You double, triple and quadruple-check with everyone that the marshmallows are not, in fact, made from any "locally grown" gelatin, or that the bizarre-looking, bubbly-sounding "fire" isn't dangerously radioactive or anything, not that either could be much worse than anything else you've been wallowing in as of late. You're just getting past the smell of your own giant, burning hair cells and starting to relax a little when your companions begin to bombard you with questions...
>CONVERSATION MODE
MAGGIE:
So, what's yer name, anyhows?
So, what's yer name, anyhows?
YOU:
...Huh? Oh, it's-
...Huh? Oh, it's-
STAPH:
Don't be rude now, Maggie! This is a whole unripened World you're talking to! It's only proper to address her as such!
So, World, what DID you do with yourself before all this hubbub?
Don't be rude now, Maggie! This is a whole unripened World you're talking to! It's only proper to address her as such!
So, World, what DID you do with yourself before all this hubbub?
YOU:
Uh, this and that. Odd jobs. I was just starting school, actually...seems funny now, I was kind of considering something in medicine...
Uh, this and that. Odd jobs. I was just starting school, actually...seems funny now, I was kind of considering something in medicine...
STAPH:
Medicine is no laughing matter! We're certainly grateful for the architecture!
Medicine is no laughing matter! We're certainly grateful for the architecture!
YOU:
Er, yeah...how does that work, exactly? Didn't you say we weren't necessarily walking around in my body? Like, not in a really literal, physical way?
Er, yeah...how does that work, exactly? Didn't you say we weren't necessarily walking around in my body? Like, not in a really literal, physical way?
MAGGIE:
I can answer that! It's just yer basic perceptual osmosis coil, like when a kwyflamant experiences flune dribble n' the leakage manifests a new stunkwundle in a conjoined exist-o-branch! Kid stuff, really!
I can answer that! It's just yer basic perceptual osmosis coil, like when a kwyflamant experiences flune dribble n' the leakage manifests a new stunkwundle in a conjoined exist-o-branch! Kid stuff, really!
YOU:
Oh. Okay.
Oh. Okay.
CELIA:
I think what we really oughta know is what actually brought you here.
I think what we really oughta know is what actually brought you here.
STAPH:
Now that you mention it...what did Magatha mean about your "offspring," world?
Now that you mention it...what did Magatha mean about your "offspring," world?
You decide there's not much reason to hide anything from these, er, people, after what you've already been through together.
YOU:
I have a son, barely a year old. He got sick, and it just kept getting worse. Worse than I thought was possible. Nothing helped...nobody we saw had ever heard of symptoms like his...but....
I have a son, barely a year old. He got sick, and it just kept getting worse. Worse than I thought was possible. Nothing helped...nobody we saw had ever heard of symptoms like his...but....
STAPH:
...But?
...But?
YOU:
They didn't seem like they cared, either. I mean, I know doctors have to keep up a professional tone, but I knew some of these doctors. This wasn't even like them...and how could ANYONE be so casual when a child is falling apart on them!?
...I mean...almost litera-
They didn't seem like they cared, either. I mean, I know doctors have to keep up a professional tone, but I knew some of these doctors. This wasn't even like them...and how could ANYONE be so casual when a child is falling apart on them!?
...I mean...almost litera-
You gag, slightly. Your head swims for a moment, and the memory fades. You suddenly don't even know what you were talking about, exactly.
STAPH:
...focus, hon, what were his symptoms?
...focus, hon, what were his symptoms?
YOU:
I...I can't even...it's like there's different answers to that question at the same time...what's wrong with me?!
I...I can't even...it's like there's different answers to that question at the same time...what's wrong with me?!
MAGGIE:
Nothin's wrong with you, yer just all topsy-turvy in a layer range ya don't quite belong to. Who knows what might be interferin' with yer realities n' whatnots. What can you remember?
Nothin's wrong with you, yer just all topsy-turvy in a layer range ya don't quite belong to. Who knows what might be interferin' with yer realities n' whatnots. What can you remember?
YOU:
I remember...
Green...?
I remember...
Green...?
STAPH:
Green what?
Green what?
YOU:
Green...everything. Green...coming out of him. Patterns on him. Patterns around him.A smell...how is a smell green? And...
Light...
He was...glowing?
It didn't seem possible. It was like a horror movie. Why the hell didn't they CARE?!
Green...everything. Green...coming out of him. Patterns on him. Patterns around him.A smell...how is a smell green? And...
Light...
He was...glowing?
It didn't seem possible. It was like a horror movie. Why the hell didn't they CARE?!
STAPH:
These doctors of yours...what did they say?
These doctors of yours...what did they say?
YOU:
Nonsense. Garbage. "Up his vitamins!" ... "Somebody's needs a nap!" ...it...it was like they were just going through the motions, reading off a script, like they almost didn't totally connect what I was showing them.
"They all go through this at that age!" they'd say. NO, THEY DON'T. I'm pretty sure I'd KNOW if they did. Everyone would know!!
Nonsense. Garbage. "Up his vitamins!" ... "Somebody's needs a nap!" ...it...it was like they were just going through the motions, reading off a script, like they almost didn't totally connect what I was showing them.
"They all go through this at that age!" they'd say. NO, THEY DON'T. I'm pretty sure I'd KNOW if they did. Everyone would know!!
STAPH:
Calm down, dear...what did they try to do for him?
Calm down, dear...what did they try to do for him?
YOU:
Everything. Injections, pills, creams...I got so desperate, I let them talk me into herbs and magnets and junk...I knew it was foolish but nothing was making a difference.
The last thing we tried was an injection...they said it could be an allergy, that he might need a steroid. What kind of allergy makes your skin grow too fast?!
I don't know what happened then...I think we went home, I put him to bed...the next thing I knew, I woke up in that...
That TERRIBLE hospital...
Everything. Injections, pills, creams...I got so desperate, I let them talk me into herbs and magnets and junk...I knew it was foolish but nothing was making a difference.
The last thing we tried was an injection...they said it could be an allergy, that he might need a steroid. What kind of allergy makes your skin grow too fast?!
I don't know what happened then...I think we went home, I put him to bed...the next thing I knew, I woke up in that...
That TERRIBLE hospital...
STAPH:
How terrible, exactly?
How terrible, exactly?
YOU:
Horrible. Disgusting. That creepy little germ doctor - no offense - didn't seem to know his ass from a hole in the wall, and they had a lot of holes in the wall. I killed a rock in one of them.
It was just like that weird cluelessness and incompetence we were getting from our regular doctors, cranked up to some cartoonish level. Nightmarish. Asinine. I think I got murdered by a sandwich once.
Horrible. Disgusting. That creepy little germ doctor - no offense - didn't seem to know his ass from a hole in the wall, and they had a lot of holes in the wall. I killed a rock in one of them.
It was just like that weird cluelessness and incompetence we were getting from our regular doctors, cranked up to some cartoonish level. Nightmarish. Asinine. I think I got murdered by a sandwich once.
STAPH:
I wish any of this made any sense to me, I really do. It doesn't sound right at all.
I wish any of this made any sense to me, I really do. It doesn't sound right at all.
MAGGIE:
Sounds to me like some weirdo wires gettin' crossed, maybe somethin's discombobinated in yer zones. No small wonder The Hospital got involved.
Sounds to me like some weirdo wires gettin' crossed, maybe somethin's discombobinated in yer zones. No small wonder The Hospital got involved.
YOU:
What did Magatha mean? About something interfering with them?
What did Magatha mean? About something interfering with them?
MAGGIE:
Ain't nobody perfect - 'specially not when yer tryin' to manage completely different zones an' all - but the Hospital folks shouldn't be as useless as yer sayin.
Ain't nobody perfect - 'specially not when yer tryin' to manage completely different zones an' all - but the Hospital folks shouldn't be as useless as yer sayin.
STAPH:
Come to think of it, I can't shake the sense that I should understand more about this than I'm currently managing.
Your child's illness, our zone's unknown contamination, the Hospital's deterioration...it's almost certainly connected.
Come to think of it, I can't shake the sense that I should understand more about this than I'm currently managing.
Your child's illness, our zone's unknown contamination, the Hospital's deterioration...it's almost certainly connected.
