(It pokes through here. It comes and goes unnoticed.)

(Teddy and Hartley. Teddy and Hartley.)

(The sound of its name being called drew it near. It doesn’t recognize them.)

mm..mmmmm

(It slinks between the pockets, glancing with diseased nervousness at the excited pair before disappearing again.)

despondentSadbereft

GET DIMITRI ON THE LINE!

I CAN’T! HE WONT GET HERE FAST ENOUGH!

(It drags itself forward, loose limbs twitching exhaustedly.)

what happened ?
where are you from ?

(Not the right color.)

(What is that thing?)

(It needs to make it right.)

WHAT ARE YOUDOING HERE&?

YOUVE BEEN DER44@*iled

(It lifts its main head. Tendons that had accidentally connected themselves to the bottom of its jaw snap lose and go to reattach elsewhere.)

(It missed Him? Him. Them? It’s always been them. Which one did it miss? Which one did it hate?)

mmwhat?

What are you talking about?

(Waves of syrupy-thick substance crusts over its thoughts again. Oh, he’s not where he’s supposed to be.)

(Now it knows something is wrong. Something hot and terrified prickles at its skin. The veil, the shield. It’s pulled back.)

(It wonders if its vision is broken, now, too.)

(It clings to his words. It tries to drink in the appearance. It wants to mirror again. It misses reflection.)

(Something tells it that this is the environment it was built for.)

(Only now it seems to be too broken for that.)

(The gravity is nice. The loss of pressure causes it to expand and droop slightly as it gets used to the atmosphere once again.)

(The pull from the other end lingers regardless.)

(It knows things it shouldn’t. It knows things that split its head.)

(The air charges around it and makes its surface fuzzy and static. Gravity feels so nice when its only coming from one direction.)

(It takes a while to settle here in the grass again. The loss of pressure is relieving.)

(It throws its head forward, flexing its broken jaw and dragging itself along. The movement causes the fluid in its head to slosh and make it dizzy.)

(Its rough surface scrapes against the ground as it pulls its body from the pocket. Dirt clogs its maw as the movement shifts the soil.)

(These memories make it sick.)

(They burn with how rich they are.)

(It can feel the scar where it was forcefully inserted.)

(Something in the wrong place at the wrong time. It can feel the vibration in its limbs still, as though the recoil never faded.)

(It twitches as though it itches to move.)

(It broods to itself in the folds of the axis, tapping impatient digits along its hanging bottom lip. Lost, thinking eyes dart about, keeping themselves busy.)

(Nausea in its gut bubbles up. It ignores the pain in favor of thought.)

omicron levels.Where is

.$%Mirror%
Hello?

Who’s there?
(whos there)

(It shrinks back like a salted slug, foaming and crackling just the same.)

i remember you?
(remember you)

(Its rambling stops the moment you start speaking. It can’t fully silence itself. Smaller heads lining its gut continue to spout the same nonsense, their voices contorted as though trying to impersonate accents that aren’t their own.)

(It’s tucked inside of itself. Limbs scratch at hanging pieces.)

(It’s ill. Trying to make sense of itself. It has been for so long now. It’s starting to understand. It can feel you breathing. It knows you’re alive.)

(It can sense the change. It grows nervous. There are not supposed to be two.)

OMICRON
OMICRON
OMI
OMI
OMI OMI OMICROMICRON

W WARNING G
GAMMA GAAMMMM
OMICRON OMICRON
OMICRON

RREADING ECHO

DELTA FAILURE
OMICRO
OM
CRONFAILURE

OH MY GOD
WHERE IS

WHERE IS

THEY’RE SHOOTING AT US
DESTROYING THE TOWER
WE NEED TO RUN AWAY
GO, GO! WE NEED TO LEAVE!

(It ducks down with child terror and tries to make sense of itself as tendrils untangle and orifices close. It barrels toward the void with pain-stained eyes, seeking refuge. Awning against the lead rain.)

C̸͓̥̩͍͎̬̩̾̀̃̀͘ornuOH MY GOD!
OH MY GOD!

(Its sudden awareness also brings on delayed reactions. The bullets manifest like spirits in its skin and drown out the comforting pressure of being clawed. Fear and panic drag their cold fingers up its body and grip tightly around its neck. Hunger flees but no relief.)

(The burning of its throat answers the question as the liquid turns to lead. Words scream against newborn eardrums. Bullets scream against sharpened nerves.)

(Drowning mind splashes at the surface and gasps against foaming air. Gurgling voice rings through as it ducks beneath and emerges again.)

(It asks what is happening. It asks it again. And again. Inquisitive and gentle eyes. Thoughts scrambling like scared rats. A pitcher of scalding liquid is tipped against unwilling lips, and its nose is pinched shut.)

(Hunger is suddenly replaced with the tidal wave of panic, moon-strengthened water slamming its concrete body against its belly. It twists with desperate movement. Limbs jar and displace as something underground tries to pull all but four back in.)

(Nose ring is torn from the nostril and blood trickles past the lip. Warm lifesick oozes from its mouth as it confuses itself with options. Two gripping organisms wrestle and choke.)

(Moistened nerves detect the familiarity that lingers in the air. Claire is hard to forget. Eat what you’ve done.)

(It can’t register the muffled thought. Stitching arms open and move to embrace the void. Something else suddenly reaches forward and wraps a sturdy rope around its neck and yanks it backward. Black stars pull open a window for a moment as the pressure wants to push the contents through.)

(Something is being said and addressed and ordered. All it feels are the claws and teeth at its side. Skin rushes in to fill the wound and hide what’s beneath.)

C̸̢̨̧̛̛̥̤͈̳̲̲̰̟͔͎̻͉͚̗͍͙̬̤̰̘̟̝̟̞̤̰͉̰̥̮̱̤̯̥̓̉̆͑͌͋͗̋̀͌͂̾̏́͑̿͊̍̉̾̅̀͌̃͒̿̈̾͋͂͆͐͗̊̋͑̈͒̍̿̾̓̃̍̅̓̋̅͐͆̅̚͘̕͝͝͠͝͝ͅǪ̴̛͉̼̈́́̎̏̒̀̔͛̒̔̀̓̉̀̄́̉͗̂̑̉̇̿͆́̐̄̒͋̋̍͠R̶̢̨̢̨̛͖̹̣̱̦͔̖̦̩̞͍͖̳̱͎̜̪͉̗̳̠͔̲̖̥̼̠͔̰͉̠̟̭̪͖̬͈̠̭̺̳̲͔̖͔̭͕͚͉̱̖̐͑͒̓̑̈́̎̒͜͜N̴̡̧̫̯̥̦͕͕̜̣̙̥͉̭̝͖̹̩̜͎̳̓͑̚Ừ̴̢̡̛̛͕̭̫̦̼̺̤̟͈̜̼̺͖̹̖͖̞̗́͆́̿̄͊͆̊́̈̔̈́͌͑̄̏͆͆̄̾̈̇͛̾͊̏̉͘̚͘͝͠͝͝͝Ç̶̡̨̫̭̩̙̺̘͖̫͙̼͓̖͈͖͔̗͓̲̗̜̞͎̝̦͕̝̣̫̳̲̼͚̝̗̈͜ͅͅÓ̷̢̧̡̢̝̥̠̰̰̤̟͓̱̭̖͍̩̤̻͎͚̫̳̹͚̫̹̬̘̦̥͈̠͓̖̠̦̫͎̦̝͖̜̯̰̜̜̹̘͎̖̪͙̠̦̺̯̻͋̽͆̿̾̈́̑̈́̚͜͜͜͜͠͝ͅͅP̷̧̢̹̰̳̻̠̗͍͖̫͉̦͉̹̭̟̺̞͚͍͙̪̦͉̘̰̟͉̯̘̼̣͇̫̠͈̳͔̘̼̬̣̠̳͇͖͖͈͓̮͎̗̣͎̠̖̦̭͖̣̺̫̖̖̦͒̈́̍̒̿̎̀͜ͅĬ̸̧̡̦͇̼͓̼͚̟͚̲̺͔̝̦̮̬̖̠͎͇͇͓̃͊̈́́̃̉̏͒͂̎̽̈̈́͒̍͛͆̄͐̋̐̈́̆̐͆͗͆̃̓͒̽̉̈́͐̎̄̀͒̊̀̋̈́̿́̉̀̏̈́̀́͗̈̈́̈̕͘̕͘͝͝͝͝͠͝Ḁ̷͖̻͋̒̓̀͂̌̀̀̑̈̌̂́́̀̅̎͌͋͋̆̀̇̆͑̈́͆̈́̿̐̑͑̽̾̔̀̅̐̊̈́́̿͗͂̓̐̔͌͗͊̕͘͘͘̚ͅ

(It releases motor-mechanic hums as it bends down with starving stiffness to try and eat the rippling air where noise and buzz matches its frequency to cancel out the sound. Stuttering, eager lungs lap at the nothing-black ambience frequency surrounding the other as it tries to breathe in.)

(It’s you. I see you. I see you. I'm sorry. Sorry sorry sorry. Sorry sorry sorry. It's not me. It's not me it's not me it's not me it's not me it's not me it's not me it's not me it's not me.)

(They are cancelled and laid to writhe in their grave again.)

(It registers the rattle of the void’s voice, giant in its mind and brushing away the filth and dust just slightly. And then, like its flesh, more rushes in to fill it.)

(For a moment, different eyes strain against the surface and make it opaque, flashing and screaming their innocence.)

(Knock at the door causes a heart attack. The rain thickens in its mind and the cold water tightens its grip. It lets out a half-drowned gasp and arches. Pain rams against the front of its expired brain and announces itself. It tries to remember the last time it thought about this.)

(Series of calls rush in one side and ring out of the other. Gentle, fearful eyes stare down at the void from behind thick film of septic animal hunger and animal hate. Nerves whip and stir up the amorphous yellow-sick stew of dissolved feeling. Something said as it draws its aching limbs back in.)

(Gentle, space-thin fingers brush against the belly of the aircraft. Space-sick tongue licks against the hull.)

(And then it feels the cold, kind teeth that should be familiar. Its gaze snaps down to watch. Faces sink into their crawdad holes and leave a trail of blood and borrowed flesh.)

(Long limbs reach and threaten to vomit themselves toward the aircraft where dials and displays warm up with heat and undulate with shared craze and panic. Monitor crystals rage and burst at the hot expansion. Gauges insist that there is something wrong, that they need to land.)

(Heads twist and gasp and grab for one another with their pink-white grins, needle-teeth trembling against the different flesh where it craves to stitch over again before the twine breaks.)