Night 55: Stairwell by Waiting Room/Lobby 1

[yin_yang_fox]

[from here]No sound came from inside the stairwell, but that amounted to little at times. Still the Digimon stretched her senses, moving quickly and quietly into the dark. None were in this place yet, despite the small crowd in the hall below. It might mean none have moved upstairs, or it might simply mean they were quicker than she

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[sheepwood]

Guybrush's attention was drawn for a second when Javert called a familiar name, only to realize he was talking to one of the people on the stairs, not about a certain Mighty Pirate Hunter™. "Morgan" then introduced them to "Mordio," and they were apparently looking for "Mason." Not only was it a confusing set of names, but it appeared Harvey Dent wasn't the guy who'd had half his face ruined at some point in his life. There really was a need for a club for people whose bodies had been mangled in one way or another. Knitting prosthetic cozies, giving lessons on how to avoid losing limbs, starting a movement to collect half-masks for those wanting to look more distinguished while covering their facial scars... the list of useful activities for such a club was pretty impressive.

Keeping people straight was going to be tough when the most distinguishing characteristic wasn't so unique after all. Did that mean there was another one-handed pirate around? Or worse, another pirate who had once been a ghost and/or zombie with a penchant for stealing another man's wife.

Guybrush kept quiet for now, figuring Morgan and Mordio were also members of the S&R. Maybe he could glean more information if he just kept his trap shut for a while, and the conversation might take his mind off the aching.

[unmocked_lawr]

The surprise that flickered across Javert's face would have been understandable to only Mello, provided he was looking for it. He supposed, in a way, the younger man's ally being taken was only to be expected at this point--Landel's love of irony was only matched by his love for the dramatic, and it seemed Aguilar was the same, if less obvious about it. Still, the fact that Matt had been taken twice was worrying, especially since he was still in the dark about what had been done to him the first time.

He nodded shortly, glancing up the stairs to the darkened hallway above. "Thank you for the information. I take it you've other plans for tonight in the meantime. Don't let me keep you." That much was certain; he'd seen Mello's concern for his friend firsthand. No doubt he'd laid out an entire schedule to keep his mind off of matters. "We'll be in the hall as usual, if you need a hand."

"This is Threepwood. New S&R recruit." He indicated the pirate with an inclination of his head. Mello's traveling companion received a bow, short and perfunctory. "A pleasure, mam'selle."

[bodhiandspirit]

So they were Javert and Threepwood. Javert appeared to be in charge, which was probably ideal, at least given Rita's first impression of the other guy.

But... what did he just call her? It wasn't any word that Rita had ever heard before, though it sounded like it was part of the old man's pleasantries. Rita merely responded with a long, appraising look. She wasn't one for extended greetings.

Having only just met Morgan, Rita wasn't particularly well-informed about the situation, but she was able to piece together the basic picture. The friend that had been taken for experimentation was called Mason, and Morgan had come to ask that Javert's group take care of things. "Is that all you came to do?" she asked Morgan after watching the exchange. Perhaps it was cold to try and rush things along when he had a friend in danger, but Rita wasn't exactly involved in that, and she was eager to accomplish something (really, anything) tonight.

[swornandbroken]

It was good to have Javert back to normal; the older man's perceptiveness saved Mello having to give a tedious and time-consuming explanation of his intent. He took note of the surprise, and gave a small half-shrug in response to it. If nothing else, two things were clear now: that the torture sessions were part of Aguilar's plans as much as they'd been part of Landel's, and they'd either not finished, or not started (which Mello thought more likely) with Matt the last time they'd taken him. That was an anomaly that bore further investigation, but not now. Now, he wanted to think about the whole situation as little as possible until there was something he could do about it.

"I'll see you there later on, then," Mello told Javert, including Threepwood in this with a glance.

To Mordio, he said, "Yeah. Come on," and continued up the stairs.

[to here]

[sheepwood]

And with that, the rest of the team was gone. To do what, exactly, was the confusing part, since Guybrush was under the impression the name "Search & Rescue" was more or less a literal interpretation of what they did during the night. Now that he thought about it, it didn't make much sense: presumably, Javert knew where the hallway for the sleep studies was, so there wasn't much searching to be done. The Rescue Club didn't have quite the same ring to it, though.

Guybrush waited a moment for the pair to make it up the stairwell before speaking. "So I'm guessing they're members of the club."

[unmocked_lawr]

"Morgan is. I haven't seen the girl before." The two of them were already out of sight; Javert decided they might as well follow suit. No idea how much time had passed now. "With any luck she's a new recruit; we need fresh blood on our rounds as it is."

He sped up as they reached the second floor. With luck, the night would still be young.

[unmocked_lawr]

[to here]