Story 3, part 1

0800 April 21, 2031.
Location: Bunker 5 Medical Center, Lake X, British Columbia

Masa was reminded in no uncertain terms of how much he had disliked the Medical Center every previous time he was here in the past. Ever since he first accompanied his father here when he was a boy, it had only been briefly that he'd been phased by the many amputees and burn victims in the recovery wards, which had been plenty back in the early days, but he had never grown used to how [I]sterile[/I] the interior levels seemed. The tile floors remained just as reflective as they had been all those years ago, mirroring the silhouettes of his shoes as they clicked on the surface. The entire hallway was illuminated with the same bleakly white fluorescent light, and the plaster walls remained just as white-washed. Exactly six white doors dotted the sides, concealing whatever lay beyond. It was silent, for now, anyway. He remembered the infrequent burst of commotion as a patient was whisked into urgent care, but the only sound at present was their footsteps and the humming of the light fixtures.

Likewise, the hallways were just as empty as he remembered. Even the windows seemed to decrease in number, or were shrouded with white blinds behind the glass.

Empty...Disinfected of natural human life just as much as bacteria. [I]How can anyone bear to work in such a place?[/I] He had often asked himself. [I]Couldn't they have at least painted the walls blue, like the children's-[/I]

"Mister Sakamoto? Mister Sakamoto, are you listening?"

While he continued to walk, he realized that their guide, a young orderly wearing grey nurse scrubs, had been trying to get his attention for a good few seconds. He also realized that Nikki was still hooked around his arm, staring at him with a faintly concerned frown. "You okay, Masa?" She squeezed his arm a bit, as if checking to ensure that his arm retained sensory functions.

Masa nodded slowly, smiling with his trademark softness. "Hai...I am fine. It has been a long time, since I have visited this place." The apprehension faded fairly rapidly, leaving him to feel foolish for feeling so anxious about a simple white hallway.

The orderly studied him with a look of puzzled curiosity, clenching his clipboard as he had been for the past hour, then shrugged, turning to open the stairway-access door behind him. "Right...Off we go, heh."

He spoke in a tone that gave an impression of knowing all, and caring less. "Anyways, Mister Sakamoto, as I was saying, we've been keeping her in the psych ward for now...Mostly for her safety, of course. Her pyromaniac tendencies have decreased through therapy, although we've had to keep her away from any potentially... useable objects, heh."

As he walked briskly down the stairs, he added. "Oh, as Doctor Halsey said earlier, she'd been encountering hallucinations of deceased commanders...She used to burn things when we brought her in. I tend to avoid this floor, though...Crazies the lot of 'em..." He laughed, obviously tying to get a chuckle out of them, but their stollid expressions cut his revelry short. "Eheh....Ehe..Yeah."

Masa found the orderly to be a fairly insensitive fellow. It looked as though he were only here for the medical experience. Likely, so he could be attached to an 84th squad and be dispatched to another part of the region, no doubt. His age also played a role, he felt. Masa himself had been in the medical facility at his age. But then again, he had learned his place.

The orderly guided them down 2 flights of stairs, opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, and then usheredthem through. This ward was hardly more inviting than the previous, but the hallway was much shorter. Only 3 doors adorned the white-washed sides, with a desk manned by a uniformed soldier at the crook of where the hall turned to the left. The soldier looked up to the trio, a tan-colored eyepatch covering one eye. "Ah...Mister Sakamoto. We've been expecting you. Jenkins, head back upstairs to see if they've been granted clearance."

 The orderly hurried out after depositing his clipboard with little more than a bow, clearly nervous to be down on this floor. Nikki turned her head to watch him leave, but merely scoffed after, placing her free hand on her hip. "And this guy works for you?"

The soldier sighed, cupping his hands together, face curling into a tired smile. "Apologies for the young'un, Masa. He's just here for the training. Hasn't learned ta keep his mouth shut, obviously."

Masa returned the smile, shifting the topic for now. "It's been a while, Robert-san." He glanced at the doors around him. "Is she here?"

"Who, Reeds?" He grabbed the orderly's clipboard, examining the page quickly. "Ah, yes..." He smiles again with a nod. "So, this Seilgim and Cross, they are alive, eh?" He sets the clipboard down, sighing with another smile. "Well...It's best that you break the news to her yourself, then. She's probably grown tired of sitting down here, anyway."

He got to his feet, pulling his set of keys from the edge of the desk. "Right, this way." Robert moved around the curve of the hallway, to a further set of doors. As they moved to follow him, Nikki muttered into his ear. "You know this guy?"

Masa nodded curtly. "Hai...Very old friend of mine. Don't worry...He is aware of the situation. She would have been discharged long ago, if not." He stops to look at their destination, a faint grey door at the end.   Masa and Nikki both attempted to lean on their tiptoes to see over the very tall Robert. Nikki, being a half-foot shorter than Masa, gave up quickly after, resorting to folding her arms with an irritated frown. Leaning over, Masa chided her with a joking grin. "Need a lift?" This earned him a half-hearted push, if a bit deserved.

Robert had already unlocked the door, pushing it open.

[center]"Miss Reeds? Someone's here to see ya."[/center]