curriculum_fictae

From:

[If it helps him any, Jon still hasn't let go of his hand. In fact, he's holding onto it pretty tightly while he thinks of how to start explaining the... mess.]

It's... It's not very... pretty. [He exhales softly, casting his eyes out over the park. He's not really looking at anything.]

I couldn't find you. I... I wandered the Lonely for... A long time. I don't know how long exactly. But eventually I ended up back at the Institute. I don't even know how or... what route I took. Elias got me. He... I. You were gone. Tim and Sasha, dead. Daisy and Basira missing. Melanie and Georgie didn't want anything to do with any of it. Better of them, really.

[He sounds... miserable. And the longer he talks, the worse it sounds, his voice dipping into something heartbreaking.]

I didn't... Have anything else. Elias... could tell how weak I was. I'd been wandering around Peter's domain so long and was so far from the Institute the whole time. Took me back in. Handed me some. Some statements to help. I didn't know what else to do.

[He only lets go of Mart-.... Algric's hand to pull out a folded piece of Institute paper from his pocket.]

The second one I read was... This one. It. He... tricked me. Here. Don't. [Gulp.] Don't read it out loud. I don't... really know what would happen at this stage.