Quoted By:
>Self-investigation
...Probably shouldn't. Not that you aren't willing to take daring risks in the pursuit of knowledge, and such, but... er... Gil's gaze has been tending toward the judgmental, and...
Which is not to say that you make decisions on how your <span class="mu-i">inferior</span> looks at you! That would be nonsense. Actually, your head just hurts, and you don't feel like it right now. And you never even wanted Rudy's juicy secrets— they're probably dull and lame, just like he is. Blah blah blah, it's okay that I'm enslaved in mind prison because there's paintball competitions; blah blah blah, I've worked so hard that I get to sleep in a shed with a camera in the ceiling; blah, blah, blah, my evil unreal overlords will definitely not disintegrate me once I stop being useful. Disgusting. When you blow this place up, will he leave <span class="mu-i">then?</span> How many people will stay clinging to the wreckage?
Maybe it'd be better if you forced their hand— do what he said, merge the manses. Not that you know how to do that. Or what manse to do it with. Your manse is <span class="mu-i">yours,</span> not some kind of refugee encampment, and it's not all that big. Similar goes for most of the other ones you've— hmm. The ex-Namway facility. It's huge, it's unoccupied... unoccupied by anybody living, that is, but surely Us would be willing to shelter innocent people? Albeit a whole lot of innocent people, and you did leave on, er, lukewarm terms with them. It'd take some convincing. But still! It's a lead!
You're not lying about the head, which hurts like you banged it at high velocity into a mirror. How about that. Cleaning up the blood wouldn't help the pain much, but it might make you feel better in other ways? Possibly? Where's the—
<span class="mu-i">What took you so long?</span>
No! Never mind! You're going to leave your gaping wound exactly as it is, which serves Rudy right. Wherever he is. Where <span class="mu-i">is</span> he? Did he voluntarily shove himself in a closet? You're hard-pressed to think of other ways a person can up and leave their own head, but... wait a second. Can't you just remember? Is there anything stopping you?
Nope. It's a bit jumbled, but all present: dread into fear into scrabbling panic, yes, and at the tail end something else. Resignation? And a split-second decision to—
His manse. He has a manse. (Of <span class="mu-i">course</span> he has a manse.) Now that you know what you're looking for, it's ridiculously simple to feel out: there is a thing like a marble in the back of your skull. There. Take it in your palm.
You sense yourself deadening before you fall, and have the presence of mind to position yourself in front of the bed.
(1/2).
