[from here]

If it was possible, this room was plainer than the other offices Brooklyn had been in while down this hallway. The only real distinguishing feature was the large map stuck to a billboard on one wall. Otherwise it was just bookcases, lamps, and the desk with a computer in the center. He wondered if the man simply hadn't added any more homey touches yet.

He moved over to the shelves to get out of the way of the other two, who's have a better idea of what they were looking for. Idly, he began skimming over their contents, finally grabbing a random book with a blue cover - something about human evolution.

The only geneticist Brooklyn knew was Anton Sevarius, and that wasn't a good comparison at all. If this doctor was anything like that one, then he should probably ask them about their time with him when he got the chance. Things could get dangerous.

[From here]


This was it, he remembered it. There were doors on each side and it took a few moments of thought before his drugged mind remembered which room had been the office of his doctor. Right hand side of the hallway, third door. He moved over to that side of the corridor, broken pipette clutched tightly in his hand as he walked, ready for any attack which might occur as he counted down the doors.

He tried the handle when he reached Wilson's door only to find it locked. He scowled at the handle as though it were the source of all his problems. He was going to have to make some noise then. He sighed softly and slipped the glassware into the makeshift sash around his waist before pulling back a couple of feet. Bracing himself, he slammed his shoulder into the door, feeling it shake beneath his weight. It didn't open but one more should do it he hoped. He pulled away and slammed his weight into it again and felt the lock break, sending the door flying open. He panted softly for a moment from the exertion, rubbing his arm which would undoubtedly be bruised by the effort. One door down at least. He'd have to decide if the others were worth it.


[To here]

[From here]

Belatedly, Yukari yawned in response to the doctor's own repose. She'd been awake for more than half the day; it was no surprise she was tired. Youkai were nocturnal, after all. But there were so many things to do, so many people to see, so many new and interesting phenomena.

Maybe she'd catch up on her sleep in a few weeks. Just sleep a month straight. Yeah, that sounded good.

Yawning again, Yukari headed onwards.

Mohinder still believed that his session with the man who thought himself to be Peter Petrelli could have gone better than it had. He had to tell himself that it could have also gone much, much worse. As it was, Ethan hadn't thrown a fit and they'd parted ways peaceably. That was as much as he could ask for, really.

He would have two patients this shift, both around the same age. The chances of them recognizing him as Ethan had were, hopefully, slim. Bringing their files up side by side showed no apparent connection, so he didn't give that any more thought.

If he'd been a more religious man, he might have said some sort of prayer for an untroubled afternoon, but as it was he simply folded his hands in front of him and waited for the first of his patients to arrive.

I wouldn't really call this a locker room. More like a bathroom with lockers. The place was uncomfortably crowded, with almost every adult male patient being hustled into the showers at once, but Phoenix wasn't as annoyed by the claustrophobic, milling throng of bodies as he might have otherwise been. Every extra person was one more person who might end up standing between himself and Edgeworth.

He knew that the prosecutor would have a fit if he found out about this. He'd known since he'd tacked that first response up on the bulletin board. And in a way, he couldn't blame him. Phoenix knew that he jumped into things all-or-nothing more often than most people. At the same time, he had some kind of reality testing. He wasn't going to learn the basics of how to defend himself and suddenly decide that he was Rambo.

He found an unoccupied locker in the southwest corner and glanced around, trying to gauge how long he could possibly stall in a locker room, looking as if he was expecting something, before people started looking at him strangely. It would have been easier if he'd known something of the description of the man he was supposed to be meeting. As it was, all he had was handwriting and a military rank, neither of which guaranteed any particular appearance.

It's not as if there was a better way to plan this, though. "Yeah, meet me by the lockers. I'll be wearing gray and a smiley face, just like about a hundred other guys."

[for Hughes]

[From here]

The door opened without noteworthy effort, and Near immediately noticed that this new room was as dark as any of the rest, creating a cliche foreboding atmosphere within. Brooklyn was the first to go inside, a wise tactical move, then Near followed, pushing his cart along. The hand truck was left by the door, however, and Near quickly cut his flashlight free with the box cutter so he could use it within the room.

"We will have to search for whatever it is." How thoroughly remained to be seen, as did what might potentially trigger any traps associated with the clue. Given that the locations had been veiled, however transparently, Near assumed that the items shouldn't be easily obtained. But at the same time, the protection of indirect revelation would lead one to question who wasn't supposed to know where these items were hidden. The obvious answer was of course Martin Landel.

Yet if that were the case, why would there be more difficult traps around the clue at all? Near knew there were, from his conversation with Usopp. Had they been hidden in more dangerous locations on purpose? Another bit of the puzzle that would likely need to be pieced together before it made sense.

[from here]

It looked exactly the same as the night before. Nate must have needed some specific supplies to opt for returning here again instead of finding a location they hadn't previously cleaned out already. He stepped aside to let the boy enter and kept a watch on both him and the door from a position just inside it. If Nate needed his help with anything, he was sure he'd ask.

Not having run into any of the messes they had the night before left Brooklyn feeling just a little bit better about what they were doing now.

[From here]

The final hall was vacant, something that Near found unsurprising at this point. He was no less cautious as he and Brooklyn moved forward, however, not willing to underestimate activity of creatures he hadn't studied with potentially fatal results. He moved slowly, searching the darkness with his eyes, listening for any movements other than the footfalls that clearly belonged to himself and Brooklyn. This was another dangerous element, as they would be trapped in this hall should anything block the entrance.

The Janitor's Closet was halfway down, and as had been the case the night before, it was locked. After trying the handle, Near stepped aside, moving his flashlight in a careful sweep around them. "It will need to be broken into." Which, of course, meant Brooklyn would have to do so. Near made a mental note to get tools from the kit along with the other items he wanted, to make picking locks easier. It would be safer to have Near taking apart the mechanisms while Brooklyn monitored the surroundings.

[from here]

Brooklyn reached the top of the stairs first, taking another careful look around to make certain nothing was there waiting for him. When it looked safe enough as far as where they needed to go, he motioned for Nate to join him.

Though the gargoyle was well used to traveling in the dark without any or much of a light source, these hallways still gave him the creeps - especially now that he was in this weaker human form. A good many of the monsters in this place would be nothing compared to a full-grown member of his race.

[From here]

The stairwell was as quiet as the previous hall had been, which was fortunate. As had been the case the previous night, Near wanted to be the first to certain areas, and the silence seemed to indicate that they would be. Flashlight in one hand, Near abandoned twirling his hair, letting a lock spring free, and gripped the rail instead. At his current pace, Near would likely have to take a break the following night, judging from the reactions of his body. Tonight, however, there was much to be done, and not enough subordinates to trust with the tasks.

So upward they went.

[from here]

No one here yet. That was promising as far as them reaching their intended destination before anyone else did, but not so promising in that it meant any number of things could be waiting for them just around the next corner. Brooklyn felt for the weapons at his side, though it wasn't necessary. He could tell they were there from the weight they added to his coat.

"Stick close," he advised. That wasn't necessary either. He knew Nate would do so regardless. At the very least it made him feel as though he had some control over things.

[From here.]

He was quick to approach the hallway leading into the Sun Room and consequently, his first obstacle of the night. With an intake of breath, Ken slowed his pace to a walk, his eyes focused on the space between the double doors. Nothing.

That, however, could change once he ventured inside. It happened the same time yesterday; it was bound to happen tonight. Whatever occurred, he would have to follow through with the plan he'd concocted during dinner: run. If not run, fight until escape was possible. That should hopefully get the boy to where he needed to be.

After a close inspection of the entrance, Ken brought his spear into his hands and walked in.

[To here.]

Bidding farewell to his brunchmates, Zelnick headed into the sunroom, pausing to consider which of the other rooms to spend his time in--

-- only to find his arm caught by a nurse. "Come on, Caleb, time to see your visitor!"

He couldn't have heard that right. "Visitor?" he echoed, and she nodded, guiding through the sun room.

"Yes, visitor. Come on, you don't want to keep her waiting, do you?" The nurse took him into an unfamiliar room, settling him into a chair, and left him to wait.

They had been so close! Celes woke, furious with their inability to accomplish their mission. She hid her suddenly pilfered sword away with her other clothing, in the closet. When her nurse bustled in moments after she’d finished (thank all the Triad for that), Celes was more than willing to let the woman chitter away like an overgrown squirrel while the General dressed.

“Oh, won’t you be so very happy, Nancy,” the woman chirped. Celes raised an eyebrow and let herself be dragged along to the Chapel. “I won’t tell you why, it’s a surprise, you see. But, I’ll be you’ll be pleased as punch!” She left the General to herself after Celes seemed no more willing to help bolster the conversation. With an irritated sigh, Celes took a seat in one of the pews and folded her hands in her lap. She was a picture of piety.

Oh Triad, give me strength, so I do not choke my idiot of a nurse. She was worried, however. There were visitors today; would her surprise be in that horrid form?

[from here]

It was just as advertised, really, and Brooklyn didn't know if he should have expected any different when the door broke open and the two of them entered the small room. He felt bad about the fact that they were most likely going to be stealing supplies from here just as they had the other place. Some poor soul, most likely oblivious to their nightly plight, was going to return to work tomorrow and find his cleaning supplies missing.

Or was he? They couldn't have been the first people to raid this place. But if the supplies were replaced, when did it happen? The gargoyle stepped aside as he thought this over to let Near do as he would.

[from here]

"I hope this is important," Brooklyn grumbled as he led Near inside.

The room seemed to be full of medical supplies, mostly the medication itself. This sort of thing could be useful to anyone, though he had no way of knowing what this boy wanted it for. Another experiment, perhaps? Or did he honestly have someone he needed to get some pills to? Either way, the gargoyle felt that there were better things he could be doing with his time right now. Though there was a voice in the back of his head that told him he wouldn't be able to save everyone.

[From here.]

The silence in the stairwell was slightly eerie, and Roy tried to catch snippets of conversations from either above or below them as he went step by step.

"Now I have to try and remember where I left off," he said to both himself and Hughes with a small smile, doing his best to lighten the mood. He had made some steady progress with searching the second floor's locked doors, but it had been a while since he had gone on this particular "mission."

Still, he trusted in his memory. He would know where he needed to go once he was seeing it with his own eyes again.

[starting in M102]

Matt sat back, staring at the closed door of his room and making no effort to get up and open it. There had been no assignment for him this night, so the urge to get up and do any real exploring just wasn't there. His fingers twisted into the sheets on either side of him.

The fear he'd felt the night before was something he didn't ever want to have to feel again. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't taking a step upstairs if he didn't have to. He wanted to extend that to not taking a step out of his room if he didn't have to, but he knew that wasn't going to slide. He couldn't stay in here all night, even if it was the safest option. He was still nicotine deprived and without anything to keep his mind from wandering. He'd be a twitching mess by the time morning came.

He prepared himself then, grabbing his flashlight, radio, and coat. He'd already changed out of the dress shirt and tie back into the familiar gray and yellow. Moving towards the door, he stuck his head out and checked the hall for other patients before leaving.

After another moment's thought, he returned to his bed for his pillowcase. Face set, he ignored Near's presence as he left the hall. There might be one thing he could do tonight.

[to here]

[from here]

The top of the stairwell led to... another hallway. It looked a lot like the one they'd just left, complete with looming shadows and a sense of impending doom. Wally was starting to get really sick of it. If he was going to have to walk everywhere at this insanely slow speed, he could at least have gotten something slightly more interesting to look at. Or course, 'interesting' in this place seemed to mean 'monsters about to kill you', so maybe he shouldn't complain that much. Besides, at least he could keep talking at Tony while walking. "So, I don't suppose you've got a weapon on you at all? In case we do get attacked?"

[M99]

Yuuhi finished his work, cutting the shirt up into smaller strips to be used for the fuses before he handed the scalpel back and started getting his own things ready for the evening.  The trip to town had made any kind of planning difficult, but he supposed that would be true for most of the patients.  Humming softly as he went about the room, gathering the metal from last night and his flashlight, it didn't take him long before he was ready to go. 

He said a short goodbye to Allie, then headed out the door.

[to here]