Dibbuk was having the most wonderful day. It was a Saturday. The Zef was shining, and she was sitting on the edge of her favorite dock. A stack of her favorite comics nearly as tall as she sat beside her. Her hand was aching a bit but hey, that's what happened when you've been holding open your favorite stories all day.

She'd just finished with Tales of Earth #12 and was reaching for #13 when her implant went off. It was a phone call from Harvel. Odd, he almost never called her on their days off, usually out of principle. They didn't get a lot of alone time both living and working together and both found it best to respect each others space when they could.

Dibbuk waved the display over and accepted the call. "What's up? Gotta be something wrong if you're calling." She asked expectantly. If he was calling her it probably had nothing to do with money, he knew they were both equally broke. Could be something from work if he was feeling dutiful.

"The flo-... Why can I taste th-... Plaster and pi-... I'm gonna be si-... Orange and gre-... A million eyes all at on-... Who farte-..." Harvels voice said, seeping out of the implant, broken and at times distorted.

"Harvel? What's going on? You eat something bad? You need me to come home or something? Speak up." Dibbuk asked confusion slowly evolving into fear. Something sounded very wrong about him.

"Dibbuk? I can hea-... Why can I h-... My brain, the pressu-... Make it sto-... Make a hole myse-..." Harvel continued, sounding more labored with each stop and start.

"Harvel? You're going to be okay, I'm gonna find yo-" Dibbuk began, but before she could finish the call cut off. Dibbuk stared flabbergasted as the little glasses icon she'd assigned to him blinked a couple of times before disappearing entirely. She began picking up her comics as panic started to set in. He'd almost sounded like...

She was about to start on her unread pile but noticed something out of the corner of her eye. The next book on the pile wasn't in fact Tales of Earth #13. The cover had changed somehow. It was Waste and Wonders #1, a comic she hadn't read in years. She was pretty sure she'd lost it a long time ago.

As she moved to pick it up her claw stopped, hovering over the volume. The cover was different. It was a human and a Tar-Khal standing defiantly in front of a wall of green mist. There hadn't been any of her people in the comics before, at least not that she could remember. She carefully peeled back the cover.

It was blank inside. Just a black page, still seemingly slick with ink. Then, everything went blank. The sunshine that had previously warmed her like a blanket was gone, replaced by a damp darkness that coated her face. The sounds and smells of the harbor replaced by rushing water and the acrid fumes of the sewer.

'I'm hanging?... I think?' Dibbuk thought, groggily glancing up at her arm. Her claws were lodged deep into something. Her implants clock was blinking, one half of the image distorted. 'That explains the aching claw. What is this stuff?' She thought, wiggling her claws in the soft, rubbery substance.

Reaching over her shoulder she turned on her emergency light with her free hand. It didn't look like dirt. Dirt wasn't orange on Liberum as far as she knew. She didn't know how long she had been hanging but whatever she was dug into was strong, stronger than it had any right to be as far as Dibbuk was concerned. She'd only caught it by the one claw.

She turned the light around and checked her position. She was in some sort of shaft, probably created by the cave in. The soft orange stuff seemed to run through the brownish red clay around her, giving it a slightly marbled look. She couldn't seem to get comfortable with the sight. It reminded her a bit too much of meat.

There was a persisting shadow about fifteen feet above her, on the opposite side of the shaft. 'Might be something. I'm gonna have to get my weight off of my wrist and down doesn't appear to be much of an option.' She thought, bracing her hind legs and starting the process of dislodging her fingers.

As strong as the stuff must have been it wasn't exactly hard to get a hold on. If anything she had to be careful not to dig her hind claws into the same situation her hand was in. Without the weight of her body to keep it there her claw came free rather easy. How well it held on seemed to have something to do with the pressure applied.

Once her perch was stable she took a look at the shadow. She could jump, but the force would probably just sink her legs up to the knee. Down was an option... technically. She pulled a flare out of her waist pocket and pulled the ignition cap off with her teeth. Dibbuk groaned in pain as she fought every reflex to let go of the wall and claw out her eyes which now ached horrendously.

She pushed herself away from the wall a bit and tossed the little red bastard behind her. Dibbuk watched through her legs as the flare fell until it was dim as a distant star, before disappearing altogether. She sighed. 'Up it is then.' She affirmed, setting her sights back on the shadow above.

Moving slowly and carefully she managed to keep her weight on at least three of her claws at all times. While she still had to force each appendage out of it's resting place with considerable effort, it was at least laborious instead of impossible. She'd managed to get about ten feet up when something caught her eye.

A little red light, dim as a distant star, was getting considerably less so as it came hurtling down the shaft. She had enough time to shake off her confusion and shield her eyes as the flare whistled past and into the darkness below. Dibbuk stared in bewilderment as the flare again dimmed before disappearing.

'Right. That, wasn't my flare. Right? I mean, I haven't eaten in a while, and I probably hit my head.' She thought, concentrating on moving her way up again. She only had about fifteen or twenty feet left before she could get to it. Actually, if she thought about it, she should be able to see it by now right?

The flare had distracted her enough with it's existence that she hadn't bothered to use the light it may or may not have provided. She turned again. She thanked her lucky stars for the first time in a very long time. It was indeed a hole. To where she couldn't be sure, but if she had to choose between this hole and that one, the latter won out every time.

Then, as she was only about ten feet from from the edge of the hole, the red flare whizzed by her again. 'Nope, nope, nope. Not going to think about it. Just keep moving and I can ponder why anyone else would have red flares besides me once I'm no longer stuck to the side of a,' Dibbuk shivered at the thought, 'meat cavern.'

She'd bought them herself. The night before she'd actually gone out and gotten new red flares to replace her company provided green ones. Something about the green ones had given her a bad feeling since the incident. Seeing as most of her bad feelings lately had panned out horribly, and her good ones had as well, she'd decided to stop ignoring the bad ones. This was currently a policy under review as she desperately wanted to ignore the feeling of being inside of a cheese filled convenience store hotdog.

After another few moments of climbing Dibbuk was able to swing herself into the safe haven of the hole. Using her flash-light to light her way she walked a few yards down the tunnel. It kept going for a few yards then terminated just around a bend. Dibbuk held her hand up to the wall. It felt warm to the touch. 'Might be something behind here, but for now I should wait for the team if I can.' She thought, turning back towards the towards the opening.

She rested her back against the wall of the tunnel, and slid down until her knees were touching her chest. As she rubbed the fatigue from her eyes the flare went spiraling past the opening again. 'Maybe it is mine. I don't remember leaving any at the station or on the cart. Maybe this place is in some sort of time loop. Maybe I died and this is just what hell is like.' Dibbuk thought, staring down at her hind claws, stained and glistening from the clay and "cheese" as she'd taken to calling it.

'I really hope I'm not dead. I don't feel dead. Even if I'm not, I might die down here anyways. I don't even have a book to read.' She thought, tapping her implant. She couldn't tell what time it was still. All it said was @&:17 as it flickered out again. She'd stored most of her books, save for the comics, on the little button sized device in case she'd ever needed them. Fat lot of good that had done her.

The flare sped past again. The time loop theory was becoming more and more likely by the minute. Even if it was the team, and even if they had red flares as well, there wouldn't be a reason to keep tossing them down over and over. She felt the grim reality of her situation begin to set in.

Dibbuk pulled her pack off of her shoulders and sifted through the contents. She had packed half a case of fruit bars as lunch, and maybe having something in her stomach would lift her spirits. It did, for a little while. Though the bar tasted of buunchal at first, the flavor waned as she swallowed each bite. By the time she'd finished the last of the bar it only tasted like mush and despair.

She'd never envisioned dying like this. Of course, Tar-Khal lived quite a bit longer than humans so the surrounded by her family and loved ones scenario had never been quite realistic. Yiddek might be there. That was comforting. Her mum, her dad, Harvel even, they'd all be long dead by then. Not so comforting.

But, she wasn't surrounded by her loved ones. She was in a hole. In the ground. Probably trapped in some sort of time loop. And, as she listlessly bit into the second of her fruit bars all she could think about was how she'd rather be eating her mums fruit soup, or her dads vegetable chili. Then all she could think about was that she might never see either of them again.

The tears came easier than they ever had. Dibbuk hadn't cried since that night in jail before her sentencing and even then she'd fought to keep them down. She hadn't wanted the guards to laugh at her. It didn't matter now though. The impending sense of doom far outweighed her shame. With nobody around to watch her breakdown occur she let her longing for home take her.

The flare whizzed past again.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Lier grabbed Wicksommes arm by the wrist, mid toss. "Did you see where the first one went?" He asked, peeling the lit flare out of the young mans hand.

"Um, no. No I didn't sir." answered Wicksomme sheepishly.

"Then why did you throw the other four?" Lier asked, tossing the crimson flare behind his shoulder. He'd watched the kid light them one after another, timing them almost exactly two minutes apart, and tossing them down the hole.

"Sorry sir, I just... I don't know what else to do..." Wicksomme answered, his shoulders slumping even further.

Lier sighed. He couldn't blame him too much. Search and rescue wasn't something they trained for extensively these days. "Well, just don't do it again. Where'd you even get these?" He asked, noticing another two in Wicksommes other hand.

Wicksomme pointed over to a pile of rubble near where Dibbuk had fallen. A couple of unlit flares were jutting out of the debris. "I think she might have dropped them earlier. I figured I might as well use them first." He answered, walking over and pulling a few more out of the pile and handing them to Lier.

"Huh, not standard issue that's for sure. Smart though. We only buy the green ones because they're what the city'll pay for. The red ones help you keep your night vision. Hold on to those." Lier said, tucking a couple into his breast pocket before depositing the other two in one of Wicksommes.

"Wow, always knew she was smart. That's some next level stuff right there." Wicksomme commented, inspecting one of the flares still in his hand.

"Is smart. Not was, is. Try to think about it like that until we know for sure. It's been a couple hours so the others should be almost on their way back with the winch. If Selby hasn't already slit his own wrists out of guilt, that is." Lier stated, giving the young man a reassuring smile.

"I just wish I would have done more." Wicksomme murmured, dejectedly sitting on one of the many stones strewn around them.

"No, you don't. Valez took a chance and paid for it. She made the decision of making sure you and Klagbender didn't. If it weren't for that we'd be looking for three people instead of one. Don't forget it." Lier said, rapping his knuckles on Wicksommes helmet.

"I wont. Never will." Wicksomme agreed.

"Good, then you can thank her when we find her." Lier assured him. He was actually quite proud of Valez for the most part. Moving the boulder, even with Marys approval, had been pretty goddamn stupid, but throwing Wicksomme and Klagbender off had been one of the most responsible bits of critical thinking he'd ever seen in this line of work.

If she was dead he'd sweep the boulder thing under the rug as best he could. Have her name put up on a wall in the station even if he had to carve it in himself. If she was alive he'd have to come up with some sort of disciplinary action first and commend her later. Either way he couldn't see himself being angry about it in the end.

'Don't know how I'm gonna repay her.' Lier heard as it echoed around in his skull.

'Good, then you have a million different options.' Lier thought as he slapped the dust off of his sleeves. He didn't hear the voice from the dark pipe up very often any more, mostly when he was trying to unnerve Gillis. But, when it spoke, he listened. No matter how trivial.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dibbuk raised her head from it's resting place on her forearms. Something was off. For the last few minutes she'd been too wracked with grief to notice, but now that she had calmed down a bit there was a particular detail missing. The flare hadn't passed by again since she'd been sulking.

'Did it get lodged in the wall somewhere?' She thought, peering out over the edge of the alcove. She couldn't see light emanating from anywhere below. Above her extended only the blackness of the void. She continued to watch for a few more minutes to be entirely sure.

Maybe she could make it happen again. At this point it might be the only entertainment she'd have for the rest of eternity. Dibbuk reached for the pocket she'd dedicated to flares. As her claws brushed one she realized that it was in fact the only one left. She'd had nearly ten of them when she'd left the station.

"Oh. Oh, shit! I must've..." Dibbuk said, patting down the rest of the pockets lining her suit. It hadn't been the same flare. It hadn't been the same flare! 'Oh, you absolute idiot! Assuming all kinds of stupid shit in the moment.' She thought, relief washing over her so intensely it nearly brought tears to her eyes again.

She looked at the flare she had left. She had to contact them somehow. Obviously the flare wouldn't have enough weight to make it back up the shaft but... Dibbuk searched around in her pockets and pulled out a length of fishing line. She wasn't survival expert but her dad had always told her to bring fishing line. You never knew how useful it might be.

Using her emergency light she scanned the floor. 'Ah, beautiful.' She thought, picking a stone out of the clay and "cheese". Flat and slightly oblong shaped, it probably weighed about five pounds. Perfect for her purposes. She only really had one chance at this. It wasn't a perfect plan but it was something.

Dibbuk held the unlit flare against the stone while she wrapped the fishing line around them about twenty times. She cut the extra line off with a claw and stowed it back in her pocket. It looked a little rough around the edges but it would have to do. 'No second chances.' She thought, eyeing the shaft stretching out above her.

She held onto a solid chunk of "cheese" as she leaned out over the void. She'd have to really chuck the thing to give it the momentum it needed to potentially reach the top. She knew she had the power to do it, it was the aim that was really important. If she fucked it up and lodged it in the clay that'd be her ass.

Dibbuk had spent plenty of time skipping dislodged pieces of concrete across the harbor with her brothers. Of course Harvel had never stood a chance at beating her record, and though Yiddek had often given her a run for her money, she'd always walked away undefeated from their little contests. She let the stone settle in between her first and third claw.

She took a deep breath and squared up to make the throw. She'd been unwittingly training her whole life for this moment. 'Don't screw this up.' Dibbuk thought, pulling the ignition. The light illuminated the cavern in crimson, accentuating each bump and cheesy vein that ran through it.

For the first time since that moment at the switch station, she felt the air change. The eyes were back. They were there, at the very edge of the light. Looking down at her knowingly. 'What happens if I throw this? Will it be as... polite as last time?' Dibbuk thought, staring deep into the wall of what she could only imagine was evil.

"You'll have to find out for yourself. You are welcome to try."

Dibbuk felt the words echo before seemingly wrapping themselves around her brain, pushing out all other thoughts. She strained her eyes, trying to focus, not on the eyes, but on the space behind it. Would the flare get through? It wasn't solid was it?

She could throw the rock, and it might do what? Eat her or something? At least someone might know she was alive. She could stay her hand and it might kill her anyway. She didn't know if there was a way to win this. 'Why is it always something? What the fuck are you?' Dibbuk asked, rage seeping into her thoughts.

"I, am polite. You, on the other hand are being quite rude, Dibbuk."

'You might have a point there. How do you know my name?' Dibbuk thought, staring deep into the void where the voice should be.

"I'm in your head. I'm in your brothers head. Though, it seems that might change if he can't get ahold of himself."

'And would that be your doing? You gonna kill him? Finish the job?' Dibbuk thought, gripping the rock tighter.

"Oh, no. I wouldn't do that. Not when he's been faring so well. I can't guarantee he won't do it himself though. I have hope that he'll work his way through it, but with these things you never quite know."