[Note: The following story is an alternate ending for the episode "Mirador's Brain". For those who haven't yet seen it, there is a detailed, illustrated summary of the episode by Fran White here. The summary for "Tatania" is also recommended reading for those that haven't seen that episode. The first half of "Mirador's Brain" is canon for this work; the timeline splits off directly after Arcane breaks the mirror.]

I started writing this one quite a few months ago. Before I post it, I have to thank Steve for his blurb in his episode guide for "Birthmarks" which gave me a lot of inspiration for this story. A big hug goes out to Fran for her encouragement, kindness, and comments on the rough drafts, and the same goes for all those who read the first drafts and told me what you thought. A friendly kupo and cookies for Al, who introduced me to Nine Inch Nails, whose music inspired much of this story. And always, thanks to Sin Yi and Ponce for just being there to lift me out of my own emotional swamp. :) Thank you to all the artists who make such beautiful music for me to listen to and be inspired by while writing. The lyrics within the ending are copyrighted by the Righteous Brothers.

This is yet another alternate ending. Yeah, yeah, I know. It's an alternate ending to the episode "Mirador's Brain". The timeline for this story follows the original USA Network running order, with the exception of "Crossfired" and "Chains of Forever" before either of these episodes. Since no one knows the real story order, I suppose I can get away with this. :)

This story contains disturbing images in it. I'm not sure what it's rated. The descriptions of the condition of paranoid schizophrenia are written with the same heavy artistic license as exercised by the writers of the original episode (of course, I researched the disease anyway).

These characters are property of DC Comics, BBK, Batfilm, DIC, etc., etc. This story is in no way trying to infringe on that copyright. Please don't repost this anywhere without my permission, and in no way should you redistribute this for any kind of commercial purpose.

Lastly, during the ending scenes, if you can, you may want to put Sara McLachlan's Surfacing in your stereo, put it on the song "I Love You" and keep it on repeat. :)

Dedicated to Sin Yi

And to the memory of Kim Yale

"the lunatic is in my head
the lunatic is in my head
you raise the blade
you make the change
you rearrange me 'till i'm sane
you lock the door, throw away the key
there's someone in my head, but it's not me"
"Brain Damage", Pink Floyd

"it all keeps adding up
I think I'm cracking up..."
"Basket Case", Green Day

Up High

"I've got it! It's the rate of mitosis, not the cell number! No wonder the experiment has gone wrong all these -- AUGHHH..."

Breathe.

In.

Out.

He had thrown a rock at a raccoon, once.

"Geffstein was an utter moron! I see it now! His equation can be negated! Barriers of time can be crossed, it's possible, I'm sure of it... yes! Yes, you just add... you add..."

//"What do you add to the formula, Anton?"

"The rate of momentum... of -- of course."

"NO! My God, why do I even bother with you? Sit down. Listen, I'll show you. Look here..."//

He had wanted to see what the impact of a flying object would do to the brain of an insentient creature. The raccoon was fortunate enough to have been volunteered for the momentous experiment.

(It was a rather large rock.)

"NO!!! We almost had it! This could be the most celebrated accomplishment in all of physics! We can do this, old man... just impart a few more grains of wisdom to me..."

Breathe. In. Out.

"NO!!! We almost had it! This could be the most celebrated accomplishment in all of physics! We can do this, old man... just impart a few more grains of wisdom to me..."

Breathe. In. Out.

The epiphanies were few and far between now -- but he couldn't give up, dammit, he couldn't!! The knowledge. He had to have it, NOW. But in between the knowledge --

The rock hurtled toward it's target with the force of a bullet. There was a sick *CRUNCH*, a dull THUD. The raccoon cub gave out an agonized shriek that rang in his ears, unerasable by time. Dying, yet unable to die, the little creature suffered for long minutes before shuddering and gazing up at the cloudless sky with blind eyes.

He was a murderer at age ten.

// "What do you add to the formula, Anton?"//

// "I'm growing old, boy. What do you add?"//

// "What's the answer, Anton?"//

"SHUT UP, old man!!!" came the frustrated cry. His eyes widened for a moment.

The raccoon screamed.

~~~

His own face tormented him within his dreams. At first, the beginning confusion had subsided. Graham had left to go after the girl, and it became safe enough for him to unhook himself from the chair. He remembered at first being consumed by a sense of giddy elation. He had DONE it!! He had kept the brain of his late, great mentor alive, and he had tapped himself into the man's brilliance! He remembered the soaring high that seemed to lift his entire being as he became one with perhaps the only creature that had every truly understood him, for however briefly. The memories of the minute-long panic, of the strange sensation that something he had downloaded into himself was not Mirador -- passed and faded.

Sometimes Mirador's secrets and theories would dance tauntingly out of even his large threshold of comprehension; other times, the information would hit him in a short burst, like lightning. But oh... it was glorious. So glorious.

// "My God, what's happening to me?"//

He rested little, forgot to eat. The quest for recording and comprehending this new fount of knowledge drove him with single-minded obsession.

//*"Anton..."*//

It was then that he started hearing the voice.

//*"Anton, I am speaking to you..."*//

The mirror... dammit, why had he looked in the mirror?!

// "You're just a hallucination!"//

Mirador was in the mirror, talking to him, in his mind but not, telling him the parts of his life that he had never shared... and there was something sinister about his old mentor...

//*"It's quid pro quo -- a brain for a brain!"*//

He, Anton Arcane, was to share every bit of knowledge -- EVERYTHING he could with Carl Mirador. But something had gone horribly wrong -- he had succeeded in his experiment far too well. He was to share everything.

//*"The doctors called it schizophrenia..."*//

The twisted mask of abject terror and anguish that stared back at him through the mirror couldn't have been his face. But it was.

~~~

The lab floor was strewn with papers; in fact, ninety percent of the lab was a horrible mess. At least his face had gone back to normal, somehow -- as if the darkness in his head became more concerned with tormenting his soul than with aesthetics. The doctor was on the paper-strewn lab floor, curled up in a little ball. "Mirador, STOP !!! Uhhnnn..."

*"You know there's only one way to get out of this, boy. My better side knew. We told you before."*

There were a few short gasps. "My head's on fire..." he moaned. The burning was worse now, he was sure of it.

*"Even I have to admit, death was rather peaceful. Suicide is extremely easy. It only takes a little courage. Do you have that kind of courage, Anton?"*

Arcane clutched his head, screaming.

There was a timid knock on the doors to the laboratory. "Dr. Arcane, sir?"

Arcane's voice sounded very tired to Graham. "Get out of here, Graham."

Graham stayed outside respectfully. The doors were locked shut, and couldn't be opened by motion sensor at this point. "Dr. Arcane, are you all--"

"I'm just a bit indisposed right now."

Graham's forehead wrinkled in concern. "Um... Mirador's granddaughter kind of... escaped."

"Forget about her."

That took Graham aback. "Um... all right." There was a pause. "Be careful in there."

Silence. Arcane sighed deeply, his entire body shuddering.

*"Give up, Anton. Look around you. Your lab is in a shambles. You've got nothing left to live for."*

"Just shut up," Arcane countered lamely, his faculties for vocabulary fatigued.

*"The only way to end the pain is to die."*

"Mirador..."

// "What is it, boy? Calm down! Your eyes look like they're going to pop out."

"I figured it out! The experiment's a success now! Just have a look at this data!"

"I knew you could do it. I'm proud, I really am."//

*"You keep a weapon in this lab, don't you?"*

// "Why hello there. Are you the lady of the house?"

"Grampa, dere's a strange man at the door!"

"Don't worry my dear, I'm not a stranger."

"Ummm... I don't know you. My mommy and daddy said not ta' talk ta' strangers."

"Well, that's good. I'm a... pupil, if you will... of your grandfather's."

"Oh. Grampa's in his sad mood today. He can't talk ta' anyone."

"...Oh. Well... I'll try back another time. Thank you."

"Bye-bye."//

*"That's it. Put the gun in your mouth."* Arcane obeyed, trembling. He cocked the gun. *"Put your finger on the trigger. That's it. Gently. Good boy. What, doubts in your mind, Anton? Your life is a wreck. Your keen mind is slowly going to pieces. The only way to escape this trap is death."* Arcane closed his eyes tight, nodding slightly. But a tiny thought suddenly glimmered weakly in his brain. Maybe... maybe he didn't have to die? Maybe there were still parts of his life that remained worth living... perhaps? Maybe his mind would get better. Maybe he didn't have to kill himself. Slowly, he took the gun out of his mouth. It whipped around in his hand. Bullets smashed into the mirror, powdering the already-shattered glass, as the scientist let out a cry of pent-up frustration and rage.

He got up shakily and put on his coat.

*"Anton, look at you. You're acting like an animal."

"Shut up." He wished he could have slammed the doors on the way out.

~~~

His feet took him nowhere in particular around Houma, here and there, while he followed numbly; into the drugstore, through back alleys, toward the swamp.

He guzzled Tylenol like it was Pepsi, but the pain in his head didn't cease. The thoughts that he usually shoved to the back of his mind began to plague him more than ever.

No one understands the work I do. The troglodytes don't even care. Not even Graham fully comprehends. Theories that were given up because he or she couldn't stretch their puny minds, riddles left unsolved. I have the capacity, I carry the genius. I can salvage these misshapen bits of science, solve problems, the planet's problems. And does anyone care? Does anyone appreciate? No, no, and no. They dismiss it all as demented flotsam, as nothing.

He looked up and dimly realized that he had made his way into the swamp. He wandered again through the mire, directionless, lost in his own dark meanderings. His silent soliloquies gave him little comfort, accompanied by older, darker whisperings that he hardly ever heard anymore, perhaps only in his nightmares.

...you're a user, Arcane, you're a user...

"I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered, pushing past the heavy foliage. Yes you do you use people and things use them use them use them never giving back never selfless as you'd like to believe always wanting something in return... you want the paper the little green slips of paper and you're only willing to be merciful if you can name your price...

"One is entitled to use one's tools to their utmost advantage -- and I see nothing wrong with a reward for my brilliance, now and again."

*"This exactly why she doesn't want you, Anton. Just look at what you're saying."*

Arcane stopped up short in his tracks. His voice was very soft. "What?"

*"We were dead for a while, you know. We spoke briefly with her, Carl and I."*

Arcane tried to keep calm, as a frenzy started to boil over in his blood. His voice was hoarse. "What did she say?"

Mirador seemed to grin darkly within his words. *"You're as dead to her as she is to you."*

(My God no oh my God no ) "Liar," Arcane seethed.

*"It wouldn't hurt so much if it wasn't the truth, Anton. Have we ever lied to you?"*

"It's a bloody lie and you know it!!! I --" He cried out suddenly, clutching his head as he leaned against a tree, feverishly searching his coat pockets for his notepad. He fished it out, and began scribbling furiously. In the background, behind the noisy hum of information on quantum particles and molecular waveforms was a hissing whisper, that upon close inspection, sounded like

money money money money money

~~~

*"Have you ever been with a woman, Anton?"*

Arcane sat on the ground, his back to a massive tree trunk, clutching his head and rocking back and forth. "Stop it..."

*"Or a man, for that matter?"*

"You're all in my mind!" Arcane declared, his eyes wild. "All I have to do is overcome you, and you'll go away!!"

*"Just keep telling yourself that, boy. And you didn't answer my question. Respond when I talk to you."*

"I'm hardly some trembling virgin," Arcane snapped.

*"Hmmm... ever been in a meaningful relationship since your wife's accident? Someone who understood your very soul? Hmm, let's see... No ? Do you know why ?"*

"No one can match my brilliance but you, Mirador, and I think that relationship would be hardly appropriate."

*"Wrong!"* exclaimed the mental voice, almost in glee. *"It's because no one will have you! You're a monster of a man, Anton. Unfortunate, but true. Everyone knows it. Everyone says it."*

"Death has addled you, Mirador. I don't need anyone."

*"Yes you do. But no one understands you. No one cares about you. No one would give one whit or shed one tear if you died, and no one's happy that you're alive. You see, no one mourns for a user, Anton."* There was a pause, and then a throaty mental chuckle. *"But you've got us to keep you company forever."*

"Oh bloody joy."

~~~

He spent hours trudging aimlessly through the bog, consumed by the darkness inside his skull. Day blackened into night.

"nothing
seems to kill me
no matter how hard i try"
"Blow Up The Outside", Soundgarden

...insane trash insane trash garbage madness nonsense hateful monster no one to love you no one to care user user user... not another day can't take another day everyone hates you don't take another day don't let the clock spin anymore you want immortality you've got it Arcane stop time escape... death peaceful dark death an end to the pain and the foil of time... stop time Anton, and DO it...

The swamp seemed to know that there was something crawling in it that didn't belong, an intruder of some sort. It seemed that everything was keeping an eye on him, even the moon. Yes, everything was watching him, Arcane was sure of it.

*"You don't belong here, you know."*

Arcane kept walking.

*"You belong in Auschwitz with a swastika on your arm."*

//"You must stop this, Anton. It's not right."

" 'Not right'. Mirador, this very experiment could bring huge, unprecedented advances to the world of science!"

"All you care about advancing is your wallet."

"Well bloody hell, Mirador! I think I'll just eat directly out of this trash can. Yes, that's what I'll do. Being the altruistic man of science that I am, I think that I'll just fling all my money and earthly possessions to charity like a good little scientist, and sleep here on the floor of my laboratory. That's it! I'll never have to pay rent."

"You've changed."

"Yes Mirador, I have. Because I'm willing to do what it takes to turn these vague glimmering notions into working pieces of genius. That's why I'm getting things done."

"Dammit, listen to me boy! This is unethical. You can't--"

"I haven't handed my homework in to you in over ten years, old man. I don't need to defend myself to you."//

News passed quickly in the swamp. On the wind, in the air, in the water.

"So," murmured the swamp's guardian, "Arcane has come back to the swamp."

taint, whispered the swamp, taint, wrongness, intruder, NOT RIGHT!!!

The creature that was once a man sighed deeply. "Arcane is not in his right mind any longer," he said to himself grimly. "If he's a danger to even himself right now, he's most likely a danger to others." Involuntarily, he gave a low, guttural growl deep in his throat. The swamp was a thriving ecosystem in perfect balance. The slightest rip of the delicate life-web could cause irrevocable damage.

And now Arcane was in the swamp, losing his mind.

Alec had a feeling that he was going to have his hands full.

~~~

Arcane splashed some water on his face from one of the nearby myriad pools. He had to snap himself out of this, these crazy thoughts spiraling through his brain!

But it was no use. The black waves of depression crashed down on him once more. He felt strangely cold inside.

Dammit, he was Anton Arcane, and he had his own mind!!!

*"Do you really believe that?"*

He started walking again. It couldn't get worse than this. Inconceivable. It wouldn't get worse.

~~~

Hidden from view, camouflaged completely by his plant-like exterior, Alec Holland frowned in worry as he watched his nemesis stagger through the bog. He hoped dearly that the little family-killer wasn't about to try something twisted. The thought of Arcane at all already turned what used to be his stomach, but the thought of an insane Arcane disturbed him even more. He was terribly tired of watching those dearest to him get hurt over and over and over. It made his heart ache with sorrow. He didn't want Arcane to try anything; didn't want another conflict; didn't want more pain. He watched the scientist closely.

The doctor screamed, clutching his head tightly.

Alec's leafy eyebrows raised. He heard his adversary speak.

"My brain's exploding... Mirador...." Arcane rocked his body back and forth, sobbing in agony. "...stop your torments... I'm your student... I'm just a little boy..."

He collapsed, trembling all over in pain.

The swamp's guardian stared at his antagonist for long moments of silent mulling. Quietly, decisively, he walked out from the foliage and placed two cool green fingertips on the man's forehead.

Arcane's eyes fluttered closed, and his ragged breathing became even.

"Sleep a dreamless sleep, Arcane," Alec intoned.

~~~

When he awoke, it was raining. It was a dull, cold rain, the drops splattering upon him, pattering on the ground monotonously. Arcane picked himself up out of the mud and shivered. "I'm going to receive pneumonia if I don't get out of this bloody swamp," he muttered. But he made no effort to move. Instead, he leaned back against a tree and sighed, the rain driving steadily without benefit of breeze. Arcane ran a hand through his hair. It all seemed so pointless, now, so meaningless and empty. Why go on? He could record all of Mirador's knowledge, and then what? Go on with his science, right -- and to achieve what end? No one appreciated his genius, nor his efforts. The promise of money, power, the proverbial "good life" glimmered far more dimly than before. His goals, always thwarted, spun around him and powdered. So, so pointless. It was always one step forward and two steps back, and it always would be. All he could do to pull himself ahead, all he had done, was to suck off others like a hungry tick until Life itself despised him. Arcane felt trapped, like a white lab rat in a wire cage. There would be no future for him nor a release from this horrid madness. His life would be as bleak as the grey-washed sky that peeked through the leaves above him.

He had to die. He WANTED to die...

"HA!" Arcane spun around abruptly, triumphantly, as if catching someone in the act of something sordid. "A more subtle assault than most, Mirador. I'll give you that much." He snarled wolfishly, grim resolve gripping him. "If it spites you for me to stay alive, then I'll proceed to search for eternal life. You won't find peace before I do, old man."

Fire seared and crackled through Arcane's wounded mind. The doctor stumbled.

*"My, my, Anton. Look at the wealth of malice and spite your little noggin serves up."*

Arcane let out a strangled cry. "Mirador, for pity..."

*"This isn't my fault, Anton. If you hadn't corrupted yourself this much in the past, your mind wouldn't be this scarred."*

Raw, incoherent emotion erupted within Arcane's brain. Not my FAULT!!!

// "Arcane ..."//

// "It's Arcane, isn't it? I knew it!"//

// "Damn you, Arcane."//

// "...monster of a man..."//

// "Dammit, Arcane!!!"//

Why is everything always MY fault, Mirador? You could never begin to understand my mind, no one does...

*"That's right. It's too twisted to make sense of anymore."*

Dammit, that's a lie!! He pushed himself away from the tree, screaming at everything and no one. "I'll beat you!! The lot of you!!! I'll defy you Mirador, and I'll defy Alec, and this cursed city, and the gods of every man on this planet!" He laughed, giddy with his own fiery hatred.

*"You shouldn't have done that, Anton. Up until now, God was the only help you had left."*

~~~

Betrayed. Betrayed. Everyone has betrayed me to vilest excess. The minute I turn my back, something goes wrong... Holland, Dr. Fisk, everyone in that God-forsaken Kipp family -- they all set out to sabotage what I do. And why? So perhaps I try to indulge in the rewards that naturally go along with my brilliance? Is that so wrong? A little money?

*"Hmm. 'A little money.' What about 'a little power'? They go hand in hand."*

"Exactly!" Arcane shouted triumphantly, as if finally breaking through to an incredibly dense student. "None of you could grow up, Mirador! Power is mother's milk. But none of you could drag yourselves away from Neverland long enough to see that!" He sank to his knees at the water's edge, exhausted. Arcane caught sight of his reflection in the water and winced. His eyes were bloodshot and red-rimmed, sunken with shadows, his face was haggard, and a strand of his hair was grey. He yanked it out with ferocity. "My God, look at me..." he breathed, horrified. "I'm falling apart... See!? Look what you're doing to me! Even you turn on me!" A laugh devoid of sanity escaped him. "Yes, heh, why not then? Very well! Everyone else has!"

In a sudden movement, he put his head in his hands, curling up on himself as if shielding the core of his being from the world. "Mother, she couldn't face the world's realities either, you see. Went stark raving mad."

*"Like us?"*

NOT like us! Not like ME! "Shut up!!!" A pause. "She ruined everything, she did... and--" His entire body shuddered violently. "...Tatania..."

He rocked back and forth slowly. "God damn it, she ruined it too, she went and destroyed herself..." He closed his eyes. "TATANIA!!!"

Silence. "Tatania... God damn me... Tatania..." He opened his eyes wide, then closed them again, shutting out the world, crying helplessly.

forgive me forgive me forgive me while i burn in hell eternally for what i've done for pity on my soul forgive me and end this blasted grief...

The whispers came back. End the grief End the grief End the grief

His mind screamed. You didn't have to go and do it! I could have tested it on someone else, you were more important, you knew that...

*"Was she, Anton? It didn't seem like you made that very clear when you drove yourself to perfect your precious formula, when the obsession took you. And now look at you. No wonder she doesn't want any part of you. No one will have you, Anton, and she's no exception."*

Dammit woman, why won't you come back to me? You don't like the man I've become? Well here's a pretty newsflash, Tatania: YOU MADE ME LIKE THIS!!!

End the grief Anton enditenditendit

*"You're a wreck, boy. Forget it. It's over. End the pain and succumb to peace. All you have to do is die..."*

"Shut up!"

*"Is that all you have to say to me? Your teacher? Your mentor?"*

"No longer! Go away !"

*"You'll see her again,"* came Mirador's seductive whisper.

Anton Arcane's brain totally stopped.

"What?"

*"You'll see her again. She is dead, after all. You'll see her again."*

Arcane's voice was very soft. "...my God, you're right..." He began to tremble.

The mental voice was quiet, coaxing. *"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Anton? Since you've been held? Since you've been touched? It's been much too long a time, hasn't it, since someone told you that they loved you..."*

Arcane's voice was barely audible. "Yes..."

*"You miss her so much... You could touch her again..."*

Arcane stared deep into space. "Yes."

*"I'll help you, Anton. Will you listen to me?"*

"Yes..."

~~~

Graham pushed through the swamp's underbrush frantically, panic streaming through his blood. "Dr. Arcane?" he called out for the Nth time. As usual, there was no answer.

When Graham had come back to an empty wreck of a lab, he had been very concerned. And when he had asked around and heard that Arcane had been spotted stumbling toward the swamp, he became worried. Now, an hour and a half later, after a tiring and ultimately fruitless search of the swamp, Graham was a nervous wreck.

"Dr. Arcane?" he tried again, somewhat half-heartedly. His spirits fell. His employer had probably fallen down a sinkhole. He shoved past a leafy frond, and his forehead wrinkled in confusion.

"Dr. Arcane???"

Oblivious to Graham's voice, Arcane knelt at the edge of a crystalline pool, staring at the water hungrily, his eyes gleaming. "L'eau de morte, " he whispered, transfixed. He cupped his hands and filled them with water, murmuring, "See you soon, my dear."

Graham stared in horror. "Dr. Arcane, don't!!! That's where we conducted the Cyanide experiment, remember?"

Arcane jumped, the precious water spilling from his hands. "Graham! What the hell are you doing?"

Graham lurched forward, confused. "What are you doing? Are you trying to kill yourself?!"

A gun clicked and and pressed against Graham's forehead. Arcane's eyes were dead. "Don't try to stop me, Graham."

Graham swallowed. "Do you want to kill me, too?"

After a moment to mull it over, the doctor shook his head. "No." He sighed, flinging the gun into the swamp. "It wasn't loaded anyway." He turned around to the cyanide pool and knelt once more by the water. "Aurevoir, Graham."

Graham hunkered down by Arcane. "Dr. Arcane, you're not in your right mind. Come back to the lab with me, and we'll fix whatever happened when you hooked yourself up to Mirador's brain."

Arcane shook his head violently. "No, no, no. Graham, you have no idea what's going on -- don't inflict your idiocy on me now. I know what I have to do."

Graham took a deep breath and screwed up some courage. "No, you don't. I can't let you do this."

Arcane stood up straight abruptly, his voice suddenly strangely gruff and with different cadences. Graham became frightened. "Leave him alone," the scientist growled. "Anton needs to do this." Arcane blinked and snarled. "No! I can do this myself! I have the courage! I don't need you to hold my hand!" He collapsed to his knees once more in exhaustion, clutching his head and shivering. Arcane whimpered in pain. "Mirador, make it stop..."

*"Calm down, Anton. The pain will end soon. Are you listening to me?"*

"Yes," Arcane whispered.

*"Drink the water. You'll be together again, the two of you, and we know that she'll forgive you. You'll be able to explain. The pain will be gone. Go ahead. Do it."*

Arcane stared into the water, but the only image he saw was Tatania's. He thought he heard Graham's voice.

"Dr. Arcane, you're tired and sick and you're not thinking really straight. Come back to the lab with me and we'll take the pain out of your mind. We'll fine a cure for what happened and we'll find a way to give your mind back to you. But you've got to come back."

Arcane looked up at that, his voice small. "My mind?" He wanted his mind back, wanted Mirador to let him have it again, wanted it very badly. But it hurt so much, and the depression swirling about him was terrible. He curled up in pain. "Mirador, help me, you promised to help me!"

*"Your mind is gone now, Anton, and you can never get it back. It hurts a lot, doesn't it? We know. End the pain. Just put your hands in the water..."*

He did so.

*"Cup it in your hands."*

"My head... oh God, my head... help me..."

*"Listen to me."*

"...I'm listening..."

Graham became frantic. "Dr. Arcane, listen to me. I don't know what you received when you downloaded data from Mirador's brain. I don't know who's talking to you right now. But whoever it is, don't listen to it. Listen to me. It's Graham. Graham. Please."

no one can stop it nothing can stop it the minutes are ticking away your mind is deteriorating piece by piece by piece the clock is ticking stop time and DO IT...

Graham stared at Arcane with intensity, willing desperately to get through to him. "Please listen to me. I know you haven't flipped. You're just kind of confused. But you don't have to die."

*"Is the water in your hands?"*

"...yes..."

*"Drink."*

He heard Graham faintly in the background, as if he were shouting from a far distance away. Everything else seemed so loud. The water lapping. Mirador. His breath. His heart. He listened a little more carefully to what Graham was saying.

"Please. Dr. Arcane, please!! Don't drink the water. It will kill you. You can't die. You don't need to die."

"I'm listening, Mirador."

*"Drink."*

Blackness.

Breathe.

In.

Out.

Continued in Part 2

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