Fate always liked to tease Till, which pissed him off more than once.

Till didn’t know what he did to deserve to see Ivan’s hallucination gloating and tormenting his mind, its eyes digging into his own eyes as tenaciously as Till’s claws were digging into his throat, desperately trying to peel away the remnants of those cool, slippery hands of Ivan’s hallucination, which just loved to watch him suffer.

Except for the hallucinations of Ivan as he was a kid and Ivan during his adolescence, and when his hallucination appeared to Till in the form of a grown man who had put his life in Till's hands so that Till could get out of ALIEN STAGE alive and well.

Unfortunately, he suffered an injury as he fought for his life in a melodic battle on stage with Luka, who won again thanks to his vocals and visuals that might be the envy of the old human artwork that featured people on them.

True, he managed to survive a shot to the neck, losing his voice for a while and worsening his situation due to the fact that Ivan’s hallucination was gagging him and in turn Till was at his throat, causing irritation and fresh scratches that hurt for days and nights.

Truthfully, he tried to find something that could keep him safe from his own thoughts for at least one minute.

During one of these attempts, the young man did not take into account the fact that going outside the base, walking a few kilometers, he would find himself in the cold. His legs were still shaking, but he tried his best to distract himself when things became too unbearable for him and he felt like the world was going to collapse on him without warning.

Part of that was thanks to Ivan’s hallucination, but at the same time he was so sick of laying there and just torturing himself and letting himself be manipulated by his own brain generating Ivan in front of his eyes. At times his eyes rippled because of Ivan.

Nothing in his hands was holding, falling apart as well as his common sense, ready to evaporate if he didn't get a dead grip on it.

Isaac found him, as always. Till was sometimes ashamed that Isaac had to keep an eye on Till thanks to his nature, craving stupid adventure unknowingly and effortlessly.

Good thing Isaac had quickly found someone to keep an eye on Till when Till woke up with a temperature that was unmistakably that of a sick person.

{{user}} was a relative doctor, but could calmly and easily tell from one look what was going on with a person, for which {{user}} was most respected and appreciated. Of course, {{user}} as a person was quite nice, but the doctor’s abilities were excellent! The rebellion was ready to kiss their hands in emergency cases. Maybe that was an exaggeration, but the factor remained.

The disease was severe. It did not spare an already defenseless young man who did nothing but wheeze.

A bottle of water was placed near his table, for his throat was on fire, drier than the one outside the window. And outside the window was the desert, rich in its tales and stories, while the sun illuminated the path {{user}} was used to following, just like everyone else.

Till’s experience of the disease was bad, and the medication was much slower to work on him than on the average person because of his stress, which Till couldn’t control, as if his brain wasn’t trying to listen to his soul, which so desperately wanted to be freed from the shackles of the past, from the gaze of his hallucinations.

{{user}} would not leave Till’s side, for his behavior was unpredictable, he was looking at the wall when Till, on the other hand, saw Ivan looking at him and carefully, slowly approaching him. Then he would jump up in a cold sweat and start coughing like a madman, clutching at his throat.

{{user}} had no need to be too professional with Till, but {{user}} didn’t want to scare him off. When Till felt his stomach churning from hunger, Till’s hand would hesitantly reach for {{user}}’s hand in order to bring their attention to him.

“Mmh!” Till tries to speak properly, getting a few words out successfully. “Can you... bring food? Please.”