001 | Yes, It's the End of the World As We Know It | Audio/Visual

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

[A young woman's voice echoes over the Vine first. IN fact, it sounds almost exactly like that of someone else the residents have heard from recently. A shrill note of panic has managed to worm its way into her voice, though.]

What is this place? Where-? How-?

[After a moment the mirror comes on. It's Asuka! Or her doppelganger. The only real difference is that she has a swathe of bandages covering her right arm and another tied tightly around her head, covering her left eye. The one that is visible is bright, blue, alert and almost panicked. Her uncovered hand reaches out toward the mirror.]

This isn't right! I was just-

I was-

[Her eye widens slightly.]

Oh my God. I-

[She chokes, retches and she sinks out of sight for a moment, hand covering her mouth. The rather unpleasant sound of someone losing their lunch is all that can be heard for a few moments, gasps for air and then more retching.]

I feel sick.

Comments

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

_{[Her eye twitches and a very odd half-smile flashes across her face for a moment.]}

...I'm just hallucinating, aren't I? I'm still back there. Still...

I'm still...

_{[She starts to laugh; they're a bit more like sobs really.]}

It's not real!

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

... Jeeze, what the hell's been happening to you that you actually buy that explanation?

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

Just the end of the world!

But if you're a product of my brain, you'd know that already.

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

*Okay, righteous anger, no more guilt over trolling*

Ooor would I? I could be your childhood innocence, behind the sexy black outfit with the kinky ring collar and pointy ears, denying all of this.

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

_[What.]

Or this is all a part of Third Impact.

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

... Okay, I really don't have a clue what you're going on about so...

Welcome to The Gardens. Sadly, I don't think they're a hallucination.

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

How the Hell am I supposed to be able to tell?

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

That's a very good question that I unfortunately can't entirely answer.

Would trying to prove that there's actual magic work?

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

Magic doesn't exist!

_{Then again, neither should cats with scrolls.}

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

Correction: Magic doesn't exist in your world. Proving it does here would thus prove that you're not on your world, or at least that you're so baked out of your mind that you may as well not be, correct?

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

So how the Hell do I tell the difference? I mean, I'm talking to you through a mirror on a vine!

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

That's a slightly harder question to answer.

Unless you remember taking a hallucinogenic in the past few hours.

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

...I don't.

_{[Unless you count being turned into tang.]}

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

Then the most logical explanation is that things have, in fact, gotten weird.

[redheadcarrier.livejournal.com]

Great.

[ultimatedessert.livejournal.com]

My advice is to go with the flow and, if you can, join those of us who are investigating the Wilds beyond the Gardens. Possible escape routes are nice, you know?