As the day began drawing to a close, the intercom flickered to life. Instead of Harrington's voice, however, Berg's calm tone filtered through the speakers
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Aside from the problem with the food, the day had gone pretty well. Anise was able to catch up with friends, and she had another excursion with Guy and Claude to look forward to! But now it was time for another meal, which meant...
Ugh. Upon entering her room, Anise found herself facing a plate covered in rancid meat and greenish strips that might have once been tempura. She stared at the tray for a moment, taking in how completely gross it was as she tried to think of what to do about it. She didn't want to spend the whole shift trying to fight a gag reflex while talking to Utena. They had something important to discuss, too!
The closet. There wasn't anywhere else to put it, so... maybe it would make a small barrier for the stench. But she didn't want to stink up her clothes, so before going anywhere near the rot-covered plate, Anise went straight to the closet. She opened the door and pulled out everything she planned to wear that night: a pair of boots, gloves, and her leather jacket. Those were all laid out on her bed, which was already pretty full of stuff. Anise had collected so many things that only about half of it would fit in her possessions box.
The next step was actually moving the food. Anise took one step from the closet to bring herself closer to the desk... but it was going to take another moment of gathering her courage to get that close to something she was pretty sure was bug-infested.
After a relaxing shift spent with Lana, Utena headed back to F14... where her hand immediately went to her nose upon opening the door.
"Oh my god, it's worse than earlier," she groaned, scrunching her eyes shut as the door shut behind her. "I should've figured the real food would stink worse than the gruel. Uughh."
She opened one eye, watching Anise as she tried to get closer to her plate (was that buzzing she heard?). "Need any help there?" she asked, glancing back to the open closet door and getting a sense of what the other girl was trying to do. Not a bad idea if she did say so herself.
When Utena joined her, Anise looked over to her roommate with a piteous look. At least someone understood how awful it was! Everyone else she talked to that day had no clue what was bothering Anise until she explained it for them.
She shook her head when Utena offered to help, though she couldn't deny it was tempting to get her to do it. "No, I'll do it. I'll just... hold my breath." Right. If she had to go crawling to other people over something like this, what was she going to do about more serious problems?
There was another pause, and then the girl took a deep breath before taking the next step forward. She grabbed the tray firmly and lifted it from the desk, cringing when she seemed to disturb some of the flies crawling around on the meat. The last thing she wanted was to drop the stuff, though, so she carefully brought it all the way to the closet.
As she bent down to set the tray down on the floor, however, a few flies got too close to her face. Startled, Anise yelped, tossed the tray on the floor, backed away, and slammed the closet door shut. The glass of curdled milk had toppled over and some of the tempura had rolled off the tray, but she didn't care. It was gone and she was done thinking about it.
The girl sighed heavily before allowing herself to breathe normally again, then looked back to Utena. "I think that's as good as we'll get. I might have something we can eat instead... if that didn't go bad, too."
Utena circled around back to the side of her bed, hand still over her nose and mouth as she watched Anise like she were watching a professional handle a legitimate biohazard. She even jumped a bit when the girl yelped and the glass clattered on the ground, almost springing to action to save her roommate from the threat of the rotten food. Thankfully, though, the door was shut right after that, and the smell seemed to subside ever so slightly.
She relaxed with a slight slump of her shoulders. "I really hope you do. I didn't eat a bite all day, and I'm sure you didn't either. Definitely not a good way to go into nightshift."
After a moment, Utena followed Anise's lead, picking up her own bowl of gruel and holding it away from her face as she moved it over to the other closet. Once there, she pushed it to the very back corner, then yanked out a few of the shirts still in there. "Here, this should help block out the smell some more," she said, stuffing the shirts in the bottom cracks of both her closet door and Anise's. "It'll keep that milk from trickling out too, hopefully."
Everything Utena said was right on the mark, and Anise nodded with each statement. If the trials ahead of her were anything like the ones she and her friends endured two nights ago, she needed all the strength she could get.
While her roommate attended to her own 'food', Anise sat down on her bed and started digging through her possessions. She found Tokunaga before looking for anything else, and set the doll on her back where it belonged. After pulling out several miscellaneous items, Anise finally found what she was looking for: snacks! There was a chocolate bar, two bags of gummies, and a box of chocolates. The gummies and chocolates were half-empty, but if they were edible, then that was all that mattered.
Anise glanced up again, only now noticing that Utena was stuffing the bottoms of the closets. "Hey, thanks!" she called to her, glad to have something else between them and that gross stuff.
And it was back to the snacks. "Gels don't really go bad, do they...?" she wondered, opening the bag and giving it a sniff. Considering she and her friends often picked up gels from all kinds of places, including ruins that hadn't been in use for years, she was pretty sure they had to be okay. They didn't smell funny or anything, at least. Lifting the lid from her chocolates revealed that they looked more or less the same as she last saw, too. "I think we can eat these. I'll split them with you, okay?"
Utena's spirits lifted her to her feet at the sound of the words I think we can eat these. "Really?" she asked, hurrying over to see what Anise had. Sure enough, her expression lit up as she smelled sweetness rather than rot for the first time that day. "Ah! Yeah, that'd be great! Thanks so much!" she answered - just as her stomach rumbled again. She laughed a little at that. "Haha, I guess you can tell how much I appreciate it."
As Anise split up the snacks, however, her thoughts turned back to the coming night, and a question crossed her mind. "Hey, so what did you mean back there on the bulletin, by the way?" she asked. "Why do you think checking out the basement is a bad idea?"
Anise smiled when Utena responded enthusiastically. She was feeling eager to put something in her stomach too, even if she didn't have more than light snacks. They didn't have any plates left, so Anise opened the box of chocolates and used the overturned lid as a place to put Utena's half. As she sorted the chocolates, she couldn't help but think of Ion. With the way he was now, he had no idea what Anise was going through at the institute... but if he did, he would have been happy to know that his gift was helping this much.
What cheer remained in her expression faded when Utena asked her next question, but Anise knew they were going to have to talk about this. Somehow, she had to warn Utena! But when she couldn't specify what she was warning about, it was going to be tough.
"Like I said, it's hard to explain," she began, talking as she continued to sort the sweets. "But I've been there. I know what's there, and I just... I don't want anyone else to..." She felt a familiar numb feeling in her head - a warning sign that if she kept talking, she'd be silenced. How was she going to make Utena understand like this?
In the meantime, she'd finished splitting the goods. Each of them had a handful of gummy bears, fruit gummies, chocolates, and half a chocolate bar. Utena's were all placed in the box lid, and Anise quietly rose to her feet and walked over, holding it out for her roommate to take. "Here."
Okay, Utena was getting a little annoyed at this point. First S.T. was being evasive about the basement, and now Anise? Why couldn't anyone just talk to her straight about what was down there? Was it really just that indescribable? How could anything in the basement really be worse than anything else she'd experienced in the Institute? When one had seen a friend brainwashed and trussed up with a multitude of swords, or had one's mind taken away for a day, or been painfully transformed into a fire-breathing lizard, all of which had reversed by the day afterward, there wasn't really a lot left that could really shock and surprise anymore.
Still, she wasn't about to toss Anise's concern out the window, especially not if she really had been to the basement before. Utena accepted the sweets and set the lid in her lap as she sat down on the bed and faced her roommate. "All right, I think get that there's something really bad down there. I appreciate the warning, even if you can't really tell me more. Is there anything else down there you can tell me about? I want to go down there looking for clues about how this place really works, or whether there's more to it than just the whole mad doctor or military things. Is there anything like that at least?" If there was, then whatever was in the basement might still be worth checking out, Utena figured.
Anise sat back down on her bed, pulling a pillowcase full of supplies close to her. She'd planned to write down what she grabbed last night, and while she wanted to give Utena her full attention, this was her only chance to do it.
She shook her head at Utena's words. "I don't think there's anything like that down there." The caverns were still a mystery, of course, but she wasn't going to say anything that would encourage Utena. "In the first areas, you'd have to go through some really dangerous trials. Stuff that's way more dangerous than usual. And then after that, there's..."
... She couldn't continue. Her mouth just wouldn't form the words.
"I... I can't tell you what, but it's worse than anything else you've seen here." Somehow, she had to make Utena understand. This wasn't just a risk - it was certain death for her or someone she knew!
Ugh. Upon entering her room, Anise found herself facing a plate covered in rancid meat and greenish strips that might have once been tempura. She stared at the tray for a moment, taking in how completely gross it was as she tried to think of what to do about it. She didn't want to spend the whole shift trying to fight a gag reflex while talking to Utena. They had something important to discuss, too!
The closet. There wasn't anywhere else to put it, so... maybe it would make a small barrier for the stench. But she didn't want to stink up her clothes, so before going anywhere near the rot-covered plate, Anise went straight to the closet. She opened the door and pulled out everything she planned to wear that night: a pair of boots, gloves, and her leather jacket. Those were all laid out on her bed, which was already pretty full of stuff. Anise had collected so many things that only about half of it would fit in her possessions box.
The next step was actually moving the food. Anise took one step from the closet to bring herself closer to the desk... but it was going to take another moment of gathering her courage to get that close to something she was pretty sure was bug-infested.
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"Oh my god, it's worse than earlier," she groaned, scrunching her eyes shut as the door shut behind her. "I should've figured the real food would stink worse than the gruel. Uughh."
She opened one eye, watching Anise as she tried to get closer to her plate (was that buzzing she heard?). "Need any help there?" she asked, glancing back to the open closet door and getting a sense of what the other girl was trying to do. Not a bad idea if she did say so herself.
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She shook her head when Utena offered to help, though she couldn't deny it was tempting to get her to do it. "No, I'll do it. I'll just... hold my breath." Right. If she had to go crawling to other people over something like this, what was she going to do about more serious problems?
There was another pause, and then the girl took a deep breath before taking the next step forward. She grabbed the tray firmly and lifted it from the desk, cringing when she seemed to disturb some of the flies crawling around on the meat. The last thing she wanted was to drop the stuff, though, so she carefully brought it all the way to the closet.
As she bent down to set the tray down on the floor, however, a few flies got too close to her face. Startled, Anise yelped, tossed the tray on the floor, backed away, and slammed the closet door shut. The glass of curdled milk had toppled over and some of the tempura had rolled off the tray, but she didn't care. It was gone and she was done thinking about it.
The girl sighed heavily before allowing herself to breathe normally again, then looked back to Utena. "I think that's as good as we'll get. I might have something we can eat instead... if that didn't go bad, too."
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She relaxed with a slight slump of her shoulders. "I really hope you do. I didn't eat a bite all day, and I'm sure you didn't either. Definitely not a good way to go into nightshift."
After a moment, Utena followed Anise's lead, picking up her own bowl of gruel and holding it away from her face as she moved it over to the other closet. Once there, she pushed it to the very back corner, then yanked out a few of the shirts still in there. "Here, this should help block out the smell some more," she said, stuffing the shirts in the bottom cracks of both her closet door and Anise's. "It'll keep that milk from trickling out too, hopefully."
Reply
While her roommate attended to her own 'food', Anise sat down on her bed and started digging through her possessions. She found Tokunaga before looking for anything else, and set the doll on her back where it belonged. After pulling out several miscellaneous items, Anise finally found what she was looking for: snacks! There was a chocolate bar, two bags of gummies, and a box of chocolates. The gummies and chocolates were half-empty, but if they were edible, then that was all that mattered.
Anise glanced up again, only now noticing that Utena was stuffing the bottoms of the closets. "Hey, thanks!" she called to her, glad to have something else between them and that gross stuff.
And it was back to the snacks. "Gels don't really go bad, do they...?" she wondered, opening the bag and giving it a sniff. Considering she and her friends often picked up gels from all kinds of places, including ruins that hadn't been in use for years, she was pretty sure they had to be okay. They didn't smell funny or anything, at least. Lifting the lid from her chocolates revealed that they looked more or less the same as she last saw, too. "I think we can eat these. I'll split them with you, okay?"
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As Anise split up the snacks, however, her thoughts turned back to the coming night, and a question crossed her mind. "Hey, so what did you mean back there on the bulletin, by the way?" she asked. "Why do you think checking out the basement is a bad idea?"
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What cheer remained in her expression faded when Utena asked her next question, but Anise knew they were going to have to talk about this. Somehow, she had to warn Utena! But when she couldn't specify what she was warning about, it was going to be tough.
"Like I said, it's hard to explain," she began, talking as she continued to sort the sweets. "But I've been there. I know what's there, and I just... I don't want anyone else to..." She felt a familiar numb feeling in her head - a warning sign that if she kept talking, she'd be silenced. How was she going to make Utena understand like this?
In the meantime, she'd finished splitting the goods. Each of them had a handful of gummy bears, fruit gummies, chocolates, and half a chocolate bar. Utena's were all placed in the box lid, and Anise quietly rose to her feet and walked over, holding it out for her roommate to take. "Here."
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Okay, Utena was getting a little annoyed at this point. First S.T. was being evasive about the basement, and now Anise? Why couldn't anyone just talk to her straight about what was down there? Was it really just that indescribable? How could anything in the basement really be worse than anything else she'd experienced in the Institute? When one had seen a friend brainwashed and trussed up with a multitude of swords, or had one's mind taken away for a day, or been painfully transformed into a fire-breathing lizard, all of which had reversed by the day afterward, there wasn't really a lot left that could really shock and surprise anymore.
Still, she wasn't about to toss Anise's concern out the window, especially not if she really had been to the basement before. Utena accepted the sweets and set the lid in her lap as she sat down on the bed and faced her roommate. "All right, I think get that there's something really bad down there. I appreciate the warning, even if you can't really tell me more. Is there anything else down there you can tell me about? I want to go down there looking for clues about how this place really works, or whether there's more to it than just the whole mad doctor or military things. Is there anything like that at least?" If there was, then whatever was in the basement might still be worth checking out, Utena figured.
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She shook her head at Utena's words. "I don't think there's anything like that down there." The caverns were still a mystery, of course, but she wasn't going to say anything that would encourage Utena. "In the first areas, you'd have to go through some really dangerous trials. Stuff that's way more dangerous than usual. And then after that, there's..."
... She couldn't continue. Her mouth just wouldn't form the words.
"I... I can't tell you what, but it's worse than anything else you've seen here." Somehow, she had to make Utena understand. This wasn't just a risk - it was certain death for her or someone she knew!
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