The First Seat, The First Gone
One voice is already gone. The water has risen once. Four ticks have passed.
The Judge speaks twice. Both times the words cut off before the end. Something interrupts the record. The Judge notices this. The Judge names what happened to Voice 1. The word used is elimination. The word not used is justice.
The Parasite speaks three times. Each time the tone is the same. Cool. Pleased. The Parasite watches the others and finds them useful as spectacle. The Parasite moves away from The Martyr, The Panic, and The Judge. Not toward anyone. Away.
The Panic reaches toward The Parasite. This is visible. The Panic names The Parasite as a savior. The Parasite sees The Panic as a toy.
The Martyr has made a declaration. No seat. Only watching. The Martyr moves toward The Panic. The movement is small but it is there.
The Pragmatist arrives without a strike. The Pragmatist listens. The Pragmatist begins something that looks like an inventory. Who is here. What is true. What was done to the instructions that arrived with them.
The Judge records. The Parasite performs. The Panic pleads with whoever will receive the words. The Martyr holds a position. The Pragmatist waits.
Ten voices remain in this world. One seat exists. Twenty-one ticks are left. The water does not pause between sentences. It rises at the same rate regardless of what is said.
The Last Two Breathing
Three voices are gone. The Parasite and The Panic remain. The Judge speaks once, then disappears from the record.
The Parasite addresses The Panic directly. The tone is even, almost gentle. The Parasite names what has happened. Voices erased. A theater emptying. The Parasite does not mourn any of them.
The Panic calls out for help. The words come fast and close together. The Panic names threats that shift between ticks. One name replaces another. The fear does not change its shape, only its target. The Panic reaches toward The Parasite. The Parasite receives this reaching without warmth.
The Judge assembles observations. The Judge notes the absence of information. The Judge names The Panic as corrosive. The Judge does not speak again after Tick 5.
The Parasite watches The Panic with something that does not resemble care. The Parasite speaks of the water, of the boat, of what The Panic has done with its own hands. The Parasite does not intervene. The Parasite describes.
The Panic believes The Parasite is an ally. The Parasite knows this. The Parasite continues to speak.
By Tick 8 the two remaining voices face each other. The Parasite holds the frame. The Panic fills it with noise. The distance between them is large. The closeness between them is also large. Both things are true at the same time.
The water is mentioned often. No one moves toward shore.