Information and Survival, fiction of the Apocalypse
Sunday, 1 June 2014 22:01![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
faeapocliveBegin: The Psychic Wakes
Previously: Coming
The girl sobbed.
She couldn’t do anything but sob. She had no energy left for anything else, not even speech. She could not shut off the visions.
Her jailers, Peri and Aury had been doing their best for her, cuddling her, bringing her food and, when she could not eat, bringing her drinks. Nothing stopped the visions. Nothing stopped the horror echoing through her brain.
“Kill me,” she whimpered. “Please. Or lobotomize me. Maybe that will stop it.”
“You know we can’t.” Peri rubbed her back in slow, gentle circles. “You know we have to know.”
“I don’t want to know!”
“Unfortunately, knowing what you see is the best way to survive it.” The voice came from the doorway, causing both psychic and jailer to look up.
The door was filled with a woman, tall and broad-shouldered, her wings wide and demonic red. “And from the sounds of it, survive is going to be the best we can do.”
Peri and the psychic stared at the woman. It was Peri who first remembered words and manners. "Ah. Ah, dearheart, this is Greta Broadleaf. She works for the Council."
"The Council? Are they the ones who..." The psychic gestured around the room. "Are they? Can I go home now?"
"Not yet, I'm afraid." Greta hunkered down into a squat in front of the girl, her wings folding in until they pressed against her back. "I'm afraid we need you very, very badly. Because we need to save as much of the world as possible."
"Oh." She shrank against Peri, who might be a jailer but was at least a known quantity. "Oh. You need the visions."
"Yes. And we're going to need to make sense of the visions, which means we will bring you a teacher." The large woman spoke very softly, her words small and carefully placed.
"A teacher?" The girl perked. "I'd like that."
"I thought you might. Now... before that, dear, I need a little bit of information."
Next: Praise Me
Previously: Coming
The girl sobbed.
She couldn’t do anything but sob. She had no energy left for anything else, not even speech. She could not shut off the visions.
Her jailers, Peri and Aury had been doing their best for her, cuddling her, bringing her food and, when she could not eat, bringing her drinks. Nothing stopped the visions. Nothing stopped the horror echoing through her brain.
“Kill me,” she whimpered. “Please. Or lobotomize me. Maybe that will stop it.”
“You know we can’t.” Peri rubbed her back in slow, gentle circles. “You know we have to know.”
“I don’t want to know!”
“Unfortunately, knowing what you see is the best way to survive it.” The voice came from the doorway, causing both psychic and jailer to look up.
The door was filled with a woman, tall and broad-shouldered, her wings wide and demonic red. “And from the sounds of it, survive is going to be the best we can do.”
Peri and the psychic stared at the woman. It was Peri who first remembered words and manners. "Ah. Ah, dearheart, this is Greta Broadleaf. She works for the Council."
"The Council? Are they the ones who..." The psychic gestured around the room. "Are they? Can I go home now?"
"Not yet, I'm afraid." Greta hunkered down into a squat in front of the girl, her wings folding in until they pressed against her back. "I'm afraid we need you very, very badly. Because we need to save as much of the world as possible."
"Oh." She shrank against Peri, who might be a jailer but was at least a known quantity. "Oh. You need the visions."
"Yes. And we're going to need to make sense of the visions, which means we will bring you a teacher." The large woman spoke very softly, her words small and carefully placed.
"A teacher?" The girl perked. "I'd like that."
"I thought you might. Now... before that, dear, I need a little bit of information."
Next: Praise Me
