At the bottom of the staircase, Shiro found a decently large room, one with walls coated by pale-green paint and gray carpet underfoot rather than tile. The lighting here, less severely white than that found elsewhere in the Shelter, shone down upon a most interesting scene. In it lay dozen beds, six on each side, accompanied by various nightstands, cabinets, and desks littered with paper, wrappers, pencils, colored pencils, flowers, computers, and other byproducts of occupancy. Chairs stood seemingly at random throughout the place, many near desks. Curtains suspended from the ceiling, hooked onto tracks and therefore able to be drawn, were for now mostly pulled back, which allowed the room's occupants a very good look at the two intruders.
There were five of them, three male and two female, and all faunus. All of them were garbed in loose white shirts and pants, most likely of cotton, but their similarities ended there. Two of the males, a bat and a chameleon respectively, both about thirty years old, were talking together but had looked up in surprise when the boy and his newfound friend had entered. Contrarily, a heavy-set female porcupine faunus totally ignored the hunter-in-training, so focused was she on a book, and her deer companion only spared Shiro a distracted glance before riveting her eyes to her computer screen. Lastly, the final boy, about twelve years of age and bearing the visage of a swan, sat huddled in a corner, head buried in his knees.
Neither of the new arrivals had much time to take in the scene, however, as the bat and chameleon faunus stood and approached. The bat, the younger of the two, knelt down to address the boy. “Babe,” he named him to get his attention, scrutinizing Shiro all the while. “Are this guy a new arrival?”
Before Shiro could interject, Babe had eagerly shaken his head. “Nope! He's old arrival! He said one of the coats fixed him, so they let him go!”
A remarkable change came over both faunus. Their postures stiffened, and although they immediately tried to hide it, it could be discerned that they knew something was wrong. The bat slowly stood up. “Babe, why don't you go and find your daddy?” Nodding, the young bear cub ran off. A brilliant violet gaze affixed Shiro's own peachy stare. Despite the faunus' clear distrust, both had yet to raise any sort of alarm. “So...you're back. After getting cured of what brought us here. And with...is that a weapon? Very fancy.” By now the two others had momentarily suspended their reading and gaming, respectively, to turn their eyes on the unfolding scene. “Sienna,” the bat stated flatly, as if a declaration. He threw a very inhospitable glance at the deer, who pretended not to notice. “Now we know what Sienna's call was about, eh, Coral? We shoulda told the admins that she was getting anxious. She called in hunters!” He turned that piercing gaze on Shiro again, full of vinegar. “Well, allow me to welcome you. You're not a cop, so there's a chance in hell you might do what's morally right today. Here's the deal: you're not wanted here. Just leave, and tell whoever sent you that you found an abandoned clinic. I'll bet you want justification, huh? Here goes then. We're here because, yeah, there's something wrong with us. A condition that has caused hell for us ever since we were born. A genetic disease, you might say. The only cure is illegal, and experimental, but that hasn't stopped us; we're here to get cured. Sienna ratted us out because she's having second thoughts, but a coward is just who she is. We've been waiting for this cure forever, and today we finally get started. So please, do us a favor and go away!” The bat faunus's tone held not only hostility, but desperation. Anyone with half a brain could tell that he was telling the truth.
After the doctor and the administrator had passed, presumably with Sapphire close behind though Abel could not recall seeing her leave, the guardian stepped out into the hallway. Reasoning that he wanted to stay as far away from Shelter people as he could, he began walking in the opposite direction, but had not gone more than ten paces when a noise of joyous affirmation from his pocket heralded the arrival of another message. Abel flattened himself into a doorway as best he could and pulled his scroll from his pocket to read. “Mm,” he grunted, wondering how many cameras he had tripped before Gren had 'dealt' with them. Now that he knew he had been seen, Abel also knew that his time waxed even more precious, so he stuffed his scroll into a pocket and took off.
A few moments of jogging through empty halls later, Abel dodged into an open door to escape the notice of another green-coated doctor, shutting the door with as much gentle precision as a large-proportioned man could muster to avoid betraying himself with noise. As the footsteps outside receded into the distance, he looked over his shoulder to discern his surroundings. The room into which he had fled appeared to be a sort of larder, brimming with varieties of pet food, bales of hay, several glass cages full of insects, and a shelf full of human snacks as well, but it wasn't the animal chow that snared his attention. His eyes jolted wide open in surprise as he beheld a girl several years younger than he, sporting the ears and bushy tail of a squirrel, holding a large dog biscuit in her mouth and an expression of terror in her eyes. Spitting out the biscuit onto the floor, she backed away from him at high speed. “Human! You're not a doctor!” Her orange eyes fell on the Ampere's gleaming blade. “An assassin! You're here to stop the treatment! Or kill faunus!” She balled her fists, baring buck-teeth in what was clearly intended to be a threatening snarl. “I'm not gonna let that happen! Yaaaah!”
Not wanting to hurt the girl, Abel held up an arm as she charged at him, swinging wildly with her tiny hands. He backed up, trying to placate her, but his words had no effect. Still committed to not swinging at someone completely harmless to him, but nevertheless aware of what wrath her cries could bring down on his head, the guardian decided to let the girl tire herself out and thusly let her push him back into another room. Surprisingly, the girl let up as soon as he was inside, and slammed the door in front of him. Abel chuckled, amused at the idea that the girl thought she'd beaten him, but choked as the door's lock clicked shut. A noise from behind caused him to whirl around, and he witnessed with slack jaw an iguana as big as a horse, staring at him murderously. “Oh boy.”
-=-=-
Sapphire shadowed the women until they reached a room designated by the plaque outside the door as the 'operating room'. There the ladies parted ways, the doctor entering while the administrator continued a short ways past to climb up some stairs. Part of the domed operating room's ceiling, made of glass rather than concrete, provided a viewing window from a small gallery situated above, where the administrator now made her way. A door opposite the operating room suddenly burst open, admitting a small bear cub faunus with features nearly matching the administrator's, who sprinted up the stairs after her, and joined her by the side of another bear faunus. This individual, whose evident muscles and noteworthy size would have made him totally at home in a boxing ring, nevertheless appeared collected and intellectual in a suit jacket and oval spectacles. If Sapphire had the right angle, she might have been able to see the man rub the newly-arrived boy's head fondly.
In the operating room itself, however, the scene proved not quite so delightful. Two doctors, three now with the arrival of the red-haired woman, bustled about, setting up some sort of procedure centered about the lone figure on the operating table. The patient, a nervous-looking coyote faunus of swarthy complexion, fidgeting and squirmed with obvious discomfort. Seeing this, the red-haired doctor told her, “Don't worry so much, dear! This is the treatment you've been waiting for! Try to think of how happy you'll be after. You'll be able to live normally!” While not totally convinced, the patient lessened her extraneous movement, but continued to look around wildly, as if she might find a solution in her field of view. She happened to glance Sapphire's way, revealing yellow eyes with not only black pupils but black schlera. Some word, too far to exactly make out, lay tattooed on her face beneath her left eye in an arc tracing that eye's curve.
