[from here.]

There seemed to be a lot more options here, Aerith noted as she passed a few doors along the way. Maybe she'd come to center of the building? It was hard to tell, and her sense of direction wasn't fantastic. She was lucky if she'd remember the path she'd taken so whimsically to get here. Stopping in front of a particularly large set of doors, the flower girl took a quick break from her exploration to try and commit to memory all the turns she'd taken to get here from her room.

It was certainly worth noting that she still hadn't heard even a whisper from the Planet. Aerith had always thought she would be thankful to not hear the screams and whispers for once in her life. Now that her wish had been granted, she honestly found it strange and more than a little unsettling. Even in Midgar, she'd had a place that she could always go to if she needed to hear the echo of her mother's voice. If anything Gaia had always given her direction and companionship. Clearly, she'd have to apologize when she got out of this place.

And Aerith Gainsborough would get out of here. One way or another. She had to believe that.

The young woman lifted her flashlight, scanning every inch of the wide hallway that she could. Maybe it would be best to take a moment and collect before she continued on her exploration.

Time to stretch his legs again. Abe set the white bishop aside--he'd spent most of dinner staring it down, in lieu of anything better to focus his attention on. His mind had never come down from that fluffy cloud land of speculation it had been hovering in ever since he got over being terrified of Beatrix, and he spoke only a food-muffled greeting to Statesman.

Scarecrow's suggestion that he find the third floor seemed to be a good one. The problem came in finding a way up there. As far as he could tell the path to the third floor never crossed that of the stairwells between the first and second floors. The area he had explored with Mr. Smith seemed fruitless even without that small creepy child making advances at them, and if the rest were that easy to find someone surely would have found the stairs by now.

Experience and training told Abe that if you were looking for something important it was probably hidden in a place you wouldn't expect. Putting stairs right next to stairs made too much sense, you had to apply some unhuman thinking to figure out where they'd put it. Somewhere people wouldn't go but disguised as somewhere completely normal--of course. The cafeteria. There were doors behind it but there was no reason for people to go into the cafeteria at night because there was nothing of use there. Abe wished he had the emotional energy to feel proud of himself for his cleverness.

He checked the closet before he left intending to see if anything had been put in there since last night. No weapons, no tools or notes, just a single dark wetsuit hanging forlornly from a clotheshanger.

His wetsuit.

Abe took the dark material in hesitant hands and turned it--Sapien was imprinted on the chest. The breathing apparatus was gone, as was the gun, but the belt had the familiar red and gold emblem on it that he'd seen so many times it had been burned onto his overlage retinas. How and why were futile questions to ask here even if it was real, Abe would find no answers from this mad place, but it was here now. Perhaps someone friendly had chosen to give it to him and remind him of what he used to be and of the frail human that he wasn't--for better or for worse, Abe's enthusiasm at being a normal human was severely flagging.

It made sense to take it. The wetsuit would give him a minimal amount of padding and wouldn't be nearly as heavy without the bulky breathing apparatus, the pouches on the belt would help holding anything useful he might find, the goggles might come in handy at some point...he'd be a fool just to leave it in the closet. But it still, in some twisted way, felt as if the BPRD had managed to suck him back in without him even knowing it. Abe donned the top part of his uniform but kept his lightweight pants, then carefully folded the goggles and tucked them into his belt pouch. Snapping the red sword-and-fist belt buckle around his midsection felt like donning a dog collar and he did it without looking down. Necessity only. They didn't own him anymore.

[To here.]

There was something fishy going on in the Institute today. All over the bulletin board, people were talking about having "woken up", having been "cured"... and it seemed as though ZEX was one of them. Tanaka wouldn't have recognized the note at all if it hadn't been signed - his wording, his handwriting, even his name had changed - and a part of him still wondered if it had been an imposter, trying to pull the wool over the Captain's allies.

But it'd be easy enough to find out the truth. Whoever it was had agreed to meet him, and Tanaka was waiting for him just outside the cafeteria doors, ready to catch him as he came from breakfast. If "Max" was an imposter, then he'd discover the identity of a hidden enemy. And if he was really ZEX...

...well, he'd have a whole new set of things to worry about.

[for a spoiled rich brat brainwashed Admiral]

Yuffie had died.

No, really. Seriously. She had actually died. Bleeding all over the place, making a horrid, sticky mess and scaring the hell out of Suzaku; she remembered it clearly. Kind of. Sort of. Through the blood loss, the pain, and the visions. Through Aerith's voice whispering in her ear, Cloud's stricken eyes, and her own panic. As bad nights went, it had been Bad, capital B and all the trimmings, and oh, god. She sat, trembling on the edge of her bed, eyes closed and hands pressed hard over her racing heart. The by-play between Landel—Landel!—and Lydia barely even sunk in. There was nothing in the whole world, any world, that could prepare you for something like…

Had it all been some kind of hallucination?

Had she imagined the whole thing?

No… She didn't think so. Nightmarish or not, Yuffie knew reality. But if it had been real, how was she alive now? That kind of pain wasn't something you could just cook up, was it? She thought about it all the way to the cafeteria, drifting behind her nurse without focus or intent. Maybe if she tried to stay clinical, tried to step back… But she'd never been good at that when things got personal. And every time she closed her eyes or blinked, she swore that the scenes played back to her, like an overused commercial on a crappy channel on a crappy TV, in a run-down dump of an inn that smelled like mothballs and yesterday's breakfast.

The scent of blood and damp, rotted wood clogged her nose. Disgusted, Yuffie shoved her bowl of cereal—handed to her by a clucking Plucky—off to the side so that she could melt into her chair, palm heels scrubbing against her eyes. Too much. This was… Too much. She couldn't even paste a plastic smile on her face to make herself feel better. Her usual shield, the white noise of inane babble that could filter out almost any crisis, was in tatters all around her. Five minutes, she gave herself.

Five minutes (not) to think, five minutes to get her act together, because there was no way she could let herself shatter here. No way…

[Closed to Sheena]

Brainiac 5 had been planning to spend some more time in the sun room in order to check up on his attempt to gather more information about the different technology levels people were familiar with and to think about what his ancestor had said to him (not to mention try and keep an eye on Peter's activities before he did something else monumentally stupid), but his nurse seemed to have something else in mind for him.

He frowned as she pushed him into the game room, hoping she wasn't thinking he would actually want to entertain himself with another piece of archaic Earth technology, but instead found himself deposited in front of a chess set.

"You liked playing it on the bulletin, Michael," she said before he could ask, "so why don't you try playing it face to face. You might even make some more friends!" And then she left him there. He was beginning to think she preferred him in the wheelchair; it meant that he couldn't leave on his own.

He sighed, absently lining up the pieces that were slightly out of place and feeling grateful that the room was currently empty as well. It made him feel somewhat... safer. He knew Luxord wasn't likely to be intruding on him any time soon. Not to mention that there wouldn't be any major distractions. But then again, he was a twelfth level intellect, so playing a complex game against himself while thinking about what he'd heard earlier would hardly be difficult. Even factoring in other eventual distractions - such as others who would no doubt arrive later or the lingering effects of his medication - he'd be able to play at an advanced level while maintaining a watch on his surroundings and contemplating what was bothering him.

He just had to hope that his nurse wouldn't decide to interfere and force him to spend time with someone else as well. He had more important things on his mind.

[closed for a chess rematch with a certain other boy genius]

Something was wrong. Hitsugaya could feel it in his soul. The sky darkened and an ominous wind passed through the town, heralding something sinister. Before his very eyes, the whole place underwent a horrific transformation, particularly the town residents. They had become monsters with decaying skin, revealing muscle and bone beneath.

"Get out of the streets!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

There were far too many enemies for the patients to take on. If they stayed outside, they'd be killed.

"Come on!"

Hitsugaya dragged Hokuto along. He couldn't worry about everyone else, but he could at least help her. Despite their awkwardness, he couldn't just leave the girl behind.

As they ran through the streets, the feeling of ice-cold finger tips ghosted the back of his neck. A sense of urgency welled up in the pit of his stomach and propelled him towards the closest door. He didn't have time to be picky. As soon as they were inside, Hitsugaya threw himself against the wooden doors. The energetic pounding on the door said more about zombies' ravenous intent than their ghastly moans.

"Get the table! We need to barricade the door!"

He saw a girl grapple with the bartender, but he couldn't afford to help her right now. Just holding back the door required all his strength.

_{[Free, no limits.]}

Grungy establishments like this 'Crossroader's Bar' weren't Yomi's typical style--what she saw in Japan were much different than this. But everything about where she was and what she was doing was out of the ordinary; Yomi had to put oddities behind her.

Besides, when it came to a bar, even one so cliché as this, what was there to know?

There would be people, talking and smelling of booze, and unwelcome reactions. The last, she expected. These people, hospital and townsfolk alike, seemed as real in body and mind as any other to her, so if they were truly human, bar flies would be judging her--the crazy girl with tragic delusions--the same way she was judging them--the oblivious captors. And that was an example of the strangeness she was facing, that she could be on the same playing field as humanity again, when she'd become something else. Something with a hunger for human blood. Yomi still had that hunger, and the means to satisfy it, but still, she was at people's mercy.

Well, she could be good. Until things returned to how they should be.

Yomi stepped inside, the clump of her shoes on the floor giving her entrance away. Her eyes didn't need long to adjust--she looked around her, taking in the room as though in the midst of deciding if she should stay or go. In reality, she had nothing to be hesitant about, and there were only so many worthwhile places to scope out if she couldn't leave the town. Newly legal in body, the bar was a suitable choice.

When her gaze had done a circuit of the room and its occupants, she continued inside, making her way up to the bar. The girl slid into a stool, which put her back to the rest of the bar. Now, was she considered a customer?

Lunch at the Tasty Burger had been uneventful, but peaceful...and lonely, so to speak. She missed eating her usual bento boxes, but what she missed the most was eating with Shuji. Her heart ached everyday, knowing that he wasn't anywhere near here(whether that would be a good or a bad thing). But she had to move forward, for him and herself. It was just another obstacle she needed to get over.

Standing in the middle of the street, she decided to take a slow walk in her bulky clothes, memorizing the town's scenery.

[for Fai and Kuma-gane~]

Tim knew he shouldn't go and eat some greaseball burger meal, but really, the calorie content of a meal that he might actually enjoy was the furthest thing from his mind. Might as well get some use out of their bogus coupon book. It still struck him as really odd; this wasn't how mental facilities worked. It seemed like ridiculously low security to him, even with all the staff milling about.

Well, whatever. He was hungry and the sack lunch just wasn't doing it from him. So he ordered his meal, complete with the greasiest fries in the state of New Jersey, apparently, and sat at a table. The jeans were still annoying him. The skinny jeans fad was stupid, as far as he was concerned, because the pants were designed so tight that they were actually falling down if he sat. Wonderful. The next person he saw wearing these things voluntarily was getting punched in the face, just for being a moron.

...Okay, not really, but it was nice to entertain the thought.

He was glad to be away from Alfred for a few minutes, to clear his head. He wasn't sure where the butler - er, right, gentleman's gentleman - had gone, but he knew Alfred wouldn't follow him into a fast food place. Anyway, if there was anyone that knew how to take care of themselves in weird situations, it was Alfred. He'd be okay.

HEven with all the grease, the fries were palatable enough, and he opened another ketchup packet, glad for the chance to just sit here for a few minutes and think.

[Waiting for one impulsive speedster, and possibly one Superman clone.]

Senna stepped off the bus to wind blowing through the clothes she was given. A sad face at one of the nurses allowed her a long red scarf as well, and once she had draped it around her neck and let it hang down her back, she had trotted off.

The park she had saw last time seemed a good place to be on the look-out for the chicks from last night. It was close to the buses, and a big enough place that if they remembered that they had a race date, it would suit its purpose. The girl ran to a place in the middle of the field and waited there, shifting her weight from side to side. After a while, this wasn't enough, and Senna traded back and forth between jogging in place and acrobatics--the easy flips and cartwheels keeping her warm.

Her mind had changed in the night before. She had gotten a taste of what leadership entailed, and she wasn't sure she had rose to the occasion or not. She knew she had tried her best, and had been willing to give as much as she had, but it hadn't been enough. She knew this. Hokuto, at least, had gotten hurt, and in the end, they still hadn't explored more than the schoolhouse. They really needed a different approach with that place.

She went back and forth internally, body going through the motions and reflexes of her movements.

[for... Falis, Hokuto, Meche, and Soma?--and down to here]

Before anyone could come to any decisions for their next move, the room suddenly filled with a thick fog. Faster than he could realize what was happening, it had filled up the entire room and swallowed every single one of his friends. Then there was that undeniable stench of iron, blood and... he last remembered taking a step back and feeling that slippery skid and the realization of what that was. By the time he yelled, he was sitting straight up in his bed like he'd bolted awake. Like it'd been nothing more than a bad dream. ...What the hell just happened?!

"Oh! Good morning!" The nearby voice made him yelp with a half squeak-like noise. Oh, for hell's sake. It was one of those freaking nurses again. She was beaming at him like nothing had happened at all. Before he could so much as ask one question, the hag started blathering real fast about some field trip and buses and getting changed and hurrying up before everyone left without him and... OH MY GOD, WHAT WAS SHE DOING?! She was grabbing at his shirt like she was about to start helping him get dressed (or undressed in this case).

He flailed in a desperate attempt to get away from her and yelled his consent to go along if she would get out and let him change HIMSELF. What was the matter with her?! Thankfully, she left but told him to hurry. Hell if he knew what she'd do if he took too long. So for the sake of not getting freaking stripped, he quickly changed into the clothes she'd left on the bed. Clothes being the ugliest looking white-and-black track pants he'd ever seen and a bright blue sweatshirt with a cute little penguin design on the front. This was some kind of joke, right? ...Not to say the penguin wasn't cute or anything but there was no way, no way, he was wearing something like this in public.

But the nurse had burst right in again, and before Kanji could offer much protest, he was being pulled down the hallways and through the doors of the bus. He'd yelled some things her way, but she totally wasn't listening at all. By the time they stopped, he was standing at the front of the bus with a paper bag and the nurse had run off to cart another poor sap along. Frickin' PERFECT. For the sake of not standing up there like some kind of zoo animal for everyone to stare at, he plopped himself into one of the seats by the front and sighed in complete exasperation.

[Free. No limit.]

[From here. Outside F3]

Because she needed to get to Orihime and Shiki's room before either of them left, Ururu had practically run the short distance down the halls. Normally she might not, since she knew better than to run inside. Tessai-san didn't like it when Jinta-kun did that at the shop especially, since something usually ended up broken because of it. In this case, though, Ururu decided to take the risk if it meant getting their sooner.

Plus Ururu thought that trying to walk right then would be even harder than running.

It only took a few minutes for the girl to get to the door of F3. She'd been there a few times, so that helped. Ururu knocked hard, then tried to be patient and not knock again right away. There were a lot of possibilities. Maybe her friends were asleep, or maybe they had left before she'd gotten there. Ururu didn't think they could have, but she couldn't say they didn't, either. At least not until she saw inside the room for herself.

But she couldn't do that yet. Ururu had to be patient, so she began to fidget outside the door. Then she knocked again, just in case they hadn't heard her the first time. And in case they hadn't heard her then, she called out too.

"Um, Orihime-san, Shiki-san? It's Ururu. Are you okay?"

Well, that was... special. No wonder he was losing respect for this place--the fearful Martin Landel was coming undone, most probably with boredom. So scary. Even Nursey seemed a little exasperated, though that most likely had more to do with X's constant insistence to stay in the Sun Room rather than go inside the Greenhouse.

He did, after all, have business to attend to (and plants just annoyed him, though that was besides the point).

He took a seat on a particularly comfortable looking couch, keeeping an eye out for any signs of- Ah, there was Tyche! Luxord plucked her from the floor and placed her on his lap, smiling at the little ball of black fluff as she played with his fingers. It felt like so long since he'd last seen her!

[For Grell and Jason, I think?]

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]

Ah, that was right. He should roll up-- Huh?

Cross blinked his eyes open to stare up at the ceiling, then sat up quickly. That was odd. Hadn't he just been in the hallway? This was the second time he'd woken in a room like this and it was baffling. He didn't even recall anything that would cause him to fall unconscious again. Sitting on the edge of the bed, he took a moment to scratch his head and try to put together pieces of a puzzle that had no intention of fitting.

This was ridiculous.

He wasn't allowed much more time before a boisterous woman arrived saying something about breakfast. Too surprised to put up much of an argument, Cross allowed her to lead him out of the room to a familiar and yet unfamiliar hallway. This wasn't the same room he'd been in the night before.

Trying to ask what was going on proved to be fruitless, and he decided to just take the food he was served and sit down. There had to be someone around here who knew something. And what had happened to Ryuuzaki?

[free]

[From here.]

This was the room that she'd been brought into when Tseng had his "visit". Maybe there would be some sort of clue somewhere.

It was a simple enough room, and Elena didn't think there would be a whole lot in here. But she had to try something. Maybe there'd be a trap door or something somewhere, or hidden documents, or cameras, or...

She stepped farther into the room, not really sure what to look out for, but determined to see if there was any chance of learning something new.

[from here]

Kenshin probably wasn't even going to be expecting him this early. Perhaps he should wait around a bit? The idea of waiting around in these halls, however, even those inside the patient blocks, didn't sit well with him. It would be just as he was trying to be courteous that something nasty popped out of nowhere and bit him in the ass.

So he stopped in front of the doorway, took a couple looks around to make sure it was clear, and knocked twice. "Oi, sensei. You in?"

[outside M55]

She’d never been in the Game Room before.

It didn’t look spectacularly interesting, she had to admit… but it’d be more fun than just hanging out in the Sun Room, right? Yuffie idly thumbed through a deck of cards, walking around the room to examine various bits and pieces. Board games, video games, chess… No really awesome prank material that she could see, but maybe she could rope somebody into a game of poker? That could be fun, but… ah, then again, most of the patients were just like her -- they didn’t have anything really cool that she could swindle out of them. Not until Nightshift, anyway.

Still! She’d keep it in mind. It wasn’t like there was anybody else in the room yet anyway, so any potential swindling would have to wait a little while. What could she do in the meantime, huh? Pick- pocketing a nurse could be fun..! Wait -- no, not when it was quiet like this. She’d have to wait until there was more cover, unless she got distracted. Yuffie hadn’t stolen anything in days, not since that time in Doyleton, with the Kaito kid…

Yuffie smirked. That had been fun.

[From here]

The door that led outside didn't even need to be kicked in, and Gin crept out, a thin smile still on his lips, even if there was no one around to see it.  Nothing yet, though the outdoors were notorious for all kinds of creatures.  He kept his light off as he slunk to the other door, not wishing to gain any unwanted attention, most especially from any that might be gathering outside to pay their respects to the fallen. 

It was a good vantage point, though there was little activity just yet, and Gin was much more interested in gaining more weaponry from the kitchen than he was in a dead man.