Alver Glanestone's Story

"Huh?" Alver hesitated, swinging his green jacket over his shoulder. He turned around and frowned down the corridor, unsure of what he'd just heard. "What was that?" He muttered to himself, squinting at the darkness. No one answered him.

Which made sense, since no one was with him. Alver had been on his way back from the bathroom when he heard the noise - a faint cry that seemed desperate and echoed right on the edge of his hearing. It sounded like someone needed help, but...

A few minutes of self debating later, Alver was inching down the corridor and trying not to jump at any sound he heard or just shadows in general. He was a man, dammit! He wasn't going to chicken out over this! Besides, the person might need help and if he was, Alver couldn't just stand aside and not do anything.

Above him, the speakers crackled and came to life. Alver paid them half an ear; the scientist's cries had started to get louder which meant that he was getting closer. It was definitely a cry for help, ugh. Not for the first time, Alver cursed himself for feeling guilty whenever he tried to leave people (who were in this case gurgling a cry for help in a weakening voice) who needed help alone. Damn his ethics for not letting him leave people alone, it wasn't like he needed to do this, why was he doing it anyway?

"Subject GNS-088 'Bas'met' has also left containment..."

Subject GNS-088?! Alver blanched and quickened his pace. He'd been one of the (un)lucky few to see the aftermath of one of her socialising attempts (if it could even be called that) and... it had not been pretty. Alver had lost a few months sleep over that memory. And she'd escape... Alright, all I've gotta do is go and see if the person is ok and then I'll leave and hide in my cell till she's caught. Ok, good plan - what's that smell?

Alver wrinkled his nose and sniffed the air. It smelled like... blood? Frowning, he turned the corner and aaaggghh -

His body jerked to a stop, and Alver's eyes widened almost comically wide at the scene. In front of him, the door to room GNS-088 hung open, blood trickling down it to the floor, and there was so much blood, so much blood how could a person even have that much, the person who'd been yelling had been from here he probably wasn't alive anymore holy friggin' shiz why was there so much blood -

The smell of iron suddenly hit him in the nose, thick and overwhelming, and Alver choked. He quickly brought up a hand over his mouth and nose, and he suddenly realised that his whole body was shaking, large, jerky tremors as he shuffled away from the carnage. He moaned softly, feeling sick and shaky and like he was about to vomit at any moment now, when he noticed that someone inside the room was moving.

Distantly, he realised that the speakers were still talking. He had to focus on that, or he'd panic and faint and get killed. Run, he thought frantically, but his legs refused to move, only tremble. He gritted his teeth and tried again, his heart beating in his mouth. Run, he ordered, but all he did was just shuffle backwards, hitting the wall with a thud and crap what if she heard him please don't let her have heard him please let him live please please please -

RUN! This time, his body took heed. He spun tail and ran, voice silent with fear, legs pumping as fast as they could go, terrified out of his wits.

The severe nausea that gripped her was understated at best. If it wasn't for the sink that they finally allowed within the cell. Well. It would be hard to say if it would actually contribute to the poorly illuminated ghastly mess. The dim lighting allowed some of the unsavory details to still remain hidden from curious eyes. None of which is even remotely considered pleasant to any decent minded individual. Kaij couldn't grip the sink tightly enough; red tinged water dripped from her hair, her clothes.

The taste and smell of metal left her retching once she regained awareness of her surroundings. What was left of the guard that didn't paint most of the room lay discarded and scattered about. He, or more accurately his hand was still clutching the tranquilizer gun that she held loosely by the barrel. 'Detta är vad läkaren hänvisade till?' She hazily thought. Turning her arm, she could see long red marks recklessly trail from wrist to elbow. Nowhere near as dire of a wound as it was before. Falling just short of questioning why. The more pressing thought in her mind was how badly she badly wanted to peel off her clothes to change into ones that weren't so, soiled. However that would entail traversing to the other side of the room. It was difficult enough that everything was spinning. Her free hand reached back to pull out the dart from her side. "...jävla." Her body rocked unsteadily side to side with her elbow resting on the side of the sink. The only thing that kept the drug from dragging her to the slick floor was the waning but incessant calls of distress from the gravely injured survivor.

That doctor that now weakly dragged himself towards the door. Pulling himself through the stomach churning mess. His legs rendered completely useless. Kaij felt an icy cold knot well up in her stomach as she watched him fruitlessly try to call for help. The only way she could tear her gaze away was to cover her face with her hand. The hook shaped claws scraping at her own scalp as an added harsh reminder. Her eyes began to well up and her lower lip trembled while she grimaced in pain. She could hear the dying man slump to the floor with a wet plop. But before she could get the chance to allow this reality to fully sink in, a thud wrenched her attention to a figure standing outside of her cell. Her head snaps up and her eyes peer between her fingers as if looking out after being discovered from her hiding place. Was it a guard? Watery eyes only blurred her vision further. Preventing her from identifying the person in question. It was still clear that they were taken back by what they were seeing.

It was when they took off that panic fully set in for the distraught woman. Reflexively she grabbed the nearest thing within her reach to throw at them. Which instead smacked against the wall and rolled along the ground. Remnants that was the guard's gnawed head came to settle in the middle of the hallway. 'De kommer att berätta för de andra!' Her feet propelled her out of the room but it took a couple seconds for them to find traction on the floor. The wet fabric of her clothes clung to her figure as she sprinted after them. Each step stamped the floor; leaving behind a deep red footprint after another. This guard or other personnel may have had a head start, but once she hit her stride and had a better lock on the running figure would she throw what she still had in her other hand at them in hopes of knocking them off balance, or at least slow them down. The bloodied gun.

With both hands freed she pumped her arms as she ran to catch up with, then throw herself at them. Before he can even hit the floor, her hand jerks on his arm to turn him around. She coils her arm back again with her entire body poised to lash out at the witness. However once she managed to get a good look at his face, her expression quickly changing from rage, to confusion, then frightened realization. "Bara ett barn...bara ett barn." Her clawed hand begins to drop. She spoke almost inaudibly. A clear shaking tone interlaced her words and nearly choked out her voice. He wouldn't have to understand her to notice her recognition of mistaken identity. That is, if he wasn't too busy fearing for his life. "Jag är ledsen-" She begins to speak, forgetting that her words were not in English.

Alver ran as fast as he could away from the scene, heart in mouth. The image played itself in a constant loop in his mind, and for the first time since then a strangled whimper forced its way out of his throat, the sound barely making its way past his lips. Gotta run, he told himself, panting for air. He refused to look behind, focusing instead on the turn and safety. Gotta get away befo-

Something smacked into the wall behind him with a bang, and Alver flinched and forced his legs to go faster as someone yelled at him. He felt like screaming in terror himself, but that costed too much energy. Better to just focus everything into running instead. The yell wasn't in english but like hell he was going to stay and ask what that was; it probably meant I'm gonna eat you! or something anyway, and Alver really really really wanted to live. Oh geez, he wanted to live.

He didn't want to die.

Leaning lower to run faster and make himself less of a target, Alver pulled up a wavering shield of white to guard his back just as something whirred through the air and crashed into it. The wonky barrier shuddered and cracked but stayed firm, and the turn was just a few dozen steps away and holy shiz he was actually going to make it -

Someone crashed through the barrier and grabbed him.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" The shock and fear tore its way out of Alver in the form of a high pitched scream as he stumbled from the person's weight. The barrier shattered into pieces around them and faded as the person jerked him around. He raised his arms in defence as they fell to the floor, and in between him and his assailant five translucent white shields formed as Alver cowered and waited for the finishing blow.

O-Oh lord, he was going to be eaten alive. It had him by the arm. He c-couldn't run, he was going to - to -

Wait, what?

A feminine voice said something in gibberish, and Alver managed to unscrunch one eye as the blow never came. He saw a woman covered in blood with a shocked expression lowering her arm and talking in the same language as before in an almost feverish manner, like she was desperate for him to understand. Which was nearly impossible, since Alver had absolutely no clue what she meant.

"H-huh?" he stared at her, gasping for breath, his whole body trembling with adrenaline and terror. He didn't lower his shields; like hell he was doing that when he wasn't sure whether she wanted to kill him. "I-I-I don't underst-stand," he stuttered, more than a little afraid, eyes wide. The part of his brain that wasn't gibbering in fear wanted to add Lady, english please? and I thought you were going to eat me and take over my body like what they said on the speakers, but nope. Don't trigger the crazy psychotic lady by reminding her that she had wanted to destroy him, thank you very much.

Shuffling footsteps can be heard, at first at a distance but coming closer rather quickly. Eventually, around a corner, what seems to be a woman dressed in a facility doctor's attire walks out. At first she seems fine... at first... but upon deeper inspection her outfit appears torn in places like claws had ripped at her, and clothes stained in blood. She turns her head, glancing at the two and begins to approach. A light glimmer reveals her to be wearing goggles that obscures her eyes and a surgical mask covers her mouth. Her hair is a dity blond, it was once braided but now is mostly a wild mess.

"This place is dangerous, what are you doing here?" The woman calls out, but her tone implies she already knows.

She gets closer, the sensation of their presence feels... strange. A strange but very mild scent begins to waft through, not blood but... perfume? It appears to be some kind of perfume. Lavender, that appears accurate. As she gets very close she kneels down and just watches them. Carefully watching for a response, it almost feels like she's studying them. Then she looks to Kai.

"Det är tillräckligt." She says softly. "Lugna..."

She seems to speak in Swedish in an attempt to reason with Kaijmera, but the way it is presented seems somewhat... artificial. She scoots closer, but slowly. The smell in the air... it is perfume... but there's something else. A chemical perhaps? The name tag can be seen now on her outfit reads: Dr. C. Louta. Who was that again..? She cracks an odd smile and holds out her hands.

"Ge mig..?" She says, her tone is so light now it is almost a whisper.

The meaning of his words didn’t sink in properly right away. She thought what he meant was, why are you attacking me? Seeing the translucent barriers that had formed between them side tracked her thoughts. Until she could finally hear herself speaking. Though not a physical barrier. It was still a barrier on language. And while she spoke English almost fluently, words were hard to grasp under stress. “Jag trodde du var…” She begins, but then shakes her head before trying again. “I-I thought, you were a guard…” Alver now looked a little familiar to her. Although she fell short of remembering when and where. “I just. I wanted... I, couldn’t go-” She started looking around herself acting lost. “-back.” As if it had only just dawned on her that she was actually outside of her cell for the first time since they last upgraded the containment protocols for her.

Her hand moved to wipe at her face but that familiar metallic smell made her scrunch up her face in disgust, recoil back while jumping up off of Alver and look down at her stained clothing. She kiltered off balance from the sedatives and couldn’t stop until the wall caught and aided with propping her up. Despite her previous attempt to wash off the blood, there was still more of the guard and doctor still clinging to her than she was willing to tolerate. “Vad tittar du på-what are you looking at?!” She snapped at Alver. It was the best way she knew how to handle her insecurities. It was something similar to this that had set her off in the past if she felt that someone was staring at her. Only this time the sedative that was in her system stopped her from pursuing it much further. By dragging her down to the floor after taking several steps back towards him.

Upon taking an unsteady knee to the smooth surface did she really stop to take the time to catch her breath and assess what was going on around her. This was more than her simply somehow managing to stay awake and downing two people for five minutes of freedom. Many of the lights were out, messages were being sent through the facility, the guards that she expected to come swarm her from around the corner was instead...a doctor? She was close enough to grab Alver's arm. For a second she thought about grabbing him as a hostage but something stopped her. Her hand fell short when it came down and was instead used to push herself forcefully back to her feet; claws scraping loudly against the floor. It still didn't stop her from getting ready to go on the offensive if the woman got close enough. That was until her knees buckled again. "Nej! Nejnejnejnej." She hissed through her teeth for being betrayed by her own legs. Her hand grips Alver's arm. Not out of anger this time but anxiety.

By the time she looked up again the woman was kneeling right in front of them. The shock sends a visible jolt through her body. Particularly when she begins to speak words she is far more familiar with; taking her off guard. "Hur vet du?" Kaij couldn't figure out what sent the chill up her spine first. "Ge dig vad?" The fact that this doctor appeared injured and disheveled with her face covered, and acting so strangely calm. Smelling of a mixture of something somewhat pleasant with something else. Creeping ever closer to them both and putting, at the very least Kaij on edge. Acting as though she was observing them. Staring at them. Staring directly at, her.

"Sluta stirrar!" Not requiring to see this doctor's eyes to feel that familiar anger surge through her again. Her muscles spasm swatting at the woman with the back of her hand while attempting to back up. Like a cat who didn't like having its space invaded and demanded that they keep their distance. Which, considering how she has been known to act in the past was an extremely gentle way of handling things. Still. This was all putting her into a panic. Kaijmera grunted in discomfort. Alver would be able to feel the bones in her hand gristle and her tendons spastic-ly flex. "Backa!" She growled, half in pain as small popping sounds emitted from her spin and her body seemed to subtly begin to unsettle under her clothes. When will the guards will be coming? What if they see what she did? What will they do when they find out? Those thoughts relentlessly looped inside of her mind to fuel her fear.

[oops]

The woman lowers her head and hums a strange yet familiar tune. As before, there is still no sense of fear from the woman, her emotional state is unreadable. She taps the floor tiles under her with her nails, rhythmically, then abruptly stops. She puts her hands on her face as if checking for something.

"Du är intressant..." She says under her breath. "Människa."

She slowly removes her goggles, revealing her black sclera, blue eyes, and S shaped pupils. She glances over at Alver from the corner of her eyes.

"Ah, I had an idea just now." She says, a very sudden shift in her tone, sounding more energetic. "Lets not do this and move before they come."

Footsteps are heard coming in their direction, heavy footsteps, most likely armed guards from the lower level. All the noise has likely alerted an awful lot of attention. The woman, obviously being controlled by Bas'met rolls her head to its side and rolls her eyes looking to the ceiling.

"Which would be right now." Her tone makes this sound like it is just a big game to her. She then pops up onto her feet and then holds her hand out, this time it seems like she's lending it rather than asking for something.

Alright, so she hadn't meant to kill him - she'd meant to kill a guard, which Alver definitely wasn't. Good lord, he definitely wasn't. He was still fifteen and an experiment too for goodness sake! Which was a stupid thing to be angry over, but if it got rid of his fear so much the better. It helped strengthen his shields too, which was good. He didn't want Crazy Psycho Blood-covered Lady (which was what he was going to call her until she revealed her name, like hell he was going to use experiment codes) to break through them again. No way did he want to end up like those people in her cell.

Alver shuddered and pushed the memory away. Not gonna remember that.

"W-what I'm looking at?!" He gasped, staring at her incredulously through the barrier. Finally getting his breath back, he pushed himself up to a sitting position. "I should be asking you that, what the hell -"

A doctor interrupted him then, her voice cool and spouting the same gibberish CPBL (it was a bit too long to call her properly) had been speaking a few minutes ago, and Alver lowered the barriers in relief. A doctor! Someone who could calm the crazy lady down! Not that he didn't really like them (some of them could be complete jackasses), but thank goodness.

Or not. Alver stiffened as CPBL gripped his arm - again. Great, what was it with her and his arm?! Her grip was loose, though, like she was anxious about something. Ignoring the conversation she was exchanging with the doctor, Alver frown at the doctors appearance. She was acting way to calm for someone who looked like she'd been mauled. And what was that smell? He sniffed the air, leaning away from the doctor. Lavender and... something else that kinda smells like the bathroom... whats with her goggles?

He winced as CPBL's grip tightened. He glanced up at her, and his eyes widened as she started to shift, small popping noises appearing as she did so. "H-hey, calm down," he said quickly, trying his best to sound soothing. If she freaked out, then there wasn't anything he could do but hope for instant death. He'd have put up shields, but since that might aggravate her further... no. And he didn't have much time either if she was freaking out about the guards and he really didn't want to end up like her last socialising attempt, oh lord.

He racked his mind for more to say, but then the doctor took of her goggles and all he could think of was oh shiz.

Through the panic she was again, taken back by this doctor's reaction. No shock, or flinching from the facially covered woman. "Människa?" Kaijmera didn't understand why she would chose to that particular word and effectively knocking some of the haze from her mind. This person was not reacting the way she was supposed to, nor speaking words that were expected. Her delay for acknowledging Alver's words was evident, but it allowed her to take a moment to look at him again. Her eyes still gazed intensely at him, yet for once she didn't immediately react in frustration. The grip around Alver's arm loosened, if only slightly enough to ease the pain she was causing him.

By the time she looked back the doctor had removed the goggles. This was not just some facility worker. She had seen those eyes before. The reason, time and location were eluding her. Something that was mentioned over the speakers most certainly, but... Now was not the time to wonder or idle. The point was that her reaction changed again from aggression to hesitation, settling some of the tension inside of her and attune her attention to what this being had to say.

The loud plodding footsteps that now echoed and threatened to close in on them felt like a jolt of electricity up her spine. She released Alver, jumping unsteadily to her feet with more determination than ever to deny the grogginess that gripped her. It was easy to simply think about charging them. Except the constant reminder of her sluggishness mixed with the possible number of guards. Prepared ones at that. The gears turned in her head as her eyes darted from the source of the noise to shield kid. His face clearly showing that he was just as clueless and stranded as to what to do. She gritted her teeth and anxiously shrugged her shoulders back till some of that tension released from her spine as several small pops. This was not what she wanted. Another tranq and she would be lucky to have the ability to run. But they sounded like they were carrying more than that. The bodies, they had to have seen them too.

Kaijmera leans back from this GNS person's hand. "Ghhnnnnn! Smörja!" She curses in frustration. How would taking someone's hand help at all? It took too long for them to decide. Now was all the time they had left. She would hoist Alver up from where he sat on the ground, with the help of the woman's hand to offer her leverage; her long claws wrapping around gently enough not to pierce the skin. Certain that he wouldn't want to stick around either. "Få oss ut."

"W-wait, what?" Shaken out of his thoughts, Alver glared at the two women, barely concealed panic hidden desperately behind the anger. He clutched at his jacket sleeves, taking a deep breath to calm down. It didn't help that he was trapped between two crazy women he didn't understand who could pretty much rip apart the facility individually and that guards were just around the corner.

Ok, he had to consider his options. On one hand, the guards were safe. Admittedly not as safe as Alver'd like compared to the experiments, but still safe. Normal. And he didn't have to worry about his life ending prematurely any more than usual, which was always awesome. On the other hand, he hated the guards with a passion of a thousand burning fireballs (alright, more like Alver hated the doctors than the guards, but since they were part of the facility it was just kinda easy to hate them), they'd probably didn't care about what happened to him so long as the two crazy-ass women he was with were knocked out, and he wasn't entirely comfortable with the thought of her being alone with GNS-088, attempted murderer or not, damn him and his conscience.

Luckily, the decision was take out of his hands when the woman from earlier pulled him up. A glance at her told Alver that she'd accepted the woman's offer, and tadah - decision solved, choice made, yada yada yada. No way was he going to be able to leave her alone with GNS-088 in good conscience. Crud.

"Arrgh." Alver stood up, ready to run. "I'll be coming too, no way am I gonna be left to the guards alone." Besides, if anything happened he'd be able to use his shields to defend. He frowned at the possessed doctor. wary. "How do you plan to escape? They're kinda around the corner."

As if on cue, the footsteps were now closer than ever, loudly thumping on the floor as they ran.

[redacted]

She takes them around a corner, evading an ambush as if she already knew they would. They are clad in full combat armor, and as suspected, packing more than simple tranquilizer guns. As they take aim, the ductwork collapses on them, shaking them more than hurting them.

"A collection of things, mister Alver, some of the memories of the hosts persist, giving me pieces of information about the facility's layout." The Bas'met avatar says in a rather matter-of-fact manner, then points at the vents, tiny feet heard echoing through inside keeping up with them. "And secondly, Skitters is quite the master of getting through tight places, with both the memories I've obtained and her I found something rather... interesting."

Bas'met leads them into an open storage room, surrounded in basic medical equipment like IVs, needles, and other such items, and a large glass cabinet in the back. She runs to this cabinet and begins pulling on it, slowly sliding it across the floor with a slight creak. Behind it she reveals a strange small door, somewhat like a dumbwaiter, yet it has a hand print biometric lock. She places her hand against it and after a short scan it slides open into a dimly lit, and unmapped portion of the facility. The lights in this portion seem like they haven't been changed in years, some flicker, nearly burnt out, stairways can be somewhat seen within.

"These are what I assume to be the maintenance access areas, a facility so large would have to have them right?" She says with uncertainty in her tone. "But they get used so little that nobody really cares to actually maintain them, funny, huh?"

The footsteps can be heard coming in their direction, doors opening and closing as they check every area. Bas'met motions to the entryway.

"Get in, I'll cover it back up behind you." She says, a tone making it clear that this avatar is staying behind. "And I know I've harmed some of you before, but... well... I'm willing to pay for that too, if it is any incentive."

Kaijmera half expected the woman to envelop them in a shroud of shadows or some other wildly powerful....trick, of some kind, and whisk them away to safety. Instead, she is instead yanked along and nearly dragged around the corner like any other escapee fleeing for their lives. It would have been faster if she took off on her own. The joy of 20/20 hindsight. Speaking of alone, she was actually slightly, pleased, that Alver decided to go along with everything. The shield maker had promise in him. That is if he knew how and when to properly put up a solid defense. If she could get through it then it wasn’t as likely that he would be able to deflect a bullet either. It saved her time that he was at least in the same book as her. Whether or not they were on the same page was another question that would have to be saved for later.

More than anything she would find more convenience with being told that part of the ventilation system was going to come down behind them. Kaijmera was quick to break the line, jerk her hand free and take a few strides ahead of the doctor before daring to look over her shoulder and make sure that it wasn’t gunfire coming at them. The pitter patter of steps in the vents quickly gave away that it was much larger and smarter than a rat. If only she could simply get up there and traverse the ductwork like, whatever was up there, was doing. A question that she would have to save for later. Better to leave the chatter to the boy for the time being while she was at it. She’d rather have him reminding her what on earth the woman was going on about.

The storage room that they arrived in immediately left her wanting to know what could possibly help them in here with no noticeable way out except for the way they came. Her feet hardly touched the ground and aided with reversing her direction to push herself up against the nearest corner that lead back to the hallways that they had just come from. The fear of being seen was by now helping to lift some of the grogginess inducing fog in her mind. Just when she began to feel like she was led into a trap, the doctor opened up what looked to be a covered up passageway. Again her feet help her sprint towards the open entrance but she stops short of the door.

This poorly maintained and thickly webbed maintenance corridor made her leery of going in. Still, it was far more promising considering that it didn’t look to be used for a considerable amount of time. Or enough to give her confidence that she could better hide here rather than back out there.
“Varför?” She finally asks in confusion. Help nearly always came at a cost. However seeing as how she wasn’t willing to stand around long enough for the full answer. If there was one.

Soon enough she gripped the sides of the entrance and gives the doctor one more glance before going inside. If it really was a maintenance corridor then it would have to lead to other areas of the facility.

Alver started as the vent came down with a crash, then quickly resettled, annoyed at himself for reacting. Then something landed at his foot.

This time, Alver didn't scream or gibber or even move, but looked down instead, scowling at the object. His stomach gave a start when he saw a gun, but then he noticed the markings on the side and realised - it was a tranquilliser gun. One of the guards must have had one at hand when Skitter's (whoever they were) dropped the vent on them, causing the guard to lose control of the gun and fly at his direction. Huh. Well, they didn't need more ammunition anyway. Giving a tiny shrug, Alver picked up the gun and stored it at his back, making sure that the shirt was covering it.

What? He was going into unknown territory with a woman who had just tried to kill him a second ago and GNS-088, who was pretty dangerous herself. Alver could still remember the blood from that time she'd tried to - no wait, that had been the nightmares. The real one had no blood. Still, he absolutely didn't want to get possessed and die, so what was one extra precaution?

She knows my name. Ok. That was probably from the subject's memory thing she was talking about. Now that they weren't being chased, Alver took the time to resettle himself and think, walking half a step behind the two women. He quickly shrugged on his jacket, the extra cloth hiding the small bulge on his back and giving him an extra layer of protection. Why had GNS-088 (Alver still had no clue what her real name was) turned up to save them? Why - and how - had she escaped? No, scratch that - what on earth was going on?

What did she want?

Well, she wanted them to escape, that was obvious enough. Especially when she led them into a storage room and revealed a door leading to an abandoned area of the facility. And she sounded like she needed their help with what she had found. Whether it was 'look, a weird fish!' kind of interesting or 'agh we're all gonna die from this' kind of interesting, it didn't seem like she could do it alone, but Alver couldn't help but be suspicious if she had any other hidden motive that wouldn't be kind to them. He hadn't gotten this far and alive by taking everything at face value, and he wasn't going to start now.

Maybe if he had done so sooner, been suspicious sooner, then his friend wouldn't have died...

Nothing he could do about it now. Shoving the thought aside, Alver stepped through the door a few seconds after Killer Lady charged through it. He glanced around, squinting into the dark in an effort to see better. Seriously, he was sick of being an experiment and like it or not he was screwed anyway, what with being with an escapee and all. Heck, he could even be considered an escapee himself. Might as well go and explore before getting caught.

Just before GNS-088 closed the door, Alver reached out and stopped it. "Listen," he said quickly. He knew that he had only a few seconds left before the guards came across them, so he had to make it quick. "I have no clue what's going on and I still don't trust you, but thanks. I know the body you're in is dead and I'm not sure whether or not you can feel pain," and I'm really hoping that you didn't kill her "but take care, ok?"

There, done. Now he could stop worrying so much, although why he was worrying over a possessed dead body Alver had no clue. Having said his piece, Alver let go of the door and turned around to catch up with Killer Lady, blinking rapidly as the door closed and sealed off any light from the outside. Ah, night vision goggles, how he wished he had thee. That would have made seeing in the dark more easier.

"Alright, so." He said quietly, fumbling his way towards Killer Lady. His eyes were starting to get use to the dark now, and he could dimly see shapes that he assumed were pipes or walls or just weird objects. "Um. Think we should head that way?" he pointed forwards to a space between a large rectangle object and a large square object as his shin bumped into what felt like a small square box.

"Ow," he muttered, but he continued to move. He didn't want to be here if the guards discovered that they were in here and decided to storm the place. "And what's your name?" he asked, squinting at his surroundings. The objects were gradually becoming clearer, good. Soon he'd be able to see properly in the gloom. "If we're gonna be stuck together we might as well know each other's names. I'm Alver Glanestone. You?"

She heard the door shut behind her. And her eyes strained for almost a minute as they attempted to adjust to the dim setting. Willing it in the back of her mind, she wished that she could see everything more clearly. No. She needed to, willed it in her thoughts. The empty passageway slowly began to light up as though someone was gradually raising the lights on a light dimmer switch. Nearly her entire body ached much like a tensed muscle that was feeling a little too much resistance. The tension made her breath the same way one would after a light jog thanks to the stress the sickened and frazzled doctor put her through when she was convinced there would be a fight brewing.

Moving a hand to her chest; some of those same ripples underneath her skin occasionally persisted despite her over all proportions regaining a little more normalcy. Being in a new area with the thoughts of being herded into a corner by guards prevented her from having any solace in the thought of relaxing, even if it were only temporary. Several claws reach up to one of the side walls and scrape at its surface with mild interest as to whether or not it would leave a mark. Before looking down at her still wickedly equipped hand. She frowns. ".....äcklig." Then, does the best she can to shake her hand and shake it off.

Kaijmera had almost forgotten that Alver was even behind her until she heard his footsteps catching up from behind. Her head tilted just enough to look and see him fumble a bit when he smacked one of his legs right into a box. Clumsy looked to be a trait that he would naturally have. She ignored his first question and proceeded to begin walking, slowly but with a purpose. He asked her another question about her name. Again. She acted as though she didn't hear him. With the express intention on looking around and paying attention to anything but him. The one thing that she did pick up from him, aside from his name, was the anxiousness in his voice. Informing her of his name without being asked.

You?

By then Kaijmera turned towards the the wall and with only the upper half of her body turned, her face barely turned 1/3 of the way towards him. Her eyes catching and reflecting the dim light similarly to how an animal's eyes would appear to almost glow in low light conditions.

For what felt like a long time she seemed to stare at him. "You scared of me?"

Alver felt a chill go down his spine from her stare, but that was quickly washed away by annoyance at her question. Was he scared of her? Hell yes. Was he scared of the guards, getting caught, never getting out of this facility, so on and so forth? Also yes.

And he was sick of it. Screw terror, Alver had gotten over the fear years ago and no way was he letting it win now. Especially not when he was with a person who looked like she was about to go feral on him. He'd been worried for her, for goodness sake! That had been part of the reason he was now an escapee of the facility! Well, that and he'd been sick of the place, but that didn't matter right now.

What did matter was that she'd sounded like she'd expected the answer to be yes, and that. That kind of pissed Alver off.

"No, I'm scared of the dark and closed spaces," He replied sarcastically. "Of course I'm scared of you!" He scowled at her, clenching his fists. "You nearly tried to kill me when we met, remember? And I'm scared of getting caught, the aftermath of getting caught, what GNS-088 needs us for, so on and so forth. Trust me, compared to that, being trapped in an enclosed dark space with a woman who tried to murder me an hour ago is kind of low on the list. And besides..."

Alver took a deep breath. "You weren't actually trying to kill me," He admitted. His scowl receded back to a clear gaze, and his hands uncurled. "You stopped once you noticed I wasn't a guard, and you haven't tried again." He said, staring at her eyes. "And even though I'm scared I'm worried about you too. I don't know what GNS-088 needs us for, but it might be dangerous and even if you're a badass I think you'd feel more comfortable with someone watching your back. I don't want to see any more people die when I can do something to help, ok?"

Speech done, he fell silent. Then a moment later, Alver's whole face turned red with embarrassment as he realised what he'd just said. "A-And anyway, I wanted to explore this place." He muttered, looking away. "It seemed interesting, and - oh hey I think that's the exit." He pointed gratefully to the now visible dark space inbetween two rectangle boxes a few feet away from them, squinting to see if there was a wall or a turn. "I think there's a turn... What do you think?" he turned back to face her, unsure how to react after what he'd just said and unsure of how she'd react after his speech. "Exit or dead end?"

Her gaze didn't change. Although her eyes did seem to respond to him finally putting up something of a commotion against her. It was rather quick of him to chomp at the bit, and for a moment her expression softened ever so slightly. There was something in particular that she had at some point decided that she wanted to look for. Something that couldn't simply be stated. This wasn't a job interview and they didn't have much time to work with.

Unfortunately, almost as quickly as he managed to show some fire, he stifled it out before giving it a chance to take. Kaijmera's face by then was blank. 'Badass.' She thinks to herself. Alver would only be able to hear himself and the only breathing he would pick up was his own. His words bounced off the walls as though he were the only one there. He was talking far too much. A habit that would get him in trouble if he wanted to stay hidden, even down here.

By the time he would turn himself back to face her, he would be able to see rapid movement right in front of his face. The strike would sting more than anything against his skin. Then he would have the joy of noticing that his body was flung against some boxes that would collapse against his weight. "Du är för högt." She would speak in a hushed tone from an indiscernible direction. "Think its bad here? Wait till you get outside." Her voice trailed around from his left and then to his right ear. Using the lack of general lighting to keep out of his line of sight. It would go silent for a few very long seconds.

The next time Alver would hear her again it would sound further away. Possibly around a corner, or further down the space that he had pointed to earlier. "You open up too much. För mycket." Ironic for a kid who could put up barriers. While she made it a point of not letting him know it, she still had him visible to her eyes. He would quickly learn that she wasn't the type to simply carry on a conversation with someone so easily. The next sentence came from even further away. And only half in English. "Du kanske lära sig något. If you live long enough."

If anyone was to notice one of them in the tunnels. If anyone else managed to find a way down there. Alver was the one making the most noise.

This time, when she struck at him, Alver was ready. A barrier of almost translucent white shielded him an instant before her fist landed on his face, but the shockwave from the blow resounding on the shield so close to his face still sent him flying anyway. He landed in a pile of boxes with a crash, although a dark purple shield at his back absorbed most of the damage. Getting up, he heard the Bloody Lady {his new official nickname for her, at least until she told him her name) and great, what was with the gloom? Even though his eyes had adjusted to the dark, he still couldn't see her. Maybe she was hiding in the shadows or something.

Alver wrinkled his nose as she talked. The outside was worse? He didn't understand. People died in the facility. Often gruesomely or other stuff like losing their minds or sense of self, which was still considered death, but still. People still died, and not just the experiments, on an almost daily basis. Why would the outside be worse than the inside?

During the silence, Alver tensed, waiting for another blow. Nervously, he wondered whether he should take out the tranquilliser gun from his back (thank goodness it wasn't harmed by the fall), but he dismissed it when the Bloody Lady spoke again. It sounded like she was near the place he'd pointed at just now, and Alver walked towards her, withdrawing his shields but still ready to create them if he needed to. He was very aware that she might try to injure him, and if she thought he was going without a fight, think again.

"Whatever," he retorted irritatedly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. One thing bothered him, though. What did she mean, I open up too much?

He didn't really get it, but another thing bothered him even more - he had no idea what she was saying when she spoke in that other language. It sounded Nordic, but other than that Alver couldn't really tell, since he'd never even heard it till now. Not that he'd ever say that to her. Alver was pretty sure the Bloody Lady would just speak in her own language all the time if he told her he didn't understand it just to spite him.

Alver didn't want to give her the satisfaction. Especially not when it sounded like she expected him to die sooner or later.

Instead, as he continued to walk with her, Alver felt somewhat apprehensive. Thinking back, he'd been raising his voice. He hadn't exactly meant to do that; he'd been so upset over everything that he'd forgot to lower his volume. It had felt good, but he really shouldn't have done it. What if the guards had heard him?! They'd search the area and that would mean getting caught, aghh. Alver really didn't want to get caught.

And what had GNS-088 want them for anyway? Why them, specifically? Where others coming along too?

Quiet and half occupied in his thoughts, Alver quietly kept in step with the Bloody Lady, stepping over or avoiding anything blocking his path.

A figure around the size of a large cat follows the dysfunctional duo, hiding away and keeping as quiet as possible. It was Bas'met's little pet, Skitters as she is called, may as well be Bas'Met herself if it weren't for the retained animal's instincts. She was likely trailing them to satisfy Bas'met's strange curiosity. She scurries carefully behind boxes, in boxes, occasionally under boxes and scooting it along. A real bandit in the shadows.

The pathways carry Alver's voice, especially when he raises it. This could get problematic. The area was barely used but it wasn't unknown. She slaps her paws on her face, all four of them. Hasn't this guy heard of keeping a low profile? She reaches under her bandanna and adjust some device on her neck stopping when she hears his end to his outburst, how he's tired of watching people die. Something about this clicks. She scurries over into some boxes trying to get a better listen.

Then, something of a spat breaks out between them. Alver is thrown into the boxes nearly on top of the six-pawed bandit. Skitters skitters behind a box in hopes to remain unseen. Where did that come from? Well, was not like Bas'met expected them to work well together, let alone Kaijmera working well with anyone. But never really expected it to escalate this quickly. People are so very... interesting. Under the cover of the box the striped-tail avatar of Bas'met follows slowly but also more closely, increasingly curious about what they will do next.

Labeled on the "exit", as Alver put it, is what can be made out as the number 10. Most likely meaning floor 10 Certainly not the most desired exit, but a step in the right direction, right? And what is Kaijmera planning to do if she dreads the outside? And what was this lesson she intends to teach Alver? There is so much strange between the subjects to fill Bas'met's voracious curiosity. That curiosity may be driving Skitters to get closer than needed.

Kaijmera's interactions with Alver ceased completely at some point so that all he would be able to converse with was himself and the poorly lit hallway. She found it beneficial to button up once the door came into her line of sight. It was when she tucked herself away from the main area and spent more of her time looking back that she actually noticed something. This was something that she hadn't noticed before. Mainly because she was looking out for just about anything but this particular, thing. As she spies with her little eyes did the glint of something else's small peepers catch her attention. This new discovery had the woman crouch down a little further while peeking safely from around a corner.

Meanwhile she did nothing to further distract Alver from moving forward. Okay so maybe it wasn't nothing that hit the wall beside his head and clatter with a small yet weighted metallic sound to the floor. This wasn't simply to see if he would jump. Although something about it amused her. It sort of cheapened her thoughts on horror films. More specifically, imagining the antagonist, be it human or otherwise grabbing the closest available item that can produce noise when striking something, tossing it over the protagonist or other character's head to scare them before ducking back down acting rather pleased with themselves. The only reason why she didn't find this to be a lowly move was to test for several things. Not everyone responds the same way.

What had her intrigued most of all was seeing if what was following Alver had noticed her hide away and if it, could see her as noticeably as she had seen this scurrying thing. For some reason her thoughts wandered back to when the air vents fell when she saw glimpses of this thing now following behind Alver.