ASH: Dahlia

[Mr. Handy]

Lionel roots through his pockets, but finds nothing helpful there. He tries to peer into the cupboards and drawers, but he cannot see into them from his perch atop the counter and gives up, contenting himself to look only in the top drawers.

[Laraqua]

The top drawers reveal miscellaneous items like pipettes, empty test tubes and rubber stoppers. The darkness in this room seems to close in on the ambient light of the mobile phones, narrowing their somewhat weak light into near beams, eating away at the edges. The light reveals motes of ash and flakes of paint and wood rising up off the cupboards into the air. There is another row of scientific machines inside this huge room, several of which are smeared with some bizarre kind of gunk. Part of one machine appears to be peppered with bullet holes and sprayed with old blood.

The floor and cupboards tremble as though with the passing of some giant weight. In the middle distance, somewhere behind the next row of machines and cupboards, something metallic scrapes across the linoleum floor.

[Mr. Handy]

[OOC: Dahlia never rolled Dex x 5 to see if she could look in the drawers and cupboards. She should get a chance to roll before we move on.]



"We must keep moving, quickly," whispers Lionel. "Take the burner, even if you can't find something to light it with. Perhaps we'll find something later, or Sarah may have something when we meet up with her. Probably just as well we can't see too many details in here." He tries to avoid looking at the signs of carnage, focusing on following Dahlia.

[trixie]

Dahlia stops dead in her tracks, staring blankly into the darkness at the sound of the metallic heaviness in the room. She shakes her head repeatedly, beginning to back up along the countertop, before running into Lionel with a thud.

In a forced whisper she hisses out into the darkness, "No! We have to get out of here....it's the thing! It's in here! Turn around and go as quick as you can, Lionel, before it hears us!"

[Mr. Handy]

Lionel starts to back up. "Are you sure?" he whispers back. "Daniel said to go this way. Did he say something different on your computer? Whatever it is, I thought it's on the other side of the wall, not in this room." He keeps an ear cocked as he moves, but can't be sure exactly where the sound came from.

[trixie]

[O.C. Thx for letting me know, Mr Handy. Invisible castle seems to be down at the moment, so I rolled at home. Rolled 61, dex x 5 is 60. ]

"Do you really want to gamble with it? That thing....the one that ate that lady that used to work by the computer...she was dragged by this big beast. I think it's in here! And either way...I don't wanna wait to find out!"

Dahlia tries to scramble past Lionel but of course, there is little room on the counter. "Please! I don't wanna be in here!" she says desperately, tears springing to her eyes. "We'll just find another way, ok?"

[Mr. Handy]

[OOC: You're welcome! IC was working for me a few minutes ago when I made the Listen roll. You might want to try one too.]



"Okay," whispers Lionel, crawling backwards along the counter as fast as he can manage. He picks up each Jelly Baby he dropped as he reaches it and puts it in his pocket. "Watch the screen to see if Daniel gives us any directions." Please, Daniel, he thinks, tell us which way to go. We need to protect Dahlia.

[trixie]

Dahlia doesn't waste any time fiddling with the laptop within the dark room. Her thoughts have run along with her, envisioning a wild metallic beast like the one she saw back in the children's ward.

No way I'm letting this big thing get me...gotta get out....run to the door!

[Laraqua]

OOC: Dex x 5 to crawl over Lionel and escape quickly. Otherwise, you have to wait as Lionel crawls backwards.

There is the sound of movement, a weight shifting somewhere further in. Then a small voice, like that of a child's, broken with fear and trembling with pain: "Hello? Is there anyone there?"

[Mr. Handy]

Lionel keeps crawling backwards as fast as he can, trying to help Dahlia climb over him. "Don't be afraid," says Lionel calmly. "I'm Dr. Lionel Carpenter. What's your name? Are you hurt?"

[Laraqua]

A coughing can be heard from further in the room, somewhere behind the blackness and the counters, and a small sob can be heard. "Are you going to hurt me?"

[Mr. Handy]

"Of course I'm not going to hurt you, sweetie," says Lionel. "I'm a doctor. I help people. I know there were bad doctors back at the hospital who hurt people, but I'm not one of those. I have a daughter of my own, though she's all grown up now. Her name is Sarah. Do you know her?"

[Laraqua]

"Won't you help me, mister? I'm stuck," mewls the voice.

[Mr. Handy]

"Of course I'll help you," says Lionel. "However did you get stuck, and where exactly are you? It's rather dark in here and I can't see you."

[Laraqua]

"Over here," the child sputters.

[Mr. Handy]

"Keep talking so I can follow the sound of your voice," says Lionel. He stops to let Dahlia crawl over him. "You never did tell me your name."

[Laraqua]

"Over here... I'm stuck," the child begins to whimper. The voice sounds like its coming from somewhere in the middle of the room.

[Mr. Handy]

"Okay, I think I can tell where you are now," says Lionel as he waits for Dahlia to get past him and clear the way ahead. "I'm on my way, just hang on." He shines the light from his mobile into the middle of the room to get a better look at the child.

[Laraqua]

The many counters, desks and bits of machinery block his view of the child.

[trixie]

Dahlia stares wide-eyed into the darkness. "Careful Lionel! It could be a trap! I've seen them do this before....you know, they use a kid to get to you."

"Tell me, kiddo, what year is it?" Perhaps asking the child some questions will test this sudden appearance of a child in distress.