Lex could’ve sworn he stopped breathing when he heard the footsteps echoing off the walls of the stairwell. Even his heartbeat seemed like it was too loud and would give him away. Closer and closer they crept up the steps. He couldn’t pinpoint one exact reason why he was scared. The Realians were a threat, yes, but they didn’t talk. Or rather, they<span style="font-style: italic">used to</span>talk, but their neural framework had degraded and didn’t support speech anymore. At least, Lex had never heard them talk since they heard the Song, but the more that he thought about it the more nervous he got. Just because he hadn’t heard it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.<br/><br/>Suddenly the footsteps stopped and the voices hushed to incoherent whispers; whoever it was that they could hear had heard<span style="font-style: italic">them</span>too. It occured to Lex quite suddenly that he’d only ever walked a few feet from where he’d opened the door. He was likely the first one in the line of fire, and he didn’t know where to go to get out of it. His hands brushed against the desk, and he used it as a guide to turn himself around. Maybe whoever it was wouldn’t shoot a blind man. Or, if they<span style="font-style: italic">would</span>, at least he’d be able to know he died with the dignity of facing the person that shot him.<br/><br/>Slowly… softly… The footsteps crept up what sounded to be the last few steps, until the got faster. Lex jumped at a loud noise, but he quickly decided that he hadn’t been shot. In fact, the thud that followed soon after sounded more like the door bouncing back off of the wall. He held his breath against his own will; he was desperate to breathe but he felt like he was choking. Until the footsteps and loud noise had a voice. “...<span style="font-style: italic">Lex?</span>”