DestinyIntertwined: OH FIRST REVIEW! Thank you so much, I didn't think anyone read this. I know I don't update, but this really was a confidence booster.

Spazm: Thanks so much. I actually do have some interesting things planned, and you have no idea how happy it makes me that you told me my writing isn't bad. :{D

shadowelf144: B'aaaaaw, thanks. I giggled at your review and it made my day a little bit better. College crap and whatnot… but THANKS FOR READING!

Thank you to everyone who favorite-ed and whatnot, makes me very happy person.

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Water dripped at a steady constant rate from who knows where. A disturbingly haunting voice reverberated off the glass walls and slithered tauntingly into my sensitive ears. After navigating past broken ride cars and fake mechanical puppets and finding myself in the worst possible place on the face of this earth, I considered myself to be handling this pretty well! If you consider fearfully crouched in a corner looking no better than the Splicers roaming around the area… 'pretty well'. Another defenseless puppet had suffered the wrath of me ripping off one of its arms for protection. I can't say for how long exactly I was sitting there, but it felt like hours. Absentmindedly, I began touching the fabric on my slippers, fluffy, soft, damp, and dirty. I didn't tell you did I? When I meant I woke up from a nap, I really did just wake up from a nap, pajamas from head to toe.

There was one thing I knew for sure, playing the game was much different than living it, I figured that much right away. The dank smell wafting through the air, the most disturbing scenes one could ever think of, and bodies… I'd never seen a real dead body before and this; this was the real thing, decomposing flesh and all. And the writing scrawled messily upon the peeling walls, surrounded by dying candles in a very shrine-like setting, caught more than a glance from me. "She is our Salvation." I had kept my voice a whisper when I'd read it, determined to avoid any encounters with Splicers. A large wet circle had pooled on my thin pajamas, soaking my butt and part of my thigh. I couldn't stay like this forever, there was a way out of here, and this game had to have an ending.

My steps slow and steady, I moved, cautious and jittery to say the least. Much more than once, distant voices traversed the halls, some conversing, mostly complaining. I took great pains to avoid them, growing chillier with each step. One voice in particular grew louder, more distinct. Instantly, I dropped… straight into a puddle of leaked water. Gasping back a silent scream, I clasped a hand tightly over my mouth, breathing unevenly. Floating in the water was a former white porcelain mask. Even I knew its worth when I picked it up, apprehensive at whether there was still a face or traces of any flesh still attached. Luckily there wasn't. "This could work." I encouraged, tying the mask to my face, disregarding the dirty water sliding down my pale cheeks.

Rabbit mask on my eyes, rainbow polka-dots on my body, and armed with a mechanical….arm, I trekked past the park entrance, my confidence a tad bit higher than before. How was I supposed to get home? I pondered being deemed as a missing person, but who would think far enough to look under the ocean? Was I even in my own universe or a parallel one? After all, I'd been sucked into a game. If I did emerge from the ocean and see the surface again would it be my world, or not? A perpetual hand stuck itself into my head and yanked me harshly from my thoughts. What was that hand? What else…

"Intruder!" Naturally, I yelped and ran, and still had the audacity to glance back. This one didn't have a mask in his possession and I distinctly recollect how much it needed one. The Splicer, a man, had bulging white, colorless, eyes the size of apples yearning for a chance to pop out of the socket. His lips were jagged and fixed into an unsightly smile, oozing blood. A tip for you, never look back when you're running forward, you'll have a tendency to trip. Upon losing my footing, my arms flew up to cover my face and head as I curled into a perfect circle on the floor. Whoop-dee-doo.

'BLAM' I knew the sound of a gunshot when I heard one. Especially one so loudly, my earwax probably started having a hoedown in there. Realizing I had no more dignity to spare, I squeaked pathetically and lowered my head, inhaling fresh blood.

"Jus' who're you tryin' to fool kid?" Like a dead fish, I flopped over to peek at my savior or murderer… can't be too quick to judge, even with an accent like that. Towering above me and the dead Splicer was a character I hadn't seen before; his hair was, probably at one point jet black, now streaked with gray, his age showing through. Bland looking in my opinion… and fat too. Okay, not fat, but he did harbor a kind of noticeable muffin top. Smoke floated slowly away from the man's pistol even as he placed it back on the holster around his hip.

I opened my mouth, but nothing more than a pathetic groan slipped past my lips. One of the man's eyebrows rose in obvious question, "You're gonna have to speak up there now." Thing was, I didn't want to speak up; I wanted to go home and crawl under my covers and ferment.

"How do I get out of here?" My voice had definitely changed since I'd arrived; it had been slowly getting feebler and feebler. My slow mental decline was proceeding at a constant rate.

"Ah, looks to me like we're on the same leakin' boat." You have no idea how much I wanted to say, 'So you got sucked into a videogame too?', but bit my dry tongue. "Now, I propose you come on this 'ere train with me…" With a certain amount of difficulty, he crouched and gently slid off my white mask, "Unless, you got a better idea up that rainbow sleeve o' yours kid. Hm? Or perhaps you prefer to spend a night alone with them Splicers." Ignoring the reference to my pajamas, my eyes slowly went to glance at the train; maybe this was why it was called the Atlantic express.

"Why…are you-." He'd already gotten up and started to walk off, but didn't fail to cut me off mid-sentence.

"It's fun to watch a fish on the land kid, but it thanks you more when you put it back in the water." No comment on my part. "Now I do intend to keep to civil formalities; name's Augustus Sinclair."

"Mackenzie Dawn." Damp, cold, and thirsty, I followed after him, wondering if that train really did go to the surface.

"Ms. Dawn, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The ups and downs in his accented voice made me almost smile. Even so, I'd played enough games to know that the nicest characters turn and stab you in the back later. Atlas… for example.

Either way, it was going to be a long ride.

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Thanks much for reading.