Matrix-Stuck

Chapter One

My mind lurches forward, bounding into thought after a momentary lapse of consciousness. A viscid bubble of lukewarm liquid surrounds me. All I notice, aside from the feeling of being completely submerged, is a long plastic tube snaking down my throat. It must be what's allowing me to breath so easily. How did someone have the time to shove this thing into my mouth? I make a mental note that I've probably been out for longer than I'd assumed...

My entire body is immobilized, including my eyelids. They don't even flutter as I strain to open them. I do not panic, however. Panicking will not contribute to finding any sort of solution in this mess. I do a brief test of all my limbs by attempting to squeeze or move any part of my body, but the only motion I have is in my fingertips. They uncurl and press against the hard sides of the unfamiliar enclosure.

Next, I do a memory check. Who am I? I am Rose Lalonde. My home is located in Rainbow Falls, New York. I am simultaneously playing Sburb and attempting to save what is left of the universe. My planet in the Medium is The Planet of Light and Rain. I am in love with Kanaya Maryam, and I am the Seer of Light.

But if I'm the Seer of Light, why am I at a loss of sight? My unlimited knowledge is failing me, apparently. It's rather surprising that it can. This is certainly a curve ball.

I remember the hour leading up to my collapse, yet am at a loss for what happened in the preceding few minutes. Our ship was about to reach our end destination. I had been briefing Dave, Terezi, Kanaya, and Karkat on my most recent premonitions. Yes. Kanaya had kissed me on the cheek when the others' backs were turned, which had caused me to laugh. Oblivious fools. And then…what then? We saw more clearly what we'd been approaching for years. The recollection of glimpsing the light is much stronger than the image of the light itself. In fact, I don't very well recall what it looked like, just that I had seen it. What comes after this point in my memory is foggy.

Ephemeral flashes of strange things fly through my mind. Something to do with a rabbit. Yes. A rabbit was definitely present. And a pill, maybe? Wait, two pills. Two pills. But why am I certain of this? Pills have nothing to do with what had been happening.

Without giving me any more time to ponder, the fluid suddenly begins to drain, and I have other mysteries to worry about. My arms are now able to flail about meekly, and I take advantage of this new skill to feel around even more. I touch my face, which is no longer immersed, with hesitance. It feels like my face, so no surprises there. I next reach for the top of my head, and a sensation of dread fills me. My straight blonde hair is gone, leaving only bare scalp. Lastly, I pry apart my eyelids with great effort, and look up in horrified awe.

Tens of thousands of clear cribs line the walls of a colossal hive, each containing some sort of being within them. Large, arthropod resembling robots move speedily up and down lines of these containers. Their dozens of mechanical arms ricochet off of one another noisily. The metal claws attached scrape the sides of the walls, and give me the urge to shriek. Apparently, the fluid had taken away my hearing until now. Each robot stops at one of the cribs, fiddles with a bundle of wires surrounding them, and moves on to the next.

I try to sit up to get a more accurate view of this process. Before I can, however, the bottom of my container jerks open. The tube rips out of my throat painfully, and I am falling.

As my descent fails to stop within a few seconds, I come to two possible conclusions. A) I am dead, and this is some sort of pre-dream bubble existence, which could last for an eternity. Or B) I'm falling farther than I should be able to without being injured, and may be dead very shortly. To either scenario, I can only come up with a short response.

Fuck.

After what seems much longer than it probably was, the wide mouth of a pipe catches me and I am pushed down an inundation of rapidly moving slime- most likely what I had been submerged in seconds before. The current forces me along at great speed. I struggle to keep my head up, gasping for air at every possible moment. My arms jut out and skim across the sides of the pipe in a futile attempt to slow myself. Of course, it does nothing. I keep racing down the long pipe, and I wonder where the hell it's taking me to.

Right as the thought crosses my mind, the sound of an approaching waterfall rings in my ears.

I tense up and brace myself for the impending doom awaiting me. Oddly enough, the thought isn't very worrying. I tend to find disastrous situations quite fun. Pleasant even.

I scramble to crane my neck forward just in time to spot the drop and tumble over toward the mysterious depths below. I plummet downward, hoping my bald head isn't going to smash into anything that might crack my skull. Before I have time to reminisce on my favorite memories of life, maybe say a few goodbyes, or have some time to regret everything I haven't done yet, I dive into a whirling pool of ooze.