damned_institute | Day 28: Bus 2

Momo tugged on the collar of the light blue sweater she was wearing as she followed her nurse to wherever these buses were, winding her hair up into its customary bun as she went. It was an odd feeling, knowing she was about to go outside of the institute's borders. Maybe the Head Doctor was about to make an error and the shinigami, as well as everyone else, would no longer be limited and they could finish what they started several nights back.

That was probably too much to hope for. She was feeling better this morning, even with the blood moon, and was mildly looking forward to the bus ride. Captain Jack said he was going to be here this morning and even if it wasn't customary breakfast in the cafeteria, she's be satisfied with him sitting next to her on the bus.

The nurse handed her a muffin, some napkins, and a small box with a straw. She stared at this box for a moment before shaking it. From the sound it contained liquid. How odd... Momo wasn't sure why they would but liquid inside a small paper box - it didn't make any sense to her and she wasn't sure how one was supposed to get it out of the box.

Clambering onto an empty bus, Momo chose to sit in the very back near the emergency exit. Maybe she could force her way out of it as they were moving and escape the limiter enough to come back and level the institute, freeing everyone. Or maybe she just wanted to be able to see everyone that was on the same bus as her. Wishful thinking versus reality.

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...Not looking at Lust. Definitely not looking at Lust.

Keman nodded, eyes still firmly fixed on the road outside. "There are! Actually, none of my friends from home are completely human. Half-human, certainly, but not full-human. And elvish. Valyn's an elf."

He glanced at Lust and smiled. "Lacking in technology?" he echoed, teasingly. Now that he was calming down again, he was feeling like his old self. "No, just lacking in technology that is as advanced as yours. All civilized societies have technology. Technology can be as simple (and anachronistic) as a rock pounded into a sharp edge to create a tool. I'd say that this world and yours are quite a ways ahead of mine, in terms of technological advancement, but that doesn't mean we haven't got technology."

Okay, so that had been a little snobbish of him. But he was feeling awfully defensive of his homeworld, as bad a place as it was.

"They are," the young dragon-turned-halfblood agreed, stretching his back. It had gone rather stiff. "I mean, I've been human before. And elvish. And a halfblood--half elf, half human--like I am now. I'm a shapeshifter, you see. But walking on two legs is much more inconvenient than walking on four. I always feel like I'm going to overbalance!"

"Tools aren't technology," Lust countered. "Even animals can use tools. There's no shame in coming from a place where gas or steam powered machines have yet to be developed. I suppose there are worlds that don't even need them. I doubt you're all living in caves and eating your meat raw, after all." And if they were... well, Lust hardly cared about being polite.

"A shape shifter? House fascinating. Though I'll admit I can't think of any body I'd prefer above my own."

Keman grinned. Now this was more like it. "But the application of the scientific method and use of tools to improve the collective good is also technology isn't it?" He laughed. "And caves can be quite cozy. I grew up in one, you know. They're very economic to heat. And," he added, eyes twinkling, "there's quite a lot to be said about raw meat. More nutrients, and all that. Can't break it down in this body, unfortunately." Two-legger bodies really were inconvenient like that.

Sighing, Keman looked down at his very human hands. They were pale and kind of freckled (like the rest of him), with long fingers that ended in short, blunt nails...not claws. Great tools for tasks that required a delicate touch (and/or an opposable thumb), but pretty useless otherwise. "This body has its good points," he admitted. "I mean, I've been in it often enough, even before I came here. My natural form is quite a bit bigger than this, and it's a little more...imposing, I guess. I don't stand out as much when I'm like this."

The dragon stared wistfully out the window at the sky. He could almost feel the sun warming his back while the chilly Autumn ran over his scales. Far above the trees, a bird (he couldn't tell what type) was drifting on a thermal. It didn't even have to move its wings. The air currents did all the work.

Keman, grounded, flightless, was jealous.

"Before I came here, I could fly. I think that's what I miss the most."

"Everyone looks human here," Lust responded. "No matter what you were before. It speaks great volumes of the power of the people here." They had made her human, after all. Sapped away her powers, her gifts, leaving her something she didn't quite understand. She didn't honestly care what Keman had been before he'd come here.

"I wouldn't call that technology. I'd call it using one's intelligence. Simply making something that makes life a touch easier isn't exactly a technological advancement." She smoothed the skirt over her knees and crossed her legs, leaning her cheek on her hand.

"And I could scale a building in single movement, see in the dark, cut stone with my nails and heal from any wound dealt to me within moments. We've all lost a great deal. You get used to it."

Keman nodded. "There were others that I spoke with on the board. They'd also been changed." He had been in two-legger form (specifically this one) often enough over the past year that waking up in that way hadn't really thrown him (even if he was still working out some of the kinks). He couldn't even begin to imagine how disorienting it must've been like for the people who weren't used to it.

Smiling, he shrugged. "I do call that technology. But I guess we can agree to disagree, can't we?" He didn't want it to turn into a stupid argument. He hated those. Myre, on the other hand, had loved them and would bicker with him for hours over a dumb technicality.

"I guess..."

"It doesn't matter either way what either of us call it." Lust shrugged and shifted once more, her thigh brushing against Keman's leg.

"It's all that you can do. I've been here the longest of anyone in this place, and I can say with complete authority that no one gets out. And no one will, any time soon. There are far too many puzzle pieces undiscovered. So simply adjust to your body, try not to mourn what you've lost, and don't do anything foolish in an attempt to escape immediately. You'll only wind up dead like the others."

Lust wasn't one to offer false hope or sugar coat the situation. She saw no point to it.

Day 28: Bus 2

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