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Welcome to Part 9:


The Chains We Break

Prologue:

(3rd:)

The world was barren, desolate; with nothing but desert stretching as far as the eye could see, though if you traveled far enough in the right direction you'd find an ocean, an ocean devoid of life and full of tasteless water.

He knew this ocean as the border of his own subconscious, and though he'd tried many times to cross it, he always ended up right back here, walking the sands, trying desperately to find a way out of this prison.

He'd been there so long he wasn't even sure he remembered his own name anymore, though he had reason to believe it started with a D; as he had found a message, possibly left by himself, carved into the sand, trying to remind him of what he needed to do.

It had told him to keep looking, that he had to get back to his family, it had been signed, however, all but the first letter of the name had been watched away by an undetectable wind.

He couldn't help but sigh as he looked up from his walking to see a familiar skyline appearing in the distance. It was the city, that's all he knew it as, a city that continued to grow, invading the land like a parasite. No matter how far he walked, he always returned here, never far from its ever encroaching reach.

Tired and weak, he fell to the ground and laid in the sand as he watched the blocks of the buildings form themselves into shapes, intruding further inland as a solid representative to the damage it was inflicting on his mind.

"Donatello."

Was that his name?

"Donatello!" The voice repeated itself, causing the turtle to open his eyes, discovering that the city had invaded the land all around him as he'd rested. Though they were arranged in different orders he knew the structures were all the same, providing a difficult maze to navigate.

But he no longer had the strength to outrun it, or the will to escape the loop. There was nothing to go back to, he was alone and lost. Better to just let the city take him than keep fighting.

"Donatello," The voice interrupted again, forcing him to look around in an attempt to find it and demand that it leave him in peace. At first, he didn't see anything, leaving him to believe that he was hallucinating, it wouldn't be the first time. But, as he turned to look in the other direction, a form appeared and he stopped to focus on it.

"I know you," He told it as the man walked forward to kneel in front of him.

"You must get up," The mirage insisted kindly, "I have not protected you this long just for you to give in at the last moment."

"Olcadan?" He finally asked it as the name came to mind and the man smiled. Though it was a strange expression to see on his bird-like face; the turtle still found it to be comforting.

"Get up, Donatello," Olcadan informed him, reaching out to lay a hand on his shoulder. The shocking weight, a feeling he hadn't felt in so long, was proof enough that this person was real, "You have work to do," He added sternly, which only caused Donatello to look at the ground.

"Get up," He proclaimed again, far more insistently this time, causing the turtle to shun away from the sound, "Get up! GET UP!"

His voice echoed off the empty city walls, causing Donatello to flinch as if he'd been struck; only to discover with an uncertain level of shock that he was now on his feet again, despite not remembering the action.

Looking up again, he deflated as he discovered Olcadan was gone, leaving him along once more. "But there's nothing here," He told the vacant air sadly.

"There is, if you look," Olcadan's voice answered, causing him to spin around in an attempt to locate the man, but he remained nonexistent.

"What does that mean?" He asked in a quiet voice, but this time he received no answer and had no reason to believe otherwise.

Not possessing the strength to outrun the infectious city again, he just sat on one of the dull gray benches that it had produced and watched as it expanded around him. Most anyone would have found the sight amazing, but not him, for somehow he knew that it was responsible for his state of being.

It was breaking into his mind, little by little and he couldn't stop it, all he could do was watch and wait as it took more of his memories and more of his life.

However, as he watched it this time he noticed something he hadn't before. Though he had learned long ago that the city was full of information, and had gone to great lengths to learn all that he could from it, it wasn't until now, at his lowest state that he realized it didn't just contain that knowledge, it was made of it.

As he continued to focus on the city building itself around him he began to see more and more of the code underneath; until eventually the code was all he saw.

Looking back at the ground he reached down to pick up a handful of sand, realizing that it was supposed to represent his mind. But he knew his mind and it didn't look like this.

"I'm in a computer," He suddenly said out loud as his brain put the pieces together and he looked up again to watch the city continue growing in all directions, even up.

It had been so long since he'd entered one of the buildings, as he no longer had any use for them, having learned everything they had to offer. But he remained calm as he opened the door to some kind of business, with nothing but empty rooms and soundless ghosts as its foundation.

Checking one last time to insure he indeed had the tallest tower in the city, he quietly headed for the stairs, only to stop a few feet away and look at a wall. Now able to see the coding the computer had put into its construction he decided to add a little of his own and gently placed his hand against the wall to enforce his will onto the area and in a matter of moments the wall had reconfigured itself into a handy elevator.

He'd been walking far too long; he wasn't about to take the freaking stairs to the top of this thing.

Once inside, he leaned against the wall to close his eyes. Forced to rest in response to the city claiming another area of his mind, causing the fatigue to set in again, but he remained strong as he waited for the elevator to reach the top, knowing that his fight was almost over.

One way or another.

179 floors, he would have acknowledged it as a record if he knew it wasn't real. But he was still grateful when the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened to let him see out over the near endless expanse of buildings and skyscrapers encroaching steadily on the desert around it.

He had to give himself a little push to get moving again, but he was able to walk out onto the roof, leaving the elevator to disappear back into the surrounding code.

He wouldn't need it anymore.

Carefully, he climbed the short wall around the edge and looked down at the ground below, able to see much of the city now, as it constantly worked to recode the area into a continuous loop of buildings.

However, though he was tired and week, being so high strangely did not make him dizzy or disoriented, only relieved. And it was this new-found hope that gave him the strength to take that final step and fall into the abyss.


I admit I drew some inspiration from "Inception" for this chapter.

Love that movie! XD

I know it's a little confusing though, but don't worry, it'll make more sense in the next chapter