Night 57: Main Hallway, 1-West
[ from here ]As Erika approached the meeting spot, she was pleased to see that she was, indeed, first to reach there. This was to be expected: Erika was closest to this particular hallway and she could have given the others a minute's head start and still probably beat them while walking at a leisurely pace. But Erika had hurried to get here and
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Bella had been completely ready to go to the left, to head towards Edward's room, but out of the corner of her eye she could see what appeared to be a girl looking rather ... well, not that good. Instantly, concern laced through her, and instead of taking the left like she had planned on, she took a right, heading towards the blonde girl who looked like she had been joined by another brunette.
Glad to see there are some friendly people about, she thought to herself. Sure, the institute had plenty of assholes, but genuinely kind people? She wondered how rare they really were ( ... )
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"Lana," she replied, "and you're not interrupting. Thank you. I was doing the same thing."
The girl wasn't tracking things well -- shock was a significant concern. Lana swung her coat off her shoulders and held it out. "Are you cold?" There were more serious questions to ask, too, and while she didn't need the answers, the way the girl responded would tell her if she ought to get her somewhere to lie down, or if answers were more important to her.
"Do you know where you are? What's your name?"
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"My name? It's..." Was it sitting there on the tip of her tongue, or was that buried and lost in darkness as well? The girl wanted to say something, but no answer came to mind. Was her name something like theirs? Bella, Lana? It might have been, but could it be that she was trying to take their names for herself? She shook her head, blinking. "I don't know. I can't remember a thing."
She looked between each of the women with a plaintive confusion, her attention keener. Even the unfamiliar dark hallways were easier to navigate than her head. "Do you know? Who I am?"
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The teenager gave the brunette a "do you know her?" look before turning back to the now frantic blonde. "I'm ... uh, sorry, but I don't know you. You have no clue as to who you are? None at all? Do you remember anything before waking up here? I mean, it could help ..."
She couldn't remember seeing the girl around before, either. But then again, she supposed, it could be because she wasn't looking for her. Everyone seemed to just ... blend into each other after a while. She blamed the horrid uniforms for making her brain suddenly incapable of differentiating others. However, the girl was pretty, so she felt like if she had seen her, she would have remembered.
Maybe we can give her a temporary nickname, Bella thought to herself. It could be helpful. Maybe.
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"Do you remember ingesting something? Eating, drinking, swallowing anything at all?" She gave Bella a significant glance, and then looked up, to where an intercom would be hanging, if this place had bothered with sensible measures rather than being deliberately spooky.
"We're all trapped here, and I'm afraid I've never met you before. Most of us only know a few people when we arrive, if any at all." Lana wasn't sure that knowing anyone was a blessing, though in this case it likely would be. "Do you want to sit down?"
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Her attention turned to the second woman--Lana. "What do you mean, trapped?"
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... Maybe that was how they were brought in the first placed. Drugged somehow then carted away, and losing your memory was a horrible side effect.
When the word "trapped" came up, Bella perked up. "Um, we're all in a place called Landel's Institute," she told her in a soft whisper. "It's ... well, it used to be a fake mental institute, but now it's kind of ... like West Point Academy or something. Military people and no nurses to be seen, I mean."
Smooth, Bella. Way to help the frightened girl, she chided herself. She best leave the information to Lana.
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That said, this was highly exposed, and anyone who cared to could overhear the conversation.
"It's not safe to stay in one place for too long. Do either of you have a preference?" Moving towards the middle of the building brought them further form the relative quiet of the patient block, but nowhere was truly secure. Most of the people nearby were forming into groups and heading that way; perhaps staying with the crowd would be safer, and the girl might run into someone who recognized her.
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She turned these thoughts over in her head slowly, absorbing as much knowledge as she could. With nothing else save instincts to guide her, it was really all she could do.
"I don't," the girl answered with a light shrug, for how could she? Even if she were told her options, she wouldn't know what might help.
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It might be a good idea, perhaps. Other patients were sure to flock to the new location. It was especially a thing to consider, since it was a medical location, there might be some kind of medication or something that could help with memory loss. Sure, she there were nurse locations, but she doubted that kind of thing would be there ( ... )
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"This way," she said, turning her back on them abruptly as she started walking down the hall.
[to here]
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