Day 71: Music Room (Fourth shift)

[no_dont_go]

Some of her burden was free from her shoulders now that Sechs knew of their comrade's plight. Whether they could save her was another matter, but it helped to know she was reachable. Aigis would speak with her someday. And hopefully, she would someday also protect her from Landel.

Trying to clear her mind for the rest of her day, Aigis changed gears and went into a room she rarely used. The Music room. It was a popular place before, when they had others who used to enjoy music more. She wished she could have spent more time here with Minato while he was here as well.

Pushing those sad thoughts away, Aigis moved into the room and began to peruse the cassettes. A lot of tapes were placed under the label of "classical" and she had to wonder just what made them into classics opposed to the few not considered that genre. Picking up a random one declared to be The Barber of Seville, she considered picking up a walkman and listening in. She wondered, was this something Minato would have enjoyed?

Comments

[ninelivesonce]

The music room was almost empty when Taura walked into it, and she stood in the doorway for a moment, blinking. There were a lot fewer people at the Institute now -- so many disappearances, and so few arrivals, and Taura wasn't sure whether it was a good thing or depressing. It depended, most critically, on where people went, after.

Then she realized she might be looming -- she wasn't quite as naturally prone to it here, but she still towered over most people. She stepped into the room, and quietly padded up next to Aigis, who was looking at a cassette of recorded music. She knew very little about music -- lots of the Dendarii played, with wildly varying skill, and Nicol had talked theory on the flight from Jackson's Whole to give them something to talk about that wasn't everything else about their lives there, but Taura's reaction tended towards vague appreciation of almost everything. Except very loud music -- her hearing was too good, at times.

She cleared her throat, not wanting to startle Aigis. "Everything all right?" she asked. "You, um, looked a little preoccupied."

This is late, I'm sorry /)_(\

[no_dont_go]

Aigis looked up, surprised to see an old friend she hadn't talked to in a while stepping up to her. For the second time that day, Aigis felt immensely small compared to her friends here, though Taura and Sechs were really such special cases when it came to height.

"I suppose I am," Aigis replied, glancing down at the cassette in her hand then back up at Taura. "I feel rather contemplative about things today. Perhaps because I have been out of sorts until today."

She sighed then placed the cassette back onto the stand. Perhaps another time, when she was less worried about so many different things. "Music is not something I have ever thought much about until I came here. Now, I wonder why it seems to hold such fascination for living creatures. Or, I suppose I understand the reasons why, but have never experienced it myself."

And then, as if realizing she was speaking rather a lot today, Aigis chuckled. "I am sorry, Taura-san. This is no way to begin a conversation. How have you been lately?"

now it is my turn to be late /)_(\

[ninelivesonce]

It wasn't any weirder of a way to start a conversation than several of the ones she'd had with Miles. Most of them, to be exact. Except he tended to leave out every other thought, daring her to keep up. Aigis was just letting herself ramble, and Taura couldn't fault her for it. This must be even more strange for her...

"Fine. Actually fine," she added, since fine usually meant the opposite. Good would have been overstating it, though. She looked down at the cassette again. "It helps remind us that there's still beauty in the world. Even when we're still trapped here."

Keeping their own spirits up was something she hadn't given enough thought to; despair was easy here, and while Taura was fairly resilient to it, not everyone was. "Maybe we'll be able to change that, too. I think we're getting close to getting up to the third floor."

It's okay ;u;

[no_dont_go]

"That is wonderful to hear," Aigis replied, flashing a brilliant smile. She didn't often get news that any of her friends were in good health and without troubles beyond the general ones imposed by Landel. It was quite auspicious. And she had to agree, as long as there was some form of pasttime here for the patients to enjoy, they would never be quite to dreary as things often seemed. At least, not during the day.

But she heard the woman's news and Aigis' mouth opened in surprise. "That is even greater news to hear! I expect if you manage, you will likely find Martin Landel?"

[ninelivesonce]

What would you do if Landel were standing in front of you, defenseless? Taura didn't have an answer to that one. In a fight, she'd shoot first and ask questions later -- and then only if she'd reached for the stunner and not the auto-needler. Though here she only had a stunner, so he'd be likely to survive. But defenseless, she wasn't sure.

"Better that we find the controls for this place. Send everyone home, and then blast them into oblivion." He could rebuild, perhaps, if General Aguilar and whoever they both ostensibly answered to agreed, but it wouldn't be easy. Hard on the person who stayed to destroy the controls, too, but Taura was willing. Katharine would understand. And there was probably someone who'd want to stay, who had nothing to go home too but their own funeral, besides.

[no_dont_go]

"That is also an option," Aigis said with some humor in her voice. "But I am afraid such a distant retribution would feel a bit lacking for those who have taken this slight personally."

Aigis had yet to find anyone here who did not take Landel's forced imprisonment lightly. Some people had seemed relatively cheerful while they were imprisoned but most wanted out. They needed to return home or else find a new life that was not such a horrific nightmare. Aigis had a home to return to as well.

"It will likely not ever be that easy, however," Aigis sighed, picking up a different cassette. This time it read Handel's Messiah. For some reason, her mind conjured up the image of Minato. Perhaps she should give this one a listen...