One Tragic End to a Million Stories

Broken

Soon after we sat down at the table, Mark and Wilford joined us. "Hey," I greeted. Suddenly, the cafeteria glitches into the dark room I had in my dream for a moment before glitching back, though only we seemed to notice.

"What...?! What was that?!" Mark asked.

"That was the glitching that keeps happening," I said.

The glitching persisted throughout the day, getting worse the further we went into the day.

That night, as I laid in my bed, I wondered If I would ever find out how to stop the multiverse from breaking.

Then I fell asleep.

And the dream started.

I was with the warp core. I sat down. Old Mark approached me. He sat next to me. "Let me guess, you either aren't real, or can't tell me why this is happening."

"Both," He responded

"What?"

"This is your dream. You're dreaming."

"No, I mean, like, real in my dream. Last night, you were just a hologram."

"I am real in your dream."

"So, why can't you tell me what is causing all of this and how to stop it?"

"Because it's not my place. It's hers," He said, pointing. There was nothing there. "I said... it's hers." Nothing happened.

"There's no one..."

"Yeah, I know. I got the timing wrong. It's hers!" Suddenly, Lady appeared where Mark was pointing. "There it is..."

"Please, for the love of God, tell me what is causing this and how to stop it!"

"The thing that is causing this is..."

"...Just say it before someone wakes me up!"

"..."

"..."

"Say it! ...Just say it! ...Talk, you stupid Lady!"

"..."

"..."

"It's you."

"What?!" I stood up and backed away a bit.

"You're the one causing this. All of this destruction and glitching and chaos."

"How?! That's not possible! I'm not doing anything!"

"This is happening because you're not ready to fix everything, yet."

"What are you talking about?! Of course I am!"

"You're not ready to go back to the ship."

I froze. "...Oh. That's what this is about. This is because I'm not willing to leave Yancy, yet." Lady nodded.

Then, I woke up. I opened my eyes, but I didn't move. I didn't have the motivation for that. I barely had any motivation at all.

Suddenly Wilford burst in the room. He was asking something very loudly, most likely waking up Yancy, but I couldn't hear him.

Looking at him suddenly caused glitching in my head. There was so much glitching. It was overwhelming.

Lady's voice echoed in my mind. "This is all because of you. Hurry up and get ready to leave him. The entire multiverse is counting on you to leave." The glitching worsened, and I got flashes of Lady. "This is all because of YOU!"

I snapped out of my glitching and flashing and realized that Yancy was there with a supporting hand on my shoulder. I then asked him a question.

"How about another date?"