Ack. Anise figured a new guy would have lots of easy questions, but he just kept coming up with the tough ones.
Anise tilted her head to the side as she thought. "I'm not really sure. I thought they were doing it to back up their lies, but the military isn't pretending to run a hospital, so..." If they weren't trying to trick the patients, who were they trying to fool? Or maybe they were never trying to fool anyone. "Maybe it's part of their experiments. You know, like... putting a rat in a maze and seeing what it'll do."
It was a pretty dark way of looking at things, but the truth was that the people heading the institute had control over everything around them. It actually wouldn't be that weird if they were doing something like that.
After letting that thought sink in for a few seconds, Anise looked over Hope once more, noticing the untouched snack bag. "You should eat," she suggested with a small smile. "You might not get much for good food after today." Hope was lucky not to have been inflicted with that horrible-looking gruel yet, but chances were that he was going to be faced with it tomorrow. The least Anise could do was warn him so he didn't pass up his chance to eat real food while he could.
A rat in a maze. He closed his eyes for a moment, burying his nose down into the thick scarf around his neck. It was the first thought he had about this place; what a thing to learn that might be true.
At the mention of food, though, he glanced at the bag. Hope wasn't sure if he wanted to eat, especially if it would just tease his hunger. He was still running on the nearing empty reserves of adrenaline and shock, and to eat would just make him hungrier, he knew. And it would mean he stopped for... something. And that might open a floodgate he wasn't prepared to face yet. Of what, he didn't know. But right now, it felt like he was still running. Learning about the new place he was in; defending himself.
And as long as he didn't stop and didn't look back, he would be okay for that moment.
"In... a little while." He agreed. He shook his head again to clear his thoughts, though. He needed to stop thinking about that. Thinking about anything, really. "And everyone just got here one day? Has anyone been able to get home?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "What if someone here is dangerous and needs to get back?"
When Hope declined to eat, Anise let out a small, silent sigh. She still thought that he might regret that, but she couldn't force him to do anything he didn't want to do. Besides, maybe he wasn't feeling well, and she definitely didn't want to push that when she was the one sitting next to him for the whole ride. All this talk of human experiments could churn most people's stomachs, she realized.
Letting that subject drop as abruptly as it was brought up, she focused instead on his questions. Unfortunately, there really wasn't an easy way to answer them.
"No one remembers getting here, and... no one's been able to get home, from what I've heard," she answered, her gaze lowering to her own knees as she shared the gloomy facts. "The only people who leave are the people they let out; the people they managed to brainwash into thinking they're someone else." There were also the people who died, but... this conversation was dark enough without mentioning that.
Hope's last question was one that gave Anise pause, however, and she looked back to him with a confused look. Someone dangerous? Did he meet someone like that last night? Or... was he talking about himself? Looking at him now, though, Anise had a hard time imagining anything about Hope being dangerous. After a long pause, she finally asked, "What do you mean, dangerous?"
"I meant, sick." He amended quickly. Dangerous probably wasn't the best word to go about it, now that he thought on that. "Dangerous to themselves... maybe others. But if they're sick and need to go home in order to get better... isn't there something? Anything?"
Not that he was sure he wanted to go back. Going back would just be going to a swift execution. But the chance of being able to do something and make the last of his days seem worthwhile was there. He still had to take revenge for his mother's death. Even if that was the only thing he would be able to do before he was caught by Psicom.
He wasn't sure what she meant by brainwashing, either, but at least it seemed like some way out. Enough to perk his interest, anyway. A way out of the hospital might not mean a way home, but it could be a start. Better than staying in the dark, anyway. He... didn't like that darkness.
"Couldn't anyone just... pretend to believe them?" He asked, tilting his head. "And then just... find a way home once they're out of the hospital?"
"Sick? Um..." Anise wasn't sure how to answer. Did he mean sick in a contagious way, or in a sick-in-the-head way? And... he was talking about himself, wasn't he? Why else would he ask? "Sometimes they give medicine or treatments to people. During the day, they actually take good care of patients, usually." She wasn't sure if the military was going to be a different story, but... they were treating Tear's miasma poisoning, weren't they? All Anise could do was hope they were actually helping her. "But if they don't treat something, then it's probably because they don't want it to be treated..."
She bit her lip a little, knowing that that probably wasn't something Hope wanted to hear. It was probably part of their experiments; watching weird, foreign illnesses as they got worse. It was disgusting, but that was the kind of people their captors were.
"As for pretending to believe them, I've been trying that for weeks and they still don't buy it, boooo," Anise groaned, pouting a little. She was sure that she was a convincing actress, so maybe they had some way of knowing for sure who still had their identities.
But Anise didn't want to give only bad news, so she quickly followed up with something a little more upbeat. "Anyway, all you can really do is rely on the friends you make here. Like me!" She grinned in a way that she hoped was reassuring. "You can come to me for anything, okay?"
He attempted a smile for her, glad to hear someone at least... upbeat about everything. Not that he thought she'd want to hang around him if she ever found out he was l'Cie. No one did.
"Thanks." There was a duck of his head as he said that, some sheepishness that still managed to be retained through this experience and journey. He hadn't been appreciative enough of Vanille's optimism and warmth, relying instead on Lightning to help him and-- now he regretted that. She may not have seemed as strong, but at least she was willing to pull him along and make sure he didn't get left alone.
And now, with that cheeriness seemed reflected in Anise, and his own fumbling in this place, he was more than glad for what seemed almost like... a second chance. Choose to listen to the person who made it sound like it would be okay.
It was uplifting to see that she got a smile out of him, even if it wasn't a very big one.
As Anise looked in Hope's direction, though, she realized she could see buildings through the window beside him. Leaning closer to get a better look, she announced, "Oh, look! We're here!" Doyleton looked different from how she remembered it, with glistening snow covering the rooftops and icicles hanging from every ledge. It was kind of pretty, actually.
Unfortunately, reaching the town meant there wasn't much time left to talk, so Anise figured this was a good time to let Hope know how to contact her. "There's a bulletin board back at the institute that people use for keeping in touch with each other. If you need a favor or if you just want to talk, all you have to do is leave a note with my name on it."
But they were in Doyleton now, so that method wasn't going to work today. They still had options, though, didn't they? "Oh, and there's another bulletin by the grocer in town here. I'll keep an eye on that one too." Maybe he wouldn't even want to rely on a stranger like her, but it was still good for him to have someone he could come to if he wanted to. Nobody should be alone in a place like this, Anise thought.
notifs hfdjksfhskdescapedpandoraMay 12 2011, 01:45:08 UTC
He looked out the window at her prompting, blinking as he realized it was snowing now. Had it been like that when he had been ushered on the bus? He vaguely remembered the outside being white, but taking little notice of it other than the cold as he stepped outside. He had been more relieved at the fact that there was still light outside in the sky rather than looking down.
Snow. He tried not to associate the name and just pressing a hand against the window in wonderment at the flakes falling from the sky. It took a moment before he was broken from his reverie, looking back as she talked about the bulletin boards. That was good to know-- without phones and such, it would have been hard to find anything. At the very least, there was that.
"Okay. I'll... look for that." And he would, or at least try to find it. Something like that might be able to tell him more about the place he had ended up in. A hesitation, even as he watched people get herded off the bus. "Thank you."
The seats in front of them cleared first, and before long it was Anise's turn to go. Her smile brightened when Hope thanked her. "Anytime!" she replied as she rose to her feet, her paper bag and things in hand.
"I'll always be around, so don't be a stranger!" she reminded him one last time before a "nurse" shouted for patients to keep moving, and she had no choice but to move ahead to the exit. All she could do now was hope that he'd be okay.
Anise tilted her head to the side as she thought. "I'm not really sure. I thought they were doing it to back up their lies, but the military isn't pretending to run a hospital, so..." If they weren't trying to trick the patients, who were they trying to fool? Or maybe they were never trying to fool anyone. "Maybe it's part of their experiments. You know, like... putting a rat in a maze and seeing what it'll do."
It was a pretty dark way of looking at things, but the truth was that the people heading the institute had control over everything around them. It actually wouldn't be that weird if they were doing something like that.
After letting that thought sink in for a few seconds, Anise looked over Hope once more, noticing the untouched snack bag. "You should eat," she suggested with a small smile. "You might not get much for good food after today." Hope was lucky not to have been inflicted with that horrible-looking gruel yet, but chances were that he was going to be faced with it tomorrow. The least Anise could do was warn him so he didn't pass up his chance to eat real food while he could.
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At the mention of food, though, he glanced at the bag. Hope wasn't sure if he wanted to eat, especially if it would just tease his hunger. He was still running on the nearing empty reserves of adrenaline and shock, and to eat would just make him hungrier, he knew. And it would mean he stopped for... something. And that might open a floodgate he wasn't prepared to face yet. Of what, he didn't know. But right now, it felt like he was still running. Learning about the new place he was in; defending himself.
And as long as he didn't stop and didn't look back, he would be okay for that moment.
"In... a little while." He agreed. He shook his head again to clear his thoughts, though. He needed to stop thinking about that. Thinking about anything, really. "And everyone just got here one day? Has anyone been able to get home?"
He shifted uncomfortably. "What if someone here is dangerous and needs to get back?"
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Letting that subject drop as abruptly as it was brought up, she focused instead on his questions. Unfortunately, there really wasn't an easy way to answer them.
"No one remembers getting here, and... no one's been able to get home, from what I've heard," she answered, her gaze lowering to her own knees as she shared the gloomy facts. "The only people who leave are the people they let out; the people they managed to brainwash into thinking they're someone else." There were also the people who died, but... this conversation was dark enough without mentioning that.
Hope's last question was one that gave Anise pause, however, and she looked back to him with a confused look. Someone dangerous? Did he meet someone like that last night? Or... was he talking about himself? Looking at him now, though, Anise had a hard time imagining anything about Hope being dangerous. After a long pause, she finally asked, "What do you mean, dangerous?"
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Not that he was sure he wanted to go back. Going back would just be going to a swift execution. But the chance of being able to do something and make the last of his days seem worthwhile was there. He still had to take revenge for his mother's death. Even if that was the only thing he would be able to do before he was caught by Psicom.
He wasn't sure what she meant by brainwashing, either, but at least it seemed like some way out. Enough to perk his interest, anyway. A way out of the hospital might not mean a way home, but it could be a start. Better than staying in the dark, anyway. He... didn't like that darkness.
"Couldn't anyone just... pretend to believe them?" He asked, tilting his head. "And then just... find a way home once they're out of the hospital?"
Reply
She bit her lip a little, knowing that that probably wasn't something Hope wanted to hear. It was probably part of their experiments; watching weird, foreign illnesses as they got worse. It was disgusting, but that was the kind of people their captors were.
"As for pretending to believe them, I've been trying that for weeks and they still don't buy it, boooo," Anise groaned, pouting a little. She was sure that she was a convincing actress, so maybe they had some way of knowing for sure who still had their identities.
But Anise didn't want to give only bad news, so she quickly followed up with something a little more upbeat. "Anyway, all you can really do is rely on the friends you make here. Like me!" She grinned in a way that she hoped was reassuring. "You can come to me for anything, okay?"
Reply
"Thanks." There was a duck of his head as he said that, some sheepishness that still managed to be retained through this experience and journey. He hadn't been appreciative enough of Vanille's optimism and warmth, relying instead on Lightning to help him and-- now he regretted that. She may not have seemed as strong, but at least she was willing to pull him along and make sure he didn't get left alone.
And now, with that cheeriness seemed reflected in Anise, and his own fumbling in this place, he was more than glad for what seemed almost like... a second chance. Choose to listen to the person who made it sound like it would be okay.
Reply
As Anise looked in Hope's direction, though, she realized she could see buildings through the window beside him. Leaning closer to get a better look, she announced, "Oh, look! We're here!" Doyleton looked different from how she remembered it, with glistening snow covering the rooftops and icicles hanging from every ledge. It was kind of pretty, actually.
Unfortunately, reaching the town meant there wasn't much time left to talk, so Anise figured this was a good time to let Hope know how to contact her. "There's a bulletin board back at the institute that people use for keeping in touch with each other. If you need a favor or if you just want to talk, all you have to do is leave a note with my name on it."
But they were in Doyleton now, so that method wasn't going to work today. They still had options, though, didn't they? "Oh, and there's another bulletin by the grocer in town here. I'll keep an eye on that one too." Maybe he wouldn't even want to rely on a stranger like her, but it was still good for him to have someone he could come to if he wanted to. Nobody should be alone in a place like this, Anise thought.
Reply
Snow. He tried not to associate the name and just pressing a hand against the window in wonderment at the flakes falling from the sky. It took a moment before he was broken from his reverie, looking back as she talked about the bulletin boards. That was good to know-- without phones and such, it would have been hard to find anything. At the very least, there was that.
"Okay. I'll... look for that." And he would, or at least try to find it. Something like that might be able to tell him more about the place he had ended up in. A hesitation, even as he watched people get herded off the bus. "Thank you."
Reply
"I'll always be around, so don't be a stranger!" she reminded him one last time before a "nurse" shouted for patients to keep moving, and she had no choice but to move ahead to the exit. All she could do now was hope that he'd be okay.
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