Night 53, West Wing, South Hall 2-B

[swornandbroken]

[from here]

The radio S.T. was carrying crackled to life as Mello made a beeline for the door between him and that hall. Between him and saving Matt, if he was lucky and fast enough. Mello mostly ignored the broadcast, having long since decided the rebels were incompetent at best, and outright tools of the Head Arsehole at worst; and though he

Comments

[dual_worlds]

((From here.))

Although there were a couple of patients in the hallway, there did not appear to be any other creatures nearby. That was fortunate, as Spock did not wish to encounter any obstacles so early in the night. He'd experienced how abruptly their free time could end, and understood that they needed to make good use of every second given to them. If they were fortunate, then Kirk and Uhura would be able to move about the first floor relatively unhindered as well.

As they walked, Spock glanced over toward McCoy. "We may need to use force to break down the door again," he pointed out.

Since neither of them were injured, he had no reason to believe that would be a problem. But it was worth mentioning just the same, if only so McCoy could go ahead and voice any potential complaints he may have had, thus freeing them for more productive exchanges as they progressed further down the hallway.

[hes_deadjim]

It looked like it was all clear up here too. No hostile creatures in the immediate vicinity, which he couldn't argue with...but not that many patients either. Unfortunately that meant that no one had gotten to that door before they had either. McCoy's body gave phantom ache from the night before. He couldn't say he was looking forward to what was coming next.

Although he wasn't the age to go ramming doors down left and right, that didn't mean his memory was going. McCoy returned the glance with a frown.

"Spock, I do remember coming down here yesterday. My shoulder certainly does." He readied himself. "On three."

[dual_worlds]

There was a chance that someone had already slipped through the area without leaving much evidence of their presence. However, one quick turn of the door's knob revealed that was, in fact, not the case. At any rate, McCoy appeared ready to use force, so there was no need to discuss the matter further.

"One," he counted as he positioned his body toward the door, "two...three--"

The Vulcan threw his weight in sync with the doctor's. The door's surface shook and rattled from the attempt, but did not immediately give way. They had broken enough doors in the institute to learn that this was typical, and so Spock did not waste any time in counting down again.

"One, two, three--"

[hes_deadjim]

They threw themselves at it once again, and like before, it only took a second good bruising all around to get it down. The door opened suddenly...

[moving here]

[toxicspiderman]

"So much for having something to listen to while we wait." As soon as the tune looped, S.T. spun the dial to off. Good song for dramatic irony, lousy on the ears. There was enough torture up here without adding to it.

Then Mello launched himself at the door like he was some kind of British Karate Kid remake. The door let him get away with it, so either he was less of a geek than he'd seemed, or more talented. Either way, S.T. was almost impressed.

"No empiric way to measure time, and the usual suspects work about as well as pissing upwind. On a rowboat in a Nor'easter." Time was on one hell of a bender. "Ask me again when you've figured out how many heartbeats does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll pop for five nights running."

[to here]

[neuepolitik]

[From here.]It seemed like the night's oddities weren't quite over with yet. Ludwig led the way, opting for the hallway further away from the monsters, and he was glad for the distance between them. However, that didn't mean that they were home free. The radio that he'd taken from his room activated, and in the eerie quiet, the sudden burst of sound made Ludwig jump

[you_miss_it]

John was perfectly content to follow Ludwig's lead -- and to get some distance from whatever those things were in the corridor. When their chittering voices faded with distance, John let out a shaky breath. He couldn't think they were out of danger, not really, but it was still a relief not to have to hear that noise anymore.

But at the sound of the radio -- John's had been left in his room without a second thought -- John jumped, startled both for the sudden sound and the odd message that followed. He couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"Is that... normal?"

He indicated the radio with a nod of his head even as he headed down the corridor in the direction Ludwig indicated.

[To here.]

[itneverwas]

[From here]

The corridor was currently empty, yet the lack of existences held no meaning. They could have merely chosen not to linger, which seemed to be the case as Xemnas passed the door leading towards the area were the sleep studies were held and finally reached the end of the corridor. The door had been broken open, an obvious sign left by those that had proceeded them.

"It would seem there are those who have gone before us," he observed. It was perhaps to be expected that with so many patients imprisoned, that there were those that had the same destination. Yet, it did not matter as long as he would acquire the knowledge he sought. After all, Xemnas' goal was not to grasp the victory of a meaningless contest.

[gargantuanlaugh]

Gant couldn't move down the hallway fast enough! Anything to get him away from whatever those things had been. But he didn't rush too quickly. He didn't want to leave a negative impression on Xemnas. And he was Chief of Police! He should be able to handle a few little night terrors this place offered. He would just rather not deal with them when it was unnecessary.

They quickly found themselves at the end of the hallway, and Gant felt a little more reassured hearing others had passed this way before them. Meant any baddies beyond here would at least have someone else to distract them for a while. Moving on, he stepped along with Xemnas into the next hallway.

[to here]

[broodings]

[from here]

Stefan had never been on the second floor before. He could hear voices nearby: people talking, and people rushing through the halls. Before, he could have distinguished each particular tread and picked out the topics of their conversations, but all his ears told him now was that they weren't alone on this floor. Stating the obvious, again.

The four of them slowed again almost immediately upon turning into the nearest hall, and he saw two doors on their lefthand side: one firmly closed, and the other standing ajar, its lock broken. "Is this it?" Stefan asked, still taking care to not come too close to any of them.

[moral_liberty]

"Almost." Kaworu only knew because he could see Rei adjust her direction. She favored a set of door on their left, passing the first. He stared at the opened door, searching for familiarity that did not exist. He had been here, and yet, he had never looked upon that door. They must have taken him through it. They must have taken Shinji through it. There were too many details missing for him to imagine it properly. There was only knowledge of a possibility. There was room for a future where Shinji had not been taken here. He could be with someone else. He could be searching for Kaworu