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[abrightboy]

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audio, early May

[empathicfault]

Malcolm? Hey- hey, I need to come see you. I know it's- are you free?

[ It's late and Will sounds terrified. This is not a state he's been in before, here on the Barge. It's not a state he expected to be in again. ]

[abrightboy]

Of course you can. My door will be open. Just. Stay on the line until you get here, okay? Are you all right?

[empathicfault]

No, I- I was hallucinating. Abigail. And it was- I didn't have control. I think I hurt myself.

[ There's the clunk of a closing door. Will speaks more quietly. ]

I don't know what's going on.

[abrightboy]

Hurt yourself? Physically? Are you still seeing people that shouldn't be here?

[empathicfault]

No. Not now.

I scratched myself, I think. It's not bad, just- I've never done that before. I didn't even usually move. And when I did...

You'll check if I'm sick?

[abrightboy]

Um. Yeah. I can do that. What else do you remember?

[empathicfault]

Thank you.

[ He hates that it's so important to him, something that should be standard procedure. But that's what's scaring him more than anything else right now. ]

I- Abigail knocked on my door. I...asked her if she was really there, and she said she was. She talked about graduating, but she- didn't look any older. I thought maybe I was just trying for closure, or something.

Winston reacted to her. Or maybe I was imagining Winston noticing her, but. Well...

[ He's sort of losing the plot. Navigating the elevator and keeping up with this conversation are kind of a lot at once for him right now, with his mind on full crisis mode. ]

[abrightboy]

What made you realize she wasn't real?

[empathicfault]

Ah...probably the part where she turned into a giant black monster, with--

[ He hasn't told anyone- anyone- about that yet, and he doesn't want to do this in the hallway. ]

I- I'm almost there, just wait a minute, okay?

[ He jogs the rest of the way to Malcolm's door and knocks on it. ]

[abrightboy]

[Malcolm yanks the door open and hustles Will inside, to the sofa, where sparkling water in a glass is already waiting.]

She turned into a big monster?

[empathicfault]

[ Will gratefully allows himself to be hustled to the sofa. He sits down heavily and takes in and blows out a long breath before trying anything else. He's so sweaty his hair is wet and he looks like he's seen a ghost. He basically did, he supposes. ]

It's...a familiar form, but not- not for her.

[abrightboy]

For Hannibal?

[empathicfault]

[ Will just nods his head for a long moment, before finally deciding to go into detail. ]

Ever heard of a wendigo?

[ He smiles mirthlessly, looking up at Malcolm. ]

[abrightboy]

Yeah, isn’t it an indigenous myth? An evil spirit that makes people…. [Oh. Right.] …Did she try to eat you?

[empathicfault]

It wasn't Abigail. Uh.

[ He runs a hand through his hair and takes a drink of water before he figures out how to continue. ]

The creature I've seen before is tall and too skinny, covered in black...almost oil. It has antlers on its head and Hannibal's face. It doesn't attack, just watches. It...waits. For me.

[ He shakes his head. ] It's never been around Abigail. Sometimes it turns into Hannibal, sometimes it's been overlaid on other things that he's influenced, but...never Abigail.

[abrightboy]

Maybe it’s her now because he killed her. Is that a memory someone got from you during the event?

[empathicfault]

[ Will's shaking his head, even before Malcolm says the second sentence. ]

No, never lost that one. But it's not- it's never....

[ He trails off. Whatever just happened, none of it makes sense. Maybe it is picking up on some of the mythology he's recently read, making new symbolism that he hadn't previously attributed to it. Maybe him talking to his imaginary Hannibal has forced the wendigo into a new position. Maybe...

Will looks miserable as he breathes out heavily, intensely frustrated. ]

It doesn't feel right. But none of this does, and the- what am I supposed to do when what I see isn't something I can interpret, anymore?

[abrightboy]

...What if it's not you? If you've always been able to understand the things you see, whether they're real or not, even under Hannibal's malevolent 'care', maybe there's some sort of outside influence. Like... space radiation or... someone onboard with supernatural moods that can influence you without you even realizing it.

[empathicfault]

Space radiation.

[ He says it bluntly, but not sarcastically. It's not something he's ever been concerned about. But he has no idea what's out there. Apparently sometimes it just does whatever to the people here. ]

Yeah, I guess there could be something out there that I'm more susceptible to than the rest of the ship.

[ He looks up at Malcolm. ] The only time it hasn't made sense- after I hit adulthood- was when I was sick. Even then, that was- it was new imagery, not retooling the old.

[abrightboy]

Have you had any symptoms besides the hallucinations?

[empathicfault]

[ He shakes his head. ]

Not that I've noticed. Other than...I have been sleeping worse. But that's not usually related to anything.

[abrightboy]

Have you met any new arrivals this week? Anyone who gave you the heebee jeebees or anything?

[empathicfault]

[ Okay, they're diagnosing now. Will can stay calm as he tries to remember details. He closes his eyes a moment, practically daring the visions to come back as he recollects. ]

The only one I've met is Nita- she's a warden. She'd been here before. So if something about her caused a problem with people, it probably would've come up already, but maybe.

I did learn something interesting from her, but that's probably...unrelated. Apparently, I'm in a book? A fiction book, that is, not a True Crime Special.

[abrightboy]

Names not even changed to protect the innocent? Or. Like. You and your friends? [He considers that. He's met Nita. Did he know she was gone?] When Abigail showed up at your door... was there anything weird about how she spoke to you? Anything that wasn't idiomatic for her? Use of particular words or phrasing or inflection?

[empathicfault]

Name's not even changed. She knew me, Hannibal, Jack, and Chilton. And the book's focused on Hannibal...obviously.

[ Even in this bad of a state, he can manage an eyeroll and a shake of his head, as if Hannibal's giant ego brought the entire book into being on its own.

But right. Questions. He approaches that more carefully, and after some water. ]

No, she...she was quiet, but it usually takes her awhile to open up. She talked about graduating, a little. She wasn't...uh, she wasn't afraid. I thought that was just the...that she'd gotten better here.