The world was awash in pink, singing exquisite notes that near shattered the ears, and Nigredo could merely shudder in the wake of another miracle. Hadn't the false tones of the eldest laid it out so clearly? The dilemma of the U.R.T.V. and their talents.

"You're gonna tell him about something that gives back your powers when that's what screwed you both up in the first place?"

'Screwed' up, yes. Powers had been the source of their initial conflict, and here, in an instant, they would return to him. Waveform would unlocked. Restraints would lifted. Energy filled from his toes to the very tips of his black hairs. He didn't think to consider the source because the child already knew: someone or something had destroyed that device. Wasn't the consequence simple, then? As expected from a specialized bioweapon, he had returned to full capacity. Perhaps everyone had. None, however, would regret the shift as much as he.

For lingering in the cracks of his heart lay a shadow, one rejected since the day of its discovery.

Would Albedo overlook it now? Fear would press for a negative, but Nigredo retained an edge of doubt. He had promised, hadn't he? And if the youngest would keep control, would skirt away from death, perhaps the failsafe could remain out of reach.

Maybe. He couldn't say with any amount of certainty, to analyze uninterrupted. Senses soon detected an age-old danger while his mind remembered two engagements. Ignoring Sync, Nigredo grabbed his duffel bag and rushed out into the hallway.

[To here.]

Guy's head was still spinning from finding out that his friend was back once again. He realized that he'd done a good job of keeping his cool while explaining everything to Luke, mainly because nothing would have been solved if both of them had been reeling, but...

What exactly was he going to do now? Tear and Natalia being excluded from the basement group was one thing, but Guy felt a duty to Luke that he was going to have a difficult time divorcing himself from. He realized he wasn't really Luke's servant anymore (Luke had said so himself), but with how often Luke had left this place only to return again, how could he not feel as if he needed to keep an eye on him?

Granted, it was something that they could split up among their whole group. Luke wasn't going to like the idea of being babysat, but Guy didn't know if he was comfortable with anything else. Tear and Natalia could stick with him when he headed off with Claude and Anise, but getting all of that information transmitted in the small time left before night came seemed impossible. In any case, if he made it sound more subtle -- like they were all just taking care to stick together -- then Luke would probably accept it.

The soldiers forced them apart when lunch ended, however, meaning that Guy's only option was to put up a bulletin notice and hope that things worked themselves out that way. He was pretty sure Claude still had an extra sword for Luke, so that was one weight off of his shoulders at the least. But he really didn't want Luke going off on his own at night, so any chance of preventing that was his priority.

Once a note had been posted, Guy finally agreed to go into the Game Room with most of the patients. He realized he had the ability to wander elsewhere, but it seemed pointless when there were barely any others who had the same privileges. Still, he couldn't help thinking of Sai; he still needed to track the man down at some point.

Upon entering the room and finding that it was still relatively empty, Guy started to wander in search of anything interesting to play. He could always check out one of those portable game systems again.

[For Edgar.]

Erika stood back to survey her work, and she had no idea why no one seemed to care.

By 'no one', she was referring to the soldiers who were on guard, who should be looking particularly anxious due to the atmosphere of this place. It didn't make sense in her mind. Someone who just took up a large chunk of the middle of the Sun Room to build a blanket fort of all things should have prompted some sort of reaction other then asking what she needed the blankets for. In the center of the room, a couch and several chairs had been stolen from the tables to make more "support" for the blanket to stretch across both. In fact, Erika was finishing up preparations for another layer of blankets to be laid out and still, she got no reaction from the soldiers. At least, not any reaction that matched with her expectations. A lack of a reaction was still a reaction, but not the one she was expecting.

Why was she going out of her way to antagonize her captors in the first place? In truth, it was because Erika was hoping to stir up some drama and suspicion after the military was stupid enough to make it blatantly obvious that they were in a tough situation regarding their little traitor. But perhaps Erika overestimated just how serious the situation was. Even so, she seemed outright disappointed and grumbled quietly to herself as she started to lay out the second blanket after stacking some more chairs up to make another wall.

"What a waste. All of this trouble and no one even wants to look at it," The ex-detective grumbled to herself, but she didn't bother dismantling what she already put up. No, it seemed more like Erika was determined to ruin someone's day and if she could annoy some people by making it more difficult to find a place to sit, then it was all the better for her. After setting the blanket in place, Erika watched the fabric settle for a moment before scowling and crawling underneath the fabric, poking her head out from underneath and glancing around again to be met with no reaction whatsoever.

Why did no one care?!

[ hay Sync it's time for a secret evil league of evil meeting get in here. ]

[From here.]

While the basement and its contents was reason enough to believe that anything was possible when it came to what Landel was capable of, Sync was mildly surprised at what was waiting for them as soon as the doors opened. But it wasn't the skeletons strewn across the sand or the dark and dank air that surrounded them that did it; it was the silhouette of the lake that seemed to stretch an indefinite distance that he hadn't expected. He spent a moment taking it all in, gaze finally settling on the pair of torches that provided the only light in these caverns.

Having never been there before was reason enough to remain alert, but the God-General's experience was evident with the casual expression he wore. For all he knew the skeletons could just be nothing more than fakes, or at least purposely placed in order to achieve a more foreboding atmosphere. Of course, Landel would have to be stupid to believe that more dead people could deter anyone after what they've already had to go through.

Speaking of. Knowing Erika would catch on quick enough, the God-General was quick to roll up his sleeve before outstretching his arm so that the corner of his wrist caught the portion of the latter's katana. Now that there was actually something interesting worth exploring he wasn't about to ruin his progress, and he scraped a drop of blood on the broken jewel and watched it reform.

Sync took a few more steps across the beach, eyeing the dock that was now close enough to make a few details out of. Glancing over his shoulder, the teen sneered at Erika.

"Don't tell me that this was exactly what you were expecting."

[ from here ]

It was just yesterday that Erika had thrown herself into this strange place for what should have been the last time, but she was already back. She might have been more upset about the fall, which certainly wouldn't do her aching body any good, if she hadn't perfected her "talent" of falling right on top of Sync each time they teleported into the Ballroom. Erika didn't know if was just Sync's foul luck or the whims of the Game Master, but he kept appearing underneath her every time they used the ring and she was more then happy to take advantage of that fact.

Tonight's interesting consequences only made Erika's landing even smoother, as the girl avoided a world of pain and hurt by hitting Sync as opposed to hitting the cold, hard, inorganic floor... in more ways then one. When Erika rolled off of her poor companion, she had a very pleased look on her face, one reflected a lot more happiness then just the sheer joy of calculating your landing on another person's form just so.

"... Really, you're making this too easy for me," Erika didn't even apologize, smiling indiscreetly as she struggled to get herself up. Unfortunately for her, the floor was still hard, cold, and did little to help her get up without considerable stress to her abdomen. Well, at least Sync "helped" her from making it worse.

[from here]

"I wonder where everyone is at?" Brook paused a moment in his humming to question at the empty hallway.

He knew he'd left his room in a bit more of a rush than was his usual, but still, more patients were about at this time of night. It was strange to see not only so little of a number, but even stranger to have no one else passing him by. He thought back to what announcements had been made only to realize that only one had broadcasted. That short message at the beginning of the night: Code 1-8. The message had been mysterious enough to warrant an equally short comment from Brook to his guard about it, but the lacking response had caused Brook to let the man alone. Now though, he had the feeling that he should have pressed more about the reasoning.

His humming resumed as he took the usual left and tried not to worry even more for what might have been happening this evening. "Code 1-8" didn't sound good. Then again, in this place, nothing did.

[from here]

[from here]

Whatever was happening to her, Rita was going to fix it. She could fix anything. She was a genius.

That heavy pounding in her chest, that light-headed feeling... those were just getting in the way. Rita tried to will it to stop, for her body to simply stop being anxious, but the feelings persisted. She had to hurry... Even if she didn't know what she would do to help herself, that just meant she was going to need more time to figure it out once she reached the Medical Wing.

Rita broke into a run, dashing through the hallway and around the corner.

[to here]

[popping in from here]

By the time space settled around Albedo, the response had been had. No, not as Albedo had assumed, but soldiers instead. And why bother the good one of their pair, why force chemicals into his brother's system? Because he was to be a test of sorts, a complement to Albedo the night before. The irony didn't fail him, though it didn't dull the light rage any more. Because, again, another had touched his sibling, and again, there were no movements to be made again. The deed was done, the moment passed, and there was just sharp annoyance, a fizzling anger.

Albedo's head spun from transit and he delayed entering for a moment, pressing a hand against the wall for balance.

The dinner announcement came as something utterly unexpected. Rather than Harrington's excited tones, the calm accented voice of the General drifted through the intercom speakers.

"Code 1-8. I repeat: Code 1-8. All personnel are to report to your stations. No exceptions."

The intercom clicked off, leaving no explanation behind. The staff appeared to take the words to heart, however, as evident by their thin-lipped faces and snappy tones to the slower patients. They were in an obvious hurry to get everyone back to their rooms.

For what cause, they refused to divulged.

[ Those participating in the forced drug trials, please ensure to read this lounge post before posting to dinner. Thanks! ]

[From here and here.]

Well this was not as expected. The last hall he'd trekked through down here at least had those swell picture stories about death to entertain them on their way. Here, Peter had to settle for whatever amusement could be drawn from a pitch black room and all the adults holding the flashlights. So much for the Peter Parker Finger Puppet Show. At least the floor wasn't spongy enough to be the inside of a giant throat. Hooray for small miracles.

"Cozy," he remarked lightly. "Reminds me of my favourite locker I used to get shoved in at school."

Taura jogged down the stairs, and looked around. The room seemed far too large to belong down here. More benefits of being at the bottom of a gravity well -- space was cheap, and air was free. The fountains wouldn't be out of place in a fancy hotel lobby, though the rest of the decor was a little macabre.

"There's a maze down here somewhere, but I don't know where, and that's all I've got. I say we pick a door and go for it." She didn't like having no idea what might be back there, but that was true of any door here. If they could put wormholes in doorframes, all of them were a gamble, and Taura wasn't about to hide in her room all night.

Fortune favors the bold, as Commodore Tung sometimes said, and then he would turn around and quip that chance favors the well-prepared, which never quite made sense, except that both sounded very nice but were a little removed from practical application. In a sense, they were as prepared as they could be, so bold was the best plan.

That didn't stop the pit of her stomach from feeling like her dinner was tap-dancing on her diaphragm.

Touching the sandy grounds of the coliseum was a catalyst, and the progression of day did not mean the end of the process. By fortune or otherwise, this group's efforts were not allowed to halt simply due to the rising sun. Therefore, when nighttime was pronounced, those who had undergone the beginnings of an incomplete trial were pulled from their rooms, to be deposited without warning in the spots they had held in the previous night.

And at the center of it all, under the glint of the coliseum's light, stood the Eagle.

Unlike his impassioned speech, the General appeared relatively cold, the picture perfect image of an indifferent man. With arms crossed against his chest and nose high in the air, one might have assumed Aguilar to be displeased with the overall setup. Playing the part of Landel, after all, had never suited him. In truth, he was merely tired of waiting. Five individuals shouldn't take such time to recover from a simple "trip".

But recover they eventually did, and the man waved a hand as if to call attention to the south-center seats of the stadium, an aspect unneeded thanks to his projected voice.

"You're late."

[M96]

Military with an agenda was no different than a maniac with an agenda, and though he could appreciate the straightforward approach, Nigredo was hardly in the mood to give the words another try. Value was a virtue fast becoming tiresome, and tonight, he had resolved to focus on the trip downward instead of dwelling on matters too close to his heart. The audience proved undeserving to poke holes at a crumbling wall, after all. They were, in their own little niggling ways, repulsive to the point of intolerance; it was for this reason that Nigredo could stop with the charades. If he wished to control a situation beyond his liking, it would be best to abandon himself in the process.

Abandon Nigredo did in propriety and mood, albeit he remained unaffected when it came to obligations. The dark-haired child had promised his brother in twofold: to keep himself alive and from further harm. Desires aside, he intended to keep his word. Even if circumstances ended in the same, he didn't want to say that he failed to try. Preparation for the basement, therefore, came a bit more thoroughly this time, which came easier as the pain on his leg lightened and use of the limb increased without the aid of a wheelchair. The boy chose to don on his full uniform from the Yuriev Institute as the clothing served as a better cushion and insulation for his injuries. He then strapped the handgun to the holster at his back, making no effort to conceal it from his roommate. Better to leave all avenues open and show he had no intention of inciting violence.

For now, at least.

The ring with the empty crevice slid into his middle finger, and the boy wandered toward to the entrance, limping once in the process. He gritted his teeth and straightened the injured leg, before crossing his arms over his chest to indicate that he was ready. Perhaps Nigredo could afford to drag his feet a little in this venture, but an agreement was an agreement. And he would rather this be over quickly.

[ from here ]

As Erika approached the meeting spot, she was pleased to see that she was, indeed, first to reach there. This was to be expected: Erika was closest to this particular hallway and she could have given the others a minute's head start and still probably beat them while walking at a leisurely pace. But Erika had hurried to get here and set up camp anyway, directing her flashlight to the ceiling while dropping her bag next to her feet.

Perhaps the detective was so anxious to get there first in an effort to get back at Sync for implying that he more or less found her useless. Yet he followed her around anyway! Hopefully, this would be the last "team exercise" she would be expected to perform in this place so she could finally rid herself of him.

This hallway was as empty as the last one, but Erika knew she was going to see some traffic very soon. There was only one place on her map where a med wing was and it was east, just as Aguilar said. It was definitely a place that she would visit sometime soon so she could collect more of those pins, but not tonight. After all, Erika wasn't so desperate for a pin that she would willingly subject herself to Unknown Drug X. Let the other idiots work out the side effects and she'd be more than happy to step in if the risks were really worth it.

[ from here ]

There was a bounce in Erika's step as she ran through the list of people who would be coming with her tonight. Hopefully, everyone would be there... It would be a bit of a problem if they were a person or two short, but Erika was confident that she made a compelling enough case to win over some allies. Sync, on the other hand, probably was going to lug that boy out of his room like a potato sack again, but whatever worked for him.

The halls were quiet for once, though that didn't surprise the detective since she ran out of her room the moment that the doors were unlocked for them. Her roommate was left ignored for tonight, so hopefully she wouldn't take it too personally. Erika was busy tonight, after all. She upped her pace a little, trying to reach the meeting place as quickly as possible.

[ to here ]

By some stroke of luck, Harvey hadn't been bothered while he'd been in the library, allowing him to lose himself in a random book for at least a little while. Even so, he'd gone through all of his possible options for who might be visiting, from Gordon (in which case he'd probably end up sedated by the end of it) to his mother to Bruce Wayne to even the Joker.

He knew the latter couldn't be possible, not when he had to be rotting in a cell of his own by now. He'd better be, anyway. If Batman was going to be making a nuisance of himself, the least he could do was get the insane clown behind bars.

In other words, the book hadn't completely prevented him from working himself up about this whole visitor thing. It was the last thing he wanted, but as the shift ended and a soldier came to collect him, it became clear that resistance would not be tolerated.

And so he was shoved into one of the rooms, watching as the patients from the previous shift exited out, some looking relieved and others looking crushed. It only made the knot in his stomach pull tighter, but Harvey forced himself to breathe and calm down. No one he recognized was here yet, so he'd have a moment to compose himself at least.

Taking a seat off in the corner, Harvey considered grabbing one of the outdated magazines to read over while he waited, but he couldn't relax quite that much. Instead, he pulled up one leg to rest on the opposite thigh and made subtle glances towards the door every few seconds.

It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.

What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, and the fact that her equipment had been confiscated once again. Rita didn't have time to mess around... which was precisely why the cheery voice broadcast over the intercom only served to grate on her nerves more than usual. In fact... how was the Head Doctor even giving that announcement? She doubted he'd managed to take the institute back in such a short amount of time, though the broadcast itself was suspicious for a number of reasons. Even though she could clearly hear the man's voice, it didn't necessarily mean that he was there. She had to look at things critically.

Still, it seemed almost as if everything had returned to normal... with a few exceptions. The different staff was one, and her lack of possessions was another. It didn't seem like the staff was expecting to fool the patients into thinking this was the same old institute, so why...?

Even as she went about preparing for the day and walking to her first destination, Rita kept her most pressing questions in mind, coming up with multiple hypotheses to explain what was happening. Since she didn't expect that the Chapel would hold anything of interest to her, Rita opted for the Sun Room instead. She was interested in seeing the bulletin board, for one.

When she entered the Sun Room, Rita brought a pen and her journal with her. If no one approached her, she would at least have a chance to document her discoveries from the previous night. First, however, she checked the bulletin board, only to find it completely empty. That confirmed a few suspicions of hers. Content to see evidence supporting her ideas about the strange occurrences, Rita sat down on a couch, opened her journal, and began to write.

[Free!]

[ from here ]

The thing that this boy should have warned them about this room were the lights. Erika was almost blinded the moment she followed Sync and the other through the doors, grimacing and immediately shielding her eyes from the powerful skylights shining down on them. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the detective knew that this sort of trick was a deliberate move by Landel to disorient and confuse anyone trying to get in. Perfect if you were trying to slice them open with bullets. Erika certainly didn't forget about that, immediately shuffling to the side with her back against the wall to avoid any turrets that were positioned right at the entrance.

That move wasn't necessary, she realized, as her eyes adjusted and she could make out... absolutely nothing before them, an empty stretch of air. That was unexpected, but then again, despite how this scene was completely different from what the other boy described, Erika wasn't too startled. It seemed about right that Landel-san or whomever was running this place now would change up the challenge exactly to prevent them from having too much of an advantage, but it still seemed... extremely lacking, compared to what she heard. Was there something else in store for them? The detective took no chances, sweeping her eyes around the room and trying to find any hidden traps or enemies waiting. That was her job, after all. But the room, while large, was also cold and lifeless, a giant rectangle of metal. There was simply nowhere else to hide anything.

Erika didn't feel the need to share her observations, instead staying in place and observing the rest of the soon-to-be battlefield. This was the other boy's test, after all, so she had no desire to interfere in what was supposed to be his moment of glory. She wouldn't be so cruel as to take that golden opportunity away from him, after all.

"Good luck, you two." And weren't they going to need it.

[ from here ]

The hallway that they entered looked much different from the last. The creepy tapestries were gone, but they were replaced with something much more ominous: Suits of armor lined up, each holding some sort of weapon. At a glance, Erika could tell that the armor spanned many time periods and countries, though it didn't surprise her. The hallway they just left was a shrine to war and it followed that the next hallway would be the same thing. Still, the weapons unnerved her; their whole advantage was that she and Sync were armed, and the other boy was not. Therefore, she hoped that these were decorative and that this room was simply Landel-san's (or whomever this place belonged to) creepy war collection.

He had such poor taste.

Since Erika wasn't stupid, she made no effort to touch any of the weapons or anything in the room. She didn't need any more weapons and neither did the other two, so she turned around to face both of them and give the impression that she wasn't going to let either of then pass until some agreement was made. Knowing the nature of this place, the weapons here weren't to aid them, but rather to warn them of something terrible coming up. Landel-san and those of his ilk wouldn't be generous enough to arm them graciously like this, after all, no matter what he claimed on the radio.

"So, I'm assuming we're supposed to be using these," Erika said, gesturing to the weaponry and armor before her. "I'd rather use our own weaponry, if that is possible." Now that she had a proper theory, it was best to get it confirmed. Of course, if neither boy knew, then it would be fine for her. Knowing she was right one way or another was all Erika wanted. "I'm sure what Landel-san graciously left for us comes with strings attached."

[From here.]

Having already been through these hallways once meant that nothing was all that surprising anymore, even if the atmosphere was usually more than enough to stop anyone in their tracks. Still, the God-General paused midway down the hall, glancing up at the nearest tapestry with vague interest. Even then, the contrast between the institute and the basement was still impressive, but Landel could've done better to throw that effort elsewhere.

In a way he couldn't believe he was going through with this again, but if there was one thing he learned it was that leaving something to simmer made for a more satisfying end result. No one was normal in this place, and so maybe Nigredo and Erika had more to offer than they let on.

That was, until they died.

But before he could continue there came a loud burst of static from inside Erika's bag. The God-General couldn't help but roll his eyes, glancing over his shoulder and over at the girl in question.

"Why the hell do you bring so much stuff?" He thought it was a perfectly reasonable question to ask. With the added weight of her dress, Erika was just making herself an easier target from all sides. "Turn it up."