Bend Time and Blink

And then she had fallen.

Corvo acted instinctively. He leaped forward, the Mark of the Outsider burning on his hand as he called on the Void to rush into their world, the swirling eddies of two different, incompatible dimensions allowing time itself to be frozen, just—from Corvo’s point of view—for a few short moments. The effort was immense and he couldn’t keep it up too long. He had three vials of Addermire Solution with him, but that was all. Emily’s body froze in mid-air, the whole factory suddenly rendered in flickering black and white. Corvo gritted his teeth with the exertion, then blinked up to the platform above his head to reach the second level of the factory.

He spun around, sighted the girders in the ceiling. Too high. Instead he focused on the next gallery level above. Level three. Good enough for now. He blinked, then gasped for air as he materialized on the gallery. He already felt heavy, slow. He turned to check on Emily. She was still suspended, a butterfly caught in amber, but already he could feel the drain. Any moment now he would need to release his hold on time and she would hit the factory floor.

Corvo relaxed his mind, relaxed his body. He blinked to the next platform up, to the ceiling framework, then down to the gallery. He turned back to face Emily. He felt the Mark burn on his hand and he felt his own strength ebb, his limbs becoming heavy, his reflexes slow, his concentration slipping along with his grip on the power of the Void. Time sped up and reality snapped back to normal.

Emily fell.

Corvo turned, and jumped, and blinked. He materialized with his arms wrapped around her. They twisted, tumbled, fell. He reached out and blinked again, the tether linking his mind to the gallery across the factory, moving and slipping as he fell through the air. He was going to be too late.

He had no target, no destination. No hope.

Corvo closed his eyes, pushed all other thoughts aside, and just blinked. They hit the metal decking of the gallery with a thud, Emily rolling on her side. She was breathing and her eyes moved rapidly behind closed lids. She was alive, but unconscious. Something had happened to her up on the framework.