Snippet #2406335

Residential Hall
1323-1330


"Nope, I like to change it up. I poked whats-his-name in the throat but he didn't like that. Sarah and Jack don't like me either. I think Matt might, but he likes Sarah so probably not."

Already this was quite a lot of information. Nothing immediately useful however knowing who's who around this place was no resource to scoff at either. Aveline obviously knew more about the asylum than he did. Enough to know about the residents, although they could simply be characters she invented. Without any way to tell which truth that matter belonged to he simply put the question on hold until needed. She really did like holding onto him it seemed. Seeing her true shape gave him no first emotional impression of her, good or bad. In light of her actions she was still more trust worthy than everyone else he has met so far. For now.

"Aveline! That's not very nice! Don't hurt him, he's not done anything wrong!" The shy girl seemed rather upset by his current grapplers actions. So it seemed the two had met already. This made no difference in Arthur's opinion of the girl and even if he didn't think as much there was little say he had in the matter of his position.

The person who had been yelling earlier came over to assist him. The stranger pulled at Aveline to try and make her release him from her grip to no avail. "I'm sorry about my sister Arthur. She's a bit of a nutcase." The man apologized for his sisters behavior. The revelation that he was her brother came as little surprise to him. With his expanded sight no human form was no more eccentric than another. Quite frankly he was kind of like a foreigner to the human race at this point. All humans look alike, some just act differently than others.

At that point her brother had commanded her to let go at which instant Aveline begrudgingly obliged. After she was picked up he noticed her glare directed over to the shy girl from earlier. There was little time to dwell on that detail however as her brother had offered a hand to help him up from the prone position he was trapped in just seconds ago.
"I'm Xavier and I see you've met my sister, Aveline." He listened to Xavier's introduction of both himself and his blue haired sister. Arthur was about to reply

And then something changed.

At first it was subtle. He noticed all the angles in his field of vision suddenly bend in a single direction before resetting back to normal, like a flicker. A flicker alone could not of prepared him for the following distortion. A hole, one that threatened to swallow everything. The effect was reminiscent of something tearing through a cloth sheet. As it pressed through, everything stretched towards the point of impact. Reality, not unlike the example of the cloth, tried to bend around the object rather than tear asunder. At the point of ripping is where the metaphor of the cloth and this instance ceased to compare. While a cloth would relax after being torn through, the fabric of space's pull intensified around the aperture. He could see himself almost being dragged into this singularity as well, the whole room twisting at one end into a single point in the distance, the rest of the room behind him soon to follow.

Ignoring the helpful hand of Xavier at this point he backed away. Away from Xavier, away from Aveline, away from everyone. The whole asylum was a sinking ship and he was doing everything within his power to avoid falling in with it. He scrambled to the opposite end of the room and pressed his back so firmly against the back wall it would take a considerable effort from someone reasonably strong to separate him from it. As far as Arthur was concerned, a black hole had just manifested and was dragging everything near into oblivion.

Arthur would have lost his balance if he was standing up as soon as reality snapped back into place. It was as though someone placed him in a rubber band and stretched him back along it almost to the point of breaking before letting go. Luckily, Arthur cannot be fired through a solid wall, at least not like that. Just like that it all stopped. It was as though something just punched it's way out of existence. The entire time his mind raced like a mouses heart hooked to a car battery, not unlike his own heartbeat at the moment as well.

Among the thousands of questions that instantly jumped to mind was a simple "Why?" It was also the only question that was answered when a distant pulse registered in his vision. Something had just pushed it's way back into reality like a stone dropped into a pond. It was not nearly as close as the opening was so it's jarring effects on him were lessened. Less it's distance however was the fact that little could top the initial surprise that came with the opening breach.

No ordinary man would be able to so much as even compose one's self after witnessing such a disturbance. Arthur's psyche was greatly disturbed by the sudden occurrence of something so impossible. His face was pale enough to be the very mask of pure illness most grave. He was dripping a cold sweat which adorned his brow and lined his quivering palms. His jaw hurt from the intensity which he grit his teeth with. The adrenaline which was strong enough to almost poison him made it impossible to keep his legs still.

Despite all this though he had one thing to hold onto his sanity by. A feeling of familiarity, a sensation no different than when he first discovered that he could see this world expanded. To see something so impossible without having seen anything like it before had effectively incapacitated him before, rendering him screaming in pure shock with nothing to ground him to reality.To see something that defied all conventional expectations of reality was not a new feeling. It was amazing how powerful the sense of familiarity could be, no matter what situation it may be. He had not even cried out in shock despite the gravity of the situation that unraveled before him. He may not have been able to stand and face this threat but at least he could still stand and act if required.

He needed to take a moment to gather his wits. With this time he was able to string together what he saw and deduce the result from the effects witnessed.

It... Something bypassed this plane entirely and somehow moved to another location.

He concluded in his mind. Summoning up what remained of his strength he pushed himself up the wall, still resting upon it even while standing for support. The tensity his body had held made him surprisingly exhausted. He was breathing like he just jogged a marathon. It took him a moment to catch his breath before he was able to address the most likely confused bystanders whom were speaking to him mere moments ago. What felt like an hour to him was little more than the span of a few seconds, no more than thirty.

He looked up at the onlookers, his breath still shaking with him. If either of them had said anything past what he last heard than he clearly didn't notice. "S-sorry for that. Didn't mean to be rude there. It is a pleasure to meet you both, it really is." His voice ragged with tension still intoxicating his body. Pushing himself off the wall he managed to stand without falling over, his knees still shaking beneath him as though threatening to buckle all the while.

He briefly contemplated asking the two if they had seen what he just saw but quickly dismissed the thought. They were no different than everyone else. His whole life and no one could see what he could see. Every time he told someone about what he saw and each time was met with ridicule and unwarranted concern for his mental health. Now would be no different to him. It was him, alone, to carry the knowledge of what he sees what others cannot, or more correctly what he hoped others cannot. It was the possibility there was someone or possibly something else in this hospital that may know more about the holes know one else can ever conceive of than he did. It was a thought scary enough to chill him to the bones.

There may be a person here who knows more than me and is keeping me here against my wishes.

What do they want of me?