♋ 24

[crusthatecean]

[Action; Hospital]

[Karkat wakes up sometime during the day on January 29th outside the hospital with a violent start that leaves him shaking. It's not unfamiliar to him to wake from a nightmare, but this is different. His last waking memories are unclear, but he remembers knowing he was going to die, losing so much of his sickening blood that it was all he could see, and then he remembers nothing, and nothing, and nothing for so long that if he starts to think about it he feels as though he'll lose his mind. He can't even close his eyes for a moment to gather his thoughts because the moment he does, the nothing is back, dark shapes swimming in it black on black but so clearly there, things he can't concentrate on because they're too terrible to acknowledge existence. This isn't unfamiliar either; it's the way he felt when his dreamself died, but so much more of it, and he's really gotten used to sleeping again.

The first thing he does is to try and vomit, because he feels sick and strange and his vascular sac hurts in his chest and he's freezing cold but he isn't shivering, but nothing comes up except the taste of blood and the feeling of it stuck to the back of his mouth and his throat. It's the same quality of the blood in the horrible gash around his middle; the wound is open but the blood is so thick and sluggish it's in no danger of bleeding again, and it draws his attention to his situation.

He's out in the open wearing clothes completely covered in still wet blood, with a large open wound making it clear whose it is, and while he isn't in danger of dying anymore, he doesn't want to be here. Still shuddering, he pulls himself to his feet and wraps his arms around his middle, completely failing to disguise the telling bright red covering most of him, and starts walking as quickly as he can for home, head and eyes facing the ground to avoid speaking to anyone if possible.]

[Action; 1338 Benny Road]

[And he will make it there eventually, but when he does, he'll have an awful surprise waiting for him in his respite block. His own bloodless body would normally be enough to upset him, but it won't even be a concern once he finds Gamzee dead there as well. He knows the idiot clown well enough to have a good idea what happened, what happened being that he completely failed to bother looking after himself or to get anyone to help him with what were obviously treatable injuries. While his grief is somewhat relieved by the fact that he knows the dead will probably come back, he's still completely furious. With himself for letting this happen at all, for being such a legendarily terrible moirail, and with everyone else for not bothering to take care of Gamzee in his absence.

Once he's taken a moment to come to terms with the situation, he'll immediately go looking for anyone else in the house to take that out on.]

[Phone; Public]

[He picks up the phone and speaks with uncharacteristically little preamble; he's too exhausted and sad to come up with reasons to be angry right now, and it's clear from his voice.]

I need everyone to check in with me now. Trolls and...the rest of you who are for some reason or other part of my life. Just do it. Are any of you still alive?

It turns out I've been gone nearly four days, so someone needs to get me up to speed. Please.

Comments

phone;

[thegirltwin]

[Nina's voice is weak, but it doesn't sound like she's going to drop dead, at least.]

Karkat? It's Anna.

[She hesitates. Karkat is so young, no matter how he likes to act. She doesn't really want to tell him about the experiments. He shouldn't have to know about that on top of everything else.

But then, it might be better to be told this way than to find out for himself some other way, like running into one of his friends with saws for hands or something.]

There was a phone call. A few phone calls. There's a woman who's been conducting experiments on some of the people here.

[crusthatecean]

[He is young, but he's from a society that teaches children to grow up very quickly, and he's been through enough that this doesn't phase him.]

What kind of experiments?

[worstvikingever]

They started kidnapping people and doing experiments on them. Apparently there's this lady named Mrs. Johnson? Whoever's in charge had her start running things instead of the mayor and Mr. Smith. So she's been doing these experiments to figure out how to fix things.

...Karkat, did you... did you die?

[crusthatecean]

No, I won a free vacation and decided it was a good time to cash in.

There's only one way to leave Mayfield for four days.

Phone

[a_gentle_boy]

Karkat!

[Lucas grabs the phone so quickly that it nearly sails out of his hands.]

You're back. She did it...

[For a few moments, he is silent, as if he can't even begin to find the words he needs to say.]

[crusthatecean]

[He's quiet for a few seconds, trying to decide what he wants to say. At the moment it hadn't seemed to matter, but in retrospect he's so ashamed that Lucas was there to watch that, to see his blood and to see him so weak and pathetic, to sap his energy and completely fail at not dying. He's not stupid, he knows Lucas won't see it this way, but he feels as though something in the way he just could not be brought back from the brink made obvious how fundamentally useless he is.]

I'm back. Who did what?

Between the hospital and Benny Road

[ooeeooahah]

[ It doesn't matter that he's not talkative. He's suddenly got a coat draped across his shoulders, and Ilsa walking beside him, supporting him. ]

Come on, hon. Need to get you indoors, quick.

[crusthatecean]

[He flinches away from the touch automatically, not wanting anyone to see him like this, but he's so grateful for the coat that he thinks twice about it and just pulls it around him so the blood will be less obvious.]

I'm fine, it looks bad but it isn't.

Phone

[a1a100]

I'm still alive KK.

[Though, he didn't sound like it.]

[ He was pretty confused about the events that had been happening lately, to be honest. He decided that just staying alive in his bedroom was a good idea and that had been what he was doing lately. Checking up on a few people periodically as well.]

[crusthatecean]

Oh god.

[It's a testament to his emotional state that he doesn't bother to insult Sollux or try to pretend he's anything but relieved.]

Are you okay, though? Any wounds coming back or experiments conducted on you where your hands are replaced with knives or something similarly terrible I should know about?

Phone

[thelonewanderer]

[Does she count? She does now.]

Some insane lady is experimenting on people and says she's fixing whatever it is that brings people back to life. But whatever she's doing is....well utterly insane to put it lightly.

[crusthatecean]

That's what I've heard.

Can you give me any examples of what she does to us?

Phone

[chastesaw]

*Guess whose voice sounds severely strained, almost in pain?* Karkat...

*A very long pause. And then there's no 'almost' about it.* Stay away from me. P-please. You have to...

[crusthatecean]

Kanaya, what's wrong with you?

I'm not going to fucking stay away from you, is that what you would do if it was me calling and sounding fucking awful and being a martyr about it?

[phone]

[polariity]

I'm coming up to check in on you. Are you at your houthe?

[Yes, that is the Psiioniic's idea of 'checking in'.]

[crusthatecean]

I don't give you permission to come here.

Action; Hospital

[nosigntospeakof]

[Yes, Signless is still visiting the hospital every day. Someone has to make sure Psiioniic eats and gives Milla a little privacy every now and again.

In fact he's just closing her door when he bumps into a much smaller body hurrying by.]

Oh! [He looks down, smiling apologetically.] I'm sorry. I didn't see- [Nubby horns. Grey skin. Candy red mutant blood everywhere.]

Karkat?

[crusthatecean]

[Shit. He can immediately recognize the Signless; he's seen him around plenty of times, but always managed to avoid bumping into him.

He can't avoid him right now, though, and he honestly doesn't have the energy to. In fact, he's probably the troll Karkat minds seeing him least like this. You can't judge me, I know your blood looks like this too. Even with his mind racing in panic he knows it's an absurd stupid thought; he knows Signless isn't ashamed of his blood, another way he's better than Karkat, but it makes him feel better to think it. Mutant freak.

He crossed his arms around his torso, but squares his shoulders and looks up at him like he isn't hiding anything, like he planned to take a walk like this covered in his own blood.]

What?

Phone

[strike_you_out]

[You're that jerk who used to live in his grandparents' home long ago. He's heard you talking to Pokey on the phones before so you must be his friend or something. Slugger figures he should tell you this.]

Pokey's dead.

[crusthatecean]

Oh.

[He does feel sort of sad about that; he likes Pokey, would probably consider him a friend if he was the type to consider anyone a friend if he hasn't gone through hell and back with them. But his response is distant, if only because so many people he loves are dead right now he doesn't have any room to feel much of anything.]

That sucks. But I was dead, too, so he'll be back.

Phone.

[shesapir8]

And so which troll are you?

[crusthatecean]

[He hesitates; he's well aware there are some adult trolls he is not willing to talk to, and the voice sounds familiar to him. He's noticed Mindfang and the Condesce's arrivals, and while the latter is the one who terrifies him more, he's equally unwilling to start trouble with her.

But he can't place this voice for certain besides feeling confident it isn't the Condesce's. He's made sure he'll know the Condesce's voice should she ever try to speak to him.]

I didn't say I was a troll, only that I knew some trolls.

But all right. Karkat.

[con_heir]

Karkat! [Dang, Karkat isn't yelling. That isn't a good sign.] I know this is like, the stupidest question in the world, but are you okay? You're not hurt or anything, right?

[crusthatecean]

That is such a stupid question.

I have no idea how to answer it.

Outside Factory

[webball]

[Quietly, Peter lands on a rooftop a few houses down from the location of the Factory and looks around before spotting the young troll shivering in the cold daylight. Another victim of the nefarious, highly under-qualified Dr. Johnson, obviously. It's convenient that that's her name, because she's basically a huge dick with a stethoscope. His headache plagues him again, followed by the infuriatingly vague Spider-Sense tingle. It's been bugging him like a bad itch lately... but it seems like it happens everywhere he goes! He can't pinpoint the damn thing.

He watches the troll hug his sides and start walking somewhere and turns to go... but he sees the dark flashes of semi-dried blood on his clothing. Whoa. Something happened to him, all right. He decides to keep an eye on him, but he isn't totally sure why...]

[crusthatecean]

[He won't notice Peter there, so he'll just quietly start to make his way home, avoiding anyone he sees.]

Phone ☆

[fatedmagica]

K, Karkat...! Is that you? Are you really there, are you okay? Please be there...

[crusthatecean]

Madoka?

It's me. Hey. I'm fine, all right? Calm your down.

[phone]

[bullsit]

Yeah, okay, doing that checking in thing, like you asked.

Re: [phone]

[crusthatecean]

Oh god, Tavros, okay. I'm so glad. They didn't do anything to you, did they?