Board Thread:Role Plays/@comment-24828824-20180226234231/@comment-25169271-20181001211405

Darian nodded to Alice as they got the go-ahead from Helena to go deeper into the building. Darian grabbed the handle to the door and yanked it open with a firm tug. Alice swept the doorway with her rifle, inspecting the area beyond for any threat. "Clear," she declared as she strode into the hallway.

The floor was filled with offices, with doors lining each side of the hallway. The glass on all of the doors was either broken or turned yellow from age. The paint on the walls was faded and peeling off of the walls, and the drywall beneath them had begun to crumble and fall apart. "It smells musty in here," Alice stated, slowly making her way down the hall.

Darian walked through the doorway and stared up at the ceiling. "Alice, light up the roof please," he asked, bracing himself for the sudden brightness that was about to assault his eyes.

Alice complied and pointed her rifle at the ceiling, turning the brightness on the flashlight to high. Immediately the entire space was illuminated.

Darian winced for a moment as his eyes adjusted to the light. After a moment he was able to inspect the structure of the building, seeing that despite the age and unkept conditions the superstructure of the building seemed perfectly intact. "Helena, the roof of this place is in fine condition. You should be able to put Stormreader down on the helipad if you need to. As far as the interior here, it's... better than the last building."

"The walls are still up at least," Alice said with a smile as she knocked on one of the walls in the hallway, causing a section of the drywall to collapse and reveal a large hole into one of the offices. She looked sheepishly at the offending hole and then to her husband who only shrugged in response.

The pair continued down the hallway, stopping to investigate the elevators. Darian pried the doors open to the shaft. He held the doors open while Alice squeezed herself into the gap and shined the light down the shaft.

"Elevator and shaft are still in tact. Looks like it was large enough to carry freight up here. Probably would need maintenance," Alice determined as she looked around at the old dusty cables and pullies. For a moment she felt a deep sense of panic and dread form in the pit of her stomach as a flash of the isolation cells from her childhood went through her mind. Taking a breath, she pushed the feelings away and squeezed back out of the door, Darian slowly shutting them behind her.

Darian noticed the subtle splay of emotions in Alice's eyes as she stood up. "Are you okay?" he asked, gently reaching out and touching her shoulder.

She nodded with a smile, taking a few more calming breaths as she pushed away the emotions and memories. "Just a bad memory. It's silly, mom and I took care of that place, but it still haunts me."

"It's not silly. I'm still screwed up by all the shit that my dad did to me, that Kane put us through. I know it's not my fault, but I'm still angry about it. If you bury it it'll only make it worse." he said as he pulled the woman into a tight embrace.

Alice smiled as she held him tight, a lone tear rolling down her cheek. "This doesn't exactly seem like the time or place to deal with this though," she said continuing to hold him.

"Maybe not...but we can try and deal with it once we get back. For now if you need a minute just say so," he said, kissing her softly before letting go of her. The pair continued down the hallway reaching the stairway on the opposite end of the hallway and made their way down to the second floor.

The floor in front of them was filled with dust covered cubicles that were frozen in time. Papers were stacked on the desks, old office equipment covered in cobwebs, even mugs and old coffee pots were still in place in a small break area. “This place makes Refuge look like the pinnacle of modern technology,” Darian commented as he looked at one of the antique typing machines sitting on one of the desks. “Helena if you know any sort of antique dealers from your travels we could probably make a good bit of side money on this mission with these things,” the man said as he poked a few of the keys with his index finger.

“It’s kinda neat to see this old stuff,” Alice said as she lifted up the heavy piece of equipment. “It’s all mechanical and retro.” She set the machine back down on the desk and scanned her light over the room, dust particles dancing in the light.

Darian pushed around some papers on the desk, all the ink having faded away from age and exposure. “They must’ve left in a hurry. Nothing’s put away or anything. People were working and then just left,” he stated noticing how several of the desks had papers scattered around them, or mugs shattered at their feet.

They continued downward, sweeping through the ground floor and the first basement level. “This place is empty and holding up pretty damn well,” Darian stated as they stepped out onto the landing of the second floor of the basement. The air was thick and musty at this level, laced with a scent of oil and grease even after all these years. The floor only had a few rooms separated by mesh cage walls. Behind the walls were large pieces of machinery meant to provide the building with utilities. “Helena we’re in luck,” the lynx faunus stated as he walked over to one of the cages and kicked the door in, breaking the lock in the process. He inspected the machine, its cast iron body covered in dust and grime. He pulled open a maintenance door and pushed on one of the large gears inside. The gear resisted for a moment before budging and turning slowly, the other gears moving in turn. “The machinery for the utilities seems to be in working condition. I see a generator, boiler, what looks like a water pump. I think everything here can be up and running in a day or two if you have people who know what they’re doing.”

“Sounds like this place can be a good base for whatever they’re planning on doing here,” Alice stated as she shined her light over the machinery and walls. “But what about the storm drain access? If it’s open like the in the wall won’t that leave it open for Grimm to come through?”

“Guess we better check it out then,” Darian said as he closed the door on the machine. He and Alice proceeded down the hallway and down a small set of stairs into the room with the storm drain access. They walked to the edge of the pit containing the storm drain entrance and shined the light down in it.

“Mom, it looks like they blew the storm drain. I think I see some scorch marks around the entrance, and it’s entirely collapsed in,” Alice stated, turning up the brightness on her flashlight to thoroughly inspect the damage. “I’m pretty sure this place is secure. There aren’t any Grimm inside, the front door was secured with a heavy steel plate, and the storm drain access has been closed off.”

“Beyond that it has the room, facilities, and utilities to house at least a dozen people, maybe double that,” Darian added in as he winced against the reflecting light. “We’ll want to get some animals or something in here to try and take care of the various pests. Don’t want people to survive Grimm only to get sick and die from some rodent born disease or a snake bite.”