Dan (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
muchtooarrogant) wrote2025-07-08 11:47 am
muchtooarrogant) wrote2025-07-08 11:47 am
Entry tags:
Compulsion
LJI Week 3: Ecco
His race car was bright red.
"VROOM!" Teddy growled deep in his throat, but not too loudly. Mommy was on the phone, and she wasn't using her happy voice.
"Seriously? You're going to talk to me about being responsible when you don't even ..."
The smooth gray path stretched out in front of him, and the harder he pushed, the faster his car went. He loved the whirring noise it made, and the way the light from the sky flashed off its shiny roof. The words mommy was saying behind him felt like sharp little knives, and made him want to run even faster. Push! Whirr! Run!
In a few seconds, mommy would tell him to come back, and he'd scoop up his red racer and run to where she sat on the bench. Maybe, if the phone call hadn't made her angry, they could go get ice cream?
"What do you know about raising a child? You're never here!"
Push! Whirr! Run!
Up ahead, the trail made a slow curve to the right, but his car didn't. It shot off the edge of the smooth gray surface and for a few feet seemed to fly through the air as easily as it had rolled down the path. As he stood watching, his stomach twisted because he knew what would happen next. Just like when he jumped off the swing, flying was easy at first, and then he fell. A second later, his race car fell as well and disappeared into the grass.
Teddy stood frozen for a few seconds, waiting for mommy to notice. When nothing happened, he glanced over his shoulder and saw that she was turned away from him, still talking on the phone.
He wasn't allowed to leave the path, but the car hadn't flown that far, and mommy wasn't looking. Would it be all right?
He walked slowly towards the path's edge, expecting to hear her voice calling him back any second. He heard his shoes thumping down the path, and birds singing in the trees all around him, but mommy was speaking quietly now, and he only caught an occasional sharp-edged word.
"Why ... difficult ... only asking ... partner."
He reached the path's edge, glanced over his shoulder again to be sure she was still looking away, and then ran to where his car had disappeared. It wasn't there. He thought he had seen exactly where it had fallen, but it wasn't there.
He had to be brave. Mommy said being brave was part of growing up, and he was pretty sure he wanted to grow up, but being brave was very hard sometimes.
There was something shiny in front of him. Not red, and his car hadn't flown that far, had it? Teddy started walking forward.
It was a path, but nothing like the smooth gray path behind him. This trail was made of light, and shown with bright colors he could not name. Teddy started running.
Kyle frowned at the pop-up that had just appeared on his laptop's screen. Another ad blocker that couldn't do its job. Would it go away if he closed his current window, or was his whole system infected?
"You're never going to make any friends if you don't leave this room." Sam's voice.
"I don't need anymore friends," Kyle responded, smirking at the screen in front of him, "I've got you."
There was a picture underneath the text of the pop-up. It was small, barely larger than a thumbnail image on YouTube, and appeared to show a lighted pathway of some sort. No, not lighted, the pathway itself was made of light. It wound back and forth through a grove of trees, and ... the color was bizarre.
Behind him, Sam was in mid-tirade. "... talk to girls. All you have to do is grab a drink, walk around, and just hang ..."
Without realizing it, he had followed the course of the pathway with his mouse, and clicked the rightward pointing arrow at its end. A new screen appeared.
"Are you listening to me?" Sam demanded.
"Not really," Kyle murmured, clicking to move to the next screen.
It was ... what? For some reason, Kyle had been expecting--hoping for--a grove of trees like the one shown in the initial thumbnail, but this was some sort of public plaza. There was a waterfall in one corner, various planters showing flowering shrubs encircled by stone benches, and a statue of a man on horseback in the center. The image vanished.
The second picture in the set showed the plaza from a different angle, but if there was anything else different about it, Kyle couldn't tell what it was. Despite that, he felt a growing eagerness.
The third image showed the same plaza, but this time there was a shining pathway starting at the waterfall, winding its way in-between the planters, and eventually ending at the base of the statue. Kyle leaned forward, inexplicably drawn to the image, and growled in frustration when it too vanished.
"What are you looking at?" Sam asked, peering over his shoulder.
Reflexively, Kyle tried to block the screen so his friend couldn't see it, but he couldn't do that and look at the last picture in the set. It didn't matter anyway, the last picture didn't have a pathway. For some reason, he didn't want Sam to see that.
"Is this that goofy survey that's been popping up all over campus?"
Kyle shrugged.
"Dude, Dr. Frazier in computer science has been going apeshit about that thing. No one can figure out what it does, but he's convinced it was written by a group of student hackers."
"Has anybody won the hundred bucks?"
Sam guffawed, and walked back to his side of their shared dorm room. "Um duh, of course not! I told you, the whole things some sort of scam."
There was a row of circles under the question with numbers from 1 to 4. Kyle quickly chose 3, and then hesitated before moving on to the next screen. Would Sam stay on his side of the room?
"Anyway dude, like I was saying, you should really come with me tonight."
Kyle advanced to the next set of pictures. This time, the pathway was shown in picture 1, the lobby of what looked like a generic office building somewhere, and he impatiently drummed his fingers on the desk while waiting for the series to finish.
"Well?" Sam asked. Apparently, he had reached the end of his latest recruitment speech.
"Sam," Kyle snarled, a little surprised by his sudden flash of anger, "I'm not going to pledge at some fucking fraternity."
He clicked 1 when the choice selector appeared, and moved on to the next set of pictures.
For a time, there was silence behind him. Kyle was able to complete three more picture sets before Sam spoke again.
"Shit, I'm sorry, okay?" His voice was subdued. "I didn't mean you should pledge. It's the beginning of the year party. Hundreds of people will probably be there, I just thought ..."
The first picture in the next series looked familiar. It was a room with auditorium-style seating, a projection screen and stage up front, and a podium ... There was a growing tightness in his chest. Could this be what he thought it was? The picture vanished.
The second picture was shot from the stage, and was no help. The picture vanished. Soon now!
The third picture was shot from the side of the auditorium, the side of the podium he needed to see in order to confirm his suspicion. The whole thing was scarred and battered, but the front right-hand corner was badly chipped. The picture vanished. Kyle pumped a fist in the air, unable to control his excitement.
"Kyle?"
The final picture showed the shining pathway running down the center aisle, terminating at the stage. Professor Berg's class, Jackson Hall, Economics!
Kyle leapt to his feet, his desk chair flying backwards, eventually smashing into Sam's desk across the room. He was clawing at the door, beating his hands against the wood, desperate to get out. Sam, his childhood friend, was on his feet, hands raised in shock, screaming something Kyle never heard. Something in his hand was smooth. Round. The door knob. A final wrenching twist, and he was free.
Running. Careening downward, then straight for a time. People, faces contorted in fear, screaming. Someone in terrible distress. Screaming. Someone with his voice. Screaming!
There was a quiet knock on the hospital room's closed door. When Kyle managed to get his eyes open and focused on the doorway, he saw an unfamiliar woman in a gray business suit standing there. A doctor?
"Kyle," she said, stepping inside and closing the door again, "I'm glad you're awake. Can we talk for a few minutes?"
Kyle stared disinterestedly at the ceiling. "You're here, so ..."
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her shape move across the room and sit down in the chair beside his bed.
"My name is Ingrid."
He didn't react.
She sighed. "First, I'm sorry. We've been studying the pathways for some time, but we had no idea the compulsion to find and walk them could be so strong when viewed through a picture."
Compulsion. It wasn't a word he would've ever picked to describe himself. Was that what he was feeling?
"What are they?" If he spoke with her, if she answered, maybe there was a chance he could still reach one of those shining walkways.
"They're traps." Her hand was resting on his shoulder. "No one who has walked a pathway to its end has ever returned. You won't believe me right now, but eventually their hold over you will lessen and you'll be able to think rationally again."
Jackson Hall. Running. Blurry indistinct figures shouting his name. Had she been one of the people in his way, one of the people trying to stop him? He had fought! His fists pummeling at anyone he could reach, a mad scramble of bodies, and the screaming. Always the screaming.
"The survey?"
"We were trying to find sensitives," her voice had a ragged edge. "Not everyone can see the pathways, and we need help fighting them. Help from people like you."
Finally, he turned his head and looked at her. "How?"
She squeezed his shoulder, and then stood up. "Believe it or not, the compulsion can be resisted."
Ridiculous! He wanted to laugh at her, show her his bruised and split knuckles, but ... her brown eyes were solemn, and in some way he couldn't fathom, communicated hope.
Dan
His race car was bright red.
"VROOM!" Teddy growled deep in his throat, but not too loudly. Mommy was on the phone, and she wasn't using her happy voice.
"Seriously? You're going to talk to me about being responsible when you don't even ..."
The smooth gray path stretched out in front of him, and the harder he pushed, the faster his car went. He loved the whirring noise it made, and the way the light from the sky flashed off its shiny roof. The words mommy was saying behind him felt like sharp little knives, and made him want to run even faster. Push! Whirr! Run!
In a few seconds, mommy would tell him to come back, and he'd scoop up his red racer and run to where she sat on the bench. Maybe, if the phone call hadn't made her angry, they could go get ice cream?
"What do you know about raising a child? You're never here!"
Push! Whirr! Run!
Up ahead, the trail made a slow curve to the right, but his car didn't. It shot off the edge of the smooth gray surface and for a few feet seemed to fly through the air as easily as it had rolled down the path. As he stood watching, his stomach twisted because he knew what would happen next. Just like when he jumped off the swing, flying was easy at first, and then he fell. A second later, his race car fell as well and disappeared into the grass.
Teddy stood frozen for a few seconds, waiting for mommy to notice. When nothing happened, he glanced over his shoulder and saw that she was turned away from him, still talking on the phone.
He wasn't allowed to leave the path, but the car hadn't flown that far, and mommy wasn't looking. Would it be all right?
He walked slowly towards the path's edge, expecting to hear her voice calling him back any second. He heard his shoes thumping down the path, and birds singing in the trees all around him, but mommy was speaking quietly now, and he only caught an occasional sharp-edged word.
"Why ... difficult ... only asking ... partner."
He reached the path's edge, glanced over his shoulder again to be sure she was still looking away, and then ran to where his car had disappeared. It wasn't there. He thought he had seen exactly where it had fallen, but it wasn't there.
He had to be brave. Mommy said being brave was part of growing up, and he was pretty sure he wanted to grow up, but being brave was very hard sometimes.
There was something shiny in front of him. Not red, and his car hadn't flown that far, had it? Teddy started walking forward.
It was a path, but nothing like the smooth gray path behind him. This trail was made of light, and shown with bright colors he could not name. Teddy started running.
Fill out the following survey, and you could win $100.00.
Kyle frowned at the pop-up that had just appeared on his laptop's screen. Another ad blocker that couldn't do its job. Would it go away if he closed his current window, or was his whole system infected?
"You're never going to make any friends if you don't leave this room." Sam's voice.
"I don't need anymore friends," Kyle responded, smirking at the screen in front of him, "I've got you."
There was a picture underneath the text of the pop-up. It was small, barely larger than a thumbnail image on YouTube, and appeared to show a lighted pathway of some sort. No, not lighted, the pathway itself was made of light. It wound back and forth through a grove of trees, and ... the color was bizarre.
Behind him, Sam was in mid-tirade. "... talk to girls. All you have to do is grab a drink, walk around, and just hang ..."
Without realizing it, he had followed the course of the pathway with his mouse, and clicked the rightward pointing arrow at its end. A new screen appeared.
You will be shown several sets of pictures. Each set contains four pictures. Look at the pictures in order, and then pick the one you think is the most interesting. Each picture will only be shown for a few seconds, so be sure you're ready before you begin.
"Are you listening to me?" Sam demanded.
"Not really," Kyle murmured, clicking to move to the next screen.
Set 1, Picture 1
It was ... what? For some reason, Kyle had been expecting--hoping for--a grove of trees like the one shown in the initial thumbnail, but this was some sort of public plaza. There was a waterfall in one corner, various planters showing flowering shrubs encircled by stone benches, and a statue of a man on horseback in the center. The image vanished.
The second picture in the set showed the plaza from a different angle, but if there was anything else different about it, Kyle couldn't tell what it was. Despite that, he felt a growing eagerness.
The third image showed the same plaza, but this time there was a shining pathway starting at the waterfall, winding its way in-between the planters, and eventually ending at the base of the statue. Kyle leaned forward, inexplicably drawn to the image, and growled in frustration when it too vanished.
"What are you looking at?" Sam asked, peering over his shoulder.
Reflexively, Kyle tried to block the screen so his friend couldn't see it, but he couldn't do that and look at the last picture in the set. It didn't matter anyway, the last picture didn't have a pathway. For some reason, he didn't want Sam to see that.
"Is this that goofy survey that's been popping up all over campus?"
Kyle shrugged.
"Dude, Dr. Frazier in computer science has been going apeshit about that thing. No one can figure out what it does, but he's convinced it was written by a group of student hackers."
"Has anybody won the hundred bucks?"
Sam guffawed, and walked back to his side of their shared dorm room. "Um duh, of course not! I told you, the whole things some sort of scam."
Which picture in set 1 was the most interesting?
There was a row of circles under the question with numbers from 1 to 4. Kyle quickly chose 3, and then hesitated before moving on to the next screen. Would Sam stay on his side of the room?
"Anyway dude, like I was saying, you should really come with me tonight."
Kyle advanced to the next set of pictures. This time, the pathway was shown in picture 1, the lobby of what looked like a generic office building somewhere, and he impatiently drummed his fingers on the desk while waiting for the series to finish.
"Well?" Sam asked. Apparently, he had reached the end of his latest recruitment speech.
"Sam," Kyle snarled, a little surprised by his sudden flash of anger, "I'm not going to pledge at some fucking fraternity."
He clicked 1 when the choice selector appeared, and moved on to the next set of pictures.
For a time, there was silence behind him. Kyle was able to complete three more picture sets before Sam spoke again.
"Shit, I'm sorry, okay?" His voice was subdued. "I didn't mean you should pledge. It's the beginning of the year party. Hundreds of people will probably be there, I just thought ..."
The first picture in the next series looked familiar. It was a room with auditorium-style seating, a projection screen and stage up front, and a podium ... There was a growing tightness in his chest. Could this be what he thought it was? The picture vanished.
The second picture was shot from the stage, and was no help. The picture vanished. Soon now!
The third picture was shot from the side of the auditorium, the side of the podium he needed to see in order to confirm his suspicion. The whole thing was scarred and battered, but the front right-hand corner was badly chipped. The picture vanished. Kyle pumped a fist in the air, unable to control his excitement.
"Kyle?"
The final picture showed the shining pathway running down the center aisle, terminating at the stage. Professor Berg's class, Jackson Hall, Economics!
Kyle leapt to his feet, his desk chair flying backwards, eventually smashing into Sam's desk across the room. He was clawing at the door, beating his hands against the wood, desperate to get out. Sam, his childhood friend, was on his feet, hands raised in shock, screaming something Kyle never heard. Something in his hand was smooth. Round. The door knob. A final wrenching twist, and he was free.
Running. Careening downward, then straight for a time. People, faces contorted in fear, screaming. Someone in terrible distress. Screaming. Someone with his voice. Screaming!
There was a quiet knock on the hospital room's closed door. When Kyle managed to get his eyes open and focused on the doorway, he saw an unfamiliar woman in a gray business suit standing there. A doctor?
"Kyle," she said, stepping inside and closing the door again, "I'm glad you're awake. Can we talk for a few minutes?"
Kyle stared disinterestedly at the ceiling. "You're here, so ..."
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched her shape move across the room and sit down in the chair beside his bed.
"My name is Ingrid."
He didn't react.
She sighed. "First, I'm sorry. We've been studying the pathways for some time, but we had no idea the compulsion to find and walk them could be so strong when viewed through a picture."
Compulsion. It wasn't a word he would've ever picked to describe himself. Was that what he was feeling?
"What are they?" If he spoke with her, if she answered, maybe there was a chance he could still reach one of those shining walkways.
"They're traps." Her hand was resting on his shoulder. "No one who has walked a pathway to its end has ever returned. You won't believe me right now, but eventually their hold over you will lessen and you'll be able to think rationally again."
Jackson Hall. Running. Blurry indistinct figures shouting his name. Had she been one of the people in his way, one of the people trying to stop him? He had fought! His fists pummeling at anyone he could reach, a mad scramble of bodies, and the screaming. Always the screaming.
"The survey?"
"We were trying to find sensitives," her voice had a ragged edge. "Not everyone can see the pathways, and we need help fighting them. Help from people like you."
Finally, he turned his head and looked at her. "How?"
She squeezed his shoulder, and then stood up. "Believe it or not, the compulsion can be resisted."
Ridiculous! He wanted to laugh at her, show her his bruised and split knuckles, but ... her brown eyes were solemn, and in some way he couldn't fathom, communicated hope.
Dan