Dirk had no idea how long he sat in the darkness by himself. He had no idea what day it was. He had no idea the time, how long since he had drank or eaten anything, or how long since he had slept. The blond just felt… hollow. He stared into the darkness, unable to see anything. It was a strange thing that his mind came up with, that he had traded darkness for the light and his only friend. His eyes didn't hurt any more… but every inch of him otherwise still ached. The wound on his back still burned and throbbed, more than likely infected by this point. Dirk was almost certain he was going to die now. Alone. In the Dark. Friendless. Without a soul to even know he existed. His mind had been wondering. The lack of medication, combined with fear, pain and isolation did a number on one's sanity. Dirk came up with the idea that he was making movies in his head to keep himself sane. He pictured Jake's wedding, more than likely with Jane. There wasn't a better couple, honestly. Dirk should have realized that a long time ago, he knew that now. They would raise John and Jade- Roxy, hopefully keeping sober, taking care of Dave and Rose. Hopefully they would forget about his entirety of foul up's and tell Dave at least a few good things about his older brotherly figure.
Would he hate him like he had grown up thinking about his brother? Would he be disappointed in knowing that he had died such a way? Unheroic- forgotten… His brother had gone out in such a bang that the entire kingdom of the Condesce was roaring with triumph. Dave would grow up to be great and… that broke his heart in a sense. The pre-scratch version of himself had managed to raise such a person and now he was here. Dave would, of course, be magnificent regardless of Dirk's involvement but it still bothered him that he wouldn't be there for the school functions, the shit science projects, the dates and the stupid amount of homework that kids got. He wanted to be there for him. A stray thought came across that he should have just died in the game if he was going to die like this… then it might have been worth something. What an ending to his story…
Dirk had gotten used to the smell the corpse was giving off. If someone had told him- even in the game- that he would be spending almost two months in a cell with a corpse and a psychopath keeping him prisoner… he would have never believed them. But it was too late for that. And regrets. He had too many of those to even count. He should have met more people, built more robots, tinkered with more, finished My Little Pony, raised Dave, and had a neon orange birthday cake. Yet another odd thing that crossed his mind during all of this he had been involved with… he wouldn't have another birthday. The whole tradition was weird in the first place if anyone were to ask him, but Jake usually bounced his way over, laying him with a passionate kiss… Dirk swallowed thinking about Jake. His biggest regret and achievement in life- to have someone, even briefly, like Jake English. Damn had he been in love, here he was again without anything to show for it. He just continued to stare, even if his eyes didn't see anything.
"You have long monologues inside your head." A voice said to him and his eyes snapped open. Nothing in the darkness. No sound. No movement. His back was against the wall as he slowly slid up to stand, "You would think you would be a lot better at public speaking. Almost 37% better." His eyes widened, still not seeing anything in the darkness. "Whose there?" His voice cracked and a red flickered on in a chest plate in front of him. Showing a black suit, red lines like circuits in the person's body, pale skin and white hair, sunglasses and burning red eyes. A smirk on the person's lips as he looked at him, standing on the other side of the room. The red light should have been bright enough to light the room, but it stayed dull, like even it couldn't penetrate the darkness. Dirk's mouth had fallen open, "AR?" He whispered and the being cocked it's head to the side. "I still prefer Lil Hal- or just Hal now."
"No- no- I left you in the game. I made you into a sprite!" Dirk whispered touching his face for the glasses to find them still missing, "You were destroyed with that session!" Hal chuckled, walking toward him, eyes piercing him. He was close now to where Dirk was pressed against the wall. Hal flickered for a moment and Dirk swallowed, "Yeah… you left a lot of loose ends in the session. You just thought you could leave all your problems behind." He whispered a hiss underneath it that sounded like Jake's tea kettle. Hal's hands were on his neck and Dirk stared at him, "Tell me Dirk… I'm no longer scared about not existing… how about you?" Hal disappeared, and Dirk had his own hands around his throat. He took his hands away, breathing heavily. The darkness was surrounding him again. He shook his head, "You're just a hallucination brought on by me not taking my medication. You're not real." In a moment Hal was dancing around the room with Jenna's corpse before letting it drop, "Am I Dirk? Am I just one of your hallucinations? How long are you going to keep ignoring that you were crazy all along? You said it yourself- your insanity made Jake leave you the first time. How long are you going to be trapped here?" Dirk shook his head, eyes going wide again, "What the fuck-" His hands went to the side of his face and he crouched down, shaking his head. "Stop- stop-" He opened his eyes again to find Hal staring at him. "Sometimes you can't escape, Dirk." Hal stepped back as the door opened again and Nathanial let the light flood in. "Hello Dirk. My brother, Danny, sent me a new a toy to play with." He snapped it out. A military grade knight stick with electrical capabilities- proving so when Nathanial hit the button on the bottom, sending a sound of a crackle into the air.
Hal stood in the background, unseen by Nathanial as the session commenced. There was such a judgmental look in his face as Dirk stared at him as he was electrocuted- being held down on the bed and bludgeoned with the nightstick around the stomach. Hal walked over to him, Nathanial's hand clamped tight around Dirk's mouth as tears came down and Hal leaned down to him. "Fight him. Fight back, Dirk." Hal stared at him, eyes still burning into him. Dirk let out a scream behind the hand as the electricity burnt across his stomach. It lasted only for twenty minutes- one of the shorter sessions. Hal stayed beside him, "You should have fought him." Dirk shivered on the bed, nerves frazzled from the shocks. "Why didn't you if you're not a hallucination." His lips quivered as he spoke and Hal turned his head to him. "This is about me. You need to fight. You need to. Or there will be a hundred more just like you." Dirk swallowed, "What do you mean?" Hal snorted, "Don't be stupid. You know what I mean. If you die here, then there is going to be a hundred more he takes. No one will stop him." Dirk shook his head, curling on himself, "That isn't my problem." He whispered, clutching the sheets to ignore the pain but it was too much to simply wish away this time. "Oh so you like watching kids like Jenna get that treatment." Dirk's eyes opened again, turning around to see Hal gone. "Of course not!" He yelled back, eyes wild. "Jenna- Jenna didn't deserve that." There came a smack and Hal was on top of him then. "Not your problem?! He'll be after Roxy next, or Jane! Not your problem?! Who the fuck do you think it is then?! Wake up the fuck up, Prince! You are the last thing standing between him and everyone one else in the world. All the Jenna's who had families waiting for them- all the Dave's that never get to see their brother again because you were too scared. FIGHT!" He shook him and Dirk stared up, "I'm not… strong enough."
"Then become strong enough." Hal growled and stepped away from him. "Because if you don't… everyone you care about is going to die with you."