Soma barely paid attention to her nurse as she was wheeled out of the cafeteria and into the Sun Room. The clue she'd found last night still bothered her, as if she was missing a piece of the puzzle and just hadn't realized what it was yet. She had no particular delusions about her own abilities to solve it--she'd never really liked puzzles, not when they only succeeded in frustrating her more often than not. Still, it didn't seem like anyone else had much of an idea, either.

Taura could probably handle the leaves, especially when it sounded like she was already pretty close, but the painting was another matter entirely. Marie couldn't place anything but the story behind it, but that didn't mean they ought to give up now.

Soma looked up, catching her nurse's arm as she moved to leave. "I'd like to go to the library instead, if you don't mind. There's a book I'd like to read again."

As unconvincing as her voice sounded, the nurse seemed to buy it. Moments later, and Soma found herself looking at bookcases that had been tall enough when she hadn't been confined to a wheelchair. She grimaced a little at the thought. Hopefully the books she was looking for would be on the lower shelves.

[for the Once-ler!]

After breakfast, Yomi felt no need to move from the cafeteria; after so many days, all the rooms looked the same, anyway. The only thing that ever varied about them was the state of the company, and Yomi was content to pass on that for the moment. The low, murmuring tones of the staff on supervisory duty were just as informative as any babbling on the part of over-friendly prisoners.

As she sat alone at her table, she let her gaze wander to the window, cheek propped against her fist. The sunshine made everything seem so normal. One could easily start to believe the illusion.

After a while of listening to the two nurses nearest her talk, she shut her eyes. Yomi might have looked like she was dozing much like a sunbathing cat, if not for the fact that she didn’t sleep.