Judith
Frida is alone.

The room is dim, rough and unwelcoming. It would be cold, too, but the weather has spared the worst of it, and the cool breeze is only mildly uncomfortable, rather than freezing.

She retrieves the phone. It's not hers - why did she take it? Was that... Right? There's no lock on it. The lock screen is the default. So is the home screen. It's been wiped clean. There's nothing on it. Brand new.

Except for one thing. A single contact. A phone number.

She taps the "Call" Button.

...

Elsewhere, Mattias' phone rings.
Diane
Mattias groaned around another headache*— damn mice in the walls—* As they attempted to organize the mess of paper on their desk. They threw three or four pairs of identical sunglasses into a clear plastic tub by their feet, wincing at the *Crack* They made when they hit the floor. Oh well. Their eyes quickly found a new distraction, and they swiped at a piece of trash, knocking it into the garbage can.

Their lazy ennui broke as their phone— the real one, they'd yet to get another burner— rang. Matti frowned. Only three people should, or rather *Could* Have that phone number. Dr. Jakal, who was unlikely to call. Gabe, who preferred to text. And... Their eyes widened as they scrambled over the mess of their room and grabbed towards the phone. Took a moment to compose themself. 

"Hello. Who's calling?" They tried to make their voice less rough, flatter, a little higher. Just enough that, if the person on the other end happened to be part of campus security, they wouldn't *Immediately* Place who they were.
Judith
The person on the other end was not at all campus security. In fact, the person on the other end had herself been in a brush with campus security quite recently.

There was a nervous sort of stammering noise from the other end. 

Then a pause.

"Um. Hello?" The voice was feminine, clearly recognizable. Matti had heard it before. Just once, but it was enough. It made sense, after all-

***"GIVE ME THE PHONE!"***

That was what she'd screamed, back then, before she ran off with it.

"You, um- Who is this?"
Diane
They sighed with relief, then exhaled again with more mixed feelings. Still, if Frida had the phone, it meant that it hadn't been taken from her. And more importantly, that she was still alive. 

"You can call me Alexandra, or Alex." They told her, reveling a small bit at the reference. "It's not my real name, but it's easier for you to say you don't know who I am if you can be truthful about it. I don't want to be implicated to the staff, or to whoever sent you." It was better not to reveal everything they knew right away— plus, there was always a chance Frida was here of her own volition. A small one, but a chance nonetheless. In that case, mentioning the Angels might be a bad idea. "I was the one who gave you this phone in the woods, and I might be able to help you again depending on what the help is and why you need it. But in exchange, I want information. Firstly— what's your name?" 

Quietly, they pulled out their handbook, flipping to the new section labelled *Frida*.
Judith
"O-okay." Frida didn't object to the pseudonym. Really, she didn't care. It wasn't important. "Alex, then."

For her part, she had far less calculated intentions with each step of the conversation. She'd calculated nothing, as a matter of fact. She just sat down somewhere safe enough and called the number. She wasn't working in some grand scheme or anything like that.

"I- Doesn't the guard already- N-nevermind. My name is Frida."

She curled up a little tighter as a gust of wind swept through the abandoned room. A little audible shiver could be heard on the other end of the phone.

"Why did you give me this?"
Diane
Matti paused. From the sound of it, Frida wasn't in a room with anyone else. That meant either she was either secure or trusted enough to be left alone, wherever she'd ended up. Then her words caught up with them. 

"I'm not sure why. I don't exactly do interactions well. But you were scared, and I recognized that fear, maybe. I didn't even know if the phone would help— it's yours, now, by the way. I just thought that I was there, and I could do something." Despite their hatred of lies, the words felt almost *Too* True. They quickly steered the conversation back in a productive direction. "It let you contact me, at least. Are you alright? Did you get away safely? Where are you now?" The last question felt dangerous, but they needed to know. Evidence gathering. If she was back with the Angels... 

Well. Evidence.
Judith
\I feel like you misunderstand what happened. She slammed her head into the guard's arm and ran off.

\She did not get taken.
Diane
Lemme just do quick

Getting over complete mortification and editing
Judith
"Yeah," Frida agreed, "Yeah." This Alex seemed... Strange. Very inquisitive, but at the same time, compassionate. It was a unique combination, but not entirely an unwelcome one. Maybe they weren't too unlike her.

"Thank you. I'm..." She hesitated for a moment. "I got away, yeah. I'm not hurt. Still hiding. I don't know if they're... They might still be..." She couldn't get herself to finish the thought. She coughed, choking back the tears.

"It's not... I'm not really safe. But I'm alive."
Diane
*Not safe, but alive.* If that wasn't a sentiment they could understand, Matti didn't know what was. They could tell *Something* Was wrong with Frida, emotionally or physically (probably both), but they didn't have the time to worry about it. If it wasn't life threatening, it would probably be fine. Still— 

"I can't tell you I know that everything will turn out okay, because that would be lying, technically. But I'll try to help you, which is really the best I can do at this point." They made a poor attempt at comfort while the slowly digested the rest of Frida's sentence. She was hiding from someone. Somewhere alone. 

"Do you know where you are? Do you have supplies? Who—" They cut off, weighing their options. But being behind the screen made them brave, braver than they'd be talking face to face. "Who are you hiding from?"
Judith
"I can't say much." Frida's voice was breathy, almost raspy in a weird, awful way. She practically had more adrenaline than blood flowing through her veins. It would be no stretch to say she was unhappy. "Someone might be- They might be listening in on your end. But..."

Frida wasn't sure how much she would say. Should she trust Alex? They didn't seem prepared to say their real name. They didn't help her much when she was almost taken away, never to return. But they did give her the phone, and as far as she could tell, they were honest with her, and they seemed to care, at least a little.

"I don't have anything. No supplies. No food, no water, no clothes. I'm hungry. I can't go to a store, they'll find me there. Can't hide my Purpose. I... I'm hiding from *Everyone,* Alex."
Diane
Fuck. *Fuck.* 

"Okay. Okay." Already their eyes were skittering around their room, picking things out. A warm jacket. A shirt that was slightly too small on them, a pair of sweatpants. Was there anyone they could borrow from? Uriel? No, complicated history. Gabe? Matti didn't exactly feel they were at the "Roping into cult conspiracy" Level of friendship yet. Plus, Gabe had Things to Do. Things waiting for him. Margo? They *Trusted* Her, trusted her with their life, but they didn't know how she'd react to this. For now, it was better to keep everything to themself. (Plus, all their friends were *Giants*. Matti was probably closer to Frida's size anyway).

*I'm hungry*, Frida had said. Alone, stranded, with no-one she could trust. Hiding from the world in an empty room. It was like looking in a mirror that travelled back in time to pluck Matti from their lowest point. *Fuck*. They could feel the small part of neutrality they had left detaching from their soul and flying out the window. They gathered a blanket, clothes. They didn't have an extra pair of shoes, but grabbed some spare socks they hoped would fit alright. They reached their hands under the bed and hesitated. The food stored there was high calorie, and would last for a long time. The perfect rations. That was, after all, why Matti had them. It felt vulnerable to pull them out into the light. Like scraping the insides of a pumpkin for seeds. The crinkle of the plastic gallon bag mocked them as they took about half of their stash and shoved it into a small spare backpack. They threw in a plastic water bottle, stolen from the cafeteria, and then another, before remembering that Frida was technically still on the phone. 

"That's a good call," They praised. "This line isn't secure. I have some supplies packed for you, I just need to figure out a way to transport them. Are you... Far from where I last saw you?" They hadn't missed the word 'Purpose' either, capitalized. It felt like the wrong time to pry.
Judith
"Yeah. I'm... I'm out in *Industrin.* It's the only place where I can avoid people. I can't say where I am, but... You can leave it somewhere and let me know where to find it, if you want."

Frida paused.

"Thanks. You'd be a good sister, I think."
Diane
"Okay. I can leave it somewhere hidden. I'll mark it— you remember what I was wearing? It was pretty distinctive. It was night out." They pulled a spare pair of glasses from where they'd thrown them in the box, clipping them to the top of the bag. With a quick double take, they also pulled out their portable charger— they'd need to be able to keep in contact with Frida, and they couldn't do that if her phone was dead. 

Matti tried very hard not to think about Frida's second comment. They failed. *You'd be a good sister.* The word— *Sister*, warmed some star-core long compressed and cold in the back of their mind. Quiet, and only because Frida could not see, they smiled softly. "I'll..." They thought back to the exploit with Margo. With all the things they weren't telling her, telling *Both* Of them, and felt slightly guilty. "I'll drop it somewhere with blue, if I can find it. Near the outskirts, closest to everywhere else." They had no doubt they'd be able to find *Somewhere*. Probably. "I'll give you more details after I actually make the drop."
Judith
"Your friend... The other one who was there. I recognized her. I thought she'd help. But she didn't. I... I..." Frida paused, biting the inside of her cheek, trying to keep the tears from welling up until *After* She'd hung up.

"You're trying so hard to be a good person. I can tell. It's... Nice. Thank you."

Before she could hear Matti respond, she hung up, clutched the phone to her chest, and wept.