EVENT: HOSPITAL EXPEDITION

[asgardmods]

Who: Anyone!
What: Hospital Expedition Time!
When: Day 70
Where: The hospital and surrounding grounds.
Rating: PG-13 for potential scariness

Warning: This log includes reference to and optional effects of psychotropic medication. Those intensely bothered by such things should be cautious or steer clear.



After The Doctors found the hospital, an expedition was organized. Those who signed up in that post or who just want to tag along will be heading out on the morning of Day 70 (April 20, ICly). After a 3mi/5km or so walk, they'll find themselves at what looks like a mostly modern hospital and outbuildings, surrounded as a compound by a tall wire fence. The fence is now full of holes, and it's obvious that the buildings haven't been used in decades. There is very little graffiti or other human-caused damage to the place, but weather, animals, and neglect leave it pretty worn down anyway.

Inside, the buildings are mostly empty of medicines and things. There's some broken-down equipment and a few bits of both modern and herbalist medication here and there but not much. The records room however is pretty much intact, besides the wear on paper from sitting in a non-climate-controlled room for 30 years. The records date from the native's reckoning time of 376-385, and are mostly not very informative, but reading through a bunch will reveal how the greyness progressed as a "disease".

Emotion left first, so through 376 and 377 the records state that people just seem to be mysteriously losing all personality and are somewhat lethargic, just going through the motions for no apparent reason. By 378 people are losing colour, and the hospital turns from a specialty hospital to a quarantine zone. People are brought there the moment they're diagnosed, and while it seems the conditions at the hospital were humane, it was crowded and generally not a happy place.

By 383 the staff have been replaced multiple times as they too get sick, and the conditions at the compound were degenerating by sheer number of patients vs number of healthy staff. It got dirty and the food rations were a bit tight, but it wasn't any sort of horrible place where people died. It was just overcrowded and understaffed, for the most part. There's notes about how any animals or even inanimate objects that come into contact with the sick also lose expression and colour.

The last of the records will be notice that there's no more room in the hospital and no successful treatment or cure, so everyone is going back to the city and shutting it down, by order of the gods. Essentially, the entire city is doomed to go grey, so they'll turn the city walls into the quarantine zone to try to protect the rest of the world.

The one other interesting thing in the records might be that in all of the individual patient records, one file (that seems like it was very thick) is missing. There's also mention in the general notes of "the Queen" being sick -- one of the earlier patients, even. Most record of her has been blacked out, however.

Aside from records, there's only one other interesting to be found during the day. A large room in the old laboratory building seems strangely personal inside, having couches, tables, and stacks of basic board games lying around. If the door to this room is closed, it will automatically lock, and within a few minutes anyone inside will start feeling... funny. Perhaps as an attempted treatment for the emotionless lethargy of the disease, the room is equipped to be air tight, and a dosage of an odourless, colourless, mood-improving gas released. The effect should be no more than a case of the giggles and a sharpening of the characters' sense of colour. The room will unlock after ten minutes or so of the gas being in effect, and the symptoms should wear off in an hour or two.

Beyond that, there isn't much to find besides a general spooky feeling. The attic storage floor of the hospital may contain bats, and there's signs of other animals nesting (rabbits, etc). The creepy atmosphere should make for interesting exploration though -- especially at night. Anyone inside after darkness falls should stay there. There my be the sounds of nearby wolves outside, but running into any is entirely optional and won't happen inside the buildings.

Each Doctor will be leading his own team, so if your characters will strictly be sticking to their team, make sure you note that in your starter or wait for your chosen Doctor to set things up for his team. You're also welcome to have your characters explore free-form with their friends or with strangers, so don't worry too much about structure! Have fun and go wild!

Comments

[seventeenpills]

[Haha - a trivial danger? He'd been mostly kidding. A multi story building landing on him however was hardly what he';d term trivial.]

Well, either way, the point is I'm fine. I might have to take things a little more slowly than some, but I get there in the end.

[He tucked his water away in his back pack, standing upo and stretching his back.]

I say we look for an admin building or any kind of office first. Wards aren't going to tell us much.

[queenoftheforlornheart]

[Well in perspective, to someone who fights things that laugh at massive nuclear assaults, a collapsing building is very much trivial.]

As you wish, just make sure you stay close and are careful.

[seventeenpills]

[Yes, and Hisao has trouble climbing long flights of stairs. Everything is relative!]

Fine.

[Between her and Hanako, he was starting to feel a little henpecked. He knew they were just concerned... but if he spent his whole life being pitied, that was too big of a cross to bear.]

...please, don't worry so much. I'll stay close, but it's because we're friends. Not because I need protecting. I'll be fine.

[queenoftheforlornheart]

[She was about to speak, but she knew that feeling of helplessness and not wanting others to pity oneself. Giving him a simple nod, Satellizer moved through the area ahead of him and began the exploration while keeping him in view.]

Let me know if you see something of interest. You have been here longer so you might catch something I might overlook.

[seventeenpills]

Well, most of all, I want to know the history of this place. Why it was abandonned and if that has anythiung to do with the colorlessness of this world. So, I'd say we'd best look for any thing like an office or a records room... anywhere that might have documents pertaining to this places' past.

[He pushed open one door as they walked down the corridor and frowned. It was a mess in there - old equipment and bits of debris arranged in a way that suggested the room had seen many litters of small fuzzy quadrapeds in it's time of disuse by people.]

If there's any paper left whole in this place...

[queenoftheforlornheart]

Sometimes it's best to look where the things should have been and then work towards where they could be due to natural occurrences when searching areas like this. With the state of disarray, things could have been blown around, or creatures could have unknowingly moved them around and such.

[Satella followed and began looking through the corners of the place, making her way around the area and finally towards the middle.]

[seventeenpills]

I agree. Hopefully someone thought to lock up the important stuff before leaving. If it's sealed up in old desks or cupboards, that shouldn't take much effort to get into, but hopefully no rats or... whatever else would have had the same idea.

[Unfortunately, it seemed most of the rooms around here were wards and the like. There had been the waiting room back there, but he hadn't immediately spotted an administration desk. He was pretty familiar with hospitals - at least one hospital - and so he had an idea of where things ought to fit into one another, if not their exact location.]

[queenoftheforlornheart]

[Once Satella was done with her search, she let out a small sigh and crossed her arms.]

This might take longer than I'd like. I wish we could at least find a map of the facility. That would make this search much easier.

[seventeenpills]

Yeah, you're right. wonder if there was one back where we started? I didn't see it, but then, I wasn't looking for it either.

[Sometimes they had them in places like that to mark where people needed to go for certain things, after all.]

[queenoftheforlornheart]

Well, we didn't go too far. We can always take a quick trip back just to make sure. It would certainly speed up our progress.

[Or lack there of.]

hnnngh DW stop. Eating my comment.

[seventeenpills]

Alright - let's double back, then.

[And they did so. The waiting room was, as Hisao expected, some kind of outpatients areas. But there was a very faded and very small map near a counter behind which a receptionist had probably sat. Hisao opened his backpack and pulled out a notebook and pencil and started trying to copy it.]

OK, if I'm reading this right - and I'm probably not, but bear with me - there's an admin block not too far from here. We were going in the right direction, just not quite far enough, and I think some of the doors I assumed were ward doors because they looked like the others may be a way to get to the next corridor over.

Nom nom nom nom comments

[queenoftheforlornheart]

[Satella nodded as she waited patiently fro Hisao to finish. In the meantime she was rummaging through some of the area and checking on random bits of paper she'd find among other objects.]

I see, well, we best be off then if we want to find something useful. Did you copy the entire map as best you could?

Let me know when you are ready to leave.

Re: Nom nom nom nom comments

[seventeenpills]

Juuuuust about.

[He wrote down a few more notes and then tucked his pen back in his backpack, still holding the notebook.]

OK, back we go. We weren't too far off, like I said.

[He started walking again. The afternoon was wearing on and the light was dimming a little bit.]

This place is a little creepy, isn't it?

[He said to the girl who spends her time beating the shit out of giant alien destruction machines.]

[queenoftheforlornheart]

I'm not fond of hospitals no. So I suppose it can be unnerving.

[Hospitals tended to have people touching you all over. That was already a no-no for her.

She made sure to stay in front and keep her alert on. If something decided to pop out of nowhere, she'd be ready to face it head on, powers or no.]

[seventeenpills]

I'm particularly unfond of them.

[Being stuck in one for six months or so will do that to you.]

But I think this place is a valuable reslource nonetheless. The Gods outright told me that they're keeping as much knowledge as possible to themselves. The Library in the city has -NO- information about this world. A place like this...

[His voice sounded a little wistful, but at the same time determined.]

...There has to be SOMETHING.

[queenoftheforlornheart]

They outright said they were keeping information? [This was something that made Satellizer stop and look back at him not too pleased.]

Why would they do such a thing if they require our assistance? Why hide resources that might help us help them better? Something doesn't add up... I do not like this.

[seventeenpills]

His exact words were 'information is a valuable resource that we'll give out as we see fit'. I asked them why there were no books on this place in the Library.

[Hisao opened a door and walked inside, holding it for her.]

Why they're keeping things from us, I don't know. I would have assumed they would want their 'help' as clued in as possible. Apparently not. Now, whether looking for information here is defiance of their wishes, or whether they're allowing us to look around and find things here? I don't know. But either way, I can't let this opportunity pass us by. I currently know more about the land of Equestria than I know about the place I live and that doesn't seem right.

[queenoftheforlornheart]

[Satella walked into the room and did a quick scan to make sure everything seemed alright. Once she was certain, she turned back to him while he searched.]

One who seeks aid will provide the necessary means to ease and hasten the solution to the problem. Keeping vital information does not seem like something someone seeking help would do... Not unless they have something to hide. Maybe they even caused this downfall themselves and are looking for others to clean up their mess...

[She looked at him curiously.] So you know more about some other world more than this one? How long did you say you've been here?

[seventeenpills]

You know, it's hard to keep track of days here. Time seems to work a little differently somehow. I think I've been here about three weeks. A little bit more, maybe? But I've found out about the existance of so many worlds that I've spent a lot of time looking them up in the library and reading about them.

[He started trying to pry open a cupboard. The wood crumbled away, but there was nothing of use inside.]

I wanted to learn more about this place and was a bit crestfallen when they said I couldn't. So, it's important to me that we find SOMETHING here. Anything.

[queenoftheforlornheart]

[Time working differently was something she didn't feel too comfortable with but she wouldn't dwell on it, not right now anyways. She broke into a deteriorating cabinet only to find more dust and debris and sighed in frustration.]

I do hope we find something soon. I'm unsure as to what this world is at night and far away from our homes. Whatever the case, if we're going to stay much longer we should at least secure an area we could use as shelter.

[seventeenpills]

I've never been outside the city, but I wouldn't think it was too bad. Looks like the worst we're going to run into here are some rabbits or other small, furry creatures that live in this building now.

[He carried on through to the next room over. He could already see that this place was the better option - there were some files on the floor, too piecemeal to be of any use, but where there were some, there had to be more.]

If we do wind up staying too long, there should be any number of places we can set up. I think we can make it home before dark though, if you're worried.

[He wouldn't blame her - she was newer here than him.]

[queenoftheforlornheart]

[Satella followed as they spoke, letting him search ahead so she could keep watch.]

Pardon me for being a bit wary, but a world where supposed gods exist and supernatural events occur has me believing that nothing is ordinary here. So I assumed that the outside would be just as odd. Possibly dangerous, but you might be right. If you feel confident as to stay longer till we can find concrete things without the need to return home for now, I shall stay. However, rest will be needed later, can't have you exhausting yourself.

[Specially not after what she knew about him.]

[seventeenpills]

[She was still worried over him, wasn't she? Even after he'd asked her...

...eh. He found it hard to be mad at this point. He knew she was right and as much as he hated to be babied and felt the need to shoot back some sort of cutting retort, it wasn't worth it. It would spoil their time together and really, she was more in the right than he was.]

I brought my medication along just in case, so, I'll be fine. I'm more worried about having light to look at things if it gets too dark. Can't find much if it's pitch black and something tells me that this place hasn't had working electricity or anything like it in a long, long time.

[He paused.]

...I also brought some snacks and water. If you get hungry or thirsty, let me know. It's not exactly seven hamburgers but should be able to take the edge off if you get the munchies.

[OK. So. He couldn't resist saying THAT much.]

[queenoftheforlornheart]

We could build a fire. It shouldn't be hard considering all the old wood and useless paper strewn about. Making a safe area for it should be cake too...

[Satella moved over and started gathering some since it seemed like he'd be up to looking longer.]

I can last for a while without. But once we settle I will probably have some if you don't mind. I appreciate your offer.

[seventeenpills]

Really? We could do something like that? What if the whole place catches fire? Wouldn't that be a little risky?

[She sounded like she knew what she was doing but he was worrywart and couldn't help being concerned.]

And you're welcome. Like I said, it isn't much being I didn't anticipate sharing, but there should be enough for the two of us to have at least SOMETHING in our stomachs.

[He pushed through to the next room. Bingo.]

Metal file cabinets.... Let's hope they aren't locked.