PITCH BLACK〔M〕「Hoef & Hannelorian」

[Dire Hoef]

"Like a world of nightmare."

Yes. A world of nightmares. A place where dreams were made manifest, but such manifestations were violent and amoral. Hachi understood the statement, but did not verbally express it. His face only conveyed a grim sense of comprehension.

But his eyes glanced over Nora as she mentioned his sister. She was right. She wasn't forthcoming with information, even when it remotely concerned him. He sighed heavily at the statement saying, "N-No.. She was always...the type of woman to...ssshun me out of sssuch things." He distinctly remembered the last time she divulged any information to him. She made it seem more serious and dire than it was actually was. Turns out it was a list of items she needed from the cafeteria by the end of lunch.

He only slumped at the memory, but straightened his back again when he saw that Nora couldn't brute force the door open. She had motioned for him to help her, but he didn't really have the physicality do it. So what he opted to do was a simple incantation. "A-Alright.."

He took a minute to rally his thoughts, organizing them in a near-mathematical pattern. A somatic pattern one might call it. A repetition of words and phrases that cohere with a corresponding prime number. And, within the next minute, light shines around the edges of the door before dissipating into nothing. From there, Hachi shouldered the door; knocking it over like a domino. It slammed with a muffled bang as the entire hallway was revealed to be covered in that inky darkness.

Hachi widened his eyes at the sight, but took stock of the hallway and spotted something shambling around the edge of a lit room at the end of the hall. He kept low, and pointed out the creature to Nora. From where he was standing, this thing appeared to be bipedal and humanoid but hunched over and drooping to one side. It paced, drawing a semi-circle arc around the lit room as if it was waiting for whatever was inside to come into the hallway. It hadn't seen them yet, and was more focused on the lit room.

He looked to Nora and whispered, "I-I can cast a spell t-that'll cause a d-distraction.. W-We run for the light after.."

[Hannelorian]

It was hard to deny that Hachi's description sounded exactly like the Kei she knew. Don't trust men. Especially when those men are the blood of your blood. That was one thing Nora never quite understood in the limited context Kei had spoken of such things, of course never truly mentioning Hachi or her father by name. The only family Nora would ever willingly speak to was her older brother. The two were thick as thieves and yet... it didn't matter. The memory of the flowers on her desk flashed through her mind and for a moment there was a touch of peace and serenity, just enough to keep her going a little longer.

"A Mage... now that's quite clever." Nora was not surprised necessarily to learn this, or perhaps she was. He seemed so timid and meek, smart for sure, but desperately lacking confidence. But fear was a powerful emotion, and if it had overrun him, well she could hardly hold such things against him. But Hachi was not the only one with tricks up their sleeves. When the door fell away it was like a barrier had cleared and her own power came to the surface. The psychic ability she had hid her entire life, from almost everyone, except one person. As a result of such secrecy she was not really trained, she could not see and hear everything, only certain things... powerful things.

"He's alive." The feeling of pain reverberated through the hall, travelling along the inky darkness and spreading like a virus through those malignant tendrils. The sound of muffled screams, echoes of the present, not the past. Nabuo was certainly alive, though perhaps for not much longer if they did not do something. Gone was the state of Schrodinger's professor, he was no longer both alive and dead simultaneously, no he was simply alive. What a gift that must be, or perhaps after experiencing what he had it would be something more like a curse. Would want to even live after being touched by something so poisonous?

Nora peered out to see what Hachi had seen. A bipedal version, a sentry of some sort? Or perhaps a hunter. Attracted to light. Or at the very least intrigued by it and whatever it meant. "Remember, confidence." Nora nodded her words meant to encourage him, he could do this, and they could make it. At least for a little while. After all, at least she had an axe. Not that she had ever used one. Perhaps once to cut down a tree as a child, or had that been some kind of dream? Either way it was sharp, she hoped. But if she had any doubts, which of course she had plenty, both in herself and her new found companion she would never allow herself to voice them, instead she put on a gentle smile and nodded affirmatively, she assumed a position and was ready to run.

[Dire Hoef]

"Remember, confidence."

There it is again. That word. Confidence. It rang like a church bell in his mind.
Hachiro had never known such a foreign word till now. All this time, he had stayed in his bubble. In his corner. Never expanding out, never expressing himself. He was always denied the opportunity. The mere chance to express himself.

But now, now he was afforded that opportunity, nay, handed that opportunity. He was going to take it.

He firmly planted himself, formalizing a plan of action in those few seconds he was alotted. After that time was up, he sucked in air and stepped out into the hallway activating several magic circles that appear below the downed door. The door melted into a block of indescribable material, floating just a half meter off the ground.

In this position, the fires of survival burned in him like a flare, which was then expressed outward in a series of magic circles that formed a sphere. Within those next seconds, the light of the magical sphere caught the attention of the creature who then began shambling towards Hachiro. However, the adrenaline-fueled mage was unconcerned by the coming creature and was only focused on completing the cast.

In those next moments, a microscopic ball light began forming as air fibonacci-spiralled into it; gradually expanding it. Before the creature was even able to lay its poisonous tendrils on the magic sphere, the light expanded becoming as bright as the sun. The next, a concussive boom is resulted from the cast completing. At the sametime, the inky darkness that had infested the hall just moments before was eradicated and the creature was paralyzed with pain; writhing wildly on the floor.

Hachiro shouted at the top of his lungs, "NOW!"
He leaned forward into a sort of animal stance, one mimicking a predator chasing prey, and shotgunned down the hallway; magic circles appearing on the soles of his feet. He dove, and crashed into the ground just a meter before the edge of the light. He shrugged off the growing surge of pain in his body, and limped the last bit into the room; diving for what looked to be a pile of books.

[Hannelorian]

To see a mage at work was something else entirely. Nora had once, in the earlier days of her employment for Yamizaki been tasked with observing and researching them, identifying how their magic was transforming, nay, transcending the laws of the physical reality of the world. Mages could not simply defy physics, they re-wrote it. The bending and breaking of these laws were something that could be applied to other technologies, other areas of life for those not so magically inclined. Indeed anything was possible, but nothing could even hold a candle to the real thing, no matter how much progress they as scientists made.

The blinding light, the heat, everything produced by the magical orbs and spheres, the way it all danced in the air before unleashing an explosive attack. It was a sight to behold, something for a moment Nora wanted to have observed in a lab, something she wanted to measure. But for now the proof was in the pudding as it were, and the creature which moments ago remained a nefarious stalker was now in pain on the ground. Then of course there was the matter of Hachi himself.

Thus far she had never seen him confident, but the moment he began to cast he entered his element and was almost a different person. Nora accepted the caveat to he premise that she had not known him under normal circumstances, perhaps then he was a different person, someone more closely aligned with the powerful figure she had just seen so effortlessly crafting his spell work. Either way Nora had fewer doubts about his or her own survival.

When the mage commanded it was time to go, Nora did not run. Instead she strode, quickly, down the hall, her legs moving with a grace and elegance that befit a woman of her stature and appearance. After all she was still a lady. A smile permanently engraved on her face as she moved toward the creature with a focus in her eyes. Without hesitation she pressed forward, her heels as ever clicking against the floor as she moved, signaling her approach, she held the axe tightly in her left hand and as she grew nearer she slowly raised it.

Finally when presented with the writhing creature before she, she swiftly raised the axe above her head, now clasping the end of the handle with both hands, she made a defiant swing downward as if driven by the anger of a thousand suns, or the determination only known by Yamizaki's most hardened researchers, she let the blade slice through the air like it was not there. It fell like swift judgment into what may as well have been the creature's head and a satisfying crack rang out as it's bone cleaved beneath the force of it. She wrenched the object out and into freedom now dripping with the same signature kind of ooze and swung downward once more into her target. Now, it stopped moving. Only the last twitches of fading life flowed to the limbs of the creatures before it stopped.

Nora was satisfied, and withdrew the blade, holding it firmly in her right hand she swiped at the air for no other purpose than to clear the blade of the 'blood' or whatever it was, and then, out of breath took a moment before composing herself and walking toward the office Hachi had entered, the pile of books before them. This would not have been possible alone, Hachi had deftly set the scene for her and indeed for the two of them.

Once inside, she sighed. "Well met, Hachiro." Well met were the two words everyone who worked for hoped to hear. Nora never awed over people's work, no. She never sang praises to the heavens, or gushed. When someone had truly impressed her, she would utter those two simple words, and from Nora there was no higher compliment. Well met, was like parting the clouds and letting the rays of sun shine down directly on one. Anything else could have been devastating.

The pile of books however, was that a pile of books or was it a person beneath? Could this have been Professor Nabuo?

[Dire Hoef]

As the heat from the last several seconds die down, Hachiro could only muster a thumbs up to Nora. His energy was near sapped at this point, he felt rather sick and could vomit at any moment. However, he knew better and stomached the last bit of his power.

He then hoisted himself up to his feet using a pile of books, but as he looked down and behind himself to he saw shuffling in the pile. However, that shuffling turned out to be, "Professor..!!"

One after another Hachiro dug at the pile of books and debris.
Once the pile was clear, he looked over the gentleman's body. He spotted several puncture wounds in his right arm, most of whom looked superficial. He also noticed that the professor was also suffering from some head trauma. "He's all b-banged up Nora. I-I'm not a t-toxicologist.. I d-don't know if these things are in-injecting people with a known poison.. What w-would it even do to a person..??"

He thought back to the one book he had read on poisonous animals on Daz Izrah. This planet's biosphere is rather unsuited for human life, and so a wide variety of fauna were poisonous to a degree. However the poison, he found, was not as fast acting as this was. And it certainly didn't grey someone's skin around the wounds.

"Maybe t-this is magical," Hachiro began to run the numbers in his head, "M-Maybe we can stave off the poison with a lazarus patch.."

"...Hachi..." Professor Nabuo had built up enough energy to remain conscious. "Find...Your sister... She knows..."
Hachiro looks down at Nabuo and asked, "W-What..? What does she know?"
The professor gripped Hachi's shirt and said, "She knows..." He fell unconscious, losing his energy.

Hachiro merely stared at Professor Nabuo, taking in what he said. However, he was not going to let the professor die and thus proceeded to search around his destroyed office searching for a lazarus patch after having settled the professor up against a wall. He glossed over the broken second-story window, only briefly stopping to watch the tendrils of the dark outside be repelled by the light.

[Hannelorian]

Without wasting much time, Nora moved to kneel down before the professor. "It's been a long time old man." Nora said with a smile. "Any luck with that Lazarus patch?" Nora called out, but not too loudly. Reaching down she took the man's injured arm into her hands, her fingertips pushing down gently near the sites of the wounds. "Not too deep." Nora nodded to herself, her fingertips pressing now at the edge, an odd dark ooze emerging from the wound, little puncture marks. The sites themselves had turned a deep grey.

But more intriguing were the trails of black that seemed to be his veins coming into view on his arm, signs of whatever this infection was, it was spreading through this bloodstream. It was fast moving, but from her best guess, not too fast he was beyond salvation, assuming they could figure out what it was. Her fingertips gently moved down his arm to his wrist, her eyes closed for a moment as she found his pulse and began to determine his heart rate. It was slow, slower than usual but holding stable for the time being. But his body was warm, the other free hand moving to rest on the man's head, his temperature was rising. He was febrile there was no doubt about it.

"Thirty minutes." That was Nora's best estimation based on how far the infection was progressing, and his vital signs. Nora stood up rather calmly and made her way toward the desk, which had at this point been made a complete mess of. She looked around for the phone, it was off the hook, and Nora quickly retrieved the handset. "Kei?" She muttered, and shook her head. It didn't surprise her to suspect that Nobuo was pointing the finger at her. After all if anyone had a secret, it would have been her. "Project Obscura?"

The phrase popped into her head, though it meant nothing, and for all she knew it had no relation what-so-ever to what was going on at the moment. "Let's give the old fashioned a try." Nora with one hand placed her finger on the receiver, pressing the button down, releasing it, while the handset was pressed to her ear with the other. She quickly dialed another set of numbers, this time to Kei's desk directly. "Fuck the rules." Nora said out loud with a sense of lackluster energy. Normally this would be incredibly frowned upon. The phone began to ring. "Pick up. Pick the fuck up Kei." Nora repeated out loud, before slamming the handset down on the receiver.

Kei and Nora were friends, in addition to colleagues. Friends being used in a loose sense of the word. But she had never gone so far as to attempt to call her office directly, that was not allowed. "Well, I can think of two options." Nora said now looking at Hachi. "You probably won't like either of them." Nora did not mince her words, it seemed there was too little time for that. "I'm not a medical doctor, or biologist. My guesses are just that, guesses for now. The infection is crawling up, we could hope the lazarus patch works."

Maybe it was closer to three options. "And go find your sister. I could amputate his arm, and hope that slows things... and then we could find your sister. Or we could just go find her. Or I suppose a lazarus patch in all options. So, there you have it." Nora was not inherently making this Hachi's decision. She was rather just stating facts as she knew and understood them. "Either way, we don't have much time and we don't know what stands between us and the fifth floor. I know my lab is safe, that's relatively close to her office, but... whatever this is... it's getting worse for all of us by the minute." Nora sighed, and crossed her arms in front of her.

[Dire Hoef]

He dug around frantically.
In all the times he had been in his office, he remembered the old man having a first aid kit. However as a little game he'd play, Hachiro would always have to look for it if he needed it. Which...was fairly often considering that a majority of his earlier experiments resulted in one too many explosions.

Thinking on that little game, he thought back to how he was always able to find it. He remembered that the hidding spots were made in such a way that items in its vicinity would clue him on where it was. So he took this same thought-process, and scoured the room once more. This time, with purpose.

"I think I know where to f-find one.." He proceeded to dig around in the back corner of the office seeing a couple items that weren't disturbed during the violent intrusion. Here, he uncovered a mostly intake first aid kit. He moved back to Nora, feeling accomplished.

"T-Thirty minutes.." That's how long she estimated he had. "Amputation..?"
Amputation was the logical move, considering that this was an alien poison ravaging his professor's body at a rapid rate. There wasn't much time to really come up with a better alternative. So he gritted his teeth on that aspect and said, "Amputate it... I-I will apply the lazarus patch."

He pulled out an oblong, square-shaped, plate that was mostly cotton with the rest being wood and metal. "The ssircumstances aren't in...our favor... Ssso I am going to b-bank on amputation slowing down the sspread... The stabilization sshould buy us more time... if hours even m-matter at this moment.."

His pain and fatigue reminded him of how limited his powers were. And they needed to make their way back up to the fifth floor, which meant crossing several more inky hallways. Hachiro felt the growing weight of the odds, but his poker face remained firm. "I-I.. Don't have enough energy to do several more of those... distractions.. At best, I could manage force missiles.. Though, I haven't used them in some time.. They may be weak against such...ssturdy..creatures..."

His physical discomfort also grew at the realization that after they amputate and stabilize him, they'd have to move him. "I-I.. may also have spell that'll create a ghost field around us... It'll make us invisible to anything outside of the bubble.. It's roughly t-two meters wide.. The only p-problem is.. only I can see out of the bubble.. So I would have to g-guide us while you shine the l-light at our feet.."

He looked down at Nabuo, "I would need to be concentrating on the spell for it to maintain its effect.. I w-wouldn't able to carry him as I i-injured myself a little on the landing..." He had a bit of a sad expression at that.

[Hannelorian]

Nora found herself nodding affirmatively at Hachi's assent to their plan. Amputate, patch, move, ghost bubble, fifth floor. Sure, that all seemed reasonable enough. "One problem at a time, Hachiro." It was around this time Nora started to realize how tired she felt, and how her head hadn't really stopped throbbing since the night before. A moment of rest was just enough to allow some of her adrenaline to wear off, and the realities of her own physical limitations to set in. After all, she was a scientist, not an athlete.

"Every moment of time we can give him, and ourselves matters. Don't doubt it." Nora didn't exactly know that was true. But statistics said it was, at least for now. After all they had seen this infection moving in Nabuo's body, the same way they had seen it slowly moving across the research facility. Surely that meant they had some sort of time, though as he had pointed out, it was most definitely not on their side. "Well met." Nora flashed a smile and slowly proceeded to remove her lab coat. The white fabric, stained with drops of blood, or whatever it was these creatures exuded dotted the garment. Her arms were now revealed, smooth, unblemished and perfect skin.

Nora moved to kneel down beside the Professor, and with a gentle rip, she had grabbed the the hole in the coat where the glass had torn at the elbow, and ripped a long patch downward the length of the rest of the arm. This fabric strip would have to do for now. Nora lifted the Professor's infected arm and tied the piece of fabric, tightly into a knot. Without much of a thought she had dug through the coat pocket to withdraw a sturdy pen. Sliding it between the fabric and Nabuo's arm she twisted it as tightly as could, forming a makeshift tourniquet. "Get to work on the patch, please." Nora would prefer that Hachi remained distracted. This would not be a pleasant sight, nor something Nora relished in doing.

Standing now Nora took hold of the axe, and using the remains of the coat in her other hand did her best to clean the blade. "Old men are fans of the drink... in case of emergency." Without much hesitation she went to the desk and opened the bottom drawer, riffling through it, she found exactly what she was looking for, alcohol. "Whiskey..." Nora smirked, knowing she had a very similar bottle stowed in her own desk. Opening the bottle, she took a moment to inhale the scent of the liquid, and sighed almost longingly before she turned to pour some of the contents on to the blade, and taking it over to the professor, then on to his arm. "As sanitary as it's going to get, I'm afraid." She said softly, almost remiss in tone.

"I'm terribly sorry Professor. I hope you can forgive me." Nora stood firm now, and lowering the blade to the spot at which she determined would be best, just below the tourniquet she raised and lowered it a few times, making sure she repeatedly made contact with the same spot. Then holding the blade once more up high, she brought it down with all the force she could muster, and thankfully, hit the spot dead on, in one clean motion she had severed the infected portion of the arm. Nora felt sick to her stomach in that moment. This is not what she was meant to do, not what she felt built or prepared for. She didn't take limbs like some sort of cutting happy surgeon. Nora dropped the blade to the ground and knelt once more, tearing off the last of the clean part of the coat, and using it to bandage the stump that once had once been the man's arm as best she could. "Fucking hell Nora..." She could hardly believe she had done it.

"Are you alright?" She asked of Hachi, not entirely knowing how he would respond to such a situation. But to his credit, he had been quite resourceful and surprisingly willing to accept her recommendations when it came down to it. Perhaps he wasn't quite the loser his sister made him out to be. Then again, Nora wasn't sure there was any man in existence that Kei didn't look down upon. Nora had largely the same attitude. Not entirely, but enough of it in her.

"I doubt it's a cure, but it definitely buys us more time... as for moving him. I don't think... I'm strong enough. At least not strong enough to get him up to the fifth floor... we need to stow him somewhere relatively safe." That was something of a mystery, what was safe? What wasn't? "What do we know... what do we know." Nora repeated looking now at Hachi. "Whatever it is, seems to be outside, working it's way in." That was one thing she had assumed to be true. "It crawls, like ivy, or a bacteria, slowly moving over surfaces until they are consumed." Consumed to what end she wondered. "It does not seem to respond well to light. At least not until a concentrated amount of it can overwhelm said light." Another guess, but at least an educated one.

"Oh and let's not forget... creatures. I know not how it creates them, or if they arrived separately... but that's a factor as well. They seem to be hunting at present." Nora sighed, and rested her palms against the floor, a part of her wanted nothing more than to lie down, close her eyes and hope this was some kind of a sick dream. "Okay, right." Nora eventually seemed to gather her thoughts. "Is there a room... on this level, without windows? And electronic locks?" Nora was genuinely asking, and at a certain point kicking herself for not knowing this information. How many years had she walked these halls? Well, she was limited to what she knew and what she cared about, and for the most part that was only what was relevant to her needs. "An archive... a store room, something?"

Nora's keycard granted her access to most things, only the highest levels of confidential were off limits to her, which also meant Kei's office. That was invitation only. At least until today. "There is one more thing..." Nora almost whispered as she looked at Hachi. "I... I..." For the first time she seemed to have trouble pushing out what she meant to say. "I can move things... I've never tried something like a man.... but..." Nora sighed, it was something she did not trust, and did not like to admit. Reading minds, hearing voices, inner thoughts and moving objects was not something she was proud of, and the fear that people would use this information against her, to dispute her achievements which in fact were her own was paralyzing, not to mention the fear she might face some sort of legal persecution.

"You said you're hurt.... shall I take a look?" Nora wanted to change the subject, but she also wanted to be kind, and to be helpful. Hachi had done his part, she needed to do hers. It shouldn't all be on him and his ability.

[Dire Hoef]

"R-Right.. One problem at a time.."
That was right. He was thinking too far ahead. He needed to reel in and examine the scene more closely so as to rationalize his position. His adrenaline had finally worn off at this point, and the pain and fatigue was in full swing. He felt a simmering nausea beneath a veneer of sobriety. It was odd uncanny valley that he found very uncomfortable. And yet, his life persists.

"I-I won't," he nodded. And then it hit him, a flowing sense of serenity. A smile.
A smile was many things, but to Hachiro it meant hope. And hope was a concept so few would have in situations like these. He felt a little blessed to have made it this far, Nora's smile having reinforced it. He was very surprised at his willingness to survive. The day had only began in this few scant hours, and this nightmare was so enveloping. It was still very hard for Hachi to fully comprehend the situation. But, for now, serenity was cherished; loved even.

However that fleeting, loving, serenity disappeared when the realization of what came next reared its ugly head. Hachi saw Nora prepare the tourniquet as she asked for him to prepare the patch. As he did, he watched Nora riffle through the professor's desk, pull out a bottle of whisky for which Hachi barely understood the need for, and poured most of it on the area around the cut after pouring some of it on her axe. Then the moment of truth.

He watched with bated breath. The first practice swing, then the second, and finally the third. After she dialed in her exact angle of attack, she brought it down. There was a meaty, crunchy, thwack as the axe struck dead on. The arm was violently removed.

Hachi couldn't hold his stomach in any longer, and vomitted on the spot.

After releasing the contents of his stomach onto the floor, he activated the patch's healing properties. He slapped it on right over the bandage that Nora applied to keep the old man from bleeding out. The patch became semi-sentient for a few seconds as its edges split, its tendrils digging into several areas around the stump. Small streams of light flowed into him, seemingly relaxing him. For now, he was saved.

Breathing a little too heavy, Hachiro looked over at Nora who had dropped the axe by this point. "O- Other than losing my d-dinner.. I'm okay..." And then his expression gradually slid into a more stoic look having said, "A-Anything to give us more time.."

Then came the analysis of the situation.
Hachiro, himself, had been taking mental notes of key features of this hostile environment. Firstly, as Nora pointed out, whatever is outside is looking to get in. Secondly, this thing moves like ivy, or bacteria, crawling over surfaces. Thirdly, light appears to be the only deterrent against this stuff. However the caveat to that is the inky black darkness can overwhelm said light if concentrated enough.

"Like a black ooze," he uttered, "I noticed ad-additionally that dark rooms and corners can be v-vectors for it.." He pointed over towards the broken window where tendrils are seen dancing around the sharp edges of the glass. "Over there, it's actively trying to g-get in.. But, like you said, the light is keeping it from getting in.. Though, I speculate as to how l-long we will have power for.."

Fourthly, and finally, there were these hostile, obsidian-colored, creatures running around eating people. Hachi was unsure of their origins as well, but understood they were definitely a factor. "I-I wonder if they hunt in phases.." Though it dawned on him, "Both c-creatures we saw.. They were different.. Could there b-be categories of these...things..?"

He thought about an enclosed room, and found really only one. "There is.. a large, walk-in, janitor's closet.. I think we can p-put him there.. It's down the hall, and around the corner.."

His thoughts were then briefly interrupted by Nora divulging a secret of hers. One that he wasn't exactly expecting, but wasn't exactly surprised by. He was a mage afterall. What he does already looks fantastical to the untrained eye. And now, to know that Nora, someone whom he had barely just met and known only in passing, was psychic? This nightmare was full of twists and turns.

"M-Move things..? You mean with your mind..?" He looked inquisitively at her as she asked about his health in an attempt to change the subject, but he didn't necessarily budge. "Uh...Y-Yeah, I think my shoulder and hip are busted up.." He leaned up against the desk using it as a seat.

[Hannelorian]

The sound of Hachi vomiting was unsettling, Nora looked away when it happened. Lest she herself be driven to such a thing by the sight, sound and smell of him doing so. A part of her felt put off that he could not hold his stomach, but the more rational part reminded her this was a normal response. If anything, Nora seemed to be abnormal as she visibly was not so affected by her own actions as Hachi had been. After all, Nora without so much as a question used a fire axe to remove a man's arm rather brutally. Perhaps she had best consider herself before that of others when it came to judgment.

Hachi was embracing the spirit of the challenge and he seemed to be more optimistic in many ways than Nora was. "He's going to be alright." She lied, Nora had no guarantees, but based on everything she did know, it seemed to be trending positively for the old professor. Or perhaps even for someone as negative, generally, as Nora tended to be, a certain level of optimism was warranted if not encouraged. It was when Hachiro started to outline his findings and observations that Nora truly started to hearten. "Keen observer, aren't you?" Nora said, looking across the room at Hachi, smiling softly. He was beginning to show himself as a Yamazaki after all.

"I would assume if it can move as we have it seen, the ventilation system is an ideal home... though I'm uncertain as to what effect a range of temperature might have... but what else lives in the dark? The power supply." A sigh. That was an unwelcome thought, but something that Hachiro had wisely forced her to consider. Then it would get worse when Hachi described the notion that there was not a singular kind of creature out there, but multiple.

"That makes sense." Nora was now thinking out loud something she was rather known for by her colleagues and to a lesser extent by her students. "They are to a degree, sentient. Just like any other animal, there are species, kingdoms, classifications, phylum, all of that." Disturbing, they were evolved... but the question was were they operating on simple instinct, or rather with some kind of independent intelligence, did they have a' goal? "Three, there are at least three kinds... I encountered something hanging from the ceiling before I found you."

Nora then slowly rose from the ground and made her way toward Hachi, setting herself down beside him now. "Do you think they are born from the ooze?" Nora wished she had something better to call it than the ooze, but for the moment that name would have to do and was unfortunately apt. "Now we know where to take him..." Nora cast her gaze over to Nabuo who was still on the floor, resting, hopefully having a dream of a better world than this one.

"Yes." Nora finally said on the topic of conversation related to her. "With my mind." Nora shrugged, she supposed that now it did not matter. Chances are, she would not survive long enough to really worry about it, or regret it. That was a problem for another time. A slightly later time anyway. "May I?" Nora asked, reposition herself to sit on atop her legs, moving gently to rest her hands on his shoulder, prodding slightly. "Nothing broken."

She exhaled deeply, and moved then to stand. "I can drag him... at the very least. It isn't far... and I... well... I wonder if that arm might get us something." Either a distraction, something new to eat for something in their way... it was a possibility. A disturbing possibility.