Ilia was a little surprised by Lana's sudden change in mood. She supposed she could blame that partially on Ema's frightening disappearance earlier in the night still bothering her, or maybe just being in the institute itself made Lana jumpy. Either way, Ilia took the snapping remark with a bit of humility. It was true that having some notes was probably better than leaving it up to memory, but Ilia had her training drilled into her. You didn't leave behind anything that could be traced back when on a mission, and she treated this place no different. Though there were a few rules she had thrown out, she still didn't feel comfortable compromising herself further by leaving behind something tangible.

The smell hit Ilia a second after getting past the door, and she stopped when the sound of laughter filled the air. Not good.

Ilia whispered, starting again at a brisk pace. She kept her hands to her sides, trying to give off an air of peacefulness. If they didn't threaten the thing or person or whatever, maybe they could get by without much notice. She didn't feel like having a fistfight in an area where a fire had just been, but she wouldn't back down if it came to blows.

She wanted to let Lana know that she was willing to buy the other woman time if it came to that, but she thought talking too much might just make them that much more of a target. She couldn't be sure, but whoever it was, whatever it was, sounded like they were going insane.