Nightshift 40: Recreational Field
[from here]
It probably wasn't the safest route, but it was a shorter distance.
Yuuhi pushed the door open out into the cold night air and stayed close to the building. He kept the flashlight off, not wanting to attract any extra attention. The door wasn't far, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to walk quickly and quietly back inside.
It probably wasn't the safest route, but it was a shorter distance.
Yuuhi pushed the door open out into the cold night air and stayed close to the building. He kept the flashlight off, not wanting to attract any extra attention. The door wasn't far, so it shouldn't be too much trouble to walk quickly and quietly back inside.
How in the world did these human manage to avoid walking into walls all the time? Surely, they weren't actually born with these light-sticks, now were they?
"I suppose we were." he commented dryly. "Let me guess; you are one of them?" There was hardly a reason to bring it up otherwise. Especially not when standing in a dark field where they could or could not be attacked by something unpleasant any moment. He could think of better locations or times to discuss these sorts of matters, but the former lion wasn't about to run off on his own and get eaten by a giant rat along the way. Especially not after finding two possible meat-shields that were just up for grabs. It'd be rude to ignore such an opportunity.
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Then Lockdown began thinking. Starscream and everyone else had said the monsters here were dangerous if one faced them alone, and that it was better to travel in groups. Perhaps these humans could work to his advantage in that area. It was doubtful that they would be decent partners, but Lockdown had no problems with meat-shields.
The bounty hunter finally relaxed fully. Was this new person a robot like himself?
"Yes, tell us," Lockdown said, making his voice sound pleasant and casual. "Are you a fellow robot, like me?"
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Now that he was closer and his eyes were adjusting to the darkness, he could make out these two a little better. It occurred to him that these men could have easily been some sort of monsters from the institution- he really was going to have to be more careful when it came to wandering around during the night. He thought about clicking his light on to get a better look- especially at the one with the interesting facial markings- but figured it was better to just leave it off. Kaiji had warned him about drawing too much attention the previous night, and look where that had gotten them. He'd not even thought about that dull pain in his legs since he'd been outside- the night air seemed to be working its magic.
"I've heard there is the possibility that our original forms are still here somewhere," he continued, drawing his eyes away from the facial tattoos to the leaner of the two men. "I was just curious if you gentlemen might have heard the same, or something different."
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The diminutive vampire quickly determined the rec field to be completely free of bird-monsters, or any victims thereof. There were plenty of completely intact patients, but they didn't seem to have drawn any attackers. Perhaps their numbers had intimidated the creatures, or the beasts here were closer to an actual ecology than true guards, and attacked seldom and at random, as would be expected if they intended only to feed.
The end effect was the same; she was going to have to work a little to get anything out of this. Of the patient groups on the field, most seemed to be heading somewhere, but one was at a standstill, apparently as a result of internal discussion. Hoping to hear something of interest, she crept closer.
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"Rumor has it that our original forms are indeed somewhere in here." the feline answered on a more matter-of-fact-ly tone. Somewhere on the third floor, supposedly behind the doors across the railing overlooking the sun room. But considering those were tightly locked, entrance would be rather difficult unless this ZEX's plan with the explosions would work. Or if someone managed to acquire a key. One of the nurses should be able to carry them.
Not that he planned on including such information, however.
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Like the man beside him, the bounty hunter was curious to know what this newcomer was originally. He looked confused when Lockdown had asked if he was a robot like him. Perhaps he came from a world without robots?
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He crossed his arms as he tried to think, recalling the notes on the bulletin board and his own attempt to reach the third floor the night prior. He certainly hoped the bodies would be elsewhere- somewhere safer than the third floor, preferably. If the monsters he and Kaiji had encountered the previous night during their adventure were what the second floor had to offer, he expected the ones inhabiting the third must be far worse.
"Surely wherever they are is well protected by the institute," he mused aloud.
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"If it's storage space you're looking for, there's more room under the building than in it," she interjected as though she'd been part of the conversation from the beginning. This was far from a helpful gesture on her part; there was a small grain of truth to what she'd said but no real evidence, and besides that she didn't think much of their assumption that their old bodies were just lying around here somewhere anyway. If they'd been transformed with magic that certainly wouldn't be the case... and even if they could find them in storage getting back into them would be another matter entirely.
No, she was more interested in infiltrating the group and pushing them to do something, anything. There was no point in being here if the nights were as boring as the days.
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"Indeed." he said. "The theories have not yet been confirmed, however. You might not want to get your hopes up and all that." Wasn't he being particularly helpful tonight with pointing this out?
They were soon joined by a girl, who was doubtlessly speaking of the basement below their feet. Scar never had the pleasure of visiting it, but he had collected a thing or two about it from the bulletin board.
The former lion offered the female a curious glance in the meantime, attempting to determine if she was a threat or not. The fact that she suddenly stepped into the middle of the conversation suggested that she had been eavesdropping. He had been too distracted to notice her approach, apparently. Something he realized should not happen again.
This turned out to be some sort of unofficial meeting, he supposed. Once again, he could think of better locations.
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When the female approached them, the bounty hunter turned his head to look at her threateningly. What was up with everybody here just walking up and inturrupting conversations tonight? This hadn't been a problem the previous night when it was just him and Starscream.
However, he was somewhat glad that she had provide some clue as to the whereabouts of his real body. There was a very slim chance it was true, but it was a start.
Keeping his optics narrowed at the female, he asked, "And, who might you be?" He swept his gaze to the other two men. "For that matter, who the slag might the rest of you be?"
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Then again, he supposed she was doing what everyone else seemed to be- looking for a way out, or a way home, or just something to do. It seemed that danger and darkness wasn't enough to crush the hope that there was a way to escape the institute. A grin found his face as he thought about going home again. There must a way out, or surely people wouldn't be looking for it, he pondered. After all, if it was confirmed that we're trapped here and beyond help, what would be the point?
Putting his optimistic thoughts aside, the Scarecrow answered first as the man with the black tattoos addressed the group. "I'm the Scarecrow of Oz- just Scarecrow for short."
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"You're joking, right?" she asked flatly. It'd be real nice if he was just some golem with a crap sense of humor or a poor grip on reality, but she was kind of getting the feeling that he wasn't. It shouldn't really have come as some big shock since she'd gotten the whole 'many worlds' thing early on and she'd even been thinking of making fun of the 'Javert' on the message board, but having someone introduce themselves that way was kind of...
"No, nevermind," she said contriving to sound annoyed rather than surprised and no longer sure she wanted an answer anyway, "I'm Evangeline."
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Three of them, driven closer still by poor hunting and hunger, made their way to the edge of the field and there remained, tempted by the sight and scent of human prey that didn't seem inclined to move just yet. Or even all that aware of their surroundings.
A howl shivered out across the chill air, breaking the stillness of the night as the leader of the diminished pack finally called the others to him. The hunt was beginning, and the prey had just that warning alone.
[tiassa]
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"Canines, possibly." he whispered under his breath, more to himself than any of the people he was with.
That did not bode well. He narrowed his eyes and spun around, watching the direction the scent had come from. His senses were lessened, which prevented him from pinpointing the exact location of whatever was nearby. This was terribly inconvenient, but hopefully he would be able to catch movement before it was too late.
Next there was a howl. It only confirmed that something was indeed near. Scar briefly wondered why it would bother to announce it's arrival like that, but now wasn't quite the time to wonder about such things in the first place.
"Could we save the rest of the introduction round for a later point in time?" he hissed to the ones near him, searching the darkness while keeping his ears perked. It was bound to happen. He could only hope the others had also heard the howl and would remain silent.
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He supposed that if the monsters attacked them he could always try fighting them off with martial arts. He considered just running and leaving the others, but that would most likely make him an easy target and the monsters would attack him for sure.
Keeping his optics and audios open, Lockdown tensed again, preparing himself for a fight. At the so-far-unnamed man's question, he said, "Yeah, sure." He turned his optics to the group. "Don't suppose any of you have a spare weapon?"
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"Maybe we should move to a safer location?" he suggested, resisting the impulse to turn on his flashlight and take a look around.
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