Her consciousness and unconsciousness are like a door that she slips between. Bright lights and then darkness. Like someone flipped a switch. Voice and then none, like her head was pulled underwater. Maybe it actually was, maybe they had thought she was dead and threw her body into a lake. Or maybe they knew she was alive but did it anyway. She wanted to open her mouth and scream that she was alive and that she could be useful but her tongue was too heavy and her jaw just wouldn’t listen.
It’s strange, being in this place of in-between. It’s like when you think about doing something. Think about doing anything really, mostly what you wouldn’t usually do and you think hard and long enough and your body twitches like it wants to act on it. But you don’t want to make a mistake so you just stay still and entertain your thoughts.
Or maybe it’s more like a dream that you’re trapped in. Telling yourself to wake up but your body won’t listen and you’re stuck running from the beast, sometimes in slow motion and sometimes at average speed. But it never mattered, they always caught up. They always caught you and you woke up right before their claws sank into your stomach.
Smart girl, says a voice in her head, unlike her own. But I knew that from the second I met you. You had a look of hidden intelligence in your eyes, that you knew everything but you didn’t want to be known for it.
Who are you? She finds herself thinking back, surprised at her doing so. Was she going insane? Or is this a sign that she’s going to die?
You’re not going to die, little red. I need you for a bigger step. I need your help in defeating this virus, if it can be overcome.
Why would you need my help? And you never answered the question, who are you? And why are you in my head?
Most people would have asked how are you in my head, but you probably figured it wasn’t anything normal and moved on, cutting to the chase.
It makes her feel hate, that he’s guessing everything. She hates that he knows more about her than she does herself. With a sense of agitation, she listens to him continue.
I already told you why I’m here. I need your help, this isn’t something I can do without a body. And who am I? My name is Humanity and the Disease? It shouldn’t be a part of this world, it’s affecting my job and I need it gone. So, little red, will you help me?
She hesitates, she may just be going insane. Although it was very likely, she had her answer. Regret may come pounding on her door later, but this was her decision so she got to decide.
Come on, child, says the voice, and now that she thought about it, it was low and gruff, like he had just gotten over a bad cough. We can cure humanity, we can make everyone pure and innocent again. We can stop people from killing each other, from eating each other like hot dogs. What do you say? Will you help me give the people a sense of sanity again?
Her decision was made. It may cause the end of the world, but it may just save it. The gods must hate her if they left this decision to fall on her shoulders. If they let her decide the fate of the world.
She takes a deep breath, hearing distant shouts but she couldn’t wake up yet, her decision was made and she couldn’t have the chance of changing her mind so with a jolt of anxiety she mutters the word.
No.
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