DAMNED || LANDEL'S INSTITUTE

WE'VE MOVED.

damned_info — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 23:50:42 GMT

THIS GAME HAS MOVED TO DREAMWIDTH.

Look into joining there!

Night 60: The Sphinx's Chamber

requitedfate — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 01:28:37 GMT

[from here]

Another door that closed and locked behind them. This time there were no other doors to draw the eye. Instead, the one thing Shiina had never wanted and never believed she would see was now in front of them. This time, she didn't hesitate to reach out and take Shou's arm.

"Sh-shou... it... it's really..." No, this was not happening. This couldn't be real and yet, there it was. She could even see it breathing where it lay on the pedestal. A mythological man-eating beast. They were all going to die.

Night 60: General Storage

melodists — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 22:14:08 GMT

[From here.]

The door yielded almost too easily and opened at her second attempt with an audible crack. Tear instantly brought the fontech's beam into the interior, eyes and ears open for any aggressors. It wasn't until she was able to confirm their absence that the soldier finally shifted her attention to Mikado. "Alright," she started. "There should be some things here for your hand."

West Wing, Hall 2-A

kings_thief — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 17:25:29 GMT

[From here]

Down this corridor, out to the patio, and then through two more doors and they'd be in. He could see the map in his head and they were so close. Assuming nothing happened between here and the kitchen...there was a chance, and that made him all the more hopeful.

Perhaps, now, something could be accomplished and he would actually be able to protect the people he traveled with rather than hope he didn't get in the way.

"How long have you been here, then?" Long enough to think being hopeful was strange. But how long that took just depended on the person, really.

Night 60: Activities Shed.

antiheroed — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:48:48 GMT

[from here]

The shed gave another noticeable creak as Riku stepped inside. A part of him wondered why everything here had to be mood-setting. It wasn't just the eerie lack of light at night or the way the place managed itself, but things like this, too. The stability of the institute seemed to always fall into question the moment night fell. He wondered if some of the things found in the outskirts were just as unstable in the daylight hours, or if all of this truly was a massive illusion upheld by the powers of Landel. Riku realized anything could be possible. That seemed to be the man's MO, anyway.

Riku flashed his light toward a couple baseball bats and glanced toward Loki. "Take what you want," he said. "Some are heavier than others. If you're too delicate, just take a lighter one." The mocking in his tone didn't cease, and he didn't bother to wipe away the smirk that bloomed soon after. If this guy was going to work with their club, he would probably need a real fighter by his side every night. Hopefully, he would turn out to be just as smart as he presented himself. He had to make up for what he had going—or rather, didn't have going—for him somehow.

Night 60: West Hall

oneman_onekill — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 08:39:45 GMT

[from here]

The door slammed shut behind them with an audible click, and Niikura looked back and sighed. They were locked in...well, that made things easy. There was only one way to go, now: forward.

He switched off his flashlight as they walked further and further down the hall, staring up at the tapestries covering the walls as he had the ceiling in the ballroom. There was a kind of a weird juxtaposition going on here, what with the modern war scenes clashing with the older tapestry style. Landel had truly eccentric tastes in interior decorating--and who would ever decide to stick these things down in the basement, anyway? Adults. Sometimes, Niikura wondered why anyone bothered living past the age of twenty-one, given the way people could turn out.

"...so. This place sure is, uh...interesting, huh?" It made the institute proper look absolutely normal, really.

Nightshift 60: South Hall

lovecrafty — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 02:19:11 GMT

> Rose: Open second door

You can't open the second door by yourself! It takes two people to do that. The inscription says so.

Not that you've read it yet.

Rose looked up at the door, the previous one's precise opposite number. The hallway had not been the esophagus of a great beast, at least so far. Or it was a very stone-covered, hallway-shaped esophagus.

She felt more comfortable in this door's presence, despite the fact that it was covered in more writhing monsters than she could shake a stick at. Or a candle, which she held up. Only those two who offer their blood will be allowed entrance. it read, which was simple enough.

Rose had no intention of being left behind. She pricked her finger on one of the fangs, and waited for the others to catch up.

Night 60: Janitor's Closet

bastard_sadi — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 05:00:47 GMT

[Coming from here.]

Daemon pushed the door open and let his flashlight beam illuminate the interior of the closet with a skeptical look. If there was any semblance of organization to the chaos within, he couldn't pick it out. Whoever was in charge of maintaining this place seemed to have haphazardly stacked all their supplies on dubious-looking shelves or leaned them in the far corner.

"There's no way we're both fitting in here at the same time, not without getting buried," Daemon commented wryly, glancing back over his shoulder at Renji. "Do you want to go first or should I?"

Nigh 60: O.R. Observation Room (South)

believein0 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:37:27 GMT

[From here.]

Once inside, Zero took his own flashlight out to help shed some more light in the otherwise pitch black area. The extra light didn't reveal very much, for this place was...strangely empty. Besides a bench, a giant window on the left wall, and something that looked like an incredibly low-tech intercom device near the window, there didn't seem to be anything else in here. As for the window, all he could see on the other side was darkness, so that didn't really help them much at all.

Kind of a let down, wasn't it?

But not completely. There were also two different doors in here. One on the immediate left from the door they came in, and one on the other side of the room. Perhaps this area was meant to be a sort of corridor between other rooms, then? That could explain the lack of furniture in here. Either way, they obviously wouldn't find anything useful here, so they should keep moving forward.

"There are two ways we could go from here," he said, even though he was sure Erika could see that for herself. Out of curiosity, he approached the first door option and tested the knob. It was...unlocked, surprisingly. "This one's open." He pointed to the other door on the far end. "Try that one and see if it's unlocked, too."

Night 60: East Wing, Hall A [Second Floor]

melodists — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:36:15 GMT

[From here.]

The comment Mikado had posed caught Tear entirely off her guard; however, she still took the time to examine her surroundings before moving to address it. Her light moved across the floor, the doors, and the ceiling, checking for incongruity, and then turned back to the other. "A soldier?" she echoed. Her memory spoke of an announcement made by Aguilar, but she couldn't be certain. "Would you be willing to tell me what happened?"

Night 60: Hall of Voices

full_score — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:53:31 GMT

((From here.))

The terrain, at least, appeared a lot more stable than the last hall they'd entered. Claude's gaze swept across the dark path ahead, dimly lit by his friends' flashlights. As difficult as it was to see, he caught glimpses of symbols and signs painted in bright crimson on the walls. The sight immediately reminded of him blood. As a swordsman, he'd certainly seen enough of it before coming to Landel's.

Part of him wished he'd donned his hard hat again. He'd decided to save it for emergencies before, but he could see how something like that could be useful for future forays down here. It was something to keep in mind for the next time they came across the lake, at any rate.

As soon as the three of them entered, though, the door suddenly shut and locked behind them.

Don't look back, a voice hissed into the darkness, sending Claude's heart jumping into his throat. He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but no sound escaped him. He had no idea what was going on, but they needed to stay alert for any signs of ambush. Did they follow the advice of the strange voice and keep their eyes ahead? Or was it some kind of trick?

Nightshift 60: Medical Wing Hall

jusdicere — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 04:00:21 GMT

[ from here ]

if Erika was hoping that going further into the Medical Wing would offer her some guidance as to where to go next, she would have been extremely disappointed when she stepped into the empty space and found nothing but more doors and hallways to greet her. It was probably a good thing that she wasn't expecting much of anything out of this place, but it was still a bit frustrating when trying to figure out where to start. At the very least, she could see that the hallways led further in, which meant that this place was probably not "the back" of the wing yet. If that's where they wanted to go, then they still had to travel. However, there was no concrete evidence that the drugs they were looking for was actually in the back, so that wasn't her call to make.

The detective turned around to see if Zero had followed, shining her light on a few of the doors as if highlighting all of the different choices they had to make. The most efficient way to get around was to have each of them look in separate rooms, but like hell Erika was going to do that. It defeated the purpose of getting a meatshield.

"We have a lot of choices. Do you think we should check these rooms first, or start from the back?" She hoped that it was clear that Zero was the one who was allowed to choose, because it didn't matter where they started to Erika; she preferably wanted to have the whole area explored by night, but this place was strange and she was sure they were going to run into trouble sooner or later. Maybe she simply didn't want the responsibility of possibly landing them into a deathtrap at the moment, since she had no strong desire to explore any particular room.

Night 60: Road to Doyleton

poorexample — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 02:48:51 GMT

[From here.]

While it had taken some time for Dean to get the bus started, now there seemed to be little trouble with getting it moving. It was a far cry from the Impala -- even Castiel knew that -- but it seemed like so long as it had a steering wheel and traveled on land, Dean knew how to drive it.

Despite Dean's suggestion, however, Castiel wasn't willing to go sit down, even though there were more than enough seats to choose from. While he doubted that most monsters would be able to get to them when they were in the bus, that didn't mean he was comfortable enough to not keep some sort of look out. Figuring that Dean would need to keep his eye on the road ahead (it wasn't well-lit, after all, and they were surrounded by a thick forest on either side), Castiel took on the task of looking through the windshield at the area around them. He remained standing, slightly to the side from where Dean was sitting, and grabbed for a bar overhead to keep his balance as the bus passed over unsteady ground. If something tried to ambush them, he wanted to be aware of it.

None of this felt particularly safe, but that was almost comfortable for someone like Castiel. What he and Dean were doing now -- it reminded him of past times, of times that Dean had not yet experienced.

"You know the way, correct? There should only be one road." Still, if they got turned around or took a wrong turn, it could turn very bad for them.

Night 60: Chapel

corvus_veritas — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:48:43 GMT

[Bursting in from here; m-u effects have now worn off.]

Good thing the chapel doors were already wide open, otherwise the panicking prosecutor might have collided with them on his desperate sprinting spree. As it was, he nearly fell over trying to stop himself once he actually got into the chapel.

"Kay!?"

... Where...what?

Byrne stood there at the entrance of the chapel, breathless, his thoughts slowly catching up with him after his madman dash over here. There was no one here but himself. The red pews were empty, the room was still, and the only sounds he could hear came from a demonic looking fountain in the room, running red. No sign of a girl in a white dress anywhere.

Confused, he tried to think of why Kay would have just vanished, and more rational thoughts finally entered his head.

She......she hadn't been real, had she?

Just think about it, Faraday. An angelic figure? Your daughter? Why would she suddenly appear, looking like that? You know she's not that age anymore, not to mention she escaped days ago. You just wanted to see her. And so what the hell did you do? Run all the way over here for an imaginary figure? Left your partner and only protection behind? You dumbass, you'd have jumped right into a pit of spikes if Landel promised Kay would be at the bottom of them! You only have yourself you blame, you know that? Idiot!

Byrne winced and rubbed his face with his hands as his rational mind continued chewing him out for being so stupid. No need to turn around and go back, at least. He was certain Badd would follow him here, and he was more certain his partner would be wondering why the hell he'd just run in here, too. Oh, man...how was he going to explain this...

Night 60: Main Hallway, 2-East

melodists — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 22:56:38 GMT

[From here.]

The entry hallway to the second level happened to be quiet--dare she say, virtually deserted. Tear gave a thoroughly look and feel for the area before signalling Mikado to move ahead. She remained by his side, keeping all senses open for potential dangers. Hopefully none was present, but with this building, a person could never be sure.

Night 60: Front Desk (Medical Wing)

believein0 — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:28:25 GMT

[From here.]

This place looked the same as it did three nights ago... Except this time they were the only prisoners here. No distracting traffic, more room to roam quietly, and as result, a better chance for them to hear if something unfriendly was trying to sneak up on them. Not to mention being the first ones here meant everything was undisturbed and where it should be, so they didn't have to worry about missing out on useful supplies or the drugs (assuming some were still around here, of course).

And now they could continue their conversation from earlier. The information Erika provided on the different trials cleared a few things up for Zero. He had spent the night after the first drug trial getting supplies with two people unaffected by the second trial, which Erika said had happened that night. So it made sense why he hadn't heard about the second trial until now, especially since she said few people had been affected by that trial to begin with.

"Yeah, I guess I just somehow missed hearing about the second trial." Zero stopped walking momentarily and stared down the dark hallway before them, thinking. Where do they go from here... His knowledge of this area was limited; he'd only fully explored that 'MRI room' area last time, never finding the room where the drugs had been. But perhaps Erika knew?

"Do you know where the drugs were kept here?" he asked, turning to face her. "I wasn't able to find it when I went looking for it before."

Night 60: Grand Ballroom

vsyourface — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:20:22 GMT

[From here]

As they descended the stairs, Scott's eyes darted away from the marble doors on the ballroom's south side. He couldn't help looking back up at Indy as his head turned, almost as if to make sure the man wasn't secretly a ghost that would disappear on them at any moment. ...Then again, if he was a ghost, wasn't turning around supposed to make Indy disappear anyway? Or was that the wrong type of ghost? Either way, Scott didn't look back for long, assuring himself that they weren't going to lose the adventurer again.

As his gaze moved back down, however, the black doors on the opposite side of the ballroom didn't inspire much more confidence. They didn't have any of the ornate imagery that the other doors had. Instead, they formed solid, heavy black slabs in the wall, like twin monoliths, or those creepy "SOUND ONLY" things from that one anime Envy liked.

He gripped Senna's sword and slipped his flashlight into his pocket as the party reached the bottom of the stairs, facing the ominous doors. Scott's mouth was getting dry again as flashes of that other night played in his head. "Well. Here we are," he said. Even at a volume just above a whisper, his voice seemed to fill the space.

Night 60: Walk-In Refrigerator

scalyfishman — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:35:37 GMT

[from here]

Another part he'd rehearsed enough: finding the loose tile. Depth Charge didn't waste any time bothering about the cold before heading in its general direction, crowbar at the ready to pry it back once he found it. Or someone found it. Truth was, he wasn't sure exactly where to look. At least this time he had the grace to give someone else the room to look at the same time. Hey, he'd never been one for filling in the details so long as the overall picture looked good.

Again, he glanced back at the rest of the good, frowning a little against the shadow as he counted off heads, one taking a second glance before he remembered that the kid had left his outfit behind. Still, it was unnerving. At least he'd been able to willfully ignore that Spider-Man was young before. In fact, was he really even a Spider-Man anymore?

Still, so far, so good.

Night 60: Kitchen

unheroed — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 00:38:08 GMT

[From here.]

Being at the head of a group of six was definitely a good feeling, even if it also meant that Harvey would be the first one to get attacked if something found them. His need to be in charge often battled with his own logical sense of self-preservation. Before the accident, the former had almost always won out, coupled with some urge to be the hero. Now it was a little bit different.

For the moment, though, it looked like the kitchen was completely empty save for them. That didn't meant that something wasn't hiding in the shadows, though. It could even be that guy that had managed to set both him and Jones on fire, which Harvey was not looking to repeat.

For that reason, he quickly moved toward the door that would let them into the fridge. Unfortunately, being the first ones here meant that the lock hadn't been broken yet. Being in the lead also meant that Harvey had to be the one to deal with this. Sighing, he grabbed for his metal pipe and started to work at the lock with it. The clanging sounds were enough to make him nervous, especially after the close call that he and Jones had dealt with last night, but he knew he couldn't hesitate.

Night 60: Bus Unloading Area

poorexample — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:47:31 GMT

[From here.]

The sensation of the crisp night air causing his face to sting was not completely new, but Castiel was still hardly used to it. Temperature hadn't affected his vessel before he'd been drained of his power, and it was yet another aspect of being more human that got under his skin, literally. The trenchcoat he was wearing had a practical use now, and he grabbed at one of the flaps with a temporarily free hand (his flashlight was tucked under his arm), pulling it tighter around himself.

"Dean," he started, ignoring the way that his breath became visible in front of him, "we now know for certain that there is a device that is limiting our strength. If we can locate that again and disable it permanently, escape will become possible." It was a better lead than he'd found during his whole time here, and he didn't think it should be downplayed.

The area in front of the institute contained a few buses, all which were parked and seemingly at rest. Castiel eyed them. He didn't even know how to drive a car, but Dean certainly did. He glanced over at the man. "What are the chances that you could get one of those working?"

Night 60: Cafeteria

oneman_onekill — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 08:10:03 GMT

[from here]

And here they were! It seemed like just the other night--oh wait, it had been just the other night since they had last been here. Of course, this time there were no hordes of monsters chasing after them or bursting out from under tables...yet. Yet was the key word, and as fond as Niikura was of taking his sweet time when he felt like it, he wanted to get out of the cafeteria before "yet" ran out.

"So I have no idea what to expect once we get down there," he said casually as he walked down an aisle, guessing this was as good a time as any to admit that his research had gone rather shoddily, if only to dispel some of the heavy silence that seemed to be sitting pretty in the room. Admittedly, it wasn't shoddy because of him. People just couldn't talk about what happened in the basement, which made it that much more interesting and appealing in his opinion.

Niikura edged smartly around the corner of the counter in the back and paused at the door to the kitchen. "I take that back. I do have some idea. Apparently there's a sphinx somewhere, so, y'know, it's gonna ask us a riddle so just be prepared to think outside the box a bit." He then knelt down to examine the lock. It was another one of those sketchy ones that just required some brute force or some poison from a demon lord-turned-human, whichever one happened to be available at the time.

"Anyone wanna do the honors? I'll just give it a whack otherwise."

Nightshift 60: Pantry 1

toxicspiderman — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 03:29:32 GMT

[from here]

The pantry was free of cockroaches, spiders (not counting Peter) and ephemeral naked gonzo journalists. Which was good, because there was barely enough room for six of them, and materializing in the middle of any of those was Star Trek season three material. Transporter accidents were the future's airplanes -- unless terrorists were involved, safer than taking a shower in your own house, but people didn't understand how it worked.

They didn't understand hydrostatic pressure, but turning a shower knob looked easier than a Christmas tree of dials and lights sunfished across a cockpit or a console.

He shoved the tines of the ring into the back of his hand and pulled out a glittering red stone. "Looks like we're all in one piece." Separate individual pieces, too. Always important.

"Kreuger actually here, or is this some kind of Canadian hockey mask allusion thing?" With S.T. as the racist American hick. Or it could really be Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Where Do Dreams Go When They Die?

It was based on a real medical oddity -- bunch of Cambodian refugees with understandably fucked up nightmares had heart attacks in their sleep, and a porno/art-film nobody had a smash hit. Better to think about that than the plot, which hit a little too close to the truth here for comfort. It was going to be a while before he could watch another horror flick and be able to laugh at people's heads getting blown off.

Nightshift 60: Doctor's Office 1

thecamellia — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:06:28 GMT

_{[from here]}

The room across from Professor Stein’s old office was furnished, if only sparsely. That made Tsubaki think there had to be a doctor using it, which gave her hope.

Once she had stepped into the room, the desk in the back resolved itself in the gloom, along with the big shape sitting on its surface. A computer monitor was pretty unmistakable, all things considered. Yes, there’s one!

“There,” whispered Tsubaki. “They have a computer.”

Now came the hard part! Sneaking around a computer wasn’t the same thing as sneaking around a building--physical traps she could deal with, but virtual ones were another story. Hopefully nothing happened when they started poking around. Were appliances like this even getting power?

Night 60: North of the Institute

girlsandgadgets — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 10:37:10 GMT

[From here.]

Edgar crossed the wall with relative ease, his hand slipping from the stone as he fell. The snow cushioned his landing, crunching beneath his boots. He had to admit that the military's shoes were preferable for snowy travel to the slippers issued by the institute. Though the chilly wind nipped at his bare face, the fire in his chest kept him warm against the falling temperatures. The cold was soothing, that flame always lapping at him from the inside.

A good night to test out his abilities, then. He surveyed the landscape around him: the rocky terrain, increasingly so as it headed toward the quarry, was hidden by the white that blanketed everything it touched. He listened for a moment, but heard nothing to disturb the stillness. That made it all the more unnerving: there should have been wildlife about, bringing some minor disturbances to the area, but there was nothing at all.

However, no noise also meant there might be no one else around, and given he wasn't sure how his abilities would behave or if he could control them, that was something Edgar had been hoping for. He had barely contained them only one night before- they were suppressed now, but that didn't mean he couldn't lose control. He couldn't risk hurting others; he could only hope his spells would be of some use and that they could be mastered quickly, before he became a slave to the infusion himself. That was not an option.

Trekking from the wall, he chose an area clear enough for his work. It felt so different from the magic he had learned: the words came no easier, but the energy itself dug further into him, teasing his senses as it twisted its way through his body and down to his fingertips. He could already feel changes between the cast from the night prior, the spell taking more energy as he worked his way through the incantation. It would wear on him, but it had to be done.

He could feel his palm sweat as seconds ticked by, his concentration wearing thin. Keeping at it was going to be the key- good thing he had never been one for giving up so easily.

[Rita! Sorry this is way late, man. D:]

Nightshift 60: Doctor's Office 2

thecamellia — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 22:11:09 GMT

_{[from here]}

What was inside was… essentially nothing. An empty room waiting to be filled by a future therapist.

Tsubaki had expected as much, but it was almost lonely seeing his office cleared out, the smell of cigarettes now long gone. At least he’s not using you anymore, she thought. But the Head Doctor was still manipulating the rest of the doctors, if their situations were anything like Professor Stein’s. That was a sad thought.

But when push came to shove, there was obviously no computer here to use. “We should… try one of the others,” she suggested.