1529 Hypnosis 4

L.: 'E looked right at me, and that's when it started. I suddenly felt… happy? Relieved? It was like right away all the pain and the soreness and the chill was gone. I didn't have blisters on my feet and I could feel the tip of my nose again. It was like I was back in ██████████ kicking up my feet by the fireplace, like I could forget all my worries and enjoy a well-deserved rest. But…

█████: …But?

L.: It didn't feel right. Have you ever heard of paradoxical undressing? When your body starts to cool down, really cool down, your blood vessels dilate and you start to feel like you're warming up. So you start tearing off your clothes because you feel like you're burning up and you need to cool off - and the next thing anyone knows, you're naked and frozen to death curled up in a snow bank. I had a mate who went that way in '98. As far as I know he's still curled up next to the Hillary Step.

█████: So you believed you were imagining it.

L.: Right. So I tried to shrug it off, but I couldn't take my eyes off the man who'd started climbing up towards me. And that's when it all went to shit.

[...]

My mates were almost thirty meters off by now. I tried to yell to them but all that came out was a whisper. I looked up and that man - that thing - was still coming.

█████: How long did it take for it to reach you?

L.: An hour? I'm not sure. I couldn't see my watch and I don't think I could've made sense of it anyway. I managed to get my arms on the ground but I couldn't push myself to my feet.

[...]

I was looking right into those goggles, those eyes…

█████: Were they goggles or eyes?

L.: Neither. Both. I don't know. But it was like I could see things in them. Not see them, so much… more like feel them. Images and feelings in the back of my mind. Rage, and joy, and… confusion.

█████: Confusion?

L.: I don't think it was used to people resisting it. It asked me a question.

[...]

█████: Which was?

L.: "You would refuse my gift?"

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