damned_city | Night 71: Night, Farwell

Night 71: Night, Farwell

Who: Anise Tatlin, Guy Cecil (and to a lesser extent, Claude C. Kenni)
Where: Section 4
Summary: Having broken off from Claude, Anise and Guy explore the downtown section of Farwell and come across the rebel base.

When the three of them had finally made their way out of the tunnels, it had been to an unexpected view -- namely, the sun setting behind the skyline of an abandoned city. While they had worried about the possibility of monsters attacking in the night, it seemed that wherever they'd found themselves, it was outside of Landel's reach.

Guy didn't know what to make of the city. It was clear that it hadn't been properly populated in some time, but was there a chance that there were still a few survivors here? He was relieved that they'd brought supplies after all, but he didn't know if Anise's money would have any use here.

The problem was, the city stretched out around them as far as Guy could see, and the idea of trying to explore it was frankly daunting. It was with some reluctance that the three of them decided to split up. In the end, they'd used a simple game from Earth called Rock Paper Scissors that Claude explained to them to determine who would be heading off on their own.

Claude had picked the short stick, so to speak, which meant that he'd taken off toward the south side of the city whereas Guy and Anise were pressing through the center. It was going to take a while to actually cover all this ground...

By the time that they crossed a river and made it into a downtown area, it had to be well into the night. Guy wished that they could have arrived here during the day, but there wasn't much point in dwelling on that. He glanced over at Anise. "You holding up all right?" She had Tokunaga to ride on, but this had still been a long day, and it wasn't over yet.

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Anise was still lost in awe at the sheer size of the city they'd reached. Was it as big as Daath? Maybe even bigger... Was this the capital? Claude hadn't said anything suggesting he knew about it, but maybe once they looked around and met up again, he'd have found something familiar.

Shortly after reaching the city, Anise reverted Tokunaga to its normal size. She didn't want to draw too much attention until they figured out if there were enemies around. After all, they'd just escaped from the institute, hadn't they? Wouldn't someone come looking for them? Then again, could it really be called an 'escape' when the whole route seemed to be planned out by Landel? Maybe they were falling right into his hands, as usual.

But even though Anise was plagued with doubts, she couldn't help but take interest in her new surroundings. She looked over each building they passed, trying to imagine what it was used for. That curiosity helped her to keep her energy and morale up despite the long walk.

When Guy asked how she was doing, Anise grinned back at him. "Just fine! You aren't getting tired, are you?" Though her tone was a bit playful, it wouldn't surprise her if he was. Aside from a few small breaks, they'd been walking for nearly a full day. And unlike Anise, Guy had to do all of that on his own two feet.

It was definitely interesting to see what an Earth city was like, even one that had been left behind for whatever morbid reason. Guy was already trying to figure that out. This place had obviously been thriving once, full of people working and living out lives -- and now? Now it was like a ghost town. It was eerie to be walking through what must have been a populated area and not see another soul.

When Anise asked after him, Guy let out a small sigh. He didn't want to worry her, nor did he really want to admit to how much his feet ached. He'd been on a long journey before, of course, so he could handle this kind of thing. But it had been a long time since he'd walked this much, and his feet had softened over time.

He was also considering food. It had been some time since either of them had eaten -- probably twenty-four hours at this point -- and that was starting to take its toll. Guy dragged a hand through his hair and glanced back over at Anise.

"I can keep going. I'm just thinking we should probably have a snack before we start looking around." There was a lot to see in this area of the city, and while all of the buildings appeared to be abandoned, there was no telling what they might find. Most of it had been picked over, but there was always a chance something had been missed.

The moment food was mentioned, Anise felt a sharp pang in her stomach. She'd been ignoring her own hunger for a while, and the exciting change in scenery had allowed her to forget it completely... until that reminder just now.

She stuck her hand into the cloth shopping bag she had with her, fishing around for the food she bought in Doyleton. "I've got these granola bars I bought in town. Want one?" She held one out, gripping near the tip so Guy could take it without brushing her hand.

Truth be told, she felt like she could eat the whole box full. But until they found out where to get more food, they had to make their small supply last as long as possible.

A granola bar wasn't much, but it would be enough to line his stomach and get rid of the hunger pangs, so Guy nodded and carefully took it from Anise. He had given Claude most of the food that he'd brought with him just in case they had problems with meeting back up again, which meant that he and Anise had to share whatever she had.

This place didn't look like it was going to have much to offer when it came to food, so they were going to have to ration it out for as long as they could. Guy wished now that he'd brought more, but there wasn't much point in dwelling on it.

He tore the package open and took a small bite, chewing thoroughly before he swallowed. "This place really is something else... I wonder what it was like when people still lived here. It must have been bustling all the time."

Anise fished out a granola bar for herself before slipping the handles of the shopping bag back over her arm, letting it hang at her side. She then peeled back the wrapper and took a bite. She’d been able to live off those bars for a day, back when she had those weird hallucinations of rotten food (at least, she hoped those were hallucinations). They weren’t bad, but she really hoped they’d find something more satisfying before too many days passed. She only had a few bottled drinks, too… Were there any clean water sources in the city? They’d have to keep an eye out.

Anise nodded at Guy’s observation. “Yeah… there are so many stores! And some of them are huge…” Looking at the wide streets and the dozens of stores lining it, she could imagine hundreds upon hundreds of people passing through, going in and out of buildings…

“But… I wonder what happened to make it like this?” The broken-down buildings, boarded-up windows, and nearly barren streets… it was kind of eerie. Did something drive all the people out of this city? Or, morbid as the thought was, were they killed…? “Maybe it’s the same thing that happened to that town we found before…” Recalling the chapel full of corpses, Anise gave a slight shudder. She really hoped there wasn’t going to be anything like that sitting around for them to discover.

Guy wished that it was daytime, so they could see all of their surroundings clearly, but the moon at least offered them some light to go by, and his flashlight did the rest of the work. It was strange, though, walking through such a large area and finding it almost completely abandoned. Guy was wondering the same thing as Anise -- what had happened here?

He took another bite of the granola bar and glanced over at her, nodding when she brought up the other town. "It could be," he replied. "It seems like any place that's too close to Landel's ends up like this." Which wasn't a good sign in the slightest, but Guy couldn't say that he was all that surprised by it either.

They really were on their own out here. Well, that was what Guy had been thinking, up until he saw a door open and spotted a hooded figure step through it and run over to them. Guy stopped in his tracks, grabbing for the hilt of his sword at his waist by instinct. They were in a foreign place and had no idea who else might be here, so he couldn't take any chances.

The figure skidded to a stop a few feet away from them and held both hands up. "Hold on, wait, don't! I'm a friend." It was a female voice, and after a pause she slid the hood off, revealing her face and shoulder-length brown hair. Guy didn't recognize her.

She looked between them, giving Anise a small smile. "Who are you two? Are you from the institute?"

Could Landel have caused all this? But most of the ruined places looked like they'd been ruined a long time ago... Maybe it was the opposite, that Landel was here because of the destruction all around the area... but that didn't really help Anise come any closer to finding a reason for all the insane things he did.

There wasn't much time to mull it over, as a sudden movement caught Anise's eye, and in the same moment that Guy reached for his sword, she pulled Tokunaga over her shoulder and held it in front of her chest.

Even as the stranger smiled and tried to reassure them, Anise remained suspicious. Landel had pulled some elaborate tricks in the past - they couldn't assume someone was friendly just because she said she was. Fortunately for Anise, her fighting style allowed her to keep her 'weapon' drawn without looking threatening. One wrong move from this lady, and she was gonna get flattened.

"What if we are? Why don't you tell us who you are first?"

Anise, despite all of her attempts to act like a sweet, innocent girl, was pretty suspicious when it came down to it. She had good reason to be, as far as Guy was concerned. Plenty of people had tried to pull the wool over their eyes during their travels on Auldrant, and not many people were on their side here either.

The stranger laughed it off, though. "Fair enough. I guess I was just surprised, since you guys are the first patients who have made it to Farwell this way! I didn't even know if it was really possible... we've had to bring everyone else in from the morgue."

That didn't sound good. Guy still remembered his own experience with the morgue, waking up in that drawer, naked and freezing as he dealt with the stiffness and pain of coming back from the dead. "So you're saying that... you took people from there and brought them here? After they died?"

The girl nodded, her expression flickering from guilt to something more resolved. "It was the only way we could easily smuggle people out of there. If you want, you two can come into the courthouse, take a look around. We can try to help. That's what we're here for, after all."

A member of the rebel group, then. Guy didn't see what other motive she might have, so he was willing to trust her, but he sent a glance in Anise's direction first, just to be sure.

They could bring people back from the dead? Anise remembered how there had been a lot of patients dying recently, while that weird illness was going strong. Were some of them still alive? And even free from the institute? Anise really wanted to believe that, but she knew she had to be careful about buying into things that sounded too good to be true.

Either way, it sounded like they were the first to escape the institute through their own power, which gave Anise a feeling of pride. But it also brought her back to wondering why such an exit existed in the first place. Did Landel want them to come here? That question was a major part of what made it so hard to shake her suspicion of the woman before them.

Upon hearing the woman's offer, Anise looked up to Guy to see what he thought, only to find him giving her the same look. It was true that Anise didn't trust this person at all, but if they could go somewhere where they could get a lot of answers fast, then...

Anise nodded after some hesitation. "Okay, we'll go." If things went bad, she had Tokunaga to protect her. "But you still didn't answer my question. Who are you? And," most importantly, "who's 'we'?"

Guy nodded back to Anise, and while he eased his hand up off the hilt of his sword, he didn't plan on letting his guard down. He and Anise were both very capable, and with their power back in full force, he had no doubt that they could handle whatever threat this woman and whoever she was with might offer.

"My name is Alana," she said. "I'm part of the rebel force, so that's what I meant by we. Marc used to be the only one who was out this far, but we've slowly made our way in here. Landel must know we're around, but I guess he doesn't see us as much of a threat." She quirked a smile and then turned her back to them, leading them back to the building she'd come out of. "That's his first mistake."

Guy liked that she had a decent amount of optimism, if nothing else. He shrugged his shoulders but followed after Alana, keeping his distance like always. "My name's Guy, by the way," he said after a pause. Chances were the rebels already had methods by which to learn who they were, so he didn't see much point in keeping it to himself.

“I’m Anise.” Guy was giving his name, so Anise followed suit. If their worst enemies already knew who they were, there wasn’t much harm that could come from some maybe-allies-maybe-enemies knowing, too. She held Tokunaga tightly against her chest as she walked, looking around for anything suspicious. So far, Alana seemed to be genuine, but she couldn’t let her guard down.

“So you’re with Marc and the other people that talked to us over the radios?” Given that they’d only ever heard from one ‘rebel’ at a time, Anise never imagined that they’d have a big group or anything. And with Jill’s awful track record, it was hard to be sure that they were really on the patients’ side. Still, this was a chance to finally get some straight answers. They could try and sort out which were truthful and which were lies later.

After a somewhat long pause, Anise spoke again. “… So, um… what exactly are you rebelling against?” While Anise would’ve loved to think there was a group that banded together for the sole purpose of saving people like her, there were clues that seemed to point at something much bigger than that. The destruction of surrounding cities, the military takeover from a few weeks back… “I mean, we’ve been cooped up inside the institute the whole time, so we don’t know much about the outside,” she added, in case the previous question came out sounding like a stupid one.

Alana nodded as they both gave their names, but focused on continuing to lead them forward. They reached the building that she had come out of, and it had stone steps leading up to an impressive set of double-doors. Whatever this building had once been, whatever purpose it had served, it had been important.

She opened the door and it creaked on its large hinges, but she waved them inside. "Nice to meet you both. But yeah, that's right! We haven't been able to do much on the radios lately because the range is too far from here." She frowned and bit her lip, looking almost apologetic.

Guy stepped inside, squeezing past her and finding a long, ornate hallway with doors on either side. It was dimly lit, probably because it was night and most of the people here were already asleep. Even rebels had to get their beauty rest, right? He was going to ask what this place was, but Alana focused on answering Anise's question first.

"Well, I guess I can't say it's against any one thing since it's a little more complex than that, but we're hoping to stop what Landel and what the military has planned," she said. "Before you all came here, there was a huge war that destroyed a lot of places and hurt a lot of people in the process. Most of us lost our homes that way. But the way that the military is trying to handle that just isn't right. They're more focused on building an army than trying to repair the damage done. That's why such a huge city has been abandoned. Most of the survivors were..." She trailed off and looked away.

Guy got the feeling that whatever she might be about to say, they probably didn't want to hear it. He and Anise were well aware of how cruel the institute could be, after all. He couldn't believe that they were more focused on kidnapping people from other worlds than trying to help those who were actually native to this world. He was surprised the rebels weren't resentful of them as a result.

"It's very brave of you to try and stand up against a power like Landel's," he said after a pause.

They’d sure picked a nice place to hole up in. Even with the damage from neglect (and apparently a war), the building still retained an elegant quality that made it impressive to look at – both on the outside and inside.

When Alana explained about the radio issues, Anise glanced down at her own, which was clipped to the tool belt she’d bought the previous day. “So much for that…” she murmured. She’d been hoping she could contact Alphonse to tell him what she found, and maybe make him pass a message to her other friends. Looked like that wasn’t happening.

In any case, it was nice to finally hear some things about the big picture. A war… and a military force taking advantage of it to grab for more power. Anise may have been young, but she knew enough about people and politics to find that scenario believable.

“So where do we come in?” Anise pressed on. Even though Alana had just dropped some heavy stuff, she wasn’t going to waste this chance to ask questions. “What does the Head Doctor really want from us?” During the military takeover, it became clear that they were ‘subjects’ of some kind. What still wasn’t clear was how those experiments helped Landel, or anyone else. There were several different guesses that the patients had bounced back and forth between one another, each of them plausible in their own way, but maybe this woman knew the actual truth.

At Anise's first comment, Alana looked back over her shoulder, pausing when she spotted the radio she had. "Oh, so you got one of those, huh? We sent Jenna out to Doyleton with a whole box of them."

Guy had heard about the radios passed out in town, but he hadn't grabbed one for himself. He was still kicking himself over that. "Do you have any extra?" he asked. Even if they couldn't broadcast all the way back to the institute from here, they could at least keep in contact with each other when they decided to split up. Now he wished that Claude had come along with them...

"Sure! I can give you one, come on." As she led them further into the courthouse, she focused on answering Anise's question. "Well, what General Aguilar wants and what Landel wants are two different things, honestly. Aguilar and his men want a superpowered army primed to fight for them. Landel... well, no one really knows. He's supposed to be handling things for the military, since he's got the firepower to do it, but he tends to just do his own thing, doesn't he?"

Guy frowned as he realized that even the rebels didn't understand Landel's true intentions. It did clear some of it up, at least. He tried to picture what an army of them would look like, brainwashed and ready to serve, and it was enough to send a chill down his spine. Just like that replica army...

"Yeah, I guess so," Guy responded after a pause. "Thank you... for caring enough to try and stop this."

So 'Jenna' was that woman Anise briefly met in Doyleton. It was the rebel group that had been distributing the radios after all. They'd have to try and get one for Claude while they were here.

Anise also frowned at Alana's answer to her question. Aguilar's army... Was he planning on making the patients fight for him? Maybe once they were 'trained' enough, he planned on brainwashing them and throwing them on a battlefield. If they weren't just fodder for military experiments, that was.

And Landel... It definitely bothered her that nobody seemed to know what he wanted. Maybe it was something even worse than what Aguilar had planned.

There was another question nagging at the back of Anise's head, one that she was almost scared to hear the answer to. Her voice a bit softer than before, she asked after some hesitation, "... Do you know what happens to people who get 'released' from the institute? Where they go?"

Alana glanced back at Guy and smiled, seemingly grateful for the thanks. Guy imagined that she didn't get thanked for her work all that much, so he was happy to fill in that gap. It was true that they still had to keep their guard up around these people, but he couldn't deny the fact that Alana had been helpful and responsive to them so far.

She grabbed for a set of keys from her waist and opened a door on the right hand side. A flip of a switch turned on a solitary, dim light overhead which flickered weakly, but it allowed Guy to see a small storage room. There were benches in the middle and he immediately went to sit, glancing around at the boxes and crates that lined the walls.

It looked disorganized, but there had to be some kind of method to it all, because Alana went searching through the supplies effortlessly as she answered Anise's question. "Well, a few different things can happen. Every now and then, people get dragged out here, but that's only happened recently. Either they're brainwashed or they... well, they don't make it. One or the other. At least, I haven't heard of anything else happening."

Not good news, then. All of their friends were either brainwashed or dead, and the worst part was that Guy was forced to view brainwashing as the better option.

That wasn't good enough for Anise. She shook her head, getting impatient. "We figured out that much. What I want to know is where people go when they get brainwashed. What are they doing? Are they in danger?"

Anise's sharp tone contrasted the more amicable mannerisms Guy had been taking towards this woman, but it wasn't without reason. Ion was out there, and her parents and friends too! With their lives at stake, it was hard to be patient and polite about the situation. She'd always maintained that her first order of business once she got out of the institute would be finding them, and for that, she needed answers now.

The institute staff had led them to believe their missing loved ones were living out peaceful lives somewhere in the world, but what if the rest of the world looked like this city? And what if Aguilar was already using them as soldiers? There was so much beyond the institute walls that they couldn't see - everything they 'knew' about the outside could be a lie.

Alana paused what she was doing, turning in her crouch to face Anise. She didn't appear to be bothered that Anise was so firm, but the expression on her face was still a weary one. Guy glanced over at Anise, but he didn't blame her either. It wasn't just some acquaintances that had been released from this place. Jade, Natalia, Tear, Ion, Emperor Peony, even Asch...

"From what I've heard, they live normal lives, but I think they're more or less just put on hold." Alana wrung her hands together and let out a sigh. "How do I explain... If someone's released from this place, it's because they've been cleared as complete, not in need of any more training. It also means that they can be controlled however Aguilar and his men want, so the second they're supposed to be called to arms, they'll be there."

Guy took a moment to think that over. The idea of his friends being nothing more than mindless drones on some kind of standby until the battles started was almost sickening. He dragged a hand over his mouth and stared deep into Alana's eyes. "Is there any way to reverse it?"

"We're working on it," she said almost sheepishly. "We're thinking that if Landel can be stopped, all of the brainwashing will wear off too."

Edited 2013-07-08 13:54 (UTC)

They were 'complete'? They could be controlled whenever?

The thought made Anise feel sick. Could that really be true? Her parents, her friends... being used like tools at the whims of those bastards? Anise, too, was beginning to picture the replicas used by Mohs and the New Order of Lorelei... picturing the faces of loved ones with empty stares, acting in total obedience...

And Ion... he wouldn't last a day on a battlefield. If Aguilar made that call, it would be certain death. Anise couldn't let him die again. This time, she had to protect him!

Though she had been openly aggressive just moments ago, Anise looked deflated now. Her gaze and shoulders fell, and she was silent for a while, mulling over various fearful thoughts in her head. There was a sense of urgency, but also helplessness. Even if they beat Landel, couldn't Aguilar just turn their loved ones against them... or take them to some faraway battleground? There were so many ways that this could end horribly, and so few threads of hope for them to grasp.

She was barely able to follow the exchange between Guy and Alana enough to interject with, "Why do you think that?" Her voice, however, had lost most of its sharpness.

Guy couldn't help but notice the switch in Anise's mood. None of this was easy to hear, but he couldn't have her giving up on him either. At least they were getting information about all of this now. That meant they were better off than they'd been before, even if it didn't necessarily feel that way.

Alana shifted back toward them, going so far as to shift from her crouch to sit on the floor as she focused on the conversation rather than her initial search. "Because Landel's the one who puts them into that state. Aguilar and his army may have the strength in numbers, but they can't brainwash people. It's Landel who does that. Why else do you think they'd keep him around?"

It made sense. Landel had been ousted by Aguilar for a short time, and even then he'd been able to come back and reclaim his spot. So the military only put up with him because they had no other choice.

Either way, the solution to this was painfully clear. Landel needed to die if they wanted to have any hope of getting their friends back -- and even then, it might not be so simple. He couldn't help but ask the obvious. "How are we supposed to take him down when he's pretty much invincible?"

Even after hearing Alana’s explanation, Anise still felt that the conclusion was a little too optimistic. Maybe Landel was the only one who could brainwash people, and maybe killing him would put a stop to any future brainwashing plans he had. But would it really do any good for the people who were already brainwashed? Undoing all of that couldn't be that simple.

Guy’s question was an important one, and Anise merely nodded to show that she thought so too, then waited for an answer. Landel seemed to have everything around him under his complete control. He could take away their artes, he could cause them to black out even after wandering far from the main building, he had those weird barriers protecting him back in the Coliseum… What could they possibly do? Anise really hoped the rebels had a plan.

Optimism was truly the only way that the rebels could get by. They'd been the underdogs in this fight since it had started, after all.

Alana smiled conspiratorially. "Well, we have been working on that. I think it's almost done with, too. Some of the brainiacs here have been trying to make a device that should disable him for a while. It sends out an electromagnetic pulse and the idea is that it shuts down all of his powers, at least for a few hours."

Guy raised an eyebrow. From what he'd heard, something similar had been used on Aguilar, but Landel was clearly the one with more inherent powers, which meant that it had to be something a lot more complicated. He was impressed that they'd even figured out how to do something like that. But if Alana was right and they could incapacitate him, if only for a short while, then that might give them the chance that they needed.

"Guess there's only one way to find out, right?" Guy asked, glancing over at Anise to judge her reaction to this newest nugget of information.

They could disable his powers? Wait… “What are his powers?” Anise asked. She knew the Head Doctor was capable of a lot of scary stuff, but they were in unfamiliar territory to begin with – a whole other planet. How much of it was his advanced technology, and how much of it was him?

It was actually pretty important to know that. Even if they did seal any powers he had, they had to be prepared for whatever else the Head Doctor might have up his sleeve. He definitely seemed like the sort of person to keep a few backup plans.

Anise caught Guy’s glance, and nodded. “Yeah. If you can make an opening, we’ll kill him.” She said it matter-of-factly, as if unwilling to even consider the possibility of failure. Anise still wasn't sure what to make of the rebel group, but she was sure of one thing: if they had an opportunity to kill the Head Doctor, they had to do it. A lot was riding on this... and after everything he did, there wasn't any room for hesitation or mercy.

Maybe it was ruthless, but Guy didn't think anyone could judge them for that at this point. Not when the Head Doctor had stolen them away from their worlds and experimented on them and their friends. Not when they'd been put through trauma after trauma here. Not when Guy had even died in this place, even if he'd come back. He'd lost memories as a result of that, and he had no idea if those would ever even return.

So he nodded back to Anise. They'd had to make difficult decisions like this before, with Van and the rest of the God-Generals. Sometimes, if a person fell that far into their own lust for power, there was no other option than to put them down. Guy wished he was a better person than that, but circumstances had never really allowed for it.

Alana looked between them, her expression more grim. "It's all pretty mysterious, but the theory is that he's able to absorb the powers of others and use them as his own. That means that all of you, whatever you can usually do? He can too."

Was that part of why their powers were weakened when they arrived here? Because Landel drained them? Guy had never really thought of it that way.

From the way Anise’s eyes widened, it was clear she had been expecting a different answer – some kind of laundry list of all his specific powers. But no… he was using their powers all along? Somehow, that made her even madder than she already was at the Head Doctor.

They were learning a lot of important stuff here. They had to tell the others, back in the institute… but right now, they didn’t have the means to do that. At least they could fill in Claude when they met up again. Anise wondered how his side of the investigation was going.

“So, what now?” she asked. They sort of had a plan, but it meant waiting for the rebels to finish making whatever they were making. And that wasn’t time Anise planned to spend sitting on her hands. “How long’s it going to take for that device to get made, anyway?”

Anise looked similarly shocked about that revelation regarding Landel, so Guy didn't feel so alone in that. It was hard to believe that he'd been leeching off of them all along, but it definitely explained how he was so powerful. The combined abilities of that many people, all gathered in one person -- it was pretty terrifying.

"Well, now I find some radios for you," Alana responded as she went back to her search, digging through the different crates and boxes filled with supplies, everything from random parts to books. "Don't know how much longer it'll be. Soon, hopefully. We'd have to wait until morning to get a solid answer on that. Most people are asleep at this hour."

Now, wasn't that a concept? Guy couldn't even remember what it was like to sleep normally. The institute just did the work for them, putting them to bed and then startling them awake the next morning. They weren't going to be affected by that anymore, which meant they'd have to get real sleep. Guy glanced over at Anise. "We should probably make sure we rendezvous with Claude before anything else." As tired as Guy was, it wouldn't feel right to rest until they'd touched base with him.

They could find out tomorrow? That was better than nothing. Anise had half-expected some super-vague maybe in a few weeks or months or maybe never answer. Hopefully that wasn't what was coming tomorrow.

There were still a lot of things Anise wanted to know, but going more than 24 hours on minimal food and rest was starting to take its toll. They weren't going to get much else done until they got some sleep, and naturally, that was only going to come after they met up with Claude.

Anise nodded. "Right. We should go find him... and a place to sleep, too. We'll come back here tomorrow." There were a lot of abandoned houses in the city. Maybe some of them were still nice on the inside. It had been so long since Anise last slept normally, the idea of voluntarily going to bed almost seemed like a novelty.

It was impossible for Alana to not overhear their plans, seeing how she was right there, and after a pause she turned back toward them, a radio in each hand. "There are extra beds here. Well, they're more like... cots, but if you need a place to sleep, we can definitely be of help there."

Guy nodded, gesturing for Anise to take the radios from the woman so that he wouldn't have to handle the possible awkwardness that might ensue if his hand brushed against Alana's. Better to sidestep that entirely, if possible, but he was relieved that she was able to find two. That meant one for him and one for Claude, and then they would really be set.

Even if they weren't able to make it back here with Claude, there had to be other places they could find shelter. Guy hadn't noticed any monsters around here, so he didn't think they would have to worry too much about wandering around in different areas of the city. It was a nice change from what they were used to.

It took a moment to catch Guy’s gesture, and there was a slightly awkward pause before Anise realized he wanted her to take the radios. She went ahead and took them without complaining. Although she really thought Guy would get better if he didn’t shy away from things like this so much, maybe now wasn’t the time for that. They were still in unfamiliar territory, and it was best not to show their weaknesses before they could be sure these people could be trusted.

Alana hadn’t given them any particular reason to suspect her, at least. But Anise wasn’t quite ready to let her guard down. Spending the night with the rebels? She wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

“Okay, let’s go find Claude,” she said to Guy, holding up a radio by one end for him to safely take. The other, she clipped to her belt, alongside her own. They could talk more about what to do and where to sleep once they were out of earshot from Alana.

The thing was that Anise knew how to hand him things, which made it much easier for Guy to deal with. He nodded and took it from her, taking note of the number at the bottom. His chest swelled with the urge to take it apart, but he knew that he couldn't afford to accidentally break it in his enthusiasm. So it would have to stay in one piece for now, unfortunately.

Maybe, when they made it back to the institute, Guy could take apart his old one. It might be a nice reward for how far they had come with this.

Before leaving, Guy turned to Alana, making sure to remember his manners in the places where Anise forgot them. "Thank you for explaining everything so openly, and for the radios, and for offering us a place to stay. We need to meet up with a friend of ours, but we'll probably be back."

Alana smiled and nodded back to him. "It's no problem at all. Just make good use of those radios, okay? I'll keep an eye out for you."

With that handled, Guy exited the room and started back down the expansive main hallway of the building toward the doors they'd originally entered from. He glanced over at Anise. "Kind of a lot to take in, isn't it?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Night 71: Night, Farwell

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