Event: Consolidation Theory, Part Six

[snowblindmods]

Characters: the marked, the unmarked, and their rescuers
Location: ???
Date: Morning 356
Summary: Time to get out of here.
Warnings: gore, psychological horror, warn for specifics in the subject lines

Part Six OOC Post

Comments

[warriorscribe]

[The case might be helped by Enoch drifting in, through a wall. He's feverish and disoriented, but he knows his task. Seek those in need. Give help. He's looking for specific people but he can't leave those he finds behind. Someone is already here, he notices, and he gives Zell a slight nod, and Tadashi a shaky smile.]

It's over. It had never really begun.

[That might not be the best way to explain things, but Enoch's not in the clearest state of mind.]

[swatsflies]

[ No rest for the other cat dad, sorry. ]

There's a door over here. I can show you. Can you move?

[ He catches Enoch from the corner of vision. Lifting his hand up in greeting. ]

How about you? You feeling okay?

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi's eye track Enoch in disbelief before he turns his attention to Zell, then back again to Enoch.]

The chains are going to make it hard to move...

[But as he trails off, there's a note of uncertainty in his voice. Tadashi is staring at the wall Enoch just phased through like it was nothing. It reminds him a little of how Zack reacted when Tadashi walked through the invisible barrier.]

I'm okay. [Sort of. Shaky. Feeling a little delusional at this point.] Can one of you back up a second? I think I'm missing something...

[warriorscribe]

I'm all right. We'll be fine. I don't know what he did to us, but we're escaping from that. Zell, here-

[He turns his fever-weak smile on Zell now. His voice has a distracted quality to it, but it's not hesitant or uncertain.] -he's come here from the outside, without Miller. He can see the real truth. There are no chains.

[swatsflies]

[ He almost misses that disbelief with Enoch being there. Turning back to look at Tadashi as he gives a gentle smile. Jerking a thumb back behind him towards him. ]

Yeah, what Enoch says. It's one big, empty room in here. The door is open. Here, let me...

[ What is backing up? He decides invading space is the best course of action! Just reaching up to put a hand on his neck. ]

Do you feel this? [ He isn't sure if this makes it better or worst. ]

[tadashiwashere]

[The need for personal space is the sort of thing Tadashi abandoned to be friends with Fred. Even if that wasn't the case, Tadashi isn't sure where he would have gone. The chains sort of keep him from pulling away or...

Huh.

Tadashi reaches up to tap the other side of his neck, tapping against the chain. But he feels Zell's hand.]

This is too weird. What about the barriers? All of it's an illusion?

[Normally, it might be difficult to convince him, but Tadashi has been looking down the barrel of apparently being dead for nearly a year, so...

Still, he hesitates to try to move.]

[warriorscribe]

The barriers...I don't know what prevented us from willing ourselves through them in the first place, but even to you, to the others he brought, it looked...

[He searches for the words to say, speaking slowly as if testing the sounds, to make sure he's saying what he thinks he's saying.]

...It looked like acting. You had more of the truth than we did. This is only-...it's one more layer of lies.

[swatsflies]

Seems like it. I think it's the nanomachines. He probably hack 'em or something to make you guys feel trapped.

[ He taps the corner of his eye as he says that. Maybe that'll help Enoch, too. Since he has been here long enough to know hacking. ]

I know it can be hard to break it, so let's try something else instead.

[ Thinking about it... ]

Close your eyes and just think of something else. Think about your friends or a place you would like to go after this.

[tadashiwashere]

[Tadashi lifts an eyebrow uncertainly, but after a moment he does as instructed. It's not hard to think about a place he wants to go after this. First, obviously, is back to San Fransokyo with Hiro. That seems like too much of a longshot for this situation. What's closer? Back to the last house where he camped with Al?

Or the hospital.

Those cold, dead walls and the halls within filled with a silence so deep that it feels loud springs to mind too easily.]

Got it. What's next?

[warriorscribe]

[Guide. He can guide. He can do this much. Zell set up the exercise, and he knows how to follow. Despite his fever, his voice takes on a comfortable gravity, the peaceful firmness of one who has led another in meditation or prayer countless times.]

Breathe deeply, steady, until the picture in your mind is sharp and real. It is here, within reach. All you must do is move.

[He glances over at Zell, silently asking if that had been what he had in mind.]

[swatsflies]

[ The hospital is a depressing thing to imagine, Tadashi.

Zell looks back at Enoch and nods. He puts a hand on Tadashi's arm and waits a moment.

As soon as it seems like he's relaxing, maybe even distracted, he's going to just yank Tadashi forward. Hopefully it's sudden enough that he won't even think about the chains. ]

How's that?

[tadashiwashere]

[After the dense quiet of the hospital in his memories and the soothing guidance of Enoch's voice, Tadashi is not expecting anything sudden to happen. Fear jolts through him as his eyes snap open. The first thing he thinks about is an attack, the second thing he thinks about are the chains.

But he's already standing. And now the chains are on the floor.

He turns a bewildered look first to Zell, then again back to Enoch.]

That was...

[Nuts? Something you should give a guy warning about?]

...way easier than I expected. Less mind over matter. More you almost gave me a heart attack.

[warriorscribe]

Are you all right?

[It hadn't been what Enoch was expecting Zell to do, honestly. He'd thought Tadashi could have walked forward on his own, but...if it worked, if he's unharmed, he's not going to complain about the shortcut.]

I think if he had warned you, it might not have worked...

[swatsflies]

[ why are you trusting a teenager to be gentle

He does put a hand on his shoulder to give him a pat as if to say good job. Checking him over though to make sure he's okay. Giving a sheepish smile as he looks up at him. ]

Yeah. Trust me, I know how freakin' strong the illusions can be. You okay? How's the wounds?