Conversation · Ruby, the Instigator

"Thanks." (Rub your temples.)

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure..." He has to catch his breath. "I would have done the same had I not been incapacitated..."

"Just fucking go, okay, before I change my mind!"

You should know the words to say. You've been here yourself. So why is it not coming to you?

"Uhhm..."

Because you think suicide might be a good course of action for you too. Her finger squeezes the trigger now...

But -- she doesn't deserve to die like this!

No, wait, finally, it comes to you, a way to connect with her:

"I know your pain! I've been let down by women too."

She flashes you an incredulous grin. Then she exhales sharply, shakes her head, and pulls the trigger.

A smirk crosses her face as she watches you stand there, mute. Then she exhales sharply, shakes her head, and pulls the trigger.

I can't stop her...

Because you've been going around pointing a gun at yourself, trying to answer the same question in vain. Her finger squeezes the trigger now...

I was drunk! I didn't mean it!...

Because you've misread the situation from the beginning. And now her finger squeezes the trigger...

It's too late...

Come on, one idea, I need one idea!

Why am I standing here like an idiot?

"What are you doing?"

"Problem-solving," she mutters.

"Ma'am, put the gun down. That's not the solution to your problems. You are..."

"Oh, yes, it is."

"Go ahead, then." (Let her do it.)

If she kills herself you'll get her gun...

(Whisper over your shoulder.) "You okay, Kim?"

The lieutenant hunches, recovering. "All good, officer. Be careful."

"See them fireworks, Kim?" (Glance back.)

The violent white noise becomes even more overwhelming closer to the Compressor. Feels like your brain is swelling up in your skull.

Hold very still.

"There, there, I told you it's best not to move."

"875263... 23621837... for that special someone..."

Just try not to collapse.

"Look, I know this isn't very fun for you, so let's wrap this up. You have a tribunal to attend."

She knows about the tribunal?

Tribunal? What tribunal?

"Kim! Kim! Make it stop!"

Squirm in pain.

"I know it's bad -- try not to move."

Hold still and try to have an apocalyptic vision.

"Officer, are you okay?"

"Don't worry, Kim, I'm just trying to... have... an apocalyptic... vision..."

The white noise turns into a wall of mist and grey mould, bubbling, sweeping over the city... it tears up buildings and raises sidewalks into the sky. It's Revachol -- at the end of the world.

...and it hasn't even really started yet.

What happens when it really starts?

Nothing. Just slow disappearance. You look at a tree or a coal shed, then look away, and, turning back...

...the shed will be gone, and you won't even remember that the tree was ever there, much less what kind of tree it was, a pine or a birch. You won't remember if a man had been hanging from it.

And then? The Unimaginable Event?

Yes, but even in this anguish you can't see its precise shape. It's unimaginable for a reason.

What will happen to me? (Try to crawl back.)

The same thing that happens to all humans. You will become vapour. Dissolve into frequencies. Then those frequencies will be forgotten.

The visions compete for space in your brain with the hailstorm of radio signals coming from the compressor. You feel like your skull is about to shatter into smithereens.

Fragments on bone scattering, like your thoughts at this moment, sticking now to forebodings, now to a strangely familiar voice...

"Yeah, we saw... 98713... hhhsssszzzz... completely lost his mind, or... hhhhhsssssszzzz... prenatal vitamins, because no child is a blank slate... 352628789... shameless asshole..."

"Officer... what are you doing, you..."

"Proximity to the Pale Compressor is overloading his mind. He'll be okay once it's off, though."

"He didn't deign to stop to chat ... 98713... hhhsssszzzz... completely lost his mind, or... hhhhhsssssszzzz... prenatal vitamins, because no child is a blank slate... 352628789... shameless asshole..."

The pain intensifies as your hands attempt to reach out into the pale chaos.

"What are you doing? I told you -- it's best not to move..."

"Do you know about the... bunker... next door?"