Communion is a holy thing.
From now, until you sate the Dream and fulfill its purpose, You, The Dreamer, and You, The Neophyte, will be as one.
Praise be to the Dream, and [[awaken.]]The
night sky is dark and empty.
The park, on the other hand, is not. Not physically -- there's too many
of them for the Dream to hold that many at once -- but two members of
Apotheosis lurk at the edges of the Dream like wisps. A few with
experience in the Dream are more solid -- The All-Seer, the Doctor. You
even feel the Founder's presence.
More importantly, you feel the Courier and his three "Heralds", but the
presence of Ruin is long and far away.
As if on cue, the Courier appears before you. Immediately, you can tell
something is off. His appearance has never changed before, as far as you
can tell, but now he looks exhausted; his skin is pale and there are
bags under his eyes.
"Hello, Courier," you greet, wary, and you can't help the slight hint of
concern in your voice.
"Dreamer," the Courier says. "Let's get this [[over with]].""Oh?"
you say. "What's the plan this time? I suppose this is what you've
spent the past month on?"
"I'm afraid not," the Courier says. A bit of heat creeps into his voice
as he says, "I've spent so long puzzling out that //damn fucking
journal// that my colleagues have done most of the work, here."
Something is off, and it takes you a moment to realize what. The
Courier's usual aura of arrogance is missing; instead, he seems flat,
and almost... listless?
"How interesting," you say. "But //why//, though? If this were an
attack, I would have thought you'd bring your Ruin with you."
The Courier barely reacted. "This isn't an attack. I'm giving you some
information."
"Out of the goodness of your heart, I'm sure," you say.
"More to see how you react," he says, ignoring the remark. "And to see
how much the Administrators have actually [[shared]]. My guess is not
much."And
just like that: Ruin.
Not the real Ruin, you're sure. Rather, it's a flimsy projection of the
Dream, like the shells it uses for people. Still, you can feel members
of Apotheosis panicking at the sight of it, which you find
understandable -- it's a grotesque thing to see in person for the first
time, though you find yourself more interested than scared.
And then, just like that: the Doctor.
Two Doctors, actually, the real and the fake. The real Doctor looks
confused, and you briefly wonder how he's managed to appear when the
All-Seer hasn't yet.
It's the Courier's intention, obviously. The two of you share a glance;
the Doctor was one of his prime targets, after all.
The fake Doctor speaks before either of you can. "Jonathan Carter," he
says, slow and pronounced. "Evan Winters."
You realize, with a sense of dread, that the fake Doctor is addressing
the fake Ruin.
Beside you, the [[real]] Doctor stiffens."They're
local police officers," the fake Doctor continued. "Too interested in
us, after our Courier's death. Deal with them, but make it subtle. I
want police attention drawn //away// from us."
The image of Ruin let out a bone-chilling laugh before it and the Doctor
froze.
So this was the Courier's plan. You can feel the swelling emotions of
your fellow Apotheosis members as easily as you can read a book;
disbelieving, questioning, worried.
You take a deep breath and face the Doctor.
He's casting his gaze around the sky, and you're not sure if he's angry
or panicked or both. "You can't seriously be believing this obvious
falsehood?" he snaps, and you're not sure if it's toward you or the
rest.
"Oh, it's true," the Courier says. Hints of emotion are coming through,
now, but it seems less carefree and more bitter. "Those two men died. It
was a whole ordeal, around town. You're quite well versed in using Ruin
as a weapon, aren't you, Doctor?"
"You're //lying//," the Doctor snarls. He's never been good with keeping
his temper. "Stop wasting my damn //time//."
The Courier raises an eyebrow. "So used to keeping Ruin as a pet," he
says, calm, "that you never even suspected it in my death. Not until I
revealed myself, and you've been trying to [[leash]] it again ever
since."The
image of the Doctor starts again, and it's words drown out the real
Doctor's.
The image of the Doctor takes its time, repeating names and
instructions. The image of Ruin accepted the words, silent and
unresponsive.
The images were plausible.
The Courier's Doctor was accurate. You don't think the Courier knew the
Doctor that well, but a reasonable fake was still a possibility.
Still, the Courier's pure confidence was having an effect on the
listeners. The range of emotions they showed off fluctuated so wildly
you had to ignore them.
"She was killed during the Incursion," the Courier says, after one name
had left the imaginary Doctor seething. "She's our World now. Jay and
the Admins didn't share //anything// from the black card, did they?"
The real Doctor had tried his best to protest, but after the ninth name
he had gone silent, smoothing the rage on his face away in favor of a
blank mask.
You aren't sure what to [[think]].Seventeen
names, in total.
"That's all for today, everyone," the Courier says. "I'm sure you all
have a lot to think about, so you can do that... on your own."
The Courier and his Heralds begin to pressure the Dream, and you can
feel members of Apotheosis awakening. The All-Seer disappears
immediately, but you resist the sensation.
"Courier," you say, and he gives you a bland look. His demeanor hasn't
changed since this Dream has started, and you're not exactly... worried,
but it is certainly odd. So you say, "Are you... really telling the
truth?"
The Courier stares for a moment, and with an unsettling level of
sincerity, says, "I'm truly being sincere."
You find that you believe him. The Doctor stares, dead silent, face
blank.
[[The Dream ends.]]~~The Dream ends~~
...for the Dreamer, [[but...]]<center><big>''[[YOU CAN STAY]]''</big></center>The
Doctor doesn't offer a reaction as the Dream vacates around him, or as
Ruin's presence suddenly looms closer.
"I suppose you'll try to kill me, now?" the Doctor says. His face is
blank; the only sign of emotion he shows is in his finger, tapping
erratically against his leg.
"Don't worry," Numbers Game says. "I'm mostly done with you. Honestly?
Not sure why you're still here."
The Doctor huffs out a hollow laugh. "I'm loitering," he says. "Hell,
you got me, I can admit that, and I'm sure we both know Victor is
throwing me under the bus as we speak."
"That sounds like him," Numbers Game says. For the first time today, he
smirks. "You'll have to face the music, sooner or later."
"Oh, I will. But before that, I'll be teaching //you// a lesson." The
Doctor's tapping ceases. "I've utilized Ruin for some time, yes, but did
you truly think he was the //only// Dream weapon I had access to?"
Numbers Game's smirk falls. [["Huh?"]]"Meet [[Corvidae]]."
"Cor- what? You--"<img src="https://i.imgur.com/PU6NYTV.jpg" alt="Corvidae" style="width:500px;height:500px;">
CROW crow crow crow crow crow crow crow crow cro-//That's a crow, folks!//-w crow crow crow crow crow crow-
↶↷Communion is a holy thing.
From now, until you sate the Dream and fulfill its purpose, You, The Dreamer, and You, The Neophyte, will be as one.
Praise be to the Dream, and awaken.