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Prologue2,929 words
Chapter 1: Perigee Pt 12,830 words
Chapter 1: Perigee Pt 24,831 words

Chapter 1: Perigee Pt 1

A young man lounged in a chair in his backyard, staring into the forest sprawl. “Another day in paradise,” he said to himself with a hint of disdain.

He was stranded here, though he doubted that anywhere else would be better. He was well aware that his issues with this place were entirely in his head, and would follow him wherever he went. He had no reason to be depressed, or at least he hadn't until recently. Prior to this year, he had had a truly good life: very reasonable and loving parents, a beautiful cabin in the woods to live in, no particularly traumatic childhood or adolescent events, not even a broken bone (aside from some minor fracturing to the nose from a rather unfortunate long distance snowball). He sighed.

Why does the world have to be like this? It’s all so... mindless. So mundane. Even the greatest challenges are just grind quests in some pointless game, he mused. He absently stroked his dog’s ears as she rested her head on his lap.

It would be so easy to say game over.

'No! I can’t start going there. Only madness lies that way. Madness and a bloody mess.'

Right, getting out of this mindset...

He had recently come to an understanding of the paradox of such thoughts: to get rid of them, one must accept their presence wholeheartedly. He hadn’t, however, mastered this technique, so he relied on the one he had been using for years.

Closing his eyes, he imagined a console at the tip of his fingers. He typed random patterns and said random words that sounded important. “Alpha nine, subtract file sub-9. Subcon infected.”

‘Error, that was completely pointless. None of that meant anything.’

Screw you subconscious, just shut out that section of the mind.

'Need a good reason.’

To not think about killing myself? I thought we had this settled?

‘Apparently not.’

Fine, screw you, I’ll figure something out.

Being an only child, he had long ago developed very simple ways to keep himself from being lonely, including listening to the obnoxious unfiltered processes in the back of his thoughts. He sighed and pointedly began ignoring his life, staring into the lush green forest in which he lived. He tried not to think of the rut his life had fallen into. He didn’t think of his recent car accident which, while he survived miraculously without a scratch, had totaled his car. He didn’t think of his general failure with women, despite his many attempts at wooing. He especially didn’t think of the hundred dollars that he owed to his former landlord and the good friends he left behind at that house before moving back home as a last ditch effort to curb his depression. He didn’t think about how the sky was now a Pepto-Bismal pink-

Wait, what?

He was interrupted from his internal diatribe when he realized that the sky had gone from a gentle blue to garish fuscia. Josh closed his eyes. He had seen small impossible flashes before, but usually it was the same effect as a camera flash. He still had no cause for these light bursts he had seen, though he theorized that it could be a frying of the optic nerve, or a visual hallucination. Though perhaps it was just eye strain and a tiny fluctuation in ambient light. He opened his eyes to see a clear blue sky, with clouds gently wafting over the treetops.

Right. Need to eat more carrots. And spend less time on the laptop.

‘Like that’s going to happen.’

I hate you sometimes.

‘Only when I’m right, which is always.’

His sour self-retort was stopped short by another flash of pink. He stared into the positively glowing sky.

I may have to actually smash my laptop. I don’t think seeing pink permanently is worth the internet.

'I wish us the best of luck; our best record for being away from the computer is one week.'

The pink disappeared again, replaced by the clear blue sky. The overwhelming smell of fudge began to find its way to the young man's nose.

Great. Olfactory hallucinations too? And now the sky is pink again. Was it something I ate? Or have I just
snapped suddenly?

‘Remember, if zombies appear, act natural and warn them that your mind has snapped. They could be regular people interpreted as a hallucination. And if fog falls... Just run. Don’t talk, don’t look back, run for your life.’
Though why Silent Hill would smell like fudge... Wait, that explains why people don’t just run from it!

As he postulated the possibilities, the canine at his side perked up. He covered his ears, awaiting the barking barrage, and surely enough, it began. She flew from his side, crashing into the grill as she ran to the front of the house. He chuckled lightly, and began to stretch for getting up.

“Lexi! Get your fluffy flank back here! Stop terrorizing the people walking on the road!” He stood and cracked his back. A series of delicious snaps coursed through him as he bent left and right.

Right, best go calm down whoever managed to awaken the sounds of the hounds. The sky returned to normal once again, but the fudge smell became nearly unbearable. His thoughts fell through the delicious aroma.

Note to self: Make fudge brownies tonight. Ooo, lava cake fudge brownies. With cherry chocolate fudge lava. And mousse to top i-

His trail of thought ran into an abrupt stop as he looked into the front yard. There, five feet from the stream that ran in front of his house, lay a body.

Huh, that wasn't there before. Why is there a body in my yard? Wait, why is there a body in my yard!?

'Ok, ok, don’t panic; breathe.'

What if it’s dead!?

‘What if it’s undead?! He swallowed.

How the hell did it get here?

He thought back to the pink sky and the savory fudge smell, which seemed to get stronger once the closer he walked.

Could all be a hallucination, or something unnatural is occurring.

'If it's the former, just wait it out, and check into the mental hospital once it’s passed. Assume it's the latter, you have an oath to fulfill.’

Hey, I never actually made the oath to assist in an abnormal scenario, you just suggested it one day.

‘Fine, whatever, you should talk to it though. If it springs to life though, run. No good can come of this.’ The golden lab was looking over the newcomer, pacing around it three steps back.

“Hello? Are you alright? Don’t worry about the dog, she’s friendly.” Please don’t be a Silent Hill zombie.

“Can you hear me?”

No response.

‘Either unconscious, dead, undead, or deaf.’

Pod person? No, she doesn’t look familiar at all.

‘Couldn’t she just be a normal person?’

Sure, but better safe than sorry.

As he approached, he took notice of the undisturbed tall grasses surrounding this mystery interloper.

‘No grass indentation.’

That eliminates walking, being dragged and used as bait (he took a careful glance around at this thought) and alien abduction victim.

‘No crop circles.’

Time traveler?

‘Possibly.’

Terminator?

‘No, no energy marks or indentations around the area.’

No Tardis... Damn, that’d have been awesome. Hallucination?

‘Best to assume not at this point.’

I must really be bored. Why do I keep jumping to the more ridiculous scenarios today? Oh! Teleport gone wrong perhaps.

‘You're facing adversity with audacity. As to the teleport, technological or magic is the question.’

Now he looked down on the pale white skin.

Not sparkling, so no Twilight vampire.

‘Thank God.’

He prodded the nearest leg with his toe, ready to flee at the first sign of odd behavior. He received no response. He looked her over carefully for wounds.

Young female, age ten to fifteen. Five foot even.

‘Give or take half a foot, you suck at measuring things by eye.’

Wearing a black shiny dress with white crescent moon shapes over the shoulders. No jewelry. Black shoes, flat. Vibrant sky blue hair, lower back length. No sign of struggle, no visible wounds...

“I sound like a bloody medical examiner.” He grinned. “I am nowhere near rambly enough to be Ducky. Maybe Grissom? Oh, right, the girl.” He turned his attention back to the youth, only to notice that she wasn’t breathing.

Shit.

'Right, first check to see if she’s anywhere close to alive.' Josh reached down and felt her hand.

Awaiting zombie mode in three, two, one... Nope, and she’s still warm. Alright, CPR.

'You can do this. You have a certificate!'

He breathed deep and closed his eyes, pulling out all the memories of his training. Leaning down, he checked her pulse at the neck and watched for any possible miniscule breathing.

Pulse! She’s really not breathing though.

'Rescue breaths? Heimlich?'

Frell your memory issues, this is important!

'Right, clear the airways...'

What was the acronym!? NESW? Wait, no, that’s directions.

'This is not the time to panic.‘

This is the perfect time to panic!

’No, we need control.'

... You're right. Subconscious, please suppress all high energy emotional subroutines.

‘Can’t, you need a limiter.’

Disable until mission is completed then.

‘Warning, this may drive your mental issues deeper.’

I don’t care, we need to be able to focus.

‘Understood and agreed. Limiter set.’

He opened his eyes, calm, focused, and numb to his emotions. Reaching down with smooth precision. he tilted the head up and put his ear close to her mouth to listen.

Right, listen, don’t look for breathing. Still nothing. Wait fifteen seconds, then rescue breathe? Screw it, close enough.

He maintained his hands position on her throat for the pulse; he had always been terrible at feeling it in the other two locations.

Huh, pulse just went erratic. Is it supposed to speed up like that? Shouldn’t it slow down if she’s not breathing? Or is that the spike that hits before cardiac arrest... He heard the sudden drawing of breath under his ear.

“Ah, excellent. You’re alive. Wh-” He was interrupted by a deafening blast of voice directly in his ear.

“UNHAND US, THOU VILE WYRM!”

Thoroughly deafened, Josh pulled his face back in shock. Vivid cyan eyes glared back at him, attempting to bore a hole through the back of his head.

So. Pretty... No! Subconscious, disable bug zapper mode!

‘Locking with same limiter... Done.’

He opened his mouth to speak again. It was promptly shut by a solid uppercut by the supine damsel. He stumbled back a few steps, seeing stars and tasting the distinct presence of blood.

Fuck! Subcon, need pain tolerance working overdrive. Also, start a search to find out why I think blood tastes so good.

As he opened his eyes and regained his composure, he assumed a battle stance and turned to his new assailant. She had rolled onto her stomach, and was still glaring at him with unfathomable hate. She attempted to get up, but flopped forward.

He walked forward to help her up smiling as gently as he could.

‘She was just disoriented, that’s all. Whatever happened to her had to be frightening. Don’t take it personally.’ He reached out a hand to her. She grabbed ahold and smiled back. ‘There, see?’ She promptly slammed all of her weight to the side, pulling his arm out of its socket with an extremely painful jolt of pain, with the additional bonus of smashing his face into the ground. He rolled away after breaking her grasp and faced her, expecting her to follow him. She attempted to rise again, only to flop once more to the ground.

“WHAT MANNER OF MONSTROSITY HATH THOU WROUGHT UPON THY FORM!? THOU WERE HIDEOUS BEFORE, AND WE DOTH DECLARE THAT THIS SERVES AS AN IMPROVEMENT UPON THY FACE.”

Great. I’m getting my ass kicked by a little girl yelling in Ye Olde English. He winced. Subcon, I need more pain resistance.

‘Reallocate from mouth?’

Do it, I need to pop this into joint and I can’t let her see weakness.

‘Reallocation complete, fire when ready.’ He worked his jaw steadily, the pain slowly fading back into his conscious
mind.

Huh, that really frelling hurt. He closed his eyes and grimaced, even as his shoulder went numb.

Right, here goes nothing. He prepared to flex the muscles in his right shoulder at the same time as he pressed it back into place with his left hand. A slight straining sensation flowed through him, followed by a visceral "Crack."MOTHEROFALLTHATISCHOCLATEYGOODCLUSTERFUCKINGPAINFUL! he screamed in his mind. PAIN TOLERANCE! 500 PERCENT INCREASE! NOW!

‘Unable to comply, I’m giving it all I’ve got!’

“DID THAT SMART THEE DISCORD? WE WOULD BE OVERJOYED TO DO MUCH WORSE, HAD THOU NOT DONE SOMETHING TO UPSET OUR BALANCE AND DISPOSE OF OUR MAGIC THAT IS.”

Discord? List possibilities in the most pain distracting way possible.

‘Loading... Discord, musical term, used to describe a disharmonious resonance. Associated with chaos. Most recent addition to term in internal dictionary, Discord, God of Chaos in My Little Pony.’

Possibly a similar vein, she did mention magic.

“You think I'm this Discord?” he asked as smoothly and regulated as he could. Show no weakness.

“I KNOW THAT THOU ART DISCORD. THY DISGUISE HATH BEEN FOR NAUGHT!”

Shit, she's heavily confused, possibly insane. How do I convince her...

‘No, don't do it; I'm your own subconscious and we both know that this is a horrible idea.’

Too bad, it needs to be done. Disable all negative feedback factors.

‘You can't!’

I have to calm her down, and if we're angry and hurt, it will only interfere.

‘Fine, but we just got those things back properly.’

I know the potential consequences, I'll deal with them if necessary.

‘Locking all negative feedback protocols into layer one, I hope you know what you're doing.’

You and I both know I don't.

Having stood there silently, with a wash of several emotions crossing his face, he knew that he wasn't inspiring confidence of his sanity in the young girl. His face now placid and calm, he spoke again, fighting back straggling reactions. “I am not Discord, nor am I sure of who he is, who you are, or even where you're from.”

“LIES!” she said as she spat in his direction. A small bit landed on his face.

A flash of anger registered inside him, but he quickly suppressed it. This mustn't register on an emotional level. First, close distance. Misdirect to the right, swerve left. Suppress target. Damage done, none. Ability to attack with saliva, decimated.

With that in mind, he feigned a forward charge straight at the intruder. She flinched back in surprise, but quickly positioned herself to turn his attack for her own purpose. A moment before entering her range, he dodged left and rolled, landing behind her. She yelped in surprise, but wasn't in any position to counter. He reached around quickly and brought her into a firm but gentle headlock with his good arm.

“Now then, I have you entirely at my mercy, and I am not hurting you. Is there any way I can convince you I am not your enemy?” he gently intoned to her ear. As he was consciously slowing his breath and heart rate, he pulled in air deeply through his nose.

Her hair smells like a warm fall evening. How is that even possible? Why am I even thinking of that?

‘Because you're a pedophile, obviously.’

Fuck you, I am no such thing.

‘Care to explain that to your body?’

That giddy warm feeling is from the adrenaline I swear, now drop it.

‘Sure thing, Pedobear.’

As she struggled against his headlock, she kicked upward into his more sensitive areas. That is going to hurt like hell the second I drop my guard, he winced.

“NOT A THING COMES TO MIND, THOU INSUFFERABLE ATONAL ABOMINATION!”

“Atonal, huh? Tell me, does your dear Discord sing?”

She grimaced deeply, both from his use of “dear” and the memory of the chaotic God's original reign.

“Yes,” she said, the word dripping with a modicum of disgust and a touch of fear. He barely heard it though, with one ear damaged from the constant yelling. He realized that this was the first time her voice was not a blooming crescendo of pain. Her voice was also slightly familiar.

“Not well, I take it?”

"No."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Halfway across the world, a man dressed as a fish sneezed, shrugged, and began cheerfully singing a mindrending off key rendition of “Barbie Girl.”

End Chapter 1 PT.1

{Right then. Sorry about the horrific delays, I'll be posting a blog about that soon. Hope you enjoyed the chapter!}

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