[From here.]

Scourge took the stairs quietly, one hand on the wall and the other clutching at his knife. He kept his head tilted up, in case something dropped on him from above, but kept looking down in case something came through the door, a combination of which led to him walking into the wall at the curve of the stairs.

"Ow."

If anything tried to eat him on the way up, it wouldn't have to worry about him running away.

[To here.]

[Currently in M47]

Well, that was a little different. Either the head doctor was still having trouble with his intercom, or something was interfering with the broadcast. Artemis frowned at the ceiling, then looked at his radio. Something told him that a battle was going on over the airwaves.

But now wasn't the time to worry about that. He had to get ready for Momo to stop by, which meant that he had to disentangle himself from Haku and look presentable and professional when his mission was presented to him.

"Hinamori-san should be by soon," Artemis said, squeezing Haku's hand one more time and getting up to change. "If anyone knocks, it will be her."

[from here]

Now that he'd made his daring escape, Spider began considering important questions. Questions like, "where the fuck am I?" "where the fuck are my drugs?" and "did I accidentally smear shit all over myself instead of blood?" The third question would require a second opinion, and the second question depended wholly on figuring out the first question, and so Spider began looking for things he recognized.

Unfortunately, since he had last traveled through this hallway under the influence of a cocktail of rather powerful narcotics and hallucinogens, all Spider could remember about this hallway was that it was frequented by a happy-go-lucky talking wheelbarrow full of guns. At the moment, this was not particularly helpful. But the hallway dead-ended to the north, and Spider's keen journalistic instincts told him that he could not run through walls right now. So he went south.

[to here]

The static snapped Spider out of his gruesome writing trance. His initial project had been to cover the walls in his shit, but he soon sobered up and realized that the nurses would probably wash it all off as soon as he cleared out of the cell, and he couldn't even read what he'd been writing very well. Instead - and mostly because he didn't actually want to smear shit all over himself - Spider had begun writing on his clothes and body using a mixture of blood and saliva. He was still having problems reading what he'd written, but he planned to transcribe it later. He'd have plenty of time after the interviews. He just needed some jumpstart, maybe a cigarette, maybe some coffee, maybe a whole fucking lot of coffee and - WAIT! INTERVIEWS!

The static rose in volume, and Spider heard the click of his cell door unlocking. Leaping to his feet, Spider threw himself against the door until he found a way to open it, and burst out into the corridor.

"HAVE AT THEE, DOGFUCKER! WHO UNLOCKED MY DOOR? I WILL EITHER THANK YOU OR FUCK YOU IN THE NECK DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ARE."

Spider threw his gaze around the room, attempting to slam it into a lurking orderly or patient. He found no one.

"BAH! I HAVE INTERVIEWS TO CONDUCT. YOU ARE SAFE FOR NOW, YOU QUIVERING TOWER OF EXCREMENT! BUT THIS IS NOT THE LAST TIME THE BASTARDS WILL PUT ME IN SOLITARY CONFINEMENT, AND THE NEXT TIME YOU LET ME OUT, I WILL GRIND YOUR SKULL AGAINST ITS OWN FOOLISHNESS UNTIL CANDY COMES OUT."

Screaming into the empty corridor, Spider kicked open the door and ran.

[to here]

[From here]

For the first time all day, von Karma was now in an area that was somewhat familiar to him. The last day that he had had full consciousness, he had passed through this hallway on his way to the recreational field. Oddly enough, although there had been a number of patients meandering through this hall last time, it appeared that he was the first one here tonight. Gingerly, he walked close to the wall in case something non-human emerged, until he reached the doorway to the north.

Carefully, he opened the door and looked outside. The grassy field lay before him. A cool breeze drifted in; this was actually the first breath of fresh air that he had received all day, despite his blasted nurse's nagging. Steeling himself for the trip to the activities shed on the far end of the field, he stepped outside.

[To here]

When the intercom's jingle sounded, there seemed to be some kind of tapping in the background noise, like letters being punched into a keyboard. It stopped and the Head Doctor chuckled.

"Hello, everyone! I'm actually taking a break from paperwork for once – everyone needs some recreational time, you know! – and of course, now we can all look forward to a scrumptious dinner from our cooks. Tonight, herb-seasoned grilled salmon is on the menu, served with buttery mashed potatoes and asparagus. All our regular drinks and vegetarian options are available, and for dessert, we will be serving yellow cake with a whipped cream icing.

"...Well! I can hardly wait to get my own dinner after saying all that. Good bye for now, everyone, and enjoy your delicious food!"

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. (Find all of the newly changed room assignments and shift introductions here.) If you are introducing your character during this shift, you may either choose for them character to wake up before their roommate gets back, or after. ]

Just as von Karma started to enter the doorway leading to the Courtyard to look around for anyone remotely resembling his daughter, that pretentious lunatic's voice rang out over the Intercom, heralding the approach of lunch time. Right away, the damned nurse practically dragged him back into the cafeteria and towards the serving tables, telling him in that cloyingly cheerful tone that he could get his fresh air after he had had his meal. What rotten timing!

His mood worsened as he saw what was on those tables. "Nurse! This is the same greasy, disgusting, perfect-artery-ruining swill that was offered for lunch the last time I was in here! Does this Institute serve nothing else? How is any of this healthy for someone whom you claim has recently suffered from a stroke?!"

"Why, you're right, Mr. Fuchs! Here, I'll fix you a nice, big, healthy salad." Before he could protest that he wasn't hungry anyway, the smiling nurse loaded a heap of greens and some fruits onto a plate for him. Then she led him to one of the tables and seated him there. "Now, be a good man and finish all of that. You will do that just for me, won't you?"

The look he shot her in response indicated that he would never do anything "just for her." Certainly, not consuming this entire mountain of lettuce and carrots. As much as he approved of salads, the portion she served him was nothing short of ludicrous. Glaring at her in silence, he made no pretense of even starting in on this ridiculous travesty of a meal. Finally, she seemed to take the hint, excusing herself to attend to the other patients... but not without admonishing him that his "plate had better be clean" by the time she returned to take him to the Courtyard.

As she left him, von Karma looked all around him to see whether Franziska had come into the cafeteria yet. Unfortunately, as he had already arranged to meet his former roommate at this time, all he could do for now was to attempt to visually confirm her presence in this hellhole. As much as he hoped that the author of the replies to this S.T.'s note was nothing more than an impostor -- in which case, he would make that person pay for brazenly impersonating his daughter -- he was not entirely certain of that right now.

In the meantime, he had other practical matters to attend to. He still needed to speak to Javert to find out what had truly happened during the time he was unconscious. As he surreptitiously scanned the stream of arriving patients for the face of his daughter -- or those of his enemies -- he patiently awaited Javert's arrival, hoping that the man could still recognize him after all this time.

[Closed to Javert]

Endrance turned his head to look at the intercom, giving it a look that would wither an entire rose garden in an instant. He would never get used to ending up in his room again from somewhere else in the Institute.

He brushed his bangs out of his eyes, not sitting up just yet. He could tell already that his torso had been heavily bandaged, even more so than it had been the night before. The cuts on his arms were covered with fresh bandages, and the one on his cheek seemed to no longer be there at all.

Endrance had been expecting to wake up in a lot of pain, but even that seemed numbed. "They must have given me something," he murmured quietly, as he slowly sat up.

At that moment, his nurse came to get him, pushing a wheelchair along with her. "Peyton, dear, good morning. I've come to take you to breakfast, so..." He shook his head. "I'm fine. There's no need for that...I can walk perfectly well."

She sighed. Well, if he insisted, she wasn't going to stop him. She motioned for an orderly to take the chair away, and walked him to the cafeteria. Once they had gotten there, she pointed him toward a seat, then set a full tray of pancakes covered with syrup, a bowl of fruit, and a glass of orange juice in front of him. "Now eat all of that, Peyton, or else you won't be strong enough to keep walking like that."

He glared at her back as she walked away, then stopped suddenly. There was that faint pulse he'd felt the night before...it was exactly the same.

And so he completely ignored his food in favor of staring at the cafeteria doors, looking at every patient that came in.

[thread will be closed to Haseo. ♥]

[With mod permission]

Sanzo jerked awake, cheek pressed against the floor. The monk immediately went for the gun. He hadn't gone to sleep that last shift, not while he hadn't made a decision about Takasugi. What the fuck? Had they drugged the food? He was curled on the floor - and he definitely wasn't in that cell any longer - his fingers around the Smith & Wesson. Sanzo pushed himself up.

He flicked the flashlight on, and looked around. An island in the middle, pots and pans above, a familiar metal door. What the hell was he doing in the kitchen?

Sanzo rose, the gun scraping against the floor with the movement. Something was going on here. He'd only woken up like this once, and that'd been that time in the morgue.

What was going on here?



[To here

That had been a very interesting shift, Miku decided as she was wheeled around. Not only for making a new friend in Endrance (well, perhaps not friend, but very kind acquaintance), but for the overload of unwanted information from the bulletin. It was enough to make her want to hide until there was no chance of a blush ever forming on her face (and ears, and neck and anywhere else a blush might decide to raise its wily head).

Her nurse was oddly quiet for once, as she gathered her meal (vegetable pizza and milk) and wheeled Miku away from the crush of other patients being herded in. Well, then it would be a quiet lunch, she decided.

"Now, Alice, I expect not to see a crumb of food left, do you hear? Not a crumb," her nurse chastised her gently and Miku winced. So, they were noticing. She'd have to be more careful to eat a little more.

"Ah... yes. I'm sorry," Miku ducked her head and started picking at her meal with her knife and fork. "I'll eat." Even if the nurse was really a monster at night, she hated that tone of disappointment. She sighed and picked at what appeared to be a piece of broccoli on her pizza.

[For Sousuke]

[from here]

It looked as though they were the first ones in the room tonight, but the others wouldn't be far behind. Callisto didn't intend to dawdle long. It was simply a matter of remembering which door led into the cold room. The more solid-looking one, wasn't it? Right. It would have been so much more beneficial to the others to join them, but she was through trying to convince them at this point.

"Don't suppose you're hungry," she teased as they continued in. She didn't actually intend to stop for him if he was. They served them enough during the day anyway. "It's just back here - the way down, that is."

[from here]

Junpei slammed the door shut behind him, hoping it would keep Invisi-girl out. She hadn't been there when he came to, so maybe she'd gotten bored or something and wandered off. He eyed the small crack at the bottom of the door, hoping that she'd just been invisible and not like a cloud or something, cause it'd suck if she just slipped under the door like something from a creepy mist movie.

Finding a table nearby, Junpei sat down at it, bat placed on the table top, and took a few good long minutes to catch his breath and enjoy wonderful, beautiful air. While he caught his breath, he examined the rip in his pants, noting the rock he'd hit had cut his knee and there was some blood soaked into the grey fabric. It kinda stung when he poked it. Stupid rock.

So, he was in... like a cafeteria or something from the looks of it. Picking his bat back up, Junpei shined his flashlight around to get a better look at the room. Boring. There wasn't even any food out - just a bunch of tables and an empty buffet line. With the awesomeness of the food he'd had for dinner, he'd kinda wanted a bit of a midnight snack.

Oh, he shouldn't have thought of that. Midnight was when the Dark Hour was and a midnight snack was, like, what that scary chick was helping herself to outside. Did she have to like floss to get the fur out from between her teeth? Oh no... Junpei covered his mouth as he gagged, really hoping he wasn't going to throw up at the whole evil-Koro-chan-eating-pink-chick-of-ubercreepiness.

[from here]

Spider closed the large double doors carefully behind him, still unsure as to whether the figments outside would transform into snake-toothed dogs and devour his liver. They did not. Elated, and recovered from his previous sprint, Spider let out a loud hoot and launched himself into the massive room.

This was the first room he'd managed to find in this white-tiled antiseptic-smelling prismfuck and by god he was going to make the most of it. It was like the architect had smashed all the rooms in the place into one to make more room for his beloved hallways. It was huge. He took a running jump and landed on a nearby table, crouching. He surveyed the room like a predator, grinning so widely it looked as if his head was about to spawn a swarm of infernal bicuspids. He took stock of exits, windows, tables, chairs ... and there was a bulletin board! He had pens. This could prove extremely entertaining.

Whistling merrily and tunelessly, he leapt from table to table on his way to the massive bulletin board.

After dinner Depth Charge had drifted over to his bed and collapsed onto it, feeling disturbingly fragile, as if a strong breeze could shatter him and blow away the pieces like they were nothing but dust. Matsuda’d tried to help, but the human had no idea He’d never felt so helpless, so useless, so slagging vulnerable. What was he supposed to do now, just sit around and wait? What if X had survived? What if he was still out there?

Maybe that’s the point. There’s got to be a reason you’re here and not him. Think about it. Five stellar cycles of ceaseless hunting, and for what? Petty vengeance? Don’t give me that ‘justice’ smelt either. You know this is personal. Ever stop to think that maybe, just maybe he’s not the monst-

The doctor’s announcement buzzed hollowly overhead, splitting his thoughts in two. Depth Charge, as grateful as he was for the distraction, barely noticed the change in tone, nor would he have given a slag if he had. Why the Pit should he have done? X had pulled out the ultimate get-out-of-jail-card on him and left him to rot in the mutant’s place and he was supposed to care about something like that? Slag that!

In fact, the more he thought about it, the more cheated he began to feel. The more angry. And anger was always preferable to despondency; it brought with its frenzy a blinding effect that, while it lasted, removed him entirely from his thoughts. The thoughts that, otherwise, would have eaten away at him all night. It would hurt like frag afterwards, of course, even more than if he’d never bothered, but he was hardly thinking straight enough to care.

The rage continued to bubble and seethe within him, until, finally, it forced him upright and out of bed. Grabbing the bat from under his mattress and the torch from his drawer he wrenched open the door and burst out into the hallway.

[To here]

[From here]

Quite thankfully, Ophelia had made it to the entrance of the Sun Room with no interruptions. She leaned against the wall on the right-hand side of the room's entrance, making sure to stay in the shadows and keep an ear out for any sudden noises.

Now there was naught but to wait. She crossed her arms, a self-satisfied grin crossing her face. Apart from their basement mission, Ophelia was looking forward to mentioning a little interesting something that Kio had pointed out to her during their bulletin board exploration earlier. She was certain that she would get a fun reaction out of at least Arlene, and perhaps the others too, though she didn't know how well acquainted HK and SubZero were with the other woman.

[From here]

Ophelia slowed back to a walk as she entered the main hallway. It was a ways off in the dark, but she could just make out a small patch of light further down in the center of the hall, presumably streaming in from the Sun Room's glass ceiling. She didn't see anything yet, but there was no telling when something might suddenly jump out at her. That large glowing thing before had seemed to come out of nowhere, hadn't it? Who knew how Landel inserted his creatures into the building when night fell. For all she knew, he had some sort of magical location abilities, transporting creatures to wherever he desired on a whim. Power great enough to bring so many types of beings to a place like this was surely great enough for such feats.

Keeping her wits about her, Ophelia moved slowly down the hallway.

[To here]

Soubi was beginning to feel the effects of a busy morning on a tired body. To make things worse, they were serving Tacos and Burritos. He could really do some with something a bit softer today. Blander. But it was hardly his biggest concern right now.

Having picked out his lunch, he looked for Ritsuka. He had to apologise, but these things usually ended up in bigger arguments, so, as could be expected, Soubi was a little nervous. Maybe they wouldn't find each other this shift. Maybe he had a little more time?

Soubi sat alone, being sure that his face was set in the expression that sent the girls at College the other way.

[He gots a Sheeny Beeny]

Matt had to bite his tongue hard to keep from insisting he would be perfectly comfortable in the library, really, and could he please stop being led around like freaking cattle? As the nurse drew him into the empty Sun Room, the answer to that seemed to be a resounding 'No'.

Great.

He was given the usual talk of 'be nice', 'maybe someone will come back and you'll have someone to talk to' and the strangely sincere 'we're getting a few books in braille, they just haven't arrived yet'. He was sure he believed that one, but it would be nice to not be singled out for a change.

Reminded him of grammar school actually.

What a coincidence, he hadn't been fond of grammar school either. Settling back on the seat he'd found himself in, the Daredevil closed his eyes and debated on the merits of a nap as he listened to the occasional person stop by and scribble something down before leaving. A message board or something? He'd have to ask someone about that.

(Free to any and all!)

_{[from here and about to be perved upon]}

She'd been upstairs once, to visit the Chapel, but that had been during the day. There were no staff members escorting her this time, which only made things more dangerous, in a way. The shinigami, Abarai Renji, had been killed battling nurses at night.

When Tsubaki stepped into the stairwell, she did a quick check--stairs, behind the stairs, the door behind her--before putting a foot on the first step and slipping the makeshift bag off her shoulder to balance on her knee. The sound of her boot shifting against the edge of the step was eerily loud.

Once she'd fished out her flashlight, Tsubaki lifted the bag of cloth again.

A deep, silent inhale. Let's go.