John had been awake for...much, much too long now. He was exhausted, but his mind refused to let him sleep. Every time he was about to drift off, his mind added another gruesome image of The Other's death...or his own...or, worse yet, Aeryn's. He finally gave up and sat up in bed. What to do, what to do. He felt a sudden pang of loss for Earth...if he was home, he could have turned on the TV and watched Party of Five or Grace Under Fire reruns till he finally passed out from pure exhaustion. He looked around the room and saw Stark's mask still sitting on his makeshift desk. 'Not TV...but it'll do...' He thought. He walked across the room and picked up the mask, expecting it to instantly activate at his touch like the first time. Nothing. He wondered...
"Curiosity killed the cat ...but this feline's got eight lives left...lets peek in Pandora's box," he said aloud. He pulled the mask on over his face...and screamed with pain. The mask caused a sudden burning sensation in the back of his brain, near his cerebral cortex and froze him in place. It was like the exact moment when the Ancients had put the wormhole tech in his brain...or when he had been frozen under the disco ball in the Scarren's mental funhouse...but it was a million times worse. He still felt the burning at the base of his skull, now blinding and paired with the sound of an inhuman scream.
"WHY JOHN?!? WHY?!" It was Harvey. He was dying. The mask was killing him. The pain increased in time with the screaming as another scream entered the fray- a part of him vaguely recognized it as him. The pain suddenly ended, as well as the screaming, and John dropped to the floor, completely exhausted, more then he had ever been before. He laid there for several microts, panting, when he finally closed his eyes and shouted inside his mind-
"Harvey?" No reply. Once more.
"HARVEY?" One more time, just to be sure...
"HARVEY? ANSWER ME, DAMNIT!" Nothing. He was gone. Finally. A random late night encounter with Stark's mask had done what a major surgery and arns of meditation and counseling from Zhaan couldn't: It had killed Harvey. John stood up and danced around the room muttering, "Who's the man? I am! Thankyouthankyou, Stark, you beautiful Banik bastard!" He laughed, the same crazy sounding laugh he had had...since he got to the U.T.s. He lay back down on the floor. He rolled on to his back, enjoying the feeling of being alone in his own mind for the first time in...forever. He looked up and saw that Stark's mask was still hovering in the air, where he had been seconds before. He gasped and stared at it...
"Curiosity killed the cat ...but this feline's got eight lives left...lets peek in Pandora's box," he said aloud. He pulled the mask on over his face...and screamed with pain. The mask caused a sudden burning sensation in the back of his brain, near his cerebral cortex and froze him in place. It was like the exact moment when the Ancients had put the wormhole tech in his brain...or when he had been frozen under the disco ball in the Scarren's mental funhouse...but it was a million times worse. He still felt the burning at the base of his skull, now blinding and paired with the sound of an inhuman scream.
"WHY JOHN?!? WHY?!" It was Harvey. He was dying. The mask was killing him. The pain increased in time with the screaming as another scream entered the fray- a part of him vaguely recognized it as him. The pain suddenly ended, as well as the screaming, and John dropped to the floor, completely exhausted, more then he had ever been before. He laid there for several microts, panting, when he finally closed his eyes and shouted inside his mind-
"Harvey?" No reply. Once more.
"HARVEY?" One more time, just to be sure...
"HARVEY? ANSWER ME, DAMNIT!" Nothing. He was gone. Finally. A random late night encounter with Stark's mask had done what a major surgery and arns of meditation and counseling from Zhaan couldn't: It had killed Harvey. John stood up and danced around the room muttering, "Who's the man? I am! Thankyouthankyou, Stark, you beautiful Banik bastard!" He laughed, the same crazy sounding laugh he had had...since he got to the U.T.s. He lay back down on the floor. He rolled on to his back, enjoying the feeling of being alone in his own mind for the first time in...forever. He looked up and saw that Stark's mask was still hovering in the air, where he had been seconds before. He gasped and stared at it...