There Are So Many Offices, but Everybody Seems To Be A Patient. Where Are the Doctors?

[Muninn†]

((Bernadette Thomas continued from I'd Say That I've Had Worse Days, but Then I'd Be Lying))


"I'm not going to stay here much longer, but while I'm here I should probably check out the layout of this building in case I need to come back in a hurry. It shouldn't take that long."

...At least, that was what Bernadette had told herself when she passed on taking the stairs down and instead continued along the upper floor. She hadn't really been paying too much attention when she had first arrived, so what she had thought to be the entire building was apparently just one wing.

Well, she'd probably have been finished scoping out the area by now if she hadn't been taking it slow. No point in needlessly agitating her condition, but on top of that it didn't seem like a bad idea to be a bit cautious anyways. Luckily, aside from that girl who had come into her room and left just as promptly, she hadn't run into anybody yet.

Unfortunately, even if she had been staying out of things, it didn't mean that things weren't happening on their own. There'd been about twenty names on the announcements so far, and Bernadette didn't think that it was particularly likely that tomorrow morning wouldn't continue the pattern. This was a madhouse, and the rest of the inmates weren't going to sit by quietly just because Bernadette wasn't feeling well and wanted to hit the snooze button a few more times.

[MK Kilmarnock]

((Coleen Reagan continued from Honeysuckle and Pain))

There was value in staying silent while traversing through the halls of the asylum. The building was vast and very old, that much was clear. It was also clear that there were others in the building... not just corpses like Mitch, but living, breathing, active kids who could be helpful or, somewhat more likely by Coleen's gathering, murderous. She told herself she was safe with Arthur and his spear. Reasoning had already confirmed that if Arthur wanted to kill or mutilate or rape or... god, whatever people were willing to do to one another here, he would have just done so while they were sleeping. He had a grand total of two opportunities to do that, two chances he hadn't taken.

Arthur could be trusted. Other members of the band, if she ever found them, could be trusted.

Not the longest of lists, sadly.

It didn't make that much sense that she was taking point, but that was a level of scrutiny Coleen wasn't willing to give herself for the sake of her own sanity. If they ran into somebody that looked dangerous, she'd jump back out of harm's way and let Arthur take over. Right now, she just desperately wanted to see Cameron's face. BB's. Brady's. She'd even take Vanessa at this point -- what was a petty grudge over a singing position when everybody wanted to kill you?

She swept her hair out of her face in order to get a cleaner look around the corner, through the threshold of a doorway into a dilapidated office. Somebody was there, somebody Coleen didn't quite recognize at first. Then when the girl gave the proper angle and showed off the blue ring hanging around her neck...

"Oh. Bern."

[MethodicalSlacker]

[Arthur Bernstein continued from Honeysuckle and Pain.]

Giving Coleen the lead wasn't the best of moves Arthur felt like he could've made. He was the one with the big, pointy spear, a weapon designed to be poked out at things from a safe distance. He couldn't exactly do that when there was someone in front of him that he had no desire to poke. Despite this, it seemed that the hallways had been deserted enough to offer some time for them to reorganize should any enemies show up. That's when Arthur would get to do the poking.

The walk was wordless. There was enough noise coming from other parts of the building, as faint as it was, that the need for discussion took a backseat to the need for stealth. Arthur couldn't tell if the noises were getting closer or further away, as the hallways carried a fairly loud echo throughout their length. Coleen moved to turn the corner through a door, and Arthur tensed up, ready to step in and move to the front if things went south.

Coleen's remark upon looking through the doorway didn't sound too surprised, but it didn't sound the most comfortable, either. She had definitely seen someone, but who? Curious, Arthur walked over to the other side of the door and peered inside.

The girl looked vaguely familiar. Definitely someone that Arthur had seen before, but if she had played any kind of role in Arthur's life, it was as a background character. The kind that says the same canned three lines over and over no matter how many times you push the button to speak to them, in plainer terms.

"You know her, Coleen?" Arthur said, looking down the hallway in both directions. This world didn't stop when you started to talk to someone. He had to keep his awareness up.

[Muninn†]

Bernadette turned upon hearing somebody just outside the door. Coleen Reagan stood just beyond the doorway, looking back at her.

"Coleen. Good to see you're doing well."

In retrospect, the fact that she had been checking out the offices themselves was probably a bit of a poor decision. Even if she spent just a minute walking into the room and glancing around, that still added up over time and was probably a pretty big contributor to her slow pace. It didn't really seem worth it to risk someone coming up and cornering her on the off chance that this office might have something useful in it.

Well, the person "cornering" her was Coleen, so it's not like she was being trapped. Bernadette had something of the impression that if she wanted to leave she could just walk towards the door and Coleen would flinch back from her path. Not exactly the most confrontational girl, and while there was always the chance she'd gone nuts from being on this island, it didn't seem very likely at the moment.

At the very least, Bernadette couldn't remember hearing Coleen's name in any announcements. And it wasn't likely that she'd be willingly tagging along with anybody who had.

Bernadette forced herself to relax a bit, leaning back against the outside wall. No need to get all tensed up when she was still recovering from the past few days.

"So, what brings you here? Looking for something in particular?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

Coleen's stance had relaxed upon seeing Bernadette. Shoulders weren't quite as hunched, her neck had aligned her head with her feet instead of craning to peek around the corner while keeping most of her body obscured by the frame of the door and the connected wall. As far as she was concerned, Bern was of no immediate threat. Granted with that line of thinking, Kimiko likely hadn't seemed like a threat to anybody either until that wall came crumbling down. High tensions and emotions had prevented Coleen from paying much attention to the announcements, blocking out the names as best she could so the faces of those possibly dear to wouldn't flash by, accompanied by a sickening and wilted eulogy from some mystery prick on the other end of a microphone.

She also wasn't positive if there was anybody else in the room with Bernadette, though she took quick motions to find out. "You too, Bern. Um, I'm not really looking for anything... I've got a guy with me, Arthur. Berrrrrnstein, I think?" Coleen flashed a look to her side for a little help or confirmation from her companion. "We're just looking for somewhere to maybe hole up. Spent the night in this place and it... um... really sucks."

She didn't feel particularly inclined to mention Mitch's body in the condition they found him, nor was she enthused to keep talking about a last-ditch effort to take shelter while a miniature world ended in blood. Had she ever played in Anne Frank, Coleen imagined she would have been able to empathize to some degree but alas, that was a production that eluded her in her resume. She was also taking the lead in the conversation a bit more than she was used to, so she left it to Arthur to continue along. "I know her a little," Coleen offered him. "We've had a few classes together."

[MethodicalSlacker]

A few classes together was better than nothing. At the very least, it seemed like Coleen was sure that this girl wouldn't be much of an issue. Besides, what was a game about exploration without weird, wacky characters to find? Well, there were a lot of games without other people in them, like the first Zelda where the only other people were the shopkeeper, the old man, and the old woman, and Zelda herself. The game was plenty interesting, and it probably would still be without those few interactions. Arthur peaked over through the doorway, waving at the girl.

"Hi there," Arthur said somewhat awkwardly, "How are things?"

It wasn't much of a conversation starter, but it was enough to show that he wasn't going to bite her head off or something. At the very least, it'd start their reputation meter at a somewhat neutral level. Game abstractions were really handy for obscuring reality. Being on a gameshow (Arthur figured that it was a fitting enough title) helped it along.

If Arthur was lucid enough to consider just how long the illusion would last, he wouldn't give it any longer than an hour.

[Muninn†]

"Things've been fine, I guess," Bernadette responded. "Er, I guess it's actually been really shitty, but given the circumstances..."

It'd been absolutely terrible, even given the circumstances. But really, Bernadette's health issues were something that these two didn't really need to know about, so that part about her spending a few days curled up on the floor was going to be kept to herself.

"Not sure I want to spend another night here, either. Just wanted to check the whole place out before looking elsewhere."

Bernadette hesitated for a moment on whether or not she wanted to take that line of thought further. She'd really, really be more comfortable with someone she knew watching her back while she slept. Coleen wasn't really close enough of an acquaintance to inspire that kind of trust... but then again, she wasn't someone Bernadette had any reason to distrust, either. Arthur was more of a wild card, but there was a limit to how paranoid one could be. At the very least, the two of them seemed safer than being alone.

"You two open to the idea of an additional roommate?"

[MK Kilmarnock]

"As long as you're comfortable with that room not being here, Bern!" Coleen tried to offer a sweet smile as she said it. "It's not that it isn't cozy here... this particular room, it, uh..." Coleen took a look around. The offices didn't lend themselves to the idea of coziness whatsoever, but given a place this creepy, she'd take anything that looked like a remnant of society over some creepy torture dungeon. More realistically, she'd rather sleep in a room like this one than a room outside. Or a room with a dead body in it, like that art room.

"I'm looking for my bandmates right now... Cam, Vanessa, B.B., Brady, any of them," Coleen admitted. "So Arthur and I, we're kind of on the move. But we'll take safety in numbers."

Coleen took a step back then, as a gesture of trusted, turned one shoulder away. She smiled over her shoulder... her right shoulder. It was always her right shoulder, because that allowed her to show off her good side. "Coming?"

((Coleen Reagan continued in Think About Your Life))

[MethodicalSlacker]

Everything went smoothly enough. Coleen suggested that the three of them move somewhere else for the night, and Arthur couldn't agree more. There didn't look like there was much of anything in the room to investigate, and if there had been, it was doubtless that Bernadette had taken it. He was anxious to explore more of the old structure while he still had the chance.

"I'm fine with that," Arthur said, letting Bernadette know that she was welcome to come with them. After all, if there was anyone who was going to give the final word on who got to hang around the two of them, it was the guy with the pointy stick. Security needed to be even tighter if they were going to spend the night somewhere else - he'd stay up all night to protect his charges. With the addition of a new party member, Arthur grew more confident in himself, the added responsibility making him feel powerful instead of stressed.

He smiled to himself as he turned away from the door, facing back into the hallway.

There was plenty to be happy about. Who knows what surprises the morning might bring?

[Arthur Bernstein continued in Think About Your Life.]

[Muninn†]

Well, for better or worse, it looked like Bernadette was part of a group now. She followed along after the other two, leaving behind the dilapidated office.

She wasn't quite sure how to feel about Coleen's assertion that they would be moving around quite a bit. Actually, scratch that; she liked it. Really, it did sound like a better idea than sitting in one place. Unfortunately, it was just a matter of whether it could be done, whether Bernadette would be able to keep pace with the others. In the worst case scenario, one where she became more or less dead weight...

Well, for the time being the plan would just have to be "Hope things don't get to that point."


((Bernadette Thomas continued in Think About Your Life))