Singularity: The Paradox

Lyra woke in the dead of night, her throat dry and her bladder full. "No, I don't hear any showers..." She murmured to herself, the house groaning in response. She left her room and walked into the living room, she spotted Nathan sleeping on the couch. 'He looks so...angry...tense...and sad...' She thought, looking at the snoozing captain. She tore her gaze from the angry-looking soldier and returned to her previous action, going to the restroom.

She entered the restroom and quickly did her business, once finished, she made her way to the kitchen for some water. She got her glass and sat at the dark table, not bothering with any lights. She drank in silence, but deep in thought. Her eyes caught the bandage on her foreleg, causing her to think back to the fish incident; she thought of his concern, his care, and how he didn't stop to think about it.

She gently placed the glass down in the sink with her magic. She sighed before walking back to the living room, she glanced at the Captain once more and noticed his expression, he looked hurt. She looked away and made her way back to her comfy bed, the warmth quickly taking her consciousness.

Later in the morning.

Nathan shot awake in a cold sweat, he dreamed of Katorga. The echoing halls, the overgrown plant life, and the creatures. He dreamed he was getting chased down an endless hall by hundreds of each creature, the Ticks jumped on his and exploded, burning him in his dream. It all felt so real; the claws felt sharp, the Revert's vomit acidic and boiling, and the teeth grizzly and jagged against his flesh. In his dream, he saw an odd green light at the end of the hall, when he reached it, the monsters faded away, only the echos of their growls, roars, and screams of pain remained.

He turned from the echos and was shocked at the sight, a paler, sickly looking version of Devlin greeted him. Before he could saw anything, his head exploded and the gore splattered on Nathan's face. Devlin's body dropped like a rock.

Everything was silent after that.

Nathan shook the dream from his head and stood, taking a deep breath. He calmed himself and walked into the kitchen, spotting the Unicorn Mare eating some cereal. "H-hey Lyra, sleep well?" He asked the mare, who promptly slammed her head into the milk bowl, blowing bubbles. Nathan laughed before pulling her face out, she had fallen asleep. "Not very well, I'd imagine." He chuckled, she blew blew a milk bubble with her nose; the pop caused her to wake up.

"Oh-eh!" Lyra jumped from her slumber, throwing the bowl across the room, "Fuck!" She swore, promptly slapping a hoof over her mouth.

"Oh calm down." Nathan got a towel from one of the drawers and wiped up the milk. "I'll ask again, sleep well?" He repeated, washing out the milk filled towel in the sink.

"I kept waking up." Lyra answered, eyes half closed. Nathan poured himself a bowl of the sugary corn-flakes and sat at the table.

"Lyra, who handles selling houses here?" Nathan asked.

"You'd have to go see Mayor Mare." Lyra picked up the un-shattered bowl and washed it out before going to shower. Nathan left soon after washing his bowl.

He walked in silence to a very large building, presumably the Mayor's office; when he entered he found that is was, in fact, the Mayor's office.

Was it the secretary that gave it away?

Or the official laws and ordnance papers?

No, it was the big-ass sign that read:

MAYOR'S OFFICE.

"Well that's...obvious." Nathan cocked his head for a moment before walking up to the secretary.

"How can I help you?" The secretary said in a slow, bored tone.

"I was looking to find a house, maybe an apartment or something." Nathan told the boring mare. She clicked something on her small desktop and took a breath.

"There are four available. One: A two story, fully furnished house for forty-five hundred, two: a single story, fully furnished house, for two thousand, three:  three room, half furnished apartment for eight-hundred a month, and four: single room, empty apartment for two-hundred a month." The mare listed off.

Nathan pulled out his bit-bag (I need a better name for this) and counted out his money. In the three days he worked, which paid modestly, he earned twenty-eight hundred. Vinyl had tipped him an extra payment as a 'got-well' gift. He separated two thousand from his twenty-eight hundred and got the paperwork.

Oh god the paperwork.

It could kill the Tick-Queen in a single smack.

Nathan swallowed hard before picking up the paperwork. "Oh," He noticed it was just a GIANT contact with one spot to sign, "that went better than expected." He read through it quickly and signed where it asked him to. He traded the paper-brick for his key and waved the mare off.

Leaving the building, he went to the address labelled on his key. He quickly found the building and entered.

"SURPPPPRRIIISSSEEEE!!!"