"There's some much you can do with a potato."

Evelyn examined the boiled potato stuck onto the fork in front of her and sighed. "Chips, fries, Bratkartoffeln with a bit of bacon, wedges, you could even mash it." She placed the potato back onto the plate in front of her. "And all you people do is bake it. Dead horse or not, I wish there was salt."

Evelyn looked across the table at Hange, both women having little room on the table for their meals as Hange's lab wasn't the most organized room in the Scout's headquarters.

"With all the different types of meals you've told me about, maybe we can convince the kitchen staff to let you cook something." Hange shrugged.

"Yes, please." Evelyn picked up her bread and began to eat. "At least the bread's good, I always sucked at baking it."

"I asked for the soup to have some extra herbs added." Hange motioned to the bowl in front of Evelyn. "Do you bake often?"

Evelyn shrugged. "Only things like cookies and some cakes."

Hange placed her spoon on the table before resting her chin on intertwined fingers. "I just realized; I've learned a lot about your world but not much about you."

Evelyn shrugged while swallowing her food. "Well what would you want to know?"

"Everything. Where do you come from, what did you do? Where were you going? Are you rich or poor? Why did you put metal in your face?"

"That's a lot of questions. I told you about the countries I lived in. What I did is a conversation in and of itself. I was planning on visiting friends. I'd say I'm well off but not poor and because I could and it pissed my Grandma off."

"A conversation on its own." Hange mused. "Is it really that complicated?"

"Honestly, not really. What it boils down to is that I studied Psychology and got my Bachelor's right before I ended up here."

"What do those terms mean? Psychology, and you just got single men before you left?"

Evelyn laughed. "No, no, no. A Bachelor's Degree in Psychology. Psychology is the study of the mind and human behavior and the Bachelor's is the first degree of continued education after high school."

"Why would a school be high?"

Evelyn smile widened. "That's just a name. Depending on where you are it goes elementary, middle, and then high school. It's just to separate the different age groups and difficulty of the courses."

"And this degree is above that?"

"Yeah"

"You must have a lot to learn if you just finished your schooling."

"Well," Evelyn scratched the back of her head and looked away. "I'm at the age where most people have the degree above the Bachelor's, I just had a bit of a set back and started late."

Both women fell silent for a moment before Hange spoke up. "Something has been bothering me, you mentioned camping earlier. Most of the clothing I saw seemed, not to be suited for that."

Evelyn felt her body relax. "Well, 'camping' is just what we called an excuse to get drunk, sit around bonfires, and hike every now and then. After that, the girls wanted to have a sleepover like we were still in school for the fun of it."

"Sleepover..." Hange considered the word while looking absent-mindedly at the ceiling. "What would you do at one?"

"I don't know," Evelyn shrugged. "Tease each other about guys, watch movies, and just hang out and catch up on each other's lives. Probably the same as what kids do here."

"You would gather information on each other." Hange mused.

"Well, you could phrase it that way if you want." Evelyn's body shook from a sudden chill running through it. "Man, I haven't felt this bad since I quit drinking soda regularly."

Evelyn sat straight back in her seat; her eyes staring, unfocused, into the space ahead of her. "Oh no. I think I know what this is." Evelyn looked at Hange and slumped her shoulders, her defeated demeanor meeting Hange's elation. "I think it's sugar withdrawal."

Hange's face scrunched in confusion. "Withdrawal?"

"It means my body relied on sugar and now that it's getting none of it, it's throwing a hissy fit. Or at least I hope it's that cuz otherwise I got infected with..." Evelyn's eyes shot open in surprise. "Oh no. Hange, has anyone that's come in contact with me fallen ill?" Evelyn reached toward Hange instinctively before pulling her arm back and forming her hands into fists out of frustration.

Hange raised an eyebrow. "No. At least not that I've heard of. Why are you so concerned?"

"Ugh, I'm so stupid!" Evelyn smashed her left palm against her forehead over and over.

Hange grabbed Evelyn's wrist and held it away from her face. "Stop that! What's wrong?"

"What's wrong?!" Evelyn cried. "I may have just killed your entire population by being here!"

Hange released her grasp on the woman's wrist; her eyes narrowed as she analyzed what was said.

"I need a shower, like yesterday, and everyone that's been near me does too. And I need to be quarantined." Evelyn rambled.

"You're talking nonsense." Hange replied. "How can your presence kill an entire population?"

"Not me! Viruses, bacteria, God knows what I have crawling on me." Evelyn stood up and marched to the corner of the room.

"What are you talking about?" Hange moved to follow.

"No!" Evelyn's cry halted Hange's movement. "Stay back, I don't want to risk getting you sick any more than I already have."

"Evelyn, you're being hysterical." Hange sighed. "Although we can visit the doctor again if you..."

"No, I need to be put in a room for, like, two weeks. And you need to keep an eye on the people I met. Ideally they should be separated from anyone..." Evelyn paced in the corner.

"Evelyn." Hange stood. "I need you to explain what's going on."

Evelyn took a deep breath. "People in my world carry different diseases from those present in this one. Anything that I'm immune to can be fatal for you because your body has never come in contact with it, it has no defenses prepared. But if we give the disease time to show itself or die, there should be no harm. Of course, the inverse is true as well, any disease that's common here could floor me."

"You're saying you have a disease?" Hange asked in contemplation.

"No. Maybe. I don't know!" Evelyn's left hand buried itself in her hair. "I didn't feel sick until last night really, and the symptoms can be explained away by the lack of sugar."

"Going back to that," Hange said. "You said you're reliant on it. It must not be a luxury where you're from."

Evelyn laughed dryly. "It's taken for granted. It's in everything from bread to sweets to even meat. Same thing with salt. Only lack of salt just means things aren't as tasty." Evelyn kicked the wall in anger. Her body froze with her boot against the wall before letting out a low whimper.

"Stop hurting yourself!" Hange stepped forward.

"Stay away damnit! Do you want to die?" Evelyn glared. "Look, we'll talk germ theory later if you want. But, right now, you need to check on your people."

Hange sighed and moved toward the door. Poking her head into the hallway, she called "Becker! Could you tell Moblit I have a task for him?"


"Hange, I believe I requested for both you and our new recruit to join us." Erwin said with a stern gaze, standing in front of his desk with his arms folded.

Hange shrugged. "You did, although, getting her here willingly would be an issue. She's barricaded herself in her temporary quarters. She's terrified that she has 'condemned us to death.'"

Erwin rose an eyebrow questioningly.

Hange continued. "She seems to believe she may spread a disease through our population or that she herself will be infected by one. Before she chased me out of her quarters, she had begun to wipe every surface in the room with an alcohol-soaked rag."

"Does she have a disease?" Erwin asked in surprised concern.

"She's feeling unwell but nothing suggests it's from a disease, at least that I can tell. It's not outside the realm of possibility. She said if we wanted to discuss this with her, we'd need to wear something to cover the nose and mouth and to keep at a safe distance."

"She is quite strange, isn't she?" Erwin questioned in disguised annoyance.

Hange nodded. "Very. However, she is rather informative."

"Perhaps we should discuss whether or not this endeavor is worth the effort." Erwin moved behind his desk and sat in his chair. Motioning Hange to sit in front of the desk, he placed his elbows on the desk and entwined his hands together.

"A certain amount of apprehension is to be expected." Hange took a seat. "She came from outside the walls from somewhere that is obviously more advanced than we are."

"I will not deny that. However, her antics are rather tiresome. From what you've learned so far, does she bring any value to the table?"

"Yes. Although she cannot explain the more complex subjects of her world and how to reconstruct the items she has on her person, I have learned of different devices that serve specific functions that we have not encountered before that could, theoretically, be recreated. She also seems to have a wide knowledge of cooking different foods which may help with working around the food shortages. She claims to have studied the brain and human behavior and that she could further our understanding of the human body which in turn may prove useful to my research."

"You would recommend keeping her in your squad I presume."

"It would be helpful." Hange crossed her arms. "There would be no questions as to why I would spend a lot of time with her. Although, how she came to this position is something we'd have to explain."

"Let me take care of that aspect. For now, if any soldiers ask, she's transferred from the Garrison to the Scouts. It's a risky cover so try and avoid any discussions. She also cannot begin to speak about where she came from, which makes questions of her background difficult."

"I have thought of that." Hange leaned forward. "We could say she suffered amnesia after an accident. It might work in tandem with the Garrison cover story with the right details. She would still need a convincing cover story for joining the Scouts. She would also need to at least control ODM gear."

"I had planned to move her with a select group to the old scout headquarters. She could train there without suspicion or prying eyes until she can play her role." Erwin sat back in his chair. "Perhaps we can use her current plight to our advantage."


Man, my breath reeks!

The crude cloth rag tied around Evelyn's head irritated the top of her ears as the smell of alcohol permeated the room. A knock at the door drew her attention away from the thoughts of what to do for weeks in isolation.

"Evelyn." Hange called lightly. "Can I come in?"

"I'd rather we talk through the doorway." Evelyn opened the door and took a step back, but still blocked the entrance.

A piece of cloth hung limply around Hange's neck.

"It would be better to talk in private."

Evelyn sighed and moved further into the room. "Stay by the door please. And mask up." She flicked her index finger in an upwards motion.

Hange followed suit while pulling the mask over her nose and closing the door behind her.

"Where's Erwin?" Evelyn said while subconsciously trying to cross her arms, she settled for resting her left hand on the sling supporting the other one.

"He sent me to brief you. We have a plan to keep everyone out of harm's way." Hange explained. "There's an old abandoned castle that used to be our old headquarters. There we can teach you a bit about our world and you could practice using our gear so you can blend in better."

"And what about the whole quarantine thing?" Evelyn's fingers fidgeted nervously with a loose strand on the sling.

"Well, with it being an abandoned castle, we thought it would be the best place for that. You'd have access to a small library of history books that we left behind and we can discuss things from a distance. As far as the cooking goes, you mentioned wanting to get your hands dirty." Hange shrugged.

Evelyn nodded. "Have you separated the people that came in contact with me from the rest of the population?"

"For the most part, they tend to stick to their own groups. However, most will come with us to the castle. Petra Rall, the woman that you rode with on horseback, and I will oversee most of your training."

"Just how's that going to work out with this thing?" Evelyn lifted her right arm slightly.

"You're supposed to move it more in a couple of days. We'll go easy on you, in the beginning at least. The ODM gear isn't particularly demanding on the upper body until the blades come into the equation and we have yet to see if you can use the gear at all."

"I've been to a couple of tree climbing obstacle courses, I'm familiar with harnesses if that helps. Seems to be the same principle as these straps."

Hange's eyes lit up. "Climbing obstacle courses?"

Evelyn shrugged "I don't know what they're called. It's really just an obstacle course with different climbing challenges suspended in a forest with a bunch of wires. The zip lines were always the best part."

"What are ziplines?" Hange's smile had reached her eyes, making it easy to see even with the face covering.

Evelyn swore she would never get used to the feeling of having to explain what felt to be the most obvious of ideas. "A wire where you, well, zip down on. One end is high in a tree or something and the other goes to the ground. You put something on the wire to hold on to, generally it's a rope with a special metal wheel attached to a harness that goes around the body."

"That sounds fun." Hange said with her head tilted to the side and eyes looking upwards in thought. "Anyway, the plan is to leave early in the morning tomorrow. You're not used to riding horses, are you?"

"Gee, how'd you guess?" Evelyn rolled her eyes.

"We'll get a cart ready then. We'll be bringing your bags with us as well. The commander will check in on us later in the week. He said wants to see how the gun you brought breaks apart."

"About that, where is it?" Evelyn's eyes focused on the bookshelf where the gun magazine was hidden between some books.

"At the moment, with the commander."

"He better not lose it." Evelyn looked back at Hange.

"Nothing you brought will be lost, it's too valuable." Hange said.

Evelyn didn't know whether to feel relieved or insulted at the thought of her belongings suddenly having another claim placed on them. One that she could not simply shake off.

"And what about clothing?" Evelyn asked. "I can't keep stealing your clothes."

"If you won't let me close, you won't let a tailor do their job." Hange shook her head. "You can wear your own clothing in the castle but for training and anything where others not in the know are, you'll have to make do with what I gave you for now."

"Unless," Hange tapped her chin thoughtfully. "If you like the fit, we could use my measurements."

Evelyn tugged at her waist band. "It's a little tight for that, I think I have bigger hips than you. The jacket fits fine though."

"Alright, I have to prepare things for tomorrow. I'll stop by with some food later for you."

"Thank you." Evelyn looked from Hange towards the bookshelf.

Might as well browse a bit.


I know I'm not the most touchy-feely author but I do want to thank anyone that takes time to read through this stuff. I probably wouldn't have kept writing if it weren't for the people following and seemingly enjoying this. So again, thanks!