Night 37: Main Hall, 2-East

[yin_yang_fox]

[from here]

Something felt familiar close by, like something she knew, but changed... She didn't allow herself to be distracted and continued into the next hall.

[to here]

Comments

[marin_karin]

[From here]

Finally, they reached the second floor. Mitsuru paused to wait for Akihiko, shining her flashlight ahead of them. First hallway on the right, and there it was. "Not much further," she murmured, half to herself.

[fourtharcana]

"Not much further at all," Akihiko remarked. He, too, felt something off in the air, as if there was something there that shouldn't be. "Let's make this quick," he added, turning down the hall.

[to here]

[marin_karin]

[From here]

And once again, they were back in the hall that they'd come from. "And now straight down this wider hallway?" Mitsuru asked, looking back at Akihiko.

[fourtharcana]

"Yeah, but let me doublecheck the maps." There was enough ambient light from the beam of her flashlight that it wasn't terribly hard to read them. Akihiko nodded a moment later. "Straight down the hallway, then it's the last hallway on the left."

He bounced on the balls of his feet just a moment - he'd loosened up earlier, but wanted to be sure he was ready for anything that might be ahead. A few last stretches and a punch at the air, and he was ready.

"Just say the word, and we'll go."

[showtime_matsu]

They'd gone through the area with the fight quick enough, but Matsuda felt kinda bad for not being able to stop and help. Still, it seemed like they had things under control, so he'd probably just screw it up.

After a moment of quietly listening, he cleared his throat. It was too quiet for him. "...Sounds like there might be some sort of fight up ahead, but there might also be something worth grabbing that way?" he suggested, looking back at Elena to see what she thought. Of course, he also sort of wanted to see if it was something he'd be able to help with, to make up for passing the other one by, but he didn't really need to mention that.

[brightlyshine]

Hmm. Elena had never been up this way before. And even though part of her had really wanted to get involved with the problem, she didn't think Matsuda would like the detour as much, cute as he was.

She did, however, pull out her knife from it's secured hiding spot, in hopes that she'd find something else to use it on up here.

"Either way is fine by me," she admitted. "Rude's the one in such a hurry, so maybe he should pick."

Her eyes locked onto the other Turk in a way that said she still wasn't completely happy with tonight, but she was also trying to keep said feelings to herself at the same time.

[OOC: So very sorry for the wait, guys. -_-]

[gald_digger]

[From here!]

It wasn't long until they reached the top of the stairs. Immediately, Anise noticed the sounds of a struggle to their left - the same place a fight had taken place the night before. Oh well! It was far enough that they wouldn't have to worry about it. They didn't have to go that way anyway. They were going...

...Which way were they going?

Tilting her head questioningly, she asked her partner, "Where should we go now? I've never been to this part of the institute before." If it became necessary, she could dig out her maps, but maybe Xelloss had an idea of where things were.

[enigmaticmedium]

"Well, I've only been around a little." Xelloss answered honestly, pausing as well. He looked down the closest hallway, mostly because it was clear of any obvious fights for now. "I thought we'd just check doors. We just need metal; do you think it'll be that hard to find?"

Since he hadn't had any interest in a weapon made of metal, he hadn't really taken any notice of where people had suggested to hunt for it, aside from the, in retrospect, vague suggestions of 'upstairs' and 'bathrooms.' Leaning slightly against a wall for a moment, he added, "If you know which rooms store what, it might go more quickly." And all the rooms couldn't be storage, of course.

[gald_digger]

Anise nodded at Xelloss' reasoning. "Right... just a second." The girl knelt on the floor, set down her pipe to get it out of the way for the moment, then reached over her shoulder and plucked the big yellow doll from her back. Since getting it back, Tokunaga had been serving as little more than a cute accessory, but the little sack on its back was handy to have around. Reaching into it, Anise retrieved the incomplete map of the second floor. She then placed the doll back where it was and stood, moving a little closer to Xelloss so she could use some of his light to read.

"I don't have everything filled in, but..." The girl traced a finger from their hallway to one of the nearby ones. "There are a lot of storage rooms down this hall. I guess the general storage and the janitor's closet would be our best bets." Even though the patient possessions and the main files sounded way more interesting. Or those mysterious locked rooms! Having an assignment to focus on was pretty lame sometimes.

[enigmaticmedium]

Xelloss had leaned forward helpfully with the light when she pulled out the map. He had a set of his own, but they were back in his room; well, he'd remember that for next time. And it was nice for a team to have a balance of resources, anyway, it made it harder for one member to abandon the other. Well, theoretically, anyway.

Looking over the map, he'd have snapped his fingers if he'd had a free hand. "Actually, I have been up here once before! I believe I went into the janitor's closet. They have flashlights there; we should get you one, then we'll have a set!"

The fact that people were posting constantly on the board either asking for or offering flashlights was beside the point, since it didn't seem to have changed Anise's situation. Or maybe she'd just left hers behind, the way Xelloss had left behind the map.

Leaning back, he gestured to the hallway they faced. "Since those rooms are all this way, it doesn't seem that we have any choice in direction for now!"

[to here]

[sir_savien]

[ from here]

Kvothe looked around as he followed Clark out of the stairwell, shining his flashlight to see what was up there. A large hallway like the one below them, a cross hallway lined with doors, another up ahead. He couldn't really tell beyond that, the beam of the light didn't reach any farther. Even if there wasn't a working phone, they were bound to find something useful up here. "Well, where should we try first?"

[son_ofkrypton]

Clark paused, looking around. He kept his voice down, feeling antsy and exposed. "I think that way overlooks the sun room," he replied, keeping his voice to a whisper. "And around the balcony is the Chapel..." Clark trailed off, remembering the last time he'd been in there. "Anyway, other than that, I haven't really been up here too much."

[Waiting for Brainy, I think?]

[emotionl4arobot]

[staggering in from here]Brainiac 5 leaned heavily against the wall, relying on it more and more to keep him upright as well as guide him in the darkness. He barely felt the pain from his injuries any more, only the thin smear of blood on the wall from his shoulder reminding him of how damaged his body had to be. It was ironic really. He was one of the greatest minds of his time, had helped save planets and even the whole galaxy once, and he was going to die trapped in a body not his own in a Earth facility in the past. All because Grell was insane enough to attempt murder to support his delusions

[sir_savien]

Kvothe's head whipped around at the scream, his flashlight searching for a moment before it landed on the figure on the floor. He shot a startled look at Clark before running over to the fallen man, it didn't take long to see why he was in such bad shape, he winced at the scalpel deep in the shoulder and held up the pillowcase he was using as a bag so Clark could see it. "Clark, tear me off some of this, quick." He knew that removing the blade could cause the wound to bleed more freely, but from the looks of things leaving it in would only cause more damage.

[its_the_mileage]

[from here]

Having rushed through the central part of the hallway, Indy slowed up once they'd made it past the site of the conflict. Things looked quiet here, and he had to double-check the map before they got any farther.

"Almost there," he muttered to Pierson once he'd consulted it. "The main file storage room is off the next hallway."

[oldest_man]

"Let's hope we've had our excitement for the night, then," Methos whispered back. He looked back over his shoulder, eyes squinting against the darkness to check for any sign of trouble still lingering in the corridor behind. To check for any new trouble approaching, for that matter, either brought by other patients or by the guards that still seemed conspicuously absent.

"And that the door's not too securely locked." It was an afterthought, and he grimaced in distaste as he shared it. Something to pick locks with. He added it to the slowly expanding tally of supplies he'd need if he were to find a way out.

[its_the_mileage]

In general, Indy's theory was that you didn't need lockpicking tools when you had two perfectly good shoulders, but he could appreciate the reduction in bruises a little finesse could lend. Pierson didn't look like the door-smashing type, at any rate.

"Just hope we actually find something useful after this leisurely stroll," he replied. Honestly, the trek had been easier than what he was used to--no spiders, no scorpions, no careening boulders; a cakewalk, really--but the payoff might be a lot smaller, too.

Well, he'd know pretty soon, either way. Indy pressed on.

[its_the_mileage]

[to here]