Day 57: Courtyard (Third Shift)
The air inside the Institute was getting stifling. It wasn't much different than usual, really, but knowing about all the changes done under the Institute's hood in her absence, Utena could barely stand it. The staff were so stiff, even as they pretended to be the same caring nurses as always. Landel's regurgitated voice recordings crept under her
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She headed towards the courtyard, ignoring the chill that ran through her body and feet crunching in the snow. She could deal with this. New York was colder. The place was pretty much deserted though and she was intent to at least, walk out as far as she was allowed. Peter said something out how no matter how far someone went, they would always return? She wanted to try that.
However, her path was stopped by a pink-haired girl was... doing stretches. In the snow. From lack of better judgement, Jessica found herself stopping and staring, curious about these antics. Couldn't she just do this inside or something? And why was her hair pink?
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So, for now, she stayed upside-down to address her (apparent) audience. "Hey there. What's up?" she asked, offering a curious smile to the brunette (who she guessed was about her age?) and resting both feet against the wall for a moment. "Haven't seen you around before. Are you new?"
Utena caught herself after speaking. As far as she knew, this girl could have been here for at least six days now, long enough to call herself a veteran of Landel's. It was just the sort of question she had grown used to asking; habits were hard to break, even recently formed ones, it seemed. Still, it was too late to withdraw the question. Oh well, she thought. She supposed she would get her answer soon enough, if the other girl felt like answering.
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She tipped her head back, moving her stare back over to the other girl. That hair colour couldn't be natural. Maybe some sort of mutation? Was she a mutant? And what was with the upside-down thing? She didn't ask any of these though, preferring to just shift in her spot for continuing.
"What are you doing? Isn't it cold?"
It wasn't too cold for Jessica. She was from New York. She was used to this weather. Still, having your hands deep in the snow must not be all that comfortable.
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Finally, the cold seeped through her gloves enough that Utena was forced to lower her head closer to the ground and bend her knees, rolling out of her position and back to her feet. Owow, head rush! she thought, squeezing her eyes shut for just a moment while she brushed snow off her hands and knees. When she was back on her feet, she turned back to face the other girl. "Yeah, but I'd rather be out here than in there, that's for sure! Besides, the cold's a little refreshing," she answered with a shrug.
"And I wouldn't blame you for wanting to get away from all that too, if you just got here yesterday," she continued, walking over to the brunette. "Man, I'm so sorry you had to come in now. There isn't really a good time to get brought to Landel's, but this is probably one of the worse times they could've picked for you," she said with a sigh, breath drifting up into the cool air in front of her as she folded her arms behind her head. "I'm Utena, by the way. If you have any questions someone else hasn't already answered, I could try to help a little?"
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"Hey, don't worry. It wasn't that bad."
It was. She got turned into a spider.
"Uh... I'm Julia." She didn't like going by that name, but if they gave her a fake identity, she might as well use it. It was better than Mattie or Charlotte anyways. She paused and then shook her head, rocking back on her heels before settling straight. "No, it's okay. People've been really open with information here."
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"Good to meet you," said Utena, shifting her feet and crunching snow beneath them. She nodded after Julia's next words. "That's good. First days are always pretty hectic. Mine was..." How long had it been now? Including the time she'd been out of commission? "...I guess almost three weeks ago now. I'm no stranger to strangeness, but even for me - wow. Not fun."
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Her eyes flicked open wider and she found herself chewing on her lower lip out of habit. Just the thought of being here longer than a few days was freaking her out, not that she was showing it on the surface. The instincts to get out, get out, get out was returning again and she shoved a smile onto her lips, nodding after a moment.
"Almost a month... wow. That's a long time. Uh, how has it been for you then?"
Smooth, steady. Or at least, she tried.
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"Like, has anyone told you about what exactly the 'visitors' are yet?" Utena asked as an example. "I've had two of them so far, and it really just makes you want to slap them in the face until they remember who you are!" And then run around at night aimlessly trying to find out where the Institute was keeping them in the meantime, but Utena decided not to add that part for now.
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That was something Peter hadn't told her about. She mulled over it for a second. From the way Utena put it, it sounded like they were people she knew that didn't know her? That was... that would be frustrating. But honestly, it didn't sound that bad to Jessica and perhaps that was because she hadn't experienced it before, but it was something she was already used to. People not remembering who she was. Or at least, recognizing her. People she knew.
"What exactly, uh, happens?"
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Her brow furrowed. Strange. She couldn't really remember now. It hadn't been that long ago she had last talked to Harley, had it? Even with the missing days, it was just a few weeks, tops. Did people and words really start to slip away that quickly sometimes?
She shook her head. Whatever, she thought. She was sure she could still think up a good description on her own. "Well, they're basically people you know from home. Only, they're not. They'll look and sound exactly like the person you know, but they call you by the stupid fake name the staff force on you, and they'll insist that you really are crazy. And they'll claim to have a totally different name of their own, too."
She paused for a moment, pressing her teeth together behind her lips as she forced memories of "Antony" and "Cecilia" out of her mind. After the moment passed, she continued: "They ask you how you're doing, if you're making progress, when you're 'coming home', that sort of thing. It's kind of like some kind of surreal dream, only you can't wake up from it." More like a nightmare, depending on who came to visit and how much it hurt to see them that way, she thought with a faint shudder.
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The whole concept was hard to wrap her mind around, but she had to wonder. If she ever got a visitor, who would come and see her? Her brothers were all dead, Peter couldn't since he was already here. That left, what, Carol Danvers or Doc Ock? Neither of those options were something she'd ever want to happen to her, for a multitude of reasons. One being she didn't want Octopus-But to tell her that she was crazy.
(Or Johnny. But she wouldn't know how to deal with it.)
She was silent again, shifting uncomfortably and tugging at her sleeves. "That sounds -- yeah, it sounds pretty screwed up." She paused. "Who are these people then? Because they can't really be... you know."
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"They might be, actually," said Utena, keeping the bad medicine coming. "Once you see them... I don't know how to describe it, but it just feels too real, you know? Like no one could've copied someone that perfectly." She wondered if that explanation even made sense, but continued anyway: "Most people figure they are the people we know, but they've been brainwashed or something like that. That makes the most sense to me, considering..."
Utena bit her lip for a moment, forcing down the memories of "Yoko" before shaking her head and pushing more words out of her mouth: "Anyway, yeah, it's so awful! I don't know how anyone justifies that kind of thing!"
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