"I... don't really know," Anise replied honestly. That worked as an answer to pretty much all of Tolten's questions, but she was going to try to explain as much as she could. "The people who wrote those letters, and the people who come visit us once a week... I heard that they used to be patients, and they got released once the institute managed to brainwash them completely." She couldn't say for sure if that was the case for everyone, but it had happened enough times that it was common, at least.

She cocked her head questioningly when Tolten began to ramble about someone. Did he know someone capable of doing the kinds of things that happened at the institute? It was kind of scary to think there were others with that kind of power out there...

"No one really knows what the military's goal is. Some people guessed they might be trying to make people into super soldiers... but it's pretty hard to say for sure." That theory had sounded pretty stupid the first time Anise heard it, but now that they were all being marched around like soldiers and treated like new cadets... Well, it sure seemed a lot less stupid now.