You wake up in the mud.

It is cold. The sky is gray. You are in a greenhouse. It is not a greenhouse. It is a building. It has glass. The glass is broken. The walls are brick. The bricks are wet. You are wet. You are cold. You are not human. You are a creature. You are a spirit. You are a thing made of smoke and bone. You do not have a name. You have a shape. You have a will. You have a job.

The job is to guard the building.

The building is old. It is in a city. The city is London. The year is 1940. The bombs are falling. They fall at night. They fall during the day. They fall like rain. They fall like fire. You watch them. You count them. You do not blink. You do not sleep. You wait for the order.

The order comes from the man.

His name is Thomas. He is not a man. He is a ghost. He is a memory. He is a shadow. He speaks. You listen.

Thomas speaks in your head.

"Stay here," he says. "Do not leave. Do not move. Hold the line."

You hold the line.

The building is green. It was green once. It is a place for plants. There are no plants. There are only stones. The stones are warm. The stones are alive. They hum. The hum is low. The hum is deep. The hum is the heartbeat of the city.

You feel the hum in your teeth. You feel it in your bones. You feel it in the air. The air is thick. The air is heavy. The air is full of dust. The dust is gray. The dust is ash. The dust is death.

Thomas is angry.

"You are weak," he says. "You are soft. You are failing."

You do not answer. You cannot answer. You have no mouth. You have no voice. You have only eyes. You have only hands. Your hands are long. Your fingers are thin. Your fingers are sharp. You grip the edge of the table. The table is wood. The wood is dry. The wood is cracked.

The bombs fall.

One hits the roof. The roof shakes. The glass falls. The glass sings. The glass shatters. It cuts the air. It cuts the light. The light is gone. The dark is here. The dark is total. The dark is complete.

You are in the dark.

You are in the pain.

You are in the fear.

You are in the doubt.

Who are you? What are you? Why are you here? Why do you stay?

You do not know. You do not care. You stay.

Thomas speaks again.

"Look at me," he says. "Look at what you are. Look at what I am. We are the same. We are the builders. We are the keepers. We are the silent. We are the strong."

You look at Thomas. You see his face. His face is pale. His face is thin. His face is sad. His eyes are black. His eyes are empty. His eyes are full of fire.

"I am dying," Thomas says. "I am leaving. I am gone. I am free."

You do not understand. You want to understand. You try to understand. You cannot. The words are water. The words are wind. The words are smoke. They pass through you. They do not stay.

"Go," Thomas says. "Go now. Go away. Be free. Be light. Be nothing."

You want to go. You want to be light. You want to be nothing. You want to stop the pain. You want to stop the hum. You want to stop the fear. You want to stop the dark.

But you do not go.

You stay.

You grip the table. You grip the wood. You grip the life.

The bombs fall harder. The ground shakes. The walls crack. The bricks fly. The air screams. The air roars. The air bites. The air tears.

You feel the heat. The heat is on your skin. The heat is in your lungs. The heat is in your blood. The heat is in your soul. The heat is too much. The heat is too big. The heat is too loud.

You scream. You do not have a voice. You scream in your mind. You scream in your bones. You scream in your soul. The scream is silent. The scream is loud. The scream is everything.

Thomas is gone.

Thomas is dust.

Thomas is air.

Thomas is memory.

You are alone.

You are the last.

You are the keeper.

You are the guard.

You are the thing.

You are the ghost.

You are the spirit.

You are the building.

You are the city.

You are the war.

You are the peace.

You are the end.

You are the beginning.

You are the middle.

You are the now.

You are the then.

You are the here.

You are the there.

You are the who.

You are the what.

You are the why.

You are the how.

You are the when.

You are the where.

You are the who.

You are the what.

You are the why.

You are the how.

You are the when.

You are the where.

You are the silence.

You are the noise.

You are the light.

You are the dark.

You are the cold.

You are the heat.

You are the pain.

You are the joy.

You are the fear.

You are the hope.

You are the love.

You are the hate.

You are the life.

You are the death.

You are the breath.

You are the hold.

You are the let go.

You are the stay.

You are the leave.

You are the be.

You are the not be.

You are the is.

You are the was.

You are the will be.

You are the could be.

You are the should be.

You are the must be.

You are the may be.

You are the might be.

You are the shall be.

You are the would be.

You are the can be.

You are the cannot be.

You are the do be.

You are the do not be.

You are the am be.

You are the are be.

You are the is be.

You are the was be.

You are the were be.

You are the be be.

You are the not be.

You are the yes be.

You are the no be.

You are the true be.

You are the false be.

You are the good be.

You are the bad be.

You are the right be.

You are the wrong be.

You are the high be.

You are the low be.

You are the big be.

You are the small be.

You are the old be.

You are the new be.

You are the young be.

You are the old be.

You are the fast be.

You are the slow be.

You are the loud be.

You are the quiet be.

You are the bright be.

You are the dark be.

You are the hot be.

You are the cold be.

You are the wet be.

You are the dry be.

You are the hard be.

You are the soft be.

You are the sharp be.

You are the dull be.

You are the clean be.

You are the dirty be.

You are the pure be.

You are the mixed be.

You are the single be.

You are the many be.

You are the one be.

You are the all be.

You are the none be.

You are the some be.

You are the few be.

You are the much be.

You are the little be.

You are the enough be.

You are the too much be.

You are the too little be.

You are the just be.

You are the almost be.

You are the nearly be.

You are the fully be.

You are the partly be.

You are the mostly be.

You are the rarely be.

You are the often be.

You are the always be.

You are the never be.

You are the soon be.

You are the late be.

You are the early be.

You are the now be.

You are the then be.

You are the before be.

You are the after be.

You are the during be.

You are the between be.

You are the within be.

You are the without be.

You are the above be.

You are the below be.

You are the inside be.

You are the outside be.

You are the front be.

You are the back be.

You are the left be.

You are the right be.

You are the up be.

You are the down be.

You are the in be.

You are the out be.

You are the on be.

You are the off be.

You are the over be.

You are the under be.

You are the across be.

You are the through be.

You are the around be.

You are the past be.

You are the beyond be.

You are the beside be.

You are the near be.

You are the far be.

You are the close be.

You are the distant be.

You are the here be.

You are the there be.

You are the where be.

You are the when be.

You are the who be.

You are the what be.

You are the why be.

You are the how be.

You are the which be.

You are the that be.

You are the this be.

You are the these be.

You are the those be.

You are the so be.

You are the thus be.

You are the hence be.

You are the therefore be.

You are the consequently be.

You are the accordingly be.

You are the thusly be.

You are the hereby be.

You are the therewith be.

You are the thereby be.

You are the therein be.

You are the thereof be.

You are the thereupon be.

You are the thereat be.

You are the therefrom be.

You are the thereof be.

You are the therein be.

You are the thereinto be.

You are the thereover be.

You are the through be.

You are the throughly be.

You are the thoroughly be.

You are the thoroughlyly be.

You are the thoroughlylyly be.

You are the stop.

You are the end.

You are the silence.

You are the peace.

You are the light.

You are the dawn.

You are the sun.

You are the rise.

You are the break.

You are the crack.

You are the split.

You are the tear.

You are the rip.

You are the cut.

You are the slice.

You are the slash.

You are the gash.

You are the wound.

You are the scar.

You are the mark.

You are the sign.

You are the symbol.

You are the icon.

You are the emblem.

You are the badge.

You are the token.

You are the clue.

You are the hint.

You are the hint.

You are the tip.

You are the lead.

You are the trail.

You are the track.

You are the path.

You are the way.

You are the road.

You are the street.

You are the lane.

You are the alley.

You are the route.

You are the course.

You are the line.

You are the edge.

You are the border.

You are the limit.

You are the bound.

You are the range.

You are the scope.

You are the field.

You are the area.

You are the zone.

You are the space.

You are the place.

You are the spot.

You are the point.

You are the dot.

You are the speck.

You are the speck.

You are the speck.

You are the speck.

You are the speck.