± thirteen ±

[not_that_lockon]

[Funny how when sleep finally comes, it's always at a time when you're not looking for it, isn't it? Lyle drifted off into a sleep plagued with nightmares a while ago. And after exactly 3 hours, 3 minutes and 3 seconds...]

[He wakes up, confused and disorientated, to find himself back in the rotting part of the ship. The light's dim, so it's hard to make anything out, but as he rises to his feet and moves to take a step forwards, Lyle's foot nudges against something soft in front of him.

He crouches down, frowning - and then gasps, his eyes widening in shock, when he finds it's a body. Dressed in haphazard clothing that may or may not suggest a loose military connection, it's a member of Kataron. There's more bodies as well, some dressed similarly, some dressed in what people from his world might recognise as a Celestial Being uniform. But what they all have in common is the way that they're scattered about the room carelessly and covered in varying amounts of blood.

Before his mind can stop reeling long enough to take all of this in, the body in front of him shoots out a hand, grabbing the front of his shirt. The man isn't dead yet, it seems, but Death can't be far away.]

"They won... God damn it, those A Law bastards won --" [He coughs wetly, blood coming out of his mouth as he tries to talk.] "They.... they came out of nowhere - we couldn't - we couldn't stop them..." [The man's voice breaks in grief even as it fades.] "I-I'm... I'm so sorry --"

[And then he's gone, the hand clutching Lyle's shirt going limp and falling back to his side. Lyle's shaking now, his voice shaking with anger and his jaw set dangerously, even if his eyes are still wide in his face. He's still on the Crucible, isn't he? How the fuck could the A-Laws be here? This - this can't be real, can it? But it has to be...] What the hell is this?!

[As if on cue, there's a mocking laugh from the darker corners of the room, and when Lyle's head snaps round in its direction, his eyes searching for its source, there's a far more horrific sight.

It's more bodies - but these ones can have names put to them, might even be familiar to some of the passengers of the Crucible. The crew of the Ptolemaios is there, along with Klaus, Shirin...

Lyle's expression is one of absolute horror as his eyes fall on the others. The Doctor is there - Oliver, Haruhi, Neil, Anew...

Whatever was keeping him rooted to the spot before seems now to do the opposite as he scrambles to his feet with a choked cry and rushes over to them. These people aren't just his comrades - they're his friends, his family, or what's left of it. He falls to his knees beside them - but it's useless, they're already cold, they're dead, this can't be happening it can't be real - but how else would he be able to touch their dead bodies like this?]

No... no...

"That's disappointing. I suppose you really weren't as good as him. Were you, Lyle Dylandy?"

[The voice comes from a person who's standing with the bodies at their feet. But it's not a voice that's easy to place; it's fluid, switching between several voices in the course of one sentence. Lyle looks up, but for some reason this man's features are the same as his voice - fluid, changing. That blood-splattered uniform might be from the Federation, or the A Laws, or it might not even be a uniform at all. Lyle's crying now, although he doesn't seem to have noticed it yet. But his voice is thick when he suddenly lunges to his feet, pinning the faceless man to the wall behind him.]

You! You bastard, you killed them!

[The expression on that shifting face would be a smirk, if anyone could look at it for long enough to decide that.] "Does it matter whether I was the one who did it or if it was someone else? You were the one who couldn't protect them. How unlike your --"

[But that's as far as the mysterious man can get before Lyle starts laying into him, punches landing wherever he can make them go.] Damn it! Shut up! It's your fault - it's all your fault!

[But whatever punches Lyle manages to land on this person, they have next to no effect. And the man isn't smiling any longer.]

"Are you trying to make me pay for their deaths?" [As soon as he's said this, he suddenly moves, throwing Lyle about two feet away from himself, so that he lands hard on the floor among the dead.]

"You'll have to do a lot better than that!"


((OOC: HOLY CRAP GUYS, I am sorry for the immense TL;DR. But have some crazy-ass vision representative of A Laws/Innovators win + everyone I love dies + a bit of the good ol' inferiority complex to round everything off. >.>))

Comments

[oliverplus]

[Oliver is shocked, horrified, but more than anything, he's afraid. ] Lyle! Lyle, listen to me! It's not real!

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

[He's still on the floor, but Oliver's voice has his head snapping up to look straight towards his sphere in complete shock - and it's probably safe to say that no one's ever seen him looking as desperate as he does right now]

Oliver--! - But you're - you were -- [He looks back towards Oliver's dead body as he gets up, clearly not sure what to believe]

[oliverplus]

[Oliver's sphere image can't look terribly good after all those days without sleep, but at least he's very obviously alive] I'm here, and I'm fine. It's...an illusion, or something. Calm down! We've gotta get you out of it...

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

[He takes several deep breaths, trying to calm down. But it's all so real, and that - that - is still standing there tauntingly, and all those bodies...]

S - seems pretty real for an illusion.

[oliverplus]

I know...

I'm coming down there.

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

Oliver, you can't!

[oliverplus]

What, are you just going to stay in there? [is entering the stairway, but he's got a long walk from the shopping level]

[bit_impossible]

[have a tired Doctor still searching for his TARDIS. he just so happens to see what's going on, however.]

Lyle, you're hallucinating! There's noth--[now he takes a better look and sees the dead bodies--including his own.] Well, that's not something you see every day... Perhaps I'm hallucinating this as well? No, no, that can't be right.

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

[The Doctor as well? Now he's just not sure what's real and what's not.]

It's too real...

[bit_impossible]

You can't give in to it, Lyle! I'm still alive!

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

What am I supposed to do?!

[bit_impossible]

Shut it out; it's not real! You have to believe that.

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

I know it's not real but - that's easy for you to say, you're not here!

[bit_impossible]

Technically I am; I'm on the ground there near you.

[by-my-will.livejournal.com]

Lyle...? Lyle!

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

[he knows that voice - and now he's sure that this isn't real. So why does everything still feel like it is? It takes him a little while to reply this time, but he looks up at the sphere]

Tieria?

[by-my-will.livejournal.com]

[is actually worried about him]

Lyle... you're hallucinating... like what happened to Neil. It's happening to all of us. You have to try to fight it.

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

[laughs hollowly; it's closer to a shaky sob] Easier said than done.

[by-my-will.livejournal.com]

I know... but you're already better off than your brother was with them... if that's any consolation.

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

Not much.

[by-my-will.livejournal.com]

At least you know what's happening to you.

[mr-dynames.livejournal.com]

That's not real. It... it can't be.

[Even through extreme exhaustion, there's traces of shock on his face as his eyes droop lower and lower.]

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

I know it's not real!

[enough people have been telling him that, after all. But the bodies are still there.]

[mr-dynames.livejournal.com]

Hold on... I... I'm... coming....

[He was about to stand, but he slumped over as sleep finally took hold of him and threw him to nightmares. See you in three hours, little brother.]

[not-that-lockon.livejournal.com]

Neil! Neil... damn it, don't go to sleep, you'll just end up somewhere like this...