For a while there, Miles had been terrified they were gonna lose, and he was going to die. In some ways, it was a new sensation or perhaps an old one, as it had been some time since he'd really feared death. Not that death was something he'd sought after, he still reacted to protect himself whenever he felt surprised or scarred, but it had been so long since he'd really felt attached to anything. Now he had his books, mysteries, and friend, John.

Thinking of John, Miles was surprised when the pirate didn't show himself as Miles dragged himself back to his room. Usually, the man would have already appeared, excited to talk about the recent engagement. After all, the story of a good fight was best shared over a couple mugs of ale, or in Miles' case, whatever non-alcoholic drink was available at the time... Well, the pirate had overridden the safety protocols and snuck him a bit of mead or rum once in a while, but only occasionally and only for special occasions. And if surviving that fight wasn't a special occasion, Miles didn't know what one was!

Of course, as worn out as Miles was, maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. While his stomach was empty, it was still rebelling a bit after all those back-to-back jumps, so he decided to crawl into bed and let oblivion take him wherever it wanted. Or at least, that had been the plan.

The first part had gone off exactly as expected. Miles didn't even remember lying down, but as he'd woken up in his bed, he must have made it even if he hadn't been entirely conscious. He didn't know how long he'd been asleep, but something had cut through the haze of deep sleep and woken him up, and now he was frozen, staring up into the faces of all the ghosts filling his room.

A part of Miles' brain screamed at him to run and hide, but the ghostly figures were so tightly packed into his room that there was no space for him to run past. He'd have to literally run through the ghosts, which another part of his brain told him meant certain death, so he sat in place, frozen in fear, his mind not even running in circles so much as locked down and completely uncomprehending. Finally, a third part of his brain offered a solution to his dilemma. The only course of action he could take to protect himself from the nightmares filling every inch of his room. So Miles did as it commanded and dove under his blanket.

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After a few moments, Miles realized that despite the minimal protection offered by his all-too-thin blanket, he was somehow still alive. Slowly lowering the blanket, he looked out into the room full of ghosts, who were all still standing in place, staring at him, as though they wanted something. All he could do was stare back, wondering if he was really awake or if this was some new nightmare inspired by all the ghostly figures he'd been following around the ship in his explorations.

That was when one of the many faces in the crowd caught Miles' attention. He recognized the face as one of the many ghosts he'd been tracking through the Sybil in his explorations. Looking through the crowd, he slowly began to spot more and more faces he knew. Of course, they'd never hurt him in the past, but then again, these ghosts, glitches, or whatever they were, had never stopped and paid attention to him, let alone grouped up like this.

Unsure of what to do, Miles decided that as long as he was trapped, he might as well see if he could figure out what they wanted. After a couple of false starts, he managed to squeeze out a hesitant, "Umm... Hello..?"

Nothing. None of them answered, moved, or even blinked. They just stood there mindlessly, just like before. Finding a bit more courage due to his continued survival, Miles tried again. "Um, hey, do you...do you need something?"

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, but then Miles realized he could see through them a little better than before. It soon became apparent they were fading. In a few moments, they went from nearly opaque to mostly transparent, and then they were gone, leaving Miles all alone again.

Miles sat in place, trying to understand just what had just happened for several minutes. Slowly, he became aware of the fact that his body needed to do what almost all bodies needed to do upon awakening. Looking at the opposite wall, the door seemed much further away than usual. It occurred to him that the ghosts might still be there, just no longer viable to him, and he decided he could hold it just a little longer.

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