Day 55: Cafeteria

[bodhiandspirit]

Though five days without bathing was hardly unusual for Rita, she was actually looking forward to showering today. To her, the last shift had been somewhat enjoyable, if only because it allowed her an opportunity to be alone with her thoughts for a bit. Of course, she couldn't be completely alone in the communal showers, but no one was rude enough

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[razing_phoenix]

Guy did feel some relief when Tear reached out for the Anise, but it was obvious that the younger girl was holding back tears, which made Guy's chest tighten painfully. He knew that whatever he did or said wouldn't do much to cheer her up; Ion just wasn't a subject that was ever good to touch on, and yet it had been made necessary.

It had been quite some time since the Fon Master had last been in this place. Guy knew that it was for the best that Ion wasn't here, and yet he couldn't help but wonder what the boy was doing now, what he thought of himself; what lie he was living. He was certain it was something Anise thought about every day.

The girl stared at him in shock after he'd revealed what Ion had done for Tear, and yet Guy didn't regret having given away that information. It was a sad fact, but Tear also deserved to know that she was not fated to die an untimely death herself. Ion's own demise was a tragedy on its own, but he wasn't willing to let Tear live in that fear, even if it wasn't something she would have ever acknowledged herself.

After what both Tear and Anise said, Guy didn't know if there was anything else he could add to that. He nodded to both of their statements and then let out a sigh. "One other thing I should mention is that... Ion was in this place, once. We never figured out how that could have happened, but..." It was the same with Asch, wasn't it? And Van, for that matter. They'd been forced to face a lot of ghosts here.

"He was released a few weeks ago, which probably means that he's somewhere in this world." And they would have to find him and undo whatever had been done, if possible. Guy knew that wasn't something Anise was going to forget about. Even if there was a small chance, they were going to have to try.

[melodists]

That was right. He did a lot. Outside of his position, as a single individual, Ion had given a good deal for everyone's welfare. Even without the fact of death, he had done much, more than he ever truly had to. Thus, Tear nodded wordlessly to Anise's statement, seeing it as a suitable answer to Guy's reveal. She was grateful he had added the fact, but right now, she would have to take the time to process it. This answer would be good for now.

It seemed, however, the man had more to share. His next statement came as no less of a surprise to Tear, who sat rigid in her seat. The Fon Master was here? That could only mean...

"They brought him back to life," she muttered, hardly believing her own words. Logic instantly fell on fomicry as the culprit, but on further thought, that hardly seemed correct. This world did not operate on fonons, and as far she was concerned, a replica and its original could not be counted as one and the same. In addition, if there was anything related to that technology, they would have caught onto it immediately.

For now, she would have to accept the unknown variables.

"Like how I was," Tear concluded. She suddenly felt useless in her memory loss. If only she could remember where she was before Landel's, they could perhaps formulate a plan to find him.

[gald_digger]

The hardest part was over, and the truth was out. With nothing more to confess to, Anise was able to work on calming herself down and putting on a brave face - at least for the rest of the meal shift. Then, after that, she could take some time to sort out her thoughts on her own, and she'd be ready to do what she needed to do come nightfall.

The reminder that even after all the terrible things she did, Ion was still alive, brought a small sense of relief to Anise. It didn't erase the crime completely, not at all, but to Anise, it was like she was being given a second chance as a Guardian. This time, she would save Ion.

... That reminded her.

"Actually..." Anise spoke up in a soft voice, though it didn't waver as it had moments ago. "There's something I've been meaning to tell you about that." She looked up to Guy, then over to Tear. Since they were both here, and they were on the topic, this was probably the best time to bring it up.

"I met Ion. After he disappeared, I mean. It was when visitors were here, about two weeks ago. He wasn't really himself, but..." Anise paused and took a slow, deep breath. The visit had been upsetting for a number of reasons, but she'd had plenty of time to let it settle in her mind. "... he's safe, at least."

[razing_phoenix]

The largest hurdles in the conversation had already been overcome, which Guy was relieved for. It wasn't like any of them were doing that well in terms of mood, but that was to be expected when the death of a friend was the main thing that they were discussing. Still, there were some upsides to the situation, and that was the fact that Ion was somehow alive again.

Tear's tone made it clear that she didn't necessarily see that as a good thing, and Guy had to agree to an extent. Whatever science or magic had been used to bring Ion back couldn't be good. He was already a replica, his body weakened because it was a counterfeit. Being forced into life again probably hadn't had very good effects. Ion hadn't seemed off in any way when he'd been here, but still...

When Anise spoke up again, her voice a bit more steady, Guy listened to her with a level expression. So she had been visited by Ion. That definitely made sense, though Guy had to wonder why he'd never come across a brainwashed Luke during his time here. Maybe his friend was too busy being moved in and out for that to even be possible. It wasn't like it was something Guy would want to see, either. If he had it his way, he'd never be picked on visitor day.

"Well, at least you got to see him," he affirmed with a nod. "And I'm sure it is him, too." Anise had dealt with enough other versions of Ion that she would know the difference between the real thing and a fake.

"Jade and Peony are probably in the same position," he mused, resting his chin on his hand. And Asch and Luke as well, but the two of them had been here too recently; he didn't want to mention them as part of the ones who had vanished, at least not out loud.

[melodists]

The news Anise brought came as fluttering hope to Tear. Although one could see how disconcerting it was to meet Ion under these circumstances, the young woman was glad to hear that the Fon Master was at least well. The Colonel and Emperor Peony, too, according to Guy's speculation. They had the assurance that they would remain out of danger, which would definitely relieve a good deal of pressure. One less thing to worry about, more or less. One less thing until they could take them out of that scenario.

"Yes," she added to Guy's reassurance. "We'll find a way to get them back."

There remained, however, one little niggling question. It wasn't necessary to know, but until she could get it clarified, Tear would stay discontent. She raised a free hand, interrupting the flow of conversation. "Luke mentioned something about it before," the Melodist started. Her mind instantly recalled the account about the human Mieu. "I unfortunately didn't get a chance to ask..." Because he disappeared. She took a sharp intake of air. "Could you tell me more about visitors?"

[gald_digger]

Anise nodded with the others, a faint trace of a smile on her lips. The knowledge that Ion was safe, and that they were all going to go rescue him, was enough to improve her mood a little. The way that Guy seemed to have faith in her claim that it was truly Ion she met was also a little encouraging.

Still, it was hard to think of all the friends they had out there, leading fake lives... Anise still couldn't believe that the invincible Colonel was among them.

If Luke told Tear about the visitors, then maybe it meant someone visited him, too. Anise wondered who. Come to think of it, she and her friends had never really talked about it before now. Anise didn't even know if Guy had been visited before, and she never told him about her earlier visits.

Since Anise had a fair amount of experience with the visitors, she supposed she'd start with a basic explanation for Tear. She didn't know how much the older girl already knew, after all. "Every week, there's a day when people get visited by their friends and family... except they're all people who got brainwashed into thinking our made-up lives are real. I guess it's to pressure people into believing the institute's lies."

Guy could probably add any details he thought were important, but now that Anise was thinking about it, she began to wonder about something. "Maybe they won't do it this week... The soldiers don't really act like they're trying to make us believe anything."

[razing_phoenix]

Guy's thoughts ran along the same line that Anise's did. If Luke had mentioned the visitors to Tear, then that likely meant that he had been exposed to one himself. It was odd that Guy had never heard that news from Luke, but maybe his friend hadn't had the time to tell him about it before being taken again. It was an upsetting thought, but at least Tear had gotten the news.

However, before asking about that he allowed Anise to explain how the visits worked. It was something she definitely knew more about than he did, though Guy had heard enough from others that he could have given a decent explanation if he'd had to. There wasn't much for him to add to what Anise had said, however.

"Usually it happens every Sunday, though Anise is right... they might forgo it this time." That would definitely be a reprieve that most people could agree on appreciating. Guy had never experienced a visit himself, though he realized that most of the time it was meant to traumatize rather than comfort; they were probably better off without it, honestly. "If it does happen, it'll be the day after tomorrow." Tomorrow was supposed to be reserved for the Doyleton trip, but even that was up in the air at this point.

However, the question of Luke was something that Guy couldn't let go of so easily. "Did Luke mention someone specific who visited him, though?" he asked as he leaned back in his seat, his food still untouched. He couldn't say he had much of an appetite after everything that they'd discussed, though.

[melodists]

The combined explanation from Anise and Guy certainly brought more insight into Luke's account. None of it came as a surprise, but it did help confirm what was already suspected. Visitors were something used to break one's spirit. Tear honestly felt more disturbed than shocked at the idea. To reemphasize the institute's control over their memories and emotions was disheartening. As though the patients relinquished any control over their lives the moment they stepped into this world.

She nodded to convey her understanding. The only part that honestly confused her was the mention of "Sunday", but Tear managed to recall the name from the bulletin schedule in the last second. Therefore, she no longer had any questions on the topic. "Hopefully they'll forgo that this week. Thank you for explaining it to me."

Guy, on the other hand, appeared unwilling to move from the subject. Tear could understand why, however, despite the fact coming as something unexpected. She had honestly thought they had already known. Could it be that Luke had forgotten to bring it up with everyone, or that he never had a chance to? The thought proved enough to dishearten.

Oh, Luke...

"He told me he met with Mieu," she answered, the surprise evident in her voice. "What was odd was that he apparently came as a human. He wasn't a cheagle."

[gald_digger]

In just two days, the visitors could come back... While there was a chance that nothing would happen, Anise couldn't help but anxiously wonder if she might see Ion or her parents again. The fact that she didn't get visited last week made her more uneasy than the visits themselves, in a way. Did they just decide not to come, or was there some reason they couldn't come...?

In any case, she needed to focus on the conversation at hand. Anise was wondering who might have visited Luke too, so she was glad Guy asked about it. The answer was something she never would have guessed, though.

"Huh!?" she yelped in surprise. After the initial reaction, Anise struggled to process what she was being told, with little success in wrapping her head around it. She just couldn't fully imagine it. "I mean... Mieu?" Sure, Mieu was one of them, and he was really close to Luke, so he fit the bill for a typical visitor... but as a human? Anise saw people talk over the bulletin about people who had their bodies changed, but she never imagined it would happen to someone she knew. What would he even look like?

[razing_phoenix]

Anise's reaction to what Tear said was more or less what Guy felt too, but his own response was actually much more subtle; he leaned forward slightly and his eyes widened, but that was all. Then again, he'd never been quite as expressive as Anise or Natalia or Luke when it came to things like this, so that was to be expected. Female contact was the exception, of course.

But the idea of a human Mieu was pretty difficult to imagine. The cheagle had traveled with them over the course of a few years, so Guy could only picture him in his normal form. He knew that putting creatures or other beings into human bodies was a common practice here, but he'd never even considered it happening to Mieu.

"Poor Mieu," he said with a sigh. Even if the cheagle probably believed he was a normal human now, whatever process he'd been put through to end up that way couldn't have been easy on him. "So that adds one more to our list of people who we'll need to find if we ever get out of here."

And more than that, there could be others that they didn't know about. Still, maybe Luke and Mieu were at least together out there, keeping each other company despite the brainwashing. It was a comforting thought, in a weird sort of way.

[melodists]

Their reactions were quite telling, one more than the other. Anise and Guy never expected the visitor to be Mieu, and Tear had to sympathize. If she was in their shoes, she would have been taken completely aback as well. Back in the conversation with Luke, she had too much information to process to adequately let the fact sink in, but now, she understood what was so off. Mieu was a cheagle. It was a good part of his identity, at the very least. Having that changed--even if she never got to witness the results firsthand--was understandably unsettling.

She nodded to both the question and the statement, before choosing to clarify the points. "Given they're capable of distorting our memories and sense of time," began Tear as she faced Anise, "I suppose it shouldn't come as a surprise." Still, it had. Her eyes momentarily shifted to Guy. "If we can just locate Luke, we should also find Mieu. He's never far behind him." That, at least, was something she could say with certainty. As long as the cheagle didn't lose his own character, he should be close to the redhead.

[gald_digger]

When Guy expressed pity for Mieu, Anise slowly nodded her head in agreement. On top of being totally bizarre... this had to be really hard on Mieu. He'd probably been brainwashed into thinking he was always human, but still. When Anise thought about how she'd feel if she was stuck in a body that wasn't her own, she realized it had to be really scary.

It was a little difficult to meet Tear's eyes after what Anise had confessed to just minutes ago, but she managed to look up to the older girl and murmur, "Yeah..." in response to her words. No matter what happened, the fact remained that they were still a team, and they had friends who needed help. That was what was important.

Anise still hadn't told anyone that her parents could be added to that list of people to be rescued... but she decided to keep that to herself. Things were complicated enough as it was, and it wouldn't change anything. Anise would go rescue them when the chance came, and... if she was taken before then, her friends would find her parents when they came to get her.

Looking around the cafeteria, Anise realized they must have been talking for a while now. "We probably don't have much time left, so... is there anything else we should talk about?" It wasn't often that all three of them could have a proper discussion together, so they needed to take full advantage of the circumstances.

[razing_phoenix]

It seemed that they were all in agreement that Luke and Mieu came as a pair, and Guy didn't think that was going to change regardless of how their minds were tampered with. The fact that the cheagle had remembered Luke even when his body and his memories had been altered made it clear that his loyalty was not easily snuffed out. It was an encouraging thought among all of the bad news that they had to deal with here.

Guy had to agree with Anise's guess that lunch would be ending soon. The fact that they had been able to cover so much already without being interrupted was surprising on its own, but he quickly sifted through his thoughts to see if there was anything else he needed to bring up before the shift came to an end.

"Well, there's the issue of tonight. I'm guessing we want to try heading outside again." Last night hadn't been a total failure, but they'd definitely been tripped up because of the circumstances. Guy wasn't willing to give in just because of that, though, and he was sure that his friends would agree with him there. "Also, Tear, what was it that you mentioned about the medical wing?" That had been weighing on his mind as well, but there hadn't been a chance to bring it up until now.

[melodists]

Anise's statement had Tear watching through her peripheral. Indeed, it seemed a great deal of time had passed, and from the workers and soldiers' movements, they were getting close to lunch's conclusion. It was time to wrap their conversation up. Thankfully, Guy appeared to have the conclusions covered.

Guy wanted to try going outside again. Tear agreed for the second attempt; however, what was under question was her involvement. After last night, she did not believe she was adequately prepared to be an asset to her teammates. Granted, much of last night was likely outside of her own control, but the young woman realized she could stand to be a lot more. She would have to consider her participation tonight, and hopefully let them know before dinner. For now, however...

"Speaking of last night, is Claude doing well?" she asked as an aside. His arm had been quite a mess yesterday; hopefully the staff mended him well. She didn't doubt it. If there was one thing they had yet to withhold, it was medical care. "His condition was worrying me." Aside from her own, of course, but that would be explained in due time.

Instead, she regarded Guy's question, albeit with some trepidation. This would come as nothing easy. "...Right," answered Tear. "They seem to know about my...illness. They've been taking me to the medical wing recently, and today, the staff had me take medicine. The same kind from Auldrant." The implications should be obvious. "When you thought I had gone missing, they had me in the medical wing--probably for the same reason. I will be going there tomorrow morning, and--"

She sighed heavily. "I can see if Natalia might be there. I don't want to discount the possibility."

[gald_digger]

Anise nodded at Guy's suggestion of heading back out. There was a lot to explore out there, and it only made sense to stick together and watch each other's backs.

"He said he was okay on the bulletin board," Anise offered when Tear brought up Claude's injury. "He might just be acting tough, but I'm sure he'll be all right!" The wound really did look ugly, but the staff usually patched people up neatly, and it wasn't something that would put his life in danger. He'd just need to try not to aggravate it. Anise would try to be optimistic in the meantime.

Unfortunately, there weren't a lot of things to be optimistic about lately. Anise watched Tear with a worried look as she explained about the treatment she'd been receiving. She wanted to think the technology here was good enough to cure Tear completely, but would they use it for that? Knowing how they operated at Landel's, it was possible that they'd draw out the illness just to make her suffer, or to study it for their own purposes... it was sickening to think about it.

There was no use in voicing any of that, however, so Anise remained silent as Tear spoke. She nodded in agreement with the idea of checking the medical wing for Natalia, but another question soon crossed her mind. "So you won't get to come for the field trip?" she asked. Maybe they would bring her over later, or maybe they weren't going to tell her anything until the last minute... but Anise couldn't help but feel that it would really suck to miss one of the rare chances they had to get out and away from the building, even if just for a little while.

Then again, maybe there wouldn't even be a field trip... There was no telling what the military had planned for them all.

[razing_phoenix]

It was true that Claude seemed to be doing well enough for himself, though it was no surprise that Tear was still concerned for him. "I'm sure he'll be fine," he agreed with a nod. "He's been here long enough that I think he's used to monster bites." It was the sad truth of the matter. Gyy was still going to have to make sure that Claude took proper care of himself, but that was something he could worry about once night rolled around.

However, as Tear explained, her comments about the medical wing made some sort of sense. She was still ill at the point in time that she came from, after all, and this time there was no Ion around to save her. Not that Guy would ever want that incident to be repeated, but it did bring up a problem. Was there any other method by which Tear could be cured? And was the hospital truly helping her?

"I hope that it actually does some good," he said with a frown. "You'll have to keep us up to date." As for the possibility of Natalia being there, well... Guy wasn't going to count on such a thing. It wasn't as if the princess had some sort of illness that would justify it, and he just wasn't willing to allow himself to be optimistic.

Anise had a good point about the Doyleton trip, though. Guy crossed his arms over his chest and sighed. "I don't think they'd actually force her to stay behind for that. Maybe they'll just wake you up earlier," he said with a glance at Tear.