Nights Apart
Chapter 2

Warnings: Language violence.

Breathing was difficult. Nope, never mind. Damned near impossible. Yet somehow he managed. Hell, he was even walking around! His eyes hurt, though. It felt like nails were being hammered into them from the inside. It burned, too.

He'd somehow found his way out of his station and was now seeking help. Why, though, did it feel like he was sneaking around? He wasn't moving like normal. He kept to blind spots, moving slowly until he had to sprint to the next one. He could feel every muscle ready to pounce and attack, he just couldn't figure out why. Speaking of not knowing, what happened before he woke up a few minutes ago?

He ducked around a corner, seeing the guards for the communications bridge. "Oh! Numbuh 1097! Whatcha' doing?" Before his stood a girl. Numbuh 2217. 1097's intentions were to greet her, tell her something might be wrong, maybe it had something to do with how his eyes were hurting and his vision that started to blur by now. Or, y'know, maybe he's just been starring at a monitor for too long.

That's not what happened. "Hey, your eyes look a bit -," he had her in a choke hold by then. She was suffocating. 1097 tried to stop. He tried to let her go, apologize, then launch himself into deep space for the next few years until he lived this down. Over and over he'd scream at himself to 'let go!' but he didn't even move until 2217 went limp and he went to hide her body.

-Nights Apart-

Did you know, the most entertaining way to shirk your responsibilities would be by watching pointless videos on the internet? Well, that was definitely numbuh 2555 – the numbuh responsible for monitoring and keeping the communications signal to Moonbase stable's favourite little hobby. Today's entertainment? An instruction video on picking your nose without being caught (100% efficient, guaranteed!).

ALERT: MOONBASE SIGNAL LOST.

2555 froze. "Oh boy," he proceeded to panic for a few seconds before diving for the control panel and pulling out every signal restore and boost method he could think of. Alas, it was all for naught. No matter what he did, that signal was lost. "You had one job!" He yelled, pulling at his hair, near hyperventilating as he imagined an ass-load of unpleasant consequences that may or may not come his way. Well done 2555. I hope learning how to properly pick your nose was worth it. When he finally calmed down, he proceeded to call it in. "Communication with Moonbase lost, I repeat, communication with Moonbase has been lost."

For the record, this all happened before lunch. The rest of the day was a bit more destructive.

-Nights Apart-

12:00 pm.

Let's see, how does one describe this on a way that is completely not boring or overused? Starting with 'it was quiet' would probably be a bad idea, then, even though that's exactly what it was. Quiet. There wasn't really anything happening at this time. In fact, most people who weren't out on errands for other people were taking naps. It was just that quiet.

12:49 pm.

This is more or less when things started going batshit. Or rather, fusions started going batshit. Severe attacks at Sector V, the nuclear plant, Townsville Park, and Townsville centre. In fact, it was bad enough for all available bodies nearby to be called in. Leaving most of Downtown south basically clear. They came from the beaches when everyone was too busy. The goal of this whole set up? The destruction of Offworld Plaza. There would be no way off of Earth, and no way to help Moonbase. That, with everyone in it, would now be at the mercy of Fuse.

Author's note: Yeah, I got a wave of 'drop everything you're supposed to do and grab a fuckin' pencil'. Usually that's fine. However I HAVE A PHYS. SCIENCE EXAM IN TWO DAYS AND I DON'T KNOW SHIT. Talk about timing, I have to pull all-nighters now.

This is also the result of me starring at a map of the Fusionfall universe at 11:00 pm and trying to strategize. It sucks but I've run out of ideas how to make it better and give exactly zero fucks.

Also, something I just want to put out there. The parasite controlling 1097 is a little something I came up with based on the 'Green Banded Broodsac' parasite that preys on snails. If you're squeamish, skip the next paragraph because I am giving more info weather anyone wants it or not.

The Green Banded Broodsac (Leucochloridium paradoxum) is a parasitic flatworm commonly found in the digestive systems of birds in Europe and North-America. When excreted it the larvae find themselves in the digestive systems of snails. Here the parasite grows into the sporocyst stage, where it invades the eyestalk(s), an excruciating process that leaves the snail blind and the eyestalk(s) swollen and different shades of green. Banded Broodsacs then proceed to alter the snail's behaviour, making it more attracted to open and bright spaces, where the infected eyes will twitch, fooling birds into thinking of them as caterpillars. If the snail is lucky, it will be eaten whole and the parasite will reproduce in the stomach of the bird, restarting the cycle. If not, the bird will only eat its eye, leaving it to regrow so the whole process will start all over again until the snail is eventually eaten.

Fun stuff, ey?

Yeah, I'm tired. Goodnight.