[Teleporting from here.]

A dizzying moment of surreal suspension followed the activation of Sechs' teleportation ring as the darkness of the main hallway was swiftly banished by the chandelier lights of the underground ballroom. The sudden change in environment jarred Sechs' senses for a few seconds, forcing him to squint his eyes against the amplified light. Once adjusted, the Replica took in his surroundings as he slipped the ring off his finger.

He was relieved to see that they had made it to the entrance of the basement in one piece. This was his first time using that ring; the last thing he needed was for the teleportation to go wrong, but so far it appeared to be a success. What was even better was that Sechs was able to avoid going through the walk-in freezer like the night before, preventing another flare-up from his post M-U ailment. "Heh! Talk about convenient!" Sechs remarked as he appraised the ring, "Too bad this thing needs blood to work all the time..."

Like the night before, Sechs retrieved his machete and replayed the blood-giving procedure to the ring, cutting his thumb with a repressed grunt before allowing the red droplets to fill the morbid jewelery.

Once that was out of the way, Sechs turned to check on Aigis. "You alright there?"

Finally, a broadcast from Landel that was worth listening to...in that it gave actual information, and wasn't either completely annoying or unhelpful. The third floor... It seemed like Zero had been hearing about that more and more, along with receiving a rough set of directions to it on the board today. The mysterious note he'd found at dinner could be related to this, too...

Was it finally time to bring Landel down?

...He'd ponder it for awhile, keep an eye out for any more news. But for now, he grabbed his boots, gun, ammo, maps, and flashlight - all the usual things. This time he shoved them into the pockets of Ciel's coat, which he just now decided to wear. Not for a fashion statement, of course. The...original owner of this coat might want it back, was all. For the same reason, he also picked up Alouette's stuffed doll - something he'd admittedly been trying to ignore ever since it'd showed up - as he hoped it might give Ciel a reminder of the people they were fighting for. The people that she, at the very least, needed to return to.

The last thing he grabbed was the sword from the basement, which he would carry. It wasn't like he'd be holding on to it for very long. Now prepared, he gave a quick 'good luck' to his roommate and then headed out.

[To here.]

With such a specific plan in mind for the coming night, Castiel didn't have much to do during the daytime hours. He confirmed with Lloyd and Kratos over the bulletin that they would be trying again tonight, along with their meeting place, and so there wasn't much else to take care of until night actually came.

Which meant that Castiel more or less drifted through the day, keeping to himself. He spent the free shift out in the courtyard, making the most of the improved weather. Castiel had come to realize that there was something oddly comforting about the feel of sun on his skin.

But the nurses wouldn't let him spend the entire day outside, and eventually he was brought back in for the final shift of the day, which was to be spent in Arts and Crafts.

This was one of those rooms he never knew what to do with, and while a nurse handed him some scissors, construction paper, and crayons, Castiel slid them to the side and instead focused on watching the other patients around him.

[For Aigis.]

Some fresh air, Link decided, would do him a lot of good. Being cooped up in the Institute all the time was grating on his nerves.

Today was, decidedly, a lazy day. He knew that he should be antsy about his lack of progress the previous night, but was at the same time so drained that he could only push forward toward the night. He would speak with Sora later and see what his roommate had accomplished, and he had taken a look at the post on the bulletin board. It made little sense, but Link supposed that he would better understand when he reached up there. Teleportation? Like Twili or Oocca magic?

The Hylian settled into a bench, keeping a sharp eye out for any of his teammates from previous nights. He needed to speak with them. There was also the curiosity of the constantly changing voice on the intercom...

What was going on?

[The Once-ler!]

It'd been hardly a few hours into the day, and yet everything was already going horribly wrong. It wasn't the strange intercom broadcasts; in fact, he would have given them far more attention on any other day. No, nothing could possibly be worse than the revelation that Ciel was now here as a prisoner. And Zero had seen her. It wasn't an illusion, or a fake 'Celia Giroux', it was really her. And after seeing her, his nurse decided to make it worse by preventing him from seeing her further, dragging him off to the showers before he'd been able to talk to her for very long. It was the first time the nurse'd had to lead him somewhere by the arm to make sure he actually followed. Even then, he kept trying to stop and look for Ciel in the crowd of shift-changing prisoners like a worried pet, whose owner just left him with a stranger he would rather not be with.

"She just got here, Yūdai," the nurse tried to tell him over and over. "Please give her some time on her own to adjust. Besides, don't you want to be nice and clean before you talk to her again?"

Obviously, Zero wasn't about to buy such a weak excuse, and his following irritated response was the predictable, "I don't care. Let me see her now."

But no amount of protesting, pulling, or heel dragging would make her change her mind, unfortunately. Rather, after a bit too much resistance, the nurse's tone shifted to something more disapproving as she sternly reminded him of the consequences of fighting with the staff. Yeah, he remembered. Too well. He didn't need the reminder.

Yet even though he knew it would be pointless and stupid to get himself drugged up again, it almost seemed worth it if he could get away and find Ciel. Almost.

Common sense won out in the end as he finally submitted himself to the showers, but even so, he was still determined to get his way somehow. The former Reploid bathed in a mere couple of minutes, barely using soap and not even bothering with his tangled, messy hair. The nurse clearly wasn't too happy to see him come back out so quickly, but despite any comments she made about it, she let him get dressed and leave anyway. He wanted to say she was growing tired of his resistance, but that amused smile on her face suggested otherwise. How annoying...

[To here.]

After eating breakfast, Lloyd gathered up his journal and pencil and followed his nurse out of the cafeteria. He made a quick stop at the bulletin to leave a note for Lee, then let her lead him on to take his shower with the rest of the adult men. Not sure how old Lee was, Lloyd kept his eyes peeled for him just in case, but again he didn't catch even a glimpse of his friend's shiny black bowl-cut hair. Okay, no worries. Maybe he was with the kids in Arts and Crafts.

Cleaning up quickly, Lloyd grabbed a towel and dried himself off, then got dressed and headed back to the Sun Room to wait out the rest of the shift. His nurse hovered at his side until he'd situated himself at a table, then she backed up and withdrew to the edge of the room to keep an eye on him from there. He was fine with that. Of course, it would have been better if she left the room completely, but at least she was far enough back that it felt like he had at least some privacy.

While he waited, trying to catch sight of Lee, he pulled his journal back out. As far as he knew, no one else had been to the third floor before. There weren't any maps yet. That was something he could fix. Picking up where he'd left off, the teen went back to his work on the sketch.

[For Tsurugi.]

[from here.]

This room was a stark change to the dungeon outside. It was gold and warm, with a low ceiling--it reminded Gabriel of an Egyptian tomb. The reason why was made obvious as soon as he looked face-forward and saw the reason why.

Sphinxes weren't actually real in his universe. Its gaze was piercing and ancient, but not enough to give the Archangel pause. He studied it back with just as much intensity and a lot of fascination. Could he ask a question? Should he? Probably not--not until he and Skulduggery had talked about their options. Sphinxes were known for their riddles, and Gabe couldn't risk beginning something before they were ready.

But he had to wonder how long the sphinx had been there, and whether it was a construct or a prisoner from another dimension like they were, and wished he could ask. If there was any chance of it being the last, maybe they could gain an ally.

He turned toward Skulduggery. "I think the purpose of this room is obvious," he said quietly, "but I've always found the value of making friends, myself. What do you think?"

[From here.]

The hall was long, narrow, and made of stone. Very appropriately like a dungeon, actually, and it was the first of its kind that Skulduggery had seen here. Even the torture rooms up on the third floor hadn't been quite this medieval.

Once Skulduggery's eyes had adjusted to the dim light - another sensation as alien as it was annoying - he noticed the tapestries hanging along the walls. War scenes, images of death and carnage. Old, judging by the art. Not very old, judging by when Skulduggery took a closer look at one of them and noticed one of the soldiers using a rifle. Either Landel wasn't very careful - which, after everything else that had happened, Skulduggery was quick to dismiss - or it was perfectly fine for the prisoners to realise that this hallway, genuine though it looked, had only been built recently. Probably along with the rest of the building. There was no other explanation for displaying the tapestries like this.

Unless Landel just thought they looked ghoulish enough to complete the effect. And they certainly did, at that.

The door back into the ballroom gave an ominous clicking sound as it closed, indicating it had locked itself. Skulduggery couldn't say he was surprised. There were two other doors in the hall, and his attention was immediately drawn by the north-facing golden ornate ones. "Are we keeping up the right-hand-of-God methodology?" he asked Gabe with what would have been a small smile if he'd realised his face was once again capable of changing.

None of the nurses approached her; Lana glanced around to see if anyone was looking at her (they weren't) and let out the breath she'd been holding. There wasn't anyone she wanted to see; if Ema was on this world, brainwashed, rather than home, she wasn't sure she wanted to know. No, that wasn't quite true. She wanted to know, but if Ema was able, she'd want to see Lana; that she wasn't visiting, ergo, meant that she'd been sent home. Lana refused to contemplate the third alternative.

But no one else was here, either, which put her at loose ends. She replied to Ryuuzaki's comment on the bulletin; no one else had replied, which surprised her. Another departure didn't, though the circumstances did; what on Earth was Faraday playing at? Or not on Earth, as the case might be. She lingered around the board, in hopes of catching a chance to add her name to the list going around, or run into anyone willing to share more information than they could get away with posting.

[Free!]

After a certain conversation on the bulletin, Kyousuke jotted a note down to be passed around so everyone could have a way of contacting each other, but being exempted from the shift's activities meant that he wouldn't be able to ensure it got around properly. Instead, he made a quick trip the bulletin board and handed it to the first patient he saw, not paying much attention as to who they were or whether he knew them. It wasn't exactly an ideal way of doing it, but hopefully they realized it was important, or at least still passed it on even if they didn't. As long as it got around somehow.

For now, though, he had to worry more about himself.Visitors they'd said. He doubted it could be anyone he actually knew—not really—but considering what he'd seen last night, he didn't think they were just wasting time for no reason, either. They probably had something up their sleeves, just like that picture he'd found, and whatever it was, he doubted it was good. ... Not that anything here ever was.

Apart from some staff members, the room he was led to was still completely empty, and Kyousuke settled into a chair, resting his elbows on knees in resignation. He didn't know what was about to come, but hopefully he could just get it over with.

Korra's stomach was grumbling by the time that annoyingly friendly voice chimed over the speaker that they'd be going into the cafeteria to eat.

"About time..." she grumbled under her breath as her nurse marched her out of the sun room and into the caf. Pancakes seemed like a good idea; something at least a little similar to the food she'd eat in Republic City. She settled down with her food, the events of last night still lingering on her mind despite her best efforts to shut them out. Korra needed to get herself some closer allies, and needed to get in the know on all this talk of the basement and the third floor.

For now, though, food. The Avatar dug in like it was the first decent meal she'd eaten in months.

[Gabe!]

[From here.]

Skulduggery surveyed the room with a blank expression. An expression that was blank by default, admittedly, since his grinning skull was all that was visible. But suffice to say his expression would have been blank even if he'd had a face.

He nodded slowly. "It's good to know that no matter what else happens, we'll always be served the best food the Institute can get a hold of. Never mind your mysterious debilitating injury, at least we have eggs."

That said, he shone his flashlight beam along the tiled floor of the refrigerator in a quick sweeping pattern. Nothing looked immediately out-of-place, but nothing jumped out and attacked them either. That was actually starting to get a little worrying, this complete lack of monsters. There might have been one in the hallway outside the Sun Room, but if there was, they'd either been incredibly lucky or incredibly late. Skulduggery was hoping for incredibly lucky, himself.

"There's a trap door here," he reminded Gabe as he swept the flashlight over the floor again, this time slower. "Unhidden, apparently, so if you see an old iron ring that has no busness - ah." He stopped the beam on top of a discoloured tile in the corner. "There."

[from here.]

The very instant Gabe sensed the expanse of the kitchen he was off the floor. The Archangel did a quick circle of the room, trying to sense out any potentially moving objects, but the energy of the moth-shape was already starting to vibrate with discordance.

Gabe made sure he wasn't hovering over anything that would break, or hurt, if he fell on it, and then shed the shape. He wound up falling about a foot to the floor, stumbling and catching himself on a counter, and wincing at the noise and the jar in his ankle both. "Ow."

Limping a little, still gripping his steel pipe, Gabe glanced around to make sure that the kitchen was empty and opened the door.

"Just as planned," he said brightly to Skulduggery on the other side.

[from here.]

Gabe came through the swinging doors into the expanse of the cafeteria, with its rows and rows of tables, and stopped short. Somehow, the way the room was laid out was even gloomier and more terrifying than the hallways in the darkness. There were a dozen places for monsters to hide, to leap out at them.

The kitchens were opposite, behind a long, long counter. Gabe swallowed hard and gripped the metal pipe. "If the cafeteria is likely to be empty and the kitchens guarded, you should go first. You'd be more effective in a fight."

He was frightened, but it was true. If they were attacked from behind he could handle things, but the threat was at the front of them. Skulduggery was better served to handle that, with Gabe behind him if he needed help controlling his necromancy.

[From here]

Per usual, Scar clung closely to the edge of the street as he stepped back outside. The sun was beginning its slow descent toward the horizon, and he was reminded of the impending night. The day had been more productive and even more relaxing than he could have hoped, but the lingering threat of nightfall put a damper on his 'good' mood. He glanced reflexively toward the Elrics, putting together a plan in his mind. Once the buses arrived, he would have to be certain to keep with the boys, and his other allies if he could manage. Those beasts could come after them again.

Scar's less than pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a faint "meow" coming from an ally between two stores.

For today's field trip, Rita’s nurse had decided to bring her a button-up dress that looked like it was made of the same material dishcloths were. The bluish plaid pattern was an eyesore. What was worse, it only came down to just around the knees, leaving the burns on the outer side of her left leg clearly visible. At least she could walk much better than yesterday, but the large blotch of discolored skin and scabbing was unsightly, and it made her feel more vulnerable than she liked.

At least some of the other patients had worse outfits picked for them. She'd just have to deal with it and get on with her day.

There was still so much Rita wanted to learn last night, about IRIS, about the third floor, and about the institute itself, but it looked like their time had been cut short. Still, interacting with IRIS had made Rita even more curious about this world's technology than before. Maybe she could kill time by familiarizing herself with some common devices.

And so, Rita decided to visit the electronics store. She entered and started looking around, picking up a few products, reading their descriptions, and putting them back.

Her eyes were soon drawn to some devices with large screens... 'televisions,' the label said. There were a couple displaying footage, presumably to show the display's quality to customers. Rita had seen something similar in the institute before, but now that she could examine it up close... it really was stunning, how clear the images were. How were they produced? The mage drew closer and closer, then reached out her fingers to touch.

[free!]

Soushi startled awake, and in a panic felt around the blankets and sheets. Ririchiyo's photograph. Where was it? He remembered to breathe a moment later when he found the photo, stuck between the sheets along with the bag he'd found in his box of supposed belongings. Now that it was daytime, it was easier to see the picture; Ririchiyo's cute round cheeks, her long hair, the soft pout of her lips, there was no mistaking it for a fraud. But why then, didn't he recognize when the photo had been taken or the outfit she was wearing? There were none like it in his collection, and he was sure he knew most of what was in her closet...

He tucked the scrap into his shirt when the radio came to life. Doyleton? They were taking a trip? Soushi was sorely tempted to look through the bag, now that he could see it, but if the staff here saw it, wouldn't they confiscate it? Rather than take the chance, he stuffed the bag back under his mattress, keeping the single photograph with him as the nurse opened the door to greet him.

While the clothing was much more acceptable than the pajamas they were usually assigned, the jeans were a little too big, but luckily included a belt. The plaid shirt was like nothing in his previous wardrobe, but at least it had a pocket on the chest, which he slipped the photograph into as he turned his back on the nurse to dress. He was accustomed to wearing what he was told, and managed to make even the jeans and patterned shirt look somewhat natural. Last, he was given a jacket, tan in color(though there were a few stubborn stains here and there), with buttons running down the front.

Once he was dressed and ready to go, he was led outside to the buses. It was strange being outside the institution like this. It certainly gave the illusion of freedom. How did they manage to control so many patients on a trip such as this? Surely, he wanted to believe, they wouldn't notice one missing. Not until the end of the day, at least. Did they take attendance?

Though if it were that simple, other patients would have made their escape by now. And of all those he'd spoken with, not one could cite a patient that had successfully escaped. The goal, he reminded himself, was not to escape at all, but to find his master and make certain she was safe. If escape was a key factor in determining that, so be it, but he'd yet to find proof of where to even begin his search for the girl. The notebook might have something more to it, but now it was out of reach. He resigned himself to the bus, accepting the bagged breakfast with a smile.

[Loki]

[From here]

Just as last night, Link stood and waited along the wall of the main hallway. Nobody else was out, yet. Good. He had made good time. One never truly knew, here.

He didn't expect to wait long. They all seemed to be very competent people, perhaps with the slight exception of the Once-ler. Though Link could not complain. He had been a bumbling fool the first time he had faced a true monster.

[The Green Team!]

[M73]

Dinner had been uneventful. L had kept to himself; he might test the migraine scenario another time, but for tonight, he couldn't risk it. He ate the soup, following it with two of the fruit cups that had survived the trip back from Doyleton and the cup of coffee that now appeared with every dinner. It was hard not to be wary of the coffee, however. The food itself was delivered in such a way that it probably wouldn't be complicated to dose a given patient's meal, but the coffee was even more targeted -- more specific to him.

He was usually passive when he listened to Landel's nightly round of bombast. It had been laden with clues to their situation long before his own abduction and arrival, but it also tended to be extremely annoying in tone and content. Tonight, though, the comments about a shortcut to the third floor caused a visible reaction. His head snapped towards the speaker and an expression of frustration and annoyance set in.

Afterward, he got ready to leave quickly. Most of his preparations were identical to the previous night's. There was some chance that they might go to the basement, and that being the case, he would need the backpack. That would make it easy to carry the radio, so he slipped it into the side pocket.

He hesitated over the flower he had picked for Lana, in its plastic sleeve, then added that to the small zippered pouch on the front of the bag. He didn't know whether she would still need it, or whether it would have any efficacy at this point, or whether she would venture out. But it was easy to bring it along.

[To here.]

Scar wasn't fond of being forced to shower with everyone else. Bathing had been a rare luxury during his recent time in Lior, (Had it really only been just over a week ago?) so he was thankful at least for the chance to wash. Just as long as he could spend the whole time facing the wall.

He washed himself quickly and quietly, taking no time to savor the warm water and steam that made him drowsy.

[To here]