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Em nodded. "Nita's a good sort. You're probably not likely to get a better explanation than from her. But if you have any more questions- anything you still want to know, or to say- I'll help any way I can." She turned to watch him as he walked around the bar. "I've been here for... well... I don't know what day it is, actually. I live out here, in the wild. So I don't know what month it even is. But if it's August, like I think it is..."

She stopped to think- and it was that pause of calculation that gave her, truly, the grimmest realization she'd had in a long while. The pause lasted longer than her thought- for as soon as she'd come across it in her mind... she'd gone into a form of shock. When she did speak again, her voice was so much angrier, so much sadder than it had been before.

"A year. I've been here a year. A ******** year." The final three words were whispered- no more than angry hisses of breaths that she said while gritting her teeth, looking away from Tommy and focusing on the angry side of her- mostly... so that the moisture welling up deep in her eyes didn't come to the surface- so that she didn't to to Tommy what she'd done to Thom.

Emelyn brought her hand up to her face and rubbed at her nose almost violently with her thumb and forefinger- careful not to gouge herself with one of her claws. It was as if she was determined to root the 'sniffles' out before they ever had a chance to start.

"This Hell Island's not so terrible a place as people may be telling you," she said, softly. Reuben still wagged his tail incessantly, leaning up agains the bar looking for attention. He was oblivious to the moodchange. "...But it will suck out your soul."

Emelyn gave Tommy a small, reassuring smile. "Hey, no self-depricating on the beach. ...You're not stupid. And everyone has a way of resisting, here. Some just don't show it the same way as others. ...It always starts off with the more obvious ways. Some people try to storm the labs, or attack one of the doctors. But... some people's spirits get broken- others, they just go underground with their rebellion." She turned to look him square in the eyes- thinking, with his clean-shave and crew cut that he was probably the sort to respect a more military approach to life. "...We're all fighting. All the time. Even if only to keep sane."

She laughed- a single huff that was more a rounded breath than an escape of real mirth.

"Hardly. People being shocked by the fences- people pounding on the doors- nothing more than that. It's a fortress. ...And there are cameras all over the island. There's no way you can plot an escape with the constant surveillance. Even out here." She put her hands up, indicating the warm, balmy air around them. "The labs know everything I do. And I've not stepped foot in the village or my duplex since January 1st."

Emelyn said what she did matter-of-factly, without sorrow or anger. They were simply what was- and, although she did not want to discourage Tommy- she also didn't want to lead him on, drag him down a path he'd not be able to reconcile with true possibility.

Emelyn had not truly been 'herself' for a long while. In the ways that mattered- her self confidence, her understanding of herself and her fate... even in the way she went about her days with a sort of compromised yet still beautiful optomism- she had survived, even thrived in the wild as well as she had for the past half year- as long as she'd kept true to herself. But in the past few months, something had gripped her, changed her- made her- if not afraid, then perhaps weary. She'd not realized how fraught she was- with confusion and fear... anger... and lonliness. Something had changed in Emelyn White. And she didn't know entirely what it was.

But there was still something that she could do- just as well as she ever could. She could give comfort, and answer people's questions. Emelyn leaned over the bar, getting nearer to Tommy, and her voice was low, calming, and comforting as she spoke.

"The first transformation... should come in a few weeks after you first get here, and receive what they call the 'immunization' shot. It's really the first primer injection. ...The first change is always the most slight. Just a few features change... shift. Then the changes are further apart- by months. I've only changed three times, and I've been here a year. And...it does hurt. Sometimes a little, sometimes a little more. It depends on what's changing. My last change just felt like a headache, a bad sunburn... and a nosebleed. It was barely anything at all." She left out that the one before had involved over 6,000 spines shooting out from her back- a cavalcade of knives forcing themselves out through flesh in an agonizing parade of pain. Some things- he could discover on his own. Besides, she didn't even know what animal he'd have. He could have it very easy- or very hard.

"Well... I know you're probably livid at them right now- and would rather scream at them than talk... but you can always call the labs on your intercom system... and ask them what your serum is. Ask for Aubrey, or Sabin. They're the most likely to tell you. ...Aubrey's your best bet. She's the least likely to have had anything to do with your arrival, as well. So- you could feel a little less like you're asking them for anything when you call." Emelyn wished she could give him some hope about the possibility of keeping his hands- or keeping his sanity, his pride, for that matter. All she could do was offer herself- her company, her answers- although, these days, she didn't know how much she was truly worth, in the state she was in.

"And if you ever need anything, you can come looking for me. I'm usually on the beach, or out in the jungle. ...I live in a cave up on the mountain. One of the others could help you find me. I'm always here to help."

She laughed again- this time, a little more mirth than derision coming from her proto-muzzle.

"Oh, I have delusions about this place. They're just not quite as fluffy as some of the others. ...They haven't had to make their own meals for half a year. Oh, which reminds me. The berries in the fridge aren't for the beach bar. They're mine. So hands off." She said it with a wide smile though, to let him know she was kidding. "...But it's been nice to meet you, Tommy. Truly- take me up on my offer if you ever need anything. I'm only an island-search away. ...Come on Reuben." She clapped her hands together to get the mutt's attention, readying herself to leave.

Emelyn walked away with Reuben at her side, not looking back over her shoulder to see if Tommy watched them as they went. Instead, she looked down at her wet, happy dog and smiled.

"Nice man, hm, Reuben?" The dog only wagged his tail, happy and oblivious to the meaning of the sounds his human made. But Emelyn smiled and nodded as if he'd spoken an earful.

"Yeah. I think so, too. Come on, boy." And with that, the girl and her dog- went back up the mountain.