The fresh air and physical activity had been good for Utena. She still wasn't happy about her situation, oh no. But she was considerably less worked up than she had been at the start of it, at least. With the military apparently in disguise and the patient population actually looking like patients, the day was starting to seem downright normal by Landel's standards. The only thing that still really, really bothered her was the lack of Himemiya. She hadn't seen a trace of the other girl all day. By this point, the only thing she could hope was that Himemiya was asleep somewhere, perhaps wherever Utena herself had been all this time
( ... )
Aigis was a bit distracted as she walked into the dimmed Sun Room. She barely registered that they had been promised a movie for today. Beyond the letter in her hand and the disturbing conversation from the shift before, Aigis had very little care for the institute's need for pretense. She had given the note a quick look-through before leaving the visitor's area, deciding to give it more consideration during dinner. For now, she had someone to meet, and that was able to compute despite her troubled mind.
She saw the bubblegum pink of her friend's hair shaded slightly in the darkness of the makeshift theater. Aigis made her way over on wooden legs, overwhelmed by too many emotions in too small a time frame.
"Tenjou-san," she muttered, nodding in greeting. She was at least dressed in old Landel's wear. Aigis trusted Utena would be herself, but she couldn't quite muster her own normal cheer for this reunion. She tried to smile, but it was obviously forced. "Welcome back."
Utena turned at the sound of the familiar voice, head perking up. Aigis looked tired; considering where she'd just been, Utena couldn't say she blamed her. "I'd say 'Glad to be back' but that wouldn't be a very good joke, would it?" Utena sighed slightly pushing herself off the wall and facing her friend more directly, arms lowering back to her sides.
"Man, it feels like I only saw you yesterday..." From Utena's point of view, that was true. One of the last people Utena remembered seeing before blacking out was Aigis. She was still having a hard time accepting that so much time had passed. Six days out of commission seemed almost unfathomable. "But I'm still glad to see you, Aigis," she said, giving the android girl a small, but genuine smile.
After a moment, she took a breath and asked the big question to get it out of the way: "How was it in there...?"
Aigis nodded wearily, unable to form much of a coherent response to that. She didn't understand how it would ever be much of a joke given the context. But she shrugged it off as just another part of humanity that she failed to understand.
"It has been many more days for me," Aigis responded honestly. She had truly missed her friend's company in the past several days. Utena had always been a constant source of comfort after their first meeting. Having her back meant more to Aigis than she could say. "I am glad as well, even if it is not in the best place to be."
She returned the smile, feeling it grow naturally this time. She could get through this, now that she had a friend's support. "I am doing... alright. But it was hard, seeing Heat again. Heath-san is the one in charge now." She took a steadying breath. "I will be fine, I think. How has your day been...?"
Taura walked back into the Sun Room, her usual sleek grace in motion replaced by an exhausted slouch. Lying wasn't her strong suit, and pretending to be anything she wasn't even less so.
But what was the truth? There was a simple explanation for all of this, staring her in the face, if she was willing to just abandon the grasp on reality she'd clung to with tooth and nail.
A soldier cleared her throat. Not the one that had accosted her before, but a tiny woman, well-armed and confident. She was holding out an equally tiny flimsy, folded over but otherwise no different than the notes on the board. Taura blinked. There were several other officials doing the same service, mostly with envelopes
( ... )
It seemed dramatic to feel so... dramatic after only being in this place for about three minutes, but Wichita was seriously starting to get why everyone hated it. It wasn't just the monsters or just the asshole soldiers, it was the whole mentality of it. It seemed like nobody wanted to be here, and even those she noticed having friendly conversations and trying to make the best of it seemed tired, if not sporting bandages from who knows what sort of injuries. Just being a part of the mass of patients was enough to bring her mood down. Which sucked
( ... )
It took Scott a moment to realize that someone was talking to him. His focus was split between the letter and the vague impressions he was getting from the movie in front of him. He blinked, realizing that he had heard talking, but not actually heard what the person was saying.
"Wait, what?" Scott turned to see Wichita sitting next to him, looking irritated enough to warrant a good dousing with calamine lotion. "Did you just get a visitor?" His eyes went back to the letter from "Chris" for a moment, then back to Wichita. "I'm. Not really the person to ask on that? This-" Scott held the letter up "-is literally the only experience I have with the whole fake people from our fake lives thing. And I just got it, like, two minutes ago."
"But-" Toronto was supposed to know everything. She frowned, um, more, and slumped down in her seat, legs stretched out in front of her, not caring if they now served as a tripping hazard for others. Watching a movie would have been a great distraction if she actually knew which movie this was, and wasn't a tiny bit worried that if she looked at the screen for too long she'd start getting implanted with subliminal messages added into the movie to really mess with patients. Instead she just looked down at her feet, contemplated her tacky shoes
( ... )
Scott had heard smatterings of bits and pieces about visitors and how sucky they were. This was probably the most complete account he had heard so far, actually. He wasn't sure who "Columbus" was, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that he was some kind of friend of hers, and that he came from Columbus... Whatever State Columbus Was In Again. (Hey shut up, American geography was not constantly drilled into students' heads in Canadian Social Studies.) It also didn't take a genius to figure out how utterly bizarre it would be to actually come face-to-face with someone who looked like a friend and sounded like a complete stranger. It was bizarre enough seeing this letter from "Chris" written in Wallace's handwriting
( ... )
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She saw the bubblegum pink of her friend's hair shaded slightly in the darkness of the makeshift theater. Aigis made her way over on wooden legs, overwhelmed by too many emotions in too small a time frame.
"Tenjou-san," she muttered, nodding in greeting. She was at least dressed in old Landel's wear. Aigis trusted Utena would be herself, but she couldn't quite muster her own normal cheer for this reunion. She tried to smile, but it was obviously forced. "Welcome back."
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"Man, it feels like I only saw you yesterday..." From Utena's point of view, that was true. One of the last people Utena remembered seeing before blacking out was Aigis. She was still having a hard time accepting that so much time had passed. Six days out of commission seemed almost unfathomable. "But I'm still glad to see you, Aigis," she said, giving the android girl a small, but genuine smile.
After a moment, she took a breath and asked the big question to get it out of the way: "How was it in there...?"
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"It has been many more days for me," Aigis responded honestly. She had truly missed her friend's company in the past several days. Utena had always been a constant source of comfort after their first meeting. Having her back meant more to Aigis than she could say. "I am glad as well, even if it is not in the best place to be."
She returned the smile, feeling it grow naturally this time. She could get through this, now that she had a friend's support. "I am doing... alright. But it was hard, seeing Heat again. Heath-san is the one in charge now." She took a steadying breath. "I will be fine, I think. How has your day been...?"
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But what was the truth? There was a simple explanation for all of this, staring her in the face, if she was willing to just abandon the grasp on reality she'd clung to with tooth and nail.
A soldier cleared her throat. Not the one that had accosted her before, but a tiny woman, well-armed and confident. She was holding out an equally tiny flimsy, folded over but otherwise no different than the notes on the board. Taura blinked. There were several other officials doing the same service, mostly with envelopes ( ... )
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It seemed dramatic to feel so... dramatic after only being in this place for about three minutes, but Wichita was seriously starting to get why everyone hated it. It wasn't just the monsters or just the asshole soldiers, it was the whole mentality of it. It seemed like nobody wanted to be here, and even those she noticed having friendly conversations and trying to make the best of it seemed tired, if not sporting bandages from who knows what sort of injuries. Just being a part of the mass of patients was enough to bring her mood down. Which sucked ( ... )
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"Wait, what?" Scott turned to see Wichita sitting next to him, looking irritated enough to warrant a good dousing with calamine lotion. "Did you just get a visitor?" His eyes went back to the letter from "Chris" for a moment, then back to Wichita. "I'm. Not really the person to ask on that? This-" Scott held the letter up "-is literally the only experience I have with the whole fake people from our fake lives thing. And I just got it, like, two minutes ago."
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