down pale corridors of routine

[restingstitchface]

WHO: Crane and You
WHEN: June & July
WHERE: Arkham Asylum
WHAT: Investigating
WARNINGS: Psychological Abuse

[Hidden amongst the urban sprawl covering the harbour from one end to the other, visible only from the correct vantage point, stands the utilitarian and unadorned psychiatric hospital that is Arkham Asylum.

The interior is cold in atmosphere and appearance, with dim corridors and exposed bricks and stones, reflecting its stark and monolithic design. Public access is restricted to designated administrative and visitation areas. Outpatient wards are accessible to those willing to remove keys from reception. Access to patient rooms, staff offices and laboratories is restricted to those with proper clearance - or the equipment and skills to break inside. But they will discover any evidence of illegal dealings has been cleared from the site.

The old hydrotherapy room beneath the asylum has been repurposed by Jonathan Crane into a research laboratory. This restricted area is part of a labyrinthine basement that is extremely tough to navigate. The basement runs beneath the asylum and is connected to the water mains that run throughout Nova City.

Crane is working inside his office one day, categorising notes and organising them into folders. Come the afternoon, he is sorting chemicals inside a laboratory on one of the upper floors. Come the evening, he is descending a stairwell and heading into the basement.

His routine becomes persistent, repetitive, predictable. The pattern draws people deeper into the web that is his asylum. Let them come. Let them get tangled. It might make life here more interesting. Certainly such a dangerous life would be more fascinating than attending the beach or camp and making friends and singing songs around the fire.]

Comments

[leastdramatic]

[Ugh. Maybe too much like home. Jason is making heavy use of the darkness and keeping distance as he continues to follow Crane. It doesn't take long for Jason to notice that Crane's path is one of trying to shake off a tail.

As he goes down the stairs, he feels the change in humidity. As heavy as the air is, he's still not taking his chances. The helmet stays on]

[restingstitchface]

[Electricity charges the air. Old light fittings that need replacing buzz gently as each man passes beneath. Up ahead, a path to the right, at the end of which are a heavy pair of doors, an elevator leading up towards ground level.

But Crane continues moving forward. He knows the elevator need keys to access the panel and isn't too concerned. His path twists left and turns right, down another corridor where he finds himself alone for a second.

He immediately ducks into a room and closes the door.]

[leastdramatic]

[Some kind of work must be getting done here. Why all the electricity? Though keeping distance is helping with Jason's stealth so far, it also gives Crane opportunity to slip right into something Jason can't get to without getting detected.

He hears and just barely catches a glimpse of Crane slipping into a room.

Stepping forward quietly, Jason leans towards the door hoping to catch something. He also slips a bug onto the door frame. Just in case]

[restingstitchface]

[Crane pushes himself back against the wall; head, heels and shoulders pressing forcefully into tone. His heart beats at an even pace. His head rolls on his neck. His lungs expand as he inhales - and collapse as he release air in preparation.

Turning againt those who torment him. He remembers this feeling. He savours it - and when Jason eventually turns away from the door and walks down the corridor? Now he's the one following at a distance.

This is one of those rare times he needs his mask.]

[leastdramatic]

[It's quiet as expected. The hairs at the back of Jason's neck prickle though. Arkham seems to have that effect on people, even if it's largely empty. But Jason's feeling like something there's something more. He purposely takes his time walking towards the exit, just in case he misses anything from his investigating]

[restingstitchface]

[Crane walks with a practised gait, not fast enough to cause his heels to click on stone, but slow enough to remain unheard. He considers making his heel click against the stone, contemplating closing the door with enough force to be heard. But he prefers depriving people of any number of their senses. Their fear becomes predictable and that makes them easier to control.

Jason will arrive before a large elevator down the hall at whose end is a heavy pair of doors. If he braces himself and pushes them open with his hands, he will reveal a landing overlooking a makeshift laboratory.]

[leastdramatic]

[Jason looks around for any visible signs of a security system before he decides to take his chance and opens the doors.

He's not surprised to see that there's a lab and all the more valuable evidence he needs to check. He starts to look over just what's being cooked up]

[restingstitchface]

[Given who it belongs to, the laboratory is suspiciously clean. Scales and surfaces have been wiped down and polished, chemicals have been organised and the only bottles that remain behind are bleach and drain cleaner.

Considering one of the pipes is split open and reveals rushing water, it might be a joke. But Crane is not given to joke. Mental suggestions people dream up themselves? Absolutely.]

[leastdramatic]

[The lack of... anything doesn't calm Jason down. If anything, it gives him a new suspicion now. Maybe Arkham was too obvious of a choice to do his work and Crane knows it.

The split pipe is concerning too. Jason steps closer to take a look. Just a symptom of poor maintenance or was this on purpose?]

[restingstitchface]

[The laboratory itself is in a state of disrepair. The walls look desolate and unclean; water and grime having covered the stone. Scales and equipment have been removed from their respective tables. Not even plastic dividers remain hanging to separate one area from another.

Damage to the floor occurs only in one corner of the room. Bricks and rubble, dust and soil, have been broken and piled against the wall. Beneath the floor, a criss-crossed layer of various pipes remains intact. But the single large one running between them all? It bears a large hole that reveals access to rushing water.]

[leastdramatic]

[The pipe will definitely have be reported back to the others. The lack of practical lab equipment seems to suggest that Scarecrow's main workplace might be elsewhere now. Whatever the case is, Jason recognizes that he's pushed his luck far enough tonight. He begins to leave]

[restingstitchface]

[The doors close while Jason remains downstairs looking at the pipe. Crane stands upon the landing, a flat file held across his chest. His fingertips are running across the edge as he looks down at the intruder he has been following for a while.]

What are you doing here?

[He knows what you're doing. The question is whether his curiosity is merely for himself.]

[leastdramatic]

[Crap. Welp. This is not how his night was supposed to go. Jason responds back in an overly cheery tone]

Open house tour. Love what you did with the decor. Really matched with the musty vibe.

[restingstitchface]

Well, I didn't decorate any of it. Everything was like this when I got here.

[Hired, perhaps? Or does he mean now and today in the present?]

But if you wanted a tour of the facility you really shouldn't have come down here. It's not very exciting.

[leastdramatic]

What can I say? I'm a curious guy.

[To put it politely]

Don't suppose your name is Frankenstein?

[restingstitchface]

[Crane appreciates the comparison and angles his head. He has always related to the world through the lens of literature. This comparison of a scientist driven by curiosity into performing experiments? It almost feels like flattery.

And that won't do at all.]

Not at all. But you know what my name is, don't you?

[Otherwise you wouldn't be here, would you?]

[leastdramatic]

Eh. Don't really care. Like I said, just was here for the real estate.

[Jason's trying think of a way to leave. No easy exits so far and he doesn't intend to respond to Crane to any helpful way]