Love Me Dead《Bill x Ford: A Darker Reality》

You are lost...

n̴̨̲̜͖͈̝͈͎͂͂̕̕͝i̵̢̝̼̜̦̯͈̜̰̤̍̾̒͑̏͊̇̽͐͘͠͠ͅå̶̩̏́̎͊̃̋͊̓̿̾ĝ̵̳̇̆͒͊͗ą̸̢̞̘͎͚̖͖͌̿̒̋̚ ̵̛̜̱̺̹͖̬͇͇͖̦̻̖̐͆͗͗͗́͊͐̈͘t̸̥͙̺̰͍̳̥̙͓̹͓͕̣̗̟́̽͐̿e̴͈͓͔͖̘̞̬͖̱̯̭͈̮͓̓̄̋̑̔̅̑̉̅̏͌̄͘̚͜ë̶͓̬̖̉͌̇̅̑̑̎̅̓̐̀̀̕m̶̝͇͇͈͈͎̬͚͎̟͎͒ ̴̥͖̐̅l̶̝̝̗̞̏͗̂͆͗́̍͛̇̾͊͘͝l̴̹̩̝͙̜̿̿̾̋͂̑̏͘͘ ̵̰̜͍̥͉̜̒̽̈́̂̕̚e̸̢̛̞̳͓͍͖̖̝̿̃͗̄͆̚̕͜͝ẇ̸̡̟̳̳̜̞̯̳̜͙͈͍̩͗̃ ̴̢̙̳͉̠̦̹̖̩̜̙̖̺̇́̌̏͌͠ͅw̵̢̖͕̳̳̜͎̬̝͉̻̎ͅŏ̴͉͓̠̫̮̲̖̘̻͖̙͓̭͇̹̈́̌̎̒́̂̃͝n̶̢̧͖͚̫͍̭̟̰̺̫̖̜͂͐́̆͆͛͐̍̏̔͌̽̓̚͜ͅk̶̛̙͇̱̣̠̗͈̭̥̬̆̔̇̓̊͗̏̕͝ ̴̨͔̻̳͙́̾̌̑̓͛̊̐i̸̦̹̾̀̓ ̸̘̣͇͒̀̔t̴̛̞̝̝͂̂̂̀̾́̄̓̍̌̋̚͝ụ̸̅̽͑̽̂͌̀̿̒̈͝b̶͉̣̭̜̖̮̘̖͎͔͖̹̝͉͂̀͑͂͛̃̕͝ ̵̺͈̘̍͗̄̑̌͝͝n̶̫̲͇̺̜̺̽͜͜͜e̶̤̐̿̐̆̏̄̒̚̚͝ḥ̷̹̝͙̯͕͇͓͔̠̪̲͖̜̱̈́w̴̢̞̹̫̲͉̼͎̪̞̼̖͉̗͍̍̅̒́̀͗̚ ̶̡̛̤̭͕̈́̀͐̈͗͐̾̈́̑͝ẁ̷̫̥̖̋̆̑̌̏͜ỏ̸̡̧̥͚̲̱̼͎̝̈́̀̈̈́͂ņ̸̼̮͓̱̬̩̬̬̚͝ͅk̴̛̰̞̈́̋̉͗̏̅̌̑̍ ̴̢͉͕̦͙̟̳͇͔̙̘̝̘͎̅͂̽̈͘t̴͙͉̺̦͔͓̤͖̼̙̯̱̝̀̏̉̓̐́̉͐͊̎͋̕͝ ̷͍̹̯̻̫̯̘͍̪͎͙̿͂́̌͂̌́͘͜ͅń̵̡̛̪̦͌̃̽̊́͛̚o̴͖̪͙̠͍͓͉̓̈̌̾̀̎̾̂͒̚͝͝d̶̢̨̢̛̩̻͖̲̪͚̗̊̌͐̍̀̉̈́̃̕͘ ̷͓̰̾̽͋̀̽͊͛̂́̄̾̕͝͝ę̸̯͈̖̳̲̫͈̺̫͚̰̗̋͜r̶͙͈͚̦̪͎͉̬̖̝̒̓̉̍̀̈́̇ͅe̵̤̙̯̯̗͍̙̳̻̭̦͋͐ḧ̴̠̺̙́̋̑̓ŵ̶̛̘̗̼̟͈̜͈̝̼͈̓̆͆̋ ̴̘̖͙̘̠̦̫̯̪̮̯̹̓̄̈͋̍̃w̵̖̟͛͌ͅo̸̥̦̙͂̔n̴͕̩̰̤̺̤̤̯̰̑̓̆̾̀͆͂̆́̓́̾̍̈́ķ̵̛͕͉̮̱̘͎̲͔̱̙͈̄̇̋̀͜ ̵̧̡̘̱͌̊͐̎t̴̢̛͍̬͖̜͎̳̱̰̙̣͔̞͓̂̈́ͅ ̶̛̩̋n̷̫͍͇̣͚͗̑͂̋̇́͑̈́̚̚͝ͅǫ̵̨͔̪̬̰͉̼̮̀ͅd̷̟̝̦̾̒̅̿̀͊̾͜ ̴̧̦͍̤̱̹͍͎̫͙̘͖̑̌̆̽̂̇̓́̅͋̀n̶̢̥͚̘̱͚̟̠̤̟͍͚̩̏̀̈͑͆̕͠i̶̮͇̘͐̋͌́̍͆̆̋̅̿̿͝͝a̷͚̮̖̠̪̳͚̲̔̒̂̽͋͌̃́̄͐͆̈́͆͘͝ǵ̷̡͙̤͚͓͖́͂̓̇́̀̔̂̊͆͆̌͠͠a̶̻̹̰̭̣̓͝ ̵̡̰̤̬̖͓̰͗͗̐ţ̵̡̺̥̜̑͂̋́e̴͖͒͌̎͝͝ḛ̵̡̛̤̂̔̾̓͆̅̒̆́̕͘͜m̷̛̦̲̫͐̒́̈́̀̈́̂̄͊̂̾̕͝ ̸̢̖͔͇́̓̈́͗͌̊̈̿̊͝͝͠͝ļ̸̛̭̪̾͐͂̀̀̀̈́͘͘ͅl̶̨̠͍̰̖̖̈͐̐̀̓̏͘̕̕͘͜͝e̵̡̖̝̪̦̱͓̜͍͍̻̝͓͎̿w̷̡͇̺̩̗͊̑̅͊́̊͝͝͝

Bill!

You lied to me! 

Where does that portal really lead?

—Ford to Bill Cipher, "Gravity Falls"

△

SNAP!

That is the sound that erupts as every muscle, molecule, and fiber of my being is shred like paper. My ears fill with the sounds of explosives mingling with screams—My screams? —like some sort of fireworks display gone horribly wrong.

So this is it, I think bitterly, as my neck turns to sand. This is how I die.

I feel a blast of warm air, followed by the sound of a deep engine emanating from something far, far away. Seconds later, I'm staring out in the middle of space, my body perfectly intact.

My surroundings like nothing I had experienced in the Nightmare Realm. Darkness interspersed with pockets of stars, asteroids, and spiral galaxies—like something straight out of a NASA magazine. It was ordinary. In fact, almost too ordinary.

And then I spot it.

A dark floating building the size of a dwarf planet, embedded in skylights and bright neon lines etched along its sides like "neural tissue"; in fact, the building's shape eerily resembled that of a human brain. Encapsulated in a giant pink crystal, like a bloated tick in amber, attached to and surrounded by clusters of dark rocks.

My heart pulses in my throat. The intergalactic prison.

A few meters away from me was a holographic sign attached to one of those blackish rocks in a language that I couldn't understand. I watched in fascination as the words shuffled before me, until solidifying into a clear English script. It read:

W-E-L-C-O-M-E T-O T-H-E

T-H-E-R-A-P-R-I-S-M

Fascinating, I think. A sign that adapts its wording to the user's native language... perhaps through the use of some sort of retinal scan? And how—

I punch my glass helmet. "Focus, Ford!" I remind myself gruffly. I don't have time to prospect on the inner workings of this realm, no matter how mind-boggling!

I take a second look at the crystal. Embedded in the far-right corner is a small black box. The entrance building, perhaps, I realize. My shoulders drop.

How will I even get past security? I wonder, deflated. What even is security LIKE for a prison of gods?!

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

My sub-zero breaststroke cuts across the vast chasm of space as I approach the black box. I was already in too deep. Any worrying now would be futile.

"Those years training in the Nightmare Realm finally paid off!" I say, breathing heavily. 

Condensation—No, SWEAT! —begins to collect on my forehead. From exertion, or are things getting warmer? I ponder, my thoughts festering like locust. Or perhaps the increased warmth is some delirious effect of the crystal? My lip quivers.

Would I be burnt to a crisp before I even reached the base?

And that is when I hear a familiar voice. A voice that makes all the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight. A voice that I thought I would never hear again:

"WELL, WELL, WELL..."

And then everything k̴̡̝̘̻̠̗͖̩͎̗̃ͅr̸̛̹͎̙͉̿͜͝͝å̷̢̡͔̰̼̖̮͍̼̠͈̤ḍ̶̡̦͕̳͍̞̬͋ ̸̨̮͖̭̼̝̲̳̰͉̝͊͒̿̾̇͛̈̾̃͝š̶̢̺͉̮̣̤̰̥̠͙̩̼̀̀͋̋̉͂͝è̵̜̏͛͂̒̊͠o̵̝͍̦͖̓ģ̴̤̩̝̲͉͚̭͔̲͈̳̬̮̆̇͋͠. 

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