by T5, Danny, Sonja, Nadia, and TheTimeTrust
That burning light! It gave Naecken a headache. He tried to close his eyes, only to discover... they were already closed.
He felt heavy. His sense of self was decentralized. He no longer had a core.
Where? He decided to open his eyes.
A blurry vision of confusing lights met him. A shadow... a blurry white being bent over him with huge eyes, reflecting the torturing light.
A motion to his left revealed the being wasn't alone.
Slowly the blur faded away, only to be replaced by unfamiliarity, confusion and a sense of loss. Strange, that -- what could he have lost? He knew he had all he needed here. The huge-eyed being was actually a man with glasses, clad in a doctor's robe, and he was with another.
They seemed to be trying to communicate with him. Their mouths were moving, but he couldn't hear anything.
"...oon be back to normal," said one of them.
He could understand him. He showed no sign of it, though. Better to wait and try to piece everything together.
Where was he? How did he get there? What purpose did this place have? He pretended not to respond to their requests. He willed himself back to sleep.
Danny Hearn:
My name is Daniel Hearn. I'm trying desperately to remember things that I do know, because there's a whole lot that I don't right now. I am twenty years old. That's it. The more that I can be certain of, the less there is to be uncertain of, relatively speaking. I live in Melbourne, Australia.
An example of things I'm not certain of... Why in the name of Moses in a cowbell am I in an entirely white room that is flooded entirely with white light?
The last thing I remember, I was headed off to Mandelovia for a relaxing holiday in Europe. I know that. What I don't know is how I got between there and here. I need another example of something I know for sure. A cold, hard fact. Something I can be certain of.
It's the year 2083. I know that much for sure.
Lights, lights so bright the eyes must stay close. So it was like to be in the darkness. Darkness, and voices.
First voice: "Who is she?"
Second voice: "There were no identity cards or documents. Nothing."
"Powers?"
"None. She's not a metahuman."
"You are saying that her metagene has not yet reached full potential?"
"No, I am saying that she has no active metagene, like you or me. She's an ordinary person."
"Impossible. What she was doing with them?"
"I have some ideas. There are clues. Her fingertips have been erased by laser surgery. Her retinas have been replaced. It suggests she's a spy."
"From our side?"
"I made some research. No data about her."
"Mossad? Russian intelligence? China, maybe? She looks Oriental. What about her big tattoo?"
"I had experts study it. It shows no resemblance to any kind of known image of a demon. And they have stated that the pigment is of a totally unknown kind."
"Have you any idea where she comes from?"
"I bet she's a Mandelovian agent. After all, she joined them in Mandelovia."
"Good. It's time to show those techno-freaks their place on Earth, beginning with this chick!"
No more voices, only a darkness so bright.
Li'l Jo:
Where is Tobias? He was here, in his bed, just before I went out to search for sex. And now he's gone, just like the others. But even if he's gone, I still can feel him, his smell... and also the weird smell of Naecken, the funny smell of M'xy, the strange smell of the new girl, Sonja, the bad smell of the small guy, Chimp, the relative normal smell of Velo and Lance, and the lack of smell of Danny. Plus something else, smell of disinfectant. Bah. Anyway.
But I am hungry, very hungry. Sex makes you very hungry. I must find Tobias so he will feed me. And to find Tobias, I have only to follow his trail.
Meow.
"PETE!"
"No!"
"PETE!"
"No! Yer not dere, yer not real!"
"PETE, YOU MUST LISTEN TO ME!"
"GEDDAFUGAWAYFROMMEE! Yer not real! Yer not real! Yer not real!"
"I am VERY real, Pete! Listen to me! You've been... well, brainwashed! They're trying to use you against your new allies!"
"I DUNNO WHAT YER TALKIN' 'BOUT! T'AIN'T ANYTHING 'A DO 'BOUT ME NONE, BUDDY!"
"Oh, Pete..."
And the disembodied spirit of Kristofer Schanz stopped and shook his head as the short man fell into a fetal position just trying to make the voice in his head go away.