Night 57: General Storage (Med Wing)

[roseoverture]

[From here]Just like the janitor's closet upstairs, the space was cramped. Unlike the janitor's closet, however, it looked like everything in here was a bit harder to get at. Most of it was packed up in cardboard boxes or in closed cabinets. From what she could see on the labels, though, at least some of the stuff looked like it might be worth

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[forgot_it_all]

[from here]

"Yeah, this is it!" He stepped further inside, letting his flashlight move over the open boxes, rejoicing at the sight of bandages sticking out of one box. He really hadn't thought he'd make it - and in one piece. It seemed like going with Sechs had been the right thing to do after all. Someone else had already been here, but that didn't matter. So long as there were still enough supplies left, Ritsuka could do what he needed to do.

Going immediately to the closest box, Ritsuka knelt and pushed the flaps open, sighing almost in relief at the sight of untouched bandages. He swung the backpack down next to him and began packing rolls of gauze into it, looking briefly back to Sechs.

Which made him pause. He was rubbing his arm. "...Are you okay?"

[sixth_attack]

Allowing the door to close behind them, Sechs stepped further into the room and watched Ritsuka happily gather up supplies. The Replica felt a little satisfied with himself, almost like that time he helped find Kibitoshin's friend. The supplies Ritsuka was getting was sure to help others who had been in the same situation as Sechs was upstairs--

--At least when it came to some of the outward damage. The inner damage on the other hand...

Meanwhile, that odd tingling sensation was growing in strength, causing the skin on his arm up to his neck to itch almost unbearably. The android's anxiety increased while his irritation levels perked up. What was going on with him...?!

The Replica was momentarily snapped out of his worried thoughts when Ritsuka spoke up with much concern in his voice. "Huh?" Sechs grunted, "Uh, yeah. Just pulled my arm a bit too much I think..." he replied uncertainly. The side of his neck was really bothering him, and instinctively Sechs reached up to scratch at the troubled spot. "Umm... Keep forgetting about how

[forgot_it_all]

Organic bodies? Oh...right. Ritsuka's frown deepened, but since he didn't see any outright injuries on Sechs, he turned away to focus on picking up supplies. Sechs had said something about being a cyborg, right? Ritsuka wasn't sure if that were possible, but then he was in no place to talk about what was and wasn't possible. He was, after all, a boy of twelve with cat ears and a tail running about in an Institute at night filled with monsters as if it were no different from going to the corner shop. If anyone was strange, it was him and so he tried not to comment on the 'organic bodies' thing. Instead, he dropped more bandages into his backpack and moved on to another box

[sixth_attack]

"Wha-?!" Sechs jerked his head up, tearing his eyes away from the horrific vision of his hand falling apart as he whirled around to face the danger behind him. Had something been waiting in the room to attack them? Shit! Like things couldn't have gotten any worse tonight! Sechs cursed in the midst of his movements to face whatever fiend had been spotted by Ritsuka, eyes wide and ready to strike at the monstrosity--

--Only to find nothing but the door he had just closed behind them. "Where?!" Sechs' eyes rapidly searched for the danger. Finding nothing, he snapped his head up to the ceiling, again there was no sign of some monster crawling about the walls. Another quick scan of the room with his flashlight and the room appeared completely free of any anomalies. What the hell was Ritsuka talking about?

Aggravation boiled over the surge of panic that had overwhelmed Sechs' system, leaving him panting and snarling as he turned his head to shoot a glare at the cat boy. "What are you talking about?!" he snapped, "I don't see anything--"

[forgot_it_all]

"Where?!"

The question came as Ritsuka drew closer, wanting to pull Sechs further into the room, away from the-- Monster? He stopped halfway between the boxes and Sechs, staring at the open door. There was nothing there. He could have sworn he'd seen a spider almost bigger than Sechs himself and now there was nothing there. Even Sechs seemed confused, moving his flashlight around the room to check for whatever creature it was that Ritsuka had seen. Ritsuka himself had no answer for Sechs, his mouth opening and closing as if trying to find words to fit an explanation he did not have. He had seen a spider right behind him just a moment ago

[sixth_attack]

The poisonous invasion of his arm continued to eat away at his limb and sleeve, hungrily reaching his shoulder and neck. There was another sickening sound of something crumpling up, and Sechs' uniform fell apart from his shoulder, leaving that side of his armor to corrode and tumble off as the belts that held them disintegrated.

If this was an illusion from the drug in his spine, it was the most elaborate one he had witnessed so far. Yet the way Ritsuka's eyes stared at Sechs' arm in horror told him a different story; one that meant that what was happening to him was real and not a harmless hallucination...

That realization sent a wave of terror to engulf Sechs' senses, drowning him in near mindless panic as he dropped his machete and clutched at his rotting arm in desperation. "No! NO!" he cried, "This can't be real

[forgot_it_all]

How did a person ever learn to deal with the very real and very frightening experience of having a true life horror happen before their eyes? Was there even a way to deal with it? Or did everyone react like Ritsuka was reacting? As Sechs' transformation progressed, Ritsuka could only stand, staring, shell-shocked. Pieces of him were literally falling off, hitting the ground with sounds that made Ritsuka think he'd never want to eat again. He was calling for help, but the sight of once living flesh curling back into rot and decay before his eyes was too frightening. Ritsuka couldn't move. He couldn't do anything but try to scream, his throat closing off so only choked sounds of fear came through.

Move. Move! You need to move!It wasn't until the stacks of boxes came cascading down, crumbling towers bouncing here and there that Ritsuka snapped out of his trance. Whatever was happening to Sechs, it was painful and he had to help! Even if... Even if he knew this disease. He'd seen it in town. He'd seen in when

[sixth_attack]

At last! The "Dark Side of the Moon" had gained full control of its host! The goals set by its creator were finally accomplished! No longer was the dark entity stuck squirming in its host's spine, reduced to taunting and controlling only parts of the body it resided in. No, it had gained access to everything, just as it had been made to do! Oh how it had longed for this moment!

The Replica's terror and despair, accompanied by the spreading decay, quenched the drug's thirst for all that it represented, giving it the power it needed to break Sechs' consciousness with a mental snap of agony. Sechs gave out a rattling gasp before dropping his head to the floor. The android was no longer awake, unaware of what was going on around him. It was his living alter ego that was in control now, no longer just a passenger in Sechs' head

[forgot_it_all]

Just as he reached forward, Sechs moved - faster than he thought capable - and grabbed his wrist with that half-rotten limb. The feel of no longer living flesh grabbing at him caused his stomach to turn and his body to go rigid, freezing him to the spot. For the briefest of moments, Ritsuka hoped it was just Sechs clinging to life, trying to fight against whatever was slowly eating away at him... But then the laughter started and he shifted onto his knees. The way he moved and spoke and the words he said weren't Sechs at all. Ritsuka's vision narrowed to a pinpoint, everything focused on the moving body that was no longer his companion.

He knew he should move. He knew he should fight back and run, wrench his arm away and flee, get as far from this place as possible, and yet Ritsuka couldn't do a thing. Sechs looked up at him, a dark horror replacing the man's face, and Ritsuka could do nothing to get away. Not everyone here is your friend. You trust too easily. You should be careful. Words he didn't recognize but he knew

[sixth_attack]

The dark entity gave out a sickening cackle at the expression of terror on Ritsuka's face, it couldn't wait to taste the kid's flesh and hear him scream. Sechs' toothy mouth bore down on the drug's target, but its hunger was thwarted by the impact of Ritsuka's backpack slamming into its host's face. The possessed Replica fell, his neck snapping back as his grip on Ritsuka failed

[forgot_it_all]

Ritsuka hadn't felt sheer panic in a long time. The adrenaline narrowed his world into a single tunnel, suffocating, pushing in at him from the corners and crushing him as he ran. He could feel wind at his back as Sechs swiped at him and it only spurred him forward. Whatever Sechs had become, he was going to die if Sechs caught him. The door crashed behind him and Ritsuka fled, ignoring the way the backpack threw his balance to the side. He simply had to run. He had to escape. The creature behind him was going to kill him.

Panic ate away at his system and from the corners he thought he saw monsters clawing through the walls. The world was turning black around him and still he ran, slamming his shoulder into the wall as he skidded around a corner. It threw him off and his hand hit the ground, but he used it to push himself forward again. Always forward. He couldn't stop. If he did...

"You and everyone else will die!Breath catching in his throat, Ritsuka ran as fast as he could but that thing was right behind him. It was