18:00

12 : Inertia

Fan had always been more of an observer than a doer. He had a hard time taking actions himself, so he preferred to stand back and analyze everything as an outside rather than influence the events himself. That's how he had lived his life, and he didn't have any plans on changing that. At least, he didn't plan on changing it on his own accord.

He remembered finding Inanimate Insanity for the first time. It was a joyous feeling, finding something new to reside in. To thoroughly analyze every single character, and find comfort in the ones he related to the most.

He remembered submitting his request to be in Season 2 of the show. He'd admit, he did it as a bit of a joke then. Not out of seriousness, just something to show his blog followers. He had grown quite a community just from posting about the show.

He remembered waking up to find that his request had been approved. At first he thought it was a joke, but upon finding that his airplane tickets had already been purchased and sent to him by the staff, his heart leapt with joy. It was impossibly hard not to immediately post about it, but he resisted under Mephone4's request. He didn't want to spoil the new season's newcomers for the other fans, after all.

And, of course, he remembered the show. He was assigned to his team, and he'd admit he was a bit annoying. But luckily, enough of the voters must've been readers of his blog, since he was never voted out by the viewers. He only got himself eliminated in the Final 7. Not his proudest feat, but whatever.

During that time, he remembered meeting Test Tube. Their first actual conversation had been out of pure curiosity on Fan's side. Test Tube had been watching the moon with a telescope. She always had a sort of natural beauty to her, whether it be the nerdy charm Fan loved about her or the way she spoke. Either way, they hit it off, and became friends.

He remembered the season finale. He was a bit sad that it had ended, but at the same time, it had been the perfect ending. Everybody got to move into Hotel OJ, even if they had to start paying rent now that the show was over, but it was nice. Mephone4 had started making a Season 4 with all new characters, but Fan found himself too attached to everybody he had met during the first three seasons to care for the fourth one.

He remembered when Lightbulb and Soap first went missing. The night of the anniversary for the Season 2 finale. He had his first fight with Test Tube since the show, and the hotel definitely could've been in a better state. Test Tube had feigned obliviousness and care so well back then, joining Fan in his guilt over being the last to see Lightbulb. What he didn't know is that it had actually been her fault.

Of course, he remembered the escape as well. Who wouldn't? He had joined the rescue mission thinking he could help, though only found himself sitting down next to Trophy. Nobody had blamed him, they didn't have any expectations of him. They hadn't been expecting him to turn on his best friend so easily, and he hadn't. Fan probably blamed himself more than anybody else did though.

He remembered the months of recovery from the victims of the lab incident. They had been stuck in there for four months, and then were granted four more months to get over it. Four months to get over the permanent death of somebody they cared deeply about. Four months to adjust to the permanent injuries they had gained, both mental and physical. It didn't feel like enough time, but they managed. Yeah. The people who had been hurt the most by the experience held their weight steady. But Fan, who had done nothing but observe it, still couldn't get himself together.

He remembered meeting Test Tube again. It wasn't supposed to be possible, she had permanently died. But there she was in all of her blood-soaked glory. And Fan, being the fool that he was, believed he could talk to her and get her to fix her ways. It had just been desperation in hindsight. Now that he thought about it, it was only two months ago that it happened. He could've sworn it was a year though.