damned_institute | Day 70: Bus 2

As usual, night had ended too damn early. Anise really wanted to see what was at the end of that tunnel! But on the bright side, it sounded like she and her friends could get back there easily.

Actually, maybe it was a good thing that they got interrupted when they did. Today was a field trip day; it'd give them a chance to stock up on any tools or supplies they might need for their venture into the unknown. Anise just hoped the Head Doctor wasn't going to interfere with them going back, now that they were so close...

The outfit selected for Anise that day was a little colorless for her tastes, but the style was cute enough to satisfy her. There was a long, striped sweater with a hood. Two long flaps dangled down from the hood, resembling the floppy ears of a rappig. She fidgeted with them as she was led aboard one of the buses. It looked like she was the first on this bus, so she went ahead and sat down in a window seat.

With little else to do at the moment, she took the blueberry muffin from her paper bag and started breaking off tiny bits with her fingers to eat.

[Free!]

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A toolbelt was definitely a good idea, and it was something that the nurses would probably allow them to buy and might actually be in their price range. Not that Guy quite knew how the prices worked here, since it was pretty different from Gald, but dollars seemed to go a long way compared to what he was used to. "I'm sure you can find something like that," he said with a nod.

Claude would do well to have a sheath of his own, and Guy wondered if he should offer to help him with one. Not that they would have much time if if turned out that they really were leaving this place in a more real way. Guy didn't want to assume anything, but Anise was right that it was better to be prepared.

Which was why the mention of the food was a smart one. "You're right. I'll try to stock up on some too. We've got to make sure that it's easy enough to carry." Which meant that he might want to look into buying a pack, too.

Guy remembered that trip they'd made out to the ruins around the institute and he glanced over at Anise, curious. "Do you still have that money that you picked up in those ruins? It might be a good idea to bring that along too."

Anise nodded when Guy said he’d try to find some too, pleased that he seemed to approve of her ideas. And he could probably carry more than she could without getting weighed down, so that helped too. Anise was already forming a detailed plan in her head regarding what to carry and where to put it. Hopefully she wouldn’t forget anything important.

When Guy mentioned the money, Anise’s bright smile was back in an instant. “Of course! I’m taking good care of it. I’ll bring it for sure.” Maybe it would actually come in handy, if they could find a town or even just one person outside of Landel’s influence.

“Oh, and we should make sure one of us talks to Luke today. I bet he’d panic if we all disappeared without a word.” Anyone would panic, really, if all their friends vanished in a place where that usually meant either death or brainwashing.

Guy could have hardly expected Anise to lose money, even if it wasn't Gald, and so he smiled at her response. Her thrifty ways could very well come in handy before long. Not that Guy knew what they were going to find at the end of that tunnel, but it was best to be prepared for every possibility.

At the mention of Luke, Guy was quick to nod. He hadn't forgotten about his friend, and part of the reason that he wasn't so upset that they'd been interrupted last night had to do with him. They couldn't just run off without at least telling him what had happened.

"Yeah, we definitely need to make sure he knows what's going on before we head off. I just wish that we could bring him with us..." It seemed wrong to just leave him behind, but there was no way to get him into the caverns and they had to take this chance. Guy just hoped that they were able to track Luke down today, since it could be hard to locate people in the town sometimes.

It was no surprise that Guy was on board with keeping Luke in the loop, and that he wished the redhead could join them. "Yeah..." Anise murmured, fumbling a bit with her juicebox. If this really worked, how long were they going to be separated from Luke? Maybe they'd find whatever they were looking for by the next morning, but maybe they'd end up wandering for days. Or weeks.

... But again, all that was just if this really worked.

"... I really hope this works." she sighed, pulling her knees up a bit and leaning on them as she sipped her juice. "I mean, Landel has to know what's in his own basement. Is he just going to let us walk out of here?" It was really suspicious. Either Landel had some reason to let them go, or else he wasn't really letting them go. Anise didn't want to give up on that one little hope they had, but she still had to be realistic about it.

They had good reason to be suspicious of this entire setup. Landel had practically led them into this whole situation, and Guy found it hard to believe that he would truly reward them with freedom for all of their hard work. Not that Guy didn't think it was deserved after everything they'd been through, but it didn't make sense.

"Yeah, there has to be something else to it," he said as he glanced out the window, taking in the passing trees. He wished that the ride down into town consisted of a more variable landscape, but there wasn't much that could be done about that. In the end, he was excited enough to be on the bus at all, so long as it didn't crash this time around.

"Even that ferryman didn't seem to have an idea of what we would end up finding, though." Was it possible that the three of them would be the first people to actually accomplish all this? It was strange to think about, but Guy knew that they'd worked very hard for it, overcoming just about every odd. From Anise and Claude getting sick to Claude being experimented on to Guy dying at one point.

It looked like Anise wasn't alone in her doubts. Hearing Guy agree made her feel a little better about it. If he thought it was suspicious too, then at least she wasn't going to be the only one looking out for a trap tonight.

"Well, I guess we'll just have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best!" Anise declared with a grin that showed far more confidence than she actually had in their success. There was no point in dwelling on how risky their next venture was going to be, though, and a little optimism could even help their chances. "If we play our cards right, we'll have the Head Doctor running scared in no time!" Maybe that was too much optimism. Whatever.

Preparing for the worst and hoping for the best was how Guy handled most things in his life. He didn't see himself as a pessimist, but he tried to be practical about how he dealt with things. It was more or less a requirement when it came to dealing with some of his friends, who often ran into things without thinking.

Anise seemed to have her head on straight, though, even though Guy wasn't sure that they be going as far as sending the Head Doctor running for the hills. "Well, I don't know about that, but we'll do what he can," he agreed. Not that he didn't want the Head Doctor to get a taste of his own medicine for once, but he didn't want to set the bar too high for them either.

The bus was rolling into town by then, and Guy glanced over at Anise, raising an eyebrow. "So... I guess we should split up and search for Luke, huh?"

Day 70: Bus 2

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