Once again, Sheena ended up with a broken pen and ink stains on her hands. She glared at the offending writing utensil and then sighed. At least she had some spell cards again and she'd taken extra time to make sure they were done right this time since the ones she made last night had all mysteriously smudged come morning. She left the small amount of crumpled up paper laying on the floor as she ripped her sheet up and folded a long strip properly and then tied it about her waist, perfect bow in the back with the long ends hanging down (the way she liked it), fashioning an obi. It felt more comfortable and she had a better place to put her cards.

The summoner broke off a teeny tiny piece of fudge and wrapped it in it's own piece of paper to take along. She thought Tamaki might like it. With a grab of her cards, Sheena slipped out of her room to go collect Raine. She wondered if she'd run into Forte again. Then again, if Forte ran into any monsters, she'd probably hear him clear across the building.

[to here]

[from here]

Leon was still debating his options when he reached the second floor. Again, it was more or less empty. He shined his flashlight down the hall, trying to see if there was anyone (or anything) else around. The weak beam couldn't penetrate the dark shadows. If someone was lying in wait, they were pretty well hidden.

With a sigh, Leon leaned against the wall, trying to call up a mental image of his old map. He'd have to try and find a new copy tomorrow, or Sunday, as his previous one had gotten ruined. Bleeding all over things did that. He knew how to get to the janitor's closet, but he recollection of how to reach the kitchen was a bit fuzzier. In theory, he could head in the general direction of where he knew it was and start trying random doors, but that didn't seem like the best plan.

But neither did taking on whatever might be waiting for him in the darkness down the hall.

Indecision kept Leon where he was for the moment, deep in thought.

[from here]

Much emptier here. Didn't seem like anyone else had made it this far, yet. Leon turned on his flashlight and hurried up the stairs. Hopefully nothing too horrible would be hanging around on the second floor, though he wasn't about to hold his breath. There was Special Counseling tonight, and the odds were good that someone would be camped out in the main hallway upstairs. Maybe heading to the kitchen for knives first would be better... Leon mulled over his options as he reached the top of the stairs and pushed open the door.

[to here]

[tl;dr]

Renamon was resolute in maintaining an aura of unemotional professionalism after last shift. She wasn’t going to allow herself to be affected by anything here--at least, not until she could analyze them. Lost in thought, she followed the nurse leading her without paying much attention to her surroundings. It wasn’t until she realized they were moving through the Sun Room that she spoke up.

“If possible, I’d like to stay in the Sun Room again. I’m still feeling worn out.” Her speech was clipped and polite. Hopefully the nurse would allow her to do-so again--she had to meet another this afternoon.

The nurse was cheerful, replying reassuringly, “Oh, that’s fine dear. You can come back here right after your shower.”

Renamon took a moment. Shower. She filtered through her knowledge of human speech for an exact definition for the word. Once she found it, her eyes widened and she missed a step. She instantly calmed herself, and spoke as if everything were fine. “Would it be possible to pass? I’m not quite sure it’d be…” She couldn’t think of an excuse. Starting to panic, she clutched the short sleeves of her shirt, wishing for the sweatshirt she mistakenly passed on. Why hadn’t she kept it on?! Her voice had turned soft and pleading. “Could I not? Please.”

The nurse went over Renamon’s strange reaction. “Dear, it’ll be fine! You must want to get cleaned up--you’ve been here a few days already.” The woman kept walking, turning her head back to smile at Renamon. “I’m afraid the doctor made it clear that all patients must participate.”

Renamon’s eyes darted to either side, eying the room. Orderlies were seen by the doorways, and she had seen several patients be sedated at mealtimes. She wasn’t willing to risk losing her mental agility and alertness for a doomed from the start escape attempt. And over such a ridiculous thing too. She trailed after her nurse silently, for all purposes seeming like someone being led to hang.

She froze in the changing room, and had to be coaxed by her nurse to slip out of her clothes, and then into the shower room, where the nurse turned on the spray. Renamon had long fallen back into the “catatonia” the first nurse she had come into contact with had whispered about, non-responsive and sluggish. In actuality, Renamon was in a forced meditation, the only thing keeping her calm at the thought of no fur covering her, nothing covering her, nothing protecting her, she was naked, skinned! Muscles and flesh revealing the delicate organs beneath for any predator to rip and tear out; her outsides torn off by ones who only wished her harm, trying to reach at her insides, her core, her soul. Did she have a soul? Was she just data? Is she was just data, then this wouldn’t bother her. She wouldn’t care. Did this prove she was real? Her arm brushed her bare side and she jumped sideways, cracking into the wall and sliding down. She stayed sitting, slumped on the floor, letting the water hit her in the face as she stared at nothing. The heightened sensations were numbing her, leaving her skin tingling from the extra sensitivity. Everything was felt in explicit details: where the spray was hitting her, where her side was going to be bruised, the re-opened cut on her shoulder, the hard floor underneath her, the weight of her hair pulling on her skull. This body wasn’t hers. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t real.

Maybe she didn’t want to be real, if this is what it was. Renamon raised her head to stare mournfully at her nurse, looking more like an animal then she had as a fox Digimon. Hand half raised to her mouth in a mix of surprise and shock, her nurse stared back for a moment. Renamon didn’t care enough at that point to control her expressions. Her eyes and face showed everything she was, and wasn’t, feeling for the first time. She sat there in the water, motionless, until her nurse saw fit to take her away.

[taken to here]

Second floor, East Wing, North Hall 2-B.

Considering how angry the Head Doctor sounded when he gave his usual nightly intercom post, Naminé figured that "Jill" had stolen something very important. Of course, now she was probably dead, but the witch liked to think that if Jill had enough skill to actually steal something from under the Head Doctor's nose, as he put it, then maybe she would be able to evade the monsters that were doubtlessly chasing after her.

One could hope.

Since just about everyone she knew from this place was effectively gone (Raven, Elena, Soma, Larxene even... and Luxord, she supposed, could count since they were no longer friends), it was strange having nothing to do. But Naminé had been sleeping in her room for the better part of the day, succumbing to her melancholy mood. She supposed there was nothing left to do but explore. The thought of finding Kairi or Axel or Sora or anyone she knew lingered for a moment, but since everyone she kept regular contact with seemed to disappear, perhaps it was best just to leave them alone.

Well, there was the North Hall 2-B, on the East Wing of the Second floor. Naminé had nowhere else to go and nothing to do, so she decided to try and find this location. Normally, she would have been afraid of the monsters, but there was no one left to protect her, so just going outside would have sealed her death. At least, if she were to die, she would be doing something semi-useful.

So, with those morbid thoughts, Naminé stepped out of her room and looked around carefully before heading down the hall.

[ moved here ]