Her surroundings wearied her most at the end of the day. The knowledge of her friends’ existence soothed her soul, but at the end of the day, even in Purgatory, all Alyx wanted to do was curl up with a report on Syringammina fragilissima on Nuddra. She was starved for science, for intellectual learning, and she could feel the rust, the cobwebs growing on her brain. However, science or no science, she still had to eat, and as her work day grew to an end she slipped into the stream of people heading towards the canteen.

Food acquired, Alyx analyzed the room with her eyes, spotting predators and prey -- apt descriptions in Purgatory even as they usually applied only to wild animals. There. Not a seat near any of her friends, but a seat that was safe, though it was entirely possible she’d lose her ears to Robyn’s chatter. Still, the other was as nonthreatening as a person could be (Alyx often wondered exactly how she’d ended up in prison, of all places) and so Alyx would survive another meal without fear for her life.

And so she wove her way through the tables, careful to give some a wide berth, while aware that others were safe to pass by so long as no eye contact was made. Robyn’s table was empty, save for her, and Alyx as placed her tray across from the other, she smiled tentatively, hoping the other wouldn’t take it as an invitation to begin conversation, and began to eat.