Ghostwriter

I'm back.

Hey, with company!

I'm not... really a fan of this at all, Belfry.

They were in rooms across from mine, like you said-- Dime in his quarters with a nickel. Civvie's out cold and I think we have a second to think. God, but the air's just... like water, it's filled to the brim. I hate this.

I'm going to be honest, the teleporters are the obvious way out of here, and we should take those.

...The fact that they're here and awake, too, is making this fucking weird as hell. I still think it's a dream. I don't care how hard I'm making it for you.

I think I could figure these things out and get us teleported... I even liked the idea of what Civvie was saying. The job sounded good.

We are not following whatever plans that lunatic came up with. I don't know what this is, if it's some kind of reptilian mind-beam or whatever, but I want to wake up and get back to our goddamn mission.

Uh... Belfry?

We finished our mission. We got to the moon, we fought, we saved tripodals, we... finished out. Basically.

Yeah, I-I... C-Civvie showed me... th-the viewfinder, on the n-nickel.

It's still in that room if you want me to show you. Seems like you two were living in the past when he got you out.

Think I'm gonna just stay here until he wakes up...

Okay. Both of you are crazy. You want to stay, I'll let you. I'm getting the hell out.

If that's really what you want...

Good luck, I suppose? Don't die?

Don't patronize me. I'm awake, and you two are off the fucking deep end.

...

...

...

Stairwell.

There's windows. There's some kind of bubble keeping out... space, I think. And a huge platform on the bottom, like an ocean of foundries and workshops and poured metal and burning sparks, and... a billion little figures moving across it, darting across.

Ships. Looks like there's ships at the edge, some kind of bay. Or I could hope there's something closer-- the roof, maybe? I don't hear anyone nearby but this is working on dreamscape logic, nobody's real, nothing's real. I need help.

Please. I'm begging one part of this fucking place to be sane.