Night 57: Infirmary

[antiheroed]

[ from here]For as direct as they were being, Riku understood how much of this section of Landel's remained unexplored. They were so focused on acquiring the drug that it hadn't occurred to them to stop-or, if it had, it was a thought stopped by his frustration with his partner for the night. To think he pushed off some old man because he thought he

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[rolling_go]

[From here]

With all the dramatics behind this whole ordeal, Ippo had expected instant gratification. He'd closed his eyes in anticipation for... something. Some kind of tingle or feeling within that would tell him he was getting better. Apparently, after a few minutes of just standing, it wasn't going to work that way.

How disappointing, he thought, and yet he should have known. Nothing ever came easy, the boxer knew that first hand. Improvement took continuous effort. It was likely it would take a few doses before any significant change would occur. The thought of yoinking another cup came to mind, but he decided it wasn't worth risking an accidental overdose. He wanted to get better, not dead. The used paper cup was crushed flat in his hand and put back on the table with the other discarded containers.

Well, now that the climactic conclusion had fizzled out like a soggy firework, Ippo came back to reality. He could hear the bits and pieces of conversation and the general milling of patients around him. By himself, the boxer had no confidence in approaching anyone, so he walked back to the door. Since his enemy the cockroach was in pieces on the floor, the young man simply ignored the remains--well, until his boot caught the edge of shell. Reflexively, the piece of insect seized and spasmed, wriggling its several legs in an attempt to right itself.

Ippo did not appreciate the performance. Remembering how painful the first bite had been, he quickly jumped back with another pathetic yelp to keep his delicious flesh out of the mouths of whole or severed roach bits. It was only a matter of time until the thing righted itself and made a beeline for him! He had to keep his eyes focused, he couldn't let it get out of his line of sight as he backed away with swift dashes. The problem was there was only so much space to retreat to. His heel caught the side of a bed and he staggered into something akin to a wall: A person. A large person, almost a foot taller than him.

[tasteoftruth]

After forcing the drug down his throat Badd had waited around for his reward. Nothing had happened, though a few more patients came by for their doses and someone yelled about cockroaches. They hadn't delivered any more instructions beyond taking the pills, and Badd again pondered whether Aguilar had simply been dicking around with them again.

His only reward thus far seemed to be a mild but slowly growing headache. Badd had just made up his mind to storm up to the second floor and try to hunt Byrne down there when someone bumped into him.

"Get away from me," he snarled, and gave the young man a shove. The last young man playing at that had been Niikura. He hated Niikura.

[rolling_go]

"Ah--!" Ippo hadn't expected to be pushed away. Ignored, probably. Yelled at, of course, but shoved? He hadn't been shoved since high school. This didn't bode well. "--S-Sorry!" he finished as he staggered back a few steps, and then thought better of it.

The cockroaches!

That been the whole reason for this messy introduction. Whipping his head around, the young man almost made the same mistake again as he started to back up into the old man for fear of the unknown before him. Truly, nothing stirred in the darkness, but his unraveling mind couldn't be so sure. "Th-There's these cockroaches--" He started to point, but aborted that idea. If those cockroaches were just a part of his imagination, he was going to look like a crazy.

"W-Well... That is... ...." Ippo tried to come up with a smooth transition away from his hallucination, but smooth and Ippo did not belong in the same book together, let alone the same sentence. It eventually just fizzled out into stammering and fidgetting that got neither of them anywhere.

[tasteoftruth]

Badd scowled. Idiot. "Forget it," he snarled. 'Where do they do they keep the people they take away at night? Second floor?" He'd waited far too long as it was, he needed to get moving. Who knows what they could have done to Byrne by now.

Badd was the bigger idiot for thinking Aquilar would hold to his promise. You couldn't trust anyone in this world, not even to hold up their end of a bargain when all they had to do was find some other poor sucker for their experiments instead of his Byrne.

[rolling_go]

"Ah--! P-People? They t-take people at night?!" He wondered if it had anything to do with the medication, but it seemed enough people were agreeing of their own free will that they didn't need to forceanyone. So what did that leave? Ippo really wasn't sure... Therapy, experiments... Or something more dastardly. The thought made his stomach twist into knots. Actually, it made Ippo hunch over to help alleviate the strange ache. The boxer was used to pain, but not the internal kind. Maybe he shouldn't have taken those pills on an empty stomach.

"I-I'm not sure, sorry..." Ippo conceded with a sigh, truly regretful that he could not help. "B-But this place is only so big, right? Shouldn't they have a map or something for... For visitors?"

[tasteoftruth]

"If it's the same thing as 'sleep studies' it's up on the second floor." Badd shoved his way past him and stalked out of the infirmary. His heavy paper-cutter blade was swinging back and forth faster, as if itching for a chance to tear into someone.

[ To here.]