Comments | damned: Day 57: Sun Room

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Day 57: Sun Room

Jun 22, 2011 02:13

It figured that night would end before Rita and Taura could progress any further. Rita wasn't particularly disappointed to wake up abruptly, as they had reached a dead end. Really, the institute was doing them a favor by bringing them back to the starting point, where they could regroup.

What she didn't appreciate was the loss of valuable time, ( Read more... )

byrne, s.t., albedo, tsubaki, scott pilgrim, nigredo, mele, damon, rita, two-face, ritsuka, rapunzel, erika, hope, the scarecrow, sync, utena, mikado, chise, renamon, guybrush, ted logan, meekins, niikura, elena gilbert, edgeworth, lunge, lana skye

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toxicspiderman June 23 2011, 03:52:35 UTC

They were on I-95, going the stupid way down the East Coast, in the back of a fifteen passenger GEE van, when the radio cut out, and the announcer started in. Forest fires on the median. Interstate closed for non-emergency personnel. The air was filled with smog, so thick the windshield wipers weren't keeping up with it.

They opened the Hefty bag and all stuck their head in. Then S.T. pulled enough scientific equipment out of the spare tire compartment to start a research lab, and a faded old National Park Service hat. It would have to be enough.

They pulled up to the toll gates for the George Washington bridge, making record time. All their plans went to shit. The guy pulled out a pump-action rifle and started shooting up the van. It only had windows in the front, but there were people up there, too. S.T. opened the sliding door. "What the fuck?" The guy had pissed his pants. He could smell it, sharp and acrid over the gunpowder. It didn't take a pro to lip-read zombie off the guy. Problem was, they didn't have any ( ... )

roseoverture June 23 2011, 21:47:54 UTC

And just like that, as if nothing had happened since the previous dayshift, Utena was back in her bed. Same white ceiling. Same grey uniform. Same cocky bastard on the intercom. Or, at least, she thought it was. Utena could have sworn she had heard this announcement before ( ... )

toxicspiderman June 24 2011, 01:16:35 UTC

"You've lost almost a week." Or, shit, had it been almost two weeks? The last time he'd talked to her was the day after the Zombie Apocalypse, but that pink hair stood out.

Not as much here as it did anywhere other than the Harvard Square pit, where it was clothing that didn't involve the subtle differences between black and thrift-store black that had been washed too much.

"It's Sunday. Visitors and a faked intercom. Guess you don't know the story." He smirked. "Martin Landel got his ass kicked by this uptight dickwad calling himself General 'The Eagle' Aguilar." He didn't need his hands to make the scare quotes audible. "Cute little military uniforms and all. These are just for the visitors' benefit," he said, poking the smile on his shirt in the eye.

roseoverture June 24 2011, 03:40:32 UTC

Almost a week? That wasn't good. A lot could happen in Landel's Institute in the span of just a few days, and from the look and feel of things, a lot had.

She listened to S.T. explain more. "A general...?" That would explain who "Aguilar" was, then, and also what that uniform had been. Still didn't explain the why of anything, though.

"I heard that name on the radio last night. How long ago did he get in here?" she asked, determined to learn as much as possible as quick as she could. "Did he say why he was forcing Landel out?"

She paused, then added one more question for good measure: "And have you seen a girl named Himemiya Anthy around? Darker skin, purple hair?"

toxicspiderman June 25 2011, 03:42:45 UTC

Utena wasn't fooling him with that question placement. He answered the important one first. "Haven't seen her. Sorry."

"He showed up three days ago. Landel was freaking out on the intercom. We're talking the IRS and the mob both showed up with a report of payment discrepancies on the same day freakout." Maybe that was an exaggeration. Fucking drama queen. "Aguilar holds some kind of inspection, a food fight breaks out. Next thing we know Landel's getting dragged out by Aguilar's bullyboys."

"It was pretty fucking rad, for a while. Then it was back to business as usual, only with sexier pseudo-fascist uniforms. Cute little berets and everything." He shrugged. "Landel was on the radio earlier, hanging out with the latest Rebel Leader. Seems he's pissed off enough to try to sabotage Aguilar. Or that's how they're spinning it this week.

roseoverture June 25 2011, 22:32:23 UTC

Utena's shoulders drooped, but only slightly. Just because S.T. hadn't seen her, that didn't mean she wasn't around. It was easy to miss people in an Institute with this many patients, especially when you weren't looking for them. "Can you keep an eye out for me, then? She's already disappeared once before," was all she had to say more to S.T. on the matter. She figured that if he knew enough to answer that question first, he would know how worried Utena was ( ... )

toxicspiderman June 28 2011, 01:56:04 UTC

"Dark skin, purple hair." There wasn't a way to ask this next question that wouldn't piss some people off, so he just asked it. "We talking Africa dark or just walking skin cancer hazard?"

This whole place was only saved by a bunch of Japanese exchange students from being as white as a Midwestern small town. Shit. He hadn't even noticed. Which made him an asshole, again. Oops. He had noticed that there were more guys, but that didn't let him off the hook, even in the developing chamber of his own mind. Hung up to dry in Kodachrome, and just as toxic.

Good thing Utena changed the subject. "People do weird shit when they're holding guns." Dolmacher's point-blanking mafia thugs was up there. So were a lot of investigations they'd done out in cornfield country. That was where media blitzes came in. If they were thought to be harmless effete liberal crankpots, that still didn't call off the old guys with dogs and guns. They had to convince first, and then they'd already won.

roseoverture June 30 2011, 04:01:53 UTC

Utena gave S.T. a flat look at the question. "Closer to Indian," she answered, not elaborating any further than that. S.T. was right: there really wasn't a way to ask that kind of question without pissing someone off.

At least they moved on quickly enough from that. "So you think Marc's not scared of him because he could shoot Landel in the back whenever he wants?" She pressed the tip of her index finger lightly against her thumb in thought. She figured that was what S.T. meant, but it was hard to be sure when there was another possibility that fit his words: "Or it could be the other way around, too. It could be Landel who's forcing Marc to do things."

/unstacks convo toxicspiderman July 1 2011, 13:00:00 UTC

He didn't ask if she meant the American kind or the Asian kind. Besides, he'd seen a girl like that running around. Never talked to her, and he couldn't remember when she'd disappeared. He let Utena scowl at him and follow his conversation change ( ... )

roseoverture July 3 2011, 02:18:59 UTC

"I wonder, yeah..." Utena raised her thumb and forefinger in front of her mouth, leaning on her elbow again. Had Landel even died that night? She had no idea. All they had to go on was what they had been told about what others had overheard. No one had actually seen Landel die, right? That was what made figuring anything out about Landel so frustrating: no one ever saw anything with him. It was lucky enough that she had gotten to see Marc.

Since they couldn't really do more than speculate right now, Utena decided it was best they move on to other things. "Has anything else happened with you since we last talked, by the way?" she asked. "I mean, besides the military. You're okay, right? No big injuries or anything?"

toxicspiderman July 3 2011, 02:28:40 UTC

"Naah. A few robot dinosaurs tried to eat us for dinner the other night, but we declined the invitation. Just us, not everyone." He let the chair bang back down and poked the muscles. Yeah, definitely healing.

"If you go down to the basement, be ready for a fight. Landel gave us some bullshit about another reward, which probably means another giant killer mutant for him to bet against in an unfair fight."

Dolmacher would be in heaven. It wasn't the first time S.T. had thought that. This whole place made him think a lot more about Dolmacher than he'd done even when the man was standing in front of him and whining. The whole wargame schtick made real. 101 ways to be a hero while dicking around in the mud.

S.T.'s hobbies were more constructive. Most of them, at least.

roseoverture July 3 2011, 04:09:17 UTC

Now that was something Utena wanted to hear about. Much as she didn't want to think so much about the red-jewelled ring Landel had sent her, she really couldn't help it, knowing where it would lead if she actually used it. "Which doors were those things behind?" she asked, simple and straight-up. "I've only been down there once, but I never got beyond the ballroom. Did you need a big group to beat them?"

Maybe Utena should have questioned the whole robot dinosaur thing, but after living in Ohtori and spending two weeks here? Absolutely nothing fazed her anymore. At least, nothing as far as fantastical locations, monsters, or magic were concerned. Disappearing friends and military takeovers on the other hand... Well, here was hoping she wouldn't have to get used to those too.

toxicspiderman July 6 2011, 01:02:42 UTC

In the dictionary next to grin, shit-eating, a picture of S.T.'s face at that moment would not have been inappropriate. People usually asked stupid questions, or good ones that he couldn't answer. The last two days, it had been S.T., what's in the basement? and S.T., how do I hotwire a car?, both of which were neither. Utena'd gotten the car going too, so he was batting 1.000 in GTA ( ... )

roseoverture July 9 2011, 19:31:25 UTC

In response to her questions, Utena got a lot more than she'd expected, but it was exactly the sort of thing she needed, so she was definitely not complaining. She watched as S.T. sketched out the map, then took the paper to look over as he finished up his explanations. Borrowing a pen, she quickly scribbled down a few notes next to each room, knowing that she was liable to forget these things if she didn't. Sphynx, maze, hall of armour, tail-harpoon...? Utena was confused and even more wary of the basement than before, but kept writing anyway. The last thing she wrote was "3 people - 3 enemies?? Or 3 people to open door." She would bring at least three or four down with her if she ever went, then, either way ( ... )

toxicspiderman July 11 2011, 12:10:02 UTC

"Good luck." Sangamon knew he should feel bad, handing a teenage girl keys to the stupidest thing he'd tried here yet.

CHILD SOLDIER SPEAKS: BETRAYAL, TAYLOR-MADE
ACTIVIST RECRUITED TEENAGERS FOR SUICIDE MISSIONSYeah, that was him. Unfeeling monster to humans, soft spot for baby harp seals only because he'd lose his funding if he didn't go gooey over them on national TV. He hoped she'd find her friend, whether here or with a golden ticket home ( ... )

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