Martha sat at the edge of the motel bed
Martha Crisp
"Seriously.
I just want to sleep now..."
Martha groaned as Rossin paced from the motel door entrance, to the bathroom
It wasn't far.
They had gone to a nearby motel.
Not the closest, Rossin switched with her to have the manager hand over the keys
Rossin
'There are a few things you need to know first, then you can sleep, I promise.'
Martha Crisp
"Why are you pacing."
Rossin looked at her, still pacing
Rossin
'You know when you have your mind running a mile a minute.
I am in you, and moving is a way to keep the part of your mind that hallucinates me active.
When that is active: you can not sleep.'
Martha Crisp
"So you're keeping me awake..."
Rossin nodded
Martha Crisp
"On purpose?"
Again, Rossin nodded
Rossin
'Making sure I have not missed anything...
What he said was true, about the school - machiavellian.
But that is not really a trait that is instilled there.
It is practically a prerequisite to be in this world...
You do not meddle in the minds of humans without some detachment from humanism.
Being around others that challenge you...
That hones that trait...
So he has got some goal...
Some machination: we just have not seen what it is yet...
But he will betray you, if it serves him to do so...'
Martha Crisp
"And we're in a motel because...?"
Rossin paused
Martha Crisp
"You said you'd tell me when -"
Rossin
'Yes, yes...
It is a test. If you went to sleep where he knew you would be - your house - then you did not listen - so would erase you, and me in the process.'
Martha leaned back, staring at the ceiling
Rossin's voice grew annoyed
When she didn't sit up, Rossin began to walk on the ceiling - pacing back and forth
Rossin
'Do not sleep yet.
There is more yet...'
He continued to paced
Rossin
'You understand this stuff takes years to learn...
And we played our hand a bit - he thinks you can use hooks at least.
He saw the people in the cell do that thing with the wall.'
Rossin slaps his head
Rossin
'Gah...
We should go back there and fix.'
Martha Crisp
"They're still...?"
Rossin
'Facing a wall somewhere, that is just...
What they will do now...
Sloppy Rossin...
We can take care of that when you wake up: there really is no rush.'
Martha Crisp
"Won't other people notice?"
Rossin
'We will fix that too...
It is fine, a little messy but just fine...'
Rossin was clearly annoyed
He still paced
Martha Crisp
"He knows I can use hooks."
Rossin
'I can use hooks, But he saw the people from the cell...
He thinks you can use hooks successfully...
But he does not know how.
He will assume the visual link...'
Martha Crisp
"He knows I killed someone..."
Martha realized And the thought of it still stung.
She just went along with killing another human
Martha Crisp
'Well, trading a human'
She curled up
Martha Crisp
"That's what we did, I killed my neighbor, and we killed...
Overwrote another human to take his place...
Was that right?"
Rossin
'Right or wrong it happens all the time.
People are not the things they are made of.
They are the connections between themselves and other humans.
The ideas, their emotions...
Not the physical matter they make up...'
Martha Crisp
"That police officer was a human...
He's somewhere in the back of the mind now?"
Rossin
'Aye.
But he was the worst person that other police officer knew...
So we made the streets a little safer.'
Martha Crisp
"What about his track marks?"
Rossin
'What about them?'
Martha Crisp
"Isn't he...
Addicted to heroin now - like...
Physically addicted?"
Rossin paced for a moment before speaking
Rossin
'Maybe...
If he is - he will think withdrawal is a nasty cold...
If he goes to the doctors, they will give him stuff to fix it...
He will not know why it works, and the doctors will just assume he is lying.
It will be a mystery, but not a identity shattering one...
If he goes to the doctors at all.
If the withdrawal is bad enough.'
Martha shifted the covers, wrapping up in them where she was on top of them
Martha Crisp
"Still...
It's a risk..."
Rossin
'It is a price. Things always have a price.'
Martha was silent for a time
Martha Crisp
"He knows I killed someone...
He knows I know about hooks, but he thinks I'm inconsistent with them, at best."
Rossin nodded
Rossin
'You will have to learn quickly...
I can not keep switching with you...'
Martha looked at him
Rossin sighed
Rossin
'I made that for a demonstration...
It is...
Not healthy to use...
It does a little bit...
Just a little bit of damage.
Tiny amount...
But still.
It is best that you are able to do these things without me being you.
I can not do everything for you...
But I can probably be of more help getting you up and running...
But that is for when you wake...'
Martha realized that how tired she was, was in fact tied to Rossin's movement.
The more he moved, the more awake she felt.
But even with him moving: it was a stop gap against the inevitable force of sleep
Rossin
'For now...
I think that is everything. We will fix the people at the station, if anything even needs to be done...
Maybe Felix noticed that detail...
He was tired too...
Maybe he missed it as well...
Maybe...'
Rossin laid down next to her
Rossin
'I am not sure how this goes for me...
When you sleep that is.'
Martha Crisp
"What do you mean?"
Rossin
'Do I stay here?
Will I stay conscious when you are not?'
Martha Crisp
"You don't know?"
Rossin
'I mean, I know I will not be able to see or hear anything...
Because you will not be able to...
But do I dream?
Or am I blind and deaf for 8 hours a day...
Also - please try and get a full 8 hours.
It really is good for your brain.
Sleep deprivation is terrible and I live here now too, you know.'
Martha shifted away from him
Martha Crisp
'Here is to finding out...'
She thought as she stared at the beige wall, waiting for sleep
%%%%
Kent heard a ringing by his ear.
The much too loud kind.
The kind like his phone next to his ear.
The kind of ring he intentionally set far too loud to wake him up
He groaned, bleary eyed
The clock next to his bed said 8:45 am
Kent Barbado
'Not even three hours.'
The phone stopped
Kent Barbado
'If it was important they would ring again...'
He turned over and shifted the covers
It rang again
He sighed and reached out for his phone
Kent Barbado
'It was Tom, goddamn it.'
Kent Barbado
"This better be important."
Tom Garland
"You're girls awol."
Kent Barbado
'My wife? She had been gone for -'
Kent Barbado
"The one from last night."
Things clicked into place
Kent Barbado
'Right...
That woman Martha.'
His mind was still warming up - spinning things into place
Kent Barbado
"Awol?
As in..."
Tom Garland
"As in: not here, not discharged: missing."
Kent sat up, slowly
His back wasn't as amazing as it had been
He groaned out a yawn
Kent Barbado
"Fine...
I'll be there in a little bit."
The light shown on his tiny loft
Kent squinted and reached over to closed the blinds next to his bed
Tom Garland
"I'll heat up the coffee pot for you."
Kent Barbado
"Don't do me any special favors."
He meant it.
It was nice and all.
But Tom's niceness felt like it had strings attached, strings he didn't want to pull
Tom Garland
"It's coffee, from yesterday, fucking relax...
Also..."
There was a pause in the other line
Tom Garland
"It's...
Well: you'll see when you get here."
He groaned
Kent Barbado
"Just tell me now."
He sat up, looking for his shirt
It was by the door - he just sort of collapsed on his bed last night
Kent Barbado
'This morning.'
He corrected himself.
He realized he was still wearing his pants from last night.
He decided he would change them
Tom Garland
"Well...
I think...
I don't know what I think.
The other people in the holding cell...
They're acting weird."
Another too long pause
Kent picked out a new shirt from his closet - new pants too
Kent Barbado
"Weird how?"
Tom Garland
"They won't talk to anyone...
And, well...
They're just standing in front of walls."
Kent cleared his throat
Tom Garland
"...And it's really fucking weird."
Kent Barbado
"Weird how."
Kent was starting to grow impatient
Tom Garland
"They're facing the wall...
Right next to it...
Like - millimeters away."
Kent Barbado
"Facing the wall?"
Tom Garland
"Facing the wall."
Kent took a moment to digest that information
Kent Barbado
"And if you move them away from that wall?"
Kent Barbado
'Where were his keys? Right - still in his other pants.'
That's why his leg hurt - he'd been sleeping on them
Tom Garland
"They go right up a wall and face it...
I think it's some sort of prank...
But...
Well: just get down here..."
Kent Barbado
"I'm on my way in..."
The phone clicked
He needed coffee.
A lot of coffee
Kent Barbado
'Wallet, keys, phone...'
Everything he needed besides coffee