Night 56: West Wing, North Hall 1-A

[unheroed]

[From here.]Right as he'd been leaving the block, Harvey had come across none other than Peter. Not that it could really be called that when they hadn't even talked to each other, but seeing the kid had answered a few questions. First of all, it seemed that Peter wasn't planning on going down to the basement, both because he hadn't approached him

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[gald_digger]

[from here]

And here she was.

There wasn't anyone in the hall, so Anise kept her little keychain flashlight on so that she wasn't standing around in total darkness. She walked a little ways so that she was across from the entrance to the M-B Block, and then she leaned against the wall there and waited.

Hopefully, she had been fast enough not to miss her friends on their way out of the block. She didn't run into any delays on the way, though, so there was a good chance that she was just in time to catch them.

[razing_phoenix]

[From here.]As it turned out, they ran into someone even sooner than expected. Guy was only somewhat surprised to see that Anise had been waiting for them. On one hand, she'd definitely made it over here in record time. On the other, this was all so routine at this point that it made sense in its own way

[full_score]

When they caught sight of Anise in the next hallway, Claude's eyebrows rose. "Anise!" he said with a smile. "Hi!" They hadn't talked since their trip out to the ruins the other night, but it looked like she was doing all right. He wondered if she had plans, or if they'd all just happened to meet up with each other like this out of habit. Either way, it wasn't such a bad thing to be able to check on each other.

When Guy mentioned Natalia, Claude's face lit up. "Oh, yeah, I saw her this morning!" he brightly said. "She was kind of confused about what had happened, but I told her everything I could. I was really glad to see her."

He almost wanted to finish with, See? I knew she was okay, but there wasn't any reason to rub it in. After everything that had happened, he could understand why it would be easy for Guy and Anise to assume a few days of silence meant she'd completely vanished. Thankfully, it had just been a false alarm.

[gald_digger]

Just as she thought, it wasn't long before her friends emerged from the doorway. Anise immediately brightened upon seeing them, and when they started talking about Natalia, she was quick to chime in. "Yeah! I saw her too! I guess good things really do happen here sometimes, huh?"

It was a little disappointing that they already knew, since Anise wanted to be the bearer of good news for once, but it was good that Natalia had gotten in contact with everyone anyway.

"So! Got any place in mind to visit tonight?" she asked, moving to the next topic quickly. They only had so much time to stand around and talk, after all. Anise was assuming that she'd be accompanying them, but they'd been traveling together enough lately that she figured no one would object. For the time being, she decided to offer her own suggestion for somewhere to go. They were just about done with the ruins, weren't they? "I know there's supposed to be a quarry or something north of here, but... maybe you guys heard some other rumors?"

[razing_phoenix]

It seemed that everyone had managed to find Natalia or at least hear about her, which was good. Guy wondered if the girl had made a point of tracking them all down. It smacked of the sort of determination and thoroughness that he expected from Natalia, so he honestly wouldn't be surprised if that was the case

[full_score]

Claude hadn't heard much about the quarry, though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little interested. Still, he wasn't so sure whether they'd find a way out of here in that area. But maybe it wasn't so bad to just get an idea of what the grounds further north of the institute looked like. The ruins, despite how unsettling those destroyed buildings had been, at least gave some idea of the less-than-savory aspects of this place's history. Considering it was next to impossible to grab a copy of a history book, Claude recognized the value in that.

When Guy asked for his opinion, Claude gave a grin. "Sure, I'm--"

It was at that moment the other blond's radio suddenly emitted static, drawing his attention to the small device. While radio messages weren't anything new, Marc sounded like he was in the middle of arguing with someone. Before Claude could comment, though, a sickeningly familiar voice filtered through the radio.

He couldn't mask the surprise on his face. Was that...Landel? So the military actually let him

[gald_digger]

When Guy's radio went off, Anise's eyes widened with surprise... then narrowed with disgust at the familiar voice that followed Marc's. Landel. She'd been hoping he would have died in a ditch somewhere by now, but instead he was still here, and working with their supposed 'ally'. As much as she didn't want to listen to that bastard's voice, Anise remained silent during the broadcast, glaring daggers in the radio's direction as she did.

She remained in that position until she heard something like a fingersnap... followed by a horrible pain in her head.

"Aah!!" she cried out, wincing. The pain quickly passed, but it sure as hell didn't do anything to endear her to the former Head Doctor. What gift!? Wasn't he just screwing with them like he always was!?

"How stupid does he think we are!?" she snapped once the broadcast seemed to be finished. "There's no way he's really trying to help us!" It was way too late for him to start expecting people to trust him. As far as Anise was concerned, Landel might as well have killed Guy with his

[razing_phoenix]

These days the radio came on pretty sporadically, and more than that, the messages weren't always that useful. That never stopped Guy from making sure he had it on hand, though, since you never knew when something important might be broadcasted. That seemed to be the case tonight, since it turned out that Martin Landel himself had someone found himself working with the radio man -- well, maybe not with him, but

[full_score]

He'd been listening intently to the broadcast when Landel suddenly snapped his fingers. Pain lanced through Claude's head immediately after. A choked noise escaped from the back of his throat, and he brought a hand to his forehead. What the hell?! Did this guy really have power over them even after the military booted him out?

Thankfully, the pain passed quickly, but Claude still felt annoyed that it had happened in the first place. Did Landel expect everyone who'd been through the coliseum to go charging downstairs for more punishment? It was as though he forgot just how much grief he caused everyone in the first place.

When Guy spoke up, Claude glanced over at his two companions. "Sounds like it," he said. "But how much of a prize do you think it is? He sounded like he wanted to lead us out of the institute, but..." For all they knew, another death match was waiting for them.

[gald_digger]

Come to think of it... Anise didn't even realize there was another set of doors in the basement. Everything that happened with Sync and Dahlia had more than occupied her during the few times she ventured down there, and she didn't have much of a chance to look around.

Once she calmed down after her angry outburst, Anise was able to think a little about what they just learned. So there really was something after the Coliseum... She'd always figured that what they went through was, well, it. There was a part of her that really wanted to believe that everything they went through hadn't been in vain, but...

"Yeah... it could be another trap," she added in agreement with Claude's concern.

What other leads did they have, though? There was the quarry, but there was no telling if that would lead to anything. The basement was far more dangerous, but whether it was a trap or a genuine reward, maybe they'd find something out if they went there... even though Anise didn't want to go back to that place.

[razing_phoenix]

Everyone seemed wary, and Guy was included in that. How could he not be, when their last attempt to go down into the basement had resulted in his death? Still, that didn't give him license to be scared if that needed to be their next step, and he didn't want the others to feel uncertain about it just because of him.

"Well, outside to the quarry or down into the basement, I'm willing to try either," he remarked, wanting to make it clear to the others that he wasn't going to let the last time stop him from looking into this if they decided that was what needed to happen.

On the other hand, they'd only just heard the news. Maybe they needed to take some time to really think on it, since Guy wasn't fond of rushing into things unprepared. But they were as armed as they could be and none of them were hurt, so...

In the end, it was too hard for him to decide, and so he watched Anise and Claude, hoping that someone could come to a decision.

[full_score]

Claude glanced between his two companions. Anise was understandably skeptical, while Guy apparently didn't have an opinion about which area they should explore. As the person who lost his life in the coliseum, Claude thought his take on their situation should be granted the most weight. However, it sounded like the choice would be up to him and Anise

[gald_digger]

Anise, too, lowered her gaze, her head hanging as she considered her own knee-jerk reaction to the broadcast. She didn't want to trust the radio, and she definitely didn't want to trust Landel. But what if it really was the way out? What if her reluctance to trust any suspicious source cost them their escape?

"I don't know what we should do..." she admitted, shaking her head. That bold defiance from moments ago was gone, replaced with fear and indecision. "It was my fault you two got caught in a trap last time. I... I never want that to happen again." It was rare for Anise to bare her feelings on such a painful experience, especially one that she had been so eager to put behind her, but in the face of an important decision like this, she felt it was necessary to get everything out in the open. Even though everyone said it wasn't her fault, it was at least partly her fault, and she'd never forgive herself if she caused something horrible like that to happen again

[razing_phoenix]

It looked like no one was having an easy time making this decision, though Guy wasn't too surprised by that. Everyone harbored a different kind of guilt or something that made them wary, which was natural after what they'd been through. On the other hand, it wasn't like they were being forced into the coliseum again, though there was no guarantee that those other doors -- wherever they led -- would be any better. If anything, they might be worseBut Claude had just pointed it out himself: the basement was supposed to be the way out, and they clearly hadn't explored all of it yet. They were all scared, but that fear could keep them from finally making a real breakthrough

[full_score]

Hearing Anise talk like that made Claude's heart ache. He could relate to how she felt. After all, he still put a lot of blame on himself for pushing Guy and Dias to go after Sync. On top of that, he'd been the only one in their group left standing by the end of the night. He hated that Anise had to watch those gruesome fights. No doubt they contributed to the guilt she felt for getting caught up in Sync's horrible scheme

[gald_digger]

They were in this together