Buying Time

~Mirror Reality 34~

Matheson nursed the warp charge, his key to freedom, gently in his lap as he watched the raging red energy furiously burn against the calm blue energy. Since getting it he spent many hours watching it, learning its ways, meditating on his thoughts. One was as deep as the ocean, the other a consuming fire—but neither claimed victory, an eternal struggle as long as it sat in the jade-green container.

The calm never quells the rage. But the rage can’t overcome it. The silent depths holds its own resilience. He thought.

But did giving up myself make me like either?

Stashing the warp charge away, Smiley gave one last glance at a drip coming from the wall. The constant tapping was unnoticable at first, but over the last few days it became louder. Every drop another poke in his mind, another shout in his ear, slowly driving him insane. He knew the tiny, insignificant droplets would either drive him forward or cause his destruction.