damned_institute | Day 51: Arts and Crafts [Second Shift]

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Day 51: Arts and Crafts [Second Shift]

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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Anise shook her head. "No, they're totally different. Fonic artes are... um, they're kind of hard to explain to someone who isn't from Auldrant, so it's usually easiest to think of them as magic." That was how she explained it to most people in Landel's. Getting into all the technical stuff about fonons was not only complicated, but pretty boring.

"Hmm... really? Maybe they're more similar than I thought." Precision and steady hands... Maybe Anise's small stature even helped with that. She couldn't imagine doing some of her more detailed crafts with larger hands than her own.

Flipping through the book, Anise found a pig design that looked pretty neat. It reminded her of the emperor's rappigs, and it was too bad that there wasn't any hope of finding an actual rappig craft in the book. But this was close enough, right? Having decided on that, Anise then selected a another patterned sheet of paper, this one brown and tan.

When she looked back up at Ilia, she noticed the woman had an oddly distant smile on her face. When she caught it, Anise gave her a slightly concerned, questioning look.

"Magic, huh?" she muttered, still a bit distracted. Ilia was all for discovering new worlds and trying to understand its inhabitants, but she wasn't too keen on vague terms like "magic." Nothing could just be pulled out of thin air! All abilities should be explainable with logical, scientifically grounded reasoning. Maybe Anise didn't understand how her "powers" worked, much like how Millie couldn't easily explain Heraldry, but Ilia would have liked a detailed, step-by-step explanation. Maybe if she ever helped discover Auldrant in her time, she'd be able to study it a little more. But as it was, she'd never get the chance. Roak was who knew how many light years away now, and until she helped stop that calamity, there wasn't even time for her to study Heraldry, much less another planet's unique fighting techniques.

Ilia stared off into space for a moment more until she realized the little girl had turned to stare at her. Ilia focused her thoughts back on the task at hand--she could worry about Ronyx later. Forcing herself to smile brightly, she examined the new page Anise had turned to and chuckled. "A pig! Why don't we each try making it this time?" The purple paper she picked up wasn't really a pig-like color, but it was origami. Anything could be any color, right?

At the suggestion of making the craft together, Anise brightened and nodded eagerly. "Okay, let's try it!" She hadn't forgotten the distracted look on Ilia's face, but she supposed she could let it go this once. New patients had a lot they needed to absorb and adjust to. It was probably best not to push it.

Purple seemed like a pretty weird color to use for a pig. Was that really okay? ...Well, whatever. It was just a fun little craft, anyway.

Anise started making folds on her paper, taking a little extra care to get them right - she couldn't help feeling a little competitive now that Ilia was doing the same thing. Between folds, she glanced back up at the woman. "Does Earth have anything like magic or artes?" she asked. Some people she met acted pretty surprised when Anise used her artes around them, but she hadn't heard anything too definite about the subject.

Ilia caught on to the competitive spirit and started in on her own pig. She hadn't meant to start a contest, but there was nothing wrong with having a little fun with the girl.

"Well, some people believe they can use magic," Ilia laughed, thinking back on the history of her home plant. "But really, there is no such thing as magic, or artes for that matter, on Earth. We have magicians, but they usually perform slight-of-hand tricks, or use mirrors and trap doors for entertainment.

"It's also common in history for people to have claimed to use magic, but in olden times there was no real way to prove or disprove that ability." Ilia shrugged, a wry smile on her lips. "So far, nothing done by any creature on Earth can be done without a scientific backing." Ilia added another fold to her pig, then held it closer to her face to check the corners. Did she have her edges lined up right?

"Eheh... that's technically right for Auldrant too. 'Magic' is the easy way to explain it, but fonic artes are really more like a science," Anise explained, carefully tracing her fingernail along a fold she'd just made. "But you need to really understand fonons to use them. And even then, some people just don't have the talent for it." Lots of people called her artes 'magic' or claimed to use magic themselves, so she'd started using the word herself.

It wasn't a big surprise to hear that some people who called themselves magic-users really only knew tricks, though it wasn't something Anise thought about much at Landel's. She'd seen enough weird stuff that the existence of genuine magic didn't seem too far-fetched. A lot of the things Landel managed to do seemed more like magic than any technology Anise ever knew, after all.

"...But calling it magic makes it sound really cool and mysterious, right?" she added after a moment, grinning girlishly. She didn't see anything wrong with sacrificing a little accuracy for a strong impression.

Ilia liked the sound of that! A type of 'magic' that was already understood as a science on the planet of its origin. It made her all the more certain that Heraldry could be just as easily explained if only the ones who used it on Roak were just a bit more technologically advanced. She wished she'd had more time to study it before now. That research had to stay put on the back burner until the mess with Asmodeus was cleared up. And until she could get back to that, she needed to get out of this institute.

But while they were on the subject... "So, what exactly are fonons? Can you explain the physics behind using them?" It might have been too much to expect a fourteen year old to understand every little intricacy behind fonic artes, but it was worth asking.

"I guess some might think it sounds better that way," Ilia chuckled, though that certainly wasn't her own opinion. There was something incredibly satisfying in having the ability to explain the wonders of nature while fully understanding your subject. Maybe that was just the scientist in her, but writing something off as 'unexplainable' was dull and felt lazy. "Personally, I don't believe in magic. I'd rather have at least a probable theory than get left in the dark without a clue."

"...Hehe. You really are a scientist." Ilia's approach didn't sound very fun or romantic, but Anise couldn't really fault it since it probably got results. Besides, she'd prefer if the the Head Doctor's tricks were something that could be unraveled and understood than if they were something that would always be beyond them.

That way of thinking was probably also why Ilia wanted to understand the source that powered Anise's artes. The girl made another fold in the paper as she thought about how to word something so complicated, yet so common to her, then started her explanation. "It's pretty hard to explain fonons. They're basically, like... sound particles that make up everything on Auldrant. There are seven different kinds of them, and each of those is like a different element. When we use artes, we collect fonons of a certain type and then make them come together and form stuff like fireballs or light beams, or whatever you want."

Anise was starting to be able to make out something that looked like legs in her folded paper, but the rest just looked like weird angled parts. She wasn't sure how this was going to end up looking like a pig, but since the last craft she tried turned out just fine, she was going to trust the instruction book for now.

"Sound particles? Fonons?" Ilia stopped in her folding for a moment, listening intently to Anise's description of her power. Something about it sounded familiar, if she thought back to her old lessons at the university. "Wait a minute... fonons... Phonons, like, vibrational motion!" She had never heard of using phonons to create fire, much less light beams, but she wasn't completely unfamiliar with them. It was all physics, though she was actually a little rusty, since her last few years had been mostly centered around biological and chemical sciences.

"That's some pretty advanced stuff for a teenager to understand." Ilia smiled, thinking back on her own youth. Truth be told, she had started her first physics lessons when she had been about Anise's age, but no one had ever been able to apply such a bizarre concept to the science like this.

Ilia looked down at the table, and realized she had completely forgotten her project during the talk about fonons. She quickly set back to work on her pig, laughing a little in her rush. "Sorry. I guess I got carried away for a moment there."

Anise's eyes lit up in surprise. "You've heard of them!?" This was the first time Anise had ever met someone from another planet who had any idea what fonons were. Did that mean they did exist outside of Auldrant? Or maybe it was something similar. Either way, this was big news to Anise!

"--Ehe, well, fonons are a pretty big part of daily life, so most people have a basic understanding of them," Anise admitted, but she couldn't help but smile at the compliment anyway. Even though they'd only just met, Ilia had a way of making Anise feel proud of herself. "But it's especially important to know how they work if you're going to use fonic artes."

When Ilia seemed to remember her craft, Anise looked back to hers as well, and started on the unusual step of curling the pig's tail.

"Well, I think it a little different from the 'fonons' you're talking about. Our phonons typically just deal vibrations and waves, and, well..." Ilia gave Anise a sideways glance, a little unsure. "I'm not sure if I could explain it without getting into all the quantum physics behind it, but basically it is one of our building block of matter. We just can't manipulate it quite the same as you can on Auldrant."

Perhaps fonons functioned differently on Auldrant, or maybe it was somehow the main building block of matter. But could waves hold together structures and support life quite to that extent? Other planets could certainly grow and thrive differently from Earth, but she really wasn't sure if they could break free of the laws of physics quite so completely. There were a lot of things left unexplained in this world, but Ilia would get her chance to study it all someday.

"Maybe I could watch you use your artes someday?" Ilia said, interest heavy in her voice. It would be fascinating to observe what one did to evoke fonic artes. Was it anything like how Heraldry worked? "But I guess it would need to be night for that to happen."

This pig was coming together nicely as time flew by. Of course, following an instruction booklet made it an easy process. And it was actually fun, which was more than Ilia could have ever asked for in an activity planned by a mental institute.

So Earth had fonons too... but it sounded like they were different, and they weren't the only important part of matter. It was too bad the Colonel wasn't around anymore. He might have been able to understand how fonons worked on Earth - much better than Anise could, anyway. For now, she just nodded at Ilia's explanation. It helped her understand the basic differences, anyway.

"Sure, I wouldn't mind showing you," Anise replied with a grin. "But... like I said, they aren't as cool as they were at home, so they won't be that impressive. If you're still interested, though, I'll do what I can! What about tonight? Maybe we can meet up then." Actually, that could be a good idea, she realized shortly after suggesting it. If Ilia didn't know what to expect tonight, she was going to be in big trouble without an experienced partner.

It looked like her pig was almost done! Anise held the folded paper close to her face as she carefully folded its tiny ears, trying her best to make them perfect. She didn't want to mess up on the very last steps!

"I'm certainly tempted," Ilia chuckled, smiling at the girl's enthusiasm. Watching Anise perform her fonic artes would really be indulging Ilia's scientist's mind and probably distract her from what she ought to be doing--searching the institute for clues on how to escape or who was behind the whole operation. But she also didn't want to leave Anise alone at night. She may have been a teenager, but she was small and could probably use a hand in defending herself if one of those monsters came out. So, it wouldn't really be just for her pleasure. It would be helping someone out, as well as a scientific study. Perfectly acceptable, right?

"Oh, why not? Sure, I'd really like that." Ilia continued to add some more of the detailed folds. The pig had taken longer to make than she had imagined.

"Okay everyone, it's almost time for lunch!" A helpful nurse called out, weaving through the tables. "Please, finish up your projects. The doctor will be announcing the shift change soon."

"Ahh," Ilia sighed, trying to hurry up with her final touches. She leaned a little closer to Anise once more, lowering her voice. "I'm still not familiar with the layout, but where would be an easy place to find you?"

Looked like Ilia was on board, then! That was good news for Anise. Besides getting to show off, having someone with hand-to-hand combat experience around would be a big help. The burn on Anise's palm didn't really get in the way of everyday activities, but swinging a weapon with it would be kind of painful. It would be best if she had a partner who could take the lead in a fight while Anise supported her with artes.

"Done!" Anise declared, proudly (yet delicately) setting the pig down on the table. Just as she did, a nurse announced the approaching shift change. "--Ahh, just in time!" A minute or two later, and she'd be scrambling to finish before she got ushered away.

When Ilia asked about where to meet, Anise thought for a moment, then replied in a similarly hushed voice, "How about the main hallway in the women's block? No matter what room you're in, you just walk out and take a right, and you'll go straight there. Easy!"

"Aww, you beat me!" Ilia laughed, even as she finished up the last fold on her pig. They were cute little creatures--and looked quite realistic, now that they had the finished product in front of them. She'd really enjoyed their unspoken contest.

Ilia nodded, noting Anise's instructions and repeating them in her own head, memorizing them. It sounded easy enough, just as Anise said. "I'll remember."

She smiled one last time at the girl when her nurse came to fetch her. Waving, Ilia was able to say with absolutely sincerity, "Thanks for your time, Anise. It was fun crafting with you." She would have said they should try more designs next time, but if Ilia had any say in matters both she and Anise would be out of this place and headed back where they belonged before the next Arts and Crafts day came about.

When Ilia laughed, Anise did too, partly in triumph at her small victory, but also just because she was enjoying herself. Both of the pigs turned out great - and they were pretty cute, too.

"I had fun, too!" she replied cheerfully, gathering up the animals she had made so that she could take them with her. Maybe they'd help brighten her room up a little more. "I'll see you later!" It felt kind of nice, having unexpectedly made a new friend. Anise just hoped the night would go smoothly for both of them.

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Day 51: Arts and Crafts [Second Shift]

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