Night 58: Main Hallway, 1-West
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Sesshoumaru had not been in the building for nearly long enough to really know it, and his knowledge had not been expanded yesterday as it might otherwise have been, because of the poisons that had been fed into his system - poisons that somehow worked, which had been a disconcerting and unpleasant experience. In the end, though, all ( Read more... )
Sesshoumaru had not been in the building for nearly long enough to really know it, and his knowledge had not been expanded yesterday as it might otherwise have been, because of the poisons that had been fed into his system - poisons that somehow worked, which had been a disconcerting and unpleasant experience. In the end, though, all ( Read more... )
Once Ema arrived in the Main Hallway, she stopped and looked around. She couldn't make out anything beyond moving shadows in the darkness, but at least she was out in the open where she could be found. Shifting her weight awkwardly, she played with the strap of her bag while she waited for luck or chance to kick in. Hopefully, she would be found by a friendly face before a monster noticed that she was easy prey and took the opportunity to strike.
The more she waited and thought about it, the more her doubts slowly transformed into dreaded certainties. This was a bad idea. Lana was going to have a conniption fit, and rightly so. Ema hadn't even left a note for her older sister should she stop by, which in hindsight was poor planning. Lana was probably worried sick, assuming she was still in the Institute at all. What if she had been released? The possibility was awful, but that didn't mean it didn't exist. For all Ema knew, she had been out for days. Lots of things could have changed between then and now--for the worse, most likely. The possibilities were unsettling at best.
Ema sighed heavily, leaning against the wall behind her as she wrestled with her own thoughts.
[for Zero and, eventually, Harvey Dent!]
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There were some more people in here. Ahh, this place was familiar. Zero remembered walking through this large hallway multiple times, mostly when the sun had been up. Now he was sure that he was going the right way. His destination was that area he'd failed to finish searching the night before, the one where medicines had been offered. There had to be something he'd missed there...perhaps even a chance at a weapon of some sort...
...And he would have kept moving forward had he not seen a certain shadow out the corner of his eye that caused him to stop. Someone was standing alone in the dark, leaning up against a wall. A...young girl with a bag? Zero found himself staring at her, feeling curious and somewhat concerned.
What was she doing there? Was she waiting for someone? She...looked upset, possibly terrified or just worried about something. Maybe? It was hard to tell in the dark. But regardless, she was young, probably without any means to protect herself if she were attacked. And she was alone.
Young, alone, unarmed, and afraid. In a place like this, with giant organic spiders running loose? The most deadly of combinations.
No time for second thoughts. Zero was walking over to her before he had a chance to decide whether it was good idea or not. That didn't mean he was going to let his guard down, of course. "What are you doing here?" he asked the girl once he was a few feet away from her. He kept his voice low to prevent both startling her and attracting any unwanted attention. (Though the ever unchanging stare on his face probably looked a little scary in the dark, unfortunately.)
'What are you doing here'... It was the same question he could ask about every child in this place, actually. Why were children being forced into such a dangerous situation as this? It still made no sense...
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Shifting her weight, Ema replied, "I just woke up after being asleep for... awhile. I didn't want to be trapped by myself in my room, so I came out here and hoped that I would find someone I know." The plan sounded stupid when she said it out loud, even stupider than it had sounded in her head. However, she saw no reason to lie to this person. He was reaching out to her and so far, that had worked out well for her.
"I'm Ema. What's your name?"
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Ema didn't look like she was afraid of him, either; in fact, she seemed a little too friendly toward someone she'd never met before. Another cause of concern.
"It's too dangerous to be standing out here alone. How long have you been here?" He meant the question in two ways: how long had Ema been standing in this hallway by herself, and how long had she been in this institute to begin with. So far, Zero was getting the impression that both answers would be not very long.
Then again, this place had a way of surprising him constantly.
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After a long pause, during which Ema shifted her weight awkwardly while looking around (and seeing not much of anything), she decided to stop fussing and start getting something done. What sort of scientific investigator would she be if she simply cowered in the dark, even after being approached by someone with the potential to help her? "What day of the week is it? The last I remember, it was early Sunday." She braced herself for the answer, hoping it wasn't Friday or something of the sort. Losing a day or two was better than losing nearly a week.
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"I...couldn't tell you that," Zero replied a little apologetically, "I'm at a loss for time myself. I just got here last night, and I haven't heard anything about what day of the week it is." Or maybe he had and just ignored the details. Right now, knowing what year it was was more helpful to him than knowing what day of the week it was.
He paused a moment to think. "...But if you've been here long enough to know any routines, they made us take showers and...color pictures today." There was an obvious frown on his face when he said those last few words. No, he was never going to get over how dumb that whole arts and crafts hour had been. But otherwise, hopefully that tidbit of information was enough to answer the girl's question.
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Even though Ema couldn't really see what she was writing, she pulled out her journal and jotted some notes about the conditions of her waking up and her hypothesis on the two dates it could be. Pausing and sticking the end of her pen in her mouth, she turned back to Zero.
"I just have one more question. Did the General say anything... important when the night started? I woke up after the lights were out."
There was nothing like conducting life like a scientific investigation that could put her nerves at ease.
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"There was an announcement before the evening meal about a Code 1-8. Nothing else." He wasn't sure what 'Code 1-8' was, but maybe the girl did. Were there usually important announcements before night started? He didn't remember hearing one the night he woke up here. Perhaps that had been because he'd woken up after lights out, like Ema was saying happened to her. Made sense.
...Now Zero was tempted to start asking her questions about where she came from and why she was here. But he would hold off on that for now.
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After jotting down something about Code 1-8, Ema closed the journal and returned her focus to him. "I don't know what Code 1-8 is. Maybe it's something that was brought up last night? Or it's some military code they don't want us to know about. Either way, it's probably not good news for us. Nothing in this place ever is." There was a brief darkening in Ema's expression. She spoke from personal experience in that regard.
Ema shifted her weight a little. Zero was proving to be very helpful, even if his answers weren't really as specific as she would like. There was no sign of her sister or Renamon or Mr. Edgeworth or anyone else she knew, so it was time to consider the calculated risk of traveling with a stranger. It had worked in her favor when she'd met Renamon and when she and Lana had run into Utena; for the most part, there seemed to be some level of patient solidarity in the Institute.
"I... I know this might be asking a lot, but I'm not very good at navigating at night." That was an understatement, but he didn't need another reason to admonish her. "Would you mind staying near me? If you have other things to do, I understand. But... you've been really helpful so far and I don't know if I'm going to find my sister or any of my friends alone in the dark like this."
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Thus, the answer to Ema's request came automatically: "Don't worry, I'll be your escort. I'll help you find your friends if need be." Zero's mind had been made up the moment he'd first seen her, but speaking with her solidified his decision. It was one thing if someone were able to defend themselves, but another thing if they weren't. And it was another thing entirely if one were an innocent victim (or a child as she was) rather than a soldier here on purpose. Ema didn't deserve to be in a place like this, especially if things could get worse than the Reploid-now-human had already seen in just one night.
...Speaking of being able to defend one's self, though. "While we're moving, though, I need to find a weapon somewhere." That was...kind of important if he wanted to be able to protect Ema. Not only her, but himself as well. Humans were fragile things, and it was a quality he was coming to despise.
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Readjusting her bag and giving Zero a small smile, Ema started to answer his concern about the need for a weapon. "I don't know where weapons are, exactly. But there seems to be a lot of storage upstairs; maybe we can find one up there?" A pause. "Unless, of course, you know where you're going." For all Ema knew, Zero had received directions or some other instructions during the day. If he had, that would be better to follow than her vague direction.
"Thank you."
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Oh, Harvey hadn't missed Sangamon. The man had done his best to move past him without drawing any attention to himself and he probably would have been successful if Harvey hadn't been specifically looking for him and the others. He could have called out to him, but when it was so obvious that the guy wasn't up for talking, it seemed pointless. Chances were he would have just pretended not to hear him.
And so he reached the main hall. While Harvey did keep an eye out for Scott and Peter specifically, there was no sign of them. He didn't particularly want to talk to Depth Charge, seeing how he'd managed to avoid interacting much with the man even during that whole ordeal.
Which meant... he either went on his own or searched someone else out. Harvey paused for a moment, but his train of thought was interrupted when he heard a familiar voice. It took him a moment, but he eventually placed it as Lana's sister, Ema. Frowning, he moved further down the hall and then spotted her standing with a man who looked to be somewhere in his twenties. The girl was clearly already paired up with someone, but at the same time Harvey didn't see anyone else he recognized around.
Before he knew it, he was slowly approaching the pair. He could see what she had planned for the night and go from there.
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It was then that he caught sight of a man slowly walking towards him and Ema. A man who...who...woah. Even in this darkness, Zero could clearly see that something was horribly wrong with the fellow's head. The left side of his face - just the left side, curiously enough - looked like it had been burned in a horrific way, revealing charred skin and the gory inner structure of the human face. Hair was missing, teeth were showing, the eye was wide open... It was a sight Zero had only seen on corpses. Yet here this human was, alive and walking right towards him and Ema.
Was he a monster?
The Reploid-now-human instinctively stepped between Ema and the strange man(?), staring directly at the newcomer with a challenging glare. Maybe that was foolish, being unarmed, but he didn't care. This looked like a threat, and he'd already promised Ema that he would protect her.
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Zero seemed to be reacting to something he could see, but Ema couldn't make out much beyond a shadowy silhouette. In order to identify the new arrival, she shined her flashlight into his face without thinking about the detrimental effect a move like that would do for the approaching person's vision. Ema nearly hit the floor. It was Mr. Dent, but... he wasn't wearing the bandages on his face. The damage from whatever had happened to him prior to arrival was gruesome at best. Despite her knowledge of the man and every rule of politeness that Lana had taught her, she couldn't help but stare.
"M-Mr. Dent?!" Then, to Zero, she added, "It's okay, I know him. He's friends with my sister and she told me I can trust him."
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Before he could say as much, Harvey was treated to a bright light pointed right into his face. He let out a small groan and then pulled one hand up to shield his eyes -- which seemed even more sensitive after the accident in some ways. He didn't know why Ema had to go to that extent to figure out who he was, but it looked like things were being cleared up either way.
As he blinked the bright spots out of his eyes, Harvey let what the girl said sink in. Lana had told Ema that he was trustworthy? That came as a shock. It seemed that he'd made more of an impression that he'd realized, and a dark part of him was amused to know that he could still convince people that he was a good person. Granted, he had no reason to show Lana or Ema his ugly side. At least not yet.
He nodded to the girl in greeting and then glanced at the stranger once more, taking note of his long hair (what the hell?) and serious expression. "What are you doing out here?" he asked Ema, though there was no accusation in his tone. If she wanted to risk walking the halls at night that was fine. He just wanted to know what plan she had in mind.
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... A-alright, if she was sure. Zero reluctantly backed away a couple steps to stand at Ema's side, and he remained silent as 'Mr. Dent' began conversing with the girl. Meanwhile, he continued to stare at the other man with a stony expression. It was simply his way of letting 'Mr. Dent' know one thing, should he reveal himself to be an enemy after all: I've got my eye on you. After all, the Reploid-now-human wasn't ready to shake off his doubts about this half-face man, not until after he'd gotten a chance to know him and his intentions a little better. Maybe he was judging looks too harshly here, but Ema's safety was his priority at the moment. Not to mention that...that face. It wasn't the gruesomeness that bothered Zero, exactly; it was wondering how on earth such features were possible on a living human being. What had that human gone through to look like that and still be alive?
Perhaps humans were not as fragile as Zero thought they were.
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