“I’ll… go with Tokigawa-
san’s group.”
Tokigawa gives you a firm nod, as if to say he’s pleased to have you on the team.
Uehara appears happy.
Sakimura has a half-smile on his face that seems a little forced.
Mori is looking at you intently.
You wonder if you made the right choice, going with them.
***
“This
is strange.” Tokigawa mutters, almost to himself, as you climb the stairs with him. “Except for the labeling of the floors, everything else is the same. 1 is now G, 2 is now 1, and 3 is 2...”
“Then if the top floor was labeled 6, then it is technically the seventh floor of this building,” muses Mori.
“Which is exactly why it is strange. There is no seventh floor in the main building of Ikei Medical University Hospital. If we
are in another hospital, however, that doesn’t explain why everything else is the same as I remember it.”
“Do you want to check out this new ‘seventh floor’, then?” asks the bearded man.
Tokigawa shakes his head calmly. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time, Mori-
san.”
“Agreed.”
While Tokigawa and Mori are discussing the structure of the hospital, Uehara and Sakimura are talking animatedly about all the other people they have met.
“Nami-
san’s beautiful, isn’t she?”
“Nami-
san? It takes a pretty girl to give you manners, eh, Sakimura?”
“Nah, I was just complimenting her style. Ha, don’t tell me that you’re getting jealous, Uehara.”
“
Style? What are you, a fashionista now? Oh, Sakimura, you would look excellent in pink! I’m jealous that
I can’t pull that off.”
Well… gossiping would be a better term for it.
Keeping to yourself, you stay at a comfortable distance behind the other four. There is nothing you feel like you can add at the moment anyway.
***
You encounter nothing out of the ordinary by the time you reach the third floor – what would have been labeled as floor 4 in the normal hospital – where the bridge to the physiotherapy building is located. There had been no pieces of paper appearing out of nowhere, no mysterious noises.
Perhaps what I had encountered before was truly a hallucination of some sort? You suppress your wayward thoughts before they sow the seeds of panic.
Focus. You have to focus on what is ahead.
Tokigawa leads your little group towards the corridor swiftly: true to his claim, he knows his way around here well. The connecting corridor links the main hospital to an adjacent building. It is constructed as a metal bridge spanning the two structures – the walls and roof are made of clear, reinforced glass. Thick metal doors enclose the bridge at both ends; through the windows set into the doors, you can see the blue carpeted walkway and the exit at the other end.
“The doors are usually open at all times,” explains Tokigawa, pulling at the handles. It is locked – the doors make a rattling noise but do not give way. You do not see any keyholes on the handles, but there is a keypad set into the side of the wall.
These are probably electronically controlled… you think. Sighing, Tokigawa steps back. “There’s no choice. We’ll have to… whoa!”
“Hey hey! Stand aside!” Leaping past a surprised Tokigawa, the cheerful Sakimura lands a flying kick right at the center of the metal doors. His drawn out yell of strength turns into a yelp of pain. Sakimura bounces right off, clutching his leg in agony while having accomplished nothing more than making the doors creak slightly in apparent mockery of his efforts.
“These are too thick for us to break down,” says Mori. “A single glance should be sufficient to understand that.”
“I’d put that big body to use if I were you, old man,” retorts Sakimura. Uehara helps him up, smirking at his misfortune.
Mori merely gives Sakimura a dismissive snort and lights up a cigarette. After taking a long, drawn out puff, he asks, “Tokigawa, how is it locked? Electronically?”
“Ah, yes,” nods Tokigawa. “We just need to find the password to input on the keypad. I don’t have it, but I’ve heard from Midori that the head nurse should have it written down somewhere in her office. Just in case the security guards mess up, apparently.”
“So, we might be able to find the password in the security office, or the head nurse’s place,” says Uehara thoughtfully.
“The security office is in the basement, where Midori is,” answers Tokigawa. “There’s no need to go all the way down right now. Let’s check out the head nurse’s office. It’s on the sixth and top floor… well, floor number 5, in this case.”
That’s where you are headed next, it seems. Turning around, you glance at the keypad.
Is it still working? You have to wonder. The computers and televisions here are not functioning properly… would the electronic keypads still work?
***
On the way to the office, you stop by the bridge to the specialist center, one level above where you were. It is in the same state as the one to the physiotherapy building – that is, locked.
As you reach the landing on floor 6, Tokigawa cannot help but look upwards, at the last flight of stairs. He still seems perplexed by the presence of an additional floor, it seems. Shaking his head, he moves forward regardless. The wards on this level appear identical The head nurse’s office is next to the nurse station – a sign on the door makes it clear who the room belongs to. Tokigawa raises his hand to knock on the door, stops, and grins awkwardly.
“Sorry, force of habit.”
He turns the doorknob – the door swings inward easily, without the slightest noise.
“Alright, let’s start searching.”
The inside of the room looks like your everyday typical office. There is a desk. A chair. A computer. A couple of cabinets with files and folders. A nurse’s outfit hangs from a hook on the wall. The name-tag reads 'Kajima Saeko'. “All of the sheets are empty,” you hear Mori muttering, amidst the sound of papers. Looking around, everyone else seems to be busy with the search, rifling through the drawers and cabinets…
Your eyes fall upon a thin red line running down the white-painted wall. It ends a quarter of the way from the top. On the floor, right below the stain, is a crumpled piece of
paper.
Another one? Despite your apprehension, you walk over and pick it up gingerly.
Perhaps it contains the password?
It’s… wet.
On the first night, the Witch gave the Maiden the gift of her eyes, so that she could see.
On the second night, the Witch gave the Maiden the gift of her voice, so that she could speak.
On the third night, the Witch…
The rest of the writing is illegible, the page stained a blackish red. It smells foul.
There are also some hastily scribbled comments in the margins.
Note: ovrlpng n t-s cords? SS Bckgrnd Chk4 Ritual.
You look back at the wall. Following the red line upwards, you see that the dark red stain seems to spread out closer to the ceiling. Almost as if…
“Shinoseki-
san, did you find anything?”
“A-ah. Sorry,” you mumble, startled by Tokigawa’s approach.
He notices what you are looking at, and frowns. “That’s…”
“Blood.” You feel Mori’s presence looming over you from behind. “It’s blood.”
“Seriously?” exclaims Sakimura disbelievingly.
“Well, we’re in a hospital,” sighs Uehara. “Seeing blood shouldn’t be a surprise.”
“What’s above this floor, Tokigawa?” asks Mori brusquely.
“That’s just it,” mutters the medical student. “I don’t know. As far as
I know,
this is the top floor of the main building. What did you see there when you checked out the door to the roof, Mori-
san?”
“Just the normal wards,” he replies. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”
Tokigawa sighs again. “I am not sure if we should investigate that floor further or leave it alone.” Taking his cellphone out, he points it at the stain on the wall and takes a picture. The bright flash illuminates the room for a second.
“Tokigawa-
san, what are you doing?” asks Sakimura.
After a short pause, as he checks the picture captured on his screen, Tokigawa explains himself. “Recording the stain. We can show it to the others without having them come all the way up here.”
Taking a deep breath, you inject yourself into the conversation. “S-sorry, there was also this…” You draw their attention to the stained paper.
Mori takes it from you, his brow furrowing as he reads the words. “Where did you find this, Shinoseki?”
“On the floor… right under the stain,” you mumble.
He nods, but his gaze does not leave your face. You look away quickly, pretending to continue with the search. As you do so, you spot Uehara. She seems to be making a point of not looking at the stain. Her normally cheerful face is impassive, as if it has been replaced by a stone mask. Raising her head, she catches you glancing at her. A warm grin breaks the mask swiftly in greeting, and she is back to normal.
Right, she's okay. Of course she is. You return an awkward, forced smile, bowing your head slightly and moving further way from her.
“Alright, everyone, let’s continue and try to find anything that might have the password,” Tokigawa calls out, attempting to reset the mood. “The sooner we finish the search, the quicker we can leave this room.”
***
01:16
A. While searching, you approach Tokigawa. The medical student appears intelligent and competent, and has taken on responsibility well. He is a leader of the sort that you could never be. His thoughts may be useful in helping you cope with this strange predicament you find yourselves in.
B. While searching, you approach Uehara. She has been nice to you a couple of times before this; it is going to be easier for you to speak to her, and you don’t think you would be comfortable talking to any of the others anyway.
C. While searching, you approach Sakimura. He does not seem too enthused about you tagging along, but he hasn’t been overtly hostile to you either. Maybe you might be able to reconcile yourself with him before any misunderstandings deepen.
D. While searching, you approach Mori. The tall, bearded man seems to be constantly keeping an eye on you. You do not have the courage to ask him outright why he is doing that, but perhaps you can try to get more acquainted with him so that you can find out.
E. While searching, you do not approach anyone. You just do not feel like talking at all… it is probably best if you just keep quiet. You do not want to attract any more attention from them, and there is really nothing interesting that you can talk about anyway.
