The Fracture Logbook Entry, Draft 3

I'm dying for the first time.

I lie on the ground, and the cyclops in the red cloak stares down at me, brandishing a massive blade of crystal above my heart. My blink harness is in pieces, and the fluids inside leak into my wounds. The engineers warned me about it overheating, and they had horror stories to back it up. This is much worse. The cyclops utters something I do not understand, and plunges his blade deep into my//chest cavity. Pain races down every nerve in my body as the scalpel pierces my flesh.

''We have to monitor your heart closely for signs of atrial fibrillation or arrhythmia. Simply wearing this device, as well as time-shifting with it, puts a massive strain on your body.''

I'm only half listening to the engineers as I lay strapped to the table. "For my own safety", they said. They poke and prod at me as I'm being fitted with the blink harness. I'm the lucky lab rat that'll be testing out their new tech. They continue listing off warning after warning.

''And whatever you do, DO NOT//break it!'' Her words echo through my mind as the toy crashes to the ground and breaks into pieces.

I'm awash with tears in my mother's arms. My palm stings from the cut. The broken toy lies on the ground, far beyond repair. She carries me to the bathroom and grabs something out of the cabinet. She wets a small piece of gauze and presses it to my palm, and I shriek at the pain. My mother hugs me tight, and whispers in my ear, ''Don't worry, we'll fix your toy. Just have to put it//back, together.''

Wisps of consciousness return to me as I find myself on a makeshift stretcher. Debris from the Contact Light cascade down around us as I'm dragged to an alcove.

''Seems they left without us.''
He says, barely a hint of emotion in his voice.
''Guess we're on our own.''
''Is he dead?''
I croak out the words with all of the energy I've got left in me.
''Big red one? Yeah. You will be too if we don't get help soon. He got you good, you're looking//WEAK, WITHOUT YOUR BAUBLES AND TRINKETS"

I stare down the cyclops with the hammer, as the moon shatters to pieces around us. He is the only thing between me and getting off this planet. He must fall. He will fall.

There is no fear in me, no apprehension. I know where, and when it ends. I won't be//dying for the first time.

I lie on the ground, and the cyclops in the red cloak stares down at me, brandishing a massive blade of crystal above my heart.