flashlight set on the ground sent a dusty yellow beam into the room. It cut across the area and disappeared in the gloom, illuminating very little, but showing just enough.

There was something in there. Something that Okita couldn't quite see yet.

[from here]

The room was dark and silent and otherwise peaceful, but Okita had seen similar places turn into nightmarish battlegrounds before. With Hijikata and Asuka, both new to this area, following on his heels, he couldn't afford to let his guard down. The room itself was on the small side, but that was simply because this place, unlike others in the Institute, was divided into three parts. In the middle of this section was a table with a blue plastic cloth on it, but otherwise nothing else of note. Okita had been through here several times now and he knew that very little tended to lurk here. This room, and the two that followed it, were merely precursors to the area in the middle. It was there that they would find what they were seeking, and there that lay the deadliest dangers.

Taking a moment to wait for the others to come through the room, Okita let the meager light from the sun room skylight help his eyes adjust to the darkness. When he closed the door their vision would be worse, but that was when the flashlight tucked into the back of his obi would come in handy. "There are three rooms total in this area and each is sectioned like this with a single door serving as the only entrance or exit. The one after we get through this area is the one we're after."

Project 2911.

The name held semblance to every terrible outcome imaginable. The fact that it was now underway meant every eye, ear, and sense belonging to Tear was on maximum alert. Over the course of her investigations, she had learned the threats in Landel's had concrete backing; given the takeover by the military, there wasn't a single doubt in her mind that "Project 2911" was already in effect. That did not mean, however, Tear would allow it to overwhelm her duties for the night.

The last two nights had been a disgrace. She had worried both friends and acquaintances and failed to fulfill a simple promise. She wasn't going to permit anything from getting in the way tonight. If the Oracle Knight could not make up for her previous mistakes, she would do her very best to continue her responsibilities.

Punishment for insubordination, injustice for uncontrolled circumstances, or no.

Dinner had progressed mostly in silence, but given the preparations that had to be accomplish by the night's start (as well as the roommate's general attitude), Tear did not mind. It was peaceful; she had room to work. She took to fishing out the bundle of pens from her desk drawer and began to separate them into groups of three. These she lined against her bra strap as well as her pant pockets. They were a meager replacement for her knives, but as of right now, Tear lacked material to work with. Until it could be rectified, she would have to continue the best she could.

Picking up the fontech beneath her pillow, the teenager aimed for the door's threshold, pausing only once to wish the other girl good luck.

[To here.]

[From here.]

The big connecting corridor. He may be in a rush, but this hallway deserved extra caution. What would he do if he tried to get to Stefan and ended up mauled on the way there? The first night when he'd smelled blood here, it was still a bit... haunting. It meant there was a chance of something lurking, dragon or not.

Dammit, he was trying to reminisce again. Less thinking, more walking (which, as things went, was actually a feat for a vampire. It came with the whole multi-tasking thing.)

Sweeping his light through the length of the corridor, Edward inspected every bit of wall the light touched, eyes darting like a bird's for any sign of movement. Still no patients. At least the stillness would make it easy to see any potential ambush. At least, that's what he was going to tell himself.

[To here.]

All things considered, last shift had been pretty low key. After this morning's disaster, though, that was perfectly fine by Claude. Some fresh air and a chance to make sure Guy and Okita were all right weren't things to take for granted. It was also good to have a fairly normal, conversation with Guy that didn't slip off into awkward territory. Having Okita there as a sort of buffer probably made things a bit easier in that regard. Claude was confident that things would smooth about between them fairly soon -- if they hadn't already, even.

After checking the bulletin and making some notes of his own, Claude walked alongside his nurse into the cafeteria. As far as he could tell, the soldiers hasn't cleared out any since their arrival this morning. Not only that, but Landel didn't sound too happy about what happened. Was he going to get into trouble for the food fight?

Not that he had any sympathy for the Head Doctor, of course. That bastard deserved every bad thing that ever happened to him, and then some. On the other hand, it did make Claude wonder what would become of the captives if someone even harsher stepped in to take his place...

Was that even possible? Then again, Claude had to consider that no one even used tear gas the last time a riot happened. Had this morning's response been someone else's idea?

As hard as it was to sit and wait for things to pan out, Claude knew that ultimately time would tell what was going to happen. Thankfully, he had a lunch appointment to keep him occupied. After collecting his tray of food, Claude took a seat at one of the tables. It looked like he was one of the first people here, which gave him an opportunity to notice just how much better the room looked than after breakfast. He couldn't imagine how many people had been asked to clean things up. Really, it was a wonder they hadn't just made the patients do it themselves as punishment.

Well, regardless of all that, he needed to wait for that Mordio person to show up now, right? Claude kept an eye on the cafeteria entrance, although he suddenly remembered that the patient had never given a description of themselves. Hopefully Claude's own description would be distinct enough for Mordio to find him.

[For Rita!]

[From here. All your top posts shall be mine.]

Peter entered the Sun Room with a dour expression. Goody, he was the first one here. Fancy that. Pick of the couches was his then. Eeeny meeny miney...moe. Peter stalked over to what he knew from experience was the fluffiest couch in the room and eased himself into its downy soft embrace. Ordinarily he would have just pounced on that sucker, but yeah. His arm was in a sling for a reason. He sighed and wormed his way into a full body sprawl. He didn't care if it was irresponsible of him. This shift's only mission was to remain as still as possible.

Of course, being the first one in here had some stipulations. With great opportunity came great responsibility. Which today, came in the form of a soft meow from below. Then the sound of puncturing fabric, advancing upwards towards him. More meows, independent of one another and even more tiny punctures.

Peter Parker was now officially the cat sitter.

"...Oh hi... lonely kittens," he said uneasily as the first scrambled over the edge of the cushion. It padded towards his face. "No no, kittens don't belong near faces." He gently picked it up and put it on his chest. Two more crawled over the edge.

He had never really had a pet growing up. And he didn't hang out with a lot of people with cats or dogs, either. So of course, he didn't have a good idea of how to properly handle most animals without ticking them off. It looked like he was going to have to make up for lost time now, as the cats' numbers swelled to four. Two were exploring his legs, another batted at a fraying string on his sling, and the first stumbled back towards his face and mewed plaintively. Peter frowned and gave it a ginger pat on the head. That seemed to to the trick. He put it back on his chest again and scratched behind its ears.

"You guys had better not start doing that claw thing on my leg. I can't reach right now, but revenge will be mine if you do."

"Meeeeew!"

"I'm still petting you! Geez."

[For Elle Bishop.]

For once, HK was working very hard to hide a giddy facial expression as he met his nurse at the door. He'd already hidden his scalpels in his clothing. The wonderful, sharp implements of doom would be needed today. “Statement: Despite my reticence towards all processed meat and plant products, I am experiencing intolerable levels of hunger,” he informed his nurse. “I require an especially large meal.”

It was the easiest and best excuse to load his food tray with several of these 'inglish muffin sandwiches', and two glasses of white milk. He then found a table strategically located in the center of the refueling area, and waited. He needed the room as full as possible before the Evil Plan could begin.

[Free, but planning doom upon all.]

With sigh that toed the ambiguous no-mans-land between soft and explosive, Yuffie collected a plateful of waffles with all the toppings. She was sure that, if nothing else, it'd making a pretty satisfying splat if—when?—she launched it at somebody's face, and that was all that counted.

"Hanna, isn't that a little much?" Plucky asked, doubtfully.

"Uhhm. No. About, like... a little while ago, I managed five caramel apple pies with ice cream and berries and, y'know, I think there was a gallon of soda involved at some point." It wasn't the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. There really had been five caramel apple pies, but Cloud had ended up wearing two and a half and the third had taken a vacation to Boobsville (Tifa had loved it. Really. Really). The moral of the story (as she'd told Marlene and Denzel later) was that anything was game, just as long as you could run fast enough afterwards.

The nurse nodded slowly. "I… suppose. Well, I'll leave you to it. See that you behave, won't you, dear? You need to set a good example for the new batch of patients."

"My examples are the best examples," Yuffie proclaimed, with the dark-bright grin that still came so easily, no matter how little she felt really felt it. It lingered even when the nurse had flitted off to deal with another charge, but there was an edge to it. What the edge was, Yuffie couldn't say. Didn't want to say, after what'd gone down last night. Nah, she had better things to do; things like sitting down and waiting, just waiting, for Cloud or some other sucker of an easy target to walk through the door.

[HARLEY HARTWELL o/]

[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]

[From here]

It was surprising to see that no one else had left yet. All the doors were closed as she walked down her block and into the hallway on her left, though she could clearly hear a few voices here and there, probably talking with their fellow roommate. While she would never admit it openly, being the only one in the hallway was rather creepy. The comfort of knowing people were around, regardless if that gap was a few feet or a few hallways away, was still comforting. Well, there was no point in whining over it. Fear of the dark was for children and ignorant adults, and she was neither.

With a new, determined stride, the eva pilot quickly ate up the corridor to the next door; her only company was the echoing slap of her rubber soles against the linoleum.

[To here]