Glancing back down at the tablet I watch as the command line quickly types out
Out Alone+Feelings (Outsider) = Immigrant/Tourist As my eyes dart over the painfully plain white blocky text, my addled mind trying to work out what the hell it even means, I'm suddenly met with a wicked pressure slam into the center of my chest. I'm sent tumbling from my seat, the stool tipping over as I am flung backward with the sudden force pressing into my solar plexus.
Bracing myself as best I can I prepare to hit the ground, whipping an arm behind me while the other clutches the tablet to my chest. However, nothing comes. No rushing of air or sudden impact with the cold hard ground. As the realization sinks in I try to look around, writhing in place to look anywhere other than the ceiling.
Despite my best efforts, I find myself stuck staring up at the dimly lit down lights embedded in the dark wooden slats that make up the roof of the bar. My arms slowly lock in place, my legs soon following suit as the pressure in my chest builds and builds. Slowly but surely it begins to creep out around my body, the outward force that had thrown me into the air soon encasing me and pushing down on me from all sides.
Hissing and groaning I try to pull myself free, to escape the mounting pressure that feels like it was going to shatter my bones and crush me at any moment. With a sharp gasp I feel one of my ribs give way, the rest soon following the example of their floating brother mere moments later. I mentally prepare for the unimaginable pain I am sure is soon to follow, however, I soon release a long relieved and shaky sigh as none comes.
It's numbing in a way, my whole body slowly filling with pins and needles as all sensation is drained away. Not unlike when one's foot or arm falls asleep while the sensation dulled other elements went into overdrive, my whole body shuddering as I feel my skin crawl under the enduring touch of the ethereal force.
With no small amount of straining, I try to look down at myself, my eyes darting about and my neck creaking as I struggle to move while levitating. In the dim light of the bar, I barely manage to see the tablet itself, the large black case seeming to shimmer like a mirage as the whole thing almost looks like it's shrinking. It's all too hard to make out, each moment it seems to shrink it also appears to grow larger, at least in comparison to my hand.
My eyes, watering at the sensations wracking my body and at being exposed for too long to the open air, struggle to really make sense of what I'm looking at. The wavering image of the tablet and the dark cover seeming to make my ghostly pale fingers seem darker and more slender by comparison.
Squinting through the blurring I try to read the screen, watching as the seemingly endless stream of code is edited and altered before my very eyes. The highlighted blocks appear to be deleted wholesale and re-written, the surrounding code rippling out with each change as the gibberish adapts to the change.
At the bottom of the screen sits a new button, my heart sinking as I stare at it in terror
[Wipe Mind?]
[10...9....8...] My eyes dart about, trying in vain to find some way out or to regain control of my floating form before the timer runs out. My heart hammers in my chest, the pace and force of it leaving my ears ringing and my chest aching beyond the otherworldly pressure.
As the timer runs out I wince, bracing mentally only for nothing to happen. Letting out a whimpering sigh I look back at the screen squeaking out in a thankful yet oddly high-pitched whine as I read the screen once more
Automatic Complete Wipe and Re-Write Declined... Necessary Changes Queued ...
As the time drags on I listen to my gasping and ragged breaths, the timbre and pitch quivering as each one grows higher and more desperate for relief.
My stomach sinks and my heart hammers as I notice the three men in my peripheral vision, the older man slowly completing is pointing as he begins to shout something in an exceptionally low droning tone.
As if on cue, the noise and atmosphere of the bar suddenly returns as the air around me suddenly begins to whip past me. Vertigo grips me, the sensation of falling causing me to suddenly whip my arms and legs about in a frenzy as the feeling overtakes me without any real warning.
"Sto...!" Cries the man from the stairs into the bar, his bellowing voice cutting short as my ears fill with a girlish shriek.
Darkness envelopes me, the sound of the bar snapping beyond my senses. Instead I find myself flailing beneath a thick and heavy set of blankets, a soft and pillowy mattress yielding beneath me. My racing heart and vertigo-riddled stomach remains, the sensation of falling still gripping me as I writhe in a panicked state beneath the covers.
Between rapid and panting breaths I try to let my mind catch up. Gone is the night's worth of liquor coursing through me, the expected hangover being nowhere to be found either. However, my mind still feels muddled. It was all too hard to explain, a mixture of tiredness from waking up with such a frightening start blending in with something I couldn't quite put my finger on.
For a moment it feels all like a bad dream, my long night of drinking leading to a weird and wild nightmare that was thankfully over. However, as I move and shift in the bed I find the strangeness has yet to end.
Stretching out I find my arms and legs spilling over the sides, my lavish albeit old king-sized bed now feeling more like a single bed beneath me. Dim early morning light bleeds in through my closed eyes, causing me to reach out for the blinds only to have my hand brush against a strangely familiar shock case.
With a yelp of surprise at the unexpected contact I hear someone jump elsewhere in the room, the startled individual startling me as I lurch up with a start.
"Sooooorry Sofia..." whispers a young woman in a hissing fashion, obviously feeling awkward at the situation. "Didn't mean to wake..." she continues, the sound of a loud lock clicking open causing her to hiss once again. "...you..."
"Quién eres tú? (Who are you?)" I blurt out, barely thinking as I sway and wobble in my seat. My head throbs as I speak, my tired and sleep-filled eyes twitching slightly as it feels like wires are hastily being hooked up inside my skull. "¿Qué dije? (What did I say?)"
"Awwwww Sofia..." coos the voice sweetly, her tentative footsteps seeming to inch away. "You know I don't... no... non hables... um... hables 'spanol?" the girl mutters, struggling to speak the foreign language.
"What is she talking about?" I think to myself, shuffling about as I try to dislodge myself from the heavy blanket and tightly bound fitted sheets. "I wasn't speaking... I mean I don't know Spanish either..."
"I wasn't..." I murmur groggily, my head lolling back and forth as I try to jog myself awake. The thick accent dripping from my words simply escapes me, my mind scrambling to take stock as it fights against the cloying pull of sleep.
"Did you have a nightmare?" whispers the girl as if it was some salacious secret, "Are you getting homesick?"
"What are..." I grumble, inching my eyes open as I try to pinpoint the girl in the room.
Blinking rapidly I find myself staring at the hazing image of a young woman only a few feet from my bed, the eighteen-year-old girl bouncing softly on the balls of her feet as if to keep moving despite talking to me.
Her curly dry and dull straw-colored hair is pulled back in a ponytail, the length of which leaves it hanging down between the middle of her shoulder blades. Her overly freckled face appears slightly sun burnt, the tip of her cute slight nose appearing red and peeling after too much time in the sun. Her large ears have faired little better, practically glowing as the wide shapes frame her otherwise small features. A light tan covers the rest of her face, the burn likely coming from some missed spots that otherwise would have been covered with sunscreen.
A bright pair of hazel eyes look down at me with a mixture of concern and frustration, the young woman obviously eager to be doing something else. Shinning and shimmering flecks dot her large doe eyes, catching the reddening sun outside as she shifts nearby my bed.
Her lithe body is largely hidden beneath a baggy yet warm tracksuit, the dark fabric jacket hanging from her narrow shoulders. The pants fair a little better, the matching pair revealing a set of firm runners legs as she hops about in place.
"We can talk when I get back" the girl chirps, slinging her body out the doorway I had yet to even notice to my left. "I'll bring you...uh...something when I..." the girl whispers back, her voice creeping rapidly beyond my ear as she tries to keep whispering our conversation while also racing away.
"What...where..." I groan, clutching my head as I speak. With each word I feel my head throb slightly less, the continued speech seemingly easing everything into place within my aching brain.
Rubbing my eyes, removing the thick crusty sleep trying to refocus, I slowly begin to ease myself back into reality. The air around me nips at my skin, the frigid air waking me up while the cozy warm bed practically begs me to crawl back inside and sleep.
"Who the hell was... What the hell did I do last..." I think to myself, easing my eyes open once more before it all hits me at once. The interviews, the bar, the men, the tablet, the... the floating?
My eyes shoot open, the sudden rush of rehashing the night before working better than any amount of coffee to wake me up and snap me to my senses. The warm red sunrise outside stings at my sensitive eyes but I don't care, my gaze quickly locking to the caramel-skinned young woman staring back at me from across the room.
My jaw drops to shout in shock, but my voice catches in my throat as I watch the young woman mirror my actions. She sits in a warm-looking and well-made single bed, the blankets practically acting as a restraint. To her right sits a large phone, the massive brick of a thing sitting in a black shock case that was all too familiar.
My heart sinks as I glance around the young woman, watching her follow along as I gaze at the wooden frame that seems to encapsulate her. My heart skips a beat as it begins to sink in, the fact I was gazing into a mirror slowly seeping in as my blood runs cold.
With my eyes locked to the mirror I grip the sheets, tugging and pulling on them in a frenzied fashion. Whimpering panicked huffs fill my ears as I listen to my soft and overtly feminine voice escape my lips.
With one final tug I rip the heavy duvet and the clean fitted sheets from the bed, throwing them to the floor as I look into the mirror. My lips quiver, my jaw dropping as I stare at the sight of a...
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