It was quiet without Besca, and the prickling feeling in her gut roared back. She stared at the suits in the locker. She'd never worn anything like it. What was it—? Never mind. She needed to do it. She had to. 

As she pulled the thinner suit up, she felt something rattling across her back. Forgetting herself for a moment, she wondered what it was. Then it [i]clicked[/i] into the plugs on her back and she let out an involuntary hiss. It sounded wrong, and it felt wrong. But...it was soft, at least. If she needed to wear it, it was nice that it was soft. No matter how tight fitting it was, though, it couldn't quite stop her skin from crawling beneath it.

The heavier suit went on and she gasped. This time a different gasp than usual. A [i]good[/i] gasp. It was [i]warm.[/i] It was like walking around wrapped up in a big cozy blanket, but still being able to walk. See? It wasn't all bad! 

The gloves and boots went on. She'd never worn gloves, and flexed her hands in fascination momentarily before she shook her head and gently the—her!—clothes into the locker, closed it (leaving it slightly open) and walked out.

Besca said she'd be in the hangar, right? She followed the signs, walking down a long hallway faster than was entirely comfortable. It hurt a little, but she was glad she could walk right again, and was anxious to be back with Besca. And Deelie'd said she was coming, right? 

As much as she tried to reassure herself, she was still [i]boiling[/i] inside. She didn't want to hear the voice again. She heard it in her sleep, she didn't want to hear it awake again too. She stopped in her tracks, wiped the sleeve of the baggy suit across her eye, then walked the last little bit into the [i]hangar[/i].

It was [i]cavernous.[/i] She didn't know exactly how high up the ceiling hung, but it was really, really high for sure. Besca was standing right in front of her, and Doctor Follen was there too. It was only going to take fifteen minutes, right? That's what Besca said. Fifteen minutes, and then they could go back and watch a movie and—apparently she could eat whatever she wanted? That seemed odd. It didn't seem right to have a say in what you ate. But it seemed nice too.

She was just starting over to them when she saw Besca looking...not well. She looked scared. She couldn't imagine anything scaring her, she thought as she looked over to Besca was looking, so what—

She choked on her breath. [color=FFE63D][i]No.[/i][/color]

She staggered backwards, crashing into the wall with a [i]thud[/i], barely even noticing as her head cracked into it. [color=FFE63D][i]No, no, no.[/i][/color]

The red eyes in Hovvi. The red eyes in the lake. The sun that looked at her. Safie's Savior—its—its chest, and its head, and—

Her lips moved, but no air came out. [color=FFE63D][i]No, no, no, no, no,[/i][/color] she mouthed, pupil narrowed to a tiny pinprick. Suddenly everything was too hot, and too cold. Her teeth started to chatter. She thought maybe she was suffocating.

[color=FFE63D][i]No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no...[/i][/color]