Day 60: Intercom, Evening

[damned_intercom]

The intercom jingled at its standard time, with the Head Doctor still in his over-the-top, jovial mood. It seemed not even the evening light could keep down the love he held for his job.

"Good evening, everyone! I hope your soul is filled with music from last shift; I know mine is

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[fourstonewalls]

"I'm aware of that." It was good advice, but it also wasn't anything Lana hadn't thought about, and she resisted the urge to start pacing as well.

"I do have a backup plan in mind." She hadn't originally intended to show anyone the ring, but if no one knew about it, there also wouldn't be anyone who could make sure Ema got it if something happened to Lana. And she trusted Ilia. She pulled it out. "Supposedly, if I bleed on this, breaking it will bring me back to where I was injured." She thought about biting her nails, a stress habit she'd tried (unsuccessfully) to break for years, but then she decided to pull out something else she'd kept hidden. She pulled out one of her replacement scalpels, and made a tiny cut on one forearm. A drop of blood welled up, and she held it to the ring.

The drop crystallized and set itself into the tines immediately, and Lana blinked. She hadn't really expected it to work, even if it had teleported both of them last night.

"But I need to know how to protect myself -- and anyone else -- long enough to get away." Her voice held a trace of reproof; she knew very well that she wasn't equipped to fight these monsters, but she also knew it was likely she wouldn't have a choice. And she knew Ilia knew that, and that Lana was no fool. Ilia would know who Lana would protect at all costs, and why she would make that sacrifice gladly.

[avengingfists]

"Fascinating..." Ilia watched Lana's ring with amazement, impressed by the ingenuity. Blood memory transfer? Augmented with some sort of science that Ilia wasn't familiar with, no doubt. As much as she wanted to be a part of the experience herself, she understood that tonight was not the time for science. Unfortunately.

Retrieving a bandaid from her own supplies, Ilia handed it over to Lana to cover her new cut. "Well, that's one thing that could already throw the enemies off." Ilia gave Lana a most serious look. "In case you can't use that ring to escape and you want to protect others, cutting yourself even a little bit could draw the enemies away from them and to you, if you're willing to go that far. I wouldn't suggest it unless you have a suicide wish though."

Ilia wasn't joking. She understood the severity of this but she really wanted Lana to realize just how dangerous her idea truly was. However, she wasn't one to tell a woman to take the back seat while others jumped into a fight or played decoy. Sighing, Ilia took her usual fighting stance with her feet apart and her fists up and close to her chin. "Tell me this; has anyone ever taught you how to throw a decent punch?"

If she had a gauge for Lana's skills she could better decided on just how much information the woman needed to adequately protect herself against an opponent.

[fourstonewalls]

She hadn't thought of self-injury, but it made a certain amount of sense. These weren't humans she was worrying about, and the smell of blood could be a momentary distraction.

"I'm afraid not. How to break a hold, but not how to attack." And even those lessons were a bit fuzzy. She'd been naive, assuming she'd never need to put them into practice. Even if she'd never landed here, it had been a mistake not to review them, and not to get Ema into the same classes.

[avengingfists]

It was nature, really. Creatures understood self-sacrifice even in survival of the fittest. That's why some creatures like lizards had developed ways of leaving parts of their tail behind to trick predators. The blood-letting, however, was a bit more of an extreme tactic.

"Okay, then that's our first goal." Ilia pulled her arms to her sides, fists forward and her legs apart; a typical stance in martial arts. "The trick to a good punch, Lana, is focus. Focus above all else."

She moved slowly, going through the motions of a straight, right punch. Then she slowly pulled back into the previous stance and punched again, this time with the left. "You put your whole body into it, and get an idea in your mind that you are going to smash bones and cause injury. If you can't follow through..." The left the rest unsaid.

Ilia motioned for Lana to take up the same stance as herself. "Try it."

[fourstonewalls]

Lana watched, all of her attention on Ilia's hands until the words she was saying brought her up short. She knew what people could do with their bare hands, and it didn't take being a hulking brute to do it.

Then she thought of Ema staring down one of those patchwork creatures, and put away the image of another person at the end of her fist. She mimed the motion slowly, then more quickly, and then she couldn't stall any longer.

"Take that," she thought, as she thrust her right fist forward.

To her mortification, she said it out loud, and loudly enough to startle herself.

The punch itself was angled wrong, and she'd made one of the classic novice's mistakes, though she hadn't realized it yet -- her thumb was inside her fist. Easy way to break it, and a tell-tale sign that someone had tried to punch something, which was the only reason she might have even possibly have known better. But her hand whipped out, followed by her shoulder, throwing weight behind it without losing her balance.

[avengingfists]

Lana's shout was unexpected but showed a true spirit of determination. She apparently hadn't expected to speak out, though, but Ilia only smiled. "That's the spirit! Now, you wanna be careful here..."

Ilia reached out and took Lana's extended fist and pried open her fingers, moving her thumb outside and just a bit under her knuckles. "You'll want to keep your thumbs outside your fist. And make sure you throw your arm out straight. You don't need to add extra injuries to yourself if you can help it."

Ilia stepped back a moment, considering. "Pretty good for a beginner. Nice balance.... Oh!" Ilia motioned to the closets. "I noticed we have our uniforms still. I suggest taking your gloves with you. The extra padding will help protect you hands a bit, too."

[fourstonewalls]

That was a good idea; and with as cold as it was, practical even if they ran into nothing at all. "You have a point."

She wasn't sure if Ilia was humoring her with the praise, but she tried another punch, this one a little surer. It still didn't feel like something she could really do when faced with something with two heads and five-inch-claws, but people could do remarkable things under stress. Some of them even good.

"Had you ever fought, in earnest, before you came here?" Was that poise Ilia maintained the voice of long experience, or something that had come together under pressure? It was idle curiosity, but Lana liked knowing what made people tick; it was an instinct she couldn't quite turn off, and didn't especially want to.

[avengingfists]

If Ilia had a good caestus lying around she would have offered it to her roommate for extra protection, but at the moment the gloves would have to suffice.

"Good, good!" Ilia stood back and allowed Lana some room to practice. She definitely was getting better at her punches. Ilia only moved close now and then to help correct Lana's stance if she ever moved off.

"Oh, yes, actually," Ilia admitted, her eyes still on Lana's form and her voice just a little distracted. "On the planet I was currently researching we ran into a wide range of creatures the locals called 'demons.' It was a bit easier back then. I had an easier time accessing my stronger techniques. For some reason... I can't always fight at my best here." It troubled her, but it seemed like there was some sort of block on the whole place that happened to have shifted at some point the night before. She wasn't sure how it had been accomplished, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it before her stay in Landel's had completed. Ilia wasn't the type to leave any stone unturned.

[fourstonewalls]

So Ilia was one of the people with otherworldly powers. "Were you less encumbered last night? It seems quite a few were." Lana tried a punch with her left hand; that felt distinctly odd, and it showed in her technique. So she repeated it, her brow furrowed as she concentrated.

"I wish I knew why they even wanted people like me here. Those of us who fight with words, rather than weapons," she said, clarifying, even when it was pretty obvious what she meant. Like, oh, a lawyer. Hah. "They haven't given us much opportunity to use our skills. They haven't even bothered limiting those."

[avengingfists]

"For a bit," Ilia admitted, her eyes still on Lana's form. "My team found ourselves in a bit of a... special place last night that didn't have the same freedoms, though, so we lost that boost."

The left punch had been awkward but that was natural for a beginner. If Lana could harness the power of her left fist, she could become a real power fighter in a tough spot. Most people didn't expect left-handed shots to pack much punch, so it could be an effective strike if she ever found herself fighting a human opponent. She was fighting mostly monsters, rabid animals and fantastical creatures, so she needed more off-the-wall advice for fighting.

"Something to keep in mind, if it comes down to it," Ilia said, stepping back to allow Lana more room to practice. "If you know a monster is going to attack and you know you can't dodge out of the way or run without being hit anyway, use your non-dominant arm as your shield. If you let your legs get hit you won't be able to run away, and you need your dominant arm for attacking and everyday convenience."

She held up her left arm in front of her and across her chest. "If you can, work to make the attack hit the back of your arm. If you can avoid hits, that's for the best, but if you have no choice then sometimes sacrifices are necessary."

Lana made a good point about those who fight with words. If they couldn't survive against the monsters then they had to rely on the care of others, and who knew if that was a safe route to follow. What if they put their trust in the wrong person? "I worry about the kids here, too. Even the ones with powers have to deal with the all the dangers here." Ilia sighed. "That's one of the first things I'll demand to know when we finally get to Landel. Why did he choose us, and what is the purpose of bring non-fighters here?"

[fourstonewalls]

"I'll leave that to you, then." A smile tugged at the corner of Lana's mouth. Confidence was key; while it didn't guarantee victory, its lack was a road to certain defeat.

The thought that she could sacrifice her left arm, if necessary, increased hers tremendously. She felt easier when she had a plan laid out in front of her. It wasn't a very good plan, and it would only work once; she only had one left arm, after all, but it was a tiny morsel of one, and it was more than she'd had before.

...Morsel was perhaps not the best way she could have put that. Ah, well.

"Motive, method, and opportunity." She pretended to contemplate these, looking at her fists like they held invisible case briefs. "I'm afraid I'm ill-equipped to divine the latter two as well. I'll just have to delegate." The smile twitched into a laugh, nervous energy bubbling up -- it would be almost nostalgic, if it weren't so dire.

The intercom crackled to life, as if in response; if Lana had been a superstitious woman, she might have found the coincidence alarming. As it was, she just found it more amusing, though she got it under control before nerves burst into outright giggles. "Take care, Ilia, and thank you."