The boy, to his credit, came up with some good points and took her question to heart. She liked that, which was why Erika nodded long to some of his ideas. That first one in particular with the military deliberately letting the patients make fools of themselves was an idea she actually hadn't thought of, though she had her own doubts about that. Regardless, while she didn't have a direct answer to her own question, she had an idea, which was what they were discussing.
Erika reached up and tapped the pin on her beret, the one she earned for letting herself get gutted like a pinata (literally). "After I earned this, things became a little different. Because of this, I'm allowed to move around freely. Not as freely as I'd like, as many rooms are still closed to me, but the laundry room was open. There, I was able to get some blankets. There was one person who complained about my conduct, and do you know who that was? One of the staff members from before, one who was retained to do the menial work like laundry. He couldn't do a thing to stop me. He wanted to, but it seemed like my rights trumped over his."
That was an odd way to put it, but that was the point that Erika was getting at with her little story of how she actually got all of these blankets. Though Erika was surprised that the military actually didn't see this as a disruption at the very least, it was interesting to think that doing things now had a tangible effect, granting her a set of privileges that other patients did not. Testing the limits of that privilege was the reason why the fort existed, and it seemed like depending on the way she stretched it, it could go quite far.
"I don't know what value the military sees in this, if there is any, but I know this: I'm allowed to do this because I've earned it. Nothing more, nothing less." That was what it basically was to Erika, as far she was concerned. "I don't think the military really cares what we do during the daytime anymore. As long as we're not causing trouble for them." The final point: As long as her antics weren't disturbing the actual soldiers, they had no reason to interfere with her. Her little experiment had actually given her a wealth of information to create some theories with, and this boy hopefully could understand the value of what she was actually telling him. At least, Erika thought it was valuable.
"Although, even with this much freedom, they still complain if I take off my hat."
no subject
Erika reached up and tapped the pin on her beret, the one she earned for letting herself get gutted like a pinata (literally). "After I earned this, things became a little different. Because of this, I'm allowed to move around freely. Not as freely as I'd like, as many rooms are still closed to me, but the laundry room was open. There, I was able to get some blankets. There was one person who complained about my conduct, and do you know who that was? One of the staff members from before, one who was retained to do the menial work like laundry. He couldn't do a thing to stop me. He wanted to, but it seemed like my rights trumped over his."
That was an odd way to put it, but that was the point that Erika was getting at with her little story of how she actually got all of these blankets. Though Erika was surprised that the military actually didn't see this as a disruption at the very least, it was interesting to think that doing things now had a tangible effect, granting her a set of privileges that other patients did not. Testing the limits of that privilege was the reason why the fort existed, and it seemed like depending on the way she stretched it, it could go quite far.
"I don't know what value the military sees in this, if there is any, but I know this: I'm allowed to do this because I've earned it. Nothing more, nothing less." That was what it basically was to Erika, as far she was concerned. "I don't think the military really cares what we do during the daytime anymore. As long as we're not causing trouble for them." The final point: As long as her antics weren't disturbing the actual soldiers, they had no reason to interfere with her. Her little experiment had actually given her a wealth of information to create some theories with, and this boy hopefully could understand the value of what she was actually telling him. At least, Erika thought it was valuable.
"Although, even with this much freedom, they still complain if I take off my hat."