damned_institute | NIGHT 50: F21-F30 HALLWAY

[F23]

Once finished with her dinner Nunnally had reached into her desk drawer in search of her journal, thinking to make some notes while she had nothing more to do than wait for the approach of night (for that was all she had to wait for, certainly-- they wouldn't return again tonight... would they?). Though the journal was there, she found something else that she hadn't expected: a plain silver ring, set with a red stone. It quite willingly distracted from her original purpose and worries, and she drew the ring out instead and turned it over in her hands, curiously examining it for any kind of mark or identifying engraving, but found none.

It seemed a peculiar thing to her, as everything else in the drawers served some kind of known purpose-- pens for writing made sense, as did a notebook for writing in, but what use would a supposed mental patient have for a ring? She tried it on and found that it fit, so apparently it was meant for her, though she'd no idea why. Well. As with all unexpected gifts from a place such as this, perhaps she should be wary of it? Though what a ring could do, she'd no idea.

When the intercom announcement came her curiosity only increased further, but so did her concerns. The last place she'd been the night before? The memory flashed before her eyes all unwilling, and she shuddered lightly before firmly placing the ring on the surface of her desk. Lelouch was sure to stop by her room as soon as he could, and perhaps this would make more sense to him.

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Leela took a second to try to parse that one, couldn't really make sense of it, and so shrugged it off.

"Yes, I was here. Yesterday was my first day, actually. Talk about a rude awakening." She decided it wouldn't be wise to go into detail about just how rude with a total stranger, funky hair or not. Hi, I look human, but I'm really a mutant from the future; you kind of couldn't use that one whenever you felt like it. You had to be pretty sure the other person would be okay with it first.

"I'm Leela, by the way." She felt the stirrings of righteous indignation over the fact that there were so many young people here. Kids were supposed to be out there being kids, free and pimply and awkward. Not kidnapped and stuck in a phony insane asylum that made the Orphanarium look like paradise. At least owls and malnutrition had been the most they'd had to worry about there.

"Are you brand-new?"

Oh, so this woman was new? Erika couldn't say that she was happy to hear that, but... well, a witness was a witness. Even if she was new, she seemed to have some idea of how this place already worked. The detective's lips curled upwards into a smile at that thought. Competence was a rare thing on the gameboard and Erika was determined to make use of the rare instances of it.

"Erika," She gave Leela a bow, a polite gesture to show that she meant no harm. At the moment. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Leela. I arrived here a few days ago myself, so I can't say I'm as 'new' to this place as you are." That last sentence was laced with pride, Erika not realizing or caring that bragging about the length of time one was trapped in this place wasn't a good thing. Perhaps it was time for her to learn a little about this woman, just to make sure her time wouldn't be wasted with this one.

"And where are you from? Another time period, or perhaps even another dimension?" Maybe Erika was hoping that Leela didn't learn this particular bit of information, if only so she could watch the other woman act confused. The girl had strange hobbies, to say the least.

Leela bowed back, sensitive respecter of other cultures that she was. Maybe because her own never got any respect at all.

"You're an old pro at this, I gotcha." She remembered being Erika's age, and wanting to seem cool and knowledgeable no matter what. She had never pulled it off quite as well, but this girl wasn't hampered by braces, flat feet, and one giant spectacle, either. Leela stored this away as future ammunition against any claims of how hard Fry, or, indeed, the Professor, had had adolescence in their time. That still didn't mean it was right to drag Erika away from her home.

"I'm from this world, as far as I can tell, but not from this time. Not even close. It's the thirty-first century for me." Leela braced herself, a little, for the usual reaction of people who weren't from so far off the beaten path. "I've visited other dimensions, but I wouldn't want to live in them." She smiled. "How about you?"

Her 'respect' was noted, and if Erika could read minds, she would have argued until the next day that she was as legitimately "cool and knowledgeable", a true detective whose experience and ability was unparalleled!

Instead, Erika also noted what "time" Leela was from, her eyes growing just the slightest in interest at how distant this woman's timeline was from. And she had even visited other dimensions? The smile on the girl's face returned, a little wider than before. Yes, Leela would be a good companion to have for the night, if only because speaking of other Fragments and the like would be easier. Perhaps there was more to her than it seemed, if she had the power to cross dimensions.

"Japan, circa 1986. Does Japan still exist for you? I do wonder," The detective couldn't help herself, letting her curiosity slip. She stayed mum on the subject of the witch's game though, deciding that was not for Leela to know at the moment.

"Japan still exists. We have more of a global government than in your time, though." Hm, the president of Earth being a head in a jar was probably another thing best left unmentioned. There were turning out to be so many of those!

Leela's specialized knowledge of the Stupid Ages wasn't one of them. "I have a friend from around your time. He was frozen in 1999." Erika seemed a bit more with-it, to put it delicately, than Fry.

"I was hoping to get outside and have a look around. Would you mind playing guide for a little while?" Chise had made reaching the outdoors sound difficult enough that Leela wasn't too eager to try it alone.

Hmm, a global government? That was a common thing she found in a lot of science fiction media, which Erika could only tolerate barely more than the supernatural, so she wasn't too surprised to hear that. Actually, if Erika wasn't in a hurry to make up for lost time, she would have loved to hear more about the global government and heads-in-jars.

Leela said something else that was just as good though, not so much about her frozen friend from a decade later, but about going outside and needing a guide. Outside was her intended destination; she had not forgotten about meeting the "rebel" in Doyleton and whatever he was looking for was outside. It was quite nice to know that this woman was also looking to go there, and Erika had no problem with forming an alliance for the time being.

"I'm afraid I can only guide you to the recreation field towards the back, and my knowledge of the outside ends there. However, that is where I am headed. We should stay together then, shouldn't we?"

Erika phrased it as a question, but she hadn't meant it as one.

"Sounds good to me!"

What Leela really wanted was just a look at the sky at night. Sure, everything inside the hospital was consistent with the time they were supposedly in, but the suspicious lack of details had made her, well. Suspicious. She wanted a literal outside opinion on whether there were any spacecraft in the area. It wasn't like those kidnapping jerkwads could control that, right?

"Wait, if you've been here a while, why were you aksing about last night?" Maybe Erika wanted to compare notes, but it had sounded to Leela more like the question of someone trying to get the scoop on something.

"Wait, if you've been here a while, why were you asking about last night?"

Although Leela probably went meant well with the question, Erika visibly stiffened, just for a moment, and indignation fluttered on her facial features just for a moment before the detective sharply turned around and started to march down the hall. Anger had briefly gotten the best of her, and Erika was thinking of revising her plans and letting Leela flounder around herself and probably get eaten by something.

But Erika liked to think she was better than that, so the girl made sure she was smiling again when she turned around, motioning to the end of the hallway.

"We should walk and talk. I find that idling tends to draw the attention of unpleasant things," Erika pointed out, and she turned and began to walk again.

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NIGHT 50: F21-F30 HALLWAY

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