A Flaw in the Pattern - Pt. 3

Instructions

/Is it worse to never trust yourself, or to never trust anyone but yourself?/ Weeks went by, and things weren’t looking much better. The voice was getting louder, and other people were starting to notice something was wrong with Tony. He’d acquired a habit of muttering to himself, trying to tell the voice to stop talking to him. He’d get strange glances from people in the street, and even his boss confronted him about it. Worse, he had started to notice things about other people. For one reason or another, everyone bothered him. He’d begun to think that maybe the problem was not with himself, but with everyone else. The idea comforted him, too. There was no way he could be insane- at least, he hoped that was the case. No one would ever want to be crazy or delusional, least of all Tony. Another thought had formed, too: that maybe something else had made everyone that way, which would explain how suddenly everybody annoyed him. Of course, it seemed completely ridiculous, and of course, there was no way it was possible; Tony knew that. Still, it could provide an explanation, not just for everyone else’s behavior, but even for the voice. Although he knew it couldn’t be possible, he thought about it, especially when he was bored at work. Even that morning, he was thinking about it as he helped serve out some drinks to a few customers. ‘It’s ridiculous, it has to be. Even if it was possible, who would ever do such a thing?’ /Aliens…/ chimed in the voice. ‘Oh, for goodness sake! Not you again!’ He thought back angrily. ‘That’s completely absurd!’ /Aliens could do it…/ Tony was about to argue with the voice, when he realized it wasn’t wrong. Perhaps an extraterrestrial would have the ability to control others. Still, it wasn’t right, either, since aliens couldn’t be anywhere near Earth. /But they could be. They could have all kinds of technology./ “Will you quit talking?” He muttered, frowning. A few people looked over at him, eyebrows raised. He quickly mumbled a, “Sorry,” and hurried away. Going back to his argument with the voice, he thought, ‘There is no way it could be aliens. It’s impossible.’ /It is not impossible./ ‘It is, and that’s it. Conversation over.’ The voice stopped talking for the moment, and Tony went back to work, still thinking about his theory and what the voice had said.