Night 47: West Wing, North Hallway 1-A

[hat_einen_vogel]

[From here]The hallway led into yet another hall, but this time there was little to recommend one direction or another. It stretched on to both the left and the right, and without the use of the torch, he wasn't sure which way to try

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[quarter_english]

[From here.]

L kept his eyes and ears open as he continued through the halls, and when he reached the point where he'd arranged that he and Lunge and Jones would rendezvous, he was pleased to see that the other two men were already there.

His expression, though, remained as troubled as it had been as he made his way to meet them. Racing thoughts, a little more insistent than usual, maintained a steady hum in his mind. At some point on the journey, the hand not holding his flashlight had strayed to his chin, where his index finger tapped out an absent rhythm.

"Dr. Jones, Mr. Lunge," he said, in his hushed, articulate voice, then let his hand fall to his side. "I am sorry to keep you waiting, but my room assignment was changed. I was afraid that certain items might have been confiscated... it was necessary to look for them."

He paused, his flat gaze flickering between the two, and added, "The new room is M25."

He was aware that he hadn't given Jones the old room number. However, it was information that could build trust, and he was relatively certain that even if revealing it proved unhelpful in this case, it was also unlikely to hurt him.

[its_the_mileage]

"Just a few minutes, Mr. Lunge," Indy replied cordially. Apparently they were still using professional titles to each other's faces. All the politesse made the whole thing feel more like a cocktail party than a mental institution field trip, but luckily the resemblance was only skin-deep. Indy felt he could at least count on these two to be professional and efficient, if not necessarily trustworthy. He wondered idly if Lunge was armed.

He tipped his head toward the radio. "I don't usually bother, but it sounds like there might be something worth listening to on tonight."

Ryuuzaki turned up almost at the same time as Lunge, tapping his chin as though he was lost in thought--or wanted to look like it. Indy made a mental note of the number of the room, which was in the next hall down and two doors over. The blocks were identical on the map, though the only other patient hall he'd actually been in was Pilgrim's. He wondered if it might be worthwhile to meet the neighbors sometime. You never knew when you might need to borrow a cup of sugar.

"Were they confiscated?" he asked as he led the way down the hall toward the outside door.

[herr_inspektor]

"For once. It's a shame to be leaving the Institute grounds tonight of all nights, but that radio should... ah." He trailed off as another figure with an all-too familiar stoop rounded the corner in the darkness.

It hadn't taken much longer for L to put in an appearance, finger tapping insistently at his chin for a moment until he spotted them; good. They were off to a reasonable start, even with L’s little setback. A room change inevitably meant one thing: one more patient vanishing into thin air under the guise of being 'cured'. No wonder the man had looked so pensive. Then again, perhaps they had been- and perhaps all three of them were simultaneously hallucinating about alternate personalities from a hospital bed. They were equally likely, after all.

Lunge nodded, fingers twitching slightly as data was overwritten and re-saved. "Of course. I take it these were the supplies you mentioned at our last meeting, Ryuuzaki?" The use of the name was deliberate but without any real emphasis. L would pick up on it, he was sure.

Dr. Jones, meanwhile, seemed happy enough to take the lead. He followed without objection- for now, at any rate. Once they reached the ruins the logistics of their little team could be arranged more favourably. Until then, it was all about actually getting there.

[quarter_english]

L hesitated before answering Dr. Jones. "-- No. They weren't." Another pause, and then he added, "I do not know what to think. I am relieved that the items are still there, but it's almost more unsettling; I was primarily concerned about the fate of a weapon that I stole last night, but yes, everything was intact." That answered Lunge's question. "The idea that the drawers from my old room might simply have been moved into the new room without any of the nurses searching them isn't a satisfactory explanation."

He followed along down the hall, feeling a twinge of concern about what might be waiting in the recreational field. The best-case scenario was that the field would not yet be occupied, or if it was, that someone else would already be keeping its occupant busy. If worst came to worst, though, they could always "consent" to going back to their rooms, retreat to the hall, wait for someone else to distract the potential attacker, and sneak around behind.

"You were talking about the radio when I joined you, yes? What did you make of the most recent announcement on the intercom?"

[its_the_mileage]

Lunge's use of the alias wasn't lost on Indy, and he had a hunch it was for his benefit. "You're surprised?" he asked Ryuuzaki. "They bandage our injuries, tuck our weapons into bed with us and brush my hat before they hang it in the closet. It would be more out of character if they didn't move your things." Further support for his theory that Landel et al. intended to encourage their activities, although Indy still didn't know to what end.

He didn't have many more answers about the radio. Indy'd understood what Landel had said well enough; even if he hadn't surmised what "hacking" was last night, it would've been clear enough from context now. But he couldn't offer any real insights on what Jill's program was likely to be. Safe bet that it probably wasn't The Shadow.

"P.A.I.L. is from the nursery rhyme--as in, 'Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water,'" he offered. It was an obvious point to make, but Indy made it anyway in case Lunge wasn't familiar with English nursery rhymes. "What do you two know about Jill and Jack?" By now, Indy was reasonably sure he knew about as much about the two radio announcers as anyone else who hadn't met Jack in person--which wasn't saying much, since it all seemed to be common knowledge, practically approaching the mythical. He wasn't going to give the lecture if Ryuuzaki and Lunge already knew all the material.

They were at the end of the hall now. Indy stopped talking and spared a glance back to make sure the other two men were ready. They looked like they were, so he pushed the door open and stepped outside.

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