Sugarcane

<<timedinsert 0.5s>>rap<<endtimedinsert>> \s\n<<timedinsert 1s>>rap<<endtimedinsert>> \s\n<<timedinsert 1.5s>>rap<<endtimedinsert>>\n\n<<timedinsert 3s>>After a brief pause, the door swings open.<<endtimedinsert>> \n\n<<timedinsert 5s>>[["Step inside."|into the van]]<<endtimedinsert>>

You grab your [[bag|bag contents]] and stumble forward as feeling rushes back into your legs. As you exit the bus, you <<replace>>nod to the driver.<<becomes>>nod to the driver. She acknowledges you with a grimace, and you wonder how much she knows.<<endreplace>>\n\nYou take [[five]] steps forward and stop, squint at the sky. \n\n[[inhale|leave bus 2]]

It's not even full, but you're pretty sure you remembered everything. All the important things, anyway. It would be a damn [[shame|leave bus]] if anything were left behind.

Once shiny and newfangled, now scratched and obsolete. \n\nNo new notifications, but sometimes you scroll <<replace>>blindly<<becomes>>dazedly<<becomes>>with more attention than you would like<<becomes>>with no goal at all<<endreplace>> through archives, watching <<replace>>old messages<<becomes>>brief hellos<<becomes>>drunk confessions<<becomes>>last goodbyes<<becomes>>whatever, whatever, whatever<<endreplace>> blur past as you flick your finger.\n\n[[back|bus stop]]

It doesn't occur to you to take a look at what you're stepping into first -- your resolve is <<replace>>solid<<becomes>>running hard and deep<<becomes>>coursing headily through your entire being<<endreplace>>, and you obey the command without hesitance.\n\nClutching your <<replace>>bag<<becomes>>bag (the right lumps are still there)<<endreplace>>, you [[enter|in the van]].

Analog, all hands and no numbers, <<replace>>strapped<<becomes>>strapped tightly, immovably, permanently<<endreplace>> to your wrist with a worn leather band. A gift from <<replace>>someone<<becomes>>a friend<<becomes>>a //character// in your life, let's say -- it doesn't matter who -- <<endreplace>> who didn't want you to get <<replace>>lost in time<<becomes>>lost in time, as if you could ever be sure where you were based on an arbitrary human instrument<<endreplace>>.\n\n[[tick. tick. tick.|bus stop]]

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He turns before you can get a good look at his face, striding briskly towards a lone van in an otherwise deserted parking lot.\n\nThis is probably not the time for <<replace>>small talk<<becomes>>small talk, given that you would likely be even more loathe to respond to his questions than would be to yours<<endreplace>>, so you [[follow|to the van]] wordlessly.

<<display "truestart">>

The sunlight is subdued through the tinted glass. <<replace>>Trees<<becomes>>Trees, deeply, darkly, angrily green<<endreplace>>, <<replace>>houses<<becomes>>houses like the little boxes of lore<<endreplace>>, <<replace>>parking lots<<becomes>>paved paradises, just like the song<<endreplace>>, <<replace>>lawns<<becomes>>lawns both manicured and overgrown<<endreplace>>. Stop signs and utility poles. \n\nStuff and things and world. Typical, [[mundane|bus stop]].

<<timedinsert 1s>>one<<endtimedinsert>>\n<<timedinsert 2s>>two<<endtimedinsert>>\n<<timedinsert 3s>>three<<endtimedinsert>>\n<<timedinsert 4s>>four<<endtimedinsert>>\n<<timedinsert 5s>>five<<endtimedinsert>>\n<<timedgoto "leave bus" 6s>>

!TAKEBACKS\nby [[lcz|http://www.twitter.com/leilazilles]]\n\n[[let's go|bus stop]]

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You sit in the opposite corner from her. \n\nShe's still staring at her computer. "Just give me a moment here, I'm grabbing coordinates."\n\nYou hear the driver's door <<continue>>open<<endcontinue>>open and <<continue>>shut<<endcontinue>>shut, and then the engine <<continue>>revs<<endcontinue>>revs.\n\nShe finally looks up. "All right. [[Let's move.|start the van]]"

Your <<replace>>bag<<becomes>>bag (why are you so <<replace>>worried about it<<becomes>>obsessed with it<<endreplace>>?)<<endreplace>> nearly gets caught in the door as it slams shut behind you.\n\nA <<replace>>young woman<<becomes>>young woman whom you swear you know from somewhere<<endreplace>> is sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring down <<replace>>intently<<becomes>>intently, her face illuminated by the laptop screen in front of her<<endreplace>>. Upon your entrance, she gestures near the spot you are squatting.\n\n[["Please, sit."|sit in van]]

inhale \s\n<<timedinsert 1s>>exhale<<endtimedinsert>> \s\n<<timedinsert 2s>>inhale<<endtimedinsert>> \s\n<<timedinsert 3s>>exhale<<endtimedinsert>> \s\n<<timedinsert 4s>>.<<endtimedinsert>><<timedinsert 5s>>.<<endtimedinsert>><<timedinsert 6s>>.<<endtimedinsert>>\n\n<<timedinsert 7s>>A tap on your <<replace>>shoulder<<becomes>>shoulder, and you hardly react at all<<endreplace>>. A soft male voice. <<endtimedinsert>>\n\n<<timedinsert 9s>>[["Come with me."|go with stranger]]<<endtimedinsert>>

The paint is chipping off the van in some places, with spots of rust betraying some of the more vulnerable areas. All of the windows are covered in dark fabric.\n\nWith his back still turned to you, your guide [[raps|enter van]] three times on back door.

You glance at your [[watch]], then at your [[phone]], then out the [[window]], then once more at your [[phone]].\n\nIt feels as though you have spent an eternity sitting on this <<continue>>bus--<<endcontinue>>bus--\n\n[["Last stop."|leave bus]]