(( Toxin’s Quarters, Deck 4, USS Octavia E. Butler ))

The OEB had returned to a broken DS14, it’s war-torn damage evident without sensors or advanced visual aids. The healing process would be tedious and consuming, an emotional time for many.

Having been relieved by other bridge officers, a wary Toxin had made his way down to deck 4 and his personal quarters. He now sat in his recliner, his pulse elevated, his mind still racing. Across the room, next to the door, a panel ripped from the wall now laid on the floor. Torn wires dangling from the exposed circuit—the door to his quarter now inoperative. If Toxin had any energy left, he would have used his type-II to weld them shut as well. He wanted to be alone, he needed to be alone. Whatever HENRI had done to him, it was draining his usually resilient energy reserves quickly. He could feel himself slipping away from the present.

Arlill: =/\= Computer, time! =/\=

Computer: =/\= The current time is 23:40 hours. =/\=

HENRI: oO Toxin, I… ::cut off:: Oo

Arlill: No. Just wait. Not yet. ::rubbing his temples::

His vision was slowly becoming blurry, the pulsing of his heart now prevalent within his cranium. The multi-tasking focus was beginning to meld all of his thoughts together, a mix of trains no longer with clear outputs.

HENRI was picking up an elevated blood pressure, increased heart rate, and diminishing oxygen levels in Toxin’s blood… this wasn’t good.

HENRI: oO But Toxin, I need you to… ::cut off:: Oo

Arlill: I swear to the gods HENRI, shut up!

Sure the new found abilities, the increased capacities, the newly found functions his brain offered were appealing before, but now they felt like a dagger slowly driving into his very being. His life force slowly diminishing, his mind quickly becoming an over productive horror show.

HENRI could see that Toxin was about to crash, and not from exhaustion, but from a physiological failure that could kill him, all driven by a mind that was no longer functioning as it should. It was his fault, and he needed to fix it.

Just as quickly as he’d implemented the new found abilities, HENRI made the choice to save Toxin from himself. If he wasn’t going to listen, then he would have to take matters into his own hands. He found the sympathetic nerve, the body’s fight-or-flight trigger, the nerve that can overwhelm someone or prepare them for battle. Using his ability to influence Toxin’s autonomic and physiological functions, HENRI hit the nerve with as much “force” as he could.

Toxin felt his mind scream, the pain was almost overwhelming, his respirations sky rocketed, his vision began to go white, it was almost too overwhe….. the room went bright white and then dark, very dark.

(( Somewhere, Nowhere, Elsewhere?, Where?…. ))

The floor felt cold, soft with some level of cushion, but cold. Toxin felt different, he felt… nothing besides the floor. His eyes opened, a warm light peered into his being. The soft glow of a familiar space, an OEB corridor. Toxin pressed against the floor where he laid, he elevated his body into a sitting position. The corridor was empty, the warm light from an amber glow.

oO Yellow alert? What’s happening? Did the Zet admiral return?! I need to get to the bridge. Oo

Arlill: =/\= Arlill to bridge. =/\= ::no response:: =/\= Arlill to Nilsen. =/\= ::no response:: =/\= Arlill to Anyone!! =/\=