"Thanks for adding a little life to the party!" He answered.

Susanne shook her head. "If I head another dead joke..."

"I know what you mean," Mercy said tiredly.

"Much longer and I'd have killed him myself," Roger grumbled as he sauntered along.

Anaera sighed. "Wow, it's been so long... the old place looks about the same, though."

"It looks..." Orion trailed off.

"Yeah," Susanne said. "Okay, now what? We're not getting much done right now. Also, I think it's Monday, right? Excuse me, but I'm getting pissed. I'm missing classes that I can't afford to miss. I HAVE to get back."

"Have you looked at yourself?" Anaera said. "You're all ripped up. And, are you still bleeding?" She walked around to look at Susanne's other shoulder, which she was still holding, but Susanne turned to the side.

"I'm fine, I'm fine."

"Well, you still can't walk around looking like that. Here, let me see... I think I've got a shirt..."

"Well, I've got my own Hamm--"

"Here it is!" Anaera pulled out a brown shirt that said in dark brown letters across the front, "Got chocolate?"

Susanne paused mid-sentence. "Okay," she said with a grin. It was true, the clothes she was wearing barely covered her anymore. And even if repairing them was an option, it wasn't generally considered chic or sophisticated to go around in bloodstained clothes. Her only consolation was that Celly hadn't looked any better.

"Come to think about it," Anaera said, looking around, "Oh, there it is. You can change over there." She pointed to a door a few meters away.

Susanne looked at her strangely, then went over to the door. When she reached it, she gasped. The pictures of various 60s bands on it, the big peace sign, the little Garfield poster proclaiming, "Welcome to my little corner of the institution"... it was her dorm room. Susanne automatically reached into her HammerSpace, where she had put her keys, and pulled them back out. She unlocked the door and stepped inside.

It was. It was really her room. There was the Wallflowers poster, the half-dozen Beatles posters, the Bob Dylan, James Bond, Star Wars, and Sailor Moon posters... the pictures of her family and friends, newspaper clippings... "Hey, Anaera--" she turned around to ask what all this was, and found herself staring into the familiar hallway.

Heather was just coming out of her room next door. "Hey, Sue, I was just coming for you. Ready for dinner?"