#Dr Abberron

[cakeinthevoid]

Blinks

Whumptober No. 3: “Like crying out in empty rooms; with no-one there except the moon.”

Journal | Solitary Confinement | “Make it stop.” (2, 3)

Content: Unreliable narrator, isolation, manipulation, young MC, pretending to look unwell and then actually maybe being unwell lmao, mental shenanigans, lab whump

This is a scene that could exist in the very beginning of Lora's confinement—after Dr Abberron takes her off the street and into his super secret super cool research lab. Lora is human (at this point in time...) More of a prompt fill than heavy lore, but I think it does actually set the stage decently.

Lora missed the moon. The sun too, of course, but there was something about a clear night sky of stars and a glowing moon that calmed her soul. 

She needed calm right now. She refused to go crazy. 

“I’m not crazy.”

Talking out loud didn’t make her crazy.

“I’m not crazy.”

Otherwise it was just too quiet. 

She looked up at the camera in the corner of her cell. She only had to tilt her head back an inch; she was sitting against the far wall, and the camera was in the corner above the solid glass cell door. Its red light blinked lazily and she wondered if it caught audio.

“Can you hear me?”

She hadn’t been here long enough to know. She had only seen Abberron a handful of times since the night she was a complete idiot. 

Rule one of being a street kid: don’t trust kind strangers. Too bad she was desperate.

“I hate you.”

The red light kept blinking. 

—

When Lora woke up to a pile of assorted food bars and water bottles, she began to entertain the notion that Abberron was testing her. Or trying to break her. 

She could fake the latter—she had experience, after all—but the former? That was harder without knowing what he was testing. She had a few guesses though. 

See, contrary to all recent evidence, Lora wasn’t stupid. Wasn’t completely stupid, anyway.

So she made a plan. She would ration approximately, in case she was completely wrong and Abberron was just leaving for a few days and didn’t want her to die in the meantime. Then she would wait a day or two before snapping. It had to be realistic. 

She was going to get out of here. She glared at the camera. The red light blinked on. Then she settled back and entertained herself by seeing how high she could toss her pillow and catch it. It was actually a little fun. 

—

She was reciting knowledge from her science class when she suddenly noticed there was no red light. Her words trailed off. 

“Hello?” She tried. Silence.

Just part of the test, she tried to reassure herself. She still had some food and water left. 

Pulling her eyes away from the camera took more effort than usual. 

—

Lora realized she didn’t actually have a sense of time anymore. The lights in the ceiling never turned off. They only flickered every now and then. 

Distantly, she thought about counting the amount of flickers. It was something to do. 

—

The red light came back on when she woke up. It blinked as slowly as ever. 

She tried talking to it for a bit. Nothing happened.

—

Two sleeps after she was down to her last food bar, she considered the possibility that Abberron was dead. 

At least a week must’ve passed already? She had heard of the effects of long term isolation before. She researched it after her first few stints in the closet. Rarely were people able to say exactly how long they were alone. 

At least this room had light. Her descent into madness would be sure and quick if the lights went out. 

They won’t, they won’t—

“They won’t, they won’t, they won’t,” she muttered aloud, rocking herself. 

Snap out of it, said a voice inside. Why did it sound funny? 

She laughed. Maybe she wouldn’t need to fake insanity anymore—

No, she straightened, face sobering. The plan, remember the plan. She looked up. The light was still blinking. If she looked at it long enough, she could imagine a one-eyed ghost blinking at her. 

Sometimes she thought the room would get colder out of nowhere when she did that, but ghosts aren’t real, so it had to be Abberron testing her. 

Sometimes the walls looked different too, if she looked at them hard enough. She swore she saw constellations on them. 

The stars, oh she missed the stars. She looked up at the sun and wished it would set already. 

“Poof.” It didn’t work. 

It was hot, and now she was thirsty. Not a single cloud for rain, but she was sure she had water—

Water bottle. She had a water bottle because there was no other source of drinkable water. She didn’t trust the water pipe or toilet in the corner. Because she wasn’t home, she wasn’t even outside. 

Her head hurt. It’s been too long. Moments of lucidity were becoming far too few and far between. She needed to do this while she was in control. 

She trembled—she wished she was faking that, but she could use it to her advantage. 

She grabbed the unopened food bar within arms reach and brandished it, staring at nothing. 

“Stop it,” she said firmly. There was nothing there, but in the corner of her eye the red light was blinking.

“Stop it,” she said louder. 

Her hand shook with the force she was gripping the bar.

“Go away!” She threw the bar—it hit the glass paneling and fell to the floor. 

“Stop it!” She shrieked, backing away and pressing herself to the far wall. 

“Stop it—make it stop!” She looked up at the camera sharply, hoping that Abberron was watching. 

“Please—make it stop!” She pleaded with the camera. Then she looked back down and jumped in a calculated flinch, as if whatever she saw was closer.

“Get back! Make it stop, please make it stop—“ her eyes darted between the space in front of her and the camera. Her heart was genuinely racing to her surprise. 

She begged and pleaded with the camera, to no avail. So she pushed herself to the corner and curled up there, pulling at her greasy curls. 

“It’s not real, it’s not real,” she chanted to herself. She faked some winces in time with her pulls. The easiest part was the staring. She had gotten very good at staring at nothing for long periods of time. 

She didn’t know how long she kept up the charade. She knew at one point, it stopped being a charade, because she was shaken back into her body—Abberron had his hands on her shoulders. She could feel the rumble of his baritone but no words. 

She flinched back violently, swatting him away and knocking her skull against the grey concrete walls. 

“There you are,” she heard once the ringing in her ears faded. “Can’t leave you alone even for a few days, it seems.”

Her eyes widened. There was no way that was a few days. It felt like weeks, if not months.

“No matter,” he sighed, “At least we can get started today now that preparations are done. Come now, don’t make that face. Can you honestly tell me you would rather be on the streets?”

Yes, Lora thought, but couldn’t form the word. 

At least she was never truly alone out there. Here, she realized a part of her desperately needed Abberrons presence, lest she go mad in isolation. 

Abberron stood up, holding out a hand. “Let’s go. We have a busy day ahead of us.”

Lora didn’t take the hand, but stood up on her own accord. She would persevere. And she would get out whole. 

[cakeinthevoid]

Oh this is so neat! Thanks for the tag! Lets see…

Still Feel

Lora: Would be someone who doesn’t care about family at all and prefers to go it alone. She would be quite lazy, but not anxious or stressed about it. And if we’re talking about the latest version of the character, Lora would be very trusting and naive.

Ash: They would be super timid—definitely not a fighter. They would believe that the authority must always be right and they would dedicate themself to being the ideal lab rat.

Dr Abberron: …would not even have made it to an undergraduate degree, let alone medical school. He would not be curious about anything, fully apathetic and with no drive to discover. Well. At least he’d have some moral compass.

Running Like a Light

Deyana: Nothing can stop this interplanetary assassin! She can track people down in no time.

Zinc: A boisterous, confident fighter. The crew appreciates him and always notice his presence.

Vigilante

Auretta: A mean and cruel teenager who doesn’t care about what others think. She may be weak, but she gets around her limitations.

Zephyr: A kind hero who holds no resentment to the people who have wronged her. She saves cats from trees.

Reza: An accepting older brother who doesn’t actually care what happens to his family.

Open tag!!! Would love to see who else joins :))

Character Inverse Tag

Thanks for the tag, @willtheweaver (here)!

Rules: Write who you think your character’s opposite would be!

I've chosen a few characters from my WIPs Song of Thorns, Enchanted Illusions, Of Starlight and Beasts, and Supernova Initiative for this one because why not lmao. I tried to really lean into the "polar opposite of the regular character" aspect of this tag game!

(Song of Thorns)

Roselyn Lethia - Would be a selfish loner with no desire for adventure and a love for the status quo

Renn Atrius - His polar opposite self would be a human knight from the royal guard with an adoration of the nobility and a disdain for vampiric fey

Cyriel Staryn - Would be a bounty hunter who specializes in hunting thieves and who strives to upkeep the law

Orianna Whisperleaf - Would be a worldly girl from the capital who is terrified of nature and doesn't care about animals

Prince Alaric - I imagine his "mirror universe" self would be a stereotypical prince who loves masquerades, hunting trips, and mostly basks on his family's sway and power, instead of trying to stop them

Tarrant - His opposite self would be a powerful, sly, silver-tongued mob boss with an obsession with being perceived as sexy or attractive, and who has a tendency to be manipulative

(Enchanted Illusions)

Augustus Grimmure - His mirror self would be a mild-mannered pacifist who is terrified of death and all things morbid, and probably a sorcerer in the Order of Light.

Harriet Sharppe - Would be a brash extrovert with a tendency to get into fights extremely easily and a notable lack of patience

Evangeline Daemitya - Would be a stereotypical "rich girl" obsessed with being the latest trendsetter and always being perceived as popular by her peers.

Sam Delaways - Would be a rich businessman with a risk-taking streak who doesn't care about saving money and only cares about being the best

Cailean Telkerly - Would be someone who never runs from his problems and likes to face conflict head-on, while being aloof and not really charming

Clarence Van Sterling - His alternate self would be an all-powerful vampiric lord, of a very posh and arrogant sort, who considers humans as lowly peasants.

(Of Starlight and Beasts)

Corah Stormryder - Would be someone with no ambition, with a tendency to settle for "the way things are" and a strong sense of self-worth

Arammys Lochllain - Would be a clairvoyant mage with a strong grasp of the past and the future, who remembers his entire life and that of others and does not fear his magic.

Eidan Delythen - A popular folk hero with a pristine reputation who isn't afraid of his past and is proud of his family name

Masen Mavven - Would be a trustworthy young man who despises breaking rules and is a thoroughly law-abiding citizen

Kyran Mavven - Would be a sorcerer who despises sciences and alchemy, considering them inferior to magic, and who does not care about his reputation

Scarlet - His opposite self would be a dutiful knight who trusts people too much and who devotes himself to serving the kingdom, even through dangerous situations.

(Supernova Initiative)

Jack Tithus - His opposite self would be a Junction military officer who thoroughly believes in the system and is a hopeless optimist who always sees the best in everyone around him

Cassiopeia Tithus - Her opposite self would be a lazy student with little passion for experimentation and who is terrified of robots of any kind.

Aleks Keldora - A self-confident bounty hunter who is unapologetically himself at all times and is also a truly amazing fighter pilot

Ethean Mirannir - His complete opposite would be a reckless intergalactic thief with little regard for the needs of others and who doesn't really care about the upkeep of his family name

Vesper Foxx - A kind-hearted pacifist who truly believes in a "forgive and forget" philosophy and considers revenge a useless endeavor

Artemis Zreeth - A bubbly and preppy kid with a penchant for colorful clothes who adores going to parties and makes friends extremely easy

Pax Stellaryn - An arrogant fighter pilot who is overconfident in his abilities and oftentimes overestimates his own chances of winning a battle

Tagging: @cakeinthevoid, @i-can-even-burn-salad, @steh-lar-uh-nuhs, @pluttskutt, @anoelleart

@kaylinalexanderbooks, @smol-feralgremlin, @oh-no-another-idea, @littleladymab, @little-peril-stories

@the-ellia-west, @winterandwords, @cowboybrunch, @eccaiia, @sarahlizziewrites

@leave-her-a-tome, @writernopal, @anyablackwood, @unstablewifiaccess, @forthesanityofstorytellers

@lassiesandiego, @thepeculiarbird, @clairelsonao3, @memento-morri-writes, @starlit-hopes-and-dreams, @illarian-rambling and OPEN TAG