DAY 59: CAFETERIA

[touchedgod]

Billy surfaced into wakefulness. Sleep receded like an inky tide, and it didn't say anything to him before it was gone. His dreams had been nothing but the sensation of water, rocking him restlessly in his bottle. There seemed to be an ocean beyond his confines, but he couldn't see it and couldn't reach it. He pawed at the glass, but any progress

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[witchdetective]

Night always ended whenever Erika thought she was getting things done for once, so it always left her feeling cranky in the morning. However, this morning, it was difficult to feel cranky when she realized that she was still "alive", at least meaning that the drug she was injected with had been non-lethal. Not that she had to worry too much if she "died", seeing as how it happened once before, but a piece that died one too many times wouldn't appear to be too useful. Besides, if she were to be thrown off this board... only hell waited for her. Needless to say, Erika was not interested in repeating that experience too soon

[falseblack]

Chasing a ghost resulted in a fruitless venture, the form of Rika slipping away to the ceiling before Nigredo had a chance to observe. A bemused child had fixed his gaze for minutes longer, unaware of the fact that his companions were about to head into the darkened chamber. Unaware until too late, the creak of doors drawing his attention to the present. In a brief moment of panic, he had sprinted for the other side and prayed to whatever god, fate, or luck that they weren't stupid enough to touch

[witchdetective]

Despite her highly agitated state, Erika was still very sensitive to her surroundings, so she definitely heard it. And she recognized that voice too, one that brushed her off as soon as he recognized her. Because Erika was agitated, she could only interpret his actions in one way: That he was disregarding someone who was supposed to be dead. Had he done this but a day earlier, she would have been too tired and moody to deal with him; after making progress last night, she could not stand yet another blow to her ego. Unfortunately for the boy, Erika marched right up to him, intent on ruining his quiet morning once and for all.

"Yes, you must be, because I don't remember asking you anything..." Erika trailed off, noting something odd about this boy's appearance. Namely, how it was not exactly like hers. "Wait... your beret... Why are you allowed to keep it off?!"

Why... why was it that this boy, who didn't even fight in the Coliseum, was given privileges above hers? Was it because he had more pins then her, if he did? or his rank? Now

[falseblack]

The dead girl marched up to his personal space before he had a chance to flee, further cementing the possibility that she was not as dead as original thought. Nigredo glanced back in her direction, noting how perfectly tangible she seemed, before turning to regard her fully. What had Albedo said before? "It's safe to say the area of the basement exists separately from the rest of this dimension." A death there did not apply to the institute itself.

Nigredo believed it, then. That theory explained two impossible occurrences, each having to do with the revival of the dead. Unfortunately, that meant Erika (That had been the name, right?) was, in truth, very much alive and not a product of mental instability. He frowned, opening his mouth to address her point.

Only to be sidetracked by an odd question. "Oh, that," said Nigredo. "I'm allowed because I have three pins." What? Did the lack of a beret seriously bother her, or was it the fact that he could do something she couldn't? Weirdo. The boy shook his head and continued, "More

[witchdetective]

Three pins? So, those things were part of determining one's worth to the Institute after all. With this answer, Erika actually seemed satisfied, as she noted that the number of achievements obviously outweighed the actual value of the achievements herself. It was a very strange system, but knowing some of how it worked made Erika's irritation lessen. Only a little. What was the third objective she had to fulfill so she could get these soldiers off her back about stupid things like her clothing and yet she had permission to wander around as she pleased

[falseblack]

For a brief moment, Nigredo considered whether she planned to address him or ignore the boy for whatever was transpiring in her head. He exercised patience, nevertheless, out of courtesy and because that was the kind of individual he happened to be. Nigredo also had nothing better to do. Might as well listen to a former dead girl explain her 'unfortunate' end

[witchdetective]

"I don't think so." It was nice to think that she had found favor in the general, but Erika wasn't going to be fooled by actions that she could tell had another purpose to them. Aguilar decided that she was worth keeping on the board, although he took a price in exchange for reviving her, it seemed. No matter. That was not his price to take and Erika was concerned about getting it back.

Until then, she was perfectly fine with childish and stupid acts to irritate him and his staff. Her pace was better then yesterday's, but Erika still grimaced when she finally reached the stairs leading up to the second floor that were near the patient blocks. Did she really have to climb those? If all she needed was blankets, then she could just take them from the patient blocks... but those would have been used. That thought was enough to encourage Erika to ascend the stairs, slowly but surely. Besides, the boy had followed; now she had a conversation partner to distract herself with

[falseblack]

Supposedly, he was mistaken in his assumption, but the girl's tone held him back from prying further. She appeared put off by the executive decision, which Nigredo could grudgingly relate to. Granted, it did nothing to lessen his curiosity, but he was a master over his whims. Most of the time, anyway

[witchdetective]

Why was this child so curious about her actions? Erika didn't need any evidence to know that this child had no desire to befriend her or anything silly like that, so it had to be his own curiosity. Perhaps he was still interested in why she was revived, or he was interested in exploring his own privilege and it was better to do it with company then alone. Either way, she didn't shun his company; she thought best when she had people to witness her reasoning in action

[falseblack]

Being overlooked was a common occurrence for this child, and when Erika chose to ignore his question, Nigredo simply heaved a sigh. It would have been nice to get an answer, but it also wasn't like he was invested in his curiosity. Besides, she appeared preoccupied with examining her surroundings.

Therefore, as opposed to asking again, he continued shadowing her footsteps, watching as each soldier locked their eyes on the pair. It was a very familiar sensation: having authoritative adults observe his every move. Nigredo half-expected Erika to stick out her tongue at them in a show of defiance but then remembered she was not one of his siblings. He also remembered he was not his siblings, and before the boy did anything rash (like throwing himself over the railing), he tipped his head toward the wall in feigned boredom.

Finally, the female finished her examination, and they continued on.

At her words, Nigredo gave a tired hm as an acknowledgement. He didn't know why they would guard laundry of all things, but stranger things had

[witchdetective]

At Nigredo's half-hearted muttering, Erika only laughed, giving the most unrefined of snorts. Clearly, she thought what he said was funny. "Any child who actually ends up in this place doesn't deserve pity." It was quite true; Erika had yet to meet a single child in this place who was actually a normal, human child. It made perfect sense; if the military was trying to get the most talented people from the sea of fragments, then they would choose only the most talented children as well. Other people might have been horrified at the presence of children here; Erika thought it was perfectly natural. Such a sad observation, but one she stuck to

[falseblack]

...Putting the creepiness of her laughter aside, the girl had a point. The children here--with possible exception of Sakura and Ritsuka--were closer to monsters than humans. Nigredo would agree wholeheartedly that no child in Landel's deserved an ounce of pity. He would, however, put forth one counterpoint. "There is always one stupid adult," he responded, "who'll think otherwise." And welcome a wolf into the fold

[damned_nurses]

It was miserable being on laundry duty in Landel's while the military was about. With so few actual staff members left in the building, all the duties were left to be handled by the bare minimum number of people necessary to do them. Which, of course, really meant not enough people at all. Oh yes, the remaining staff could get the work done all right, but that didn't mean they couldn't also wonder whether the stress of the work would eventually drive them as mad as the patients

[witchdetective]

The presence of another adult did little to catch Erika's attention, though she at least turned to look at the other "guest" who entered the room and was faintly surprised to see that it was a normal staff member. Of course, such people would still be around to do the most menial tasks, like laundry, but maybe Erika thought the military's takeover of the building seemed to be total. Forcing their members to do grunt work seemed like a good punishment in her head, anyway. Their meeting might have ended with just warily noticing each other if the boy hadn't spoken up and earned the ire of the Laundry Man, who was extremely displeased with her need for clean blankets. Even though the Laundry Man would have noticed her taking the blankets anyway, Erika shot the boy an annoyed glance. Well, at least someone was finally noticing what she was up to, but it wasn't anyone important. How was she going to get this oaf to leave her alone

[falseblack]

An adult male echoed his question, prompting Nigredo to cast a curious glance in the man's direction. The exasperation laced within the response rang as validation in his ears, and he tilted a head toward Erika, masking his expression to appear utterly innocent. The only true tell of the boy's actual motives was the blatant fluttering of his eyelashes, a show in satisfaction and amusement. She couldn't blame him for wanting to know, right? After she had set aside the chance to tell him more privately, too.

The female, however, rose to the challenge and answered in a manner that impressed the natural liar in Nigredo. So instead of throwing out a pointless and potentially damaging statement, he turned back to the adult in anticipation. There existed a numerous ways for this one to respond, and depending on how he took both the military and her reason, it may prove more interesting than not.

Nigredo made a good choice in following this girl. This scenario was far less boring than breakfast.

[damned_nurses]

The glare only grew more intense, and his arms remained crossed. "What military business could possibly need 'a lot' of freshly cleaned blankets? A USO reenactment of The Princess and the Pea?"

That said, for all the man's annoyance, he knew he couldn't actually stop her, and he didn't say that she couldn't take what she wanted. If the military had granted her access here, she also had a right to take what she wanted so long as it didn't cut into what was needed to re-make all the patients' beds. And, the man admitted to himself grudgingly, they did have a fair number of extra blankets. They would just need to be washed a lot sooner than they normally would have been. Yet more work on top of what the staff already had to do, and all because a little girl wanted to abscond with a pile of blankets for god knew what reason.

Ugh, those faces. Those sickeningly innocent faces. They knew what they were doing. They knew exactly how much they were digging into his patience right now, and they were enjoying it. Oh how he wished he could