Play@YSDC

The trapdoor is heavy but the hinges allow it to swing open easily enough. It lets them out into a cellar that contains a military-style cot and a small larder full of tinned food. A radio sits in one corner. A wardrobe sits in another, alongside some junk furniture. There's no vibrations of any bombs dropping but the air is laced with smoke even here. There's also a cupboard lined with shelving that contains a variety of pickled 'things' that look alternately like organs or strange worm-like shapes. A desk sits shoved up against a wall, piled high with books. There's another set of stairs. This one with a door at the top.

Irene carefully and quietly approaches the desk, curious to see what the books are and if there are any important papers there.

I wonder if we can hear some news, thought we are probably too deep underground
Doug says as he goes to the radio and tries to turn it on while lowering the volume

William advances toward the wardrobe and opens it slowly.

The radio is filled with static but there is the vague sound of snatches of conversation from BBC presenters. The wardrobe contains a wide array of outfits - for men, for women, for children of all different shapes and sizes. The floor of the wardrobe is filled with a variety of shoes as well though there seems to be no pattern to the sizing. The books seem to discuss zoological, archaeological, and anthropological subjects. The notes seemed to be drawing some sort of conclusion from them though it'll take a bit of time (and appropriate rolls) to learn more.

Doug turns off the radio and goes to the wardrobe, his shirt was stained and torn a little bit so he tries to find another that match his size. He search around the shoes and in the pockets for clues about the owners of the cloth.

Florence tentatively approaches the cupboard, to get a better look at the pickled 'things' on the shelves. She braces herself for what she might find, rather expecting the worst after what they have seen below.

"Those clothes and shoes would be perfect for the folks downstairs," says Irene softly. "Some of them probably even belong to them."

William begins grabbing articles of clothing from the hangers. "Good thinking, Irene. I can carry a few things back down on my shoulder. I would still like to keep my gun free." Having grabbed a load, he begins to limp back down the stairs. "Hold off on investigating that door until I can get back, if you please."

"Thank you," replies Irene with a smile. "Here, let me help you with those." She gathers up a double armful of clothes and shoes and follows William.

Those going downstairs should move to the other thread once I've posted.

For Doug

There are indeed clothes that are roughly his size though unfortunately the pants from one suit are too big and the jacket from another too small, so he'll have to wear a tweed jacket and black trousers.

For Florence

The jars contain a variety of flesh growths, some appearing to be mutated organs, though the majority contain floating specimens with suckers at one end and a toothy maw at the other, roughly as long as Florence's hand and as wide as her thumb. "There are more things on Heaven and Earth than the imagination could ever think of," murmured Hewitt behind her.

Hewitt went over to rifle through some of the books on the desk. "These zoological treatises seem to focus on undersea creatures though one would have to go through them all to see much of a connection to those things." He gives her a wry smile, turning his flashlight to illuminate his smile in a way that made it garish. "And here I was thinking it was a butcher attempting to fill his shelves with meat."

"This is bizarre," says Florence. "Books about sea creatures, combined with strange specimens in jars with suckers on them. What on Earth is going on here?" She looks briefly around the room to make sure that there isn't anything they've missed, before going over to join Hewitt at the desk, and look at the books in more detail.

What things?
Doug raise his head from the shoes and go over to see the cool things that float in the jars. He tries to open one of the jars and pour the content on the ground. If the thing in there will try to escape he will nail it with the knife he holds.

There was no identification in any of those pockets as far as he could find, anyway. The jar lid is quite tight upon the jar but it does give, slowly, beneath the might of Doug's hands. Is he going to crouch down to tip it out? After all, if it does try to move he'll have to throw the knife if he's standing.

The room itself seems kind of homey, in a disturbed madman kind of way. Its probably thought of as somewhat of a refuge for the owner, wherever he is.

The books are mostly old, Victorian relics with well-worn spines though there are a few more modern ones. There's even a book or two on submarines and U-boat explorations. It would take a bit of Natural History or another similar skill to make heads or tails out of these books (you may roll more than one skill). Though Florence can't see Doug's actions, she can hear the creak of a rusted lid and could see it if she cared to turn around.

OOC fail Natural History,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4061633/]Rolling Natural History (stat 35%) on looking at strange books (1d100=70)[/url]

Florence turns round as she hears the jar creak ...

Doug upends the contents of the jar and pulls his knife, eyeing the thing suspiciously. Florence and Hewitt turns to see as the little worm begins to twitch. "You dolt!" snaps Hewitt but that's all he gets to say before events begin to unfold.

Show,Doug, Hewitt and the worm all have the same Dexterity and therefore the same Initiative. Doug may use Kick or Throw due to the synchronicity of events. If he picks Kick, [b]Hewitt[/b] will go first as ranged goes first and he has a gun. Due to the size of the creature, all ranged attacks are at a -20%. Florence won't attack until the end of the round as her Dex is the lowest

Upon hearing the report of the gun, William moves as quickly to the upper room as he can, gun drawn and ready.

What?! It's just a worm ...
Doug says and tries to kick the thing to the end of the room.

Kick (1d100=14) - pass, it's 1/5 from my kick score.
Kick damage+dmg bonus (2d6=7)

Irene helps William up the stairs as fast as she can.

The worm hits the wall with a spatter and leaves a greasy smear behind it as the other two come rushing up the trapdoor. Hewitt stands with his gun held in both hands, staring at the bullet hole in the wood while his chest heaves with the effects of a sudden shock. Florence stands beside him, hands to her mouth, shocked by the sudden outburst.

"You don't know," murmurs Hewitt, slowly lowering the gun. "You don't know...." He rubs at his jaw. "Another time..."

Irene gapes at the smushed worm's remains. "My God, what is that thing?" she asks.

Hey! Yankee, if you know something so you better tell us or else!
Doug says to Hewitt
What was that worm that you are so scared of?
Doug goes to the shelf and points at the jars.
What is it!?

Hewitt shudders and stares at the worm spatter with a slightly glazed look in his eyes. Anyone who'd spent much time with certain Great War vets who came back not quite right recognise that look. Shell shock. "I - I don't really.... Its probably unrelated and I doubt it'd make any sense to you right now. It hardly makes much sense to me. There was this thing in Chicago...." He shakes his head. "Look, let's not worry about that. If anyone's upstairs they probably heard the shot."

"Then we'd better get moving before they have time to prepare," says Irene. "Onwards and upwards."

What happened in Chicago?!
Doug tries to press the american. Clearly Hewitt is hiding something.

Irene holds up her hand to Doug. "There's no need for raised voices," she says soothingly. "We're all friends here." She then turns the full force of her charm on the American. "Please, Mr. Hewitt, we need to know what we're up against. If you have any information that might help, it will improve our chances. There are many lives at stake here."

OOC,I got 1/5 of my Persuade skill, a special success.

Doug surprised with Irene but decides to flow with her, he shuts up and waits for Hewitt to answer her.

"It might not be the same thing but there was correspondance that mentioned a series of killings in London," said Hewitt. "Killings and kidnappings...." He looks somewhat embarressed. "There was a parasitic thing sitting on a dissection table in a laboratory a whole lot more sterile and scientific than this one which, well, it was pinned in place and when my friend unpinned it - assuming it was dead and wanting to take it as a sample - it attacked him. This was at the Station for Experimental Evolution at Cold Spring Harbor on Long Island by the Eugenics Record Office's old headquarters. We'd thought that kinda thing was a thing of the past but it turned out it was still in operation and still receiving funding for its eugenics studies by the Carnegie Instiution and the Rockefeller Foundation."

Irene shudders in distaste. "That lot sound like they're practically Nazis themselves," she says. "They've got a lot of wealth and influence too from what I hear. I hope you can protect your country from the likes of them. So these worm-things, do they get inside people's heads or something?"

"I hope not. I think they're the burrowing kind like you hear about in Africa and India and tropical places like that which try to squirm under the skin and feast on the flesh," he sighs. "Just bigger than the usual. I try to do my best to ferret the Nazis out which is why we started taking a look into the old institutions. I think they were looking into experimental warfare at this stage." He suddenly looks chagrined. "Sorry, ma'am, probably not a good metaphor to use with the worms. I forget myself. The women I work with tend to be made of sterner stuff but sometimes the civvies get a bit mad at me for the way I talk. Don't know how you Brits take stuff like that."

So, this place is operated by a Nazi spy?
Doug throws the question to the air
Just under our nose, We must deal with the man that owns this laboratory

"Oh, I like to think I'm made of stern stuff," says Irene with a smile. "When your city gets bombed to flinders, it tends to toughen you. Those worms don't give me the creeps half as much as the American Nazis do, anyway. They're the real parasites. If they ever take control over there, God help us all - because nobody else will be able to. Well, we'd better get moving."

Listen (1d100=14) - Pass

What's that ?! A scream and it's coming from below.
Doug pulls out the butchers knife and hurries down the stairs

Doug opens the trapdoor and they can clearly hear: "Keep her, them safe. Not me, I didn't do it. There, there. All safe." John's voice echoing up at them moments before John comes stumbling into view at the bottom of the stairs.

At about the same time, the door at the other end of the room lurches open and a middle-aged man in an old suit wearing wire-framed glasses steps inside, tugging on a chain that switches the light on. Hewitt spins around, gun trained on the man who raises his hands in shock at the sight before him. The man looks down at the broken jar and shudders, "No! Didn't get loose, did it?"

Florence startles. "Who are you?"

"It got crushed," said Hewitt. "So put your hands up and close the door behind you."

He did so. "Best close that trapdoor." He licks his lips. "Please let me explain before you go doing anything rash."

John looks up at the trapdoor. The light spilling from it seems very bright and he shades his eyes. He calls."Best not come down here. No." He mutters to himself, too low to hear. He sits down heavily on the bottom step and takes off his shoe to scratch his foot.

Doug goes down and helps John to his feet,
Come'on, come with me!!
He will drag John if he needs to.

"Yes, come upstairs," says the stranger. "And close that trapdoor behind you."

"Who the hell are you?" demands Hewitt, pointing the gun directly at the man, who keeps his hands raised high.

"Wait, where's Julia?" asks Florence, heading over to the top of the stairs though keeping her eyes also trained on the stranger.

John attempts to push Doug away back up the stairs. "Agghh, you're one of THEM! Get off of me! Help!"

ooc,Not sure what to roll for: [url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4113995/]1d100=47[/url] and John's strength is 47

"Let's all stay calm here," says Irene, raising a hand. "Mr. Brooks, why isn't Julia with you? You shouldn't have left her alone down there." She looks back at the man who just appeared. "Sir, you had best answer his question and explain what the deuce is going on. Please produce your identity card as well."

John, you are not yourself, get a grip!
Doug says and pulls the man with him upstairs
Once they are up there, he will slam the trapdoor.

"My identity card?" asks the man, seemingly confused. "Aren't you a nurse?"

"I'm an ambulance driver with the WVS," says Irene, "but under the circumstances I think you can see why we need to confirm who you are. You could say you're anyone otherwise, and we'd have no way to check. You do have your identity card, do you not?"

Once upstairs, John lurches free of Doug's grip and scuttles, quickly for his size, into a corner furthest from the others. He shrinks down onto the floor and rubs his chest whilst keeping a wary eye on everyone in the room. He continually mutters under his breath.

"Mr. Brooks, why isn't Julia with you? You shouldn't have left her alone down there."

He rolls his eyes at Irene and shudders, "Not me her HER keep away fiend she devil snake snake I know what you are." He rocks back and forth moaning and scratching.

"Oh dear, appears to me he's had a bit of an incident," says the man nervously. "Perhaps I should boil us a pot of tea? Or perhaps you could be a dear?" He looks at Irene questioningly.

Mr Hewitt stays quiet, seemingly happy to let others ask the questions so that he can focus on the man with his gun. His teeth grit at John's comments.

Something happened to him downstairs, I have not seen Julia. We should check for her.
Doug replies as he slams the trapdoor behind him. The he looks at the stranger while taking out the butcher's knife he took earlier and roll it in his hand like a professional gang man.
Who the hell are you?!

"I'm Dr. Houston now, please, put that knife and gun away," said the man. "You won't need them here."

You are not calling the shots down here mister
Doug replies as he continue to play with the knife and add
Who are the naked people down there?

"I refuse to be threatened in my home," says the alleged doctor, pinching the bridge of his nose and taking in a few sharp inhalations. "My work is of the utmost discretion as are my subjects." He takes in a deep breath, holds it, then slowly exhales. "Who are you? And how did you get to be down here?"

John sits quietly in the corner, mumbling to himself and scratching his fingers.

"Perhaps you can explain things while I put the tea on," says Irene, giving Doug a worried glance. "Florence, can you help Mr. Brooks, please? I don't think I'm getting through to him." She speaks to Dr. Houston as she begins to prepare the tea. "My name is Irene Carpenter. My ambulance arrived at a shelter with over two dozen people trapped inside. We went in to try to rescue them, but they were gone, and there was a hole in the floor leading into some underground tunnels. We went to track down the missing people, and the trail led us to the rooms downstairs, where we found fifteen people in cages, none of them wearing a thing. Is that part of your home too?"

Answer the lady doctor
Doug says as he circles the man as he continues to play wity the knife he took.

There doesn't appear to be a kettle down here though there is a camp stove in the corner alongside an old tea set. Perhaps he only has one kettle and brings it down here when he means to stay in here? Irene would have to head out into the rest of the house to fetch the kettle. She can certainly attempt to appear a little more innocent, though it is difficult with Hewitt pointing a gun at the man and Doug fiddling with a knife - both of which seems to be making the man quite anxious.

From where the man stands it's impossible for Doug to circle behind him as he's before one of the doors and thus has the wall behind him. It certainly is possible to try to get into position from one side or the other to attack him from the side.

"Y-yes, that's part of my life's work," says the man. "A medical miracle in the making, really! Amputations, crushed organs, all of it can be healed by such a ... a simple treatment."

"I can't seem to find the teakettle, doctor," says Irene. "Where do you keep it? And what exactly is this simple treatment? Did all of those people downstairs volunteer for it?"

"In the kitchen, naturally," he says, giving her a bit of an odd look. "Though I'd rather you didn't leave until your friends stop threatening me. If they could put down their weapons, I could better explain. It is quite a complicated and detailed experiment, naturally, as when there's any kind of scientific method. My studies will be able to save many old soldiers from a fate filled with terror and ignominy."

"I don't think threatening Dr. Houston is going to get us anywhere," Irene tells her companions. "Let's try discussing this like civilised people and see what he has to say." Even so, she is skeptical about any explanation that the doctor will give, considering what she saw in the butcher's shop below.

John mutters to himself, "Itch itch itch, soo itchy." He unconsciously scratches his hands while he warily watches the others.

What happened to John?
Doug asks, pointing his questoin to the doctor
Something below did that to him

"I have no idea," said the fellow. "This is most irregular. It isn't something that my specimens could cause. They aren't currently fertile and even if they were it wouldn't drive a person mad. It would put them in a catatonic state and anaethetise them to all sensation while slowly regenerating any injuries. What seems to have happened to him is some sort of ... oh, I'm no psychotherapist but he seems either insane or going through drug withdrawals. Itchy skin ... might be heroin." The man does seem thoroughly perplexed.

Hewitt lowers the gun to point at the floor, his eye twitching every so often.

The man walks past everyone to go and sit at his desk, eyeing Hewitt off strangely. "Are you all drug addicts?"

"I'm not," says Irene, "and I don't believe the others are, either. Mr. Brooks wasn't acting this way before. Something has affected him. Where is Julia? She might know what happened down there."

I say we go and find Julia down there. This time, the doctor will lead the way!
Doug suggest loudly

"How very rude," said the man. "You have no right to come in here like you own the place and make demands of me. Do you know who I am? What I am trying to do? Your friend must have left through the exit or something similar! The only people down there are of no harm to anyone, locked up as they are!"

John shifts nervously from his corner, he just wishes the itching will go away. He crawls over to by the trap door and sits on the cool metal, listening to the others with suspicious eyes.

Laraqua wrote:"How very rude," said the man. "You have no right to come in here like you own the place and make demands of me. Do you know who I am? What I am trying to do? Your friend must have left through the exit or something similar! The only people down there are of no harm to anyone, locked up as they are!"

They are not locked, he...
Doug nods to John at the corner
... and Julia went down there with cloths and helped them get dressed. Why did you locked them, they weren't criminals

"You unlocked them?" asked the man in a quiet voice, then suddenly louder: "Are you mad? They were locked in for a reason! A reason which your friend no doubt discovered! If you were to see a button on a sign that says 'Danger', would you push that as well? Oh, my word! I will have to go down and round them up. You are all fools. All of you." He rose to his feet and started making his way over to the shelves lined with jars and vials.

"They didn't look dangerous," says Irene. "They looked like naked people - most of them women - who were missing limbs and were being held against their will. How are they dangerous? My God, Julia's down there with them!" She hurries to the trapdoor, where John is sitting. "You've got to move!"

John looks up, sees Irene approach and cowers back, "No. What does she want? Don't touch me!" He shudders and holds up his hands to stop her touching him.

Irene takes a step back. "I'm not going to touch you," she says. She has no intention of trying to force him aside. As strong as she is, the big man easily outclasses her. She doubts any of them could manage it, except perhaps Doug. There must be something wrong with him, she thinks. Most chaps would love it if I touched them. "But you've got to get off the trapdoor. Julia is stuck down there, and she's in peril!"

The faintest ghost of a sickly smile crosses John's face. "I know her game, tricky she devil! She can't fool me, oh no." He blatantly avoids looking at Irene, instead he looks at Hewitt and Doug. "There's no need to go downstairs, it wasn't me, it's all fine, all fine. Best not to really."

"What's gotten into him?" murmurs Florence. "What happened?"

Irene studies John closely, trying to figure out what could be wrong with him.

As Irene leans in close John shrieks in terror, "She's one of THEM! God, get her away from me! Nooooo!" He can't decide whether to fight or flee but there's no where to run to. He sinks down, sobbing, curls into a ball on the trapdoor and waits for the end.

Irene backs away and whispers to the others: "Whatever happened down there, it seems to have driven him over the edge. He has an irrational fear of women, but maybe he wouldn't feel the same way about men."

Irene!
Doug calls, nodding her to move aside. he then kneels next to John.
Hey champ, take a grip on yourself, what happened to you? what happened down there?! And you ...
The former brute shifts his look from the prone John to the doctor.
You better tell us why you locked the people down there and why they are dangerous or I'm going to throw you down the stairs to their mercy!

The doctor removes a small vial filled with fluid and drinks it, dabbing the remnants on his wrists. "The experiment has some unfortunate side effects but nothing that is too problematic. I'll go downstairs and corral them back into their cage and then we'll talk. We wouldn't want them escaping into the sewers, would we? They tend to take awhile to get started but if your friend has upset them...."

John turns a tear streaked face to Doug; the rough but kindly meant and overall human words have got through. He stutters, "The, the woman, you got to protect me, she's, she's..."

He shudders, "You've got to be careful Doug, they are not what them seem." He looks suspiciously at Irene and then continues in a low voice, "You think they're okay and then Bam! All blown up or, or..."

He shakes his head, "Or worse. My wife Meg, I thought she was alright, you know, normal; but she, she was the first. And now again... so bad, but it wasn't me. You can't trust them." He looks deep into Doug's eyes who sees recent horror echoing in John's desperate eyes. "Whatever you do, don't go down there. Or you Hewitt, William. Please. Let the she-devils go down, they'll be okay, they know anyway."

He lost it
Doug says to the others.
Something happened to Julia or one of the women down there did something to him. We can go down as a group or stay here, wait for the doctor to come back.
Doug opens the trapdoor for the doctor to go down and bar it after him.

"Julia may need our help," says Irene. "Besides, at least some of us should keep an eye on the doctor. I'm willing to go down."

"As you wish," says the doctor simply to Doug. "Now if you'll excuse me...." He heads down the stairs.

John clambers up off the trapdoor and allows it to be opened. He watches the doctor almost sadly as he descends and disappears down the stairs. He turns to Doug. "I, I think we should go right now, through that other door while we have a chance." He wipes his hands nervously on the back of trousers.

Mr. Handy wrote:

"Julia may need our help," says Irene. "Besides, at least some of us should keep an eye on the doctor. I'm willing to go down."

Look at him, Irene, look at John. There is something downthere that did it to him and if Julia was all right why didn't she came and knocked on the trapdoor from below?
Doug replies
What do you say?
Doug asks the others as well.

"I know something terrible must have happened down there," says Irene. "Am I scared? I'm bloody terrified! But I can't abandon Julia. We don't all have to go down there, and in fact it's best of some of us stay up here to keep an eye on John. I'm a bad choice for that. He doesn't like me very much right now."

"Are you coming?" asks the stranger downstairs, waiting on the bottom step. "I'd rather not delay any longer."

John leans over and whispers in Doug's ear,

Doug,"More fool you if you don't leave now but I'll stay with you. I know who they are now and I'll be on my guard, they won't catch me out again! I'll give you good warning if I can."

He gives Irene and Florence a hard measuring look and then moves to the back of the room by the shelves and waits near William.

"I'm coming," says Irene, making her way carefully down the stairs.

William, care John. Hewitt, join us.
Doug says

John follows last of all. He's looking decidedly nervous.

"I'll stay up here with William," says Florence with a meaningful glance at the door. She lifts her fingers to the side of her face and waggles it like she's speaking into a phone receiver.

Hewitt nods, frowning, and heads down the stairs after Irene and Doug. John follows behind him.

The doctor stands at the threshold of the door, looking at them all curiously. "You all seem rather anxious. Are you sure you're up to it?" Before they can respond he simply says, "Very well," and opens the door, stepping inside and striding toward where a group of those patients stand - now spattered with remnants of blood - around a bloody stain and patches of tattered cloth. There's no sign of bone nor meat. The patients still appear to be catatonic.

(Sanity Loss 1/1d4 for the scene).

Irene winces a little, but she keeps it together. She has seen more gruesome things in the Blitz, but it isn't usually someone she knows. "Poor Julia..." she says. "No wonder he lost it."

San (1d100=87) - Fail
San loss (1d4=1)

The agitated past gangster stares at the scene.
What the hell? What happened here? They did it ??
His nervous are on the edge, if the doctor was beside him Doug would have lost it and punch him hard for being responsible for what he sees.
You are on a big trouble doctor.
He says as he grits his teeth

Coming last down the stairs John can only see glimpses of the room beyond everyone else but even that is too much as memories begin flooding back.

Irene winces a little, but she keeps it together. She has seen more gruesome things in the Blitz, but it isn't usually someone she knows. "Poor Julia..." she says. "No wonder he lost it."

Irene's callously calm words just prove to John how inhuman she is and he suddenly realises that William is upstairs alone with another one of the women. "Nooo! William!" He turns and rushes back up the stairs.

insanity rolls,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4157785/]1d100=97, 1d4=2[/url]

Doctor you better give us some answers why the group killed the poor lady and why they are here or else!
Doug says as he takes out the butchers knife. He feels unsecure and motions for the rest of his friends to stand ready near the stairs if they will have to run up after John and away from here.

"Careful," says Irene. "Dr. Houston is the only one who knows how to handle them, so you can't kill him, and threatening him doesn't get anywhere. We also don't know what will set this lot off, but stabbing him might just do it."

"Not to mention the distinctly immoral nature of stabbing a doctor for such a petty reason," says the doctor. "I'm only trying to perform groundbreaking research in much needed transplant theory that could revolutionise how we treat our poor mutilated returning soldiers."

"That too," says Irene, "though I don't think he goes in for niceties like that. I wouldn't kill you, but I'm not satisfied that there's nothing improper about your experiments. I still don't know where you got all these people, but it's hard for me to believe that they all volunteered with full knowledge of what they were in for. Then, of course, there's the fact that they killed my friend. There's hardly anything left of her! So I still think some explanations are in order."

Three of the 'patients' twitch, their heads jerking upright, though none appear to be looking at Irene just yet.

"I am well aware of what happened to your friend," said the doctor, going over to one of the steel counters. "None of this would have happened if you hadn't decided to open the cell doors." He pushes something beneath the counter and the door swings shut and clicks behind you all. "Consent is not a requirement for such vital experimentation! Informed consent would ruin the effects of the results, especially considering the general selfishness and self interest of the average Briton."

Irene lowers her voice. "We'll just see what the authorities have to say about that later," she says. "I think we'd best not make any loud noises. They may react to sound."

Irene, he just locked us down here! I think he wants us to be his next patients.
The former mobster kicks the door behind them and turn to face the doctor
I'm saying it one time only. Open the door or else...
Doug looks at Irene and whisper
I will beat him, I honestly freaking do

Irene approaches the counter where Dr. Houston stands, trying to see the hidden catch or switch he must have tripped to shut the door. "Doctor, please open the door," she says. "I don't like being cut off from my friends."

John bursts through the trap door in the room upstairs, "William! Are you okay up here? She hasn't done anything has she?" He looks wildly around.

Neither of them are in the room. It looks like John is entirely alone! There's another door but it appears to be locked.

Show,Butcher room post incoming....

John tries the other door but it seems securely locked. There's no blood anywhere so it doesn't look like the woman has eaten William but he's at a total loss as to what has happened. He scratches himself nervously and makes his way over to the shelves. He's having a look at a jar of liquid when he hears a gun shot down stairs. He drops the jar in shock and the liquid sprays down his trousers and over the floor. "Oh no, oh no, it's happening again." He sidles over to the trap door, unconsciously wiping the liquid off his trousers, and calls down, "Hello? Doug? Hewitt?" He's too scared to go down and stands there indecisively, listening.

(fail)

He hears nothing but he has the feeling that the coin has been tossed. Will he be lucky or unlucky?

(Luck Roll)

Show,There is no more special occasion than this. I will update you when I know how the others are going.

He hears the door click.

John spins round and looks for somewhere to hide; he's not going to get caught out this time. He decides to flatten himself against the wall so he's behind the door when it opens; hoping to leap out and jump on the person/thing when it steps into the room. Unfortunately his toolbag was dropped in the room below so he has only his fists for defense.

The door opens as Doug and Irene come rushing through, hauling a seemingly catatonic Hewitt between them. John may choose to attack or hold off on doing so.

John holds off jumping on them at the last minute. He's relieved to see Doug is okay but there's still that woman... He waits, silently to see what she does before making his presence known. Although they only have to turn round to see his hulking shaped looming behind the door.

Close the trapddor and bar it!
Doug calls to John.
You don't want to know what lies downstairs. Irene, help me ... where is Florence? god my shoulder ... they fucking bit me !!

"Yes, shut the trapdoor and get something heavy on it before they get up here!" calls Irene, sinking to the floor next to Doug. Borrowing some medical supplies from Florence, she gets to work on his first wound and does an outstanding job, her instincts taking over. She manages to stop the bleeding and patch up the injury.

OOC,That was a critical success at First Aid, so it might heal more than just the 2 HP I rolled. [b]Doug[/b] has a second wound that can also be treated, but [b]Florence[/b] might be working on that one while I handle the other.

There's no one else upstairs. Florence and William are nowhere in sight.

OOC,I'm happy for you to roll twice to heal it and you can roll for the next injury.

Irene finished cleaning and bandaging Doug's first cut, then started on the second. However, that one proved more difficult. "I think I'll need Florence to help with this one," she says. "Where did she go?"

OOC,[b]Doug[/b] got a total of 3 HP back from the first injury, but nothing back yet from the second. Can I roll to treat my own minor injuries?

Once Irene finish to work on him, Doug stands and tries to find something heavy to put on the door.
Thanks. Treat him, he lost it I think.

He says to Irene as he looks at Hewitt.
John, where is William and Florence and the old man (he was a priest right?) that joined us ?
We must get out of here ... Julia is dead, the doctor is dead I guess and there are freaking worm-infested-mouth cannibals down there.

"I don't know what happened to William or the old man." says John dully. He drags over any moveable but heavy table or bench over the closed trapdoor. "The other door is locked now."

Irene shivers. "It was a nightmare down there," she says. "For a bit there I thought it would be goodnight, Irene." She does what she can to help Hewitt, checking him for injuries and trying to bring him to his senses.

OOC,I can roll First Aid if he's injured, but without Psychoanalysis I don't have much chance of snapping him out of his temporary insanity. However, it hopefully won't last much longer.

Hewitt is uninjured in body, only in mind. He continues to stare off into the middle distance, knuckles white on his gun, mouth moving slowly as though muttering to himself.

Irene speaks to Hewitt soothingly as she cradles his head in her arms, but he doesn't seem to respond. "I think I know what's wrong with him," she says, "but there's not much I can do for him."

There were worms in the jar I smashed earlier.
Doug says as he walks to the shelf again
Could it be the same ?

"That's possible," says Irene. "These things looked like centipedes. Are there any more in jars?" She tends to her bruised arms, and at least one of them feels better.

There are several more worms floating within some of the jars. Other jars seem to have pastes or other concoctions, all marked with an esoteric symbol upon its discolored label.

Irene peers at the worms to see if they resemble the parasite she had seen downstairs.

It's hard to say. These are segmented but they lack any sign of sharp edged legs or a visible maw. It might be easier to see if she extracted one from a jar and placed it under a microscope.

If someone were going to do that, it wouldn't be Irene. "Best to leave those for the boffins," she says. "Too dangerous for us to mess with. I think we'd better make our way upstairs. We need to find out where Florence and the others went, and that's the only other way out of here."

John watches Irene with the centipede jars with suspicion. He then says to Doug, " I could have a look at the lock on this door that goes upstairs but my tools, they were down in that room." He examines the lock and door anyway.

Roll,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4210614/]1d100=15[/url] for trying to open the door either via the lock or hinges. (Locksmith 1%, mechanical 60%)

It would be a simple process to remove the hinges but he does require some tools to do so.

"And mine are back in the ambulance - unless it's been bombed to flinders by now," says Irene. "Maybe we can find something suitable in this room." She begins looking around for tools.

OOC,[b]Doug[/b] does have the Locksmith skill at a pretty good level.

John has a general poke around the shelves.

ooc,Does he recognise any chemicals from his explosives training?

LockSmith (1d100=7) - Less then a 1/5 Success.

Let me check the lock.
Doug says as he kneels beside the door.
Bahh, that is an easy one, I picked in the past .. hmmm... I mean, that is a simple one ... let me have an hair pin ... I did it, I managed to open it.
*Click*

The jars aren't labeled correctly but are likely to contain preservative chemicals such as formaldehyde.

It's odd, though. One might expect the sound of fists pounding against the doors or at least an effort to open them but everything seems so ... quiet below.

The door unlocks easily, revealing another set of stairs, though this time they appear to be what one might expect would lead up to a normal house. There's even wallpaper.

"Well done," says Irene, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders now that she has taken out the hairpin to give to Doug. "Let's carry Mr. Hewitt upstairs. I know the air raid may still be going on, but I'd rather take my chances up there than stay in this place."

John leaves the jars and watches Irene's loose hair as if it is a creature in its own right, almost as if he expects it to rear up like the mouth-worms. He shudders and says, "Mr. Hewitt, I can carry you." With that he crouches and picks up the American, putting him over his shoulder but straining a bit under the weight, "But not for long." He waits to follow the others up the stairs, he's not too concerned about what happened below; it is a blank in his memory.

Doug leads the way, he is on alert, ready to swing the butcher's knife at anyone unfamiliar.
I hope we'll find a way out of here. It is odd that William and Florence were gone unless it was unwillingly by someone who is connected to the doctor.

"I agree," says Irene quietly, following Doug up the stairs. "Let's be careful and avoid making noise."

The following door is unlocked, at least, and opens up beneath another set of stairs that heads up to the first floor. The door itself opens up onto a corridor with a front door and a back door, both blacked out. There's a telephone sitting on a little table by the door and Florence is busily talking to s omeone on the receiver. "Yes, we're...." She turns to look at them, waving them over. "Irene! You're alive! I've managed to get through to the police. The lines were busy, you know how it is, but clear now. William went looking for a better weapon.

Show,did you leave Hewitt down there?

John struggles up the narrow staircase with Hewitt. When he gets to the corridor, he slides Hewitt onto the floor with his back resting against the next staircase. He eyes Florence with suspicion. "Which way did William go?" he says aloud.

"Upstairs," says Florence, seeming a little confused by the sudden hostility. A confusion that faded into pity as she recalled his tribulations.

"Hi, Florence," says Irene, relief washing over her. "I very nearly didn't survive. Doctor Houston pushed a button that trapped us down there by sealing off the exit, then sent his patients to attack us. I managed to get to the button and push it again to open the door, making it clear with only a few bruises. Doug bore the brunt of it. I did what I could for him, but one of his wounds didn't want to close. Mr. Hewitt managed to kill the doctor, while Doug fought off the mob. When he cut into one of them, there was this...parasite inside. Looked like a giant centipede. Hewitt went into a state of shock, but he's not physically hurt. We got him out of there and sealed the trapdoor behind us, but they're not trying to break it open or anything. I'm just glad you two are all right."

Who's on the phone and why didn't you wait for us?
Doug asks Florence.
How can it be that you have not seen the doctor come down to us?

"He was already in the room when we were," said Florence. "We came up when the others went down there. I thought you might need a little professional help so we went for the phone. I had the police on the line though the line just dropped and the operator is trying to find a way to either patch us through or get a bicycle messenger over to the station. I managed to telephone the police and talk to them for a minute or two but not long enough to give an address as I simply didn't know it. I needed to get back to the operator to find out where we are calling from." She sighs. "It's all so confusing."

Irene lowers her head. "Julia didn't make it," she says. "There was already nothing left of her before we even got down there. When we tried to come upstairs to join you, we found the door to be locked, but Doug took care of it. It's good that you called for help, Florence. I doubt we can sort this whole mess by ourselves. It is strange, not knowing where we've come up. Looking outside wouldn't help. Not only is it dark, but all the street signs have long since been taken down."

There was an older man with us. A priest that we found wandering the tunnels, where is he ?
Doug says

"I don't know," says Florence. "Did he ever come up into that office with us? Maybe he stayed behind in the basement. I ... I don't remember him coming up with us." She starts looking worried.

"I completely lost track of him," says Irene. "If he stayed down there, his chances can't be good."

The doctor Hewitt killed injected something to the patients, maybe you can find out what it was.

Doug says.
we can find weapons over here and return to kill down those things.

"There's too many of them," says Irene. "We'd need grenades to even have a chance. Best to leave that to the military. Besides, maybe there's some way to get the parasites out of those people without killing them. What we need to find are the doctor's notes."

"Is the doctor still down there with ... those things?" asks Florence.

Irene nods. "I didn't have the opportunity to take his pulse," she says, ""but he took a bullet in the head. I doubt he'll be getting back up."

"Perhaps we should go for the police ourselves," says Florence. "The blitz seems to be over for now."

"Good idea," says Irene, nodding again. "Probably best to leave all this for the boffins to sort anyway We'll have to make a note of the address and figure out what street this is, though, or otherwise remember our path. Otherwise, how will anyone find the way back here?"

Where is William ? William!
Doug shouts and nods to Hewitt and John
We have two lunatics to carry with us. No hard feelings champs.

ooc,what's the layout of the place? where are we exactly?

"Yeah, where is William? The lady seems strangely unworried that he's disappeared." John frowns at Florence and says to Doug. "I reckon we leave the women here and go check upstairs for William - make sure he's okay before we go anywhere else."

"What?" says William as he comes down the stairs. "All I found for a weapon was a lamp. It doesn't seem the man had any arms dealers as friends."

The building seems to be a pretty ordinary townhouse with a set of stairs and a telephone in the corridor. There are three doors, all open, which reveal a rather poky front room with brown wallpaper, toilet, and a kitchen with a little table shoved into the corner with a chair pushed up against it.

"I'm glad to see you're all right," Irene says to William. "The only weapon I know of is Mr. Hewitt's pistol, and he dropped it when he entered his current state. It's down there with...them. If we do leave, I can help carry him. I'm stronger than I look, and I lift patients all the time during the course of my duties."

Whatever you want I'm ready.
Doug says

John is very relieved to see William, "Good, you're alright." He says gruffly. "Shall we get out of here? "I can carry the American."

"Right, let's go," says Irene. "I'll guide us. I know my way around the city quite well, and I've got a map too." She takes it out of her purse, carrying it in one hand and her hooded torch in the other.

John bends down and lifts Hewitt up in a fireman's lift. "I'm ready, although we'll need to find something else to carry him in soon. No one can carry a man for long. "

"Given a long enough piece of wood, I could make a litter," suggets Irene. "We could use a table if we break off the legs. Two of us could carry that for some distance. Although a wheelbarrow would be better still."

"Come on Hewitt, let's get you out of here before these women get their hands on you. Doug, open the door please." John carries Hewitt to the door.

Doug opens the door and John moves a catatonic, but not entirely immobile, Hewitt through the doorway and out into the blacked out streets beyond. In the firelight of the incendiaries which spray sparks from the trees around them, the place seems both eerie and wonderful. The starlight above of this moonlit night also give a certain sense of freedom. None of them had known how much the outside world might feel so positively splendid, so magical, until that moment where they had stepped out from the suffocating piles of concrete and dirt that had almost been their tomb. Yet still there were many questions.... What were the links between the eugenics facility on Long Island that Hewitt had discovered which had brought him here? From where did those disgusting creatures hail and how did that terrible doctor find him? Some of those tunnels seemed rather crudely crafted, and by some brutish figure as well, and the doctor certainly doesn't seem the construction type. Who were his assistants in this? And how did he capture so many people from that air raid shelter and where did they go? Had they been fed to those patients and their remains washed away? Had they been taken elsewhere? And what had happened to the priest who had mysteriously vanished?

So many questions. Many of which they might never learn the answers to. At the very least you know that the doctor responsible is dead (regain 1d6 sanity points) and that, at least, is something.

They walk the firelit and winding streets until a few landmarks stand out, directing them to the local police station in Norbury, where they tell their harried tale. The police are, at first, unbelieving but Irene and Florence are known here and though the police still suspect some form of hallucinatory gas they do give them enough credence that something terrible must have happened. They contact the government through civil defence channels for advice and soon the entire street is cordoned off by ARP wardens in anti-gas suits to await the arrival of the generally bored and unused decontamination squad arrives from London. Irene and Florence are allowed to don anti-gas suits, once a few other suits arrive, so that they can provide medical assistance while John and Hewitt are sent to a local hospital to recover mentally from the ordeal. Doug is neither included in the preparations nor excluded and spends his time at the perimeter, awaiting news of what they find.

Finally prepared, a contingent of local police officers armed with guns and wearing suits and masks enter the basements below. The multiple basements block out the sounds of gunfire but the group hears about it later. After several minutes the police withdraw and call in the military who calls in some secret intelligence agents while civil defence is forced to examine old maps of sewers and tunnels in a room well away while Florence and John and Hewitt and Irene and Doug try to remember all of the open passageways they saw. That's the last time they see the American, Hewitt, who is taken away by the Office of Strategic Services in a rather friendly manner for further conversation. That's also the last they hear about those centipedal monsters other than a polite dinner with some officials who explain that it's being dealt with and that it would be a good idea to hold one's silence rather than risk spooking the general populace. If anyone tries to go to the media about it then the government will deny it and the individual in question will look a fool.

Florence goes home as well, wishing to bury her head in housework and normalcy and put the whole thing behind herself.

What do the rest of you do?

Irene goes to the hospital to check on John, and to see if he's recovered enough for her to visit him. She hasn't completely recovered herself.

Doug depart from the others, not wanting any connection to what happened.
They never hear from him again.

Irene enters St. Clements Hospital in Bow St and asks for John Brooke. She is directed to the mental observation wing where she speaks to the doctor in charge who nods, "John Brookes? Yes, a difficult patient; would have nothing to do with women so we had to draft in a male nurse just for him. Poor sod saw his wife killed in front of him when their house was bombed, a miracle John survived the blast really.

"Then he kept talking about watching a woman being eaten by people with centipede tongues; horrible, this must be a euphemism for his wife's death. Anyhow, the upshot is he thinks all women are monsters masquerading as humans and that they are out to get him. He's discharged himself and we let him go. He's no danger to anyone and quite frankly we need the bed for more serious cases; there's so many at the moment."

He shrugs, "Sorry I can't be of more help; I don't know where he went."

"Thank you, Doctor," says Irene. "I understand." She leaves with her head lowered, a sad expression on her face. The others who shared the experience with her seem to be gone, except for Florence. She is truly grateful for her friend, and she is glad to have someone with whom she could talk about the events of that night. She feels bad for the others, who don't. She tries to contact William and see how he's doing.

William is difficult to find for the next month or so but reappears one weekend at The Hensley Arms. When approached by Irene he makes some cryptic statements about new employment and seems a little more at peace with himself than previously. He is certainly open to conversation with Irene but is a little bit disappointed it Irene is meeting him on a strictly platonic level.

"I'm glad things are going well for you," says Irene with a smile. "Most of the others who were with us that night are gone. Mr. Hewitt probably got sent back to America, and I never had a chance to even say goodbye to him. John checked himself out of the hospital, but it sounds like he hasn't recovered. I can't find any trace of Doug. I'm just glad Florence is still around. It's good to have a friend I can talk to about...what happened. I can't imagine what it would be like to have to keep it to myself. If you ever want to talk things over, I'm more than happy to. I really appreciate your courage and determination down there.

"Am I correct in guessing that the new job you've got is the sort of thing you can't discuss? Do you think it's the sort of work that could use someone with my talents, or Florence's?"

"To be honest, I don't rightly know, though they've doubtless got their eyes on you two after that situation," says William. "Perhaps wait around and see what happens."

Irene is contacted three months later to command a first aid post near one of the storage houses for the British Museum's collections. The people who bring her onboard treat the whole thing as a rather hush-hush operation and seem to be concerned that there might be some kind of problem, particularly with the rare book collection, that might necessitate a nurse's skills. Fortunately, their fears never eventuate and her six month stint at the museum's collection passes rather easily. She is naturally told never to disclose any of her findings to anyone.

Irene keeps her secrets, though she never forgets what she experienced. Now that her mind has been opened, she cannot look at the world the same way again.

To be continued in the Fallen Lives Hospital Threads....