Kortenaer
You
Empathy
Half Light
Ruud Hoenkloewen
De Paule
Elizabeth
Rhetoric
Physical Instrument
Suggestion
Composure
Kim Kitsuragi
Encyclopedia
Reaction Speed
Perception (Sight)
Visual Calculus
Glen
Inland Empire
Pain Threshold
Endurance
Authority
VolitionPerception (Hearing)
Conceptualization
Garte, the Cafeteria Manager
Titus Hardie
Hand/Eye Coordination
Savoir Faire
Esprit de CorpsPerception (Smell)
Logic
Electrochemistry"Yes! Keep talking!" The lieutenant pushes down on your wound, hard. "You hear me?! Stay awake!"
But you can't. It's so hard. Your eyelids grow heavy and the sounds ever more distant. And a cold comes over you. The lieutenant, too, is somewhere far away. Almost gone... when suddenly! You sense something behind him...
A slender white shadow, towering. Someone stands there -- raising her pistol at him. The lieutenant does not see it. He's pushing down on your wound with both hands...
"NO," you say, and hand out your firearm to him. Your hand trembles and your eyes are full of fear.
That's all it takes. There is no room for hesitation. The lieutenant moves, like a spring unloaded. He grabs the gun from your bloody hand and fires behind him.
You hear a faint scream -- a woman's. Then the sound disappears, like someone pressed STOP on the tape. The woman is gone. So is Kim. Then the whole world...
No. Let me back into the fight. Let me save Kim.
He's not taking it. His body is not taking it. Oh god, no, he's not disintegrating -- he's swelling up instead. Over the hours. Hurting. Moaning in his sleep.
And rotting. And being disinfected. And smelling of drugs and feeling saliva in his mouth. Drifting in painkillers. Thrashing in his wound sleep.
There is a radio in the distance. A radio of the world. Playing sounds: Good morning, Elysium. Soon you will return to the world.
You're thirsty. Reach for the glass of water by the bed. The world is still there. Sleep some more...
Hours turn to days. Soon he will get up again and go through it -- again! Again! Finally, we know what the infernal engine was, outside -- the clarion call...
No. It was him. He is the infernal engine, can't you see? He never stops. He only gets worse.
The fight? There is no fight. The fight is over -- it was lost. A thousand years ago. You have laid here forever. Keep falling. Deeper... take the door.
Of course. I know you do. Everybody leaves, when they get the chance. Go on, keep falling. Deeper... take the door.
Brother, you already were a ghost. Up there, screaming -- along with all of them. Scaring each other. Haunting each other.
It's the living who are ghosts. The dead are silent. They don't rattle windows or write letters in blood. The living do. Leave them behind. Rest.
That's all it takes. There is no room for hesitation. The lieutenant moves, like a spring unloaded. He grabs the gun from your bloody hand and fires behind him.
You hear a roar of pain. A death scream. The sound disappears, like someone pressed STOP on the tape. The hulking figure too is gone. And so is Kim. And the whole world.
There is no room for hesitation. The lieutenant turns around and fires, his body falling on yours in the course of the motion...
You hear a faint scream -- a woman's. Then the sound disappears, like someone pressed STOP on the tape. The woman is gone. So is Kim. Then the whole world...
There is no room for hesitation. The lieutenant turns around and fires, his body falling on yours in the course of the motion...
You hear a roar of pain. A death scream. The sound disappears, like someone pressed STOP on the tape. The hulking figure too is gone. And so is Kim. And the whole world.
"Shoot... dead." You hear your bloody lips mumble. You try to give him your gun, so he'd understand. But he does not. He does not look into your eyes and see the fear there.
He just shakes his head, still crouched over you. You hear a distant gunshot. Velvety smooth -- a red circle has appeared on the lieutenant's jacket. It's growing fast.
Like a pillow, he falls on you. Cold nylon and blood slumped on you, as the lights go out. All the lights. The last thing you hear is the sound of his spectacles landing on the pavement next to you.
"There... behind..." You hear your bloody lips mumble, but he does not understand. He does not look into your eyes and see the fear there. He does not trust you.
It's not all dark yet. As you're leaving, she is in there too with you. You can feel the slender figure move, like a snake. And then a distant gunshot. Velvety smooth. Muffled.
A big pillow falls on you. Cold nylon and blood. Slumped on you as the lights go out. All the lights. And the sounds. Of the world. Disappear.
It's not all dark yet. As you're leaving, he is in there too, with you. You can feel the figure move. And then a distant gunshot. Velvety smooth. Muffled.
A shadow, towering. Someone stands there -- raising his pistol at him. The lieutenant does not see it. He's pushing down on your wound with both hands...
"There is a black echo. It smells like apricots and it's... always there."
"She would have started loving me again but I called her and now she won't."
"Yes! Keep talking!" The lieutenant pushes down on your wound, hard. "Stay awake! Look at me!"