Discussions stopped when they saw them, their bloodstained raincoats, the corpses of the victims, the rich bounty of food and the grim faces of armed men, who had done what had to be done.
The desire, repulsion, triumph and guilt they brought fought among those that did not feel crushed, violated, anger and fear at the arrival of the aquisition.
Every single one of them would not say no to food provided it wasn't too blood stained.
They saw themselves in a dying skeletal state and saw the food as a means to prevent it.
There was nothing else, the tunnel vision obscured the death that would surely come.
The tunnel had been there for their entire life, it wasn't sensed itself, the tunnel was an invisible object and yet obscuring. To live is to look away from death, children may cry at first when they hear the bad news of their imminent demise, but the cry itself is a defense against reality, the first moment in which the invisible tunnel obscures their vision.
It becomes an old friend, without knowing what it is that makes them feel comfortable when they engage in a repetitive action, what calms them down when they have a bad time, what makes them feel refreshed after looking at media, art or listening to music.
Their old friend, which pushes away the guilt and repulsion at the sight of food, the denial of death, the illusion of infinite life, the invisible tunnel. Can it be broken through?
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
Can the tunnel be noticed? Often this is only possible if one had been hit hard enough by reality, reality breaks through the tunnel and hits the oblivious victim.
Some of those that had seen their parents killed and surrendered to the aquisition had shattered tunnels, they cared not about food, they were silent, feeling the weight of death that they had not gotten accustomed to. If they had their tunnels shattered earlier, the tunnels would have time to repair - only those that kept destroying the tunnel could eventually overcome it. Some people overcame depression and were free to see death.
These borders were subtle, absence of attention, part of the infected.
Most of the present had this mental sickness, the good life, the life without too much desire brought with it just as much sickness as strong desires and pain.
In overcoming depression, one either returns to the tunnel or one realizes the truth and keeps it - or leaves into the vast expanse beyond the tunnel.
Some of those people that had been talking to each other had been seeing through cracks in their tunnels, they had seen a glimpse of truth.
The return of the aquisition healed the walls of the tunnels, humanity began to feel just a little better as they could no longer see. Just a bit more infinity before the end, just a bit more - words of an addict, an addict that knows that every single piece of food would get eaten, every single one and then they would get really really cranky.