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[nohalfway]

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[abduxel]

[He decides to just describe Hell but without the word, and without the obvious symbolism, acting as though the world itself changed and not his own circumstance on account of his own choices...]

when I was young, it was normal, like here but a hundred years ago. but then there was a supreme ruler who controlled everything and his underlings tortured each other and the rest of us to keep everyone in line. there were no plants or animals anymore. only rocks and fire. and no where else to go.

[nohalfway]

shit
yeah that sounds like hell to me
this place must be paradise for you then huh?

[abduxel]

yeah, it is, and i hope i never go back.

you said everyone died from a disease in your world, or something. how did you survive?

[nohalfway]

not everyone exactly, but a lot of people
um
just luck i guess
luck and packing heat, basically

[ And her immunity. But, well, that's a secret. ]

[abduxel]

how do you shoot a disease?

[nohalfway]

in the head
i mean you can pretty much shoot them anywhere else and when they bleed out enough but its a waste of bullets
it grows around the brain.

[abduxel]

oh, wow

that's fucked up

[nohalfway]

ever heard of a cordyceps fungas?
it started off as something that just infected insects
like ants and spiders
its fucking bizarre because ive read about it in the books ive seen here and nothing ever mentions it infecting people

[abduxel]

[He is soooo uneducated.]

no, i've never heard of that

it exists here too? let's hope it doesn't make the jump in every reality

[nohalfway]

in biology books it just says that it attacks insects
but just the fact that it still exists bugs me enough
at least infected are predictable

[abduxel]

so it grows in your brain

then what?

what do the infected do

[nohalfway]

the fungus travels to the brain and spreads
takes over after it kills the host and makes that host attack other living things
sort of like zombies
the body is dead but still moving and the fungus covers the body over time

[abduxel]

[............]

right

packing heat makes a lot more sense now

this place must be paradise for you, too

[nohalfway]

yeah
sort of

[abduxel]

why only sort of? because it's unsettling?

[nohalfway]

that world back there?
its all i know
the outbreak happened 20 years ago
nothing here makes sense i guess

[abduxel]

[this is how you friend:]

want to see it again? i can do that for you

[nohalfway]

[ what a strange offer... Ellie stares at the text for a long while, but it doesn't take much for her to figure out a response. ]

honestly?
im sure you can but i dont miss the place
i just dont think i can get used to here

[ She takes a moment, waiting to send another text that is sort of biting to be sent at the reminder of what this guy can do. ]

what about the past
can you do that
show it i mean

[abduxel]

i specialize in the past, Ellie. i can put you back into your memories.

[nohalfway]

[ Another hesitation... Suddenly, she's looking behind her to make sure she's actually alone with her communicator. Ellie swallows something hard in her throat and she immediately starts to feel clammy, cold. ]

what about someone ive never met before
someone who died before i could

[abduxel]

that's something i can't do. i work in memories and constructions. if it's not in your mind and it's not in mine, i have to find it elsewhere.

[nohalfway]

oh

[ Sort of... A relief and sort of not. She came into a dead end about her mother a long time ago. ]

theres still one other person
in my memories
she was my best friend

[abduxel]

tell me if you want to see her again

normally i'd ask for a trade, or payment

but for you, kid, it's free

[nohalfway]

[ What a strange favor. Ellie would have never imagined this kind of opportunity, and the fact that it is an opportunity? Sort of makes her feel out of place. Uncomfortable. But the last memory she has of Riley, the last visual of her, is not a pleasant one. To have a better one might be... Closure. ]

[ Ellie takes a good half hour before she responds, mulling over the idea. Riley died almost a year ago, by her hand even, and she hasn't been able to rightly move on. To talk about it. ]

lets do it

[ If she could just experience their friendship one more time... To see her, hear her voice... ]

[abduxel]

where do you want to meet?