"Oh, man, hours." she chuckled, raising her arm to kiss the bicep, "I had to go back a couple of times. The first day was just the outlining and putting in the flat colors, then they wanted to give it a little time to heal before throwing the shading colors over it, and I came back a couple weeks after that for touch-up." she left the sleeve rolled up and leaned forward a bit smirking, "It would've gone faster if I'd gone with the professional, but, ya know."

"Even the man who has nothing can have hope." Juniper said, it sounded like she was quoting from something, "I don't mean to say that this place can be a paradise, but all throughout human history life has found a way to go on no matter how adverse things got. The happiest moments in my life have been flukes, accidents, and things I just plain didn't see coming . . . like being here, now." she shrugged a bit, "Maybe I can only say that because I'm new, but I worry that as safe as this place is, it's insulating you from what good is out there, and leaving you with nothing to dwell on but . . . well, the attacks."

"I'll get back to you in a few months, tell you how that philosophy is working out for me." she laughed a bit, "Hmn . . . so, a big battery . . ." she started thinking that one over in her head, ". . . Ya know, I never really stopped to think about it. Where does the school get it's power from? I didn't see any wind turbines on the coast when I flew over . . . solar panels, maybe? It'd help explain why they turn the lights out, and reinforce the need for curfew. Can't be gas generators, there'd be drums of the stuff everywhere." she scratched her head, thinking to herself.

"I guess the staff doesn't have golf carts or anything like that to make getting around the campus easier, or the security teams would've been out there riding me down." she crossed her arms, "Geeze...other than the Labs, where would you even look? School labs? Maybe they've got a supply of emergency stuff in the basement? It wouldn't be easy, but a portable generator would do the job."

“I could never do it,” Gigi professed though her eyes still lingered over the details therein. “I hate needles, ever since I was a little girl I hated them. I can't imagine dealing with that for hours let alone a few seconds.”

The sleeve was still rolled up revealing the tattoo to her green eyes. She looked back into the eyes of the younger student then though. “Yin and Yang … you familiar with the concept. In all evil there is some good and some evil in that which is good. Granted I have not seen much good in the evil here, save for Mind Bender most of the others have been fairly brutal in their approach …” another deep sigh as she reflected on this little point. Her eyes flickered to the tattoo again then back to Juni's eyes.

“Do you ever think about it? About Thomas, about Marian? What it would have been like if you had gone back that day and apologized or hadn't freaked out afterwards?”

She considered Juni's question for a moment. “The labs I think. Power consumption there is massive though I've only been their once … sometimes the staff or a monster wants to conduct partivular research on someone. I managed to get free for a little while and came by the generators, their massive and I wouldn't doubt if they were connected into something to fuel power here at the school but Tin Man brought me back before long … he was working on some sort of electrical resistance since h's vulnearable he was seeking to increase his own resistances.

“Probably in the basement, there might be a generator or something in there though I checking there is dangerous during the day, they punish students there. It is a bit easier at night though the faculty and students aren't the only ones to use the place … I got lucky once when going down there … one of the proessors, Heinz, was actually one of them,” she lifted her chin and looked at the sketches of the monsters before looking back. “Fortunately he did not see me but it unnerved me so much that I stayed clear from their and just began to look else where. And I don't think the security has any sort of golf charts to zip around. It's pretty quite out ther now though.”

"You could always get something pierced instead." she said with a wink, "Just a little click-click--" she emphasized the sound by making a gesture with a quick squeezing motion, "--and bam! Instant rebel. Also, unlike the tattoo, if you later decide that you were happier as a conventional gal it'll heal back up if you take the jewelry out long enough."

"I try not to think about it." Juniper said, sliding down the wall a little bit, "Life's too short, right? If I was with them, I probably wouldn't have taken up the journalism club, and I'd still be drifting aimlessly through life. I'd probably have some crappy menial job I hated instead of going to university, but I'd have my friends. Or I'd have found the journalism club anyway, done all the same stuff, and be in exactly the same place but with an extra helping of heart break instead of a scarred over memory." she tucked her hands behind her head to add a little cushioning from the wall, her elbows conveniently hiding her face as she forcefully stuffed the dormant feelings back down.

Christ, I could use a fag she thought, grinding her teeth together, All this nostalgic thinking is just reawakening the old cravings.

"Okay, I'll try the basement at night, once I heal up." she nodded a bit, "I should probably familiarize myself with the layout anyway. Nine-to-one, if the bitch figures out who I am, she'll blame the desk and the door on me. Not like I don't have a record of vandalism. So, let's see. . ." she reached out a hand, raising a finger for each offense as she said it aloud, "Curfew violation, a few counts of breaking and entering, stealing school property, some destruction of school property, and assaulting a member of the staff. Oh, and I guess being out of uniform" she glanced over with a smirk, "You've been around, think they'll let me off with a slap on the wrist and some restricted privileges?"

“That is an idea though I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to piercings too though I think I can handle that better, over and done with but I haven't even got my ears pierced.” She laughed a little then shook her head. “Stupid, right?”

Gigi stretched her arms over her head then stood getting the kinks out of her back. That was certainly a means of thinking about it. One where their could be more anguish if things had gone right, if she had smooth things over with her friends only to realize now she was stuck her with no way to see them again as far as she was aware.

“A fag? Well Becky is I guess … I don't spend to – ooh,” she clasped a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh. For someone so smart she could be so stupid at times. “You meant a cigarette. I don't smoke myself but know that one of the girls, Elise, can get things that normally aren't available I dunno how, but she manages it I hear though I've never really had to go through her. Give me my machines and I'm happy and outside of that generator I got most of what I need upstairs.”

“It depends, they might let you slid on the lack of uniform but for the other offenses,” she laughed and shook her head. “Disciplanary action in the basement unless the nurse finds out who you are and decides to deal with you first hand.”

"Naw, it's not stupid, it's just not your thing." she said with a good natured shrug, "I should probably think about taking mine out anyway. If I'm going to be a target for horny b-movie rubber monsters, there are places you don't want tearing." she said with a wince, though her tone sounded sad. It would probably sound weird to say out loud, but somehow she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd feel less like herself if she did take them out, like she was already diminishing her identity for the sake of being a more ready toy for those things That said, the idea of those studs comming out the hard way because some inhuman jackass just kept jerking on them made her cringe all the way from her head to her toes.

"Ha . . . no, I should probably quit anyway. Coach was always going on about how those things were hurting my times and how I was going to miss my chance at a scholarship over 'em. I might not have to worry about scholarships anymore, but I've got an even better reason to keep my times up." even as she said that, though, she rolled her tongue over her lips, "It's just, well, did you ever see Sin City? 'Nobody really quits, a smoker's a smoker when the chips are down,' and they feel pretty damned down right now. Elise sounds like a handy person to know though, I'll have to look her up."

"Ha, yeah, that's about what I figured. Never thought I'd miss cleaning toilets, collecting trash, and scrubbing the stonework." she chuckled a bit, though she tried not to dwell on what exactly "disciplinary action" might consist of under the circumstances, "Didn't know they did deferred punishment like that. Wonder how that works on the administrative end, if you've just gotta get there first, or if you can put a 'claim' on a student for later."

She looked up at the ceiling, things had definitely quieted down a bit, but she figured she'd better give it a little more time, She still wasn't moving that well, after all. Part of her considered whether or not it might be better to shack up here for the night . . . from the sounds of things, a student disappearing for a day wasn't exactly unheard of. She glanced over wordlessly at Gigi for a moment.

The girl seemed sincere, and lonesome, but as she'd said before Juniper didn't trust easily. The fact was that as long as Juniper was free, this safe haven was compromised, and it looked like a central fixture in Gigi's experiments. It was said that two people could keep a secret, so long as one of them was dead. If she took her eyes off the girl long enough to sleep, how could she know that the engineer wouldn't start thinking the same way? Three years in a place like that could do a lot to unhinge someone. . .but then, would she really be any safer in her dorm?

She blew out an irritated puff of air between her lips, still silently weighing her options.

“No,no, you'll find I'm quite a whimp with needles and piercings and all that, odd in light of what I've been through,” she laughed though there had been no mirth behind it. She then sighed in reflection figuring how bad it could be she must have thought.

“Yeah I saw that movie … you'll probably laugh but I think Mickey O'Rourke is kinda appealing in that ugly as sin lok, I dunno I think it's the way he sort of holds himself and how he sort of sticks out, ugly guy in Hollywood you would think he wouldn't get roles but their's something gritty about him being a survivor in an unlikely place. It's only acting but it is inspiring in a way to think of the situation as surrounded by bizarre sex crazed creatures … totally different situation of course but I draw little parellels from it, surviving in Hollywood, surviving here. Yeah, I rather have his job.” She snorted, shook her head.

“It's probably best that you do quiet, I don't know how much good it will do but it can't hurt right? Still, a smoker is a smoker ...” the last line had been a little sad as if she expect Juniper to need a cigarette at some point, probably sooner than later.

“I'm unsure how it works out, probably they have to file a claim or something and it's either how gets there first or by seniority … I try not to find out though it would be interesting to add to my notes since I only have stuff on monsters like Ripper, Tin Man, I got a lot on him I don't think you'll meet him but you never know, Blob, Mind Bender … there are a lot of them. I don't have much on Heinz, I know he's one of them though and that's preety much all I got thus far.”

It was as if Gigi followed her train of thought as Juni calculated her next move. “The dorms are only marginally safe I've been attacked there too, Ripper and Mind Bender were both at the dorms … some have preferred hunting grounds like Tin Man doesn't hang around the campus but I've run a foul of him a few times mostly at the labs … Blob was in the forest though I have only encountered him once too ...” She paused for a moment.

“I don't know what's going to happen to me at the end of the year, if I'm going to be killed or taken away or what … so you can have this once I'm gone … you can rest her tonight if you want. With all the security out there I'm guessing that even I would have difficulty sneaking back. Your call though I'm staying, not worth the risk. You can stay if you can trust me, but think of it like this: why would I turn you over? They'd find this place, I'd loose it and I'd get punished too for braking curfew as well. I could probably make some sort of deal to lessen the punishment but I doubt it since I wouldn't expect them to keep their word. Mind Bender has been the only one to keep to his word, others like Ripper deliberately lied or broke it.”

"Heh, Rourke is pretty good. Every time I've seen him interviewed behind the scenes he comes across as a big ol' teddybear, just with some city miles on him. I figure Hellboy is probably the role he was most comfortable in." she chuckled a bit, "Though, personally, the Bruce Willis bits were my favorite parts of the movie. I mean, the age difference thing was a little skeevy, but it's hard not to feel for a guy who puts it all on the line to protect a girl, ya know, pushing way passed his limits because there's someone depending on him."

"Heh, I'm more worried about getting my head staved with a wrench than turned over." she said, though she did so with an easy smile. It seemed she hadn't inherited her mother's poker face, or Gigi had learned to read people pretty well in the process of trying to figure out who was and wasn't a monster, "But, i don't think you'd do that."

"I'm sorry to impose, but I think I will stay here for the night. Thank you for offering." she said, following the statement with a bow of her head. She reached down and started untying the sleeves from around her waist, "Hey, I don't suppose you've got a roll of tape to spare? And two good, stiff boards? Metal will work too, in a pinch. I guess I can use rope or wire instead of tape, if you haven't any to spare. I'm gonna try and rig up a brace for my knee, so I don't turn it in my sleep."

Arching her back, she picked her backside up off the floor and slid the coveralls down passed her hips. As she pushed the gray suit down her legs, it became apparent that she was still wearing the school issued red bloomers along with her shirt. She tsked slightly, seeing the swelling around the knee, and the light purple brushes where the bruising from her fall was already starting to form. She was going to ache all over come morning. She kicked off her shoes so the could slide the coveralls the rest of the way off, spreading them over the ground and using them like a cheap futon.

It wasn't trust, not exactly. More, it was a matter of risk management. Here, she had exactly one thing to worry about. Up there, it was security, monsters, students on the take, and who knew what else. She'd feel a little safer around Gigi after she found that battery and they'd settled up. Shown that she wasn't just a squatter, but that she could be handy to keep around. She didn't want to talk about the end of the year, about "inheriting" things from other students, all of that was still too mysterious, and way too far off for her to do anything meaningful about just yet.

Gigi giggled, “That was Ron Pearlman! He's a cute older guy too. Oh, and don't get me started with Bruce Willis. Yum!” It was apparent that Gigi like the older figures, not the Clive Owens or the Gerard Butlers that had been so appealing to younger generations but men more or less her father's age.

They say that a girl's first crush was with her dad but still … these guys looked nothing like her father, she just had a quirk she guessed when it came to older men, not that any had ever been interested in a nerdy girl like her. Subconsciously she glanced at her under developed chest then smiled a bit giggling a little.

Gigi smiled. “Oh, no, I wouldn't do that. I brought the wrench and the other tools upstairs.” She smiled. “I can't risk those going missing so I have to put them back. I was getting ready to leave when I got surprised to see you there ...”

Gigi thought, then moved to a pucket in the chamber and had a look over some of the scrape materials she had gathered. “I don't work with wood too often but I have a couple of metal bars that should do. There's tape but it's upstairs. It sounds as if the security has moved on but we'll wait a little while to be certain. Besides, I have to get that wrench when we're up there,” she grinned, jokingly of course.

“And don't worry, your not imposing at all. Besides I wouldn't risk going out there at the time and by myself this place can get awfully lonely.”

She brought over the metal bars and offered to share the only food she had, a candy bar that she would split in half. After it was finished she had gone upstairs, with or without her to fetch the tape returning a short while later. She would put it back before they left in the norning of course.

“Quiet out there now ...”

"So, you're saying that there are two big, gravely voiced guys willing to wear that much stage makeup?" Juniper asked, raising an eyebrow, "Ha, truth is stranger than fiction after all. Guess it's been longer than I thought since I watched those flicks." she chuckled a bit to hide her embarrassment. When one was looking to make tracking down information their job, crossing wires like that kinda undermined their impression of effectiveness. The campus ground full of agitated guards didn't help either.

"I'm fortunate you did see me though. I wasn't even sure that I could get up to the roof, nevermind that they might actually be motivated enough to look up there. It was like having a noose tightening around your neck. . .though, to be fair, at the time I thought the nurse was gonna tear my skin off and wear me like a suit." she chuckled, waving off the proffered candy bar, her appetite unsurprisingly absent.

The brace was a simple enough fair, laying her leg straight out, she set one of the metal bars on either side of her knee. Then she wound the tape over the bars and her leg on either side of the joint, putting pressure on the sides of the knee. She'd be lying if she said it was comfortable, and she wouldn't be able to bend the leg until she took it off again, but unless she was interested in a sexual healing she'd just have to make due.

"Yeah, it is quiet." Juniper said, sliding down to the floor and cushioning her head with her crossed forearms. She let out a deep sigh, looking up at the ceiling, "It's kinda nice, after all the excitement." she said, smirking a bit to herself. She still wasn't sure what lay ahead for her in the morning, she had a half dozen bad ideas, and no good ones. Better a bad idea than no idea . . . right?

She didn't pay the slip up too much attention, an honest mistake though she was fans of both O'Rouke and Pearlman so it was easier for her to keep matters straight. She giggled though. “Pearlman doesn't need half the make up though but an honest mistake since they sound familiar and in Hell Boy you don't really see the actor beneath all that read make up.”

Gigi ate the candy bar, well half of it anyway saving half in case Juni changed her mind. Going through a near miss like this tended to quell one's appetite for a little while. “The roof … hm, they probably would have looked there. They probably saw the lock on the shed and ruled this place out altogether. I'm glad I can be of help, the first time is the worse, it gets easier after that. The nurse can kill you, well she could but won't for whatever reason I haven't worked out why yet … though they can hurt you pretty bad and while you get healed up afterwards they can hurt you a lot during matters.”

Gigi watched her then laid down of the floor opposite from Juni. She had no blanets or a bed roll down here though she did draw her googles down over her eyes. She cushioned her head with her hands and stared up at the ceiling as she thought.

“What's your plan for the morning? They don't like it when students try to show them up so the nurse will probably try to figure out who was snooping around the infirmary, especially when picking up no one tonight she'll probably call for physicals or something in the morning and try to do something tomorrow night, she'lll probably make you wait … make you dread knowing she knows all day long before doing something. They're like that, sadistic and twisted for the most part.”

She looked up at the ceiling silently for a long, long time when Gigi asked her what her plans were. That was the question, wasn't it? No miracle solution was going to come to her overnight, so it was time to start picking from among bad options. She got the impression she'd find herself getting a lot of practice at that over the next four years. Four years. This one night had been an emotional roller coaster of shocking revelations, close shaves, and quiet relief. She could scarcely imagine what fourteen hundred and sixty like it was going to be like . . . and she'd better get used to the idea. They controlled outside communication, had transportation on lock down, she wouldn't be going home for the holidays and there'd be no field trips she could use to effect an escape. Maybe she could try to build a boat, hope to find another island in range and make a go of things Gilligan's Island style . . . but she imagined they had the surrounding geography pretty well mapped, and there wouldn't be anything in range. Assuming some kind of creature from the black lagoon wasn't out there underneath the waves just waiting for a girl to strand herself on a tiny wooden platform.

"Rrgh. . ." she groaned, pressing her thumb between her temples, "If I'd been here even a month before all this happened, I might know the island's layout well enough to do something on my own," she said with clear frustration, "But, as it is . . . I guess it's time for me to give up illusions of dwelling in heaven, and start cracking on reigning in hell."

"In Norse mythology, Odin sacrificed an eye to drink from Mimir's Well. He saw all the troubles that would fall upon man and gods . . . and why the sorrow and troubles had to come." she let out a breath, "I'm a muck raker, information is my idiom, I need truths like that if I'm going to do anything about this place, ultimately. The school's computer network should be the well, I just need to make a sacrifice before I can drink." it was a bit of an artsy preamble. The truth of the matter was that she just didn't want to say what she was thinking.

"This is based on a lot of speculative information, but that's all the data I've got right now. The illusion that the school is a normal place is important, and if the monsters aren't unified than there's no clear hierarchy, the Nurse may want immediate physicals but she's still got to push against the plans of everyone else on the administrative team, so it'll probably come down to announcing them today and then starting them as soon as possible tomorrow." she gestured a bit with one hand, "Assuming I don't get pinched by security, or that one of the students doesn't see me hobbling about and send for the nurse, in which case I'm fucked, I'll try and make my way down to the coast and look for your Mind Bender. Old squid-lips is a telepath, and everyone knows that the most vulnerable point of computer security is the human element, so hopefully I can bargain him into getting me an administrative login and password. Get yourself a hammer, right?"

"Then, use that hammer to make yourself a better hammer. I hit up a computer, maybe one in the dorm, maybe in the computer labs. Use the login I bargained for to create a couple new kinds of accounts with full permissions, knock out a couple of each type, make a few back doors so I can get back in if they do hunt everything down, including some which rely on very narrow time-windows to access so they're less likely to be detected, then wipe the logs of my activities and log out. Switch over to one of the dummy accounts, switch my picture in the student database with that of someone who graduated, and hope that buys me some time."

"Net result? I'm still on the menu for fraternizing with monsters, but that probably would've happened anyway. I keep a step ahead of The Bitch for a little while longer, and I turn the local computer network into a mess of swiss cheese that makes Sony's customer protection division look positively competent." she looked over at Gigi with a helpless shrug, "It's not perfect, mind you. It's possible they can rip an account of everything I did out of my skull afterwards and get a convenient road map to plugging the holes I knocked in their network. Or, once they realize that the system is compromised, they could just knock it all down and throw up a new system."

"Best case scenario, I'm the rat in their walls for a while, and I can get the student body some real answers. Worse case scenario . . . I get disappeared into the basement forever, and someone has a really really bad day trying to get operational security back up to snuff. I'll take what I can get."

“I know the island quite well … I've been here for awhile and while most of my free time has been spent here I've seen a good deal of this place … hidden labs, a bit of the wilderness from excurisions into the wilderness with classes, the layout of the classes and some of the basement though I didn't have the nerve to poke around there for long I did manage to get the gist of it I think. Running doesn't seem to work … many actually prefer you to run delighting on chasing you down. The thrill of the hunt so to speak ...” Gigi propped her head up with an arm so she could get a better look at Juni though now with the goggles covering her eyes the image appeared darker.

“I'm somwhat familiar with it, mythology wasn't one of my big things though I always got terrified of the water deities Aegir in Norse mythos, Posedion in Greek … I … I can't swim and that whole notion of drowning frightens me to no end probably as much as loosing the practice of my craft. I'm not sure how much you'll find on the computers here but it is worth it, right? I mean the staff probably communicates, keeps notes on what students are in the labs or unavailable since a monster has them, new arrivals, scheduled arrivals, keeping tabs on new monsters maybe even monitoring ...”

Gigi fell silent for a moment then wrenched off her goggles as she sat up she dropped them into her lap.

“Monitoring the monsters! Maybe somebody is taking notes at their strengths and weakness under the guise of this place! Maybe were sacrifices to draw out unsuspecting aliens, figure them out and put defenses in place before they attack, maybe a place like this is meant to appease them in someway.” She shrugged. “Or I could be ”

“Right. A hammer … but what will you bargain with? I saw him in the dorms and he seemed to be more into my submission and even gave me that dream so I assume that he is probably one of the easier ones to deal with … he looks like a water based creature from the drawings you looked at earlier so I'd think to look for him in some secluded spot at the beach where no one is around, it's risky though since you might find something else instead … but yeah, you might be right about that nurse having to wait a day to push her agenda through if it conflicts with anothers.

“I'd recommend the computer labs, security might detect a breach or something and they'll know what computers ICP code to look for and find you easier. At least in the labs if you go disguised they might not find you so quick if for some reason you trip an alarm or try to access something that's restricted to the person's log on information.

“I think it's a good start though, I think for the first year I fought back before seeing how pointless it was but I was only fighting back to protect myself in the sort term not the long term, never like this.

“I don't think students are sent to the basements indiffently. It's only because I've been there but I think if they want to have you disappear the labs are better suited. Off campus from what I guess, out of sight, out of mind, let's just hope things go well.”

"Okay, new worst case scenario. They ship me off to the Labs, turn me into a horrible mutant freak, and I shamble my way back here for a long night of tender loving and sanity eroding half-truths." she smirked a bit at the notion, doubting that things would be quite that pat. She didn't get the impression that the creatures were out here looking to recruit. She chewed on the rest of what Gigi had said, rolling on her side.

"Well, the only thing I have to bargain with is my body." she said, sullenly, "It's going to start eventually . . . it may as well be on my terms. What you say matches up with a theory I've got about Mind Bender. . .you said that you didn't have to take his offer since he just could've taken you anyway. So, why offer a deal at all then? My bet is ego, he's not just out to satisfy some physical urge, he wants his targets to need him, to offer themselves up. Probably makes him feel superior to the brutes who just push you down and fuck you raw." she lightly massaged her temples, "Well, I definitely have a need. If he can meet it, I'll have to offer to give myself over willingly. . .I imagine the notion of "stealing" my first time away from the nurse will appeal to his ego plenty on it's own, but I'll hand feed him fresh krill on a bed of kelp if that's what it takes to seal the deal." she said, though she shuddered involuntarily at the notion of some slimy tentacled thing running it's suckered extremities over her while she sat in it's lap and made goo-goo faces at it.

"Somehow the notion that maybe we've been sacrificed by our own kind doesn't really make this sit any better with me." she said, pursing her lips together into a tight line, "I mean, I guess knowing that we're not suffering pointlessly would give some heart, but whether we're just sacrifices or bribes, the fact is that we weren't consulted. And it would mean that even if we did somehow get home, government goons might just black bag us and send us back again." she rocked her head from side to side, "I guess your retirement options would improve a bit though. New identity, new history, federally mandated non-disclosure agreement with lethal violation clauses. I wouldn't hold my breath though."

"My only concern with the computer lab is that they're probably under surveillance. . .of course, that assumes that there are no monitoring devices in our dorms anyway, which I'm not sure I'm willing to believe anymore." she huffed slightly, "I swear, for all it's idyllic exterior, this place is starting to look like it'd give Alkatraz a run for it's money." she propped her head up a bit.

"Hey, what's up with the labs anyway? I mean, they don't have to put up appearances for the sake of students, I wouldn't think. . .do the monsters just walk around the interior over there letting it all hang out, or what? I didn't pay much attention to that part of the brochure, since science isn't really my strong suit. . ."

“That sounds more accurate,” Gigi giggled a little, not at the truth but at how bliase the younger girl looked at things. She had a spirit that had yet to be broken and while it was probably going to happen she hoped that her spirit would be worn down but never truly broken.

It was not often that she got to speak like this so candidly, without retracting back it would seem that Juniper saw little of the withdrawn girl catching her on a good day perhaps.

For a long moment Gigi looked at the floor as if in thought as Juni made clear her intentions and she considered a few things. “Yes … I guess it does make him feel a bit superior … I guess it is the ego of wanting that attention, to know that he is wanted or needed and while he looks more than capable of just taking he doesn't. But do you mean what you say? I mean, would you go to him knowing what you would have to do, knowing that you narrowly escape your first time on the island helps and all, I think he might like that knwing that you have been exposed already to the island inhabitants, already knowing of the nature of this place and still seeking him out when there are other psychic monsters out there like Ripper though hardly as appealing, and hardly the sort to do more than just take what they want.”

Gigi reflected on what she said though. She frown a little then looked up from the ground. “It is rather … well, yeah … what if after four years they just cycle you out, give you a new identity, congradulate you for the service to thw country or world then spirit you off some place? I guess that wouldn't be so bad in comparisson to the other thoughts that I've had on the matter.

“Picking locks and going into other dorm rooms disguised as other girls wouldn't help much either, theyll see the cameras. Find out that so and so didn't come back to the room but was in a class with twenty or thirty witnesses so it would just be a matter of time before they catch up to you.”

She giggled a little. “Well thankfully my exposure there had been rather limited so I'll tell you but there mostly assumptions. The monsters mix with the staff there so they let it all hang out, I haven't figured out if the staff are lesser monsters in human guise so it's likely though still not certain that the school is involved. They could have be usurped mentally and what not but they conduct experiments over there, some that monsters over see or are interested in.

“Tin Man is real vulnerable to electricty and there were some experiments done with electricity, I think to either bolster some sort of resistance or exploit that weaness with those results. All I remember is being shocked a lot … I mean a lot ….”

"It's not like I want to." Juniper said, letting her head rest against the floor again, "But this thing . . . it scares the hell out of me. I can't out fight it, it'd break me like a toothpick. I can't out run it, not with my leg like it is, and not while she has and army of goons to sic on me like dogs. Out smarting it . . . I've gotten lucky so far, but it's going to get tired of playing with it's food eventually. I pissed it off, and when it gets ahold of me, it's not going to be something as simple as a quick snog and a slap on the ass on my way out the door. I found what I think to be one it's victims, she was babbling about something under her skin, scrubbing herself raw just trying to get it out again." she shivered a bit, drawing her arms tightly around herself and curling up in a ball, she suddenly felt very small.

"It's no telepath, but it's definitely in my head. Every time I close my eyes, I see those intense amber-colored eyes boring a hole straight through me again. I've been scared for my life before, only reason I could keep moving at all, but for a second there I was just gripped by a palpable feeling of dread." she took a deep breath, trying to force a smile though it came out a little feral, "Of course, all of that just makes the struggle all the more satisfying. I can play the sycophant if it'll spite the bitch, if I can take something from her, if I can get the tools to undermine her authority. Refusing the play the game just makes things harder, instead, I'll play it conservatively, see if I can't play the monsters off of one another, and win out in the long game."

She loosened her grip on herself, uncoiling herself slightly, her shoulders shaking as the enormity of her situation pressed back against her resolve again.

"And, if I lose . . . I'll just have to leave what I found behind for the next class. Hope, for me, for all my classmates . . . I'll keep that ember burning as long as I can . . . there has to be a way out."