#𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟑

[lyssophobiaa]

Mutated Eye; Piers Nivans

Thermal Vision Activation: The mutated eye can toggle between normal vision and thermal vision, either consciously or automatically in low-light settings.

Enhanced Detection Range: It has a heightened sensitivity to heat, allowing Piers to detect temperature variations at greater distances than typical human sight.

Animalistic Heat Tracking: When focusing on specific targets, the eye can lock onto a heat signature, similar to a predator tracking prey, enhancing Piers’ ability to track movement and body warmth.

Pupil Adjustment: In thermal mode, the pupil may dilate or change shape, resembling a slit-like predator’s eye to help focus on heat rather than visible light.

Environmental Heat Mapping: The eye can perceive heat differentials in the environment, offering a general “map” of recent warmth, like detecting where someone was standing moments before by the residual heat.

Limitations and Overload: Extreme heat (such as fire) may overwhelm the eye’s sensory range, causing discomfort or temporary blindness.

Dim Light Advantage: The mutated eye excels in near-darkness, where typical vision is weak but body heat stands out clearly, giving Piers an edge in low-light stealth scenarios.

Color Perception in Thermal Mode: In thermal vision, the eye interprets temperature differences as a gradient of colors. Warm objects may appear in intense reds, oranges, and yellows, while cooler ones might show as greens, blues, or even dark purples.

Subdued Colors in Normal Vision: Even when not in thermal mode, Piers’ mutated eye has a muted color perception. Colors appear slightly less vivid, as the eye prioritizes detecting movement and heat cues over vibrant color differentiation.

Predatory Color Shift: When the Virus has more control, the eye’s color vision shifts further, tuning down saturation and emphasizing contrasts (similar to how a predator’s eyesight might work). This makes it easier for Piers to detect changes in his surroundings, almost like a built-in “hunt” mode.

Pupil Slitting and Virus Control: When the Virus starts taking over, the eye’s pupil begins to narrow into a vertical slit, resembling that of a predatory animal. This shift signals an increase in Virus influence and a decrease in Piers’ conscious control over his actions.

Automatic vs. Controlled Pupil Changes: If Piers is calm and in control, he can keep his pupil in a regular, human-like shape even when using the mutated eye’s abilities. But in moments of high stress, anger, or when the Virus is trying to assert dominance, the pupil slits involuntarily, reflecting the Virus’s increased control.

Vision Focus During Virus Influence: When the Virus asserts dominance and the pupil slits, Piers’ depth perception sharpens, narrowing his field of view to focus on potential threats or “prey.” His peripheral vision dims slightly, forcing a tunnel vision effect that aids the Virus’s instinct-driven behavior.

Heat Intensity Flare: In cases of extreme Virus influence, the eye may highlight intense heat sources more aggressively, causing them to “flare” in Piers’ vision—almost as if they’re pulsing or glowing. This can heighten his predatory response but risks overwhelming his senses.

Subtle Visual Indicators for Others: The slitting pupil and dimmed colors provide a subtle, outward indicator to others around Piers, showing that he’s in a state of diminished control and that the Virus is actively exerting influence.

Dual Vision Complexity: Piers’ normal eye functions like a typical human eye, processing visible light and color, while his mutated eye prioritizes thermal readings and has limited color sensitivity. When using both eyes together, his brain has to integrate two different types of visual input, which can cause sensory conflict or strain if he doesn’t focus.

Selective Thermal Overlay: In moments of focus, Piers can actively “overlay” the thermal information from his mutated eye onto the visual feed from his normal eye. This creates a combined image that highlights heat signatures within his regular field of vision, allowing him to detect hidden heat sources while maintaining color and detail from his normal eye.

Rapid Information Switching: Piers can switch quickly between normal vision and thermal mode in his mutated eye, allowing him to scan for heat without sacrificing his normal vision entirely. However, this rapid switching can cause momentary disorientation, especially in highly dynamic environments.

Conscious or Reflexive Shift: When he’s fully in control, Piers can consciously decide whether to rely on his mutated eye’s thermal capabilities or stick to normal vision. However, under stress or heightened emotion, his brain may reflexively prioritize thermal cues over visible light, shifting his attention to heat sources rather than color or detail.

Strain and Fatigue: Balancing the two types of vision is tiring. Extended use of the mutated eye in thermal mode can lead to eye strain, headaches, or even temporary blurring in his normal eye due to the effort of integrating both feeds.

[lyssophobiaa]

Quick sketch for Piers’ bionic arm.

Design Features

•Aesthetics: Streamlined, ergonomic design with a minimalist look, often featuring a matte or metallic finish.

•Materials: Lightweight composites like carbon fiber and titanium, providing durability without sacrificing mobility.

•Color Options: Customizable colors or finishes, including options for skin-like textures or futuristic metallics.

Technology

•Actuation: Advanced motors and actuators that enable precise, fluid movement mimicking natural limb motion.

•Sensors: Integrated sensors (e.g., myoelectric sensors) to detect muscle signals for intuitive control and movement.

•Feedback Systems: Haptic feedback mechanisms to provide users with sensory information about grip strength and object texture.

Safety and Durability

•Water and Dust Resistance: High IP ratings to protect against environmental factors.

•Emergency Features: Manual override systems or fail-safes in case of technology malfunction.

Advanced Technological Interface

•Integrated Biosensors: Built-in biosensors that can analyze blood or interstitial fluid samples to measure viral load in real time.

•Data Analytics: Utilizes algorithms to process biosensor data, providing insights on viral dynamics and trends.

•Alerts and Notifications: Real-time alerts sent to the user or healthcare provider when viral load exceeds predetermined thresholds.

•Communication System: Integrated with a communicator on the wrist, the arm serves as a reliable device for maintaining contact with his team. This system includes encrypted channels for secure communication during high-stakes operations.

•Objective Management Display: The arm features a holographic display that provides a detailed version of the communicator’s data, allowing Piers to view mission objectives and tactical data in real-time. This feature minimizes the need for external devices and keeps critical information accessible.

Augmented Reality (AR) Compatibility

•Enhanced Visualization: The arm’s display projects augmented reality overlays, allowing Piers to see additional information, such as enemy positions, weapon stats, or tactical directions, directly in his line of sight.

•Environmental Scanning: The arm can analyze the surroundings for potential threats, detect biological or chemical hazards, and provide alerts for safer navigation through hostile environments.

Electricity Conduction and Control

•Energy Conduit Design: The bionic arm acts as a conductor for the constant electrical energy generated by Piers’ mutation. It includes specialized channels and circuits designed to manage this energy flow, allowing Piers to use his mutation’s electrical pulse without it spiraling out of control.

•Dielectric Structures: The arm’s design incorporates materials that mimic the dielectric properties of his mutated tissue, particularly in the finger joints and bones. These dielectric components help regulate and contain the high voltage his body produces, diffusing excess energy safely throughout the arm.

•Controlled Release Mechanism: To avoid overload, the arm features a controlled release system that allows Piers to release pulses of energy strategically, whether in combat or to alleviate the internal buildup. This system prevents the arm from overheating or sustaining damage from prolonged electrical activity.

Containment and Compression of the Mutation

•Compression Framework: The prosthetic was specially designed by UMBRELLA engineers to act as a containment “net” around his mutation. It includes a flexible, reinforced framework that compresses the mutated tissue, keeping it in check and preventing further growth or erratic shifts in form.

•Adaptive Pressure System: As the mutation strains against the arm, sensors detect any changes in size or energy output, triggering adaptive responses. The arm tightens or loosens as necessary to hold the mutation back, functioning almost like a high-tech brace that adjusts in real-time to maintain Piers’ arm in a stable form.

•Automatic Safety Lock: In the event of a significant spike in mutation activity or electrical output, the arm engages an emergency lock to keep the mutation from expanding. This feature is a safeguard against sudden bursts of energy that could cause the arm to revert to its mutated state.

Dependency and Risks of Removal

•Rapid Mutation Onset: Without the prosthetic in place, Piers’ arm begins to mutate almost immediately, returning to its original, unstable form. The electrical pulse that his body generates becomes unrestrained, emitting a continuous, breath-like rhythm that is both painful and dangerous, with energy leaking through protruding bones and exposed tissue.

•Uncontrollable Pulse: When uncontained, the electrical pulse from his mutation surges in intensity, lacking any natural “closure” or stopping point. This pulse causes rapid fluctuations in his vital signs and risks systemic overload, leading to loss of control over his mutation and putting him at severe physical risk.

Miscellaneous Details

•The arm has a unique serial code engraved on an inner plate, serving as an identifier for UMBRELLA technicians. This code also links to Piers’ personal health records, mutation data, and arm specifications for quick access during maintenance or in emergencies.

•Due to the intense electrical pulses generated by his mutation, the arm is equipped with an internal cooling system. Micro-fans and heat-dissipating channels prevent overheating during extended use, keeping the arm at a safe, comfortable temperature. If the arm overheats, an internal alarm alerts Piers to prevent any potential damage.

•The outer layer is treated with a UV-resistant coating to protect it from environmental damage and exposure. This ensures that prolonged exposure to sunlight or harsh conditions doesn’t wear down the arm’s exterior, making it more durable in diverse climates and situations.

•Designed for various operational environments, the arm is fully waterproof and corrosion-resistant. It functions normally underwater, which is crucial for aquatic missions or when exposed to rain, mud, or corrosive substances.

•The holographic display can be customized to show additional details, such as weather, GPS navigation, or tactical maps. Piers can also set personal preferences, like color schemes or alert tones, for a more intuitive user experience. This flexibility lets him prioritize the information he finds most critical during missions.

•The communicator has an onboard language translator, enabling Piers to communicate with individuals across different languages. The arm’s display shows translated text, and a subtle earpiece can even relay audio translations, making it easier for him to gather intel and negotiate in multilingual environments.

[lyssophobiaa]

Misc. Design Notes and Ideas; Piers Nivans

Synchronization Between Prosthesis and Senses

Augmented Reflexes: His bionic arm could have a feedback system connected to his heightened senses, allowing it to respond to auditory or visual cues faster than he can consciously react. For instance, if he hears a sudden change in someone’s heartbeat behind him (indicating they’re approaching or tensing up), his arm could twitch or adjust as if ready to defend or counter.

Haptic Feedback in the Arm: The prosthesis could have sensors that translate environmental data into subtle vibrations or pressure signals, which Piers can feel. For example, in low-light or when he’s using his thermal vision, his arm might subtly vibrate in response to nearby heat sources, giving him a “sixth sense” of people around him without needing to look.

Sensory Overload Thresholds and Control Mechanism

Virus-Triggered Sensory Intensity: When the Virus exerts more control, his senses might intensify to the point where every heartbeat, heat signature, or movement becomes sharply defined and almost overwhelming. This state would enhance his perception but at the cost of mental strain, making it harder for him to focus or maintain rational thought.

Adaptive Mutation in His Arm

Augmented Physical Connection: The prosthetic side of his arm might integrate more closely with the mutating side over time. This would create a unique “fusion” effect where the prosthetic adapts, mirroring changes in the mutation, like absorbing textures or contours that appear on his mutated tissue. This would blur the line between machine and biology even further, reflecting his struggle to retain his humanity.

Predator-Like Instinct Mode

Automatic Threat Detection: If his hearing detects an elevated heartbeat or his eye picks up sudden movement, it could trigger an “instinct mode” where his sensory focus shifts fully onto the target—heightening his reaction time and awareness of that individual’s actions. This would make him hyper-focused on potential threats, though it risks distracting him from other surroundings.

Animalistic Responses to Stress: When the Virus exerts control, Piers’ responses could become more instinctual. For instance, if his mutated eye detects an unexpected heat signature, his body might involuntarily tense, his senses heighten, and his arm adopt a defensive posture. He might also develop reflexes that resemble predatory behavior, like tracking movement without moving his head.

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[lyssophobiaa]

𝑃𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑁𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑠

𝑃𝑖𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑁𝑖𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑠 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝, 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐜 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝—𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞, 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛. 𝐈𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞.

𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞—𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫—𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐳𝐲, 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐠. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥. “𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟑, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫. “𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫… 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬.”

“𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟑.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜��𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧’𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞.

“𝐓𝐨 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐲. 𝐓𝐨 𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐨… 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬.

“𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧, 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥, 𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐧𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭—𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚, 𝐝𝐢𝐦𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬: 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬, 𝐣𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰, 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝.

𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫.

𝐀𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝—𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡. 𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭… 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠.

𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐧. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐫𝐚𝐰, 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐀 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫—𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞? 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤.

“𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟑.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠.”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐣𝐨𝐥𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 ��𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐧𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐇𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐛, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝.

𝐇𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝.

𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫, 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬.

𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐨𝐦 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.

“𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟑, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐍𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥, 𝐧𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞—𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧.

𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧, 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝, 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐜𝐢𝐫𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝:

𝐎𝐛𝐞𝐲. 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲.

[lyssophobiaa]

𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐠, 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐟𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐞.

𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞. 𝐌𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝟐𝟎, 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐃𝐍𝐈.

𝐌𝐮𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐛𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞/𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬, 𝐁𝐈𝐏𝐎𝐂.

𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐃𝐍𝐈 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚.

𝐃𝐌 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐫 (𝐑𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 & 𝐂𝐚𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥)

𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐑𝐏 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞.

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫; 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐬 & 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫.

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬

•𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤 {𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭}

•𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞 {𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭}

•𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭/𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐲 {𝐌𝐇}

•𝐋𝐮𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚 {𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐢𝐥}

•𝐂𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞 {𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐁𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐫}

•𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢 {𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨}

•𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 {𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐠}

Piers:

#𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝟏𝟑

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐬

Jeremy:

#𝐌𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐞

Lucas:

#𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐋𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐬 𝐁𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐫

Waylon:

#𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝟖𝟐𝟎𝟖

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐤

Tim:

#𝐏𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝟏𝟔𝟏𝟐

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

Luis:

#𝐃𝐨𝐧 𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐱𝐨𝐭𝐞

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐋𝐮𝐢𝐬 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚

Ciel:

#𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐠

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐂𝐢𝐞𝐥 𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐡𝐢𝐯𝐞

Naruto:

#𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐲

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐍𝐚𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐔𝐳𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢

Sonic:

#𝐅𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞

#𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞; 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜

[lyssophobiaa]

Chris and piers with do you remember why you hate me

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐝𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬’𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐢𝐦—𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐍𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐬.

𝐆𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧.

𝐍𝐨𝐰, 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞, 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐦, 𝐰𝐚𝐫-𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐬𝐤𝐲. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭.

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞. “𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬… 𝐃𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞?”

𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐚 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. “𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐋𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐨𝐭, 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞.”

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. “𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞��𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭—𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞.”

𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭.” 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐲𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞.

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝-𝐢𝐧-𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭?” 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫. “𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨… 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬?” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧.

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐦. “𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬… 𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐞—𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.” 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡.

“𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐓𝐲𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐒𝐀𝐀 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭.” 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐩 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐮𝐧, 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭, 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞—𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞.

“𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐬. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭?” 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐜𝐞. “𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝, 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 ��𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐰𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞’𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧—𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐔𝐦𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞. “𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞!” 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. “𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞!”

“𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐚𝐦?” 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧. “𝐈’𝐦 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐮𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.

𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝. “𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦. “𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝,” 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠—𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭, 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐲, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧, 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞.

“𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐢𝐭, 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬, 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭.” 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧.

𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰—𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝.

“𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐛𝐲𝐞, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬’𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫, 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 ��𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬, 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐲, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐲𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. “𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬.”

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫—𝐚 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬’𝐬 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞.

𝐏𝐢𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡, 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭,” 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, “𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬. 𝐘𝐨𝐮’𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰.”

𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐭.

[lyssophobiaa]

C-Virus & Hearing; Piers Nivans

I thought I’d share a few more details on other things the virus affects, this time we’ll be covering hearing with a few points under the cut!

Hyper-Acute Hearing: Piers’ hearing is extremely sensitive, allowing him to pick up on subtle sounds like heartbeats from a significant distance, even through layers of clothing or other background noise.

Unique Heartbeat Signatures: Each person’s heartbeat has a slightly different rhythm, speed, and strength. With time, Piers can learn to distinguish these subtle differences, allowing him to recognize specific people by their heartbeat alone.

Filtering Mechanism: His brain has developed a filtering mechanism that lets him isolate heartbeats from other sounds. He can “tune in” to the beat of someone nearby while filtering out ambient noise, like conversations or footsteps.

Heightened Stress Detection: Since heart rate and intensity change with emotions, Piers can detect when someone’s heartbeat quickens (indicating stress, fear, or excitement) or slows (signaling calmness or sleep), giving him insight into their emotional state.

Background Detection Mode: Piers’ hearing is tuned to detect irregularities, like sudden changes in a heartbeat. This allows him to “sense” if someone nearby is experiencing fear, surprise, or exertion, even without actively listening to them.

Sound Map of Heartbeats: In familiar settings, Piers can form a mental “sound map” of people’s heartbeats, knowing where each person is within a room based on their rhythm and position. This allows him to keep track of movement even without direct line of sight.

Virus Influence: When the Virus is more dominant, Piers’ hearing may shift to prioritize certain heartbeats, especially those that indicate fear or vulnerability, aligning with predatory instincts. This shift might cause him to lose some conscious control over what he listens to.

Slight Vulnerability to Sound Overload: Because his hearing is so sensitive, sudden loud sounds or overlapping heartbeats can cause brief disorientation, like a “sensory overload,” which he may need a moment to recover from.