Day 59: Cafeteria (noon)
By the time lunch rolled around, things still weren't getting any better. The voices hadn't gone away; instead, Firo was pretty sure they were getting more frequent. Ennis had been silent since last night, but Czes's voice had been an insistent buzz in his ear all morning
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Even more ridiculous were the blanket forts in the Sun Room. Did people have nothing better to do with their time? Rita often wondered if the institute really was populated by children in adult's bodies.
The day was passing quietly otherwise, with Rita interacting very little with others, but at last she found something of interest on the bulletin. Taura seemed to have something to discuss, and with their nighttime exploration of the basement being a priority in Rita's mind, that made their discussion an immediate priority as well.
Rita was quick to pick up her usual bowl of slop (were they still handing those to her when she scarcely touched any of them?) and glass of milk, and set out to find the woman. Fortunately, it didn't take long to spot Taura. She didn't seem to be talking to anyone else, so Rita sat down in the seat across from her without bothering with pleasantries.
"You wanted to talk?"
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"They weren't happy with how many people had opted for their little experiment." She reached her right hand up to her left shoulder, and ran her fingers over it; the bandages weren't visible under her uniform, but the dressing crinkled a bit under her hand. "So they insisted. It sounds like people got different things, but mine turned into a bite. Like those zombies in town."
"I don't know how long it'll last. I didn't bite anyone last night, but it was close. Too close." She bit her lip. Gently, that was. "I don't know if it would be safe."
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But that was about as Taura got before losing Rita completely. A bite? What bite? Zombies? As far as Rita was concerned, those were about as real as ghosts (which was to say, not at all), but it sounded like Taura was referring to something specific. Whatever it was, Rita clearly wasn't in on it.
"Wait, hold on. What?" Rita interjected, raising a hand to stop Taura from getting any further before she could catch up. "What zombies? What are you talking about?" She didn't bite anyone? Part of Rita had a feeling she knew what Taura was getting at, but it was hard to believe. She'd need to know the specifics, first and foremost.
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"I didn't get bitten, but a lot of people did." Or worse, though the only death she knew of had been an accident. Friendly fire, isn't. "They started turning into the creatures at night, but not all the way."
She didn't want to talk about it; Rita would have to make her decision on her own, but there was something else. She'd seen Armand (and TK, but he'd survived the zombies), and that didn't have to be coincidence. Had she just been hallucinating? Maybe there was more to this zombie thing than the hunger? Two experiments at once? It would fit with the desperate tones the intercom had been taking lately.
"Also, um, did you see anything odd last night? Like long-dead people lounging in the Medical wing odd?"
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Rita furrowed her brow as she studied Taura. "And you're saying this is happening to you?" There were a lot of aspects Rita wanted to press on, but she settled for asking what seemed important. "How much is 'not all the way'?" It sounded like Taura was warning that she'd be unsafe to travel with, but without any details, Rita wouldn't be able to assess that danger.
To Taura's other question, she shook her head. "Didn't see anything like that. I got mistaken for a dead person, if that counts." She scoffed, irritated by the very thought of it.
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"I think I'll know in time if I need to send you away, but if I say go, go. I'll be able to take care of myself." Two or three days, the bulletin post had said, which meant there was an ending, and take care of herself wasn't going to need to be drastic. Just staying alive would be enough, and Taura was good at that.
That answered, she took advantage of Rita's topic change. "How did that happen?" she said, gesturing at Rita with her spoon.
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"If you're willing to give it a try, I'm fine with that. We'll be prepared if something goes wrong." Well, she couldn't speak for the brat, but that was Rita's position. The fact was that she didn't have a lot of people she got along with, and among that few, there were even fewer that she was able to make plans with. Giving up on Taura would mean starting again from scratch. Rita didn't have time for that.
With that more or less settled, she moved on to address Taura's question.
"I got injected with something too. It's hard to explain what happened, but... my entire body was converted to something that wasn't solid matter. Objects and light would pass right through me." She crossed her arms, scowling. It was frustrating enough to have been transformed in a way she didn't fully understand, but what came after that made the experience infinitely more annoying. "The guy I was with started screaming ghost, ghost like an idiot."
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"They injected my roommate, too. I was assuming it was all the same, but now it sounds like it was a little bit of everything." That might explain TK and Armand being in the infirmary -- they could have hit her with two doses in that syringe, and seeing ghosts here was becoming decidedly routine.
Though that would mean something had happened to TK -- damn. He might have died alone and no one had even known to mourn him. She'd promised him a space in the Dendarii -- even if he'd survived to leave, he didn't have a home left to go back to, just an exploding space station. A pointless death even if the war might have had a reason; they'd never talked about the details.
"It feels like they're getting desperate. For answers, or results, or something. Else why spring all of this on us at once?"
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Shifting in her seat, Rita set her crossed arms on the table and leaned on them a bit. "Desperate? I don't know..." She glanced around the room, her eyes still narrowed. "From the start, it sounded like they were determined to show they could be a hundred times more efficient than the Head Doctor. This could all be part of a set procedure."
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"If it's set procedure, their organization stinks. Maybe Aguilar's really a committee." She said it with the same disgust most people would use for garbage, biological. "They're throwing a dozen threats against us, but not committing to any of them."
"Not that I'm complaining, mind you." She leaned in towards Rita in return. "I still think our best bet is to keep them going after each other. The more they attack each other, and open doors just to show off, the more options we have."
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In the end, she nodded. "Right. And the more enemies they have to watch out for, the less they can watch us." It sounded like the Head Doctor had a better grasp of the workings of the basement than the military did. Perhaps they could get through while Landel was absent and the military was both unprepared and preoccupied....
The intercom sounded then, and the shift change was announced. Rita didn't move to get up right away, though: she still had one more thing to confirm. "Where should we meet?"
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She wanted to say more -- why do you trust me? or If I'm late, assume I'm not coming, but that would be as much of a betrayal of trust as anything else. Rita, for whatever reason, thought that a zombie was the lesser danger, and Taura would honor it. She'd pick the same, if it were her. And she had no doubts about what Goku would say, though if she got a chance she'd ask him, too. He'd enjoy a rematch if it came to it.
"I'll see you tonight." She nodded, with more confidence than she felt, and marched off into the Sun Room.
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