The Nature of the Nowhere

Hush Now, Drift Off To Sleep

She was starving.

High up in the Signal Tower, far removed from the rest of the Pale City, she sat alone in a room made just for her.

She couldn't remember much. She knew the Thin Man had captured her, using the Signal to bring her far, far away from that boy—Mono, he said his name was. The Thin Man told her his secret; once, a long time ago, he had been Mono. He told her back when he was a child, he had a friend named Five. Five was a lot like her, he said. Desperate to survive in a cruel world, and furious at him for dragging her through Heck just to try and understand his vision.

(He hadn't actually said Heck, but she wasn't keen on repeating the word he used.)

The Thin Man told her he and Five tried to escape the Signal Tower, and he'd nearly fallen into its depths, but Five caught him.

"Did she save you?" she'd signed to him, to which the Thin Man shook his head sadly.

"She looked into my eyes, and she said 'I hope you enjoy your fate as much as you enjoyed putting me in danger,' and she dropped me. On purpose."

The Thin Man had knelt down, trying to make himself seem less scary.

"Mono's put you through the same pain I put Five through... I tried to stop him, but he's just so stubborn." He'd sighed wistfully. "Bringing you here was the only way I could break the cycle."

She hadn't believed him. She'd thought it was a trick to get her to let her guard down.

"What are you gonna do to me?" she'd signed. In response, the Thin Man had held out a large replica of her single comfort object.

Her music box.

Without thinking, she'd grabbed the crank, turning it to hear its peaceful melody. She'd closed her eyes to listen, letting the comforting song melt all her worries away... It was even more potent than before, pacifying her even as the music box shrank in her hands.

"You'll be safe here, little one."

Since then, she'd been curled up in a corner of the room, bathed in a gentle pink glow and soothed by the melody of the music box. She wasn't sure how long she'd been there, thinking about what the Thin Man had said to her about Mono.

The longer she thought, the more inclined she became to think maybe the Thin Man was right. After all, Mono had dragged her through Heck. She'd been strung up by porcelain bullies, attacked by disembodied hands and groaning grown-ups, and she'd followed him despite him only leading her further into danger.

She couldn't believe she'd let herself be vulnerable with him.

The door creaked open, and she half expected the Thin Man to have come back to check on her, but was instead met with a familiar voice.

"Raincoat girl? I—oh no..."

She didn't even look up at the sound of Mono's frightened voice, simply crawling towards her music box and dragging it closer to her before returning to her safe, secluded corner.

"What... What did he do to you?"

She shook her head. The Thin Man hadn't hurt her, he'd helped her. She was safe in the Signal Tower, with her music box to keep her company.

"Come on, raincoat girl... look at me, please..."

Mono sounded hurt, like he was close to tears. Reluctantly, she raised her head slightly to look at him, and was shocked to see how small he looked. Was this one of the many illusions of the Signal Tower? She also noticed the bag he usually wore over his head was gone... and his face looked awfully familiar.