Earshot

[punsofiron]

Characters: Iron Liz and OPEN
Content: Mind-reading abilities are not all they're cracked up to be.
Location: Cafeteria
Time of Day: Afternoon
Warnings: none

Maybe she shouldn't have dragged herself out of bed. She had to get some coffee or something to try to cope with this headache that had been building up for the past several days.

But the cafeteria was far, far worse than even her room. Voices came from EVERYWHERE, bombarding her nonstop, even people who weren't even in the room. What had started as an occasional amusing thought as she passed someone in the hall became a constant chattering in her ears from everyone in what was apparently an expanding range. Sora and his friends going on about their recent departure and return, Princess Celestia's fixation with cake, random snippets of songs, Twilight's motormouth, Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie, Pinkie Pie...

Pretty soon it all just became a jumble of noise she could barely even follow. Everywhere. She didn't even make it to the food synthesizer before she couldn't take it anymore and collapsed against the wall, leaving fingernail scratches in the paint as she slid to the floor, clutching her head, gripping her hair as if to tear it out.

Comments

[virtualunknown]

"Hm... Perhaps one of the lower levels..."

He thought for a moment, then looked up. "That's right. Although I suppose you could think of the place I came from as one large holodeck."

[punsofiron]

Slowly Liz leaned against the wall, unsteadily pushing herself up to her feet, blinking at Makubex.

"Where you came from?" She hadn't really heard him talk about his home world before.

[virtualunknown]

MakubeX didn't like talking about it much. It usually led to discussing his position, how he got there, and the mistakes he made. But it did seem to be helping Liz focus.

"Yes... Virtual reality was... quite an integral part of it."

[punsofiron]

Really it was the lack of a ton of voices yelling in her head that was helping her focus, but something to talk about didn't hurt either. She tilted her head at Makubex's statement, curious, allowing him to continue if he wished.

[virtualunknown]

"Not everyone could control it, of course. Very few, if any, could."

He went quiet after that, not really wanting to talk much about it.

[punsofiron]

Liz just watched him, leaning against the tree. She didn't need to be psychic to tell that was as far as he wished to discuss it, so she fell silent herself, closing her eyes for a moment.

"Can we take this back to your room, maybe? I think it might be better if I'm further away from here."

[virtualunknown]

"We can." MakubeX glanced about, frowning.

"I don't think I can maintain it in the hallway. Will you be okay until we get there?"

[punsofiron]

"May not have much choice."

Liz braced herself against the tree behind her, steadying herself as she staggered to her feet.

"It's not too far anyway, right?"

[virtualunknown]

"Not too far, no."

He offered his arm to her. He wasn't sure if actual contact would trigger anything, but he thought it was at least polite to do so.

[punsofiron]

Liz gratefully accepted Makubex's arm, leaning lightly on him. Not even physical contact brought any sort of voice from his head. She raised an eyebrow a moment, but shrugged it off as they started their slow way upstairs. Whatever was happening there, it was a welcome change.

[virtualunknown]

MakubeX noticed that there didn't seem to be any change. He certainly knew why, but if he wasn't going to be asked about it, he wasn't going to bring it up.

His room wasn't too far from the stairs, thankfully, so it didn't take long. He opened the door for her when they reached it.

[punsofiron]

Well, she wasn't gonna pry if he didn't bring it up himself, since he clearly didn't want to talk about his past as it was. Besides, if it was anything really complicated her head would probably hurt worse by the end.

"Thanks." she slipped into the room, not caring if it was rude if she made a beeline for his bed, flopping over as soon as she set herself down in it.

[virtualunknown]

"No trouble," he said. MakubeX pulled his chair over to the door and took a seat. Perhaps he could tell people to steer clear...

[punsofiron]

She knew she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep with all this happening...hell she still sometimes had trouble sleeping without this ever since she had the room to herself, but it hit her like a ton of bricks as soon as she settled on the bed, staring half-lidded at the wall. She dozed half-asleep for a moment, then looked over at Makubex sitting by the door, a little smile on her face. He was a sweet kid, he really was.

"So why can't I read you?"

[virtualunknown]

He leaned back in his chair with a sigh. He knew the question was coming eventually.

"Because there's nothing to read."

[punsofiron]

That caused her to sit up slightly, looking him over with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you mean? Someone as smart as you would be swimming with thoughts and ideas, I'd think."

[virtualunknown]

"Well, that part is true..." He looked over at the door with a shrug. "But I mean it literally. I technically don't exist."

[punsofiron]

Liz just looked confused at that for a moment. Then after a moment it clicks. He had said something about holograms being familiar territory to him.

"...I see."

[virtualunknown]

"I'm not quite sure how I'm able to be here, to be honest," he admitted.

[punsofiron]

Liz frowned.

"Maybe it's like in Star Trek."

It's not often one said that phrase completely seriously.

[virtualunknown]

"How do you mean?"