I stood in front of an antique shop. There's a sign up top and the words "Go Away." Is written on its dry, rotting wood. Everything else isn't any better, the walls looked dull, the windows had bits of cracks and other stains on it, and directly at the bottom sits an eggshell, broken and cracked like the house. Wind passed and the hinges of the door creaked, whistling a soft tune that turned into a sob a few seconds later. Then it opened- A head poked out and stared at me before I can run away.
"Are you just gonna stand there?" The man who looked far too young even with his age said. His black ball of an eye staring at me intently. I stretched my feet sideways and moved to the right, a split second later, blue veins glowed on the surface of the eye and it moved, following me as I went while making wet squelching sounds.
"Fuck that's still as creepy as ever huh?" I said in disgust as I watched the veins disappear. "Can't you at least try to change it?" I had no other choice now, I started walking to him with confidence in my steps. He's willing to help and who am I to judge him if he's gonna be creepy and unnerving during the entire thing?
The Doctor scoffed, "Right." And went behind the door without waiting for me to follow him.
Since I needed his help, I had no other choice and obviously did. My ears twitched at the creaking sound the hinges yelled just before the door fully shut. "Are your doors alive now too?" I said, staring at the rotten thing. It yelling out that pained yell reminded me way too much of someone giving it their all to finish their job just as they're about to die.
"You weren't this snarky back at the call." Yeah? Well, you weren't close enough to know what I'm really thinking then. Also, hiding behind a screen while talking to The Doctor feels oddly unnerving, like there's a voice telling me at the back of my head that he's watching me as we talk. Him being directly in front of me relieves most of those because he's gonna watch me either way anyway.
'And at least we're not inside my room.' Creepy piece of shit spying on teenagers inside their rooms. Euck.
I smiled through all the insults that I'm thinking and walked right next to The Doctor, "Of course! Why wouldn't I want to be at my best behavior when I'm right next to you?" I gingerly slowed my pace. "I mean, you're just such a great guy and all that you know? It's just- God- how do I even say the right words to praise you?"
Seriously, do I compliment his looks?.. 'Yeah, I'd rather not.' I didn't even bother to look at him when I said that. 'Looking at his blood stained lab coat is already bad enough.'
The Doctor wasn't amused, "You can say that I'm smart."
"You're smart." I quickly parroted.
As obviously fake as my compliment is though, that got him to smile, "Thank you." He replied like the narcissist that he is.
I made sure to slowly follow him as we went deeper into his lab. I also made sure to deliberately follow where he takes a step and the path he's taking. I don't know what's gonna happen to me if I don't do those two things and I don't really want to find out.
We passed through trinkets and other mechanical stuff that The Doctor calls his inventions, lightning crackled in one part of the lab and another would flare a few paces ahead. Then, like a rhythm, the place would light up with electricity in various places.
And all of them come from different things spread throughout the place. "Man, you really need to be careful with lightning around here huh?" I really forgot just how dangerous this place is for the regular person huh? 'Repression. I guess.' I thought sadly.
But hey, at least I'm not having a panic attack!
Probably because I get fried whenever I did when I still lived here but oh well, better keep moving or risk getting tased!
"I'm surprised that you're taking this all rather well." I'm not. "Good for you."
"Right." I forced a chuckle.
We eventually walked out of the lightning filled hallway and into an observatory, here, I can see The Doctor's research for real- Charts of the stars, Energy readings, monitors that have written information about almost anything- including, but not limited to; biological information of supers, their powers, as well as how they affect the environment around them.- Books about the world before the infection, historical texts, flesh puppets, machines, and at the center of it all, encased in a glass dome, is a piece of rock.
A piece of Kronos.
Or so The Doctor thinks.
"You still have that thing?" - I'm pretty sure it's fake though. Walking closer, I pressed my palm against the glass and tried to get Theikos to enter the piece of rock and it gladly did, phasing through the glass and into the geode. "It can absorb Theikos." Like all things really.
"Well, boy, I don't keep it there because I want to experiment on it." I saw my reflection roll its eyes from the same old, same old auction bullshit that The Doctor spouts whenever he's asked about the damn thing. From behind my reflection, I saw the doctor walk closer, his white form in the glass getting bigger and bigger until his voice became perfectly clear when he speaks, "You know this thing is expensive. Proven too."
"Sure." I walked away from the glass, The Doctor's footsteps following behind me. "So, what now?" I asked, eyeing the door.
"Nothing." He said and I faced him with a frown. He responded with a raised eyebrow, "What? You think we're immediately going after the call?" He laughed, "You obviously need to practice with it first. I'm not sitting in a registration office while waiting for you to fill out forms because you're thinking about your powers' function on the spot."
He walked away, going to a... thing. "We're gonna go there, stay for 20 minutes. Then leave." He said matter of factly, "So unless you want someone else to go with you, you're gonna need to go back here knowing what your power does."
I tapped the floor with my foot, "Okay, I'm a magician. That's enough right?"
"No." He replied bluntly. "You're clearly different from a regular one. Body enhancing? That's New." He explained, "And I want to go there ready to explain what it does when you register."
I sighed, "So you just want the credit for finding something new?"
"And what am I gonna use it for, exactly?" He asked back.
Nothing? I guess? The Dam and Gloria are two completely different places. But I'm also pretty sure that what he's trying to do is pretty important for the Genius community which... will probably not care because they're gonna be too busy with whatever they're doing right now. So he gets a name, so what? Nothing.
I made my way back to the hallway we just got out of, "alright, fine, I'm going."
"Atta boy." He said, grinning, "You still know how to navigate that place?" Ah. So that's what this is all about.
I scoffed, "Obviously."
Without missing a beat, I walked a few steps away from the open door with the beat on my step that I can manage, which isn't much- but the act is pretty convincing though and even the Theikos seemed to agree because they're eagerly waiting for me to jump into a hallway spurred by lightning. In preparation for my act, I took in a deep breath and absorbed Theikos into my eyes, hoping that it'll give me a slowed perception of everything but other than giving me the best night vision it's provided by far, nothing else came with the boost.
'Guess it's just me and my memory of that hallway then.' Hoh. This is the place that turned me into a physically fast slum dweller to begin with. 'Should be easy enough-'
I took a step forward-
'No more hesitation now.'
- And moved without stopping.
I burst through the open door and my chest moved back on its own to dodge a lightning bolt that was about to fry my hair, purple light washed over my eyes and blinded me, searing my eyelids from the proximity of the lightning alone. Through all of that, my legs kept moving and I felt my feet plant themselves on solid ground and I nudged myself to push off of it- My posture fixed itself moments later while my momentum got faster.
I jumped across a spark on the floor, it followed me, little purple tendrils reaching out to my shoes and shocking my feet. More Theikos. Another boost. I willingly absorbed a bit myself and used it for regeneration before continuing to run.
Something flashy popped in the corner of my eye and I stared for a second before I recognized the black plate stuck to the wall. I stopped running just in time to see a very big lightning bolt go from one plate to another directly in front of it.
'Fuck me.' I cursed while pumping my legs. I passed through the electrically charged area that lightning went through just now and felt my hairs stand. Shuddering, I gathered more Theikos and absorbed them, willing them to give me a physical boost that can allow me to survive lightning.
And for once, it complied well enough to give me what I requested instead of some half-assed boost.
My head twisted and something hit my cheek, it felt numb, but it also feels like something is running down on it. I didn't need to look or feel to know that it's blood.
'So I'm at the darts now,' I jumped on a wall, grabbed a plastic tube that was conveniently placed at the very top, and started running across it. All the while both sides of the hallway shot darts at each other below me. Each dart had a little lightning trailing behind it, glowing menacingly.
My hands touched something cold and I jumped just before the metal piped got injected with 500 volts of electricity.
I reacted quickly but some still reached my palms and I held back a yell when voltage ran down the entire length of my arm.
The landing wasn't pretty after that and I basically stumbled for a few feet before getting back up again. But hey, at least I reached the exit.
A laugh came from the speakers on the walls, "As always, a good performance, Tyler!" I rolled my eyes and ignored the compliment in favor of walking out the door as fast as I could. Not that The Doctor cared about my cold shoulder, "Well, I'll see you soon!"
The fucker knows that I'll go back to him anyways.
"Asshole." I muttered when I'm sure I was out of earshot, which, knowing The Doctor, is half a kilometer away from his "Hideout". You can never really know though, since The Doctor's microphones' are used to listen to the conversations of the people unlucky enough to pass by his lab.
I inched away from the narrow road that The Doctor's lab is hiding in. Going out of the claustrophobic inner Dam and back into the open air of Broker City had never been so satisfying to me. I've done it multiple times in the past, sure, but usually I did it while sore and electrocuted from front to back, this time? The Doctor didn't even have to turn off his lab's defenses to help me because I had Theikos.
With a self-satisfied grin, I dove deep into the city.
I want some me time. And it's not because I'm sad about meeting and talking with the doctor. Or because I went through the electric tunnel again.
Knowing him, with me taking his interest; The Doctor is definitely gonna pay for the registration fee and the ride from and back to Lower Gloria which means that I now have over 300 Digits to spend for myself. I'll save as much as I could, probably around 100 Digits for food or something- but other than that, I'm free to go around and see what I can get for my money.
And Broker's Dam has a lot of those. Now that I'm actually inside, the interior of the city is as far as it can get from the intimidating look the pulsing houses had from the outside- No, instead, those had been covered up using as much clothing as humanly possible. Coupled with everything being some sort of store, it gave off the impression of a flea market or a House Sale depending on who you ask.
"Would you like to buy something, sir?" I returned the smile of the pretty saleslady. She looked the part of someone living in the city, wearing thick clothes that covered every inch of her body except for her eyes, which had their eyelashes straightened and eyelids powdered.
I stared at their wares, trinkets, souvenirs, and pieces of jewelry. Things are loved by the Dam's regular customers but are not something that I need for the time being.
"Thanks but, I'd rather not." She nodded, making the cloth that wrapped around her head tilt off to the side.
She fixed it with a pull and said, "Goodbye."
"See you." Oh, now that I think about it, she did look at me weirdly, didn't she?
Stopping by a large mirror, I willed the Dye on my body to change color and I started customizing- The purple hair went away, replaced by Dusk Brown, and my white jacket turned into a vibrant red with orange at the edge, its color now matched my shirt. My pants kept being brown but ultimately lost the grey lines, and my shoes remained purple because why not?
"Cool," I said while pulling on my jacket's collar. Oh, and the clown make-up goes too I guess, morphing and turning into regular makeup, blush included.
Now I look the part.
"Thanks, I owe you one." I waved off to the mirror vendor.
He grunted, "You're welcome."
Now? Where do I want to go next? The answer to that would be I don't know but I'm also pretty curious about what's going on with the lower levels so that's where I went, moving to the elevator and pressing the 186 on the panel made it lower me down 12 levels and into one of the many neon-filled parts of the city.
I stepped out of the elevator and got greeted by a top-less girl who had spots on her body glowing green from Lumiscent Dye, a staple in Neon parties. So much in fact that I can see it everywhere attached to people, naked or not.
"Wooo!!!!! WELCOME!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Thank you," moving past her, I made my way somewhere I think would be pretty neat- a monster fighting ring. I wanna place a bet, and if I'm lucky, I might even add more money to my budget for the night.
I stepped inside a building, one story with a yellow line at the top, just below the roof. People from all walks of life are cheering as they gathered around a 5 foot long oval arena at the center of the room. Right now there's a fight between a rocky monster that looked buff and a purple shark with three, stiff spikes jutting out of its back. They were small, yes, but the TV on the walls made it seem like they were big.
And since the betting pool's closed for the time being, I walked into one of the many booths and sat down.
The table is circular, with food and empty bottles on top. The TV is to my right, playing the fight between the monsters. I ordered a bottle and drank, the booth is empty for a while and the silence let me watch the fight with interest. My eyes glued to the TV, I kept sipping my drink, ordering more every time I finished a bottle.
I kept drinking until I got tipsy and I think I agreed to let people sit with me at some point?
They're there, opposite of me- three people sat, they're talking. I don't know what. I wasn't paying attention until- "Yeah, it's pretty sad but the Lioness eats what she eats you know?"
- I did.
Standing up, I startled one of the three but I was too drunk to care, "W-what?" I asked. 'She's supposed to be dead!'
Pretty sure I needed to say that.
"One of my friends died. Got mauled by Lioness two hours ago." He explained.
"Oh. Sorry." I said and slumped back down in my seat.
One of them said something about it being sad since I'm an alcoholic at such a young age but I don't think I heard it? And even if I did, I kept thinking about something else to care-
'How did she live through that?'
I stood in front of an antique shop. There's a sign up top and the words "Go Away." Is written on its dry, rotting wood. Everything else isn't any better, the walls looked dull, the windows had bits of cracks and other stains on it, and directly at the bottom sits an eggshell, broken and cracked like the house. Wind passed and the hinges of the door creaked, whistling a soft tune that turned into a sob a few seconds later. Then it opened- A head poked out and stared at me before I can run away.
"Are you just gonna stand there?" The man who looked far too young even with his age said. His black ball of an eye staring at me intently. I stretched my feet sideways and moved to the right, a split second later, blue veins glowed on the surface of the eye and it moved, following me as I went while making wet squelching sounds.
"Fuck that's still as creepy as ever huh?" I said in disgust as I watched the veins disappear. "Can't you at least try to change it?" I had no other choice now, I started walking to him with confidence in my steps. He's willing to help and who am I to judge him if he's gonna be creepy and unnerving during the entire thing?
The Doctor scoffed, "Right." And went behind the door without waiting for me to follow him.
Since I needed his help, I had no other choice and obviously did. My ears twitched at the creaking sound the hinges yelled just before the door fully shut. "Are your doors alive now too?" I said, staring at the rotten thing. It yelling out that pained yell reminded me way too much of someone giving it their all to finish their job just as they're about to die.
"You weren't this snarky back at the call." Yeah? Well, you weren't close enough to know what I'm really thinking then. Also, hiding behind a screen while talking to The Doctor feels oddly unnerving, like there's a voice telling me at the back of my head that he's watching me as we talk. Him being directly in front of me relieves most of those because he's gonna watch me either way anyway.
'And at least we're not inside my room.' Creepy piece of shit spying on teenagers inside their rooms. Euck.
I smiled through all the insults that I'm thinking and walked right next to The Doctor, "Of course! Why wouldn't I want to be at my best behavior when I'm right next to you?" I gingerly slowed my pace. "I mean, you're just such a great guy and all that you know? It's just- God- how do I even say the right words to praise you?"
Seriously, do I compliment his looks?.. 'Yeah, I'd rather not.' I didn't even bother to look at him when I said that. 'Looking at his blood stained lab coat is already bad enough.'
The Doctor wasn't amused, "You can say that I'm smart."
"You're smart." I quickly parroted.
As obviously fake as my compliment is though, that got him to smile, "Thank you." He replied like the narcissist that he is.
I made sure to slowly follow him as we went deeper into his lab. I also made sure to deliberately follow where he takes a step and the path he's taking. I don't know what's gonna happen to me if I don't do those two things and I don't really want to find out.
We passed through trinkets and other mechanical stuff that The Doctor calls his inventions, lightning crackled in one part of the lab and another would flare a few paces ahead. Then, like a rhythm, the place would light up with electricity in various places.
And all of them come from different things spread throughout the place. "Man, you really need to be careful with lightning around here huh?" I really forgot just how dangerous this place is for the regular person huh? 'Repression. I guess.' I thought sadly.
But hey, at least I'm not having a panic attack!
Probably because I get fried whenever I did when I still lived here but oh well, better keep moving or risk getting tased!
"I'm surprised that you're taking this all rather well." I'm not. "Good for you."
"Right." I forced a chuckle.
We eventually walked out of the lightning filled hallway and into an observatory, here, I can see The Doctor's research for real- Charts of the stars, Energy readings, monitors that have written information about almost anything- including, but not limited to; biological information of supers, their powers, as well as how they affect the environment around them.- Books about the world before the infection, historical texts, flesh puppets, machines, and at the center of it all, encased in a glass dome, is a piece of rock.
A piece of Kronos.
Or so The Doctor thinks.
"You still have that thing?" - I'm pretty sure it's fake though. Walking closer, I pressed my palm against the glass and tried to get Theikos to enter the piece of rock and it gladly did, phasing through the glass and into the geode. "It can absorb Theikos." Like all things really.
"Well, boy, I don't keep it there because I want to experiment on it." I saw my reflection roll its eyes from the same old, same old auction bullshit that The Doctor spouts whenever he's asked about the damn thing. From behind my reflection, I saw the doctor walk closer, his white form in the glass getting bigger and bigger until his voice became perfectly clear when he speaks, "You know this thing is expensive. Proven too."
"Sure." I walked away from the glass, The Doctor's footsteps following behind me. "So, what now?" I asked, eyeing the door.
"Nothing." He said and I faced him with a frown. He responded with a raised eyebrow, "What? You think we're immediately going after the call?" He laughed, "You obviously need to practice with it first. I'm not sitting in a registration office while waiting for you to fill out forms because you're thinking about your powers' function on the spot."
He walked away, going to a... thing. "We're gonna go there, stay for 20 minutes. Then leave." He said matter of factly, "So unless you want someone else to go with you, you're gonna need to go back here knowing what your power does."
I tapped the floor with my foot, "Okay, I'm a magician. That's enough right?"
"No." He replied bluntly. "You're clearly different from a regular one. Body enhancing? That's New." He explained, "And I want to go there ready to explain what it does when you register."
I sighed, "So you just want the credit for finding something new?"
"And what am I gonna use it for, exactly?" He asked back.
Nothing? I guess? The Dam and Gloria are two completely different places. But I'm also pretty sure that what he's trying to do is pretty important for the Genius community which... will probably not care because they're gonna be too busy with whatever they're doing right now. So he gets a name, so what? Nothing.
I made my way back to the hallway we just got out of, "alright, fine, I'm going."
"Atta boy." He said, grinning, "You still know how to navigate that place?" Ah. So that's what this is all about.
I scoffed, "Obviously."
Without missing a beat, I walked a few steps away from the open door with the beat on my step that I can manage, which isn't much- but the act is pretty convincing though and even the Theikos seemed to agree because they're eagerly waiting for me to jump into a hallway spurred by lightning. In preparation for my act, I took in a deep breath and absorbed Theikos into my eyes, hoping that it'll give me a slowed perception of everything but other than giving me the best night vision it's provided by far, nothing else came with the boost.
'Guess it's just me and my memory of that hallway then.' Hoh. This is the place that turned me into a physically fast slum dweller to begin with. 'Should be easy enough-'
I took a step forward-
'No more hesitation now.'
- And moved without stopping.
I burst through the open door and my chest moved back on its own to dodge a lightning bolt that was about to fry my hair, purple light washed over my eyes and blinded me, searing my eyelids from the proximity of the lightning alone. Through all of that, my legs kept moving and I felt my feet plant themselves on solid ground and I nudged myself to push off of it- My posture fixed itself moments later while my momentum got faster.
I jumped across a spark on the floor, it followed me, little purple tendrils reaching out to my shoes and shocking my feet. More Theikos. Another boost. I willingly absorbed a bit myself and used it for regeneration before continuing to run.
Something flashy popped in the corner of my eye and I stared for a second before I recognized the black plate stuck to the wall. I stopped running just in time to see a very big lightning bolt go from one plate to another directly in front of it.
'Fuck me.' I cursed while pumping my legs. I passed through the electrically charged area that lightning went through just now and felt my hairs stand. Shuddering, I gathered more Theikos and absorbed them, willing them to give me a physical boost that can allow me to survive lightning.
And for once, it complied well enough to give me what I requested instead of some half-assed boost.
My head twisted and something hit my cheek, it felt numb, but it also feels like something is running down on it. I didn't need to look or feel to know that it's blood.
'So I'm at the darts now,' I jumped on a wall, grabbed a plastic tube that was conveniently placed at the very top, and started running across it. All the while both sides of the hallway shot darts at each other below me. Each dart had a little lightning trailing behind it, glowing menacingly.
My hands touched something cold and I jumped just before the metal piped got injected with 500 volts of electricity.
I reacted quickly but some still reached my palms and I held back a yell when voltage ran down the entire length of my arm.
The landing wasn't pretty after that and I basically stumbled for a few feet before getting back up again. But hey, at least I reached the exit.
A laugh came from the speakers on the walls, "As always, a good performance, Tyler!" I rolled my eyes and ignored the compliment in favor of walking out the door as fast as I could. Not that The Doctor cared about my cold shoulder, "Well, I'll see you soon!"
The fucker knows that I'll go back to him anyways.
"Asshole." I muttered when I'm sure I was out of earshot, which, knowing The Doctor, is half a kilometer away from his "Hideout". You can never really know though, since The Doctor's microphones' are used to listen to the conversations of the people unlucky enough to pass by his lab.
I inched away from the narrow road that The Doctor's lab is hiding in. Going out of the claustrophobic inner Dam and back into the open air of Broker City had never been so satisfying to me. I've done it multiple times in the past, sure, but usually I did it while sore and electrocuted from front to back, this time? The Doctor didn't even have to turn off his lab's defenses to help me because I had Theikos.
With a self-satisfied grin, I dove deep into the city.
I want some me time. And it's not because I'm sad about meeting and talking with the doctor. Or because I went through the electric tunnel again.
Knowing him, with me taking his interest; The Doctor is definitely gonna pay for the registration fee and the ride from and back to Lower Gloria which means that I now have over 300 Digits to spend for myself. I'll save as much as I could, probably around 100 Digits for food or something- but other than that, I'm free to go around and see what I can get for my money.
And Broker's Dam has a lot of those. Now that I'm actually inside, the interior of the city is as far as it can get from the intimidating look the pulsing houses had from the outside- No, instead, those had been covered up using as much clothing as humanly possible. Coupled with everything being some sort of store, it gave off the impression of a flea market or a House Sale depending on who you ask.
"Would you like to buy something, sir?" I returned the smile of the pretty saleslady. She looked the part of someone living in the city, wearing thick clothes that covered every inch of her body except for her eyes, which had their eyelashes straightened and eyelids powdered.
I stared at their wares, trinkets, souvenirs, and pieces of jewelry. Things are loved by the Dam's regular customers but are not something that I need for the time being.
"Thanks but, I'd rather not." She nodded, making the cloth that wrapped around her head tilt off to the side.
She fixed it with a pull and said, "Goodbye."
"See you." Oh, now that I think about it, she did look at me weirdly, didn't she?
Stopping by a large mirror, I willed the Dye on my body to change color and I started customizing- The purple hair went away, replaced by Dusk Brown, and my white jacket turned into a vibrant red with orange at the edge, its color now matched my shirt. My pants kept being brown but ultimately lost the grey lines, and my shoes remained purple because why not?
"Cool," I said while pulling on my jacket's collar. Oh, and the clown make-up goes too I guess, morphing and turning into regular makeup, blush included.
Now I look the part.
"Thanks, I owe you one." I waved off to the mirror vendor.
He grunted, "You're welcome."
Now? Where do I want to go next? The answer to that would be I don't know but I'm also pretty curious about what's going on with the lower levels so that's where I went, moving to the elevator and pressing the 186 on the panel made it lower me down 12 levels and into one of the many neon-filled parts of the city.
I stepped out of the elevator and got greeted by a top-less girl who had spots on her body glowing green from Lumiscent Dye, a staple in Neon parties. So much in fact that I can see it everywhere attached to people, naked or not.
"Wooo!!!!! WELCOME!!!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.
"Thank you," moving past her, I made my way somewhere I think would be pretty neat- a monster fighting ring. I wanna place a bet, and if I'm lucky, I might even add more money to my budget for the night.
I stepped inside a building, one story with a yellow line at the top, just below the roof. People from all walks of life are cheering as they gathered around a 5 foot long oval arena at the center of the room. Right now there's a fight between a rocky monster that looked buff and a purple shark with three, stiff spikes jutting out of its back. They were small, yes, but the TV on the walls made it seem like they were big.
And since the betting pool's closed for the time being, I walked into one of the many booths and sat down.
The table is circular, with food and empty bottles on top. The TV is to my right, playing the fight between the monsters. I ordered a bottle and drank, the booth is empty for a while and the silence let me watch the fight with interest. My eyes glued to the TV, I kept sipping my drink, ordering more every time I finished a bottle.
I kept drinking until I got tipsy and I think I agreed to let people sit with me at some point?
They're there, opposite of me- three people sat, they're talking. I don't know what. I wasn't paying attention until- "Yeah, it's pretty sad but the Lioness eats what she eats you know?"
- I did.
Standing up, I startled one of the three but I was too drunk to care, "W-what?" I asked. 'She's supposed to be dead!'
Pretty sure I needed to say that.
"One of my friends died. Got mauled by Lioness two hours ago." He explained.
"Oh. Sorry." I said and slumped back down in my seat.
One of them said something about it being sad since I'm an alcoholic at such a young age but I don't think I heard it? And even if I did, I kept thinking about something else to care-
'How did she live through that?'
