Vascular

==> (color: red) [thump] =><= (color: red) [thump] <== (color: red) [thump] =><= the sound of pumping blood fills the air. it pumps through the walls, walls that you can't see. it's dark, and hot, and loud. the [[thumping->Thump2]] is loud.

=><= each and every [[thump->Thump]] gets (color:red)[louder]. it's hard to focus on anything besides the [[thumping->Thump]]. the [[heat->embers]] isn't (color:black)[yet] a distraction and the [[darkness->it's an ocean]] prevents visual stimulation.

=><= (color:orange)[fire], stoked from somewhere deep in this [[thumping->Thump]] prison, seems to (color:orange)[heat] the air. it makes everything humid and uncomfortable. it's hard to focus on anything, but at least it doesn't seem to be getting [[hotter->corona]].

=><= amongst other things, the (color:black)[darkness] surrounds you. ignoring all of [[thumping->Thump]] (or at least, ignoring it to the best of your ability), it makes focusing on the (color:black)[darkness] easier ever so slightly. the (color:black)[darkness] is pitch black and humid from all of the [[heat->embers]]. it surrounds you like a swaddling blanket. like the depths of the ocean, it seems like the(color:black)[darkness] is all that's there. your vision swims and you [[think->fish out of water]] you see something, but maybe your eyes just //want// to see something.

=><= suddenly, it gets (color:orange)[hotter]. how ironic. the (color:orange)[heat] seems to be coming from all around, (color:orange)[radiating] from around you, back to you. like the [[thumping->Thump]] in the air, the (color:orange)[heat] becomes omnipresent. where is all of it coming from? you [[squint->the sun]] into the darkness.

=><= (css: "font-size: 300%;")[Don't Stare] you hear a loud rumble from up above. your eyes instantly unfocus from the (color:black)[darkness] as you look upwards to search for the source of the sound. (color:orange)[searing] light (color:orange)[burns] at your retinas. you are unable to look away for a few moments, and when you do, you find yourself [[blind->burnt out]].

=><= it's almost impossible to tune out the [[thumping->Thump]], but you futilely squint into the (color:black)[darkness]. it doesn't appear to be anything aside from the uniform (color:black)[black]. so, perhaps then, you were wrong. or right, in the sense that you were imagining things. the human mind wasn't made for a lack of sight. you're a fish out of water here. and then you see it again, a movement in the otherwise unbreakable (color:black) [darkness]. you [[react->see me then]] quickly this time, and snap your eyes towards the movement.

=><= you can no longer (color:black)[see]. or (color:orange)[feel]. but you can hear. and you hear an insistent [[thumping->Thump]]

=><= (css: "font-size: 300%;")[Too Cold] the shape you spotted is spherical, with writhing pseudopods that pull it far too quickly across the inky ocean of darkness you have found yourself surrounded by. before you can get a better look at it- (color:orange)[heat] flares. it's intense, far more that you're prepared for. the (color:orange)[temperature] rises quickly, and sweat runs in rivulets down every part of you at the sudden (color:orange)[heat] flash. your head begins to hurt from the sustained (color:orange)[heat], and something gooey runs down your cheeks. you find yourself [[blind->burnt out]]