ORIGIN - everywhere at the end of time

On a quiet night Researcher lost her mind and body.

It was late, her favorite time of day. The gentle current of the Dying River lulled her mind as she tinkered with a geode she found. Nothing particularly special, but Spire knows when her next experiment was going to be, and she needed something to pass the time.

"Investigation --*cough*-- number, uh, t-thirty-two into the cry-cry-crystalline structures of geodes, part one." Researcher rambled into the empty air. Don't worry, she's just a bit senile like that. Never mind the fact that she's quite young, or that she was perfectly fine just a few cycles ago, or that today the cat asked her a question and she couldn't remember their name she couldn't remember their name SHE COULDN'T

Calm. No thoughts.

The sand shifted under her feet. Shaky, numb fingers trembled over the stone's rough edges. "Today, class, we will-- oh!" the geode slipped out of her grip and landed in the river with a splash. "Ah, that's no problem. I've had a... a terribly bad stomachache all day. I'll j-just get a new rock." Ah, that seemed right. She'll just go back home and get a new--

Wait. Which direction's home? Researcher looked around. But she saw only a blurry haze of dry sand. Wasn't she just by a river a few moments ago? She swore she lost her... what was it... her sock in a river, but there was no river to be seen! What cave was this, again?

"... Assistant?" Who's name was that? It was slipping from her memory She tried to stand up (since when was she sitting?) but gave up after falling down twice and resigned herself to four legs. She started walking in a random direction but found herself right back where she was. Or maybe she was never there. Never. Never there. Always there. She.

"... Assistant, I'm scared." Something was terribly wrong. She could no longer tell where she was Something was terribly wrong. Everything in her vision seemed to. swim. Something is. Her head. Light. She felt. Falling. Aptosis. Telomere. Archaon. Null.

Heartache, heartache,
My love for you has brought me heartache.
Your kiss was such a sacred thing to me,
But now you're only ju st a bur nin g me m o r y

Researcher keeled forward as everything went dark.

@Assistant

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

Semi-Detailed description of a seizure, general angst time

The light orbs were beginning to dim, which didn't bother Assistant all that much. They were perfectly fine in low light. Even more comfortable than in 'daylight,' really. Researcher liked this time of day, too, but that was because of the quiet and calm, not of the dark. Though nowadays the only gembound that hung around Monoceros were the lesser bats and rats.

It was too quiet around here.

Every day was a routine. Wake up. Check on Researcher. Get food. Make sure Researcher remembered to eat. Conduct research- though less and less time was devoted to this by the passing days. Usually they'd just help Researcher. They were an Assistant, after all. When they did perform their own 'studies' it was usually seeking out other gembound for.. interview.

They hadn't found anyone able to help, yet.

They tried not to think about Researcher's condition too much. How it was getting worse. How when Researcher 'experimented' she'd talk to empty air, even when Assistant was right there. That this morning they'd asked about seeing The Collector and how the blank stare they'd been given had been the most terrifying thing Assistant had ever seen.

A noise rung out through Monoceros. A Call. Assistant's name. Brief hope shot through them as their gaze shot to the dry river.

Nobody was there.

Where was she?

Panic bloomed in their chest and bristled against their fur. Near the center of the room they could spot a pale, trembling figure. Assistant ran. The voice rang out again.

'Assistant? Im scared.'

They couldn't help but agree.

Assistant arrived at her side just as the seizing started. Desperate thrashing limbs and gurgling, foaming spittle. The twister roared nearby and all they could do was keep Researcher from hitting her head against a stray rock or choking on her own spit. The twitching reminded them of that pitch rat they'd encountered. The one with the pale eyes and the hitch-hiking parasite.

Assistant didn't know how long it was until it finally stopped. It felt like a blink and a year at once. Researcher didn't move after it was over. There was just shaking, rattling breathing, nearly drowned out by the strong winds.

"It's ok." They didn't know if she could hear them. "Everything's ok. You're safe."

The desperate lie tasted bitter on their lips.

@Researcher

Content Warning
This post contains potentially sensitive material:

Graphic depiction of a seizure

Researcher experienced nothing. Or more accurately, the lack of anything at all, a complete void of consiousness. A nullspace.

She screamed the moment she hit the ground, the contractions of her chest muscles forcing all the air in her lungs out in one shrill sound. Her arms and legs flailed, flailed, like a desperate attempt to ward off an unseen attacker that wasn't there, her head jerking in response to invisible strikes. Spittle and blood foamed out of her mouth and accumulated against the walls of her toxic stone, Assistant's help being the only thing stopping it from going back down and choking her. She was the world turned upside down.

And then it stopped. Researcher's arms fell limp by her sides. Her breathing (did she even breathe during the whole experience?) returned to a shaky, rattled rhythm. The howling of the wind was the only noise past her faint heartbeat and weak groaning as she slowly returned to some semblance of consiousness.

It was hard to tell what was going on inside her head when she finally opened her eyes, more than ten minutes after it started. They looked like the wild gaze of a lesser, the dull stare of a corpse, and herself all at once. Was there even a mind behind those eyes? Could they even hear their partner's words? The questions were answered in part as she suddenly grabbed Assistant's paw with all the power she could muster and looked into those yellow eyes with a frightful energy.

"... Get... help..." her words were slurred, her voice barely audible above the storm. Blood trickled out of her mouth-- she must've bit her tongue during the whole ordeal. She squeezed their arm with a strength neither of them knew she had. "Co... Co... Collect..."

Her eyes rolled white and her hand fell limp to the ground. This time, she would not wake up for a long time.

Exit into unconsciousness.

@Assistant

It was hard not to hold their breath as they waited. For a response. For any sign that Researcher was still there. That this rattling husk wasn't all that was left of their friend and partner. Luckily, amazingly, Researcher finally opened her eyes.

Her eyes.

It was awful, looking into those eyes. The hint of familiarity only made the dull, dead panic hurt all the more. Was she dead? Dying? This had been a long time coming. Assistant thought, and the realization (or more accurately, final acceptance of the truth) was like a stab to their knotted gut.

Researcher would only get worse.

They needed to get help. now.

Assistant already knew what had to be done long before Researcher was able to mumble it out. "I will, I will." They soothed- or tried to at least, "Shhh. Stay calm. It will- Everything is-" They faltered, taken aback by the sensation that the desperate energy which she used to grip their paw was the very last of it.

She went limp.

The windstorm howled in agony.

@Researcher

Everything was muffled. Had they stood too close to the windstorm, for too long? Had their hearing been damaged? But that didn't explain how they could barely feel the stone beneath their paws.

They scooped up Researcher the best they could. They were taken aback on by how light she felt, how fragile. Laid across their back, Assistant could feel the gemstone jabbing into their shoulder blades. Then, it was back to the tent- which suddenly felt rooms away. They were split between making haste and being careful to not jostle their passenger too much. Their heart thrummed, expecting the worst.

But nothing happened. The room was quiet and still- even beyond the muffled sensation. They were alone. Oh caves, they were all alone.

Researcher would be set down lightly, carefully adjusted into what they hoped was a comfortable position. They could almost imagine that she was just sleeping, if not for the spittle and blood still speckled on the inside of her stone. There wasn't much they could do about that, though they tried to drain away whatever had began to pool at the bottom of the stone.

Assistant stood vigil. They didn't want to leave her alone. They dreaded it. That they'd come home to some disaster.

But they couldn't just hope and pray that it'd go away. They couldn't watch and let Researcher wither away. They couldn't.

They left.

To Canis. To the Collector.

(Exit thread)