The Panopticon

[Darren]

[SIZE="1"]After Etamet's sudden demise, the group felt that it was only a matter of time before someone else was killed. It seemed that the longer they stayed in the imaginary mansion of Mary's home world, the more traps they would encounter. Oromis had escaped death twice already, since he was out front, and the others weren't doing so well in the stamina department.

Delita noted how tired Mary looked and in a group decision, the decided to set down and rest. Mary still knew her way around, but every exit they had tried was shut tight and not even Delita could pry it open. Presently, the were all gathered in a circle, just outside the main door (where they originally started) finishing off the remains of their food from a day or two ago.

Delilah was still unconscious, and Mary sighed as she couldn't help but feel it was her fault. They made small talk about their lives back at home and what they would do should they ever make it back. Delita knew most of it, but she found herself forgetting more and more details as she settled into her body. If she made it out, it would be permanent.

When the front door made a small clicking noise, everyone jumped out of fear, praying that they had not triggered another trap, but the door just opened very slowly, allowing a dim light to push it's way into the mansion's entrance hall. They all gathered their stuff and quietly followed Oromis who seemed ready and prepared for anything. He wasn't in the slightest.

When the group emerged, the first thought Mary had was that the Panopticon was "eating" itself. Of course that sounded crazy since it didn't have a mouth, but the once-beautiful scenery of wildflowers they had seen, and even Mary's mentally generated summer mansion (still just as beautiful as the real thing) were being sucked away by some odd vortex of brilliant colors.

The wind was immense as it took chunks of the mansion and even the very gound with it, sending them into the purple stream of light until suddenly, they were sucked away.

[B]"What's going on?"[/B] Oromis gruff voice projected over the howling wind.

[B]"The Panopticon is running its reset mode,"[/B] Delita answered back, and the horror on the others' faces, including the Brittany the cat's, meant that they all understood their dier situation. But Delita was more confused than anyone. Of course she was preparing for her settlement into Delita's body, and that meant getting rid of a lot of the information and knowledge of the Panopticon she possessed, but she still knew the most basic rules that the Panopticon ran on, and that included it's termination rules.

[B]"We have to go now!"[/B] she called back to Oromis, and they began running, each holding onto the other's clothes by instinct; no one wanted to be blown away to their death.

[I]A clean sweep shouldn't be running with both ESP programs terminated. In fact, the only way reset mode could occur was with both ESP programs.[/I] When Delita stumbled across this bit of memory, she wondered if they two programs had really been destroyed or if they were only temporarily disabled. She even wondered, if in the abcense of Cicatrez, Inertiatic hadn't brought another group of guinea pigs to this hell hole. Perhaps that's how Cameron came to this place [I]If it did, then there's nothing I can do for them now. I must stick to my goal[/I]

As the very floor and sky were sucked away into a black hole, Oromis fought hard to make it to a tree in the distance. Really he didn't know what good it would do if everything was being pulled away, but it seemed to be the only bit of land that remained unmoving. When the group finally reached the tree, the saw every inch of their ground disappear, leaving the tree and it's amazingly large and extensive roots to provide cover.

The tree seemed to be sturdy, and when it the clean sweep's force became stronger, the surface peeled away to reveal rather large networks of wires stretching from what appeared to be the floor up to the ceiling; the tree was merely camoflauged.

[I]"Our incident with the archangels must have been the Panopticon's correction program. I've never seen it run before, but I heard it's supposed to terminate the virus and re-establish the ESP programs,[/I] Delita's mind was racing and her body was gripping to the circuitry that seemed unmoving, attempting to keep Delilah out of harms way. [I]And when Brittany let out that burst of dark energy, killing all the archangels, it must have fooled the program, thinking that it would be allowed to restart successfully.[/I] She was finally peicing it all together, [I]But ESP can't be restored with participants still in the panopticon, so it went directly to reset mode.[/I] She cursed her stupidity for not seeing it before. If she knew how much danger they were really in, she never would have let them stop to rest and eat. It was her stupid mistake that would get everyone killed.

[B]"Delita!"[/B] Oromis' voice shocked her back to reality. He was climbing up the circuitry, and he seemed to have found a way out of thier room. [B]"Hurry up and climb."[/B]

But Delita was so thrown off by the sight that she lost her footing, sending her flying through the the air. She managed to grip one of the smaller bundles of wire with one hand and grab Delilah's hand with the other. Mere hours earlier, it would have been easy to pull herself and Delilah back out of harms way, but now it seemed impossible. Her strength was dwindling alarmingly fast, and Delita was faced with a choice.

In all the commotion, and the roaring of the wind and vortex, Delilah began waking up. And it certainly wasn't in a position she liked. She screamed at first, and then looked up to see that Delita was holding on to her. It certainly put her at ease knowing she was in the hands of a super-strong, panopticon program. Still, it didn't change Delilah's shock when Delita let go of her hand. Delita wished to save Delilah, but her human emotions were growing more and more prevelant, and she knew that in order to save the others, she needed to let Delilah go or else they would both die. At least that's what Delita told herself afterwards. Who knows what went through her mind besides all that adrenaline. Perhpas she just wanted to live like any normal [I]human[/I].

Delilah flew backwards, arms and legs flailing, as she did several aireal flips, screaming the entire way. The wind was so loud, she wondered if the others were able to hear her. She closed her eyes, feeling sick and terrified from all the flips, and then there was that ever familiar darkness that she had already experienced once before.[/SIZE]

[CENTER]~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
[IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b269/MetalSonic700/80034809jt9.jpg[/IMG][IMG]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b269/MetalSonic700/deathcardpanopticon.jpg[/IMG][/CENTER]

[B]OOC:[/B] Sorry, I couldn't wait any longer. I'm very impatient!

[TheResplendent]

[FONT="Tahoma"][color=darkslategray]Delita tried not to watch Delilah's plummeting body as she could not spare the time to lose focus. The vacuum effect grew stronger as she forced her arms to climb herself higher. She still had no idea how she would exactly try to save Mary, Oromis, and Brittany. Her thoughts intertwined with the impulses that carried the remnents of her memory as the eternal onlooker, they flowed together yet never seemed to cross, like parallel lines travelling through a maze. It was hard to put things together like she had used to be able to, all she could feel now was the purely human emotion of fear and a heightened sense of urgency.

She gripped with her left hand as she climbed higher, but she felt the right side of her body being pulled away.

[b][i]'N...no...I can't fail. I have to stop this, I know there's a way...'[/b][/i] she thought to herself as she clinched her fists and her teeth.

She could hear Mary crying out to Brittany while desperately trying to hold on to her. Oromis had no trouble hanging on for himself, but he tried to move himself closer to Mary so he can help them. Delita was the furthest down of all of them, but she knew that she still had the capability to bring everyone to safety. All the senses and feelings ransacking Delita's brain stated to become overwhelming, she tried to tap into adrenaline reserves of Delita's body as she climbed higher. Each inch higher though, it seemed like Delita's eyes began to glow a dull blue.

Higher and higher, brighter and brighter...it was surreal looking...but only Delita noticed. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on but she could feel her thoughts dull down to pure instinct...her body began to move on it's own without her effort. Her strength and fortitude seemed to increase to levels beyond even Delita's cerulean body could reach.

[b][i]'So...hazy...but this will work.'[/b][/i] Delita thought as she stopped herself, as she dangled just below the others. She turned her head and looked intently at the source of their peril, her eyes seemed to burn through the air itself.

[b]"Delita! Are...are you ok!?"[/b] Mary asked, noticing Delita's face just seconds ago.

Delita didn't answer, but rather swung herself toward the vortex and let go of the wire.

[b]"Delita! What in the hell are you doing!?"[/b] Oromis yelled out, still hanging on and trying to keep stable footing.

Delita soared through the air, her body was now emblazoned in the very blue light that engulfed her eyes. It surrounded her like a shell as she flew into the black hole.

[b][i]'What...what am I doing? Is it this body...? Or is it...my will?'[/b][/i] was all that ran through Delita's mind as the light surrounded her all of a sudden kept her suspended in air merely inches away from the mouth of the vortex.

[b]"She...she stopped?"[/b] Mary asked aloud, having half expected to see Delita sucked in by the vacuum.

The light shell around Delita expanded to an exorbitant size almost instantly, it almost reached the others as they shielded their eyes, Brittany doing so with her paw as best she could. The hole in the sky began to crack as if it were glass, the very matter surrounding Delita seemed to break down with her in the center acting like the eye of a tornado. A sudden outburst of light flashed from the center as the black hole collapsed within itself, allowing the empty space to come under Delita's control. The light shell seeme to not only act as a shield from the effect of the hole, but as a containment.

[b]"A..amazing! It's a good thing for us the eternal onlooker decided to help us."[/b] Mary said softly, aiming her words toward Brittany, almost forgetting that she was a cat. Brittany let out a meow in response and wiggled her nose.

The collapsing of the black hole was complete, soon after a great explosion causing the shell to break and sent Delita flying back through the air. Oromis's eyes grew wide as he realized she was headed straight for him. He looked back and forth before succumbing to the "deer caught in the headlights" mentality he had before Delita crashed into him causing them both to fly through the wall behind the group of trees Oromis had used to keep himself safe.

Now with the vacuum effect gone, it was easier for Mary to move. She grabbed a strong hold of Brittany and ran over to where Delita and Oromis had crashed through. She peeked her head in before stepping into the hole herself. She first noticed Oromis laying on the floor with Delita on top of him.

[b]"Hey...are you guys ok?"[/b] she said in a concerned tone, running toward them both. She hadn't even noticed her surroundings or the little plateu she had to run down to get to them. Brittany immedietely jumped down and jumped up to what seemed to be a bench nearby. She appeared to be the only one so far aware that they were in some kind of indoor habitation zone with plants, benches, large opague windows, and even vending machines.

Delita pushed herself up and shook her head free of the hazy feeling she had. She looked down at Oromis who just groaned an old age groan. She sat beside him and helped him up by his arm.

[b]"I'm really getting too old for this crap."[/b] Oromis mumbled as he lifted himself up while cracking his back.

[b]"S...sorry about that. I really wish I could explain what happened, but I really wasn't in control for the last part of that ordeal."[/b] Delita confessed.

[b]"Hey, it saved us didn't it? I've given up looking for rational explanations for things in this place."[/b] Mary chimed in. Her reasonable words put an end to that short exchange of words between Delita and Oromis. All three members now began to look around the room, noticing where they were as well now.

[b]"Another habitation zone...we really got lucky."[/b] Delita mentioned as she walked over to one of the vending machines.

[b]"What do you mean?"[/b] Oromis asked, as he limped away from the spot they had landed on. Delita entered in some sort of code into the vending machine and grabbed some nutrition bars that fell.

[b]"The Panopticon has very few of these, I believe one of the groups stumbled upon one sometime earlier as well where they stocked up on food. These are real and i'm sure you all must be starving, so go ahead and eat up."[/b] Delita said, tossing Mary and Oromis a bar each, and placing one of the ground for Brittany to find.

Oromis walked over to one of the benches and opened up the wrapper with great haste. He bit into the bar, thinking in his head how incredible it tasted. [b]"Now this...is good. I don't normally like..."[/b] Oromis took a look at the wrapper just to make sure he had the flavor right, [b]...oatmeal raisin...but i'll never take health food for granted again.[/b] Oromis sighed contently and sat down on the bench, only to hear a loud screeching noise followed by an emphatic crunch. Oromis's eyes suggested a very confused look as he wiggled around to confirm that he indeed had sat on something.

[b]"What the hell...what kind of benches are these?"[/b] He said as he got up and looked down at the crushed body of Brittany the cat. His eyes widened into a state of surprise as mary gasped, putting her hands up to her mouth. Delita just closed her eyes and looked away, feeling very sorry for poor Brittany.

[b]"C....crap! Oh man...what a way to go..."[/b] Oromis said, feeling rather bad for what he had did. Delita walked over and picked the crushed cat up and confirmed that she was indeed dead, her bones broken and a pool of blood left behind on the bench.

[b]"Oromis! You big meanie!"[/b] Mary screamed out, stamping her feet to the ground. Talk a bout an emotional outburst, but she had hoped to protect Brittany throughout the rest of their time there.

[b]"Hey! I'm sorry! It isn't like I wanted to!"[/b] Oromis defended himself.

[b]"Alright, we should keep moving guys. We've gotten our rest, The Panopticon should be changing itself again rather soon. It would be best if we weren't here when it does."[/b] Delita said, covering Brittany's body with the dirt from one of the indoor plants. Delita walked passed Oromis and Mary to only door in the entire zone aside from the makeshift one created by herself and Oromis.

Oromis and Mary reluctantly followed, tears still in Mary's eyes about what happened to Brittany. Delita opened the door and the three remaining members of this play taking place in hell wandered into what appeared to be another plani white room.

[center]
[img]http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b269/MetalSonic700/deathcardpanopticon.jpg[/img] [img]http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/4791/brittanycathj8.jpg[/img][/center][/color][/FONT]

[Rachmaninoff]

Delita kept telling herself that she had no choice but to let go of Delilah, and even though it was the truth, something inside her hurt as if something was squeezing her chest. It was a feeling she did not understand. It was a feeling that confused her. It stayed with her, even as they found food and took a moment to rest and Brittany's death just made the feeling even stronger. But when they left and finally entered the next area it was blank, like a white sheet. As far as the eye could see it was nothing but a stark and bleak white horizon.

Another feeling overcame Delita and it took her a moment to realize what it was, it was despair, a feeling of failure so deep and so bitter that for a moment she was overwhelmed by it. She had been so sure of her ability to get the others out of the Panopticon, so positive that she could do it. But now there were only two left besides herself. And after what had happened she no longer believed that it was even possible. And Brittany? Even if that had just been an accident she still felt like she should have been able to save her. Still...

After she had somehow managed to save the others from what had claimed Delilah's life, even though she was trying to be positive for the others, she had felt something profound change within her. It was if that last bit had severed even more of her connection to being the Eternal Onlooker. It was if she had lost a huge part of herself when it happened. Never had she felt so helpless.

[I]This must be what it is to be human, to realize how precious and frail all life is.[/I] She was unaware that tears were flowing down her face. [I]So many of these precious humans gone, destroyed, and for what? We've been destroying what was lost, failing to realize that it was always there. [/I] Delita could tell that the others were shocked by her tears but she couldn't stop them. Just as she now understood why the Panopticon could never find what had been lost, she also understood why Davis Henderson had tried to end it by destroying the Maze.

"[B]Delita![/B]" It was Mary, tugging at her sleeve. "[B]Please! It's not your fault, without you all of us would have died. We have to keep going! We need your help![/B]"

With a shake of her head Delita reached up and wiped the tears from her face. "[B]You're right, I'm sorry Mary.[/B]" But even as she took a step forward the same vortex of color that had claimed the life of Delilah appeared again. Only this time something was coming into existence, the next room taking shape.

"[B]N..No![/B]" Delita said, horrified. "[B]It...It can't be![/B]"

"[B]What?[/B]" Mary started to say and then stopped. They were back where they had first started or so it seemed.

Delita just kept saying no over and over again. Mary looked to Oromis who didn't seem to know what to do either as the same video that had played when they had all first arrived ran through it's spiel. Like what had happened to Mary, Oromis was sure it had to be Delita's thoughts this time since even though the room appeared to be the same he could see a shimmering in parts of the walls as if there were something behind them.

He walked over and took her by the shoulders, shaking Delita a bit. "[B]Snap out of it Delita! You said it yourself that our thoughts affect what we see here.[/B]" He gave her a measuring glance and then slapped her in an attempt to bring her to her senses. Ignoring Mary's startled cry. Delita just stared at him.

"[B]You don't understand! The fact that it's picking up on my thoughts means I'm changing so fast that I'm becoming just like you two.[/B]" Delita choked. "[B]I don't know what to do! I want to be human but my desire to do so is keeping me from being able to save you.

Don't you see? Once the Panopticon finishes with us it'll just start all over again! Even though I left, everything that has happened means that it has somehow figured out how to reset itself![/B]"

Delita stomped her feet in anger. [B]"It shouldn't be able to do that! Dammit! Once I got all of you to the exit it should have collapsed and self destructed![/B]" Her tirade was interrupted by the video coming to the part about leaving the room in thirty seconds or dying. "[B]Oh hell! We don't have time for this, even if we aren't at the beginning we have to get out of here and we have to do it now![/B]"

All of them moved to the door but when they opened it the next white and blank room was up higher, like opening the door to an elevator only to realize that it had stopped before coming all the way down. There was only a small bit of room for someone to squeeze into the next area and it was painfully obvious that Ormois would not fit.

"[B]No![/B]" Mary said with dismay. "[B]What about Oromis! He'll never fit through that![/B]"

Oromis just stood there stunned at what was before them. [I]I guess I'm not meant to live after all.[/I] He looked at the tiny Mary and Delita who though bigger would still be able to squeeze through. He sighed inwardly and then simply picked up Mary and practially tossed her into the next room and then turning to Delita he picked her up and did the same, ignoring their protests. And as the door closed before the room imploded and took him with it, his last thought was that even if he had not been able to save Lucia, at least he had been able to give those two a chance to make it.

[CENTER]---------------------------

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[Allamorph]

[font=calibri]It seemed to Delita, as the shockwave from the implosion resonated through the building, that her former residence was doing everything in its power to block her at each and every step or turn she took. No matter how hard she tried, and even with her intimate knowledge of her surroundings to aid her, she couldn�t prevent any of the carnage that the Panopticon was designed to create. It was almost as if the system itself didn't even want to reset properly, just so it could toy with her.

That thought brought back something she'd said earlier.[/font]

[font=calibri]...on some level, your own thoughts, fears, and desires affect what happens.[/font]

[font=calibri]If that was true, and Delita knew it was, then that meant that the Panopticon was constantly playing on her desire to save her comrades in order to torture her.

The idea made her angry. She was tired of it all, she realized, and it was time to leave. She would get out.

She grabbed Mary's arm, heading resolutely for the next door. [b]"Come on." [/b] Mary let out a startled squeak.

[b]"Whaâ??aahh!"[/b]

[b]"We're getting out of here,"[/b] Delita told her firmly as she strode through the next hallway, dragging the poor maid tightly by the wrist. [b]"I may have lost the others, but I am not leaving you behind."[/b]

And then the floor dropped away.

â??Figures.[/font]

[font=calibri]-------------------[/font]

[font=calibri]As the pair dropped through the inky blackness, Delita tried desperately to keep ahold of Mary, but somehow the girl managed to slip through her grasp. The former Onlooker began to feel the first pangs of panic.

Abruptly, her falling sensation halted, like an invisible tether wire had snapped taught around her.

â??What?! What's going on?

She twisted (as far as she could tell) around wildly, searching for a glimpse of Mary, of something, anything.

â??Mary? Mary!! Are you there?!

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]Hunh. Interesting reaction. Are you that afraid of solitude now?[/font]

â??Is that you? Where are you?

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]I'm over here. Unfortunately, I am not Mary. And you, if I am not mistaken, are not who you once were, so I'd say we're even.[/font]

â??Hunh?! What are you talking about?

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]Neither of us are currently who the other was expecting find.[/font]

â??Okay. I see your point. So . . . who are you, then?

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]Funny. I remember having this conversation with your last occupant. It went nowhere. Or, more accurately, it went in a bit of a circle.[/font]

â??So you're like me, then?

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]You mean like you used to be. And no. I am quite gainfully employed.[/font]

â??Then what exactly are you doing here?

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]Checking in on you. But you aren't you anymore. You're dead, it appears. And you seem to be quite the interesting character indeed.[/font]

â??Forgive me if I begin to feel a bit offended.

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]Why? It's a new experience for you, is it not? Ironically, you should be rather grateful that I have offended you.[/font]

â??Well, I don't.

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]I know.

At any rate, I meant you were interesting in the sense that you are continually morphing as this particular history progresses. Specifically, I notice that, though you have spent countless cycles as a remote observer to this facility, you are considerably more human that you realize. Isolation makes you nervous now.[/font]

â??It does not! I am perfectly fine. I'm just . . . worried about her, is all.

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]Indeed. You don't seem to mind much about all those hundreds of other souls who have perished here. And why the concern? Aren't you forgetting something?[/font]

An image flashed before her eyes: she recognized the person as Lucia Travera, back when the current incarnation of the Panopticon had begun. Before she'd died.[/font]

[font=calibri]"I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one have no intention of dying."[/font]

[font=calibri][font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]And what about this one?[/font][/font]

[font=calibri]"No I don't, but we have to survive, and for now that's all that matters."[/font]

[font=calibri]It was Brittany, speaking to Desmond before her imprisonment. Desmond was also dead now. So was Brittany.

â??Why are you doing this to me?

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]You know why. Shall I continue?[/font]

â??No. Please don't.

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]Nnn. I think I'd better.[/font]

â??No!

She couldn't avoid the images. One after the other, each participant came and left. In some were only fleeting glimpses, and others were entire conversations. They came faster, faster, ever faster, flashing before her naked mind. And behind them, the nameless voice continued to talk.

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]You said you wanted to save them. But what of the others? What of the ones before you entered this Game? Don't you feel them? Did none of them deserve saving?

You don't seem to remember that there's only one survivor. So what you have been able to do? The structure has destabilized, true, but the rules have not. The Game will not end until one is left.

But I'll give you something. It doesn't matter much if I intervene now; the system that I was dodging is gone, and there's not much time left anyway.[/font]

There was a searing sensation at the back of Delita's mind. She arched in agony, unable to cry out, her muscles spasming with shock. When it left, she felt different, like a layer of something in her head had been peeled away.

[font=Freefrm721 Blk BT]I leave you with your memories; at least, those that I could find. I went as far back as I could, repairing your degradation ... which, I might add, was mostly your own fault. Do with them what you will, but use your new ones as well, for both tell you who you are.

Now go.[/font]

â??What? Wait!! NO!!![/font]

[font=calibri]-------------------[/font]

[font=calibri][size=1]Delita sat up screaming. At the sight of her new surrounding, though, she immediately ceased.

She was inside a large cube. The white walls, ceiling, and floor provided the room's bright illumination. In the center of each side was set a black square, about three feet across, with another square outlined in silver in its center, and more silver borders running from each of the inner square's vertices out to connect perpendicularly with the outer square's sides.

Around each box was another square pattern, a one-foot groove cut deep into the wall as a border, with small, polished, round steel bars positioned between the walls. The grooves continued out from the middle of the sides of that square, running towards the edges of the walls, where they met, creating the illusion of a cage. The bars continued as well; in the walls' vertical grooves and on the ceiling, they appeared to be designed as handholds. Another steel square seemed to be set behind the grooves, acting as yet another border, and also as an anchoring plate, if one thought about it.

What remained of the luminous walls were crossed in more steel. The wall had been divided into quadrants by the grooves, and each quadrant's bars ran from the corners and the centers of the edges to cross in each quadrant's center. Curiously, there were no rivets anywhere to be seen, so what was holding the steel in place was a mystery.

The edges of the room itself were black. Its resulting geometric appearance was at once reassuring, foreboding, and sterile.

Mary was holding Delita's hand.

[b]"Umm, miss?"[/b] she was asking. [b]"Where do you think we are?"[/b]

Delita was honestly dumbfounded. [b]"I haven't got the slightest idea." [/b] She thought for a moment. [b]"It's like the initial foyer, and the white-door trap, but I don't know what it's supposed to do. And I remember a lot more now, so I confess I'm a little scared. I really want to know what those black squares are for," [/b]she added to herself.

Mary took it upon herself to investigate. After a few moments with no success, she placed her hand in the center square, and the large black square hissed apart in quadrants.

[b]"It's another room,"[/b] Mary announced, looking down. [b]"But, it looks just like this one."[/b]

[b]"That's hardly surprising."[/b]

Mary looked at her pensively. [b]"Do you think we should go down?" [/b]she asked politely.

Delita took her time answering, finally murmuring an uncertain, [b]"I don"t know...."[/b]

Appropriately, a peculiar, squishy noise began coming down from the direction of the ceiling, sounding like wet dog food coming slowly free of its can. The women looked up to see a wave of something blue coming down unevenly at them.

[b]"Yes,"[/b] Delita decided, [b]"down is a great idea."[/b]

She nudged Mary through the opening and jumped in afterwards. And as soon as their bodies were clear of the passageway, they both flew sideways, landing on the room's surface in a heap.

[b]"What happened?" [/b] Mary asked. [b] "Are we on the wall?"[/b]

[b]"I don't think so," [/b]Delita answered. She stood up stiffly, favoring her right leg, which had somehow managed to end up underneath Mary's back. [b]"I think that the gravity in each room is different. If that's possible, then we're probably in some sort of multi-dimensional abstraction, like a visual model of the tesseract."[/b]

Mary looked lost. Delita didn't seem to notice.

[b]"If that's the case,"[/b] she continued blithely, [b]"then the rooms will also...."[/b]

A shimmer ran up the walls.

[b]"...shift position periodically."[/b]

[b"Like that?"[/b] Mary was trying desperately to keep up with her mental companion.

[b]"I think so. Basically, it means we don't have to worry about that blue stuff, which was probably unstable space-time, coming at us again ... at least for a while. It also means that doors might lead to different rooms depending on which way you go through them."[/b]

[b]"Eh?"[/b]

[b]"A door might also lead back into its own room, or even through itself; like looking in a mirror...." [/b] Delita trailed off, finally realizing Mary's discomfiture. She smiled a reassuring smile. [b]"All we have to do is find out where the edge is, and we're out!" [/b]Mary brightened a bit, but still looked a little lost.

[b]"Okay,"[/b] Delita continued, taking Mary by the arm again, and mindful this time of her grip. [b]"Let's go."[/b]

As they headed across the room, a square appeared without warning in its center, floating on its corner in midair. The girls slowly halted and watched in fascination as the square began folding over on itself, like so much origami, becoming slightly larger across with each new edge. Each new edge then began the same process, and the entire shape began revolving, increasing in speed with each successive revolution.

Delita gradually realized that the shape, which by now was an icosa-dodeca-tetra-quasi-multi-somethingorother-hedroid, was threatening to fill the entire chamber, and it occurred to her that this, too, was a trap, though she didn't understand how.

[b]"Let's go,"[/b] she said, shepherding Mary towards the nearest door. She didn't much care for the whistling noise the edges were making as they cut through the air, and, if she wasn't mistaken, the thing was growing faster now.

Mary was climbing the bars to the wall's doorway, and with nothing else to do but wait for the girl, Delita pulled off the watch she'd forgotten she'd been wearing and cautiously tossed it towards the whirling mass.

The shape devoured it, shredding completely it within seconds. All the bits and shavings were sucked into the shape's obscured center as they were cut off, as if the shape was a black hole. The whistling increased in volume and pitch.

[b]"Delita?"[/b]

[b]"Go, Mary," [/b]Delita interrupted anxiously. [b]"Go now."

"Delita?"

"Just get out of this room, Mary. Hurry!"

"But, miss...."[/b]

Her eyes fixed in terror to the prismatic flechette maelstrom, Delita reached a panicky hand back and shoved Mary through the opening. A scream jerked her back, and she darted to the hole. [b]"Mary?!"[/b]

She was just in time to see the last bits of Mary"s dress shredded by the monstrosity. And then she remembered:[/font]

[font=calibri]"A door might also lead back into its own room...."[/font]

[font=calibri]The shape stopped, reversed itself, shrank back to its original square, turned sideways, and disappeared. Delita stared in horror at what she'd done.[/font]

[font=calibri]---------------------------------------

[/font]

[font=calibri][font=Arial]OOC: ...and that's the way the cookie crumbles.[/font] Edited January 27, 2013 by Allamorph

[2010DigitalBoy]

[COLOR="DarkRed"]Delita was alone. The silence echoing over the vast complex yet simple avenues of existence poured over her and emptied her mind and body of all thought. Then with great ferocity, the deepest ponderings of sorrow flooded her mind and she screamed in agony. She screamed over the walls of the infinite darkness of nothingness that encompassed all of time and space. She shook and cried and called out in pain. Her, alone, with nothing but her flesh to bind her to existence. Nothing but this endless sorrow to remind her of her continuing suffering. This harsh, deep pain to remind her that she was alive.

Every fearful, sorrowful cry radiated unto everything. The universe shook with each thundering boom of her voice ? her soul erupting in a cacophony so immense that it shattered the fabric of time itself. Hers was the voice of God ? the voice of heaven, hell, the world, the planets and galaxies and universes ? the Maze and the Panopticon and the end of time and existence all blasting forth and destroying all that was.

The cry emptied her heart of hope and any last glimmers of happiness that existed. She fell and begged and cried and thought only of salvation and death. She became the epitome of misery. She became human.

[CENTER][B]***[/B][/CENTER]

[B]?Delita?? [/B]

[url=http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=208084439]An image appeared for her. (turn the volume way up >_>)[/url]

The image faded away. Delita continued to cry and wallow until she fell to sleep?

[CENTER][B]***[/B][/CENTER]

When Delita awoke, she was somewhere she didn?t recognize. She was laying on a desk, and was awakened by the sound of a door opening. She seemed to be in some kind of office. There was a lot of noise coming from the other side of the door, like the hustle of a well-packed room. She looked around quickly, but was interrupted by the man who had come through the door. The language that the man spoke was understandable, though it definitely wasn?t the one she?d used before?

[B]?Delita! There?s a client here to see you!?[/B] Delita just stared ahead, yet to contemplate her surroundings.

[B]?Delita? Are you all right? You seem a little spaced out.?[/B] No response. [B]?Delita? Hey! Are you okay?!?[/B]

Twin trails of tears began to fall down her face. She continued to stare forward as her face twisted more and more in anguish.

[B]?Hey! What?s wrong!? [/B]The man rushed over to his friend and lifted her from her desk and looked into her face, whispering comforts to her. [B]?It?s okay, just tell me what?s wrong,? [/B]he hugged her. Delita flung her arms around the man and cried heavily into his shoulder.

[B]?It?s okay, Delita. It?s okay.?[/B][/COLOR]