Desmond Miles' hazy mind was shattered into consciousness by a new reality. With all his senses under attack, he tried to grab onto something concrete. Seeing figures approaching him, he reached out, but quickly tumbled back when he saw they had no faces. They surrounded him, giving Desmond an alien feeling of claustrophobia.
"I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to know madness and folly", an unknown yet somehow familiar voice echoed through his very core. "I perceived that this also was a chasing at wind, for in much wisdom, is much grief."
The feelings Desmond felt were not his, yet he felt them all the same. The decision to break away from the faceless horde was not his own, yet he did it anyway. Even though he did not make the choice, he somehow still felt himself making it.
"And he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow."
"We've got a problem," a new female voice said. But this one was different. It was not a part of whatever this was. "I can't anchor him to the memory. Too much psychological trauma. He's rejecting the treatment. Retreating."
"Desmond, I need you to try and relax." Another voice away from all this. Desmond tried to cling to it, taking it all in, all the details. This one was male and definitely older than the other one.
"Let me try and stabilize it." the other one said.
"Focus. Listen to the sound of my voice. Recognize that what you're seeing isn't real. Just a picture of the past. It can't hurt you."
Not real? Just a picture? None of it made any sense. Where the hell was he? Everything felt real to Desmond, but they were not his feelings. It was like he was an actor acting out all the parts and somehow even the thoughts and emotions of the character as well. And none of it was of his own free will. He had to resist.
"Damn it!" It was the female voice again. "It's not working."
"Give it a moment, Ms. Stillman. He'll adjust. The first time is never easy."
"We're losing him!"
"That's enough Ms. Stillman!"
"We need to pull him out. Now."
As Desmond began to give up, resigning to the idea that he would be forever trapped in this descent into madness, he heard the male voice sigh in defeat.
"Alright, Desmond. We're going to try and bring you out now."
A/N: I will be updating this story with at least one chapter every Sunday, unless something comes up that is more important.