Night 57: Operating Room (North)

[roseoverture]

[From here]Utena shivered immediately upon entering. Why was it so cold in here? There were machines everywhere. Were none of them on? They were supposed to keep things warm in a room, right? Was someone blasting the A.C.? God, it was making her sick, and she hadn't even been in the room for ten seconds yet

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[madeinthehrl]

They had emerged into an operating room of sorts, and Soma exhaled, grateful for the extra space. Utena had moved away slightly, setting her box down, and once again Soma felt sudden anger at the other girl's actions, though she couldn't figure out why. She tried to turn her thoughts elsewhere: it was cooler here, the equipment looked out-of-date compared to what she was used to...

And then Utena doubled over, clutching at her chest.

Soma froze in the doorway, caught between worry and that inexplicable rage bubbling up again. The intensity of it surprised her, in a distant sort of way; she wouldn't have thought she was capable of directing that kind of anger at anyone except Allelujah. Maybe Landel, if he were standing in front of her right now. But Utena?

It was the drug, that much was clear. Whatever she'd taken was causing all of this. Why had she done that again? It was stupid of her. Now Soma couldn't help her at all, and she was probably dying already--

Maybe it would be better to put her out of her misery, said a voice that

[roseoverture]

At this point, Utena barely even remembered that Soma was in the room with her. Hot and cold smashed and slid against one another inside her body. Utena fell to her side, still clutching her stomach and chest even as she found less and less arm left to do so with. Temperatures clashed on the surface, too, as her skin flared up again, more intense than before. Smooth skin became rough and pebbly before Utena's eyes, leaving her eyes wide and her jaw agape as she watched her steadily shrinking hand turn red and mottled grey.

She tried to cry out again. What's happening? What did I take? It hurts! she wanted to yell. All that came out, however, was a strangled sound as the muscles in her throat shifted, and her already-open jaw unhinged. It looked and felt as though the bottom part of her jaw would fall off at any moment, like that of a rotting corpse

[madeinthehrl]

It was the sheer magnitude of what was happening that stayed Soma's hand, if only for a moment. Even the drug she'd taken couldn't compete with the pure horror she felt as Utena--shifted was the only word she could think of, because no words could do justice to that face stretching and cracking like something was pulling it apart. What had that stuff done to her? What had they been thinking?She stumbled back, pushing back her nausea and grabbing reflexively at the katana hilt, finally reacting the only way she knew how. It was suddenly warmer in here, despite the chill of the AC she'd only felt moments ago--was that Utena, or was that just the adrenaline surging through her

[roseoverture]

It was her eyes that let Utena avoid the fatal blow. Completely black now, they let her see far better in the dark than a human could, and she caught the sharp slash above her head just in time to push herself out of the way. The movement was clumsy, however; the sword still caught a chunk of Utena's rapidly shortening hair. The tuft of pink left behind shrivelled up and turned to ash as the rest of her hair slowly sucked itself back up into her scalp, strands thickening and turning to red and grey scales at the roots

[madeinthehrl]

A frustrated noise escaped Soma as the katana clattered noisily against the floor. That, if nothing else, was proof the drug hadn't worked as she'd hoped. Still the same slow reaction speed, still that infuriating lag between what her mind wanted and what her hands would do. And her target had become smaller--Utena was a wriggling form shrouded in her own clothing now, and once again the sheer strangeness of it gave Soma pause. For the second time, she hesitated, unsure what, if anything, would emerge

[roseoverture]

Soma's retreat was just fine by Utena, with or without an animal brain. She was almost small enough now to push out through the top of her jacket collar. Just a little more, and she would be able to get further away, hide among the machinery. She wriggled, struggled, making sounds more akin to croaking and the crackles of flame than anything remotely human. Eventually, she got fed up. The fastest way to free herself wasn't going to be sitting around, waiting for Soma to advance again, it was to just get rid of the thing in her way.

The lizard, now less than three feet long, kept her head swiveled back, but instead of breathing another fire jet at Soma, she turned the heat on herself this time. Her new skin basked in the flames, and had she still been human, Utena would have given a long, satisfied sigh of relief. Her clothing burned around her, a light smoke filling the air around them. She had never felt more at home before now. Why had she been holding out on this?

[madeinthehrl]

What was it? Some kind of dragon--some mythical beast she'd never even heard of? Soma put her sword away, unwilling to risk the metal in those flames. The katana had held up well so far, but it had probably been made from the bathroom pipes like half the patients' swords, and that was hardly good steel.

Instead she drew her gun, switching the safety off. At the very least, she wouldn't need her flashlight anymore; the thing burning in the pile of clothing provided more than enough illumination to see by.

Even as she pointed the gun at the creature, she hesitated again. One last time, that was all. She had to make sure. "Utena? Are you...still there?"

[roseoverture]

Utena was calming the longer she spent in the yellow flames. Even the last shifting of bone and flesh seemed to matter little to her now. Everything was warm and bright, just as it should have been. There was no need for any kind of worry when things were like this. Friends, allies, enemies - what did they matter when warmth licked at her scales, blocking out everything that was cold and dangerous in the world? It was perfect. She could spend eternity like this for all she cared.

Utena?

The salamander's head quirked up slightly at that. That was a familiar name. Wasn't that her name?

Are you...still there?

That voice was familiar too. Right. It was Soma's. How had she forgotten so quickly...?

But then she tensed at that. Soma. That girl had been trying to hurt her. Was she still in danger? There had been a clicking sound coming from where the girl stood. Possibly dangerous. She had to get away. Or attack. Something.The hardy, lizard-like creature crawled out of the burning jacket collar, about a foot in length and not getting

[madeinthehrl]

That wasn't enough of an answer to satisfy her. Soma's expression hardened, her grip on the gun tightening until her knuckles went white. Just kill it, supplied the voice, which was sounding increasingly like Marie by the minute. But that made sense, didn't it? Marie had always been the voice of reason before, much as she hated to admit it. It's not her anymore. Kill it before it has a chance to hurt anyone else.

If anything, the creature's small size would only make it harder to hit. But the room was less than thirty feet wide, and it provided its own illumination--that was kind of it. Without further ado, she pulled the trigger.

[roseoverture]

She was fast, but bullets were faster. The salamander darted to the side when the gun fired - then skidded to a halt and hissed loudly before getting far. The bullet had caught the end of her tail, blasting almost half of it clean off. Not even the cleansing fire could make that pain go away, not entirely

[madeinthehrl]

Soma snarled in frustration, a low animal sound that might have better suited the creature she was hunting. It was too difficult to tell where it was at the moment, hidden as it was by the operating table, and firing again would only waste bullets.

She closed her eyes, trying to pinpoint the lizard's location by sense alone, but any boost to her dulled quantum brainwaves that Marie might have provided was drowned out by the overwhelming urge to kill.

Patience. Soma forced herself to remain absolutely still, focusing on the surgical drape. Surely curiosity would drive it out into the open eventually--or it would turn its own flame upon itself again. Either way, she supposed, it had to give itself away at some point.

[roseoverture]

Even in the shelter offered by the drape, the space was cold, far colder than she was comfortable with. The longer she sat still, waiting, the stronger the discomfort became. She wanted to be out there, back in the fire. Or at the very least, near the heat of the machines in the room. Some of them had to be warmer than here, anyway, even if they weren't on.

The quiet outside was getting to be too much, too. Was the human- was Soma even out there, still? Maybe she had finally decided to give up. Just as well, thought Utena with some hope. Maybe that meant she could come back out soon.

Still, she had to be careful. Just because she didn't hear a human didn't mean one wasn't there. Was there a back way out? Utena skittered along the ground, toward the other side of the operating table. Maybe she wouldn't be seen if she crept out this side. Yes, toward the bottom of those machines, there, she thought as she peered under the bottom of the drape. That would be perfect

[madeinthehrl]

Soma concentrated again, but all she could determine was that the creature was still under the table, and she didn't need her abilities to know that. She crept a little closer--still nothing--and then there was a faint rustling sound, and she ran for the opposite side of the table just in time to see a small shape darting out from underneath it and racing for the monitors.

She let off another shot, though it was harder to see now than it had been before. That didn't matter; the voice in her head was still telling her to kill, and she couldn't think of a good enough reason to refuse.