- >You pay little attention to the guards as you walk out.
- >You're in a bit of a daze.
- >They offer some sort of respectful salute.
- >You ignore it.
- >You need to time to think.
- >You need to be alone.
- >You don't even know where your... his room is.
- >You don't even know where here is.
- >Talking horses aren't a normal happening on Earth.
- >Torture and maiming was more commonplace then you'd like to think.
- >But you wouldn't ever do such a thing...
- >Would you?
- >You feel sick.
- >Throwing up in the halls isn't a good idea.
- >You wander aimlessly, eventually stumbling upon a washroom of sorts.
- >You go inside, checking to see if anyone else is present.
- >Nope.
- >You immediately hurl in the nearest toilet-like structure.
- >You feel slightly less nauseous.
- >That doesn't stop the headache, or the visions.
- >you go to a sink and splash some cold water in your face.
- >You look at yourself in a mirror for the first time today.
- >Same clothes, same face, same eyes.
- >The eyes of a monster, perhaps.
- >You stare at yourself, wondering where the hell you are.
- >Wondering what the hell this is.
- >Maybe you could ask a guard?
- >”Hi, my name's Anonymous the butcher. I'm twelve years old, and what is this?”
- >You don't imagine that going well.
- >Maybe a more subtle approach would be necessary.
- >Skirt around the questions.
- >Put them on edge.
- >You've got some sort of status around here, and the guards seem to fear you.
- >Those two, at least.
- >Maybe they would have some answers for you.
- ><”Yeah, because subtle has always been your forte, hasn't it?”
- >>”Fuck off, brain.”
- ><”I'm a little bit more than that, Anonymous. Don't you remember?”
- >>”Yes. Now go away. I am trying to think.”
- ><”Anon, you're in a strange world of talking horses, unicorns, pegasi, and gun toting humans. You
- >< look just like some sort of sadist, and you're on the verge of a breakdown. Don't you think a familiar >< voice would be nice right about now?”
- >>”Not after what you said.”
- ><”Look, I'm just a glorified representation of your subconscious that YOU created when you were
- >< lonely.”
- >>”I know what you are. I made you. Go away.”
- ><”You haven't talked to me in a long time, Anon.”
- >>”I haven't needed to. I've outgrown you.”
- >< But you have wanted to. And you did talk to me in that room.”
- >>”One time deal.”
- ><”You're still upset over what I said all those years ago?”
- >>”You said it right after she died, you insensitive prick!”
- ><”And when would have been the right time to bring it up? One year? Five? Never? You need to-”
- >>”I don't need to do jack shit! It's not my fucking fault!”
- ><”I didn't say it was, An-”
- >>”Shut up! Just fucking shut up about it you fuck! Leave me alone!”
- >As you scream at him in your mind, you start to tear up.
- >You're still staring at yourself in the mirror.
- >In a strange world with strange beings.
- >And you are screaming at a mental construct who is only trying to look out or you.
- >And, like it or not, it did feel good to hear his voice again.
- >You sigh.
- >>”Look, I'm sorry that I put this on you, alright? I just don't want to talk about that. Not now.”
- >Silence.
- >>”And I do want a friendly voice. Please, let's talk. I shouldn't have taken out my frustration on
- >>you.”
- ><”Apology accepted. You're lucky that I've survived this long without your contact, you know.”
- >>”I know.”
- ><”And I will bring this up again, Anon.”
- >>”Right now, we have some more pressing shit going on.”
- ><”Agreed. We need information.”
- >>”Right. I'm going to go talk to the guards.”
- ><”Negatory, ghost rider. Bad idea.”
- >>”Why? It's not like they suspect anything. What, are they gonna think that I'm some inter-
- >> dimensional traveler just because I ask a few weird questions?”
- ><”Maybe. You did travel here in your sleep. Oh, you'd better start moving around. Walking or
- >< something. It's going to look odd just being in the bathroom like this.”
- >You wonder how many other people already came in here looking at you as you just stared into the mirror.
- >Oops.
- >You start wandering down the halls.
- ><”All I'm saying is that it might draw some attention to yourself. If they ask you questions about your
- >< work, and you can't answer them, it's going to look suspicious.”
- >>”Do you have a better idea?”
- ><”Talk to the horses-beings.”
- >>”Right, because they really want to talk to the guy that tortured them. Great idea.”
- ><”Help them. Give them some relief.”
- >>”You saw those looks in their eyes. They wanted to flay me alive! Why would they think anything I
- >> did was genuine?”
- ><”You really think that the previous Anonymous ever tried to give them something nice? Did you see
- ><that room?”
- >You stop in front of a window and watch the sunrise.
- >>”Well, I suppose not, but-”
- >You look at the sunrise again.
- >Something's off.
- >Didn't the sun already rise this morning?
- >>”It hasn't been a full day, has it?”
- ><”I don't think so. Why?”
- >>”I thought it was morning when I got up.”
- >You see the sun rise up until half of it is showing, then sink below the horizon again.
- >It does this repeatedly as you stare for about thirty minutes.
- >”What the sam hell is going on here?”
- ><”I was thinking the same thing.”
- >>”Information time?”
- >>”Planning time. We need to come bearing gifts.”
- >>”Right, we'll just waltz right in with a fruit basket and everything will be kosher. I can see it now.
- >> 'Gee, Anonymous, we thought you were a bad guy for cutting us up and stuff, but these mangoes
- >> made us believe that you are a different man!' Fucking genius.”
- ><”Not like that, you idiot. We need to come bearing some form of relief for each of them. Since we
- >< cannot free the horses without raising alarms, we'll need to improvise.”
- >>”And what do you suggest we do?”
- ><”Think about what each horse was going through. What did the cages look like.”
- >>”You should know, you were there too.”
- ><”Not the point of this exercise, Anon.”
- >>”Alright, fine. The yellow one was surrounded by raw meat. Dead animals of various sorts. That means she doesn't like meat, probably.”
- ><”No shit. They're horses. They don't eat meat.”
- >>”Well, then why not surround each cage with meat? Why not place every horse in filth?”
- ><”Because... maybe each cage is tailored to the individual?”
- >>”Makes sense. So the yellow one is probably dome animal lover. Doesn't like to see dead things.”
- ><”So take down the meat and help her out. Alright, next up is the filthy cage.”
- >>”That's easy. The horse inside is some sort of neat freak."
- ><”A clean horse?”
- >>”A talking, clean horse. Get it right.”
- ><”Right. So get some soap and water... a LOT of soap and water. And a couple... dozen... brushes.
- >< What about the orange one?”
- >>”Wedges in the pulley system should give her some slack. Let her move around a bit. I'll bet she's
- >> hurting something fierce from those chains pulling on her constantly.”
- ><”Alright. What about the purple one? What's her problem?”
- >>”She probably just snapped after seeing the others in such pain and suffering. Especially the middle >>two. Help them all out and she might come back to the land of the sane eyes.”
- ><”The pink one...”
- >A shudder runs down your spine.
- >>”Those eyes were worse than the purple one's.
- ><”That was not a broken horse. She had hatred toward you.
- >>”The guards mentioned something about an incident... I wonder if she had anything to do with it.”
- ><”She's fucking scary, but you saw how she was chained up. How could she have done anything?”
- >>”They moved the prisoners, remember? She got that many chains AFTER the move, and none of the
- >> other six have them. Why just her?”
- ><”So... what did she do?”
- >>”I don't know. But she seemed willing to talk about that box cage. Maybe she'll be willing to talk
- >> about what she did?”
- ><”Worth a shot. We're just spitballing at this point anyway.”
- >>”We can cut the wire on the black one's mouth and let it speak again, just like Ms. White. It'll hurt, but-”
- ><”You skipped the rainbow maned one.”
- >You stop walking.
- >>”Well, she was easy. Claustrophobic. Just don't put her back in the box.”
- ><”She reminds you of her, doesn't she?”
- >”P-Please don't...”
- >The screams.
- >The whip coming down.
- >Again.
- >And again.
- >And-
- >>”Yeah. Yeah she does.”
- ><”That wasn't your fault. I never said-"
- >>”I know. Let's... let's get back to the task at hand.”
- ><”You sure you don't wanna talk-”
- >>”I'm sure.”
- ><”Alright. Let's get some supplies.”
- >>”From where?”
- >It occurs to you that you have no idea where the fuck you are.
- >Or how long you have been walking.
- >Or where to get any of the things you need.
- >You sigh.
- >It's going to be a long day..night...period of whatever time it currently is.
- >>”Let's get to it.”

