A Scripta

"Good morning, Nate."

Nate struggled to open his eyes, to lift himself into at least a sitting position. He ended up rolling over, facing the ceiling.

He was tied up, like a Mu Guardian, but in white, not red. The ceiling was white. He lay on a soft, white floor. Everything around him was white. Even the Nova-formed Kheldian hovering beside him was white.

"Jack. Let me go."

The Nova swayed back and forth, a human assumption of shaking its head no. "You have become too dangerous, Nate. I am sorry to have to do this." The Nova floated over and used its tail to hook around the side of straitjacket to pull him up to a sitting position.

Nate yanked himself away, landing face-down on the floor. He rolled over again. "Fuck you. Don't you fuckin' touch me."

"As you wish." The Nova floated back.

"I wish to get the fuck out of this thing!"

"No. Not yet. You have damaged too much. It is time to make amends."

"I don't need to fix anything! It's them! They refused my help, our help!"

"Because of your demands, Nate, your demands to be worshipped." The Nova floated out of his view.

"No, you got it all wrong."

"You can lie to Kit and Daisuke, but not to me." Nate focused again on the ceiling because it was hard for him to turn his head, and saw that it was now a mirror.

"No," he whispered. "No, no."

Reflected in the glass was not the handsome man called Masonry, but the spindly creature who was the pharmacist, the thin nerdy boy with the pimple scars, the one who had to pay for girls to go out with him. He closed his eyes to try and will the image away, but it wouldn't. He wanted to cry, but couldn't.

"Stop it," he cried. "Make it go away!"

"Remember who you were, Nate. Watch and learn."

The Nova form disappeared, and the image on the cieling faded and was replaced. It was as if Nate was looking through his own eyes, watching Frosty, who was trying to look at the very least unconcerned but Nate knew he was uncomfortable.

This is going to be a really long movie night, he thought, though it echoed around him. Even as he spoke, he felt the straps begin to loosen. Nate smiled. It wouldn't take any time at all.