CaptainWacky
I want to smell dark matter
After weeks of working on the time machine in Taylor Swift's palace, the Professor found he'd grown so used to her he was able to ask questions.
"If your power came from the Squid God...what makes you different from him?" he asked, out of nowhere. Taylor did not look surprised.
"So the time has come. You have begun to question me," she nodded.
"No...I merely seek to understand."
"It is true my power comes from a place of darkness. That the Squid God used me once, to resurrect him. That he would not be able to take his current form if not for me. That your wife would still be alive if not for me."
"No!"
"Yes. In a way. I did not not know what he was...and when I did I fought him. Cast him below, to his prison. But he is awake because of me. He sent part of his power into the world many years ago, a power that still corrupts part of this land. I buried it deep inside my palace, in fact. That power found me, when I was filming a music video here with my cat. That power made me what I am today...would you like to feel it?"
"Are you offering me the power of that enemy?" The Professor shuddered.
"I want you to understand what he really is. I want you to see...to understand. I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have offered. Others have looked at it and been driven insane...or worse. Some were lost inside it."
"I've put my hand through a man's skull like it was paper. I know insanity already." The Professor knew he was not the person he'd once been. He sometimes wondered if he was even a person at all.
"Then come with me," she said. He followed her down a hallway. A long hallway. They passed room after room. They walked through several others rooms, huge rooms, ballrooms, all manner of spaces. They kept going. On and on they went, and the Professor wondered if even Taylor's palace could be this big. Eventually it was just a corridor. No doors, no other rooms, just a corridor with no end. It began to distort around the Professor. He wondered if this was what he was supposed to be seeing. Taylor just kept walking. He kept his eyes on her, as the corridor twisted around him. At one point he was walking on the ceiling, he thought, but when he looked down to his feet he could still see the floor. Finally they reached a door at the end of the corridor. Just an ordinary door.
"It's in there," said Taylor, casually. As the Professor approached the door time seemed to slow down. He reached towards it but his hand never seemed to reach the doorknob.
"Can you open it for me, please?" he asked.
"I'm not sure you can handle this," she warned. "But when you want out, just look for the light. The light is me."
"I can do it..." said the Professor. His heart was beating so fast now. The door seemed to be growing in size as he inched ever closer. It was towered over him. Suddenly Taylor reached oout and opened the door. He felt himself sucked inside.
There was just darkness. Utter darkness. Was there even a floor? Was he standing on anything? He looked around for the light already but couldn't see it. He kept searching in the dark...then he came to his classroom. He wasn't the teacher, he told himself. That was a silly thought. He was only sixteen, how could he be a teacher? He sat down at the desk. Where was his friend? He didn't know. He used to have a friend who sat beside him at this desk. Strange that he didn't know his name. He looked over at the girl he liked. He tried not to stare. She saw him looking and gave him a look. Not a friendly look, but not nasty.
"Do you want something?" she asekd.
He turned away and pretended he hadn't been looking at her. He looked out the window, but he did not recognise the world outside. Where was he? That wasn't the right view at all. How strange. He looked back around. He was in the library. He was old now. He'd spent twenty years sitting at the desk. He felt new memories appear in his head. It was overwhelming. Memories of the desk. Of everyone ignoring him for twenty years. Why hadn't he got up?
He looked round at the girl again. She gave him the same look.
"What are you looking at, pervert?" she asked. She was the same age while he was now an adult, he realised. He felt ashamed, but he also quite liked the feeling, somehow. He liked that the girl knew he was a pervert. What was wrong with him?
"I'm sorry but you'll have to leave," said the librarian. The girl was standing next to the librarian. She'd told the librarian he was a pervert. He had to leave.
"I can't remember how to walk," he said but they were all gone. The library was gone. The desk was gone. He was back in the dark, alone. He'd had to leave.
Time passed. He remembered something someone had once told him. Find the light. Who had said that? Why? He didn't know. He thought he could see the light, but the dark was so much stronger. He went deeper into the dark. He could hear a sound. A voice. He went deeper and deeper, trying to make out the voice. It took him years and years, but the voice kept getting louder. It was worth it. He'd hear the voice...
"I don't want you," said the voice and it was the voice of the Squid God. He understood. The Squid God had deemed him unworthy, after all that time. The Squid God has probably known from the start, in fact. Let him drift all those years for nothing.
He looked for the light again. Incredibly he could still see a tiny speck of it, so far away. He tried to move towards it. Eventually it grew bigger and bigger. He was going to get out...
He was in the library again. The girl was back at her desk. He could look at her again, he knew. He could stare at her and she would know he was a pervert but he could do it forever and ever...
No. He was not that person. He had to get to the light. The light was something bigger than him. He couldn't give in to his dark impulses.
"COME BACK YOU COWARD," shouted a talking duck.
No...
"COME BACK." The talking duck sounded hurt now. He'd hurt the talking duck...
What was happening?
The light.
The duck slowed the flow of time, but he kept going. Years and years went by. He coudn't remember anything but that he had to reach the light. There were three eveil forces trying to stop him. The talking duck was far below, the girl was further, the Squid God furthest...yes. Those were the three things he had to flee.
He reached the light after a hundred mores years and was thrown back out into the corridor. He was blinded by the light. He lay in a ball on the floor for a long moment. He could breathe again, he realised.
"You got out quicker than most," said Taylor Swift. "Only an hour."
"If your power came from the Squid God...what makes you different from him?" he asked, out of nowhere. Taylor did not look surprised.
"So the time has come. You have begun to question me," she nodded.
"No...I merely seek to understand."
"It is true my power comes from a place of darkness. That the Squid God used me once, to resurrect him. That he would not be able to take his current form if not for me. That your wife would still be alive if not for me."
"No!"
"Yes. In a way. I did not not know what he was...and when I did I fought him. Cast him below, to his prison. But he is awake because of me. He sent part of his power into the world many years ago, a power that still corrupts part of this land. I buried it deep inside my palace, in fact. That power found me, when I was filming a music video here with my cat. That power made me what I am today...would you like to feel it?"
"Are you offering me the power of that enemy?" The Professor shuddered.
"I want you to understand what he really is. I want you to see...to understand. I'm sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have offered. Others have looked at it and been driven insane...or worse. Some were lost inside it."
"I've put my hand through a man's skull like it was paper. I know insanity already." The Professor knew he was not the person he'd once been. He sometimes wondered if he was even a person at all.
"Then come with me," she said. He followed her down a hallway. A long hallway. They passed room after room. They walked through several others rooms, huge rooms, ballrooms, all manner of spaces. They kept going. On and on they went, and the Professor wondered if even Taylor's palace could be this big. Eventually it was just a corridor. No doors, no other rooms, just a corridor with no end. It began to distort around the Professor. He wondered if this was what he was supposed to be seeing. Taylor just kept walking. He kept his eyes on her, as the corridor twisted around him. At one point he was walking on the ceiling, he thought, but when he looked down to his feet he could still see the floor. Finally they reached a door at the end of the corridor. Just an ordinary door.
"It's in there," said Taylor, casually. As the Professor approached the door time seemed to slow down. He reached towards it but his hand never seemed to reach the doorknob.
"Can you open it for me, please?" he asked.
"I'm not sure you can handle this," she warned. "But when you want out, just look for the light. The light is me."
"I can do it..." said the Professor. His heart was beating so fast now. The door seemed to be growing in size as he inched ever closer. It was towered over him. Suddenly Taylor reached oout and opened the door. He felt himself sucked inside.
There was just darkness. Utter darkness. Was there even a floor? Was he standing on anything? He looked around for the light already but couldn't see it. He kept searching in the dark...then he came to his classroom. He wasn't the teacher, he told himself. That was a silly thought. He was only sixteen, how could he be a teacher? He sat down at the desk. Where was his friend? He didn't know. He used to have a friend who sat beside him at this desk. Strange that he didn't know his name. He looked over at the girl he liked. He tried not to stare. She saw him looking and gave him a look. Not a friendly look, but not nasty.
"Do you want something?" she asekd.
He turned away and pretended he hadn't been looking at her. He looked out the window, but he did not recognise the world outside. Where was he? That wasn't the right view at all. How strange. He looked back around. He was in the library. He was old now. He'd spent twenty years sitting at the desk. He felt new memories appear in his head. It was overwhelming. Memories of the desk. Of everyone ignoring him for twenty years. Why hadn't he got up?
He looked round at the girl again. She gave him the same look.
"What are you looking at, pervert?" she asked. She was the same age while he was now an adult, he realised. He felt ashamed, but he also quite liked the feeling, somehow. He liked that the girl knew he was a pervert. What was wrong with him?
"I'm sorry but you'll have to leave," said the librarian. The girl was standing next to the librarian. She'd told the librarian he was a pervert. He had to leave.
"I can't remember how to walk," he said but they were all gone. The library was gone. The desk was gone. He was back in the dark, alone. He'd had to leave.
Time passed. He remembered something someone had once told him. Find the light. Who had said that? Why? He didn't know. He thought he could see the light, but the dark was so much stronger. He went deeper into the dark. He could hear a sound. A voice. He went deeper and deeper, trying to make out the voice. It took him years and years, but the voice kept getting louder. It was worth it. He'd hear the voice...
"I don't want you," said the voice and it was the voice of the Squid God. He understood. The Squid God had deemed him unworthy, after all that time. The Squid God has probably known from the start, in fact. Let him drift all those years for nothing.
He looked for the light again. Incredibly he could still see a tiny speck of it, so far away. He tried to move towards it. Eventually it grew bigger and bigger. He was going to get out...
He was in the library again. The girl was back at her desk. He could look at her again, he knew. He could stare at her and she would know he was a pervert but he could do it forever and ever...
No. He was not that person. He had to get to the light. The light was something bigger than him. He couldn't give in to his dark impulses.
"COME BACK YOU COWARD," shouted a talking duck.
No...
"COME BACK." The talking duck sounded hurt now. He'd hurt the talking duck...
What was happening?
The light.
The duck slowed the flow of time, but he kept going. Years and years went by. He coudn't remember anything but that he had to reach the light. There were three eveil forces trying to stop him. The talking duck was far below, the girl was further, the Squid God furthest...yes. Those were the three things he had to flee.
He reached the light after a hundred mores years and was thrown back out into the corridor. He was blinded by the light. He lay in a ball on the floor for a long moment. He could breathe again, he realised.
"You got out quicker than most," said Taylor Swift. "Only an hour."