Candon's Mind
High upon an impossibly tall cliff Candon watched his near dead body through a break in the clouds. He wore a black dress suit much like the ones seen at funerals with a polished black coffin behind him. The open lid revealed a soft red interior that would soon be his home.
"So this is it, huh," said a perfect copy of Candon, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I guess we had a good run... I wonder, maybe if we watch that dead guy long enough something interesting will happen-"
"Don't you ever shut up! What am I supposed to do, Figment? Why are we even talking? I haven't been stoned in a year. Why don't you do us both a favor and get out of my brain!"
"I'll get inside your brain!" Figment responded, this time with the voice and body of a snotty young girl Suites had rescued from a damaged space station module as a cop.
Candon couldn't handle this level of stupid, he walked away from the ledge and faced the casket but only to see Antonia Stark looking at him with a judgemental stare. "You Yammies sure got soft after the wars." "Newsflash, if you're in my head you're a Yammie." Stark rolled her eyes as Candon turned away, "your giving up so fast!" A man's voice cut in, "don't you have anything to live for?" Candon turned back to face the psychologist that tried dissuading him from joining the military. "How about this, why don't you give me a reason to live." "Alright," the shrink relented. Aikiko grabbed his shoulder and turned Candon around, "here's a reason. I owe you a favor and can take a missile to the face." "But why limit yourself. You could set your sights a bit higher," Shôshô Hanako suggested while perched seductively on the open edge of the casket. Before he could even think to respond Samael Darkfire began massaging Candon's shoulders, "and you know I'm always up for a good time-"
"Oh HELL no!" Candon thrust his elbow backwards but like all of the illusions he was gone the moment another began speaking, but now there was no one in sight. "So sex is it? Well thanks, I'm feeling much better," Candon said as he approached the coffin, ready to climb in.
A young version of himself leaned up next to the coffin. "C'mon, you asked me, a figment of your imagination to tell you something you yourself don't know, now that's just negligent. Besides, a girl in your life just might make things simpler for you..." Candon gave him the 'really?' look as Figment rethought his statement. "...or not. I don't know. I ju-"
"I'm sorry Figment but this isn't my choice. Besides, we all gotta die someda-" Candon's chest began flexing noticeably. "Yes! In your face!" Figment screamed as Taharial Chasen. Candon focused on the pressure on his chest attempting to gauge how much experience the medic had. He knew his heart had been stopped for too long and something more would be needed to get it going again. "You got the right idea, Fig, but this can't be Chasen-hei or I'd have been injected with something by now..."
"We can get you worked up, get some adrenaline in the blood," Figment offered, "it's worth a shot."
"How?"
"Like this," Candon's mother Sana stated flatly as she sat up in the coffin, "Candon... when do we quit?"
"Now your crossing the line, Figment," Candon warned grimly.
"When do we quit?" She climbed out of the coffin and pushed Candon toward the ledge.
"I swear I'll kill you, Figment."
They were now face to face.
"When do we quit?"
"Never."
With a final, firm push Candon made a long, uncontrolled fall into his body on the ground.
Outside Shuttle
Candon awoke to the indescribably excruciating pain of reality with a start. His heart rate went from flat lined to beating too fast in under a second. Streaks of lithium leaked down the side of the helmet from where its battery ruptured. With no power came no visibility. He reached out in a panic and caught hold of something or someone softer than a Rixxicor, and in that moment it was all he cared about. A ringing in his ears blocked out all other sounds. He telepathically reached out to Mitsuko for reassurance.
