[Open]

[noble_nate]

Date & Time: 5/15, morning
Location: Outside the library
Characters: Nathaniel and ?
Summary: The hallucinations are starting to get to Nathaniel
Warnings: None at the moment

Nathaniel sat on a bench outside the library, certain that he'd lost his mind. One of his biggest fears had come to pass: the Masked had invaded the city again. Only this time they didn't seem content to just hold people down and put microchips in them, this time they were actually assaulting the helpless and unarmed denizens. He'd been chasing them all day, to no avail. He saw the first group of them just after breakfast, beating on an old man. Nathaniel, ignoring the fact that he knew they were nigh unbeatable, had run towards them to offer his help. But as soon as he arrived at the place they were, they'd already vanished.

It had happened several more times throughout the day. Each time he'd see a group of Masked attacking one or more people and each time he'd run to them, only to have them not be there. Magic, he assumed, but he never actually saw them vanish. It wasn't as if they were there and transported themselves away from the area, it was almost as if they'd never been there at all.

He was starting to believe that none of this was real, that he was stuck inside some sort of horrible nightmare. Not only was he seeing enemies where he suspected there were none, he was also hearing voices. Disembodied voices whispering over his shoulder, telling him that he was safe in Exsilium. Telling him that he was grateful to be here, that he could trust the Initiative. They had been visiting his dreams for the last few days, telling him all of the benefits of living here, and how happy he was now. He had a strong suspicion that they were lying. He hadn't bothered sleeping at all last night; he'd lain in bed until Anders had fallen asleep, then went out to the living room to pace up and down. He must have fallen asleep sometime this morning, but he couldn't remember actually doing so. With a deep frown, he placed his head in his hand, clutching at it, willing himself to wake up.

Comments

[noble_nate]

Nathaniel's expression softens. "I wasn't implying that he is. But you have to admit that your situation is definitely different from the norm." He sighs. "We'll figure out what to do as far as what's going on with me." He hesitates a moment. "I could always try to have the microchip removed..." Not something he's really keen on doing, given all of the possibilities of a surgery like that going wrong.

[birdhousesoul]

Anders rejects this prospect out of hand. "It's no better an option than when we first learned of it. They'll take you into their blighted clinic and who knows what they'll do inside?" He leans against the grimy wall, exhausted more by thought than by their long leisurely trudge through the tunnels. "Your analogy is fair after all. I can't be separated from Justice, and you can't be separated from that chip." A rueful laugh, scarcely more than a snort, with little mirth in it. "Quite a pair, indeed."

[noble_nate]

"A good pair, though," Nathaniel says with a smile. "We balance each other out."

[birdhousesoul]

"I'm fairly certain that's moirails." Anders chuckles. "Come on, then, let's head toward home."

[noble_nate]

Nathaniel nods as he gets to his feet. He places his hands on the small of his back and stretches. "It really will be good to get some fresh air. And a bath."