Chapter 1: Prologue
Notes:
!! This chapter has been sliiiiightly updated since I originally posted it. Not enough for a reread to be necessary to continue, though.
Work title is from the song "dallas" by glass beach.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Technoblade is a fighter. Surviving in this world only by cutting down those around him with little regard for who they are.
It is what makes him useful. And he’s only survived this long by being useful.
His handlers tell him that it is almost as if he was born to fight.
The voices tell him that he was.
They tell him a lot of things, but that’s the one that has always made the most sense to him. Fighting has been a constant in his life, ever since he entered this world. It’s only natural that it’s his entire purpose. Techno thinks that makes sense.
hey it’s not your entiiiiiiire purpose
Yeah it’s just blood in general tbh
guys i think he’s traumatijzed :skull:
technosad
E
GUYS BE NICE TO TECHNO OR ISTG
^^^^
OKAUY IM SORRRY
They tell him a lot of things. And sometimes, very rarely, those things are actually helpful.
Left!!!!
Techno turns left to block just as one of his opponents sneaks up and slashes at him.
See? Helpful. Chat, be more like that guy.
haha losers im technos fav
techno ytou missed diamonds
Honestly cant believe techno would pick favorites
tech there’s 7 guys abt to jumpscare you rn I swear no cap you should turn around leaving yourself vulnerable to all the enemies in front of you
bros fr tryna get techno killed wtf lmao
WHAT DID I JUST SAY?
E?
nah leave Techno all the way alone smh
Guys play nice he’s just a baby :(
Techno can’t be a baby. He’s not a child, no matter what Chat says. Because children do not have to fight for their lives this often. That, he knows. Maybe piglins age faster than humans, and while he is young, he’s actually mentally the same age as most of his opponents? Maybe his handlers know that? Maybe that’s why they make him fight?
Techno doesn’t know. All he knows is that he’s not a kid. Sometimes, he doesn’t even think he’s a person.
Define “child”
he's literally 11 y’all
11 is the new 30
bro was born with trauma instead of bones
Thats just bone trauma—
He rolls low to the ground, letting his opponent's blade whistle overhead. Dust catches in his nose, in his eyes, in his hair. He would be mad at that if his hair wasn’t already ruined. Red instead of pink in most places, and matted to hell.
He doesn't stop. He never stops. If he stops, he dies. It’s simple math. And Techno thinks he’s pretty good at math. He doesn’t have much of a basis for what good is in math, but Chat says he is, so he’ll have to trust them on that.
3v1! 3v1!
no actually 4v1 now someone just jumped the barrier
illegal move illegal move REF WHERE IS THE REF
techno you got this i believe in you :heart:
try stabbing. that usually works
Maybe even TWICE :o
The axe in his hand sings. Not literally, he’s not that far gone yet. But there’s something rhythmic in the way it carves arcs through the air. He can feel it hum against bone. A good hit. One down.
LET’S GOOOOOO
kill CONFIRMED
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
double kill coming up if u pivot right rn
bro dodged that like the IRS
“not that far gone” babe you are conversing with the voices in your head rn im just sayin
They laugh sometimes, the Voices. When he’s winning. When the fight starts to feel less like surviving and more like control. He likes that. He likes the feeling of control. It’s rare, and this is the only place he gets it. Fighting for his life against opponents with years more experience than him.
The second man falls with a grunt and a shattered knee. No need to kill him. He won’t be walking for a while.
merciful king <3
techno techno he's our guy, if he can't kill them— wait lol yes he can
NO MERCY. END HIM!!
watch the one behind you
no not that one. the other behind.
There’s always another behind. Time is a circle.
guys there’s a nerd among us
AMOGUS
NO—
He twists without thinking, blade catching on something soft. A scream. The feeling of blood spraying across his arms. He doesn't flinch, this is normal. He hasn't flinched in years.
That might be worrying.
techno ur scaring me rn
bros just casually traumatizing the bloodthirsty voices in his head how does he do it
i mean slay
Literally
NO BUT LIKE ARE YOU OKAY FOR REAL
E
Techno exhales. Just a breath. But it’s shaky, and he hates that. He’s not tired. He’s never tired. He can’t afford to be tired. Not here. Not with them watching. Not ever.
handler with the scar on his chin is clocking your footwork again
i think his name is mork
Why the fuck would his name be mork?????
what a dumbass fr who tf is mork/??
I MEANT MARK YOU KNOW I MEANT MARK
he’s gonna be pissed though cuz you got hit earlier
cant believe mork was the bay harbor butcher
I miss the nice one
the nice one died remember
Oh. Right. :/
Three bodies down. One more circling. This one has patience, she waits for an opening. Techno respects that. It won’t help, but still.
He feints high. The opponent takes the bait. His axe meets ribs.
A crunch. A collapse. Then silence.
But only for a second.
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
THAT’S OUR BOY!!!!!
YESSSSS
BLOOD MY BELOVED <3
pop OFF technoblade
BLOOD FRO THE BLODO GOD
blodo god lmao
BLOOOOOOOD
The crowd roars above, but it's distant. Muffled. Like he’s underwater. Or maybe just under blood. He straightens up and lifts his chin, throwing his axe to the ground. He waits for the gate to open. Waits for the chains to rattle. Waits to be pulled back into the dark.
another win for our boyyy
Does he get food this time
please god give him food this time
We’re hungry :(
NO MORE OATMEAL
#oatmealisoverparty
He doesn’t think about what he’s done. Not really. It doesn’t help.
He listens to the voices instead. They’ve been with him longer than anything else. Maybe even since before the ring. Maybe since he was made. Maybe longer. He doesn’t know.
Maybe one day he’ll ask.
We’ll lie
probably
unless he says please
i wanna tell him tho
Okay first of all: NO. BAD. DON’T TELL TECHNO. Second of all: he legit wouldn’t understand yet so like whats even the point
bro’s treating me like I’m a misbehaving dog
new nickname alert
HAHAHA MISBEHAVING DOG. NEW WORST NICKNAME
NOOOOOOOOO WHY DID I DO THIS TO MYSELF
That’s even worse than Grog, bro. I feel for you Misbehaving Dog <3
PLEASE ANYTHING BUT THAT
too late :)
He doesn’t laugh. He just waits for the next fight.
Because Techno is a fighter.
And that’s all he’s ever been.
Notes:
hullo. I've recently been reading a bunch of dsmp fics and let me just say that y'all are talented af. I'm keeping this work anonymous for now because I'm not sure if I'll finish this fic & it's my first fic in this fandom, but if anyone wants me to continue it then I will try and muster up the motivation lol. I already have like 75% of it planned, it's just the actual WRITING that needs to get done.
comments are my lifeblood and are greatly appreciated <3
Chapter 2: What Did My Eyes Ever Tell You? "It’s Just the Cries of an Animal"
Notes:
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa take this chapter before I lose my nerve!!!
no but seriously I have had 0 motivation to write lately like I have another fanfic I haven't updated since February. February!!
I've been writing this fic super sporadically with huge breaks in between and it has gone through a lot of changes & I honestly still might edit this chapter again in the future because every time I reread it I just think "oh yes this is absolute garbage. nice one idiot" but it's spent way too fuckin long in my google docs, it deserves to see the light of day.I also updated the first chapter to be the Prologue since it's super short & I rewrote some bits from it (overall added like 100 words I think. nothing to write home abt), so reread that if you want.
Anyway thanks to anyone who read the Prologue and to everyone who commented and/or left kudos!! you guys are all HIGHLY appreciated <3
Chapter title from the song "200" by glass beachOh and maybe like a very slight warning for discussion of suicide. It is NOT explicit at all and is just a once-off line said by one Voice to another Voice, but I would MUCH rather be safe than sorry!!!!! any other relevant warnings will be in the tags, but since this one is so slight & only in this chapter I feel it would be very out of place listed there.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Technoblade is a thing. Created without intent, and with the curse of understanding.
Techno wakes up to shouting the next day. That’s not unusual. He’s a naturally light sleeper, and barely an hour goes by in this place without the sound of screaming or shouting interrupting the quiet. He’s just unlucky that today the shouting was close enough to wake him up.
Chat seems excited that he’s awake. They tell him that it’s five-oh-nine in the morning, and that the wake-up bell will ring in less than an hour. Techno groans at that. Chat’s not gonna let him go back to sleep, he can already tell. He thinks he was having a good dream, too. Something involving a horse, a polar bear, and a lot of dogs. The horse was his, and the polar bear and dogs were friendly and cuddly. It was nice.
Techno’s never seen a polar bear before, he’s only heard about them from Chat. But he has met a dog before! It wasn’t as friendly as the ones in his dream, though. It was one of his first opponents in the Pit. It lunged at him, so he jumped out of the way and went to stab it, but an overwhelming number of Voices told him not to kill it, so he tried to oblige. It’s rare for Chat to all agree on something, even rarer for that something to be not killing. So Techno thought it was wise to obey.
He managed to end the fight without also ending its life, and Chat told him all about dogs afterwards. Their loyalty, their strength, their intelligence, their silliness.
Suffice to say, Techno wants a puppy.
He’s wanted one ever since his fight against the angry dog.
Chat says it should be the first thing he does when he escapes, but that train of thought always upsets Techno. It reminds him that there will never be a chance to adopt a puppy, because he’ll always be here.
Imagining a future in which he’s not spending most of his days in a cell, waiting around for the opportunity to fight and kill for his life, is difficult. It’s not all he’s ever known, but it’s all he really remembers.
Chat wants him to escape, but Techno doesn’t know how. Not in the sense of physically escaping, but of actually escaping. In his mind, he’ll always be here. In his mind, there is no other option.
The Voices always try to tell him that there’s more, there’s better, there’s even worse. But he genuinely cannot fathom it. It’s like living your whole life as an ant, only to one day be told about civilization, and people, and the sky, and the sun, and the stars. The celestial bodies that your insignificant mind can’t even begin to comprehend.
Here, in his little corner of the universe, there’s only fighting, and pain, and blood. It’s comforting, in a way.
Chat drags him out of that train of thought with the promise of a story.
Techno immediately perks up, listening intently. He likes when Chat tells him stories.
Okok what Greek myth are we telling him this time?
My vote is for Achilles and Patroclus
Hercules!!!
ahem I think you mean HERACLES
o yeah sorry. Heracles!!!!
apple of discord
day 6527 of asking to tell the story of protesilaus
I think Perseus is a good idea? It’s a nice one
Oedipus
NO NOT OEDIPUS
who tf is oedipus
Bro he didn’t mean to marry his mom it was an accident
Spoiler alert spoiler alert
YES LET’S TRAUMATISE THIS CHILD WITH THE STORY OF OEDIPUS
The child is already traumatized. I don’t think a story about a dude killing his dad and accidentally marrying his mom is gonna phase him.
We’re tryna traumatize him? Then Achilles & Patroclus for sure
yeah let’s make this kid cry
HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU GUYS TO BE NICE TO TECHNO
Techno is getting annoyed. He just wants to hear a story before breakfast! Is that so much to ask?
okay fine lets just go with achilles and patroclus
YESSSSS where do we start?
Im thinking from 10th year of the Trojan War
yeah we ain’t got time to go into their gay-ass childhood
ya so we’ll talk about their gay-ass adulthood instead
Love those gays <3
Chat introduces the protagonists, an unstoppable warrior, and his best friend and lover. Techno rolls his eyes, ready for another sappy love story, and chat calls him homophobic. Techno denies it without really knowing what it means.
They tell him that Achilles was an extremely talented fighter, arguably the best of his time. Techno vaguely wonders if he could beat him in a fight, were he alive.
They tell him that he grew up with Patroclus by his side, they were nigh inseparable, even by war, and they had been in love for many years.
They tell him that Achilles had been insulted by the leading king Agamemnon, and refused to continue fighting for the Achaeans.
They tell him that Patroclus begged him to keep helping, that they would lose the war without Achilles. But Achilles could not let go of his pride, even for his love.
They tell him that Patroclus, not nearly as gifted in combat as his lover, decided to rally the Achaeans by wearing Achilles’ armour and impersonating him on the battlefield to scare the Trojans.
They tell him that it worked, until it didn’t.
They tell him that he was struck down by Hector, a Trojan prince.
They tell him of Achilles’ rage upon hearing about the death of his best friend, his revenge in the form of brutally killing Hector, the desecration of his enemy’s corpse by dragging it around on the back of a chariot for days on end, and his unending grief for his lover.
They tell him of Achilles’ prophesied and therefore inevitable demise. An arrow shot by Paris, another Trojan prince, and guided by the god Apollo, hitting him in the heel, the only spot on his body that wasn’t dipped in the River Styx as a child, making it his only vulnerability.
Aside from Patroclus, of course.
They tell him all of this, and Techno cries.
He cries like he’s never cried before, which isn’t too far from the truth.
i just got here why is techno crying what happened????
DUDE WE TRAUMATIZED THIS POOR GUY IM SO SORRY TECHNO <3
We’re actually horrible i feel so bad
Trauma builds character!
RIP Patrochilles
Im so confused tho thats not the version i read
yah dude they were jsut friends they wernt lovers??? what tf???
Thats what big pharma wants you to believe
HUH??????
they were gay. end of story!!!
can’t believe big pharma wants us to forget that gays exist </3
When Techno finally calms down, the wake-up bell has already come and gone. Chat promises to make up for inflicting a trauma he will never recover from in the form of teaching him some more Common in the precious few minutes before breakfast.
Techno accepts this trade.
Without Chat, Techno wouldn't be able to do a lot of things. This includes, but is not limited to: reading, writing, understanding and speaking Common, basic math, knowing how best to kill each and every one of his opponents, knowing how long he has been in The Pit, knowing what age he is. The list goes on.
So really, Techno is grateful for them. He really is! He would be dead a hundred times over without their help.
But by the gods are they annoying.
HEY!!! take that back >:(
Technobitch
techno on his bully arc fr
teenagers. amirite???
Bro he’s 12 :skull:
ACTUALLY??? that’s messed up
Yeah can’t believe were getting bullied by a 12 year old child who can’t even break out of a high security hybrid slave fighting ring SMH my head
no i meant the fact that there’s a 12 year old child in a high security hybrid slave fighting ring in the first place…
O yeah that makes more sense
technosand :(
SAD***
LMFAO TECHNOSAND
TECHNOSAND POG
Technosand!!!
Hey, I haven’t tuned in in a while. Where’s Ranboo?
You try living with thousands of voices inside your skull crying laughing about sand.
He can’t even read today’s match list. He’s had to walk past it while subtly trying to read who he’s going up against four separate times. He can’t be seen actually reading the schedule. Then they’d know he’s sentient enough to read.
It had been so scary when he was younger. He was four years old, couldn’t understand Common, and barely knew anything about humans or the overworld.
Scratch that, it was terrifying. Being taken away from everything you’ve ever known, all the while not even being able to understand what your captors were asking of you. It led to a lot of “punishments”. Chat told him that his owner probably figured that if Techno couldn’t understand him, they should punish any “undesirable behaviour” to stop him from doing it in the future.
One voice had mentioned that this was a common way for humans to train animals, but that it wasn’t very effective due to the subjected animals only being told what not to do and not what to actually do. She also said that it causes the animal to distrust the trainer, leading to more anxiety, confusion, and anger, which actually makes the animal more likely to make mistakes or lash out!
(When he excitedly asked the Voice how she knew all of this interesting information, she hadn’t responded.)
At the time, Techno was happy to learn something new, and to understand his situation a bit more, but he soon grew very close with those feelings of anxiety, confusion, and anger.
His instincts had been trained out of him so early that he doesn’t even remember what some of them are until he feels compelled to act on them.
The sight of gold, once so entrancing and mesmerising, now fills him with nothing but a deep cold dread. Dread at what’s bound to happen if he even so much as thinks about picking it up. Dread at the disappointed sigh his handler will let out. Dread at the footsteps making their way over. Dread at the—
⏁echno, you’re okay!! That’s not happen⟟ng right now. You’re s⏃fe.
He’s on the floor. When did that happen?
Where is he? Is he coming? Did he do something wrong?
What’s happening?
You’re okay!! Uh, you’re still in the cafeter⟟a but everyone’s too scared to stare at you for too long so you’re n⍜t getting any weird looks or anything.
Ranboo? Is Ranboo here? That doesn’t make any sense. They’re—
⏁echn⍜?? You’re okay I swear. ⊬ou just ⋏eed to breathe. No ⍜ne’s gonna hurt you right ⋏ow. Please jus⏁ calm dow⋏. ⌿⌰⟒⏃⌇⟒ ?
Nononono he needs to leave he needs to get out right now.
He’s in his cell. He doesn’t remember getting here. It’s the same one. It hasn’t changed in the seven years he’s been here.
When his handler gets here he’s gonna know that Techno was bad and he’s gonna sigh and he’s gonna walk over and—
Techno. You need to breathe. Just take a moment to relax, and breathe.
He can’t—
Oh gods, he can hear the footsteps. He’s— he’s not safe. He needs to leave.
Every single instinct he’s developed since he started fighting is begging him to get out. Screaming that it’s not safe here. Leave. Run. Not Safe. Not Safe. Not safe, not safe not safe notsafenotsafenotsafenot—
“Hey, pig! Where d’you think you’re goin’?”
…
oh shit that was fast
YEAH KILL THAT MF
Holy shit lmfao
Technos gone full feral mode
techNOmercy
BLOOOOOOD YAY
who even was that guy
…
It happened really fast, and Techno honestly doesn’t remember it very well.
But when his mind decides to come back to him, he’s being dragged somewhere. Presumably his cell.
He feels the familiar sensation of blood coating his hands, but he also notices it on his face, still dripping from his chin, and in his mouth, creating an overwhelming taste of iron. As if he had drunk a glass of blood instead of water with breakfast this morning.
“—Godsdamned waste of time, I swear to the fuckin’ gods—”
Techno tunes into what the person dragging him is saying as he realises that he recognises the angry voice of his owner.
“If it didn’t make such good money it’d be dead so fuckin’ fast. Ya hear that?” his grip on Techno’s arm began to hurt as he stopped walking and suddenly started addressing him. “One more fuckin’ slip-up like that, and you’re dead! I already got you out of that euthanasia bullshit before and I’m not doing that shit again. So you better fuckin’ behave, pig.”
He waited for a second, as if expecting a “Yes, sir!” but then seemed to actually think and continued walking with a grumbled, “stupid fuckin’ animal.”
lmao what a fucking idiot
fr
By the time Techno’s dropped back off at his cell, he’s a mess.
They’re going to kill him.
He’s sure of it.
Apparently they had wanted to do it before, but his owner put a stop to it?
ya when you were like 8 and killed all those people before The Pit
I thought we had agreed not to tell him that?????
Yeah that’s very traumatizing for such a little guy :(
and they’re not gonna kill you!!! he said that if you slipped up AGAIN that he’d kill you!
Yea so just don’t fuck up!!!!
We wouldn’t let that happen anyways :p
btw I thought we weren’t allowed to uh… yk
WE’RE NOT!!! I think that was just Techno??
OG should know
Chat spam ping him
Please do not do that. I am here.
@OhGee @OhGee @OhGee
well dont leave us in suspense was it techno??
We will discuss this another time. Perhaps when Techno isn’t awake to hear it.
O right soz
Techno is barely listening. Chat is always cryptic like this, and he’s too panicked to analyze it right now.
What had happened? How will he prevent himself from doing it again if he doesn’t even remember doing it?
He’s so stuck in his thoughts that he almost doesn’t hear the footsteps approaching.
Almost.
He hears his handler unlocking the door.
He hears the disappointed sigh.
He wants to turn around and look. He really does. You should never have your back turned on an enemy, that’s one of the most basic rules of survival. But it won’t do anything. He can’t fight it, he never could. He’s powerless here. In this cell, with his handler, with blood still coating the inside of his mouth, he’s weak.
KILL THAT BITCH
Didn’t we just establish that techno can’t “slip up” again? Because I think killing his handler would definitely be defined as a “slip up”
I DON’T CARE MORK NEEDS TO DIE
did I miss something whos mork?
AN ASSHOLE THATS WHO
YEAH BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
Guys if he kills mork he’s gonna get put down we just went over this
BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
KILL MORK
It’s a nice thought. But that’s all it is. A thought. A hope. A desire. It’s not reality, and it never can be.
So he just takes it.
technoooooooooooooo
Techno techno techno techno
technolate
is he goiod?
Technoboring
okay wait i got this. techno you need to focus!! can you list out five things that you can see?
that does NOT sound helpful dany
no shes right its a thing for like panick attacks i saw it somwere
Doesnt seem to be working tho :/
He’s not having a panic attack that was earlier when he was hyperventilating n shit I think he’s just dissociating rn
ANY THERAPISTS IN CHAT? PSYCHOLOGISTS, PERHAPS?
any1 gotr a medical degree i think our host is broken :skull:
Shut up Dice he’s dissociated not fuckin deaf you dumb piece of shit
UR A DUMB PIECE OF SHIT FUCKER
JESUS CHRIST BOTH OFYOU SHUT UP TECHNO’S HURT
Can he even hear us????
Wow so original of you to just repeat my own insult back at me. I’m wounded, truly. You sure got me! I’ll never mentally recover from this!!
KYS
WHOA CALM DOWN BROSKI
LMFAO DICE YOU’RE SO SALTY
guiys i dont think were helpiong
@OhGee @DanyPrez you need to tempmute @DiceTASTIC and @cabboy81 or sum istg theyre being so annoying rn
Done.
no!!!!!! i was just about to do it!!! :(
Next time, Dany.
Soooooooooooooooooo whatdowedo?
Wait for him to come back from wherever he’s gone and then help him ig
Yessss our poor boy D:
my poor insane son
????????? w hat?????????
This is taking too long I’m going to sleep
TRAITOR! (┛ಠ_ಠ)┛彡┻━┻
Techno needs us right now we have to be there for him when he wakes up
Oh.
WAS THAT HIM??
TECHNOLATE TECHNOLATE TECHNOLATE
HE’S BACK LESGO
Techno has a headache. He focuses on that, because if he focuses on anything else, he’ll panic. This one piece of controlled pain is grounding him. He has thousands of voices living in his head, constantly yelling at him. He’s used to headaches.
Bro just got his shit rocked and all he’s thinking about is “hmm well I have a bit of a headache!”
Techno are you okay??? You’re still bleeding really bad
Eeeeee wb techno we missed ya bud
Tech get up you need to clean the wounds
Wakey wakey eggs n bakey
It’s fine. He’ll— he’ll walk this off. He’s been through worse.
…
He thinks.
Techno not to scare you or anything but if you don’t clean & dress those wounds you could very well die hahaha…ha… ._.
He knows. He knows, he knows, he knows. He’s not in an ideal situation right now. Far from. It’s just too much to handle. He wants to go back. Why is he so desperately clinging onto his awareness? He just— he just wants it to stop.
Ooooooh poor baby :(
Technosad :broken-heart:
It’s just not fair!
Why him? Why Techno?
He wants to kill him so bad. All of them. They deserve it. He didn’t DO anything. Why are they doing this to him?!
⏁⟒☊⊑⋏⍜ ⌇⏁⍜⌿! ⌿⌰⟒⏃⌇⟒. ⊬⍜⎍'⍀⟒ ⌇☊⏃⍀⟟⋏☌ ⋔⟒
Oh. There’s a hole in his wall. How did that happen?
You just punched through concrete m8. Nice one. Add your knuckles to the list of areas you have to clean and bandage
not helpful “m8”
Extremely helpful! Excuse you
Another thing on the list. That’s all it is. Just another area he has to bandage. Another part of his body that’s gonna hurt for the next few days. Another weakness in the arena. Another reason for another punishment and another reason for a whole new plethora of anothers—
techno you’re spiraling!!!! i need you to focus on my voice!!
He hears that. Dany, he thinks.
yes!!! you’re doing great techno. you’re breathing suuuuper fast right now but i’m gonna help
He’d noticed that too. His breathing was getting quicker. That happens sometimes. Chat says it’s a sign of what they call a “panic attack" or “anxiety attack”.
(He instinctively tries to slow his breathing, but that just ends with him having to take in long, shaky breaths that are much louder and more noticeable and no one can see him like this what if someone hears him and decides to check on him what will—)
Chat is usually not very helpful during these moments.
techno can you list out five things that you can see?
Okay. Five things he can see? He can do that. That’s easy. He doesn’t understand how it will help, but he trusts Dany! She’s always been kind and helpful.
“The— the—” he stutters as he realises that he’s crying. That’s stupid. He’s stupid. He doesn’t deserve to cry.
techno!! five things you can see!! focus!!!
Right, right. Right. Uh.
“Wall. The wall,” he finally manages to get out.
That’s too obvious. It probably doesn’t even count.
it counts!! just any five things that you can see, techno
Right. Okay.
“Um… the— the bed. Floor. Um… myself?”
He was silent for a moment while he thought. There really weren't that many things in his cell. Well… except for the blood stain that’s been ingrained in the concrete floor for so long that it’s become part of the décor.
BLOOD?
NOT RIGHT NOW!!!
:(
Techno flinched at the sudden yelling. Things had been quiet. Not silent, but quiet. He almost forgot about the rest of the Voices.
sorry techno. can you tell me four things you can touch?
He let out a shaky sigh. Probably not, honestly. He rested his hand on the concrete next to him.
“The floor.” He thought for a moment before adding, “it’s cold.”
good. anything else?
“No,” he huffed out. He was frustrated now. The Voices could see everything that he could see. Surely she realised that there was nothing here? Is she stupid?
wow okay rude. moving on. three things you can hear?
“You, me, and someone shouting.”
you’re doing so good!!! two things you can smell?
Dany, I think that if you ask him to list one more thing he’s going to explode.
you wound me og
⊬⟒⏃⊑ he seems ⏃ngry…
holy shit can you stop using the stupid enderman alphabet its so confusing
Oh.. uh… sorry. I can’t really control it.
Dude that’s RACIST towards ENDERMEN
im not racist i just cant understand what hes saying when he fucking talks like that
Oh but surely you’d be used to not understanding things by now?
DAMN bro is going IN for the KILL
Dude stfu he’s right it’s actually so annoying when he talks like that
No i⏁’s fi⋏e I’ll st⍜p
nah hes doing that shit on purpose
Oh my god can you just leave them alone?? It’s not their fault
yeah you’re always like this jonah you’re such an asshole
oh IM an asshole/????
YEAH YOU ARE
YES???
^^^^
Yup lol
OH THATS RICH COMING FROM YOU—
Techno tries to tune the fighting out. None of that is helpful information. But if he’s being honest, Jonah is a bit of an asshole.
He just wishes that he managed to read the schedule for today. It never hurts to be prepared.
ladies ladies your both pretty now stfu
are you stupid?? are you actually a fucking idiot??
Oh he’s asking ME if I’M stupid. Do you even hear yourself???
Techno youre fighting from 3 until dinner again. All non lethal today tho.
This is JUST like you you know. You never think about how your actions affect others
oml youre such a fucking crybaby. ranboo literally doesnt even care. right ranboo?
⍜h, uh…
Distantly, Techno is thankful for the Voice that told him his scheduled fights for the day. But more prominently, he’s reeling from the confirmation that the Voice he heard earlier was Ranboo.
Having the voice of your dead best friend haunting you for eternity sucks. But at least he got some information out of it.
People he’s killed join Chat.
Notes:
WOO okay. notes. yes.
Like I said I'll probably come back and edit this soon because a) it is not nearly as long as I originally wanted it, and b) it honestly doesn't feel like my best work
I somehow managed to put so much effort into this over the course of like 3 months and I still feel like it turned out trash. tbh there was also a lot of stuff I wrote and then cut from this chapter to move to the NEXT chapter instead because I felt like it'd fit better so that one will (probably?) be longer once I've finished itAnyways it's 6am now (been writing since like 11pm to get this out. I am a very slow writer in case you couldn't tell!!) and I'm just sort of posting this to get it out there and get my motivation up to continue writing cause I have so many ideas for this fic and I will NOT let my depression take them from me!!!
lmk if you notice any mistakes since I did any proof-readings myself and it actually took me until today to notice that instead of writing "Thats what big pharma wants you to believe" I wrote "Thats what big pharma wants to you believe". I wrote that like 2 months ago and had looked over it maybe a dozen times and still did not notice it until the last minute lmfao
I actually also just want to say that any time I write about panic attacks, I'll be basing it off my own experience with them & what I've read elsewhere, but I've personally never experienced dissociation, so if anyone reading this is like a secret expert on the topic and would like to inform me of any inaccuracies then I will very gladly make any suggested changes for increased accuracy!!

CalliLillie on Chapter 1 Sun 27 Jul 2025 05:52AM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 1 Wed 30 Jul 2025 12:31AM UTC
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SilverWolf10105 on Chapter 1 Sun 27 Jul 2025 02:36PM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 1 Wed 30 Jul 2025 12:34AM UTC
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TheRangerOfRedwindDell on Chapter 1 Mon 04 Aug 2025 01:55AM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 1 Mon 04 Aug 2025 07:00AM UTC
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CalliLillie on Chapter 1 Thu 14 Aug 2025 04:50AM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 1 Mon 18 Aug 2025 12:19PM UTC
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CalliLillie on Chapter 1 Thu 06 Nov 2025 06:08AM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 1 Sun 16 Nov 2025 06:10AM UTC
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CalliLillie on Chapter 2 Sun 16 Nov 2025 06:43PM UTC
Last Edited Sun 16 Nov 2025 06:43PM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 2 Sun 16 Nov 2025 09:34PM UTC
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Dustwell on Chapter 2 Mon 17 Nov 2025 03:41AM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 2 Mon 17 Nov 2025 10:26PM UTC
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AmieScribes on Chapter 2 Tue 18 Nov 2025 03:52AM UTC
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Anonymous Creator on Chapter 2 Wed 19 Nov 2025 02:43AM UTC
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