POV: Chetan
Chetan woke up when his head hit the ground.
He opened his eyes, disoriented, and remained motionless for a few seconds, trying to gather his thoughts. He didn't remember falling asleep, but the bright white light filling the room was getting on his nerves.
The mask was in front of him, at a normal distance, but with its back turned.
– Are you awake???, N?
Chetan sat up, rubbing the back of his neck.
– When did I fall asleep?
The mask did not answer his question. Its smooth back reflected the light from the ceiling, without revealing what might be behind it.
– Tired. Need to rest. Sorry. So, so sorry.
- ha
A faint crackling sound echoed above them.
Chetan looked up.
The next second, the floor vibrated beneath his feet. He immediately placed a hand against the wall to regain his balance, while a low rumble rippled through the room.
Something had just happened outside; it looked as if they had been hit.
– What was that?
The mask tilted its head slightly.
– you you you don't need to worry.
– I'm not worried. I'm just asking what's going on.
BIBIBIBIBIPPPPPPPPPPP
An alarm suddenly went off, letting out a high-pitched shriek that made him grimace.
The lights turned red, they started flashing above the door, and the signal stopped as suddenly as it had started.
Chetan straightens up, his eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Nothing.
– A breakdown?
The mask remained strangely silent.
He took a step toward the door, then stopped when the floor shook again. This time, the jolt was shorter, but strong enough to move the mask a few centimeters. It slammed against the wall.
Chetan looked at him, surprised.
Hey, how are you?
– N… must…
The voice broke into a crackling sound.
The masked man raised his hands to his head.
At first, Chetan thought it was a malfunction similar to that of the white-masked machines. He had already noticed that his interlocutor sometimes changed his behavior without warning, a bit like those machines; they were unstable, but never with such strangeness.
His shoulders heaved, his fingers dug against the sides of his skull, and he backed away until he hit the wall.
- What are you doing ?
A strangled sound came from his throat.
The mask folded in half.
Chetan instinctively recoiled. He had no idea what was happening to this thing, but its behavior had just changed so drastically that he could still consider it a mere defective machine.
Hey! Stop!
The mask let out a cry.
A disordered howl, rising to a high pitch before choking in a succession of sobs. The mask clawed at its face, tearing off small fragments of white material that fell to the ground.
Chetan felt his stomach clench.
– What's wrong with you?!
The thing didn't seem to hear him.
She struggled against herself, banging her shoulders against the wall, then dropping to her knees before rising again with such a sudden movement that Chetan was almost hit. Her hands were trembling. She tried to tear off what was covering her face, but each attempt only made her scream louder.
– Aaaah… no! No, no, no!
BAM
A new jolt rippled through the room.
The mask was thrown aside. Its shoulder struck Chetan squarely, and he lost his balance. He tried to regain his footing as quickly as possible, but the thing turned back towards him in a desperate movement.
His arm moved without warning.
The blow struck Chetan in the head.
Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
It was the whistling in his head.
He didn't even have time to understand what had just happened. A searing pain shot through his skull.
His body left the floor and hit the wall on the other side of the room before falling heavily, breathless.
For a few seconds, he couldn't hear anything.
His vision blurred with a warm liquid.
He tried to move, but his arms responded with a delay, and a throbbing heaviness rose from his shoulder to the back of his neck.
When he raised his hand to his head, his fingers encountered a wet area.
He removed them immediately.
You sang.
– Damn…
The word barely came out.
He tried to get up, but his legs gave way. The room swayed, the lights doubled, and every attempt to regain his balance hurt.
He leaned against the wall, unable to take his eyes off the thing.
She was still in her crisis.
It was burning.
His body shrank in volume as if his tissues were being consumed by flames. Matter deformed in places, swelling before contracting, while wet sounds and creaking accompanied his movements.
An arm, legs, a body, I see a body taking shape, raw flesh
The thing clung to its own face.
– It's… Stop…
Chetan covered his face to the side.
He finally pushed himself away from putting some distance between himself and that thing. His movements were clumsy, his head tilted to the side, until he felt a corner of the wall against his back.
CLAP
The mask falls to the ground.
Her hands covered her bare face.
He was crying now, without trying to hide his sobs. Each breath brought a new cry from him, as if something inside his body was trying to force its way out.
– I don't want to…
Chetan swallowed with difficulty.
He had seen people suffer. He knew the fear, the pain, and the chaotic reactions they provoked in those who lost control. Yet he had never seen anyone struggle like this, as if their own body had become their worst enemy.
BAM
A new tremor shook the walls.
The thing suddenly arched.
A cracking sound was heard, followed by a scream so violent that Chetan pressed his hands against his ears without even remembering his injury.
When he opened his eyes again, the mask was on all fours, its fingers clenched in the ground.
Chetan wanted to look away.
He did not succeed.
His curiosity was greater.
Her face revealed reddened skin, crisscrossed with dark veins. Across this surface, the veins shifted, reforming in a series of painful contractions. Her jaw lengthened, then snapped back into place. Her fingers curled before extending again, until her joints assumed a more familiar, almost human form.
She started screaming
Help me… someone…
His voice no longer sounded mechanical.
Chetan felt a pang in his heart.
He hated that reaction.
Yet, faced with this figure writhing on the ground, begging for its pain to be ended, a question imposed itself on him.
Did he have compassion for that thing?
And, amidst her sobs, a strangled voice uttered words that Chetan barely understood.
– I'm in so much pain…