Searching for files really wasn't the most exciting way to spend a night, but at least he had Sangamon had managed something and had also somehow avoided getting into any real trouble. While the lack of some sort of conflict meant that it had almost felt boring in comparison, Harvey was pretty sure he could go without seeing one of those rotted faces for the rest of his life.

Yeah, the memory of one of those dogs tearing through Zex's throat hadn't quite left his mind yet. It probably wasn't going to anytime soon, either.

It was clear that Landel was trying to stir up shit among the patients, though, with how he was going on about this so-called sickness. It was obvious from the start that this was something that had been administered to certain patients, but that didn't mean it wouldn't spread. But Harvey's guess was that it wouldn't. This whole charade had clearly been designed to force a wedge between the patients, and he was pretty sure it was going to work.

Other than the fact that he'd slept all day yesterday, though, Harvey felt fine. As fine as someone with half his face burned off could feel, anyway. But the point was that he felt normal for him, which probably meant he'd been lucky enough to steer clear of this weird illness. The coin had apparently landed on the clean side this time.

Sleeping a whole day away meant that it was already time to head into Doyleton yet again. Harvey couldn't say he was that excited. The town hadn't given him much to do, and while a change of scenery was probably good for his mental health, the way the townspeople treated them more or less canceled that out. Still, there was nothing for it, so he didn't put up a fuss as he changed into his clothes for the day. This time he had a pair of black pants, a shirt that was a little too close to purple for his liking, and a gray-colored zip-up windbreaker to wear over it.

As usual, there was the sack lunch and coupons to collect (did they really have to be treated like grade-schoolers?), but it looked like the allowance was going to be a staple from now on. Harvey stepped up onto one of the buses with a sigh, but it looked like he'd picked the one that was emptiest (so far, anyway). Focusing on that silver lining, he went to sit down in the back and started to peel open the brown bag with his breakfast in it.

[For Shiina!]

This free choice thing wasn't all that bad, he had to admit. Harvey had managed to get out of the mandatory time spent outside the previous shift, and now he could keep that up. He'd never had a problem with being outdoors until after his accident, but seeing how he had open burn wounds to deal with, he honestly didn't find it that unreasonable. The fact of the matter was that even if he was good at hiding it (sometimes, anyway), he was almost always in pain. In this place he often had other injuries added on top of his permanent ones, so even small things tended to irritate him. Like the sun beating down on him or the cold making his skin sting. Even loud noises were generally a no-go.

Which was why he was pretty sure that the library was going to be a common place for him to go whenever he was given the option like this. It was sort of boring to go to the same place day in and day out, but maybe he'd try for the Game Room some time. Even Arts and Crafts wasn't so bad, so long as no one got glitter near him or expected him to participate.

Nothing beat the library, though. It was usually quiet -- he guessed that this whole thing about the youth of today not wanting to read actually had some truth to it -- and being surrounded by books was soothing somehow.

Not to mention he was the first one in here today. His nurse was keeping an eye on him as usual, but Harvey sat down with his sack lunch, figuring that he should get his food eaten first and foremost. He'd gotten a decent amount of his breakfast down this morning, which had stimulated his appetite. He was genuinely hungry, and so he took out the grilled cheese sandwich first, ripping it into pieces to make it easier to eat.

[For Barnaby.]

[From here]

Down this corridor, out to the patio, and then through two more doors and they'd be in. He could see the map in his head and they were so close. Assuming nothing happened between here and the kitchen...there was a chance, and that made him all the more hopeful.

Perhaps, now, something could be accomplished and he would actually be able to protect the people he traveled with rather than hope he didn't get in the way.

"How long have you been here, then?" Long enough to think being hopeful was strange. But how long that took just depended on the person, really.

[from here]

Taura's legs were long, and the hallway of the women's block was short.

[to here]

[from here]

Even the main hall was deserted. S.T. switched on his flashlight and took a look around. Yeah, it was empty. No roadkill, no other patients. If he ever made it home, he was never bitching at any of the girls who didn't want to do night ops alone again. It was different when you knew there were things out there in the darkness. Things that knew they had the upper hand or just didn't give a fuck.

He whistled something that, if anyone listening could shelve their sense of pitch for long enough to identify it, switched back and forth between the Twilight Zone and Batman themes.

[by your powers combined Team Mental Quest]

[from here]

Kirk ran into the main hallway and found nothing there except more pink light coating everything. His gut feeling said that if something was happening, it should've happened already, but he was a loss to explain what was going on. The system (if he could call it that, vague as it was to describe the whole Landel's torture/experimentation assembly line) had broken down at least once already, on that night when I.R.I.S. had first(?) appeared, and the whole of the building flickered like a malfunctioning hologram. Was that what the glowing cover was for? To prevent... he didn't know. Something. Something bad enough to warrant a Code Red.

(What had killed that creature?)

Waiting around here was already bad enough on normal nights, what with it being an open space with high traffic, but he'd picked it because it was the quickest and most obvious meeting place for all of them. Now with the whole area lit up like the inside of a strip club, Kirk was starting to feel like a lone piece of meat wrapped in a gold ribbon and tossed out for the wolves. He made a face for a second as he considered the unfortunate implication of mixing those similes, then decided that the dumb thoughts which crossed his mind ranked considerably lower in priority than, you know, paying attention to his surroundings and not getting himself killed.

Kirk swung the lead pipe in his hand once, just to focus, and shook his head as pain rippled out from the still-healing gunshot wound on his right arm. Take it easy, Jim, he admonished himself silently. It was still early in the night. Someone would be along shortly. And if not... he was giving his crew one minute. One minute, and then screw it, he was tracking down everyone himself.

[KIRK TO ENTERPRISE]

[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.

[from here]

As far as Riku knew—which wasn't a reliable piece of information in the least—this was approaching new territory for him. It was the first time he tempted fate by going somewhere without one of his friends since he first woke up in this place. If it wasn't Sora or Kairi that was there with him, it was Naminé; to some degree, each one had been there for him on the various nights that passed. Before, it hadn't been a guarantee for success; maybe part of the concern was that there were too many feelings involved. When he worked before, cloaked with the blindfold that hid his worries and fears, he was weighed down by the need to do something for his friends, if not their actual presences.

It was a thought that he needed to stall immediately. That was agreeing with the Shadow, after all. Then again, that Shadow wouldn't have expected him to have gained one still unknown comrade for the night. His impression of this guy wasn't fully made up yet, but it was getting there fast. Even if he had a gun and he was young—which, for anyone else, might actually make them stall, but Riku had been promised heroic adventures at the age of five by a stranger with brown hair—he still had a head on his shoulder and an obviously distinct way of being.

Riku realized that as they grew closer to where this med wing was that if he was getting here with Sora or Kairi, he wouldn't be trying out the drugs for a change in his experience. Neither of them would let him, and his own guilt would be overridden by his sense to accomplish something. But they weren't here tonight. He had no way of knowing if they were even still in Landel's. Any plans he could make were based off maybes, so he had to focus on now.

He slowed considerably to glance down toward Albedo. The guy still had a question to answer, and it seemed wise to get that out of the way before they had these drugs in their systems.

[from here]

Unsurprisingly, the door opened with a twist of the handle and little pressure. The interior hidden behind a door long since locked--if they were to believe the blow-hard of a commander who had taken control--was quite large, dwarfing the sun room in comparison. Enclaves and doorways crept away from them, and Albedo was idly curious--wondered, if he survived in a more than unsightly way, if he'd see what new toys a medical wing would have to offer him.

For now, however, there were other things, goals that he and this other had in common if it was to be believed. And should Albedo speak to him, play with him? Or should he just go on half-ignoring him and perhaps the other would flee of his own accord. The boy began to move forward across the space, glancing around idly for these things that were supposedly set out. It'd be annoying if it all turned out to be a farce. "So you wake up after getting back from 'somewhere', and your first thought is to try to attempt to poison yourself?" He moved to glance down a hallway on the left, seeing nothing but doors. "Seems a bit strange. Shouldn't you be seeking your comrades or doing something wholesome?"

[from here]

From here, Vino could go several ways. The frequented Sun Room was the most obvious option, though he could also choose to either go into one of the side doors or continue onward down the hall. If he were an architect, Vino thought, where would he put a radio broadcast room in an insane asylum?

Definitely not the Sun Room, that's for sure. From his previous explorations, the doors on his right led to waiting rooms, the kinds one might find in a doctor's clinic. Nothing there except chairs and magazine racks. And Vino wasn't interested in those.

Oh, right. He'd taken those maps from the Sun Room during third shift, hadn't he? Those would be handy in a time like this, right? Vino fished out the crumpled sheet, switching on the flashlight so he could see better.

Not much was labeled except for areas marked as "STAFF ONLY" and other rooms he'd already been in around the Sun Room. Ah, he'd been right about those side doors. Vino doubted that they would have anything he was looking for in the Entry Room.

Meanwhile, farther east on the map, there was a section that caught his attention. Hadn't the message at the start of night announced something about a medical wing on the east side of the Institute? The giant, "STAFF" area certainly looked suspicious enough. Vino had no interest in doing any favors for the people in charge of the Institute, no matter what sort of reward they offered in exchange, but he did know that if they were planning something in that area, they'd have their people positioned there, right? It was worth a shot, at least.

Having decided, he looked the map over once again, committing the surrounding area to memory before switching the light off and stuffing the map back into his pocket.

[to here]

[from here]

As she had from the beginning of the night, Donna strode out into the nighttime air purposefully and confidently. She didn't expect to see a tank ready and waiting for her and her new found alien friend to ransack, but being outside was the first step. Now all they had to do was locate and kind of parking lot and see what they could find. There had to be something around there - Donna was not about to believe that all these soldiers had helicoptered into the place.

Then again, finding a helicopter to potentially hotwire wouldn't have been such a bad thing. She made a mental note to give the roof a look once they were far enough away from the building, just in case. Even Donna would scale a building in her favorite outfit to get at something like a helicopter.

"Now if I were a panzer, which way would I be parked?" she wondered aloud, turning her head each way.

[from here]

Pushing through the double doors, Donna turned her head around the room and hoped she wouldn't be seeing Ruby there. That was all she needed, another roommate showing up and pointing a gun at her. Things were quiet for the moment though, and that left time to get to know her traveling buddy for the night.

"So, you been here long, Bel? I'm getting to a few weeks myself," she questioned back at him as she led on. "Still getting a few surprises here and there." On that sentiment, Donna brought her hands up to adjust the collar of her jacket. Most surprises hadn't been good ones, but tonight's was definitely one she would like repeated. There were a few more outfits she'd like to have on hand, if only so she wouldn't be seen committing the faux pas of wearing the same outfit twice in a row. Chances were that she'd wear it over the gray uniform regardless, but she'd have to think about how she would get the thing washed.

Did Landel's do dry-cleaning?

[From here]

Beelzemon stopped as he neared the doors to the Sun Room, a look about as close to thoughtful as he ever got crossing his face. The last time he'd seen all those soldier boys running around was in the cafeteria, but they probably weren't there now. There was always something in the Sun Room, but it probably wouldn't be something he'd feel quite as good about hitting over the head with extreme prejudice. So...

"Eesh, how hard can it be ta find those guys?" Maybe outside? He had no freakin' clue.

[Donna!]

(from here.)

There was no one in the hallways. Bella couldn't help but feel the fear spike up for a moment when she realized that her light was the only on visible, but she quickly swallowed it down, chanting that same mantra over and over again in her head. No one was out because she had ran out of the room quickly, that was all.

Okay, stick to the plan, she got herself thinking, nodding her head as she moved towards the door that lead into one of the main hallways. Get to Edward's room. Get the jars. Empty said jars ... then somehow make my way upstairs. ... Well, obviously, use the stairs to get upstairs. There's really no other way to get up to a second level ... unless there's an elevator somewhere ...

"Oh god," Bella muttered to herself, unable to help herself when she rolled her eyes at her own antics. "Shuush. Is silence so hard to ask for, brain?"

You don't want the silence, she reminded herself. The silence will make your paranoia come back.

So maybe the talking to herself wasn't so bad after all.

(jumping 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.]

[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.]

No better way to start the day than with a bucket full of sunshine, huh? Too bad that'd been the opposite.

In the end, Yuffie had been more than glad to escape. All the angst and sap and drama; it'd been too much, and way too personal. She'd done her best, for her friend's sake, but that Tomoe chick was gonna be hard work. Why couldn't Kenshin have asked for her help in something simple, like killing the big bad of the day?

… Oh, wait.

Groaning, the young ninja gave up on just walking through the sun room. What kind of a way to cheer herself up was that? No, she needed something interesting—she needed a distraction. Walking on her hands wasn't a whole lot better than walking on her feet, but it did get Plucky going.

"Hanna, stop that this instant! You'll break your neck."

"Oh, come on; only a moron'd kill themselves doin' a handstand. They're child's play!" Yuffie, after shifting her weight to her left hand, waggled a finger at her nurse. "It's a waste of my prodigious talent, actually. You really should be grateful." She hopped forward several more paces before dropping her hand back down.

"Be that as it may," Plucky replied, doubtfully. "I must insist."

"Insist away," said Yuffie, nonchalantly, pausing just long enough to let a cat stroll past her.

"You'll disturb the other patients!"

"Your face'll disturb the other patients." It was petty, and it was childish, but Yuffie didn't care; it was getting her what she wanted. And what she wanted was something to laugh at, something to poke at, something that, while it kept her wandering attention in the here and now, didn't really require her to think.

[For Kaito~]

Somehow, after their talk in the chapel, Elaine felt simultaneously more accepting of and more irritated by her future husband. On the one hand, seven years had clearly been good to him. He seemed more sincere and thoughtful than he had been before his disappearance, and he had a more mature (dare she say, handsome?) look to him. On the other hand, there were clearly some things that made even time throw up its hands in vain and say, "To hell with this!" Guybrush was still inexorably prone to disastrous accidents if the story about the Pox of LeChuck was anything to go by, and he was so obviously keeping something important from her that any passing dolt in the Institute would have been able to tell. In the end, that eternal underlying sweetness of his that won out, keeping her from punching him again, at least. That was only by a hairs width, though. Her snugglecakes was going to have to stay on his best behaviour if he knew what was good for him.

She left the Mighty Pirate™ alone for the time being when the announcement of the next shift went off. He would want some time to catch up with Morgan next, presumably. As much as the woman's attitude bothered her, she was a friend of Guybrush's, as she had claimed. Elaine could be strict, but she wasn't the kind of shrewish future wife/past fiancé who would keep her man from seeing his friends. Besides, she needed some more time to catch up on the goings-on of the Institute. Patients filled the building to the brim, now, it seemed; there would be a lot to investigate.

After a few quick trips back and forth to the bulletin and a few new leads to follow up on, the governor gave in to her nurse's persistent nagging and headed to the cafeteria for brunch. After the relatively light fare of the day before, Elaine took advantage of the Institute's admittedly scrumptious offerings and loaded up a full, balanced brunchfast of eggs, sausage links, waffles, and vegetable soup. As expected, the selection of drinks did not offer either root beer or grog. Grog she could live without, at least, she thought while making a face. Eugh. For now, she settled for a tall glass of water.

Elaine settled into a seat in the cafeteria and tucked into her meal. Her eyes didn't stay on her food, though, instead gazing around restlessly; she hadn't seen LeChuck so far this morning, and god forbid he wanted to invite himself to brunch with her if he chose now to show up. A certain horribly unpleasant dinner on Mêlée Island came to mind. She was prepared to either move at the first sign of the dread pirate or signal a random stranger to sit with her before he could.

[For Dean]