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The sheer density of pollen in the air is rendering your PPE completely ineffective. You can feel the pollen spores seeping through the tiniest gaps in your gloves, your rebreather, and your goggles. You hold your breath in a vain attempt to prevent the pollen from getting inside your body.
"Later is better than never." You stop bothering to hold your breath in, letting thousands of pollen spores rush in. "You're rotting away in here. We both know that."
The static clears from your ears. Barely visible through the fog of pollen, you can make out IN LIMBO staring right at you.
"He's right, Rolle." Anthony's voice cracks. His breathing is ragged and shallow from the spores leaking through his PPE. "Life's always going to be full of regrets. T-thin..."
He interrupts himself with a wet, wheezy cough. He struggles to regain his breath. "W-We wish we did. Choices that we let pass by us. Ya think I ended up here because I made good choices, Rolle?"
"FUCK NO!" Anthony laughs bitterly. "I got my ass shipped to boot camp as a fuckin' kid. Why? Had no other prospects."
"Didn't pay attention in class. Criminal record's long enough to make a fancy robe out of. It was that or prison!"
"Got chewed up goin' through god knows how many fights. Now?" He spreads his arms in a wide, sweeping gesture. "I'm here! Spat out by the army, said I wasn't no good for service no more."
"Haaa! Ain't that a kick in the head, eh? And ya know what I could've done?" Anthony struggles to keep his voice from breaking. "Could've laid on the floor and rotted away, wonderin' what I could've done."
"I envy ya. Ya managed to do just that. Runnin' away from everything. But now? Now, ya can't be a coward no more." The sound of grinding teeth fills the room. "Ya wanna wake up, right? No going back now! I-I won't let ya!"
IN LIMBO hasn't moved a single inch during Anthony's whole rant. You futilely try to clear a wad of pollen-soaked saliva from your throat.
"He's right. I can't promise that waking up will magically wash away your regrets. I can't promise you'll even be able to leave this place." There's no point offering a hollow promise. "But, it's better to do something and fail than to rot away."
"You still did something, even if you failed. Your theater made people happy. You've been a great..." You struggle to find the right word. "Guest."
"Who's to say waking up will be any different? You should still try. Even if you fail again, you can still take pride in trying."
<span class="mu-b">Is that so.</span>
<span class="mu-b">It's funny. My life's been nothing but failure after failure. Chasing after that impossible dream.</span>
<span class="mu-b">In my blind pursuit of that dream, I was blind to everything else.</span>
<span class="mu-b">Waking up. To a life of failed dreams and hollow wishes. It scares me.</span>
"Life ain't ever fair, Rolle" Anthony weakly responds. "We have to play with the cards we're dealt. That's just how the game goes, missus. Sometimes ya win, sometimes ya lose."
"All we can do is keep playing."
