anomaly 006 . fourth wall

[dinosize]

Noticed a few of you complaining that you were bored.

Extra hands are always welcome in maintenance.

Comments

[isahumanbeing]

They're fine, Stephen. Connor probably runs the place by now.

[dinosize]

...interesting definition you have of 'fine'.

[isahumanbeing]

Better than the other options.

[dinosize]

Alive. I just want them to be alive.

[isahumanbeing]

They are. I can't say the same about myself.

[dinosize]

[ What - what. The news washes over Stephen in stages. Connor and Abby. Nick. The shock leaves him wavering, leaning hard, sharp corner of his counter digging into his palm. The first thing he remembers how to feel is anger. ]

You idiot. What did you do?

[isahumanbeing]

I told Helen she wasn't as smart as I thought she was.

[dinosize]

What?

[isahumanbeing]

She shot me.

[dinosize]

How could you let that happen?

[isahumanbeing]

Let it? How exactly was I supposed to stop her? I didn't have a door I could just open and save myself.

[dinosize]

You -

[ He bites back the furious words. ]

I trusted you. To look after them.

[isahumanbeing]

I did. They lived and I made sure Connor had the one thing that could save everything.

[dinosize]

You can't do this, Nick! You can't!

[isahumanbeing]

It's already happened, Stephen. If it were to happen again... I can't say it wouldn't happen the same. You know how long I hoped there was still a real human being inside of her.

In the end there wasn't. She killed me just like she killed you.

[dinosize]

That was my decision!

[ He's shouting now, his throat raw. Slams his hand down on the counter, hard enough that it hurts, that it jars his bones. Fury and rage and terror bubbling up. The last thing he felt was his ribs wrenching and snapping. ]

You can't do this to me.

[isahumanbeing]

It doesn't mean I have to like it. Anymore than you have to like what happened to me.

[dinosize]

You were the one who should have -

[ He drops his head, cuts himself off again. Should have survived. If anyone. Nick didn't deserve to die.

Stephen collapses down, curling in on himself, leaning back against the cabinets. He can't breathe. It's not hyperventilating. It's some intense, crushing paralysis all through him that leaves spots going in front of his eyes. ]

[isahumanbeing]

Stephen...?

[he gives it a few minutes and starts to wonder if this is his dying brain making him hallucinate.]

Stephen, you still there?

[dinosize]

I don't know.

[ He doesn't know. His head is spinning. ]

[isahumanbeing]

...Fair enough.

[He gives it another minute.]

Stephen. What can you tell me about where you are?

[dinosize]

[ Soft sounds.

He's crying. He can't hold all of it in. He can't grasp it all. There are things too large forcing their way through him. He didn't want to go back. He didn't want to see Nick. But he can't accept that Nick is gone. He can't accept never again. ]

[isahumanbeing]

[Gently:] Stephen...

It's okay.

[dinosize]

Are you joking?

[coolnickname]

[He was working, when he saw Stephen: working late, doing tedious minor bug fixes on the anomaly detector. Side effect of stress and lack of sleep, he tells himself. These things happen. And he had just got himself past disbelief and back into curiosity, ready to say something, when Cutter shows up and now Connor's about ready to fall out of his chair with shock, and maybe it is all just a grief-induced hallucination. But he's going to talk to them anyway.]

Uh.

Guys?