Nightshift 60: Main Hallway, 1-West

[toxicspiderman]

[from here]Even the main hall was deserted. S.T. switched on his flashlight and took a look around. Yeah, it was empty. No roadkill, no other patients. If he ever made it home, he was never bitching at any of the girls who didn't want to do night ops alone again. It was different when you knew there were things out there in the darkness.

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[madeinthehrl]

[from here]

No sign of Kratos yet, and nobody who might be Sonia. Lingormr was leaning against the wall a short distance away, no doubt waiting for his own Arts and Crafts team, and Soma gave him a small smile and a wave as she, too, settled back to wait.

[spandexorgtfo]

[from here]

Without his flashlight and the help of a myriad others in the hall, it was a little harder than usual to locate Soma, but eventually, Kratos picked her out standing against the wall. He headed over briskly, nodding in greeting.

"Evening." No sign of their third team member yet, but hopefully, she wouldn't take long. He held up his radio. "It will be interesting to see if Marc chooses to greet us over this tonight."

[madeinthehrl]

Soma offered an inclination of her own head in response as Kratos approached. Her own radio was tucked in her belt, silent for the moment.

"I wonder what happened to him after Landel returned to power," she mused. "He seems like the sort who would prefer to dispose of allies who are no longer useful to him."

[spandexorgtfo]

"If he's alive, it would be in his nature to reassure us," Kratos said. "But if he's been disposed of, I'm surprised Landel hasn't mentioned that yet. It would be in his nature to boast about his victories." Perhaps the head doctor was trying to give them some sort of false hope, although he and probably many other patients still had reservations about the usefulness of Marc. He'd let Landel slip away and regain his position, for one thing.

He sighed as he settled next to Soma to wait for their final team member, the mysterious Sonia. "In any case, you were with Castiel for the entirety of last night? He told me he attempted to see how far the barrier extended."

[madeinthehrl]

"I'm still not sure how Landel managed to forge an alliance with Marc. I wonder what he promised him in return. I couldn't see much difference between how Aguilar ran things and how Landel did, aside from the food. If anything, Aguilar was more transparent about it."

But speculation was useless without more information. Soma had never had much faith in the people behind the radio to begin with, but perhaps she'd be proven wrong this time.

So Castiel had probably told Kratos about what had happened last night. Soma nodded. "We got as far as Doyleton, but I didn't think to reset my ring." That had been a mistake; they could have found the Sheriff's office and armed themselves. She'd have to remember that next time they were in town.

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos sniffed as he shifted from one foot to another. Whoever this Sonia was, she was taking quite long...or perhaps he was simply being impatient. The radio was prone to go off at any moment; if they wanted to gather supplies, they would need to begin doing so early on. "That would be a worthwhile explanation to hear." And Marc, he supposed, was more likely to give one than Landel.

He frowned momentarily as Soma mentioned a ring; it took him a few seconds to remember what the significance of that was. "I see. You all warped there from the conference room?" She had never mentioned having a ring before, probably because it was irrelevant to whatever their mission was at the time. Still, it would have been nice to at have at least been aware of.

[madeinthehrl]

Soma nodded, noting Kratos's restlessness. Hopefully Sonia would arrive soon; she wanted to get going as badly as he did.

"Castiel's brother can teleport, or something like it. Doyleton was as far as he could take us. We might've gotten out of the town before nightfall if we hadn't already spent a lot of time talking to the two moles. Probably more than was prudent if we'd wanted to escape, but we couldn't pass up a chance like that."

[stylebythemile]

[from here; sorry about the delay!]

She'd come this far without seeing a monster, but she wasn't about to let her guard down. After edging around the corner and making sure nothing was close by, she cast the beam of her flashlight around the hall in search of the others.

'Western half of the main hallway'. This must be the right place.

Sonia quickly spotted two people matching the descriptions Kratos had given her and made her way over to them, lowering her flashlight as she went.

"Are you Kratos and Soma?"

[spandexorgtfo]

[np!]"His brother?" Castiel had never mentioned a brother, but then, that wasn't the sort of information that needed to be told to random strangers. And this teleportation ability of his: the wording was curious. It didn't sound as if he'd used a ring, but rather, it had been by his own power. Did that mean that Castiel could do the same? Something, perhaps, to keep in mind the next time they ran into each other..."I doubt it would have been possible to leave--my full powers ought to have been prodigious enough to allow me to escape and lay waste to the entire building if I wanted to, but, as you can see" - Kratos gestured about with an ironic twist of his mouth. - "here I am

[madeinthehrl]

So even then, the returned powers had limitations. Perhaps that was another side effect of the emergency procedure Aguilar had followed. It was possible that even if they'd been able to get out of Doyleton, they wouldn't have been able to escape the institute's influence. That was an annoying thought.

The sound of approaching footsteps caused her to turn--a girl even shorter than she was, with a shock of pink hair, was coming towards them. This was Sonia, then. She looked quite young, but Soma of all people supposed she shouldn't be one to judge.

She remained quiet as Kratos addressed her, glancing down at her radio. Still nothing. Hopefully there would be some news soon.

"I didn't know you didn't have a weapon," she added at last. "I would have brought one otherwise. I have a spare spear in my room--if you know how to use one, I can go and get it."

[stylebythemile]

Sonia was skeptical about this person on the radio, as shown by the way her frown deepened. When asked if she had any questions, she answered, "Yes. Has anyone met Marc?" She hoped she was wrong, but this just didn't smell right. He might be 'helping' the prisoners, but how did they know they could really trust him? She'd seen it before; what if there was a reason for him wanting to gain their trust? A reason that would endanger them all? Or worse, what if he wasn't on their side? Cyrus had been forced to lead them into a trap. Could this be the same thing?

She glanced from Kratos to Soma, still frowning. "Thanks, but we don't have time for that." I'm sounding more like Sonic by the day. Shaking that thought out of her head, she pointed her flashlight across the hall. "Besides, spears aren't my weapon of choice," she added a little dryly.

[spandexorgtfo]

Kratos shrugged lightly. "Maybe, or maybe not." He looked at Soma. "However, I heard that some people received confirmation last night that he was indeed on our side from a trustworthy source." He would assume for the moment that the two rebels were indeed telling the truth; passing off misinformation like that given the situation seemed odd...unless it was all part of some greater ruse. With this place, one could never be sure, but he would give them the benefit of the doubt because otherwise, things didn't add up as nicely in his head.

He crossed his arms. "In any case, the pharmacy is an acceptable destination for medical supplies, then?" Sonia had not expressed any interest in finding a weapon that was not a spear, so he would assume that she was not desperately in need of one at that moment. "If anything happens with the radio en route, of course, that will take precedence."

[madeinthehrl]

Most people wouldn't have turned down a free weapon, but Soma hadn't exactly known how to use a spear when she'd first arrived, either. If nothing else, this place had given her a greater appreciation for those trained in hand-to-hand combat. Besides, it probably meant Sonia had unique abilities of her own.

"We know he's at least trusted by the people who gave us our powers back last night, and to my knowledge, he has yet to lead anyone into a trap. I guess that'll have to be good enough for now."

It wasn't precisely reassuring to her, either--she'd never liked not knowing what she was up against--but in a place where even a little information was worth its weight in gold, she'd have to settle for what she got. In the meantime, it was best if they got moving. She inclined her head slightly at Kratos and began to move off down the hallway.

[madeinthehrl]

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