The sick girl was definitely something he had not hoped for. Commander Matthews probably didn't like it either, effectively giving him a three-person "team", but Gregory particularly liked the subjects that could manipulate light or vision, and seeing her not get any training was a letdown.
He had given Matthews the day off today and worked with the A-block team, as he had done yesterday with Sonus's group (which had produced several one-on-one conversations Gregory was quite pleased with).
He made sure the three subjects had gotten their lunch, then politely dismissed himself, and shut the door behind him. Halfway down the hall, he thought to himself Hmm, I don't remember hearing a click when I shut the door... I wonder if I had used enough force... and smiled.

Caleb’s world had organized itself into routine that almost bordered on normal. Get up in the morning around 7, eat breakfast, take a quick shower, work out, get a physical, lunch… it went on and on, day in and day out, wash, rinse and repeat. It had only really been six days, but it felt like more; time, he found, started to run together when there wasn’t much beyond routine. He was almost done with his book, though. The dog-eared pages he used to mark his place each night told him that it had been four days since he’d received it. It was as good a calendar as any, he supposed.

The second day in this new living situation, he had awakened upon the floor, abs and shoulders aching. After that, things had gotten slightly better. He was mostly a model subject, doing what he was supposed to when he was supposed to, or at least trying. And if he snuck in a snarky comment here and there to his cellmates during their joint training session, what of it? At least it was a change of pace.

When he had found out from the scientists--his “handlers,” he thought of them--that he was in fact a raven and not a crow, he had felt oddly cheated. Not that one bird was better than another. He was still a freak. But the fact was that if he ever saw Abel and Sabra again, he’d have to correct her...

In group training, he’d practiced flying and projecting thoughts, getting better at it until it was almost as simple as opening his mouth. Screening his audience was more difficult, but he was improving. And strangely enough, he found that he could almost read peoples’ emotions better now. When he was a bird, he could tell who was who in a room with his eyes shut; Caden, Heather, Jacinta. Mathews, and a few of the regular guards. People he’d been around while a raven had a certain mental… signature, though whether it was emotion or something else was beyond him. He still couldn’t read minds. Communication was one-sided. But at least his block-mates and he were beginning to figure out body language a bit better than they had at first.

On his own time, he had practiced the change. Shutting himself in his room and transforming from man to raven to man was painful but useful. Pain was both focusing and distracting at the same time. And after five days, it was easier. It still hurt like hell, but it was quicker now, and he was more used to the specific brand of agony it inflicted.

That, mixed with training and his morning workouts, left even his reasonably-fit body aching nightly.

We’ve been here… what, a week? He lay on his back, staring at the ceiling, book forgotten. Eventually, he hoped that he’d be able to find Rook in this facility. Maybe by then his screening would be good enough that he could talk to him, send him a message, or something. Maybe by then he could find out if his friend was even still alive. It was a line of thought he didn’t allow himself to indulge in much.

"Guuuuuyyys?" came Caden’s voice from the other room. Caleb had vacated the front room shortly after that McFarland guy had left. Lunch hadn’t taken him long; the food here was more utilitarian than delicious, and lingering over the food wasn’t something Caleb felt like doing today.

He considering ignoring Caden, but ultimately decided against it. There was something in his tone that was… different. When had he heard his block-mate’s voice sound like that? And so Caleb stood up and poked his head into the main room, eyebrows knit together in puzzled inquiry.

“Yeah?” He said. Caden was over by the main door, and it took Caleb a moment to see what, exactly, was wrong with this picture. His eyes widened in shock before narrowing again in sudden suspicion; was this another test from their captors, or was this real? “Wait. What...?”

He walked over to stand next to Caden, looking down at the door handle and the almost centimeter crack of light from the hallway. His eyes lifted to Caden’s face, and he frowned a bit. “...What do you think? Can we trust it?”

((Maybe should have mentioned this earlier, but Sorry for the bit of modding here, girls, I'm basing it off the roll call.))

"Yeah?" Caleb was the first to respond. Well, that made sense - Jacinta was still noticeably under the weather, (and head honcho seemed concerned about that,) and Heather usually took a nap after lunch.
"Wait. What...?" he asked as he saw the opening. He considered it for a moment, before asking Caden "...What do you think? Can we trust it?"
"What's there....?" But then Caden cut his question off. Considering how the door had been basically closed, he had assumed the failure to lock was an accident - but what if it was a trap of sorts?
Well.... what kind of trap could it be? Was it a test of loyalty, that they would stay in the room? The people running the place hadn't anything to particularly grow trust among the team members; Caden didn't see how they were could be expected to stay in... So was something waiting outside for them, like another training exercise? From what he could tell, no-one was waiting just out of view.... And they didn't normally have training after lunch anyway. Then again, head honcho had been with us earlier instead of Matthews....
"What's there to trust?" he asked, consciously taking the 'not' out of the common sure-to-introduce-trouble question. Then he got up from the couch and slowly eased the door open wide enough to walk through.
He stuck his head out into the hallway; no-one to see in either direction down the hall. He then stepped outside, not cautiously but not confidently or casually either, and looked back at the door and into the room. He noticed where there should've been a plaque or something on the wall next to the door, where the room number and things like "in use/open" should have been, something had been removed, and in its place was a written letter A - in Sharpie.
It felt really weird, being out in the hall with no scientist or guard around. He wasn't normally this bold.... Then again, this certainly wasn't a normal existence.
"All seems well," he said taking a step or two in one direction before stopping again.

"What's there....?" Caden cut himself off, and seemed to be thinking about his words before beginning again. "What's there to trust?" And without further ado, the younger man opened the door further, stuck his head out, and then stepped into the hallway.

Part of him thought this was stupid. The bigger part, the part that liked to climb cliffs and skydive and go hurtling down a class five river in a kayak thought what Caden had seemed to be implying: What’s the worst that could happen?

"All seems well."

Caleb followed him into the hall, looking one way and then the other. He knew how to get to the exercise yard from here. He knew how to get to the exam rooms. He wasn’t sure, exactly, how to get back to the cell room--he hadn’t paid enough attention to mark the route on his way here originally.

Getting out with just the two of them was wrong, and not just because he felt responsible for Abel.

The situation, to say the least, was complicated. Staying here was experimentation and probable, eventual death. Leaving meant fear and danger, trying to escape a facility run by unscrupulous men and possibly connected to the government, and also the distinct possibility of death. Caleb knew he would probably never be able to go home; his family didn’t deserve the risk he would likely bring. But... the others deserved to be able to make that choice for themselves.

“Okay, I’m in. So how should we do this?” While some sort of forced invisibility would be nice, Jacinta didn’t seem to be in any shape to transform, much less use her new abilities. Heather, for her own part, was taking a much needed nap; when should they wake her? Would it be smarter to find the way out and come back for her when they knew it was safe? And how, if and when they found the cage room, would they be able to both fight off whatever guards were on duty as well as open the cell doors?

We’ll need keys. And weapons. I can’t leave without Rook.

The need for silence was also important. As a raven, he could travel quietly and communicate with a thought back to the other man. He would be willing to explore ahead, make sure the path was clear, sending warnings to whoever was following behind. As a cheetah, Caden was more useful in a fight than as a human--electricity, teeth, and claws tended to do that. And so Caleb asked the next most pertinent question he could think of.

“Human, or animal?”

Caden wandered off in one direction, seeing a door labeled "B" (similar to how the one he had just existed was labeled "A") before the hallway turned. He stopped and wandered back when Caleb came out of the room and looked around as he himself had a moment ago.
"Okay, I’m in," the older man said. "So how should we do this? Human, or animal?"
"Well, first I'd need to figure out what "this" actually is," Caden replied, unsure what they were planning on doing with this unexpected freedom. He wandered in the other direction, seeing an open door just around the next turn in the hall. "Well, as long as we keep quiet and don't run into trouble, I'm definitely keeping my opposable thumbs. Even if we do get in a fight..."
He trailed off. He was able to produce bigger and bigger voltages each day, but they still weren't quite strong enough to KO a human - stun, maybe, but not knock out. And while he loved being a cheetah, their claws weren't nearly as dangerous as most cats since their leg structure was different. Amazing for running, not so good for scratching.
He was drawn to the open room just around the corner. There were two tables, some chairs, a couch, a coffee maker, a refrigerator, and lots of counter/cabinet/drawer space. The counters were not very tidy. Caden began rummaging through everything that was sitting out, not really sure if he was even looking for anything.

A rare occurrence was happening in Heather's room.

The light was on.

Ever since during power training when she discovered that her low-light vision had increased (rather than what she had previously thought- that there just was no real darkness in the facility) her room was kept perpetually dark. The same for the bathroom when she showered. As far as she was concerned, anything that made it harder for them to see her (especially when compromised), the better.

She had even half considered transforming and shrouding the room when showering, but nixed the idea. And not just because of the impracticalities of taking a shower as a tiger. Honestly, that hadn't even factored in.

Heather was sure Jacinta's illness was her fault.

Her 'shroud' seemed harmless enough to most, but it hurt Jacinta. And she had certainly been fine before Heather's little panic attack. Maybe whatever she created to block out the light had done some serious damage to the light sensitive girl?

Heather shook her head slightly to banish the thought, causing the braid she had been working on to come undone. While she had good dark vision, it wasn't quite good enough to be able to style her hair in. And after her nap, she had needed it.

She also need the nap. Sleeping was something she had been doing a lot lately. As much as she made "cat-nap" jokes, sleeping helped 'reset' her emotions which kept her anger under control. And not only seeing Bossman this morning, but pretending to be nice and vulnerable to him had practically made her sick.

Guuuuuyyys?

Heather frowned at the...uncertainty in Caden's voice. She ran her hand through the right side of her hair, freeing the semi-braided mass (the left braid was already done). As she exited the room she felt a pang of annoyance. Caden wasn't there. She knocked on the door to his room and got no response. Huffing slightly, she was about to go back into her room when she heard what sounded like Caleb and Caden's voices coming from...no way...it couldn't be...the hallway?

It was. The door was open and Caden and Caleb were talking softly amongst themselves. She was so shocked she almost didn't react when they wandered off and into another room. Once she regained her senses, Heather practically bounced after them with a semi predatory grin.

"So," she asked, entering the new room, "...what's the plan?"

Will unfolded himself from his faux meditation and stretched, trying to keep his movements casual. Something was up, the watchers were gone, Kayje as well and to top it off there were unescorted test subjects in the corridor.

"Trap," he decided after a few moments and pulled out the half dozen empty water bottles he'd secreted under his bed. After all, the best way to deal with a trap was to spring it, with a few surprises thrown in.

He hefted the bottles, they looked empty, in actual fact he'd spent the last week trying to crack water into its constituent atoms. It had been bloody hard work using the kitchen stove and pressurising the bottles to the point where he could be sure of a large enough bag had been a nightmare, but it was a weapon no one expected.

"Hey, fluffy Magneto," he called, ambling into the common room. "Got a challenge for you." He stopped underneath the vent. "Pull that grate off the ceiling."

Damien the coyote had spent the morning thus far as he often did, practicing with his power. The training exercises had proven invaluable, particularly the ones that took him beyond these rooms; his internal compass had recorded what he believed to be about half the layout of this floor.

Over the past week, Damien had also learned that the strength of the headaches he suffered in human form were, in fact, directly proportionate to the amount of time he spent in human form; thus, he'd taken to remaining a coyote unless he needed to speak.

Now was one such time; giving Will a look, the coyote lowered himself to the floor, allowing the change to wash over him before standing on his two feet. "How many times? I'm not your trained pet," he said, pointedly glancing at the bottles in the red-head's arms. "You're not going to trick me into doing what you want... and this latest attempt at it was pitiful, even for you. So how about we start again, and this time, ask for what you need like you're talking to someone intelligent."

"Well, first I'd need to figure out what "this" actually is," came Caden’s reply, making Caleb blink. It seemed a no-brainer to him; once they were out of the room, they may as well try to get out of the facility itself. It wasn’t like they’d likely get a better opportunity for it. And even if Caleb didn’t entirely trust the situation, what option did they have? Slink back to their rooms? Not good enough. If this was a test, he figured he had already failed it by simply leaving the suite. In for a penny, he mused as he went down the hall with Caden and into the break room.

"Well, as long as we keep quiet and don't run into trouble, I'm definitely keeping my opposable thumbs. Even if we do get in a fight..."

“Keys, keys, keys…” he murmured to himself, checking the drawers to see if any were of the random ‘junk’ type that he had back home in his kitchen. No such luck. Not that it was likely guards would leave a spare set in a junk drawer, necessarily, but it was at least worth a shot. If he were a set of keys, where would he be hiding? His eyes scanned the messy room thoughtfully, then came to a rest on the couch. How many times had his car keys been under the cushion because they had fallen out of his pocket?

"So," came a sudden, female voice, and Caleb jumped slightly before realizing who it was. He grinned. "...what's the plan?"

“No real plan,” he said, moving to the couch and pulling up the first seat cushion. “Just… exploring for now, I guess. I intend to find a way out of here, though.”

Will rolled his eyes. "Something is up," he explained, raising a hand as he tried to focus on the ceiling conduits. "Its too quiet, and there are people wandering around outside that I don't recognise." He glanced at one of the ever present cameras and cocked an eyebrow at it.

"Now we need an escape plan," he continued, leaping up onto a chair and pushing one of the ceiling tiles away. "And if you open that grate I can show anyone who can fit a surefire way to the surface." He popped one of the bottles into the void, right next to one of the main cables for the security cameras.

"So, who's with me?" he said, leaping down and clapping his hands.

"Now, see, that's more like it."

Crouching to all fours, Damien reversed the change, returning to his coyote form. Then he stretched his bubble of magnetic force upward, latched on to the screws holding the grate in place and carefully pulling them loose; normally, he would have simply torn the thing out, but he might need to replace it later, to cover their tracks.

Catching the grate before it fell, he held onto it and to the screws, just in case.

“No real plan. Just… exploring for now, I guess. I intend to find a way out of here, though.”


Fair enough. Assuming Caleb had been searching for something to use as a weapon, Heather joined in the search. "What I wouldn't give for that one guy's sword. Or a good pike. As much as I enjoy my fangs and such, I'm not to fond of the idea of getting into hand-to-hand combat with the tazer patrol. Though I guess I'd have a pretty solid tactical advantage if I shrouded the area fi-" Heather cut off as she remembered why she hadn't been using her power.

"How are we going to get Jacinta out?!"

Caleb began searching through some of the drawers, mumbling to himself, as Caden continued leafing through all the papers, folders, and other stuff left on the counters.
"So... what's the plan?"
The girl's voice surprised Caden, and he looked over his shoulder to see Heather enter the room. Oh, she did wake up, then.
“No real plan,” Caleb responded, moving to the couch and... pulling up the a seat cushion? ...Why? “Just… exploring for now, I guess. I intend to find a way out of here, though.”
Heather began searching as well, then started chattering about weapons, which seemed a bit of a tangent to Caden. He opened a cabinet and saw two flashlights. Now, shocking people, not quite to his abilities yet. Small battery-charged objects, though - those he could use easily. He put on in each pocket.
Heather suddenly stopped her chattering, caught by something she had just thought of. "How are we going to get Jacinta out?!"
Oh.
That was going to be an issue. Just because she had been ill most of the week and thus hadn't trained with the rest of them much, Caden didn't feel nearly as connected to Jacinta as he did to Heather and Caleb. But everyone deserved to get out.
'Everyone'.... I wonder where all the others are. The people who were pulled out of the cage room before the four of us, the people who were still there...

((Dang it, I was hoping we would 'conveniently forget' Jacinta until we got far enough that we couldn't go back or encountered someone else who was better able to deal with it! X-D Oh well, my idea is just delayed a post or two now.))

((Will be on post-op pain meds for the next few days, so I apologize for shorter, probable lower-quality posts which may occur. I got my laptop handy, but my brain may be a little fuzzy ))

Tucked down between the cushions of the armchair, Caleb found what he was looking for. With a quiet ‘Aha!’ of triumph, he pulled out a small ring with two white keycards attached.

"How are we going to get Jacinta out?!"

Caden frowned in response, and Caleb felt like doing the same. He cared about the girl; not only was she a fellow prisoner, but she was sick on top of that. He couldn’t not sympathize. But carrying her, on the chance she didn’t feel up to walking, seemed a bad idea if there was going to be any fighting.

“Maybe…” he winced, hoping that the others would follow his logic... understand his intention behind the words, and, you know, not think of him as a horrible person. He wasn’t abandoning her; he fully intended to get her out, if they found a way. But if it was unsuccessful, if it came to a fight, he didn’t want her hurt more simply because she wasn’t particularly able to defend herself at the moment. “Maybe we should find the way out, first, and then come back and get her once we know where we’re going.”

He sighed, holding up the keys for the others to see. “In the meantime, though…?”

Will let a grin spread across his face as the coyote caught the grate. If Damien could perform the same trick on the surface vent they could be half way across the state before anyone caught up. He frowned, hurrying to drag the small table under the hole, the ducts were narrow, the coyote might be skinny enough to fit though, but a wolf was right out and their chances of actually escaping weren’t going to be great if they had to drag the little girl along.

"Hmm, reckon you could do that on something a little bigger?" he enquired, focusing on the here and now, problems like that could be left till after they escaped.

<Possible,> Damien barked, giving a nod just in case he'd mispronounced it.

*If it's light enough,* he added in his own mind; their animal language hadn't progressed far enough to detail provisos and limitations, but it was commonly known in "C" Block that while the coyote could dismantle simple things, he still couldn't move any one thing heavier than himself.

While the rest of Abel's body remained motionless, curled up on the floor beside the bed for a post-lunch nap, his ears snapped to attention and rotated toward the doorway. He listened to the exchange in the other room for a few moments before his eyes opened in alarm.

Do they think those cameras don't have microphones?

He padded into the common room and snorted, tilting his head at Will.

<What are you doing?>


(( DIALOGUE!!! ))

"Escape attempt D," Will replied with a grin. He cleared his throat before switching to the animalistic language with a wary glance over his shoulder at one of the cameras. <Know way out. One they don't,> he mangled, making both the canines wince.

Ignoring them he darted into the kitchen to grab a bundle of nylon string and began wrapping it around the bottle tops, fashioning a makeshift harness.

"You with us wolf?" he continued, glancing pointedly at the vent. "It's going to be cramped."


[OOC: Welcome to conversation ]

Caleb spoke up before Caden did. “Maybe... Maybe we should find the way out, first, and then come back and get her once we know where we’re going.”
Caden nodded, that sounding like the best idea to him. "I'm not sure how well on her feet she''l be; we can find someone else to help us get her, or if we don't get help, I think your liger form is the best option for carrying her, Heather."
He heard Caleb sigh, and looked over to the older man as he pulled out two cards - on a keychain, it looked like - from ...the couch? “In the meantime, though…?”
"...Are those...?" Caden asked slowly, squinting a bit to 'focus' on the cards, daring to believe Caleb now held security access to somewhere in the facility. "Are they labeled?"