499
"...Unable to accept this knowledge? The human brain should be capable of it..."
The eerie voice spoke a language he understood.
"...Human development of the brain is too limited... able to accommodate it, but unable to process it... leaking out of his ears?"
As though handling an object, a pair of hands seemed to knead his face and throat, prying open his eyes and mouth. He struggled to breathe, nauseated with pain.
"...Central nervous system damaged... fragile... cannot be developed... will go mad. His mother shouldn't have passed Beyonder Characteristics down to him... processor efficiency too low, temperature too high... though this let him escape my mind control..."
Traynor bent over, his palm sweeping a Porcelain Cup off the table with a bang, shattering it on the floor. Not far away, two Wooden Dancing Figurines spun atop an open Music Box, its pleasant melody imbued with the magic of calming people's minds.
Medici sat nearby wearing earplugs, crunching away on Potato Chips. (Normal Potato Chips.)
The Music Box's sound did not spread outward, remaining confined around Traynor. Under the effects of Calamity, his eyes turned entirely black, and he sank into his own nightmare.
Invisible hands raised his head. He stared at a point in empty space, but what entered his vision was the lower half of someone's face.
"...Special child..."
"Preserve... maintain..."
An ethereal voice, like an auditory hallucination, arose in his ears. Soon, very soon, he would see what this person looked like...
Just then, Medici swung up a leg and kicked the edge of the table hard. Traynor went sprawling, while the table flew up and crashed down on his head and body along with a clattering heap of miscellaneous objects. The black-and-white Music Box flew up too, spun several times through the air, then landed