Day Six-Twenty-Four: Lunatics of a different stripe

Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.

I was afraid Libby might be gnawing on my head when I woke up this morning, so I spent the night with Bora and Plato. They didn't improve at all in the hour after I wrote the last diary entry, and since everyone else seemed... 'healthy'... I figured it would be best to tend to them in the morning, first thing.

I woke up with Plato's butt in my face. 

Pushing him violently aside, I stood at once. I'd been laying on the ground in a sleeping bag, and I'm frankly amazed I managed to get to my feet without actually removing myself from the bag.

Bora, draped across her bed, began to laugh. "Ahahahaa! You look like a bu-hu-hu-hug! I love that word! It's FABULOUS! BUG FLUFFERS!"

Plato, who'd rolled off to one side, leaped to attention. He saluted both Bora and I, then crawled under Bora's bed. His tail slapped the floor about a dozen times. Bora continued to laugh, bouncing on the bed and spitting on the floor.

Then Plato's rat leaped at my face. It bit my cheek. I tossed it aside - gently, mind, gently - and ran.

Edmund jumped at me next. He was not quite so easy to throw off.

"GNNNNAAAGHSSSHGNASH!" His slobber coated my cheeks. "SMMMAAGHGHGRRSSSHHASSSH!"

"FUCK! ED! GET OFF ME!" I wrestled with him, mentally noting that, yes, that was still kind of a rhyme. "AGH, SORRY, GOTTA DO IT!"

I decked Edmund in the face. He fell back, eyes whirling unnaturally. He mumbled something about prefectures, shook his head, and came at me again. A knee to the groin put him down.

It also alerted several other crew members to my presence. A few moments later, Logan whipped around a corner and grabbed me by the throat, his sister at his side. She screamed something about pamphlets, waving a book in my face, and poked a fork in my arm. I only managed to get away when the two of them began to argue over kidney stones.

I ran through the corridors, clutching at the fork holes in my arm, looking for an empty cabin. No such luck. In each one I found another crazed crew member, engaged in some lunatic agenda, their eyes rolling and their mouths foaming. They seldom seemed to turn on each other, but whenever they saw me they leaped straight into attack mode. 

I got away, obviously. Not without a few wounds. And I'm sorry to say that I wounded a few more people in return. No deaths, but...

I mean, I don't think there's been any deaths...

But...

I eventually found sanctuary in my own room. I figured Libby might be inside, but aside from a rabid Nagi Command was devoid of people. Most of the noise was coming from the cabins or below, in Engineering. I can only imagine the mess down there right now. It'll be a miracle if we can get the Dauphine rolling again.

Of course, it'll also be a miracle if I survive this. Assuming tomorrow's a further escalation. Just imagine what these 'people' will be like tomorrow. It's like the werewolf shit all over again, only this time there's no explanation.

All this leads me to question something rather important: Why am I not crazy? What's kept me safe?

Didn't think about it at all until maybe an hour ago.

That's when I got the chills. Now... now I can't stop shivering.

I hope I at least get an answer as to why this is happening before I lose my mind.