Where was home? Ameline's mouth formed an "o" in surprise. What had they done to Anna? Sure, she'd been there a month, but her memory was better than to forget that their apartment was only a bus ride away. Ameline had been aware of the location, and that Anna was getting paid, but given that she wasn't participating in the experiment itself, she hadn't been privy to any more details. Regardless; Ameline shut her mouth. Looking so stunned surely wouldn't help the already-dazed Anna, so she'd best stop. "Home... It's just a few minutes away, by bus," she explained, gently. Her eyes whisked over to the analog clock above the receptionist, and back again. There were still a few minutes left before the next bus came. "We're on campus, here. We, we live just off," she added, uncertain.

[i]They probably gave her drugs. She needs to go home and sleep it off, and that's all. She'll wake up and be back to normal in the morning,[/i] Ameline told herself, fiercely. Her Anna was still there; she had to be, just hiding under a layer of drug induced haze. And dwelling on it much longer would do no good, so the woman pulled the envelope back out from her pocket. "Let's see what they gave you, shall we?" she said, and passed a smile Anna's way. No, she didn't pass it, she forced the smile into her lover's hands, and then averted her sight to the envelope that she was opening. It was a check, as Ameline discovered when she shook it from its shell. Right. Payment. "You got paid," she said, possibly unnecessarily, and slipped it over to look at the amount. "You got paid..." No. That couldn't be right. Could it? But the check was stamped consistently, which meant it was valid; one hundred thousand dollars. "A lot," she finished, clearing her throat, and offering the expensive slip of paper to Anna. [i]She still knows what a check is, right? What money's worth?[/i] Ameline hushed the voice down to a dull whisper, but couldn't forget that much.