Day 51: Arts and Crafts [Second Shift]

[gald_digger]

They actually listened to some of the suggestions people put in that box? Anise thought the Head Doctor had to be joking when he said that, but she soon heard him mention something that she herself had suggested: sewing supplies. They were really going to get some? Anise could finally get a real needle, so she could make repairs to Tokunaga whenever she needed to. She swiped one of their blunt, plastic needles before, but using that just left big holes in the fabric. Using it on Tokunaga made her feel bad, like she was hurting the poor doll.

"Isn't that nice, Dolores?" The nurse must have caught Anise's hopeful look. "But remember, you'll need to be on your best behavior until then."

"I know, I..." Anise began with her usual dismissive reply, but quickly remembered that the intercom had said 'behavior and attitudes', and instantly changed her tune. "I'll do my very best! Hee hee!" She forced a smile for the old hag.

Unfortunately, the sewing supplies weren't here today, so Anise had to find something else to do for now. Stepping inside the Arts and Crafts room, she quickly found that several tables already had paper craft ('origami,' they called it?) supplies laid out for them, so she guessed she'd just occupy herself with that. The girl sat down at one of the tables, opened up one of the books, and started looking through it.

Cranes, frogs, horses, turtles... There were lots of familiar animals, and a few unfamiliar ones, too. The rabbits looked kind of cute.

[For Ilia!]

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[revolutionise]

Despite not having worn herself out with fighting or running or anything during the night, Utena found herself being woken up late - past breakfast, even. Her head throbbed a little from the excess sleep; what had brought this on, she wondered?

That wasn't quite so worrying, however, as what she heard when she asked a nurse if Himemiya (or "Delilah", as they wanted her to be called) had already gone to join in activities for the day. Apparently, the other girl was also sleeping late, and for longer than she was. Falling asleep way early? Staying asleep way late? Uh oh. She's not getting sick, is she? Utena worried, glancing back at Himemiya's door as she was herded off to the next shift. If the girl wasn't out by third or fourth shift, then Utena decided she was going to demand to be let into that room. This was the sort of thing that had happened around the time before Hughes and Celes had disappeared, and damn it, she was not going to let that happen again if she could help it.

At least Ema and Lana had been all right by the end of the night, she reminded herself. Their friend hadn't ended up attacking before the usual blackout, and either the auto-translator was working again, or the nurses all really did speak perfect Japanese. And in the bigger picture, she had finally made it through a night in 2-Center without getting seriously hurt, too. That was kind of a relief, she thought with a soft sigh. Maybe that was a sign that the institute wouldn't keep holding her down for much longer.

Speaking of down. Upon entering the Arts & Crafts room, one of the first familiar faces Utena spotted was Aigis's, and the android girl didn't seem too chipper, to put it lightly. Poor girl, she thought. Landel's really is a lot for anyone to take, fighter or not.

She made her way over to the other girl's table, leaning over it with her hands splayed over her knees. "Hey. What's up? You feeling okay?" Utena asked, tilting her head in concern.

[no-dont-go.livejournal.com]

Aigis looked up. Brilliant pink hair. Round, shinning blue eyes. "Tenjou-san."

She forced her face into an emotionless mask but she couldn't hide the pain in her eyes. She took another shaky breath and swallowed the thickness in her throat. The pressure behind her eyes and in her throat felt so hot, yet her skin from her neck down was cold. How did humans deal with these conflicting feelings?

"I--" Aigis' voice came out too soft. She cleared her throat and started again. "I'm not sure."

Aigis took another calming breath and placed a hand on the table before her. She stared at the color of the paper bits in contrast with her pale skin. She just couldn't look at Utena's face right now. "Tenjou-san, what do you think happens to people that the institute releases? Do they go back home, or do they really... believe what this place tells us to believe?"

[revolutionise]

Utena's chest suddenly tightened a little. A friend of Aigis's had disappeared, then. The would-be prince's gaze fell at that. How many had gone in the time she had been here now? She hadn't even really been counting in the first place, so there wasn't even a way to tell. She knew the big ones, though. Seiya. Naoto. Hughes. Celes. Juri... It had been a while since she had last seen Harley too, hadn't it? Utena bit down hard on the inside of her lip when she realized that. Bastard! You'd better not have taken her too, she thought with grit teeth, Landel's crackling intercom voice echoing in her mind in vague, menacing tones. When she was done with Aigis, Utena decided she was going straight over to the bulletin to post a message, then out looking for Harley.

There was one thing that gave her some hope about the disappearances, though, and it was what she was about to relate to Aigis now. "Some of them do get brainwashed, I think. I don't know if some of them go home too, but I do know that people say they've seen friends come back as 'visitors' before. They believe every single lie the Institute has to tell," she admitted heavily, sitting down next to her friend. With the tips of her fingers, she poked idly at the shreds of paper in front of them, no particular pattern in mind. "But they don't ever die, at least. I think Landel keeps them all somewhere, just in case he wants to use them again. I have a friend, Himemiya Anthy - she disappeared once, and a nurse told me she'd gone home believing what the Institute told her. Now she's back, though. She doesn't remember her time here before, but she's alive and she's herself, at least."

Utena paused again at that. The little collection of paper shreds was starting to look like a flower now, maybe even a rose if she squinted. That wasn't what Utena had intended to make, but somehow, it had come out anyway. Looking at it with Himemiya fresh in her mind, that worry from before stung at her again. She shook her head and looked back up at Aigis, trying not to let that show. "That's what happened to me too. I don't remember knowing anything about this place before I went to sleep and woke up here, but I'm told I've been here before."

[no-dont-go.livejournal.com]

Aigis had kept her head down and missed the unsteady emotions that may have shown on Utena's face. She kept it lowered through Utena's explanation of how the patients acted after being "released." But as she listened, Utena said probably the one thing that could make Aigis look up. Aigis had been hoping more than anything that her friends would be returned home if they were released. She wouldn't be able to bear anything less, or so she thought. Now she realized she had been setting herself up for disappointment, but not all hope was lost.

Wiping the mist from her eyes--were those the beginning of real tears?--Aigis quietly listened as Utena explained her experience with her friend. To think, someone could be taken in by the lies then break free of that hold. And it had happened before with Utena as well? It sounded like reprogramming data. A human's experiences became memories, which Aigis had always thought would be irreplaceable. And yet somehow this place could wipe out someone's memories as easily as data.

"I thank you for your words, Tenjou-san. You have reminded me of something very important." Something her friends had learned when they resolved to fight Nyx. "They may fall victim to the institute, but that is no reason to despair. As long as they are alive, there is a chance for hope."

Aigis was finally able to manage a smile. "It is a relief to know this place will not take their lives. Although..." She gazed down at the shape Utena had made with the paper, but unlike the other girl her mind was unable to associate it with anything in particular; it was just a curious design. "I had hoped they were simply returned home."

She sighed again, picking up another piece of the colored paper but this time she just stared at it. Attempting to return her voice to normal, Aigis swallowed again and focused keeping her tone neutral. "Your friend, Himemiya-san, she must be a strong person to have broken free of the institute's hold. I say the same for you, Tenjou-san. But if they can bring us back so easily... it must be hard, to be forced back here." Another deep breath, just to keep her voice from shaking. "I must admit, I am glad you broke free again despite having been readmitted to the institute. I'm glad I met you, Tenjou-san."