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"Yes," she answered softly, putting a paw around to the base of her neck. "And it works..." A frown worked its way across Kikue's face. That was unsolved part of the puzzle, wasn't it. How had Annie been able to kill Fiona? With a troubled look, she asked, "...How...how was Annie able to hurt Fee like that? Wouldn't the chip...?" She knew it was prodding back into the danger zone, but it was the piece that didn't make any sense. The labs seemed vigilant about the chips. Maybe even too vigilant...Kikue still couldn't explain what had happened to Zach, either. He hadn't been about to attack her, as far as she could tell. And yet she had also been shocked. Why?

She brought her hand back to rest in her lap. She had never wished so much that she could make her claws disappear...they stuck out so noticeablely, and were so sharp -- it was as if they spoke volumes on their own. Like they were taunting.

Kikue felt like her stomach had dropped to her feet. So. That was it. The chips could be removed...no doubt it was dangerous to do it. Kikue felt no real inclination to have hers taken away. She liked the knowledge that if she were about to do something relatively stupid, the labs would stop her from really hurting anyone. Pretending to think she would always be in complete control was something that was impossible now...the mess hall had proved it. Once was enough to show that.

Kikue touched the base of her neck again, rubbing the pads that had formed beneath her fingers on the spot. I can't believe that ripping it out like that wasn't enough to stop Annie...it must have been gruesome. But her neck...then again, she had changed, hadn't she. And a wolf...I have no idea what it would be like.

She gave Nita a kind of weak smile, placing her hand back into her lap. Her ears were crumpled again. "Ever since what happened, I have been trying very hard to make sure I eat and take care of myself...I don't want anything like that to happen ever again." Yet she couldn't bring herself to say, 'I would never hurt you.' Kikue no longer trusted herself, something that unnerved her, being that she was the only person she could trust in the past. But now, everything was different. That iron grip on her composure had weakened; fallen prey to these instinicts...these emotions...

"I'll try never to do anything," she whispered painfully, wrestling with the overpowering urge to be upset. Her voice still cracked slightly, but she retained some amount of control. It was better than nothing.

Forcing a smile, she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her ears flicked a little. "I know my chip works...it knocked me out in the mess hall. But I actually didn't wake up there." Kikue flicked her tail a little, her spirits rising a bit as she moved away from the memory of what she'd done. "Do you know Zach?"

Kikue nodded hard, knowing full will while she could promise nothing, she would do everything in her power to never, ever hurt Nita. It was why she had tried so hard afterward...made sure to eat, to take care of herself. No one else deserved to be put into a position by her mania just because of a stupid decision. Kikue would make sure of it.

She blinked, momentarily surprised at Nita's reaction to Zach's name. Tilting her had curiously, she asked, "Do anything to me? No...he was actually the person that helped me, after the mess hall. I woke up in his duplex..." Quickly she attempted to dispel any suspicion that Zach might have done anything than bring her there. She knew what it sounded like...she had even thought of it, just for a moment, when she had woken up there. "He didn't do anything," she got out in a rush. "He was very cordial with me."

Kikue flicked her tail. "Did he do something to you?" she asked, her tone conveying faint worry. She trusted Nita, probably more than she had trusted anyone else, ever. She had never exactly had friends before the Island.

Still, Kikue was even know worried about what had happened to Zach. Something had been wrong, when they had both blacked out. She couldn't find his duplex again...was he okay?

"Natsumi?" Kikue blinked again in surprise. She frowned, not liking the sound of Nita's statement that Zach had made Natsumi upset. Kikue knew that she couldn't know the circumstances completely, but it still. Natsumi was a hard person to get angry with.

Kikue's ears drooped slightly. "Well, I found him to be very nice. He helped me. He even brought back food from the mess hall for me, when I woke up..." Although that could have been in his own best interest as much as anything else... She sighed, scratching the back of one of her ears.

"I was worried about him, actually...when I was there, talking to him...something happened." She looked pained. "I think it was because of the chip, but I'm not sure... He began to convulse. A seizure, almost." She paused, remembering. She still couldn't understand what had gone so wrong. That didn't happened when people were zapped normally, as far as she herself could remember. "I called for help." Her voice was soft. "But then I was knocked out, too. And I woke up in my duplex...a few days ago."

She sighed, scratching her ear again. Forcing a smile, she said, "I hope things have been less hectic for you, in the past week or so, that is..." Kikue watched Nita's eyes. No doubt the memory of Fiona haunted her...how could it not?

Kikue put out a paw again, hoping to be comforting.

Kikue winced, but she was glad that mentioning Annie again didn't get Nita too upset. She nodded, not really seeing any explanation for what had been happening to Zach. But if Annie had done it...some kind of problem with it? Had he tried to take it out before? Fear immediately took up residence in her gut, eating away at her confidence. But that would have left some kind of noticeable wound...even if it had been a while ago, and healed over... I didn't notice anything... I could have missed it, but...

It was still something to consider. She didn't really know Zach. She was grateful to him, and remained as such. She wanted to follow up and make sure he was all right, either way. I still think that attempting to rip your own neck open would have some kind of ramification... Isn't it also possible that it was overloading? Something gone wrong with it? Maybe something happened in the past to make it like that... I blacked out swiftly, not like Zach...

Chances were, by examining what she knew, that it was an isolated problem...until she saw otherwise. Whether or not Zach had actually tried to remove his chip she couldn't know for sure.

"I don't know...he wasn't doing anything at all, just talking to me. Then he fell back onto the floor. I couldn't do anything; they knocked me out almost right after it..." She frowned. "But I didn't have any reaction like he did, not in the mess hall or there in his duplex... Maybe there is something wrong with his chip..."

"That's true," Kikue mused. Yes, that much made sense. If he was in the labs...would he still be there? "I was going to go and check to see he was all right...but I wasn't sure what his duplex number was...do you know?" Kikue cocked her head.

Kikue's ears perked up immediately. Wait, a list? By the cafeteria? "There is?" she asked, clearly more than just interested. She'd never heard of a list of duplex numbers, but if there was one, it would be extremely useful in her project.

There was almost an edge of excitement to Kikue's voice. "Do you know specifically where it is? I could use something like that..." She stopped, blinking again. She had never told anyone about the database, although she had been about to offer with Zach until his chip began to malfunction ( if that was what it really had been ).

Kikue leaned forward as if she was about to tell Nita something secretive. "When I first came to the island, I started a database on my computer with a program that I have...every time I meet someone, I fill out a file for them and keep it there. I write down information about each person...I wanted to use it as a directory, so that once it was complete there could be a master copy somewhere." She smiled, the excitement creeping into her expression again. "It would be interesting, don't you think? I was thinking it could be used to send something like mail...and also know a little about someone if you were to visit them. It's still incomplete though...I'm easily missing ninety-percent of the village.

"If I had that list though, I could have a base file for every person...and be able to fill in where the people I've already met live. I didn't know there was a list like that. I wonder why no one gets one in their duplex...to know everyone's names would be better. Like a community...seeing as we are all here now, anyway." Kikue smiled, wider this time. She had come to terms with that long ago. Zach had been the only other person to mirror her views, but... "I wonder how long that list is..."