Day 58: Cafeteria

[gald_digger]

Anise woke up feeling lucky to be alive. She still felt a bit waterlogged, even though her skin, hair, and clothes were completely dry. During last night's adventures, she'd swallowed a lot of water, and it still felt heavy and disgusting in her stomach. Her arms and legs were tired from treading water. Lying still in her bed, she still kind of

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[allineeded]

Leanne froze, eyes fixed on the girl across her. The girl had known, just like that. Just one look at her and she'd known. How had she--

...But it didn't really matter how she'd known, did it?

Breaking out into a grin, she relaxed, already feeling her heartbeat slow down some. She should have expected it, really. The people here probably all knew each other already, were probably all here for the same reason, whatever it was. Of course they'd know she wasn't one of them.

"Yeah, I guess." She nodded, resting her arms on the table in front of her. What did she even mean by 'new'? The girl hadn't seemed perturbed by it at all, almost as if she regularly just happened to meet people who'd been dragged here from their homes. "I just woke up here this morning. I was in my own bed before that."

How she'd woken up there instead of her own room was one thing she definitely needed to find out, preferably as soon as possible. The idea of someone sneaking in on them in the middle of the night... It made Leanne's chest squeeze uncomfortably.

"It's really weird." Understatement. "What's... What's going on?"

[yin_yang_fox]

Shock and then relief. Renamon couldn't place the reasons for the emotions until the girl spoke. This morning. The relief was now obvious. She thought that she could gain some understanding. Renamon had been here for nearly a month, and despite that and the amount of information that she had, understanding still slipped out of reach. Even with the military here, the supposed obvious fact in front of them, she couldn't accept such a given answer. So much was veiled in obfuscation--for something to be so clear now was distrusted.

...Where to start.

Byrne was the last newcomer Renamon had unloaded information onto, and even the slow way of explanation had still shocked him into denial multiple times. The girl before her was human, without a doubt, but how far into normality was she? Where did her beliefs and knowledges lay, and what would she readily accept? It was something to feel out--and luckily it seemed the girl would show emotions easily, enough for Renamon to possibly discern how to step.

The Digimon nodded to the girl, as if in clear understanding. "My name is Renamon. There are a few others that have been here longer than myself, but I have a good portion of information about this place that I can share with you." Depending on how open her tablemate was. "What you should know before anything is you were taken from where you resided and this is a currently military-run institution that masquerades to the public as a mental asylum. We are the patients here."

The soldiers, and the experiments, as well.

[allineeded]

The grin on her face faltered, turning into a frown. What the girl, Renamon, said... she sounded so calm about it. She didn't even bat an eye, only remained perfectly calm while she said it. But that didn't make any sense, what she said didn't make any sense! Taken away? No, that couldn't have...

Leanne bit her lip, glancing off to the side before looking back at Renamon, trying to will away the sinking feeling in her stomach. What about Zephyr and Vashyron then? They'd been in the same house she'd been taken from? Were they here too and she just hadn't seen them yet? Or were they taken somewhere else, somewhere away from her?

She really hoped they were all right.

"..The military?" she asked at length, the words finally sinking in. Her eyes widened. "Are the Cardinals behind this?"

But why would they do something like that? She didn't exactly like some of them, but they were the Cardinals. Kidnapping people and--

Leanne gasped in a breath. Of course. Of course they would. She'd lived it, in Aetersyl. It wasn't exactly the same situation, but it was definitely close enough. Was Cardinal Rowen behind this too then? What about... Juris?

She looked up at Renamon again, shaking her head slightly. "Sorry... Renamon. I'm Leanne."

[yin_yang_fox]

Leanne. A name to the face that briefly fell before rising back in a desperate grab for understanding. It made sense, of course. For who else to look towards in pain but for the ones who caused it to you personally? Cardinals were something new, but another name to a list. The people Leanne thought of were more likely to appear as patients than as aggressors. Renamon shook her head once. "It's unlikely. It's simpler to think of everything from your life as being cut off here."

A harsh fact but something true. "We were taken from our homes and places we resided by people that have nothing to do with the conflicts there. They know about all of it, and will detail to you, given the chance, but they hold no standing in either side." She wasn't explaining in a proper way, and part of her understood it. How old was Leanne? The girl was small, but likely was older than she looked. Not close to Rika's age at all, but.... "If you're here, it's because there's something in you that interests them. Something they will study and try to take advantage of. It's why all of us are here."

[allineeded]

Study. It was happening all over again, wasn't it? There was something about her that made people want to study her. But why? No one ever told her why she'd been picked in Aetersyl and, judging by how friendly her escort had been, she doubted anyone would tell her the real reason now. She-- all of them, she realized with a pang-- were only test subjects to whoever was in charge. Even if they were treated nicely sometimes, in the end, they were all only...

Would this place, too, leave her to die in the end?

She couldn't, wouldn't, let them.

Leanne closed her eyes briefly, taking a deep breath as she did so. "Thank you... Do you know where here is?" Cut off, Renamon had said. There were a lot of things that could mean, but one possibility in particular kept nagging at her. A possibility she almost didn't dare say out loud, it was so far-fetched, so impossible, but she needed to know. "We're not in Basel?" She almost managed to keep her voice from cracking, too.

[yin_yang_fox]

Here came a larger issue, depending on where Leanne came from. Basel was nothing familiar to the Digimon, as many of the places spoken here had been. Renamon closed her eyes for a moment. "This place is not somewhere that would be familiar to any that come here. It exists outside of everything else."

This was fact, however, there was now added details. "However, it's said that this is somewhere in America, on Earth." She paused, watching the girl. "Around the years 2006 to 2008, supposedly." She was silent a moment, then added. "Which means that to the people here, we're either in the future, the past, or something unknown altogether."

[allineeded]

Neither the names nor the year were familiar to her at all. There was no place in Basel with that name and, if anywhere outside it once had any of those names, there was no way to know about it.

Just the thought sent chills down her spine, but there was absolutely no way to deny it. Wherever she was, whenever she was, the truth was she was no longer in Basel. There was no way to be sure until she could go outside the building, or until she could get a good look out a window, but so far it seemed like... In this place, Basel's walls were probably nonexistent, something only someone like her would know about.

"We're in the outside world," Leanne whispered, almost to herself, still not quite able to believe it. In that moment, it was almost unbearable, sitting there in that room, doing nothing. She had to go outside, had to see what it was like outside Basel, somewhere even the Cardinals didn't know about.

"So you're not from here either? You're from somewhere different?"

[yin_yang_fox]

The outside world could have been a number of things. The least of which a prison, the worst touching on a place of existence cut away from all else. Renamon could believe any number of things, any number of worlds with different lifestyles. The way Leanne whispered the words gave more than the simplicity of the phrase. Renamon looked at her, truly, and took in that the mention of possible different times didn't phase the girl. That was enough of a reassurance to move forward.

The Digimon shook her head once. "I'm not. And none of the people here are. Possibly even including those who are in charge of this institute." She watched Leanne, bright eyes near-staring. "I'm from a world where there exists a normal world overlaid with a Digital one, made from the information created in the physical world." She quirked a corner of her mouth, aware that that was a bit of a strange amount of information to take in.

[allineeded]

Leanne quirked an eyebrow, only able to stare for several moments. "I don't really get it..." An understatement, maybe. She didn't understand anything about where the other girl was from, not even what the word digital meant. Maybe... Maybe that was just one more thing that had been lost when everyone moved to Basel, something that only belonged in the outside world.

She smiled a little though, shaking her head slightly. It seemed silly even to her, that she'd be able to smile then, but she had to be strong, had to stay calm if she wanted to go back. And this was the best way she knew to do it. (Back to where? To Basel, where everything was so... No. No, back to her friends. That was a lot more important.) She'd gotten through Aetersyl and lived, she could get through this too.

"I wonder how they got all of us in here."

[yin_yang_fox]

It was more than needed at the moment. Renamon nodded. "My apologies. Though there is no definite knowledge of how they get us here. There's a few theories, but nothing that can be proven." There was also the fact of people being here after they had already died, and people who were inhuman appearing in human bodies, but those things could come at a later date. There were other things Leanne should know before they even touched those details.

"There are some things you should know," she went on. "At night, we're released from the rooms we're kept in, and can explore whenever we want that we can get to. Escape is pointless--no matter where we are in the night, the next morning we're back in our rooms." She wondered if there were any exceptions to that rule. At this point, she lacked any hope of that. "Don't go out alone, though. There are creatures and dangers at night, and it's especially dangerous if you travel by yourself."

[allineeded]

If ever there was a moment where she needed her gun... Leanne huffed out a breath, frowning. Escape was pointless. No, she couldn't believe that. There just had to be a way out. Somehow. So what if they couldn't find it yet? It still had to exist.

There was a more pressing concern anyway, the creatures the other girl had mentioned. Probably monsters, she reasoned. Which meant... Monsters existed in the outside world as well, she realized with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She probably should have expected it, with how commonplace they were in Basel. It shouldn't have surprised her at all. She was used to them, after all. Yet... She couldn't deny she had been expecting, hoping, for things to be different, to maybe be... better in the outside world?

But there was probably a reason they'd all left in in the first place, right?

On the other hand, at least that was somewhat familiar territory. Monsters, she fought them all the time. She knew how to take them out. Surely, they couldn't be that different from the ones she'd faced before... though she would have preferred to have her usual company whenever she ran into them.

Of course, there was still one thing Leanne would need if she wanted to face them. "What about weapons?" she asked carefully.

[yin_yang_fox]

If Renamon was thinking more at the moment, she would have possibly considered the implications of what she said. Canceling out a hope of escape was close to cruel, though justifiably true in the current standings. It existed as a double-edged sword--it was also possible to provoke action and resolution with the words as well. But the Digimon did not catch her misuse of words, and only continued on.

The girl was sharp, at any rate. Renamon's lips curved in a thin smile of approval. "They're hard to come by." If Leanne would jump straight to the important points, Renamon would speak bluntly. "Most use what they can find. Metal pipes from janitor closet or restroom, wooden poles from the closets in your room, baseball bats from the sheds outside. Upstairs you can find small knives and scalpels in a laboratory--or chemicals to make weapons of your own that way, if it suits.

"Actual weapons...." The Digimon paused. "Aren't likely to be found. There's only a few ways. There's a radio in your room. Some nights, not near to all, there are clues given--and sometimes the clues lead to an actual weapon. Other times it leads to a trap. There's also a town nearby, which may have some there, but it hasn't been validated." She considered asking the girl to accompany them for a moment, then passed on the idea. Doyleton was too dangerous for one newly here. "I'm traveling there later. I'll let you know tomorrow if I find anything of use. There's a bulletin board in the main room that you can check for notes."

[allineeded]

She was silent for several moments, considering. So no guns for now, but weapons, even if makeshift weapons, were available. The knowledge brought a sense of relief with it, knowing that she wouldn't be left entirely helpless against whatever roamed the halls. She could probably manage with whatever she found for a while,too. A gun would have been best, but a weapon was a weapon, no matter what specific type it was. And this was no time to be picky.

Leanne nodded, flashing a smile at Renamon, and leaned forward slightly on her arms. "Thanks. I really appreciate it!" A pause, her smile slipping some as she glanced briefly at the other occupants of the room. "I really do. I don't know what..."

This was really happening. She wasn't going back to Ebel City, not just yet (though, if she had her way, she'd be going back as soon as she possibly could). For now, there were other things she needed to do.

With renewed determination, she nodded once again. "I'll check out the bulletin board."

[yin_yang_fox]

For the determination in Leanne's eyes, she was rewarded with a small smile from Renamon. If nothing else, this girl was used to hardships. That provoked something in the Digimon, gave softness instead of severity. Renamon nodded again, then continued. "Do that. There's much to be learned in this place. It's not as straightforward as it seems."

Nothing was bound to the lines of reality or possibility. This place was shaped by wills, and the one who affected it most still existed out there. As Renamon suspected. "What weapons are you familiar with? If I see any tonight, I'll take it for you."

[allineeded]

Leanne couldn't quite help the grin at that, at the other girl's smile, only growing wider when she heard her offer. She'd definitely chosen a good person to sit with that morning, someone who, in such a short time, managed to help her feel better about the whole situation. Already, the anxiety from just a few minutes ago was disappearing, leaving only determination behind-- determination to get back home, to find her friends, to survive again.

"I can use guns. I'm a lot better with handguns, but I can use bigger ones too." Still beaming, she nodded. "Thank you. Even if you don't find anything!"

Yes. She could do this.

[yin_yang_fox]

The Digimon nodded, more warmed than she would have thought by Leanne's attitude. "Guns aren't easily found, but some do have them here. I'll keep a look out, and let you know if I find any." One might question her priorities of giving a newcomer a weapon that was nearly impossible to find, but Renamon kept to those who needed. It was why she held nothing back if possible from those who just showed. Information was a weapon in itself, knowledge a blade to fortify a soul, and she would not allow one to go empty handed by way of misplaced pride.

Or be without a physical defense when those new were the ones who needed it most. "It's nothing," she replied, shaking her head slightly. "Was there anything you had questions on? I can try to answer to the best of my abilities." Or the girl could slip away and find out for herself. Experience was a teacher as well as any. As long as Leanne was warned, and wary, Renamon was content.