Arrival

[royya]

Jean is outside. The man in the room is being dealt by Herman and Erich. Jean focus himself on the corridor and those who might come due the gunshot.

[aine]

The man murmurs something and Herman can just about make it out.

[Laraqua]

Whispered dying words,not this time took the light but not me can't sleep doctors waiting there made the hurt and ants in my blood can't sleep can't sleep....

Then the blood ceases to pump and the man expires with a final breath.

There's a yellow confidential folder on the table that certainly has its own information on hand, though a chunk of it has been ripped out and burned in the nearby wastepaper bin.

PROJECT ICHARUS
Case Number: 175
Patient Initials, JPH, "Jean"
Consultation Dated: 1941.10.14
Initial Date of Patient Consult: 1941.04.12
Patient Age: 19
Gender: Male
Observing Physician: Dr. Carl Schmidt (DBNR)
THERAPY STATUS
Patient claims to have progressed to self-directed lucid dream states. Chit. growths proceeding at long-term pace allowing observations at unprecedented scale. Continuing stage 4 hormone schedule.
DIAGNOSTICS:
Exploratory surgery revealed no bronchial accumulation.
Hematrocrit speculator again failed to separate erythrocytes. Concerning.
Arrhythmic REM/NREM cycle. Laughter in NREM state.
INTERVIEW NOTES:
Jean has requested additional food, stating frequent hunger and stomach cramping after attempts to ingest vegetable products, preferring animal protei

[Mr. Handy]

OOC,I thought this was August 1941, but papers said the consultation was in October. Also, are the notes supposed to end in the middle of the word like that, or is there more?

[Laraqua]

OOC: All is as it should be. And yes,it is meant to end partway through the word.

[Mr. Handy]

"Strange," says Erich. "This report is dated two months in the future, and it cuts off before it's finished. It looks like he tore it out and burned it."

[aine]

Herman closes the man's eyes and stands up. "He didn't say much of any sense; either because of his wounds or he was possibly insane to start with. I reckon he was a patient and I think the doctors were doing experiments on them; he said 'the doctors were causing hurt.'" He leans over Erich's shoulder and reads the report. "That tallies. Although the dates are odd; it's only August. I dunno what all that medical stuff means but it sounds gross - growths? And animal protein, that's meat ain't it?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Yeah, it's meat," says Erich. "These doctors just like using long words to make themselves sound more important, I guess. Perhaps they've been falsifying their reports. That would explain why they postdated this one two months in advance. Let's see what else we can find in the office and on the dead man's person."

[Laraqua]

The files seem to be filled with a lot of medical jargon and range in dates that show a sure and steady progression of data and impressive results. It does, indeed, appear that there's some significant falsification of records occurring here. What were they so afraid of that they were willing to lie about their progress? Was nothing going according to plan? And what was the real progress in place here? The man's pockets are empty and there's a little blood on the collar that doesn't look like it was caused by the gun shot. The suit is also a size too large for the man.

[Mr. Handy]

Erich folds up the confidential report and pockets it. "We'd better hold onto this for evidence," he says. "It's a shame the rest of it was torn off and burned. It was likely important. Strange that he didn't just burn the whole thing." He shrugs. "I think we've found all there is to find here. We'd better keep moving and check the next door before someone shows up."

[royya]

I wonder why "they" are not coming, clearly they heard the gunshot ... maybe "they" want us to finish the patients ?
Jean look at the doors, if there is a lunatic behind every door it will be a massacre.

[aine]

"I reckon this guy was a patient trying to escape in someone else's suit. Lot of good it did him." Herman shrugs, "Poor sucker. But he seemed fairly normal other than being mad. I don't reckon it's the patients who are hiding in the airducts; I had wondered if they were trying to create super-soldiers but he ain't one fore sure." He shrugs again and follows Jean to the next door.

[Mr. Handy]

"What's in the air ducts is far worse," says Erich, moving along with the others. "Any patients who crawled in there would end up just as dead as the men we found earlier."

[Laraqua]

All of the other doors that line this corridor to the left are otherwise uninteresting offices though one had a dark stain on the carpet and a slaughter of books dropped from a nearby bookcase. Even in the minimal light from the dark and cloudy sky, the stain was clearly blood and about the size of a person. A single door to the right led into some sort of lounge, thick office chairs placed orderly and facing a large wireless radio by the wall. As you enter to take a quick look around, you hear nothing within the building but a few floor boards groaning with each step, nothing more -

A piercing shriek rends the silence, followed by a burst of static from the wireless that was once silent.

There are no other doors in this room but there is a final door left in the corridor.

[Mr. Handy]

"We need to get moving," says Erich, "and the door at the end of the hall is the only one left."

[aine]

"How come the wireless is affected? Come on, let's get this over with." Herman leads the way with his rifle ready. "You open the door and I'll enter first." He says grimly in front of the last door.

[Mr. Handy]

Erich nods and takes up his position in front of the door as before, with his left hand on the knob and his right in his pocket, gripping his pistol. When everyone else is in place, he tries the door.

[royya]

What is going on in here? where is the man that tried the door's knob earlier where we hid?
Jean says
Surely he heard the gun shot, if they were looking after us why they have not come yet ... probably the gun made them to consider their steps I guess and where are the patients ? The blood stains are present with no bodies, those who managed to flee found their death in the air tunnels ... I have a feeling that something is hunting us.

Too many questions left unanswered.

Jean stands next to Erich with the rake ready to slash the next lunatic they stumble

[Laraqua]

Opening the door to the final set of doors at the end of the hall, they find themselves in another short length of corridor with a door left and right. There's a set of bare footprints made with a puddle of blood fading in the direction that turns toward the left. A door that is slightly ajar and which creaks shut on its own. Or because a person on the other side had just gently closed it. The door on the other side is open, revealing a small staff lounge with sinks at the far wall and a modern refrigerator alongside a coffee service still sitting on a trolley. Blood dripped from a crimson stain in the ceiling, puddling on a slope of plywood that's just sitting on the counter top, as though someone had placed it there before constructing repairs (or barricades) and didn't return for it. The vent near the stain had been torn off its screws.

[Mr. Handy]

Erich looks into the lounge just to make sure it's clear of any threats, though he knows that something could easily come out of the vent and gives it a wide berth, not even setting foot into that room. Then he gestures to the door that just closed, slipping a hand into his pocket and feeling the reassuring grip of the pistol. He positions himself against the wall next to the door.