Bounty Head Bebop Comlink
Play By Post Section => Trophy Room => Sanitarium => Topic started by: BerkaZerka on May 03, 2015, 06:01:36 pm
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Sanitarium!
You’ve all been here in this hell hole of a sanitarium for months now; trapped like rats in a maze, experimented on, mistreated, and downright abused by the staff – who seem to think you are less than human - and worse, have convinced the State and everyone else that you are a danger to yourself and others.
You may have your quirks, but you’re nothing like what the sanitarium has made you out to be. Even so, you can’t leave, unless you want to be hunted down like an animal – or shot by the sadistic guards in trying.
Not that you have anything to go back to – now that your friends and family have abandoned you here. No visits, no letters, no nothing. Perhaps they believe all the lies – that you are mad; that you are a dangerous animal; that you need to be caged and the key thrown away forever.
Your lives up until recently have been pretty wretched; with daily torture sessions carried out on you for the perverse pleaser of Dr. Kaufman and his staff – all thinly veiled in the nomenclature of “medically proven science and therapy.”
“It is necessary to help make you a better person,” the good doctor would always say; as he did all manner of horrible things to you. Things that you knew were not helping at all – but actively working to destroy you. You refused to let yourself be destroyed however, and hung on through it with all the willpower you could muster.
The doctor was not trying to cure you.
He was trying to see how long you could last before you broke. You were not going to give him the satisfaction of breaking so easily.
Even so, the resistance has taken its toll.
For the naturalist Archie Rouse, the daily treatments were spinning in the RTD (Rotational Therapy Device) until he either puked or passed out; and frequent stints being hung upside down on the wall, as part of his Suspension Therapy. Once a week, it was Shock Therapy for good measure – the Doctor taking particular interest in noting the effects of various voltages to the male anatomy.
For Earl Boggs, who believed he had been abducted by aliens, they actually drilled a hole in his cranium for what they called Trepanation Therapy. Then they set him down in ‘The Hole’ for days on end, as part of a Sensory Deprivation Therapy. In The Hole, Earl had heard shrill piping sounds coming through the walls and had vivid hallucinations of male and female sex organs sprouting from the floor and dancing around him to the ‘music’.
For Rupert Meeks, who had seemed totally normal when he first arrived – claiming to have been brought here under false pretenses – it was Sleep Deprivation Therapy and daily Enemas. Kept awake for fourteen days straight, he was then allowed to sleep twenty four hours, and then had to do it all over again. As this went on, Rupert began to slip into delusional states, thinking he was somewhere else (in a cave filled with mummies), and inadvertently developed Pica – eating bugs, dirt, his own hair, and basically anything that he could fit in his mouth to chew and swallow.
For Mildred O’Connell, who claimed to hear voices telling her what to do, it was the same for her as it had been for Earl Boggs – first, Trepanation Therapy, having a hole drilled into her skull, and then time in The Hole for Sensory Deprivation Therapy. During her stay in The Hole, Mildred continued to hear voices – only these weren’t her usual ones. These voices wanted her to dig through the wall to them, so they could sup on the blood that flowed from Mildred’s fingertips. Only Mildred couldn’t dig through the stone and the blood kept flowing – until it had filled The Hole and caused her to drown to death. Obviously, she hadn’t drowned in her own blood, but it had felt entirely real to her when she was down in that accursed pit.
For the Kleptomaniac, Betty Mayfield, the daily treatments were being dunked in ice baths for what the Doctors called Hydrotherapy – which caused Betty a great deal of physical pain and anxiety – as the Guards would not only grope and paw at her naked body, but would actually push and hold her head underwater for periods of time. During one such event, Betty passed out and when she came to, the Doctor was gone, she was laying naked on a gurney, and the guards were busy cinching their belts back up, after what she could only imagine was them gang-raping her.
And for Helen Childs, the Nymphomaniac, no attempt was even made to hide her rape. Her “therapy”, as it were, was a twice daily “Aversion Therapy” in Director Kaufman’s office that was nothing less than full blown BDSM – where the Doctor would literally get his rocks off, while whipping Helen in a zippered leather facemask and telling her what a dirty little whore she was. Between Sessions (as the Doctor recovered), Helen would receive a Daily Enema.
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“It is necessary to help make you a better person,” the good doctor would always say …
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Recently however, things have changed. Director Kaufman seems to have been caught up in some new approach to Psychiatric Treatment, involving the effects of music and sound on the demented.
Everyone who could play an instrument, or learn fast, was given a part to play in an octet of chamber music; while the horrible tortures (aside from Helen's continued daily "Aversion Therapy") were abruptly replaced with music practice and bizarre sessions of “Tone Induction Therapy” – where the subject is exposed to a battery of unusual sounds, tones, and volumes for various intervals.
While this is much preferable to the deplorable treatments before, it is just a matter of time before the good doctor finds some way to twist these new experiments into more physical and mental torment . . .
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3 pm - Group Therapy in the Music Room . . .
Each of you are in the music room after music practice with Director Kaufman, his Associate Dr. Hartley, the paranoid Harvey Polk, cross-dresser Francis Schaefer, two guards, and the Day Orderly Evelyn Boyce. The residents and Doctors are all seated in a circle of chairs, while the two guards stand at the door and the Orderly takes notes at a small desk.
"So," Director Kaufman begins in a heavy Austrian accent, "Why are you here?"
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"Because I need to be a better person..."
Rupert replies in complete monotone.
"You'll make me a better person..."
He continues, unconsciously picking out one of his hairs and eating it.
"This will make me... a better person...?"
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"I don't really know."
Archie replies, while idly scratching his genitals.
"For some inexplicable reason, everywhere I go people are really, really uncomfortable. Back in Hartford the nurses kept on telling me I had to "put on clothes" - HA! Madmen."
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Helen stares blankly at the space just over Dr. Kaufman's left shoulder.
"I'm a bad girl. . . I'm a naughty little whore who needs to be taught a lesson. . ."
She slides one hand up her skirt, between her thighs. Her breathing quickens-- soft panting gasps-- as she writhes in the chair, nearly sliding out of it.
"Oh . . . I'm a bad girl. . . Ah. . . Ah. . . "
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"Some bull didn't find me takin' some ciggies an' spoons funny, I tink. Don't know what made him such a wet blanket." Betty answers, stealing some glances at the stuff on the doc's table.
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Mildred's eyes continuously dart back and forth, surveying the area in search of the inexplicable voices.
"The voices will stop... Only if I find them. What am I doing here, not looking for them?" Her eyes suddenly focus on the doctor. "What am I doing here? I'm not imagining them... They're telling me to go. All this is applesauce, Doctor... Let me find them, please!"
She nervously grips at her clarinet, by now standing, glossy eyed.
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“That’s right Rupert!” Director Kaufman exclaims with a clap, as if Rupert’s reply was some kind of psychological breakthrough.
A guard meanwhile, jabs Helen’s shoulder with his nightstick – hard enough to hurt (1 subdual damage).
“Now Helen,” Director Kaufman says, as if he didn’t even see the guard strike her - “what have we been working on, hmm?”
“You must learn to control your lustful impulses. Especially in a public setting.”
Turning to Mildred, he continues, “Mildred my dear, music lessons are over.”
He motions for the other guard who steps over to take the clarinet from Mildred.
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Helen stops touching herself and straightens up in her chair. She reaches up to feel the sore spot on her shoulder where the guard's blow landed. "Mmm. . . Yes, Doctor. . ." she sighs, wriggling slightly in the chair. "I want to be a better person. . ."
She stops squirming and looks him directly in the eyes. "I want you to help me be a better person."
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Director Kaufman loosens his collar a moment and clears his throat.
"Ah, yes, that's the spirit Helen!" he replies with a sly glimmer in his eye.
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"No! Let me keep it!" Stab one of them with it, now!
No... I'd lose, right? "... I want to, ahem, practice in my room..." Mildred hugs the clarinet tightly to her chest, adamant on keeping it.
Fine, but don't let anybody take it from you. "Please let me keep it, Doctor. I think it will help me find the voices. That's why I'm here, right?"
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"Let go you crazy bitch!" The guard growls, pulling at the clarinet and cocking his arm back, ready to bean Mildred in the head with his nightstick.
He hesitates however, when Director Kaufman quietly says, "Mildred, that's why we have music practice. Now give the nice man the clarinet, so it doesn't get damaged with you fighting over it. It's OK, it will stay safe here in the music room until practice again tomorrow."
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As this goes on, Mildred suddenly becomes aware of some shrill piping music (as if from an invisible piccolo) playing around her head in a repeating pattern. No one else seems to hear it though ...
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With most everyone's eyes focused on Mildred, waiting to see if she relents or gets her skull cracked, Betty realizes she could swipe a pen off the Doctor's Desk if she was quick enough . . .
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Attaboy, girly. Hold onta' that pipe for just a bit... betty thinks, as she reaches for the pen.
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"Its all the damn aliens fault intell you!" earl says
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Tension mounts, as the last moments before the nightstick will come crashing down tick by ...
Betty meanwhile, easily sleights the fountain pen off the desk and into the folds of her hospital gown. No one has seen her do it.
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Harvey Polk the Paranoid leans forward in anticipation - almost as if he enjoys seeing other people hurt. He wouldn't be the only one around here unfortunately.
The uber-masculine cross-dresser Francis Scheafer turns away, not wanting to see what might come next.
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"Give up the clarinet Mildred!" Archie pleads - taking a second to stop scratching the electric burns on his genitals to encourage Mildred to avoid the beating (though at this point, he doubts she'll get away without one regardless).
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Hide it! Hide it! Betty thinks to herself, hiding the pen up her sleeve.
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Honestly, the other women here are so needy. Always distracting the doctor with their silly problems.
Having lost the director's attention for now, Helen leans forward, apparently raptly interested in the forthcoming conflict. surreptitiously, she slides her hand between her legs again.
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Make the noise stop...
It'll only stop if you make someone bleed, Mildred...
"Then take it!" She cries, pushing her clarinet into the guard before ducking and running away, trying to escape through the door while pushing things away with her instrument.
Where the hell are those musical notes coming from? Doesn't matter, as. Long as they leave me alone...
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Mildred makes it to the door before being tackled by both guards. She hits the ground hard (taking 6 Subdual Damage) and is held there, while the Day Watch Captain (George Hutchins) is called from security.
A moment later, he shows up on the other side of the door.
Thank god he doesn't have the Dobermans with him, but he does have a straightjacket - and the three men forcefully stuff Mildred into it and then drag her away.
"Such a pity," Director Kaufman sighs, "I though she had been progressing nicely. Ah well. Maybe she'll be back onboard tomorrow. Yes, we'll straighten her out all right."
Then turning to Archie, he asks "So Archie, what is it about clothing that you find so distasteful?"
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End of Scene
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So Ends Another Day . . .
Watch Captain Hutchins and the two guards drag Mildred down into the basement and strap her onto the table in the Electro Chamber. Mildred tries to resist, but the three men are too strong for her.
“You’d best learn to do as you are told; when you are told!” Hutchins snarls, backhanding Mildred across the face and inadvertently breaking her nose (2 Damage).
Stunned, the strange piping music Mildred had been hearing stops.
She barely comprehends the conversation going on around her as Hutchens wraps his calloused hands around her neck and begins to choke her out (7 Subdual Damage).
“Hey, let’s have some fun with this one,” a guard suggests, grabbing his crotch to indicate his meaning.
“Yeah, why not?” the other guard agrees. “She’s not as hot as that nympho dish, but the boss said we can’t touch that one, so …”
With Mildred choked unconscious, Hutchins walks around and lifts up her hospital gown.
Holding one of the electro-probes in his hand, he orders the men to ‘fire up the machine’.
“Better safe than sorry, eh boys?” he laughs, shoving the probe and a few hundred-thousand volts into Mildred’s …
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Rupert, Harvey, and Francis luck out of Experimental Therapy sessions for the day and are returned to the mill space, where they must sit quietly along the wall until dinner. Time stands still for those sitting along the wall, where no talking is permitted, sitting up straight is the order of the day, and a blast in the face with the firehose (or worse) can await someone who forgets the rules one too many times.
Archie’s “Therapy” is to be taken to one of the Ice houses and get locked in. At regular intervals, Dr. Hartley opens the door and offers Archie a pair of long-johns to put on. As cold as it got, Archie refuses the clothing each time, fidgeting around and rubbing his hands together to keep his body temperature up. By the end of the two hours, he is shivering uncontrollably with numb feet and has frost built up in his beard – but he has ‘won’.
Earl draws an odd combo-package of Tone Induction Therapy coupled with Rotational Therapy. It involves being strapped into the RTD and spun at high speeds, while a tuba (set up next to the device) blasts loudly in his face each time it comes around.
Betty meanwhile, is placed down in The Hole, where weird tones and noises are piped in through the speaker system. While down there, she can’t help but feel like some malevolent force is down there with her, lurking just on the other side of the padded walls. To help keep herself calm, she flips the fountain pen that she had pilfered in her fingers.
And Helen of course, has her usual Aversion Therapy with Director Kaufman in his office, before he has to wrap things up for the day. He seems unusually eager today for some reason, perhaps due to Helen’s display in Group Therapy.
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At length, everyone is brought back into the mill space for dinner. Everyone except Mildred that is.
It isn’t until 7pm (well after dinner), that the Night Nurse Doris Archer helps a weakened Mildred into the mill space. Mildred has her nose bandaged and two black eyes; and while she doesn’t know for sure if she has been raped, she can feel painful burns down in her crotch.
She remembers the conversation she overheard, but then nothing after that, until waking up on one of the observation beds in the Nurse’s Station.
“My heavens!” Francis gasps, placing her hands aside her cheeks with unfeigned concern. “what have they done to you? You poor girl!”
“It won’t be long now, before they kill us all,” Harvey Polk replies glumly.
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Helen, slightly irked that once again, that batty spinster is the center of attention, sidles over towards Archie.
"Aren't you cold?" She whispers. "I could warm you up without those silly clothes."
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Earl hesitantly approaches Mildred and quietly asks "Did the aliens probe yountoo?"
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Archie, acutely aware of the fact he'd spent the past few hours in a very cold room, says, while crossing his legs.
"Oh now, don't you worry about that Helen!"
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"lets hope it was cold in the room you we're in!" earl says with a giggle as he gestured to Archie's crotch.
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"Awww. . . What's the matter?" Helen purrs, leaning even closer. "Don't tell me our bold exhibitionist is really just a shy little boy?"
Helen surreptitiously presses herself against him, only the thin layer of her gown separating her breasts from his bare skin. "Mmmmm. . . I may have to give the director some new ideas for convincing you to put some clothes on. . ."
She slides her tongue along the edge of his ear and giggles.
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Rupert meekly glances at everyone talk as he sits in silence.
Only a matter of time before they kill them? What a load of phonus balonus. The doc is only trying to help them. They all need help.
He knows this, yet Rupert stares at the ground, trying to figure out just what is wrong with him as he absentmindedly eats some dirt.
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Betty sneaks a look at her new pen, her savior from the hole. Freaking hole.
"Don't be such a wurp, Polk."
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"I don't... know." Mildred slowly states to both Earl and Francis. "The noises stopped for now, but now my whole body hurts..."
"We need to get out of here," she whispers, "somehow."
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"I'm telling ya," Harvey says agitated, but then lowers his voice to a whisper - "I overhead them saying that they were going to 'terminate' the 'experiment' once we put on our little show for the Director's friends next week."
"They even laughed at how easy it was to 'dispose' of the last batch of loons."
"I tell ya, we're done for!"
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"Oh my!" Francis replies in distress.
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"escaping from the oppressing captors and kidnappers... Jmm... I'M game." Earl says thoughtfully.
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"Harvey, youre a pill, but can't say I would be surprised. Disgusting bastards."
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"No, but but..." Francis stammers - "Director Kaufman said this new music therapy would cure us. That we could go home if it was successful. All we have to do is cooperate," (here Francis gives Mildred an accusing glare and then shakes her head).
"Just play the music like he wants and he'll let us go. Yeah, I have to believe it," she begins to cry, "It's the only hope we've got."
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"Ah nerts to that malarkey!" Harvey scold Francis, then smiles at Mildred with a rather devious look of madness playing on his face.
The smile isn't helping at all.
"I think you got the right idea toots." he says, "Tell me what's your plan? I'm game to break out of this joint! You can count on me!"
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"Stop worryin' everyone, Harvey. You got nothing doing." Betty says
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Mildred frowns. "I'd have to look at our schedules to find an opening... You think we can steal some knives from the cafeteria? But I dunno how we could get there... Maybe if we can nab some during breakfast?"
We can stab people?
She rubs her temples, "Agh, it's back..."
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"Yeah... knives... yeah..." Harvey says, rolling his hands with a sinister grin.
"I like the way you think Mildred!"
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"Oh no, I can't be a part of this!" Francis cries and hurries away to her room.
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"As for getting them," Harvey continues, ignoring Francis's exit - "Most of the guards sleep during the night and the Watch Captain is a drunk! We could go anywhere we want in this joint during the night, if we could just get out of our cells and past the Night Nurse..."
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"That is just what they want you to believe.." earl replies.
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"If you guys want to get somethin', I'd say steal the rifle that bull keeps in his office."
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"A rifle? Im game." Earl replies wth a mischievous grin.
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"How can we steal the keys? And from whom?" Even though Mildred still holds a pained expression, she can't help but feel excited. "If we can get the keys to our cells, the night nurse shouldn't be a problem if we just storm her together..."
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Rupert shakes his head at the talk of escaping.
There's no escape. Why would the need to escape anyway? They're sick; they need help. The doctors are helping them... even if sometimes it doesn't seem that way.
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Mildred continues, still holding back tears. "More importantly, though, we need to be, be in this together, right? Rupert, why are you shaking your head? If we do this right, we'll be able to find the voices behind the walls! Gentlemen, and lady," she looks at Helen, "Speak up... please..."
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"You mooks don't need keys to get out of your cells," Harvey whispers, leaning in a little too close for comfort.
"All you need is a page or two from one of these books." Here, he holds up one of the cheap novels that the residents have in their mill space.
"Just wad up some paper inside the latch. That way the lock doesn't fully engage and you can jimmy it open after the guards go to sleep."
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Mildred meanwhile, hears the faintest of whispers - coming through the stone floor and up through her feet -
'Yes... come to us behind the wall... below the earth... we will save you from them... make you rulers over them... bring them to kneel before you and see as you see...'
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Harvey, still scheming, continues, "Just need a way past the nurses; and have to avoid the two roving guards is all..."
"Might be able to overpower them, if we had weapons, but not if the rest of them know what we're doing. They'd whack us for sure..."
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"But I like stealing keys." Betty whines.
"Helen could pro'lly distract the guards."
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Harvey practically drools at the thought.
"Ah, yeah, I'm sure she could, hehehe ..."
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Since Archie might as well be a lifeless corpse ( intriguing, but impractical) Helen turns her attention to Harvey & Betty.
"You want me to . . distract somebody?" She moves over next to Harvey, leaning her head so close he can feel her breath against his neck. "Mmmmm. . . What did you have in mind? Go into detail. . ."
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Having clearly perfected his lifeless corpse impersonation (he plans to write a book later about this new, "playing dead" technique and how it can help you survive dangerous predators), Archie thinks to all the times he's had thousands of volts of electricity shot through his balls.
Admittedly, once or twice is intriguing and perhaps worth trying out in a lifetime. But every day was getting exceedingly painful. Perhaps it WAS times to escape.
Yes. Good on you Harvey, let's see what we can do with this.
Archie thinks to himself, wondering where he'll hide the papers he'll rip out of the book.
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"Keys, paper what does it matter if we're escaping." Earl says. "Besides, im pretty sure these guys laugh behind my back aswell. Aliens are real! and they probe peoples rear ends. I dont know why."
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Harvey is about to say something, when a guard bangs loudly on the bars with his nightstick.
"OK, BREAK IT UP YOU FAIRIES! IN YOUR ROOMS NOW!"
"MOVE IT! MOVE IT!"
This of course is nothing new. They yell at you like this every night when it is time to get locked back in.
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Rupert flinches at the sound of the nightstick hitting the bars, then silently obeys the command.
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Mildred complies-- too risky to get it now. I'm sorry... We'll rule over them starting tomorrow, I promise...
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Archie goes to his cell, walking openly and loosely.
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Alright mr guard." Earl says as he walks to his cell.
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Betty nods, and, as she goes to her cell, shimmies up to mildred and hides her pen in her hair. Hopefully it'll be unoticed.
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Betty's cell is searched - they find nothing.
Mildred is stabbed in the head with a fountain pen when she lies down.
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Mildred slowly reaches for the object in her hair, pulling it out in utter bewilderment. Confused yet pleased, she places it in a safe spot (in a pillow or somesuch), and gets some much needed rest. Yes, now we can make them bleed...
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Helen heads more-or-less obediently to her
cell guestroom,only flirting a little with the guards.
Certainly no touching.
That's later, when she's alone.
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7 am - Cold Showers
The next morning, following calisthenics in the yard, everyone is herded through the showers, where there is an unexpected delay in getting the water running for some reason. When it finally starts to flow out through the showerheads, the pipes shriek and groan for a few seconds.
Curiously, the noise the pipes make is almost music-like in everyone's ears - though the staff doesn't seem to notice.
For Mildred however, it's even more. This is the same pattern of tones she has been hearing over and over in her head of late - and judging by the looks on the faces of the other, they can hear it too! Maybe she's not crazy after all!
"GET MOVING WORMS!" a guard at the far end yells, striking the tile wall with his nightstick, as the guard at the other end starts shoving people through.
The tile he hit meanwhile, inadvertently pops off the wall and breaks on the floor.
There's something weird about the spot the tile occupied, but the guard quickly moves (almost intentionally) in the way so that it can no longer be seen behind him.
As this goes on, Archie and Earl (being in the rear of the group), notice a strange dripping sound when the showerheads are turned off. It echoes up from one of the drains in the floor and sounds more like water dripping into a cavernous lake below than water simply swirling down a pipe.
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Earl moves a little as to see behind the guard, interested in what might be behind him. He also whistles the catchy tune he heard from the showers.
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The guard seems to notice Earl trying to eyeball the empty tile spot and shoves him back in line with a growl - "GIT YER ASS BACK IN LINE!"
Earl does manage to get a look however, and is pretty sure that there's a bullet hole in the concrete behind the tiling.
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8 am - Breakfast
After dressing in clean gowns, everyone is taken up to the cafeteria for breakfast.
Here, the guards back off enough that the residents can talk amongst themselves with a modicum of privacy while they eat ...
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Betty eats slowly, planning on stealing ALL the spoons soon enough. But firstly, pen. She shimmies up to Mildred, and whispers.
"Pen me."
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Helen, in a rare display of female solidarity, slides over next to Frances. "You have to come with us! It'll be fun!"
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"Who me?" Francis replies askance, "do you really think you could escape this place? I mean without everyone getting hurt, or worse?"
Then whispering so no one else can hear, she adds, "Don't trust Harvey... he's... well... he's one of them mob guys. He may even be faking paranoia to hide here from them. I mean, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."
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Betty eats slowly, planning on stealing ALL the spoons soon enough. But firstly, pen. She shimmies up to Mildred, and whispers.
"Pen me."
"So it was you..." Mildred whispers, reluctantly handing back the pen (which she was able to somehow hide through the morning rituals).
"Anyway, you guys hear the music, right? It's so weird..." She looks around for the utensils available to them in the cafeteria let's hope for knives you pen-giving idiot.
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"No music... Just Fred", Rupert replies, scratching the table to attempt to get some specks of wood off of it.
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"Who me?" Francis replies askance, "do you really think you could escape this place? I mean without everyone getting hurt, or worse?"
Then whispering so no one else can hear, she adds, "Don't trust Harvey... he's... well... he's one of them mob guys. He may even be faking paranoia to hide here from them. I mean, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you."
"I really think we could," Helen emphatically replies. "I mean, look at how many totally sane people are in here- how competent can the staff be?" She gives France's arm a quick little squeeze. "You've got to come along. We can't leave you here all alone."
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Of course Mildred doesn't see any knives - all they ever get is spoons.
Knives are however in the kitchen; and whoever is assigned to dishwashing after breakfast would have (albeit carefully watched) access to them.
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Francis frowns. "I don't know..." She says to Helen, "I'd rather just wait and see if the Director will let us go (like he promised), after the performance."
"Besides, you've all practiced so hard and sound so good. It would be a shame for the world to not see what beauty people like us can bring to the world."
"Even if it's not the miracle cure it's supposed to be..."
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"Yes!" Betty cries out triumphantly.
"Mildy, gal, I guess you arent such a miss grundy after all." She says with a nod. "Or at least your hair isn't."
"And yeah, wierd music."
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"Fred?!? Fred was here?!?" Harvey starts at Rupert's mention of a 'Fred'.
Harvey's eyes dart around the room in near panic - big as saucers.
Harvey look like he is about to do something rash...
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Rupert looks up at Harvey, then returns to scratching the table.
"Fred is nice."
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Staying well away from Harvey, Archie says - "Fred's dead
baby Harvey, Fred's dead."
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Harvey's head swivels much too quickly between Rupert and Archie in confusion.
With a deranged look he pulls out some of his hair and screams in rage.
The guards rush in to restrain him.
"YOU GAVE ME AWAY! YOU GAVE ME AWAY!" Harvey screams at Rupert, as the guards try to tackle him. Harvey proves to be a bit of a scrapper and socks one of them across the jaw. The nightsticks come into play shortly thereafter.
Harvey gives it a good fight though, kicking the other guard in the nuts and almost knocking the first one out with another knuckle-sandwich.
That's when the Dobermans (Victor and Faust), abruptly leap onto Harvey and start biting the shit out of his neck and face.
"YOU STUPID MUTHA FUKHA!" Watch Captain Hutchins yells, coming into the cafeteria after the dogs.
At this point, Harvey is shrieking bloody murder and trying to keep the Dobermans away from his vitals – they happily chewing on the arms he has offered them.
“GOD DAMN IT!” Hutchins curses and yanks the dogs back on their leashes.
It soon becomes clear that the Watch Captain is not pulling the dogs back to spare Harvey, but to clear the way for a pair of nightsticks to simultaneously come crashing down on Harvey’s face – taking him out in a spray of teeth and blood!
When it’s over, Harvey looks dead… but blood still weeps from the vicious wounds he has sustained. At least for now the wreck of a man holds tenuously to some semblance of life…
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Nurse Stinson and Orderly Boyce rush into the room and look with concern at Harvey's mangled neck and face.
"Better call Doctor Slaughter," Nurse Stinson says and the Orderly rushes off to do so.
"Good boys! Good Boys!" Captain Hutchins says, patting the blood-mawed mongrels.
Then turning to the men, he casually orders, "take the bum to the Doctor's Office and strap him down."
The guards comply, dragging Harvey out by his feet. The Nurse follows them out.
The roving guards come in to take the previous guards places and Watch Captain Hutchins leaves with the dogs to return to the security office.
-
Archie eyes the others carefully.
Would they be willing to fight?
-
Mildred brings a hand over her mouth, horrified by the sudden turn of events. After taking one or two spoons for herself, she simply watches the situation settle before worrying about who's turn it is to wash the dishes.
-
"Bye bye Harvey." Earl waves at him when they drag hin away.
-
"What is wrong with you?!?" Francis gasps, appalled by Earl's callous response.
"You find nothing wrong with that awful awful display of barbaric behavior?!?!"
"Clearly, you at least among us, deserve to be in here!"
Francis then pushes her food away from her in disgust. No longer able to stomach any of it.
-
Betty looks on, and shakes her head sadly. Stupid Harvey. Stupid stupid harvey. She needs to get out of there now.
She looks to francis, helen, mildrew, and nudist dude.
"We need to get out." She whispers. "Theyll kill us soon."
-
"Ofcourse i dont deserve to be here. Im not ko-ko. I was abducted by aliens, and people say im ko-ko for it." Earl replies to Francis.
-
Francis doesn't say anything.
She just frowns and shakes her head.
It is not clear however, if it is in response to Earl, the idea to try to escape, or both.
-
A slithering whisper enters Mildred's mind, echoing in her head thirteen times - 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...' 'Take us with you ...'
-
"Wait, you mean you're stuck here? Where are you?" Mildred asks the voices.
"Frances, honey, realize that we need to leave here. After Harvey's freak out... It won't be long."
-
'In the music below' the voice hisses to Mildred and is then replaced with those weird piping sounds again. Fortunately, it fades quickly this time.
Francis meanwhile, doesn't answer.
-
The Day in Review
After breakfast, the residents are put to work, while Director Kaufman and Doctor Slaughter come in early to examine Harvey Polk. After patching him up as best they can, they have him transferred to the Nurses Station and strapped down onto a bed. Nurse Stinson gives him an injection to keep him asleep for the day.
During chores, some of the residents have limited opportunities to pilfer a few things.
Archie and Mildred are cleaning upstairs, when Mildred is caught trying to hide the mop in her cell. She explains that the voices told her to clean her room and is yelled at for it, but is otherwise simply put back to work mopping again, albeit with greater scrutiny.
That distraction however, gives Archie a chance to steal a look in the nurses logbook, while cleaning in the Nurses Station.
He sees some notes on each of the residents' dementias and their general health status - but also finds that all of the residents have been marked down as 'Case Hopeless'.
Additionally, Archie sees an entry for Dorothy Werner (the missing resident) that indicates she is in a coma (though it doesn't say where she is currently being kept).
Then there are notes for Ruth Swain (the screamer in the basement) that have recently been marked 'Case Terminated' ...
Archie is unable take the logbook however.
Earl meanwhile, takes a moment in the supply room to gulp down the booze he hid there. It gives him a good buzz and makes the day a little more bearable.
As this goes on, Betty tries to get access to the knives in the kitchen, but being a known klepto, the guards don't let her anywhere near them. She does manage to score a wire whisk however, which if taken apart could be used to pick locks.
Betty drops the whisk in the mop bucket under soapy water and takes it upstairs to Mildred.
Mildred finds the whisk when she dips the mop and finds a place to hide it in the corner of the mill room.
---
Later, during morning music practice, Francis is briefly brought in to replace Harvey on the viola; but she can't play a single note and is quickly thrown out of the music room by a very irritated Director Kaufman.
Director Kaughman then takes a moment to go chew out Captain Hutchins for farking up Harvey so badly; and threatens to let him go, if Harvey can't recover enough to make the recital for his colleagues on time.
---
The day continues to pass.
Earl, Betty, and Mildred luck out of Experimental Therapy sessions this time. They are returned to the mill space, where they have to sit quietly along the wall until dinner.
Archie, Rupert, and Francis meanwhile, are taken down to the basement. There is an unusual silence there today - no screaming coming from Ruth Swain's isolation cell for some reason.
Archie tries to suggest another trip to the ice house like yesterday, thinking it might be an opportunity to score an ice pick, but is instead suspended upside-down on the wall and then wrapped head to toe in wet bed sheets like a mummy.
Supposedly a type of Aversion Therapy, Archie finds it overly suffocating and most distressing. He fails his Willpower Save, has a panic attack and loses 3 Sanity Points.
Rupert draws the Tone Induction Therapy coupled with Rotational Therapy. Like Earl was the day before, Rupert is strapped into the RTD and spun at high speeds, while a tuba (set up next to the device) blasts loudly in his face each time it comes around.
Francis meanwhile, is placed down in The Hole for Tone Induction Therapy and thinks she hears whispering voices between the strange piping sounds. She can't make out what the voices are trying to say, but finds that a small relief, as she has no desire to hear them in the first place.
Helen enjoys more Aversion Therapy with Director Kaufman in his office before he leaves for the day. She even manages to coil a 5 foot leather whip around her upper arm, while the Director is getting dressed. Her hospital gown covers that part of her arm, so unless she is searched, no one will see that she has it.
---
At length, the day finally comes to an end and everyone (except Harvey) is gathered in the mill room after dinner for free time.
-
Betty looks around at the group, and quickly whispers;
"What'd you guys get?" She asks
-
"I got caught," Mildred drinks some of her soup, fishing around in hope of finding an ox tail (for use later). If possible, she'd also try to get some napkins.
"But I found some sort of wire-whisk in a soap bucket. Might be useful..." While already whispering, she pauses to look around for close-by guards. "So are we doing anything tonight or what?"
-
Rupert shakes his head.
"No...but Fred said he'll help tonight..."
He says quietly.
"I don't see why. We're supposed to be here. We're sick. They're helping."
He mumbles to himself, tugging gently at his hair.
-
"I'm not sick," Mildred protests. "The voices call me from below, and I'm going to find them to prove it!"
"Also, who's Fred?"
-
Archie has an edgy look on his face.
"I snuck a peek at the nurse'so logbook today, apparently we're all hopeless cases. What the hell are we doing here being "reformed" if we're hopeless? They're going to get rid of us, kill is when they're done Farking with us like they always have!"
-
Helen perks up at the mention of Farking. "Mmmm . . . Who's Farking us? Where do we go for that . . .?"
She nods to Betty. "I've got something. . . special. . .from the directors office. . ."
-
Betty nods.
"Oh good. I was worried you'd miss it." Betty says to mildred. "Keep it, but I'll need it later."
She then looks at Rupert.
"We don't have problems, you waterhose. See? Everyone here tried to steal something and all of us enjoyed it, right? Having fun isn't a problem. The sickos are the one's treating us." Betty says.
Hearing Helen's statement, her face beems.
"Ooh, whatd you get?!" She quickly asks, excitedly.
-
Francis folds her arms, listening to the back-and-forth.
"You all can do what you want and I won't tell," she says.
"Probably a good thing Harvey is out cold though; he's a bit of a squealer."
-
"Francis, these creeps want to change you from a she to a he. You cant possibly want to let them do that, right?" Betty asks.
"We need to get out. All of us. Includinh you."
-
"I have nowhere else to go!" Francis cries. "Don't you see that? There is no escape for us. Not in here and not out there. Unless we can be cured, we can never go back!"
-
"I'm not sick," Mildred protests. "The voices call me from below, and I'm going to find them to prove it!"
"Also, who's Fred?"
Rupert shakes his head violently.
"Fred is Fred. He slays me..."
He says, suddenly giggling to himself.
"Everything is Jake. Fred will make it better."
-
"Then . . . Let's not go back. . ." Helen says to Frances. "Let's go . . . forward? . . Or maybe down. . ."
To Betty's question, she replies, "I'll show you later. . . Unless you want to see me take my clothes off now. . ."
-
"Please," Francis replies dismissively, "I'm not that type of girl!"
-
Betty rolls her eyes.
"Maybe later, Helen." She says, before shaking her head at francis.
"No! You don't get it. You have everywhere to go. These bulls dont get to own the world, and they sure can't torture us for their own sick pleasure. We deserve better. And if they dont give us what we deserve, we have to take it ourselves. Right guys?"
-
"Please," Francis replies dismissively, "I'm not that type of girl!"
Helen sighs. "Why does everyone always assume I'm talking about sex?. . . I meant we should literally go . . . down. . ."
-
"Down?" Francis asks.
Then she gasps, "Did anyone else notice the silence in the basement today?"
"Ruth wasn't screaming anymore... God, I hope they didn't do anything else to her."
-
"How long is Harvey honked out for?" Mildred asks with a frown. "Maybe it'd be better if he died, then..."
She shakes her head, "I want to investigate the hospital tonight, or soon, anyway... They've started telling me where to find them."
-
"The shower voices?" Earl asked interested.
-
11:30pm - The Mice Will Play...
Everybody takes a page or two from one of the cheap novels in the mill room and tries Harvey's idea of wedging the door latch.
When the doors are shut, the latches on Rupert, Earl, Betty, and Helens' doors fail to engage, but the doors look closed.
Mildred's door latch engages with a click and she is locked in.
Archie's door doesn't stay closed and, for a moment anyway, the guard looks like he is about to inspect the lock and foil everyone's escape bid - but then he simply slams the door a few times until it latches (locking Archie in).
Francis didn't bother to try to rig her door.
By eleven thirty, the guards can be heard snoring at their guard post behind the elevator, but the night nurse and orderly (Doris Archer & Margaret Helms) still seem to be chatting idily in the nurse's station. Their muffled laughs are audible through the wall now and then, though what they are joking about is not intelligible - meaning that as long as everyone is quiet, they shouldn't be caught immediately.
Rupert's pet rat comes out of the wall and scurries over to the cell door, as if waiting to be let out.
Mildred meanwhile, hears the piping music in her head once again; only this time, it is soft and soothing in the background of her mind. It gives her a sense of calm euphoria for some reason...
-
Betty silently exits the room, and looks around for the others.
"Come on guys, lets go." She whispers
-
Earl will go get his booze and head for the shower area, to see if he can communicate further with the magical showers. he will also inspect the bullet hole.
-
It occurs to Earl that he can't do any of those things without the aliens probing him a good one for not paying attention to his surroundings.
-
"Probing is bad." he says quietly with the best pokerface he can manage and decides to follow Betty's lead for nowm
-
"What do you think?" Helen quietly whispers to the others. "Should we try to sneak out of here . . . or take on the guards? Sounds like they're sleeping. . . "
-
"Hey guys!"
Archie whispers from his cell.
"Get us out of here!"
-
Rupert cautiously opens his door and lets Fred out.
-
Rupert's rat quickly heads south along the bars, and then to the east wall in the south portion of the second floor where a tall book shelf stands bolted to the wall at the top (to prevent it being moved or tipped over).
It seems to wait for Rupert to see it, and then slips behind the book shelf.
-
"Fred!"
Rupert attempts to yell and whisper at the same time, resulting in an odd sounding whimper. He then exits his cell and attempts to get to the bookshelf without being heard or seen.
-
Rupert scampers over to the book case.
Getting on all fours to look behind it, he sees his pet rat back there, waiting in front of a cast-iron vent in the wall that allows air to circulate up into the second floor from the stairwell on the other side of the wall. The vent heretofore, has been hidden behind the book case, though Rupert does recollect (now that he thinks about it), seeing the vent up at the top of the stairwell many times; though he had never paid it any mind.
The rat then ducks into the vent and disappears out of sight.
The cast-iron vent itself, is about sixteen inches wide and twenty eight inches high. It is held in place with six half-inch diameter flat-head screws and has a matching faceplate on the other side of the wall (over the stairs) - which would also be held by the same screws. The book case would have to be removed from in front of it however, if anyone wished to try to access the vent.
-
Not wanting to draw too much attention to himself, Rupert brings his face down close to the vent and whispers into it.
"Freeeed!"
Whether he sees Fred or not, Rupert will look for a way around to get to the stairway.
-
Using the wire whisk, Mildred attempts to get out-- and also anyone who is still stuck in their cages.
"Okay, so now we're out..." Mildred whispers, "So now what?"
-
Betty looks at Mildred.
"First, gimme my lockpick, old coot. Then we should take out the nurses. Not our nurse though, the other ones."
-
Mildred attempts to pick the lock of her cell with a wire from the whisk.
She fails miserably.
Betty however, has a little practice in the field (apparently) and easily opens Mildred and Archies' cell doors.
She notes that Francis's cell door is still closed, though Francis is not at it.
-
"Huh. Guys, Francis isnt ar her cell. Anychance she's ratting us?"
-
Betty hears snoring coming from Francis's cell, looking into the dark room, she sees that Francis is in fact still in there - just asleep.
-
Betty shakes her head sadly.
"Ne'er mind, she's just sleeping." Betty says, opening her cage and sneaking around inside, lookinh for anything cool she keeps.
-
Betty messes with the lock for a bit and finally gets it open. She then enters Francis's cell and manages to find a small makeup kit without waking Francis.
-
Pilfering random nonesense is pretty much betty's profession, so she takes the makeup and quickly heads out. Maybe she could find some use for it soon.
She then closes the locked door. If francis wants to stay, she can.
"Okay guys, so, should we skip the nurses and check out the basement first? It sounds super intereting."
-
Pilfering random nonesense is pretty much betty's profession, so she takes the makeup and quickly heads out. Maybe she could find some use for it soon.
She then closes the locked door. If francis wants to stay, she can.
"Okay guys, so, should we skip the nurses and check out the basement first? It sounds super intereting."
"Yes..." Mildred nods, giving back the wire whisk, "That's where the voices are calling from. I need to take them with me, I think."
-
Mildred hands the wire whisk back to Betty, after Betty had used it to open the doors (including Mildred's). Nice trick. XD
-
Mwhahahahaha. *betty's internal voice
-
Archie whispers over to Betty.
"Hey, bribe Francis with the makeup, we could use, uh, her help."
-
Desperate to get to Fred, Rupert begins to pull and push on the bookcase in an attempt to move it out of the way. He'll continue to do this (getting increasingly desperate), until it breaks off or he's stopped.
-
Rupert is able to pull the bottom of the book case out from the wall far enough to crack the bolt holding it at the top.
Unfortunately, the floor creaks loudly as the heavy book case is moved and the bolt rips the plaster out of the wall with an equally heart stopping 'CRACK!'.
The talking in the nurse's station stops abruptly, though the snoring from the guard post continues...
-
Archie whispers over to Betty.
"Hey, bribe Francis with the makeup, we could use, uh, her help."
(Bribe her with her own makeup?)
Rupert is able to pull the bottom of the book case out from the wall far enough to crack the bolt holding it at the top.
Unfortunately, the floor creaks loudly as the heavy book case is moved and the bolt rips the plaster out of the wall with an equally heart stopping 'CRACK!'.
The talking in the nurse's station stops abruptly, though the snoring from the guard post continues...
Helen does whatever passes for hiding, in whatever place seems appropriate. She gets the whip,ready though, to hopefully use on the nurses if they come to see what's going on.
-
"Freeeeedd", Rupert whispers through the vent, grasping it with his hands and pulling to break it off.
-
The cast iron vent is no match for the determined lunatic!
Bracing both feet against the wall, Rupert gives a great heave and rips the vent out of the wall with such force that he hurtles back into the book case - toppling it over!
The heavy wooden thing crashes to the ground - shaking the entire floor!
If they hadn't heard the loud shuddering of the vent being ripped free, they certainly heard the book case falling over.
Sure enough, the Guards in the guard post spring awake and yell aloud "WHAT THE FARK IS GOING ON IN THERE?!?"
The door from the nurse's station is also starting to open.
Rupert is just a kick or two from knocking the vent on the other side of the wall out so he can get through.
---
(OOC - Combat Rounds have started)
-
Archie runs right back into his cell.
He ain't getting caught now...
-
Damn you rupert! Betty thinks to herself, as she quickly heads to the doors Close to the nurses to jam it.
"Guys! The plans busted! Kill the Farking guards!"
-
"Probing time." Earl says with a malicious smile as he cracks his knuckles. He looks around for anything to use as a weapon.
-
Rupert quickly kicks in the other vent and crawls through.
-
Assuming she couldn't get back into her cell in time, Mildred, scared and scarred as she is, attempts to run away to hide in the linen closet. God damnit... Should have waited until I actually had a weapon. Stupid Voices!
-
Rupert kicks the vent out of the other side of the wall and crawls through. He is now at the top of the landing, looking down the stairs that come up from the first floor supply room.
He sees his pet rat looking at him from the bottom of the stairs, where it darts around the corner and into the supply room.
Rupert can hear the Dobermans in the security office barking and Night Watch Captain Frank Anderson cursing.
Archie meanwhile, gets back to his cell and closes himself in.
Mildred jumps into the linen closet. She sees a mop, broom, bucket, dustpan, etc (in addition to all the linens). Any one of those might make an acceptable weapon.
Betty rushes to the south door in the wall of bars and tries to jam it up. She's not sure how long it will hold.
The door to the nurse's station opens and Nurse Archer and Orderly Helms come out.
They see Betty at the barred door and exclaim - "Betty? What on earth are you doing?!?"
That's when Helen cracks her whip at them through the bars, hitting Nurse Archer in the cheek for 3 Damage and bloodying her up pretty good.
Nurse Archer screams and begins to retreat back into the nurse's station.
Earl, looking for a weapon, picks up a folding chair.
The two guards rush around from the their post to see what is going on.
"AW HELL NO!!!" they yell, seeing the residents out of their cells (but having not yet noticed the open hole in the wall, where Rupert has just gone out).
"Y'ALL GOT ONE CHANCE TO GIT YER ASSES BACK IN YER CELLS - OR IT'S HELL TO PAY!!!"
The Guards then begin to unroll the fire hose behind the elevator, which they will no doubt turn on the residents, through the bars, in a matter of moments...
---
(OOC - Combat Round 2)
-
Helen follows Rupert through the vent (again assuming that's something she can do,quickly.)
-
Betty follows rupert and helen, quickly.
-
Frightened by all the racket, Rupert no longer calls out to Fred. Instead, he quietly, but quickly, follows him down the stairs. He really needs to catch Fred before the guards find them.
-
After designating a broom, Mildred tries to find a place to hide within the linen closet (covering herself with the blankets in order to wait out the storm. Hopefully the guards will leave the room so she can try to make a plan-- whether to flee or retreat back to her cell, without the tension of a fight.
-
Rupert continues to follow his pet rat. It seems to hurry down into the basement shower area and then waits for Rupert to come into view.
Rupert arrives at the bottom of the stairs (outside the shower room) just in time to see 'Fred' scurry down the floor drain!
Helen and Betty meanwhile, duck through the now open vent access, arriving at the top of the landing over the stairs that lead up from the supply room below.
The guards see this happen and stare in disbelief for a moment, before yelling - "HOLY SHIT! THEY'RE ESCAPING!!! CALL THE CAPTAIAN!!!"
Abandoning the fire hose, one of the Guards comes down to door in the bars and tries to unlock it - but the keyhole is jammed.
The other Guard rushes into the Nurse's Station to come around the long way - intent on stopping anyone else from going out through the vent.
That would of course be Earl - who watches all this go on in morbid fascination, before realizing that he is just standing there.
If he wants to get through the vent, he'll need race the other Guard to it - and most likely (at this point) will get a wood-shampoo when he sticks his head out the other side.
Downstairs, the Watch Captain and his men mobilize. Captain Anderson and the two Dobermans get in the elevator and patiently wait for the doors to close, while the two roving Guards blow their whistles and take up positions, as the rifle is retrieved from the gun vault.
In the basement, Rupert can hear the commotion and alarm whistles on the first floor above. He just barely slips into the shower room in time to avoid being spotted by the two Guards at the basement post, who rush past him on their way up the stairs into the supply room.
Still in his cell, Archie has carefully kept the door ajar just enough to keep the lock from engaging, while Mildred continues to hide in the linen closet.
Francis wakes up at looks out her cell. "Oh no! This is bad! This is very bad!" she exclaims nervously.
---
(OOC - Combat Rounds. Helen & Betty have an extra Action left over from the precious round and can incorporate it into this round if they want to)
-
As Mildred hunkers down under the linens, voices in her head comment - 'Now you are wrapped in linen, just like us. Soon, you will join us in darkness, were the music plays without ceasing . . .'
-
Betty quickly rushes down into the supply room, and, hearing the guard's rush, tries to find a good spot to hide in.
-
Helen also hurries down the steps, hoping to avoid the guards. She will, of course, hide if she hears them coming.
-
"Freeeeed!"
Rupert whispers with his face close to the drain. He then attempts to pull it out and reach his arm down it, thinking Fred wants him to follow him down.
-
Help me find you... When I get to the basement, where should I look?
Mildred spends the next round taking an innocuous peek outside of her door to wait and see for when the guards are completely gone from the room so she can begin her own escape route, perhaps with Archie's help.
-
Archie waits for a more opportune moment before acting.
-
Betty and Helen hurry down into the supply room. They hear jackbooted steps approaching fast from the basement stairs below and manage to slip behind a rack of hanging raincoats before two guards enter.
The guards head to the stairs going up to the second floor - though only one goes up immediately. The other, first stops to knock at the locked door that leads out of the supply room and into the main hall of the first floor.
"Station Bravo One on it," he says through the door.
A knock returns from the other side and a reply comes back - "We're ready down here."
Once that has transpired, the guard hurries up the stairs to join the other, leaving Betty and Helen alone in the supply room.
Upstairs, Earl dives through the open vent.
The guard at the bars meanwhile, manages to open the lock that Betty had jammed and rushes through to try to grab Earl by the legs as he goes out. He is not quick enough however and currently looks through the hole with his back turned to the cell doors.
If Archie and Mildred are quick enough, they can jump him before he realizes he is exposed.
The guard coming around from the nurse's station sees Earl coming through the vent and yells, "YOU ROTTEN FINK!" whilst attempting to bean Earl in the head with his nightstick.
Earl blocks the blow with the folding chair he brought with him and then gets to his feet.
Earl then notes two more guards scrambling up the stairs at him.
"YOU'D BETTER RUN YOU CRAZY MOTHERFARKER!" one of the guards yells with a gleefully twisted smile, as he comes up at Earl (he must be the type that really enjoys what he does).
As all this goes on, the Watch Captain and Dobermans are still on the elevator. It just now dings loudly and begins its slow rise to the floor above. The music playing on the speakers does not put the Watch Captain in any better of a mood - though he finds the eerie piping a little off-putting - wondering when the Director had music installed in the elevator and why this particular sort.
It reminds him of his failed dream of becoming an interpretive dance instructor, before he ended up rock bottom in this hell hole - but at least here, he has someone to take it out on. Someone more miserable than him.
Down in the basement, Rupert lifts off the drain-cover and reaches down the pipe - fishing for his pet rat Fred.
He hears Fred skittering around down there in the darkness and squeaking, but can't reach him. There seems to be some sort of large hollow - unseen below - as the rat's squeaking and some dripping water sounds seem to echo cavernously.
As Rupert does this, he notices that the tile that had been broken out of the wall earlier that morning has since been replaced (it now being slightly off-color from the rest).
---
(OOC - Still in Combat Rounds. Archie & Mildred can attack the guard at the vent as part of this Round as a 'held action' if they want to - and then still have a full set of actions for this next round.)
-
Archie righteously sneak attacks the guard in the vent, taking his time in lining up a kick to the guy's nuts.
-
Betty quickly searches the supply room, looking for something to brandish as a weapon, for her and the others who are weaponless.
-
"Uh-oh." Earl says before smacking the guy that tried to hit him and then dive back into the vents.
-
Mildred takes her chance to come out of the closet and smacking the man upside the head with her broomstick as many times as it takes to take him down.
-
Rupert moves towards the out of place tile and attempts to break it off of the wall, like what happened in the morning.
-
In the supply room, Betty and Helen find all sorts of neat stuff, including a large toolbox. Inside the toolbox is a serial-killer's dream! Hammers, saws, metal rasps, large monkey wrenches, pointy pointy screw drivers, sharp sharp chisels, pinchy pinchy pliars, assorted crowbars, a hand drill with bits, and the most lovely hatchet that anyone has ever seen in a long long time...
At the top of the stairs, Earl swings the folding chair like a madman and cracks one of the guards in the chin for 4 Damage.
Earl then tries to dive back in through the vent, but finds that he is immediately blocked by the guard now on the other side.
The three guards at the top of the stairs then go to town on Earl with their nightsticks.
Earl blocks one shot with the folding chair, but the angry guard kicks it out of the way, so the other two have a clean shot. Earl hears a loud CRACK CRACK!! and sees stars for a moment - as he is struck twice in the head for 5 + 5 Damage!
The guard on the other side of the vent meanwhile, laughs - "Oh no, you ain't coming back in here so fast! You wanted to be out there, so enjoy being out there! Ha ha!!"
The guard being distracted with Earl, allows Archie and Mildred to hurry out of their cells up behind him.
Francis, watching from her cell, gasps aloud at the impending mayhem - and the guard turns to see what's going on - just in time to deflect Mildred's stout mop handle from staving in his head. He takes 1 Damage to his arm though, and moves away from the vent as Archie tries to kick him and fails.
Not deterred, Archie lines up a field-goal and scores the extra point on his second try - kicking the guard squarely between the legs for 3 Subdual Damage.
The guard lets out a loud "OOFUuuugggh..." and stumbles a bit - allowing Mildred to try poking him in the throat with the mop handle.
Even stunned, the guard parries Mildred's feeble attack with ease.
"DEVIOUS CRETINS!" he yells, swinging his nightstick at Archie and striking the naked loon in the shoulder for 3 Damage.
"IT'S A FULL BLOWN REBELION IN HERE!!!" he yells to his compatriots on the other side of the wall.
On the elevator meanwhile, the Watch Captain and Dobermans continue to wait patiently for the lift to arrive at the second floor.
'The hell kind of music is this?!?' he thinks to himself as he waits.
Down in the basement shower room, Rupert gets up and goes over to inspect the north wall.
He actually sees more than one newer-looking tile.
As the one he saw knocked out earlier is still affixed with uncured cement, it is easy to peel off.
Behind it, Rupert finds a blood spattered hole with a rifle slug still in it.
Taking a step back and looking at the entire wall (and all the discolored tiles), it suddenly dawns on Rupert that he is looking at the backdrop for a firing squad!
---
(OOC - Next Combat Round)
-
Betty quickly grabs the hatchet and the handrill, before looking at Helen.
"We need to kill these jerks." She says, wielding the hatchet. "We should get into the security room?"
-
Mildred will try to poke the guard as hard as she can as many times as she can with her broom, hoping he'll hit the floor soon enough.
-
Archie continues hammering away at the guard.
"FREEDOM! VIVA LA REVOLUTIÒN!"
-
Rupert stares in disbelief at the wall, and attempts to remove some of the other mismatched panels to see if they're the same.
-
In the supply room, Betty and Helen arm themselves, and then try to determine their next course of action. It they want to go on a killing spree out the locked door, Betty will have to pick it open first.
Of course they could go help Earl, who is currently getting his ass kicked at the top of the stairs by three guards. Or not.
Speaking of Earl; unable to get back through the vent, Earl swings his folding chair wildly.
He smashes it off one guard's knee with a loud crunch - doing 6 Damage and nearly buckling the man's leg. The guard howls out in pain and then angrily tries to hit Earl back, but misses as his leg refuses to support his weigh properly anymore.
The other two guards meanwhile, laugh at their comrade's misfortune, chiding him for eating too many donuts and not being able to dodge fast enough anymore.
That doesn't stop them however, from continuing to hammer Earl repeatedly on the head with their nightsticks.
Earl takes another glancing blow for 2 Damage - but then a resounding Crit follows! - fracturing his skull for 8 Damage and causing blood to begin flowing out his right ear.
Earl's head swims in pain and he knows that he is nearly done for!
"This guy's almost done," the guard that cracked Earl's skull says offhandedly - as if to echo Earl's very thoughts.
"Fark him up!" the wounded guard replies with and angry huff.
On the other side of the wall, the guard fending off Archie and Mildred swings his nightstick at Archie again. Archie blocks the blow with his forearm, taking 2 Damage. Better his arm than his face though.
Returning the favor, Archie drives a knee into the man's crotch - scoring a Crit on the guard's already sensitive jewels for 4 more Subdual Damage.
Mildred then pokes the man in the chest with her mop handle, knocking him prone - as he is inadvertently pushed back and stumbles over the fallen book case - though he doesn't take any damage from it.
At the elevator meanwhile, the bell dings loudly, as the lift arrives on the second floor. Inside, the Watch Captain and two Dobermans wait for the door to open. Thankfully, the weird music has finally stopped playing.
Down in the basement, Rupert uses the edge of the tile that he pulled for leverage, prying out even more of them.
Rupert's fears are confirmed - dozens of bullet holes in the wall, all covered up at varying times with replacement tiles!
---
(OOC - Next Combat Round)
-
Realizing that Fred must want him to follow him underground, Rupert runs to the other side of the basement, where the ice stairs are. If he's to dig his way down to Fred, he'll need to get outside first.
On his way there, he'll attempt to find a shovel in one of the rooms, and also attempt to ruin the electrical junction with liquids found in the laboratory, because it seems like a good idea at the time.
"We're sick... we're sick... but why would the shoot us? They wouldn't shoot us..." Rupert mumbles to himself while he runs around.
"I'm coming, Fred!"
-
Earl decides its best to feign death. He does not want to die.
-
Helen goes along with Betty's plan. Upstairs where earl is, that's where the dogs are too, right?
-
Archie grabs a folding chair to continue his assault on the man's pride, going for a home run.
"You don't deserve children!"
-
Mildred continues angrily prodding the man in hopes to maybe at the very least discomfort him.
-
Betty nods, and heads out to the locked door, and knocks.
Assuming someone responds, betty, attempting to sound as gruff and manly as possible states,
"How many are with you?"
-
Knocking on the locked door that leads out of the supply room and into the main hall, Betty lowers her voice and calls through - "How many are with you?"
Surprisingly, her bluff works and a reply comes back, "six in position - all doors secure."
Helen stands nearby, watching up the stairs at the ready.
There, the guards attacking Earl are about to club the shit out of him again, but Earl rolls his eyes up in his head and goes limp - feigning being knocked cold from the last blow.
"HA! I knew that was all he had!" the guard that cracked Earl laughs in triumph.
Earl feels two of the guards then hike him up by the arms and drag him around the corridor to nurse's station, where he is thrown on a bed.
"One down - the rest to go!" one of the guards jests.
Both guards then leave to return to the hole in the wall, where the third guard still waits, watching it for escapees.
Orderly Helms comes over to Earl, intending to strap him down to the bed, before tending to his wounds.
Nurse Archer sits at a desk, holding a bandage against her cheek where Helen's whip drew blood.
In the mill space meanwhile, Archie and Mildred continue their battle with the guard.
"FARKING BANSHEE!" the guard yells at Mildred. "CRAZED MANIAC!!!" he yells at Archie.
The guard then scrambles to stand up and swings his night stick at Mildred's head, missing when Mildred parries the blow with her mop handle like a pro.
Archie meanwhile, whisks up a folding chair and continues to hurt the man for another 3 Damage.
Tear's begin to well up in the guards eyes and he has a look of distress on his face, as if to ask Archie 'why?'.
Not getting anywhere poking, Mildred follows Archie's assault with ye old baseball-bat style swing of her mop handle - cracking the guard across the ridge of his face with it for 3 Damage and busting open his left eyebrow.
As blood flows out - obscuring his vision - the guard panics and tries to disengage from the battle - scurrying for the door in the bars.
"FARK GUYS! I NEED HELP IN HERE! WHAT THE FARK YOU DOING OUT THERE?!? THEY"RE KILLING ME IN HERE!!! HELP!!!"
At the elevator, the doors slide open, allowing Watch Captain Anderson and the two Dobermans (and Victor and Faust) to exit.
They hear the guard in the mill room screaming for help and rush around the bars to take in the scene.
"Holy Mother of Pearl..." Captain Anderson remarks, as the Dobermans begin barking loudly at Archie and Mildred on the other side of the bars.
Down in the basement, Rupert heads over to the coal bin and retrieves the shovel that they store there. The heavy implement feels good in his hands, and will make a fine tool for bashing heads in.
---
(OOC - Next Combat Round. Rupert didn't have enough time to do everything posted for him, but can continue along that plan as desired)
-
Betty nods, glad her crazy scheme worked, and quickly sets to jam the door, in case they do try and get in.
She then looks to Helen.
"Lets not fight six guards, I think." She whispers, quickly and quietly heading downstairs,
-
Rupert continues on with his plan.
-
Archie makes to finish off the guy and then rapidly look for a way to escape.
-
Helen agrees, and accompanies Betty to the basement.
-
Earl will continue to play dead - and wiggle out later. hopefully.
-
Betty jams the lock in the door and then heads down the stairs with Helen, from the supply room into the basement.
As the stairs come out near the shower room, Betty and Helen see all the tiles that Rupert had ripped out of the wall, scattered across the floor.
They also hear what sounds like a dozen or so disembodied voices all simultaneously hissing loudly - 'Help us! Help us! Make it stop!'
The voices seem to be coming from inside the shower room, but only call out once and then go silent.
Up in the nurse's station meanwhile, Earl plays it safe and allows Orderly Helms to strap him down. Once that is done, Earl can feel that he is held in pretty tightly, but maybe there's a little wiggle room in there somewhere.
For now though, the orderly tuts empathetically, while bandaging Earl's head.
As this goes on, the three guards at the open vent regroup.
The guard with the busted kneecap tells the two who had taken Earl away that he thinks "they're killing Kelsey in there!"
The guards then argue over who should stay to guard the vent and who should wade into the crazies to help save Kelsey.
As of yet, none of them have come to any agreement; and all three still stand at the top of the landing by the open vent in the wall.
On the other side of the wall, Archie bashes the fleeing guard (Kelsey) over the head with his folding chair. There is a loud crunching sound and blood splatters out from under the chair - as Kelsey goes limp in the still open doorway.
Watch Captain Anderson looks on in shock, then unlocks the door at the top of the barred run, to loose the dogs.
"GIT THEM CRAZIES!" he yells furiously.
Victor and Faust bound with savage anticipation toward the open door where the guard's lifeless body sprawls through the opening.
Mildred, thinking fast, yanks the guard's body out of the way and slams shut the barred door, closing the Dobermans in the run for the moment.
Assessing the situation, Archie and Mildred are still trapped!
They have two vicious Dobermans and Watch Captain Anderson blocking the now locked exits through the barred doors - though they have the guard Kelsey's keys (Mildred) and night stick (Archie) now.
There is also the open vent in the wall, but three guards stand arguing in front of the other side - that would be running a pretty ugly gauntlet trying to get through there - though Earl seemed to have managed it earlier.
Meanwhile, Rupert crosses the lab down in the basement and spots the electrical junction board.
With mad glee, he finds a stainless steel basin of water and tosses it onto the exposed copper switch points.
Sparks pop across the board like the Fourth of July and an arc thumps down the wall and through the floor, zapping Rupert for 4 Damage and making his hair stand on end. Rupert's legs involuntarily spasm - and he springs back ten feet, landing on his back.
Then parts of the wall and some of the metal scissor switches running 440 volts burst into small balls of plasma induced flames - threatening to catch the exposed ceiling beams above on fire!
A loud zorching sound is heard by all in the basement and on the first floor - Then the lights go out.
Everyone in the entire Sanitarium is now in pitch black - except for Rupert, whose area is nicely lit by a fire in the making...
-
"Can't tell if the blackout is good or bad for us." Betty mutters, heading slowly towards where she thinks the shower room is.
-
Wiggle wiggle*
-
Betty and Helen actually do have a tiny bit of illumination - coming from the soft red glow of the boiler.
-
Convinced he made things easier for everyone, Rupert ignores the fire and proceeds to smash the padlock off of gate with his shovel and head up the stairs.
-
"This is getting . . . very strange . . ." Helen replies, attempting to follow Betty.
-
Having just gleefully executed one of the guards, Archie goes for the vent in the darkness, whispering to Mildred as he goes.
"Come with me, they'll enter the room to get us and we'll escape through the empty space they'll leave. Mind the Crown Jewels would you?"
-
The moment the lights go out, Archie and Mildred take advantage - and bolt for the open vent!
As the guards fumble for their flashlights, Archie dives through - slamming into the legs of guard with the injured kneecap and knocking him over.
"FARK! MY KNEE! FARK!" the guard yells, swinging his night stick wildly in the dark. There is a loud crack and another guard yelps - "OUCH!!! WHAT THE FARK!"
Archie meanwhile, feeling where the guard fell, swings the night stick he had picked up at the man's body - but hits a wall instead, as the guard get back up.
Mildred, following Archie, also gets through the vent and stands up - right when two flashlights come on and illuminate her face.
"GET HER!!!" A guard yells; and all three begin seal-clubbing Mildred about the head and shoulders.
Mildred takes a night stick to the ear for 4 Damage and then her collar bone is shattered under a Crit for 6 Damage!
The third strike is deflected by Mildred's mop handle when she finally manages to bring it up after clearing it from the vent behind her.
As this goes on, Archie manages to slip down the stairs, unseen behind the guards. From here he can either attack or flee.
On the other side of the wall, the dogs continue to bark loudly, while Captain Anderson secures the door he let the dogs through and then pull his flashlight out to scan the room for Archie and Mildred.
In the nurse's station, Earl hears the commotion going on in the stairwell outside.
With the lights out, the nurse and orderly leave Earl to go cower by the window that lets a tiny sliver of moonlight into the room.
"It's a madhouse in there!" the orderly cries.
"No shit Sherlock!" the nurse replies, still irritated about her cheek.
In the bed, Earl wiggles at the straps, trying to pull himself free. He doesn't get anywhere at first, but thinks he could manage with a little more time.
Down in the basement, Rupert ignores the fire and slams the blade of the shovel on the large padlock securing the sliding gate that blocks his access to the stairs beyond.
The Padlock takes 3 Damage.
Rupert is pretty sure that any guards upstairs will have heard the noise he is making.
Rupert also notes that smoke is starting to build down here near the electrical junction and is enough to make him cough a bit.
Glancing at the wall, he sees some of the wiring is actually on fire now, and that one of the copper switches hums with a continuous electrical arc. Flames lick at the wooden beams supporting the floor above, though they have yet to catch alight.
On the other side of the basement meanwhile, Betty and Helen slowly make their way into the shower room - more by feel than by sight.
It is pitch black in the shower room and the two of them suddenly become aware of a burning rubber and ozone smell.
It occurs to them that being in a locked-down building with a fire is a deathtrap they will not likely get out of.
Knowing these guards, they'll flee the place at the slightest sign of fire and leave all the residents to burn alive.
---
(OOC - Next Combat Round)
-
Whimpering, Mildred intentionally falls to the ground, realizing that running would be useless, playing dead being the next best option.
-
"Voices, where are you?!" Betty quickly shouts out, knowing they are their last chance to escape
-
"I'M COMIN' FOR YOU, FRED!"
Rupert yells, hitting the lock with his shovel again.
-
Not willing to abandon Mildred to the guards, Archie stays low and keeps an eye on the guards using the flashlights - he'd use them to make sure he knew where the group was and where each of them were waiting. He'll try and hide in a corner, waiting for the guards to check out the other room so that he can bring Mildred with him.
If the guards don't leave and look like they'll attack Mildred, Archie will come back into the fight - can't abandon your friends when you have so few after all, especially when one of them is the one who will lead him to Cthulhu servitude.
-
Wiggle wiggle*
-
Helen listens for any hint of where to go or what to do next.
-
"Take her to the basement!" One of the guards holding Mildred yells.
"I ain't taking nobody down no farking stairs!" the injured guard says in a huff.
"My farking kneecap is broken I think. I'll stay here and bust heads of any farking lunatic that pokes his head out the hole. Now give me a farking flashlight."
"Fine," the other guard replies, "we'll take her, you stay."
"Lazy bastard," the third guard says mockingly.
Mildred is hiked up by two guards, with a single flashlight between them, and taken down the stairs into the supply room.
Archie, having had plenty of warning, moves to hide behind some supplies.
He then watches the guards take Mildred through the supply room and down the stairs into the basement. Archie is able to follow in the darkness without being seen.
The guard with the cracked kneecap meanwhile, remains upstairs and shines his light on the vent at the ready.
In the mill room, Captain Anderson cautiously opens the door, goes into the run with the dogs, locks the door behind him, then opens the door at the other end.
The Dobermans exit the run and anxiously pad and sniff around the mill room, waiting for further direction from their master.
Captain Anderson pulls the dead guard (poor Kelsey, we knew him well) into the run and then shuts the door, so he can see if there's anything he can do for him.
Alas, there is not.
Back in the nurse's station, Earl tries to wiggle free some more, but instead, manages to tighten his restraints. Irritated, he pulls at them with all his might and actually pops a strap holding his right hand!
"What was that?" Nurse Archer gasps, hearing the strap tear.
"Oh god!" orderly Helms replies, "One of them is getting loose!"
"Quick, get the tranquilizer!" Nurse Archer cries, leaving the window and feeling her way toward the desk.
Earl knows that he can extricate himself now - using his free hand to unbuckle the restraints - but can he do it in time? Or will Nurse Archer put his lights out with her vicious needles?
In the basement, Rupert strikes the lock with the shovel again for 2 more Damage. It seems loose now, and one or two final hits should do it.
The fire continues to lick the ceiling over the electrical junction and smoke billows over Rupert. The heat from it is beginning to build quite rapidly and the fumes burn Rupert's eyes and lungs for 2 Subdual Damage.
In the darkness of the shower room, Betty and Mildred call to the voices.
Listening, they hear only what sounds like the chattering of a rat somewhere in the room with them.
The smell of smoke his beginning to intensify considerably as well.
---
(OOC - Still in Combat Rounds)
-
Archie continues following, using the darkness for cover. He'll wait for the guards to leave Mildred in the basement and then go back upstairs before he acts.
-
Mildred continues playing dead, readying for a time when she can do something about all this. Heck, going downstairs should be a good thing. She keeps an ear out for the voices, wondering if she's getting closer to them.
-
Rupert hits the lock again, hopefully breaking it this time.
-
Betty quickly searches the shower room, trying to summon the spirits somehow
-
Archie follows the guards, who carry Mildred down the stairs and toward the isolation cells, where they intend to lock her in one.
Betty and Helen, in the shower room, hear the guards go past and see the light from their flashlight.
It occurs to Betty and Helen that trying to find anything in the pitch black darkness is a lost cause. They need that flashlight more than the guards do...
When the guards arrive at the area near the elevator, they (as well as Archie now) notice the heavy smell of smoke in the air and are distracted by it.
"Holy shit! What the fark is that?!?" one guard asks, fishing for the keys to an isolation cell.
"Get this bitch in there fast and we'll go check it out," the other replies.
It would be an easy matter for Archie, Betty, and Helen to ambush the guards unaware at this point.
At the electrical junction meanwhile, Rupert strikes the lock a third time for 5 more Damage and watches in satisfaction as the lock breaks apart.
As this goes on, the ceiling beams finally takes fire and there is a loud whooshing sound as the fire rolls across the rafters like a wave.
The heat and smoke withers Rupert standing so close to it and he takes 4 more Subdual Damage.
Opening the gate, Rupert is able to find relief, as he quickly moves away from the inferno.
A guard meanwhile, looks down the stairs from the pantry and sees the catastrophe Rupert has created. He doesn't say a word, but immediately rushes out of sight (back toward the kitchen), blowing his whistle.
At this point smoke is now pouring up the stairs over Rupert into the pantry above.
Up on the second floor, Earl manages to free himself from the restraints, before the nurse can find her needles in the dark.
Earl knows that the guards would still be watching the hallway over the stairs and has heard the dogs barking - indicating that the watch captain and his Dobermans are up here in the mill room.
With his head still pounding like a motherfarker, Earl also knows that he can't endure any more beatings this evening.
The nurse meanwhile, comes over to the bed with her needle.
Not sure what to do yet, Earl rolls off the bed and slips underneath, while Nurse Archer gasps - "He's gone!"
Out in the mill room, Watch Captain Anderson curses when he sees that everyone but Francis has escaped the area.
Pounding his fist, he gathers the dogs and locks the barred door at the end of the run. He then opens the door to the nurse's station and shines his light in.
"Oh thank goodness you're here!" Nurse Archer says, "The residents are in revolt!"
"Stay here!" Captain Anderson orders, then heads toward the stairs with Victor and Faust in tow.
---
'KILL ONE, BRING THE OTHER TO ME,' a harsh and commanding voice rings in Mildred's head, followed by a vision of rats chewing at a tiled wall...
---
(OOC - Still in Combat Rounds)
-
Archie goes for the one holding the light- he would be easiest to hit - aggressively swinging his nightstick.
Have to get out fast
-
Rupert will run upstairs and attempt to run to the back door.
-
Helen attacks with the whip, aiming towards the flashlight since it's quite possibly the only thing she can really see. Ideally, she'll entangle the guards arm, pulling him (and the light) towards her. Or, she'll hit him, he'll drop the light, and everyone will be in the dark.
-
Hatchet! Betty thinks, swinging it hard at one of the guards.
-
Mildred tries to maintain playing dead, though if the opportunity presents itself she might poke the guard-that's-holding-her's eye or something to help bring him down. She'd only do that of it would seem safe, though.
-
Out of the shadows, Betty's hatchet swings - caroming off the side of one guard's head for 6 Damage and opening a massive gash!
The guard screams and drops the keys he was holding to clutch at the hemorrhaging flap of skin now hanging where his ear should be.
Mildred, knowing these are the keys that open the cell they want to put her in, kicks them away into the darkness.
Helen's whip then cracks out, striking the guard holding the flashlight on his hand for 3 damage. The light drops to the floor with a clatter - still lit, but making it very hard to see anything but everyone's feet.
Archie steps up and swings his nightstick at the guard Betty had struck. It makes a resounding crack off the man's face for 5 more Damage and the guard goes down!
(Having been the one Earl had smashed with the folding chair earlier, the combined damage of all attacks was more than he could take.)
Still utterly shocked by the ambush, the remaining guard fails to mount a meaningful defense yet - allowing the residents to continue their assault unabated.
Betty chops into him for 6 Damage - eliciting a garbled "FARK!!!" - and sending a spray of blood into Mildred's face.
Mildred backs away - fearing (and rightfully so) that she might accidently catch one of these hits in the dark.
Helen, realizing that she's more likely to bust the flashlight with the whip than 'Indiana Jones' it back to her, simply ducks down and retrieves it from between everyone's legs.
She then backs away from the melee and shines the light in the guards face - blinding him.
Archie tries to slam the nightstick over the man's head, but is blocked by the guard's own nightstick as he brings it up to shield his face.
The guard lashes out at Archie, but due to his impaired vision misses by a narrow margin - Archie feeling the end of the night stick wiff past his nose.
Betty continues swinging the hatchet and brings the blade down on the man's fingers - chopping two of them off and wrecking his hand for 4 Damage.
Archie then jabs his nightstick into the man's sternum for 3 Damage, hoping that it will be enough to finally bring him down.
Unfortunately, the man proves harder to kill and looks for a moment (with rage-filled eyes) that he is going to at least take some of the resident's down with him.
Then Helen see an opportunity - when the guard raises his hand to block the light she is shining in his eyes - and shoves the chisel end of her crowbar through the guard's ribs.
The man coughs blood - then groans as he sinks down and is done.
As this battle goes on, Rupert rushes up the stairs into the pantry.
He doesn't see the guard, but hears his whistle blowing ahead.
Then the guard begins shouting "FIRE! FIRE! GET THE HELL OUT!!!"
Reaching the kitchen, Rupert stops at the locked double doors leading outside. They are steel-cased prison barriers that are going to need the key to open. Either that, or an axe and about ten minutes of serious chopping.
Rupert notes that the normally locked security door, which leads from the kitchen to the cafeteria, has been left open when the guard rushed through it.
In the nurse's station on the second floor meanwhile, Earl sees the Watch Captain leave - taking the light with him.
With the nurse and orderly huddled once again near the window, Earl is able to slip out and head to the top of the stairs.
There he sees Captain Anderson at the bottom of the stairs, near the door that leads out of the supply room. He knocks at it and announces that he is coming through; then tries to open it with his keys - but cannot - Betty having jammed the lock earlier.
"GAWD DAMN IT!" he curses, then takes the two Dobermans and heads for the stairs leading to the basement...
---
(OOC - No longer in Combat Rounds, but will likely be again shortly, so keep intentions succinct with limited time frames in mind.)
-
"Mildred! The voices! Theyre in the showers!" Betty shouts, quickly heading there.
"Helen, come on. We need to search it!"
-
Rupert will head to the doors leading to the yard. If he makes it there, he'll start digging.
-
"Thank you all!" Mildred cries, before grabbing any flashlights she can find as well as a nightstick.
"Alright, are any of the guards alive? We need to take one of them to the voices. Besides that..." She looks around, "Voices, lead me to you!"
-
Helen uses the flashlight to facilitate her, Betty, Archie, Mildred & sacrifice getting into the shower together. Mmmmmmm. . . Shower together. . .
-
Both guards are good and dead - there will be no 'sacrifice' from either of these two.
Moving back toward the shower room, the group suddenly sees a flashlight beam, coming down the stairs from the supply room above.
The sound of jackbooted footsteps and the pitter of dog feet on the stone, herald the imminent arrival of Watch Captain Anderson and the Dobermans into the basement.
-
Upstairs, Rupert rounds the corner from the cafeteria, looking down the main hall of the facility.
In the central intersection wait three guards - including the one sounding the alarm. One of them also has the Springfield rifle, pointing up the hall at Rupert.
Behind that group is a fourth guard standing at the bottom of the hallway near the locked door to the supply room.
"GET ON THE FLOOR NOW!!!" the rifleman yells, aiming for a kill shot!
-
Archie hides behind the corner the captain would come charging through, his nightstick ready to bash in the night captain's face (or fend off the dogs if they get to him first and he can't do anything).
They're ALL going down!
-
Betty hides, and prepares to brutally axe the captain. Hopefully he'll be shocked by the dead bodies.
"Helen, turn off the light for a second!" She wjisper urgently
-
"Don't kill this one!" Mildred whispers, trying to find a place to hide as well. At the very least she now has a weapon, but it won't help if she's dead. Once again, she'd only attack if it would be safe to do so (probably a dog if it comes too close).
-
Helen turns off the light.
-
Rupert, figuring all hope is lost now, falls to the floor.
"Fred..." He mumbles to himself.
-
As the Dobermans are following Watch Captain Anderson down the steps, their preternatural hearing and awareness don't help the captain avoid the ambush in time.
They bark a warning, but not before the man is abruptly set upon by the residents at the bottom of the stairs.
Archie tries to hit the captain with his nightstick, but misses as the shocked captain stumbles backwards onto the stairs.
Betty chops down on the captain's arm for 4 Damage, causing the captain curse loudly.
Helen strikes Anderson across the thigh with her crowbar. It lands with a heavy thump - dislocating the joint in his hip for 6 Damage.
"Arrrgh NO!!!" Captain Anderson cries.
Mildred, waits at the ready with her nightstick, hoping the dogs don't come after her.
For such a lazy slob, Watch Captain Anderson proves surprisingly spry when his life is on the line.
Pushing himself back up, he grits his teeth and spits - "There was never any hope for you maniacs anyway! We would have exterminated you just like the last batch! No sense waiting for the inevitable!"
When the residents come in at him again, he swings his nightstick at Betty, but misses due to a wobbly hip.
"TEAR THEM TO PIECES!" he commands Victor and Faust; and the two Dobermans leap at Betty and Helen!
Betty twist to the side and the dog brushes past, landing right in front of Mildred! It ignores her however, and quickly turns back to face Betty once again.
Helen is not so lucky, and is knocked down, as the dog lands on her chest.
Realizing that being on the ground with a vicious dog at your throat is a bad idea, Helen scrambles to get back up.
Archie swings again with his nightstick and clacks the captain off the side of the head for 5 Damage.
Betty continues her murderous spree - chopping at the man's arm again and gashing the hell out of them for another 4 Damage!
Mildred has a chance to strike one of the dogs from behind, but hesitates, knowing it will turn on her if she does.
Up the stairs in the supply room meanwhile, Earl finds an extra flashlight and a stout bit of lead pipe that he could use as a weapon if needed.
He then starts to hear that weird piping music again, sounding high and shrill - as if from a piccolo or small flute. Earl knows that the music is all in his head, but for some reason, he gets the impression that the music needs to play and if it ever stops, all will be lost.
He is shaken out of his thoughts however, when the sounds of a scuffle and barking dogs come up from the stairs to the basement.
And is that smoke he smells?
In the main hall, Rupert drops to the ground.
Two guards then rush up to grab him, one on each side, and escort him to the doors that lead out into the yard - where they unserimoniously throw him down the steps for 1 Subdual Damage.
The two guards then stand in the open doorway at the top of the steps, keeping an eye on Rupert.
From out here, one can see that the pantry and kitchen are now on fire - while smoke is starting to fill the first floor. Some of it is even wafting out the open doors to the yard.
Inside the building, Rupert hears the guards yelling to each other -
"Fark! The place is on fire!"
"The gawd damn crazies, they did this!"
"Can we put it out?"
"Ain't no way!"
"Call the fire department!"
"So they can put out the ashes when they finally get here?"
"Where's the farking captain?"
"Damn it all! It's bad enough they escaped, but this makes us look bad!"
"I say we cut our losses!"
"Dead loons can't tell their side of the story!"
"Yeah, you're right!"
"Let's shoot the one in the yard and lock the rest in to burn!"
"Fark yeah, I like the way you think!"
The grave nature of his situation begins to dawn on poor Rupert...
-
Betty quickly sets off on the dogs, cutting up the doggies angrily.
"BAD DOGGIES!"
-
Helen attempts to crowbar the dog who attacked her.
-
Once again, Mildred will only attack (with nightstick) if it's safe* to.
*If enemy's action round is over, or it looks like he'll go down with one more hit and nobody else is there to finish it besides Mildred.
-
Sensing the end is here, Rupert begins tweating and acting like a bird like a madman. He hopes he can communicate to any birds nearby, and that they'll dive bomb into the guards, giving him a chance to beat them with his shovel.
-
Archie executes his signature move, going straight for the cojones.
-
In the basement melee, Archie punts Captain Anderson in the nuts for 3 Subdual Damage.
The captain lets out a groan, but doesn't go down. Instead, he smashes Archie's elbow with his nightstick for 3 Damage and begins to retreat back up the stairs.
As this goes on, Betty and Helen deal with the dogs.
Betty buries her hatchet in Victor's side for 5 Damage. The beast yelps loudly, but doesn't stop its attack.
Helen swings her crowbar at Faust, but misses, as the Dobermans prove quite agile!
Mildred, still cowering in fear, doesn't bother trying to get into the fray.
At the top of the stairs, Earl sees the Watch Captain trying to come back up.
Not wanting the shit beat out of him again, Earl elects to try his hand at ranged combat - and throws a metal mop bucket down the stairs at Captain Anderson.
The mop bucket slams off the captain's head, slicing him open on a sharp edge for 4 Damage, and knocks him out cold.
Victor and Faust meanwhile, lay into Betty and Helen!
Betty just manages to avoid getting her neck ripped out by Victor, while Faust bites out a section of Helen's calf muscle for 2 Damage.
Up in the yard, Rupert flits around, like the maniac this place has made him.
The guard with the Springfield Rifle comes to the doorway and takes aim.
There is a loud crack and Ruperts upper body explodes with pain - then... just numbness.
Rupert falls to the grass and dies just moments after taking 17 Damage from the shot.
The guards then retrieve Rupert's body and take it into the Cafeteria, so it will burn up in the fire (hopefully covering up that he was shot).
On the second floor, Nurse Archer and Orderly Helms smell smoke.
"Maybe we should go check that out!" Orderly Helms says nervously.
"Nonsense!" Nurse Archer scolds. "The Watch Captain said to stay here. Best to do as he says with all the crazies running loose in the house."
-
"Savrifice!" Betty shouts in happiness, as she quickly countinues her badass assault.
-
"Bitch." Earl says as he walks down the stairs, trying his darndest to avoid the angry dogs. He will also kick the man in the balls. Just because he can.
-
Earl stomps the Watch Captain in the nads.
The man, who had been unconscious, sits up with a start - gasps loudly - and then falls over dead from the shock.
-
"I'm so sorry voices... You'll get your sacrifice, don't worry."
Mildred looks Anderson's corpse to look for anything that may be of importance.
-
With one hand, Archie swings his nightstick like the fearsome naked beast he is. With the other, he carefully cups and protects his manhood from the angry rabies-filled teeth of the dobermans like the terrified man he is.
-
Betty continues to swing her hatchet at Victor, but the Doberman latches onto her arm to stop her and rips it open for 3 Damage!
Helen crowbars the Doberman Faust across the back for 5 Damage.
The dog is too shocked by the stinging pain to attack for a moment, but growls vicoiusly.
Coming up from behind, Archie slams the beast with his nightstick for another 5 Damage to the same spot.
Faust whirls around and snaps at Archie, but is now having trouble moving its hind legs with a broken back!
Betty tries to free her arm, but the hatchet slips out of her hand and drops to the floor with a clatter when she does (fumble)!
Victor seizes the opening and lunges at Betty's throat - clamping down and shaking her like a ragdoll in its mouth - Critting for 10 Damage!
Amazingly - with her neck shredded in the Doberman's teeth - Betty manages (makes her Fortitude Save vs. Massive Damage) to stay conscious and continues to fight back!
The wound is horrific looking though - blood oozing from deep gashes on both sides of Betty's neck, running down to stain her hospital gown a crimson red.
On Faust, Helen and Archie are able to beat the lame dog to death with their crowbar and nightstick without it being able to effectively defend itself anymore.
Betty manages to find her hatchet and tries again to hit the dog with it, but Victor springs back to disengage from combat.
It then bolts straight at Arnold and Helen.
The two of them swing at the dog, but miss, as the Doberman sinks its teeth into Archie's inner thigh for 6 Damage - barely missing his femoral artery (and more importantly, his manhood)!
Not lingering, the beast releases Archie and continues past him and on up the stairs (move through attack).
Mildred and Earl wisely give the Doberman a wide berth; and Victor disappears into the supply room - apparently having just fled from the fight.
Listening, the dog can be heard scratching and whimpering at the door that leads from the supply room into the main hall of the first floor above.
As all this is going on, Mildred is able to loot anything of value from the Watch Captain.
She gets his wallet, a flashlight, nightstick, whistle, and the master keys to the facility!
---
Meanwhile, the fire continues to spread, as the residents in the basement start coughing from the accumulating smoke (though from where they are, they still don't see any actual fire).
Archie and Earl both feel like they are going to pass out from the fumes any moment, while the others are fairing only a little bit better.
The cafeteria begins to take fire, while the guards all exit the building - locking the doors behind them.
On the second floor, Francis looks out her window and sees the roof of the pantry and kitchen ablaze.
She screams out for help - but no one is there to rescue her!
In the nurse's station, both the nurse and the orderly realize something is drastically wrong and (completely ignoring Francis) feel their way down the stairs in the dark to find a bloodied Victor scratching at the door leading out of the supply room.
Panicked and hurt, Victor snarls and snaps at the women, chasing them back up the stairs!
"OH LORD SAVE US!" the two women scream in alarm.
---
(OOC - Out of Combat Rounds, but time is now a critical element)
-
"Everyone. . . Stay calm. . . I'm a nurse. . ." Helen attempts some quick triage on the wounded- Herself first, then Betty. (then Archie, but only if there's time.) her main priority is not burning to death, or suffocating.
"Mildred. . . Where do the voices want us to take the sacrifice?"
-
Betty grasps her neck, trying to hold off the bleeding as she looks to mildred.
"What do we do now?" She asks, panting.
-
"You heard her," Mildred declares to the walls, "What shall we do with the sacrifice?"
Master keys and flashlight in hand, she slowly begins to move toward the showers. "Quickly, everyone... We're running out of time! Either we leave this hell hole only to be caught by those kooks or find the voices... I do not know about you guys, but I'm following the voices!"
-
'Yes... closer...' a powerful voice responds in Mildred's head to her apparent determination to move into the showers.
Then other voices cry out in anguish - 'Free us! Make it stop!' - but are quickly silenced.
-
Archie holds his apron over his face (not the side of the apron usually pressed against his balls) to try and somewhat facilitate his breathing while he follows the others, trying not to die. He tries to stay low as well, since the worst of the smoke would be higher up after all.
-
Everyone keeps low, under the ever-thickening miasma of smoke and fumes - moving into the shower room.
There, Helen is able to tend to the wounds, really just making sure Betty and Archie don't bleed to death from their horrific bites.
As this goes on, everyone hears the squeaking of a rat or mouse behind the west wall - where it seems to be scratching or chewing at it from the other side.
Using the flashlights, the area is searched.
Mildred spots a suspicious looking seam in the tiling of the west wall near an old set of unused faucets. Tracing it with her fingertips, it looks like it could be the outline of a secret door or something.
Earl notes that the old faucets and a water shut-off valve nearby appear to be somewhat out of place. Perhaps they are somehow used to open the secret door?
After Earl fiddles with them for a moment, an audible click of an unseen mechanism is heard behind the wall and the seam Mildred had found abruptly parts - reveling a doorway into the unused foundation space under Director Kaufman's Office above ...
---
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/BerkaZerka/Mythos/Sanitarium%20Lf_zpswjhltt0r.gif)
-
"Into the Secret Room!" Betty cheers, heading in.
-
Earl rips off his right arm sleeve and tie it around hus head to protect from smoke, so it would cover his mouth but not his eyes. He will then begin to run around like a dog to protect himself from the wprst smoke.
-
Coughing into her palm, Mildred continues through the secret entrance with haste.
-
Archie follows, mostly because he doesn't really know what to do and doesn't want to die.
-
Moving into to the hidden space behind the shower room, everyone sees a rat scurry across the floor and disappear into a crack in the bedrock.
The crack transects the room from west to east and is only an inch across at its widest point. The rat squeaks and chitters from down in the crack.
Along the south wall of the space, thirteen bodies, tightly wrapped in sheets like mummies, have been stacked.
Some of them have deteriorated enough to fill the air with the stink of rotting flesh and slick the ground beneath them in horrifying liquid corruption.
-
"Oh my!" Mildred gasps, suppressing the urge to vomit. She continues following wherever the voices sound loudest.
Must move as fast as possible... Must make it stop.
-
Right now, the voices in Mildred's head are silent, though when she strains to hear them, all she can think about is the musical notes she has heard over and over since she's been here.
It makes her realize that she has a whistle from the watch captain - though it only makes one of the high pitched notes. She'd need a piccolo or tin flute to get them all ...
-
"Guys! We need to get a flute to contact them!" Waving her hands frantically, Mildred exclaims, "Someone needs to run to the music room to find one!"
-
"Shit." Betty says. "Um, going!" Betty shouts, running out to the music room, holding her breath to avoid a smoky death.
-
Betty, taking the watch captain's keys and a flashlight, holds her breath and rushes out of the secret area. Immediately, she takes in the grave nature of their situation, as running up the steps into the supply room is like entering a dark netherworld of sulfuric choking shadow.
The place is completely filled with black eye-stinging smoke - limiting vision with the flashlight to only a foot or two ahead.
Betty nearly trips over something in the dark and shines her light down to see the dead body of Victor the Doberman - succumbed to the fumes.
Arriving at the locked door exiting the supply room, Betty tries the keys but finds none of them will open the door! Then she remembers that she had jammed the lock earlier ...
-
Betty hatchets the lock!
-
Hacking at the lock a number of times, Betty manages to chop the door open. Unfortunately, even more smoke rolls into the room through the gap and the effort has finished what little breath Betty had left.
She needs air!
-
Betty quickly crawls through and tries to breath through her clothes, heading as fast as she can tonthe music room.
-
Beatty crawls into the hallway and feels a brutal amount of heat above her in the darkness - it is astounding - like sticking her head in a lit oven. Trying to breath through her clothes seems to do nothing, her lungs instantly withering on the first inhalation and causing 5 Subdual Damage. A roaring sound can be heard overhead - and while Betty can't see it through the smoke, she suspects that the ceiling may actually be on fire!
Being low to the floor is not keeping the smoke out of her eyes either and visibility in the hall is almost non-existent, even with the flashlight. Betting can also feel the heat radiating off the wall - which she must keep contact with to guide her into the music room if she decides to press on.
A sane person would immediately turn around. Going forward would be madness. Suicide in fact.
-
Before Betty can decide, the smoke, heat, and fumes overwhelm her and she passes out ...
-
Down in the basement meanwhile, Betty hasn't returned. And it doesn't look like she ever will . . .
-
"Should someone go get Betty? I would, but im pretty beat up.."
-
"Yes, someone should..." Mildred frowns. "We need to replicate the sounds I think we all heard. The guards whistle will do one of them, but the other two need to be done by a flute or something... Everybody aside from the volunteer to get dear Betty should try to whistle it..."
Using the guard's whistle and her own 'lips&tongue', she tries to replicate the synchronized sounds of the voices.
-
Mildred is able to whistle the series of notes quite accurately. She is even able to make the sounds with the guard whistle, by cupping it in her hands and adjusting the pitch as she blows.
When she does so, a great whoosh of air is abruptly pulled from the area - as the fire has finally burned through the roof and is now drawing everything up and out.
Looking out the shower room, flames can be seen rolling across the ceiling of the laundry room and beyond - even now spreading this way!
The heat is impressive - and the residents are trapped. There should be no doubt that everyone is going to die here.
In the secret room under the unused part of the foundation, dust can now be seen rising from the crack in the bedrock - as the fire draft pulls the air out. If everyone is lucky, they'll suffocate before they burn...
-
"Voices, demons, spirits, whatever the hell you are, please, i'll give over anything if you help me now."
Archie holds the hand of a corpse he picks at haphazardly, crying.
"I don't want to die like this."
-
Immediately, Archie is set upon by a monstrous demonic entity – that enters his mouth in a rush of wind and dust.
Unable to breath, Archie feels it callously choking the life out of him, as it rends the fabric of his soul from within with razor sharp talons. It then stretches Archie’s psyche around itself, wearing Archie’s very being like a skin – and Archie’s mind can do nothing but yield to the overpowering will.
What was Archie loses itself in the euphoria of numbness across the horizon of oblivion.
To those looking on, they see Archie abruptly wrack back violently and then twist nearly 180 degrees at the waist – bones snapping audibly – though Archie cannot scream.
As they watch in horror, Archie’s body swells, convulses, and elongates in undulating madness – arms morphing into spur-studded tentacles; one hand fashioning itself in a cruel mockery of a blade; while his legs turn almost lycanthropic in appearance.
Archie’s head also balloons up – and the flesh melts together like soft dough to lose all definition. His face and hair are now gone – leaving only a tight round bulge between the shoulders.
Aghast, witnesses to this transformation then hear skin ripping open and watch as a wide slit opens across that shoulder bulge – while simultaneously, the thing threatens to split in-two from the groin to the chest.
The horrific changes complete – it opens the slit in its ‘head’ revealing a single large eyeball – with another set of eyes where the nipples would be. Then comes the ‘smile’ – as the slit up the torso parts into an impossibly sharp toothy maw!
What was once Archie, is now a 12 foot tall creature, ducking its ‘head’ under the ceiling beams.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/BerkaZerka/Mythos/YGOLONAC_zpsuthfry6k.jpg)
Opening its ‘mouth’ with a heart stopping roar, it surveys the supplicants, looking for the sacrifice.
Seeing none obvious, it elects Earl, who has frozen in catatonic shock.
Roping the most unfortunate man in with its whip like tentacle, it pulls Earl into the gnashing teeth and messily eviscerates his entire head and upper body with massive grizzly wet chomps!
Then, finished sating its millennial-starved hunger, it moves to the crack in the bedrock and thunderously slams it with its blade-hand – collapsing a portion of the floor and revealing some sort of chamber below.
A moment later it jumps down into the opening and disappears.
Seeing all the blood left over from what was once Earl, Mildred rushes over and uncontrollably begins lapping up the gore. It tastes absolutely fantastic, causing her to experience a rapture-like rush.
Helen meanwhile, tells Mildred – “hurry up dear, the Master awaits us below. We must entertain him with music and sensual dance, before the first of his births into our own world.”
With that, she climbs into the hole after the avatar of her master – Y’Golonac the Defiler. . .
-
Cupping the blood from Earl's pulpy corpse, the crazed Mildred slowly follows Helen down the opening, readying herself to undress and dance for the Eye-god, all the while reminding herself that for once, the voices will stop.
-
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/BerkaZerka/Mythos/Sanitarium%20L2f_zpsamunfxxw.gif)
Mildred finds that the crevice in the floor drops down eighteen feet into a natural cave of some kind.
The walls are rough enough that she can climb down to the floor, where she finds herself in a passageway.
To the east, it travels under the shower room, where the drain pipes come down through the bedrock.
A rusted break in one pipe allows water to run down from the showers into a pool of dirty water below. A small rivulet flows out of the pool and down the corridor to the northwest at a rather steep slope.
As Mildred takes this in, a rat runs past her feet and scampers into the broken pipe.
Following the water, Mildred enters a sizable underground chamber, somewhere deep beneath the yard.
At the center of the camber is a huge stone phallus of some kind with a slab of slate stretched across its base. To either side of the slab, grooves have been carved into it, to channel what could only be sacrificial blood into carved mouths in the floor.
Currently, the rivulet from the shower room pipes drains down one of these mouths.
Opposite the giant stone phallus, carved into the northwest wall, is a massive thirty foot tall gaping orifice, disturbingly reminiscent of the female anatomy in the throes of labor - the head of some unknown terror seen crowning behind the dilated vulva.
Expecting to see Helen and the monster, Mildred is rather surprised to see the monster gone and Archie back in its place. Only right now, Archie has Helen bent over the alter slab and is buggering the heck out of her!
Seeing Mildred, Archie 'finishes' with a smile and welcomes her to the birthplace of their god.
All three of them know they need to play the music that Mildred has been hearing and someone has to die on the alter.
It has yet to be decided who that sacrifice will be...
"Shall we dance now?" Helen asks Mildred with a look that seems to convey 'come here, so I can do all sorts of nasty things to you with my body' ...
-
Mildred gulps. "If only, but no, Helen, you know that I must make music for the God. You and Archie should dance and find maybe decide which of the two of you will be the sacrifant. Only I can make the notes without the flute. I think..."
She takes out her whistle, and prepares to replicate the sounds she's been hearing once again using various forms of whistling. "Dance to my music, Helen and Archie. For the God!"
-
"Hmm?" Helen replies with a wry smile, "I can play the flute, been doing it for ages," she says, nodding to Archie's manhood.
"Give me the whistle now Mildred," Helen says, her voice growing considerably darker.
Helen advances on Mildred menacingly...
---
(OOC - Combat Round One)
-
"Fine! Take the whistle, Helen, and make music for us Archie and I."
Knowing she can't take the more virile Helen on by herself, the poor Mildred undresses on e she carefully tosses the whistle to Helen, and heads over to Archie. Whenever she has the chance, however, she will attempt to convince Archie to help her take on Helen. She whispers to him, "Let's make Helen the sacrifice, so attack her with me, Archie, and we can sing and dance until the God rules the world!"
-
Archie carefully considers his decision, and then whispers back - "Okay, let's do it, bitch is crazy."
Of course, he has no intention of helping Mildred whatsoever.
-
With Archie distracting Mildred, Helen is able to catch the poor deluded women around the neck from behind with her leather whip.
Mildred puts up a struggle of course, but being in such a weakened condition, the fight doesn't last very long and Mildred passes out from being garroted by the whip.
Seeming to drift in shadowy umbra for a moment, Mildred hears the piping sounds far off, but slowly drawing closer. She then awakes – just in time to realize that she is tied down on the alter with Helen's whip – as Archie smashes her head in with a large sharp stone!
As Helen pipes the weird tones on the whistle, Mildred's blood runs down the channels and drains into the mouths in the floor. Then the giant stone genitalia in the chamber begin to quake with bizarre undulating power – the vulva in the wall parting like a curtain and through it, something not meant for this world slipping out with a disgusting wet sqlurch!
A massive gelatinous orb, orangish-green, thirty feet in diameter, rising from its birth to hover in a cloying nimbus of tenebrous darkness – the jagged vertical slit of an iris within – looking on – watching Archie and Helen’s depravity with wicked approval.
Behold the Voyeuristic Eye of Y’Golonac!
Accepting the sacrifice, it somehow causes Mildred's body to unravel like the threads of an old sweater being pulled out - her very existence disappearing from reality - evaporating into nothingness as they are drawn into the terrible thing's surrounding darknes!
Turning to the wall of the chamber, it begins unraveling the rock - drawing out a narrow tunnel through the hillside that exits out into the dark woods a few hundred feet from the now fully engulfed sanitarium.
As Archie and Helen exit the chamber, the orb god vanishes from sight. While too big to go through the tunnel it just created, Archie and Helen know that it is still near - watching them. Ever Watching...
Coming out into the dark night woods, Archie and Helen can see the lights of police cars and a fire truck, speeding up the gravel road towards the burning building at the top of the hill. They are much too late of course.
As for their new god?
From them, it demands a cult of the most vile, carnally depraved, cruel and sadistic lunatics! No living thing will be safe from their molestation and soul corrupting debauchery! It must watch and feed with pleasure upon the ruin of human souls.
Behold Archie and Helen – the High Priest and Priestess of their god!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v651/BerkaZerka/Mythos/monster_eye_by_anesthetic_x-d38ecyv_zpsjkplxrwf.jpg)
END