A glowing stone, like cooling glass, floated inches above the pedestal it had once rested upon. An amber and lilac fluid swirled slowly within.
A woman with frizzed, brown hair that was bleached blonde at the ends stirred as she lay on the floor.
The lab was in ruins around her, with only the containment room appearing to still be mostly intact. The metal door frame that had sealed the only entrance to this chamber creaked and groaned as it strained to remain attached to its foundation.
Beyond that there was only the In-Between.
Brown eyes opened and as they moved to behold their surroundings they saw what no mortal eyes were meant to see.
The endless colors of the raw vastness of the infinity between infinities pressed around her.
The experimental core pulsed, then dimmed.
A screech of metal pulled the woman's gaze to the door frame as it was wrenched away. Its foundation following shortly after.
The floating crystal pulsed again, weaker.
The crumbling of the floor crawled towards the woman as the In-Between hungrily clawed for her.
Adrenaline pulsed through the woman.
She jumped to her feet and pressed up against the pedestal.
Her hair, free from its usual tight bun brushed against the core. Energy jumped to her body shocking her. She staggered away from the stone, but the shock had instilled within her a sense of what needed to be done.
The core was directionless. It drifted aimlessly through the infinities. It pulsed once more, weaker still, and the woman was left with only the pedestal and its foundation stones to cling to.
Without any time to think, she grabbed the glowing stone in her hands. If it would protect her, then she would guide it.
The energy raced through her, the captive warp inside shrieking through her to connect to the infinity she sought to flee.
Visions of a million worlds. She heard their beginnings and their burnings. Tasted their never-ending hope while smelling their screams of inevitable agony. Whenever she felt the light of a peaceful world brush against her form, a ray of hope to turn to, she looked for it only to find amongst the light a supernova of horrors awaited there.
Just as aimless as the core she had grabbed she was dragged through the In-Between, as a tiny needle being dragged through the endless epidermis of a giant tree.
As the seconds of eternity passed, threatening to shatter her mind, and the hungry claws of incarnate immaterial strained to pull her grasp from the stone she clung to for dear life, she felt a scar. A freshly healed crack in the fabric of reality that itched in the space between her shoulder blades.
She turned to it and tasted laughter leaking through it.
She reached for it, pushed for it, clung to it with every fiber of sanity she retained. Closer, as she drew closer she felt as though her form would be cleaved in two, as if the scar would shatter her. The laughter now was all she tasted, and should she shatter for one last moment of laughter she would.
Then there was an eye.
A massive orb of turquoise light stared into her and she stared into the crosshair slit of the gazing gate before her.
"WHO ARE YOU?"
"help me...please..."
She pulsed weakly, hope and weariness cutting her warped adrenaline. Her core shuddered as it struggled to maintain her form. She stumbled and fell, held aloft only by the stone she clung to.
The black crosshair amidst the glowing orb opened, widening into a vast darkness beyond. The first darkness the woman had seen in all those seconds of eternity. With all she had left she limped towards it.
Tendrils of darkness emerged from within the eye. Soft as shadows, and swift as a cat's tail they wrapped around her and pulled her through the gate.
Then there was darkness. Then there was calm. No more piercing horrors, no more sweet taste of hope. No more nameless colors swirling across her skin, nor anymore immaterial claws tearing at her soul. Her eyes saw only darkness, and her mind knew only peace.
The core pulsed one final time, then failed, falling heavy in her hands. She let it fall, let herself fall, and gave herself to the darkness of sleep.
The sound of a skull cracking against wood paneling jolted her awake, and pain followed.
She curled up, cradling her aching head. She blinked slowly, warm lamp light filling her vision.
A shadow blocked the light, and a pair of glowing eyes gazed into hers. The crosshair pupils focusing on her before expanding into a star-like shape. A pointed, feline ear flicked as the woman's vision focused on the cat-like creature.
"Good evening."
A smooth voice flowed into her head.
"If you are feeling lucid once more, may I once again inquire after your name?"
The woman propped herself up on an elbow and stared into the cat's eyes.
"Ummm... my name's Aluzia."
The cat nodded
"And how did you come into possession of a piece of crystallized warp?"
Aluzia stared at the apparently inert glass object sitting a few inches away from her.
"I...I made it."
"Fascinating."












