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THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF X-BALLPart XVII: Throat Culture | |
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Inner Fish, 1753 - Hiro Nakamaji woke up, once again on a soft dark cushion of Fish flesh. Slowly, as he pulled himself into a sitting position, he began to make out his surroundings.
Which was curious, because he had lit no matches. In fact, he had no matches left to light. But there it was, a faint, pulsating light somewhere below him. It was faint, so that Nakamaji could only make out the flesh around him, and that he had somehow caught himself in what seemed to be the Great Fish's throat. He looked up, then down. Then up. Then down again. He made a decision, and began to climb towards the source of the light. After what seemed like hours, the light began to grow stronger, and Nakamaji could tell that throat was at least a mile in diameter, if not more. That's Hiro for you, able to tell huge units of measure just by looking at them. At times, he rested, sitting in the folds of flesh which surrounded the throat. At one point, a splash of water rushed down the throat, and Nakamaji, shivering thrust himself under a flap of flesh as the water passed by. And with each step, the light grew stronger, and stronger, until Nakamaji began to feel a tickling sensation in the back of his throat. He knew this feeling. It was the feeling of power, of a pulsating life that talked to him and promised him the secreats of the universe. Of a chance to see his wife again. It was the X-Ball. And it was right below him. Excited beyond the point of caring, Hiro jumped to the flap of flesh which held the X-Ball, landing with a thud. The floor vibrated with a humming sound, rippling from the point of Hiro's impact. A shadow ran across Hiro's vision. Surely their wasn't something living inside of the Fish, thought Hiro. But then, it occurred to him, he was living in the Fish. It made sense that something else had survived. Another shadow darted in and out of the light. Then another. Hiro could feel eyes on him from all sides. Clearly, something else had survived their fall into the Great Fish. One of the shadows broke from the pack and approached Nakamaji, who was gripping the X-Ball so tightly the skin around his knuckles cracked. It wasn't something. It was someone*...
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