Error Mare


                                            >Something was wrong with...

                                            >Him...

                                            >Her...

                                            >...

                                            >It?

                                            >...

                                            >Pyro.

                                            >Something out of the ordinary.

                                            >Engie knew.

                                            >Because Engie knew Pyro better than most.

                                            >It was a side effect of Pyro being one of his most reliable teammates.

                                            >Pyro kept the spies away, blasted away enemy projectiles, and seemed to be the only one willing to learn how to hit the sappers just right to get them off his buildings.

                                            >So when pyro started wandering off to stare at random patches of grass.

                                            >When pyro left to poke at a rock while a soldier was destroying his buildings.

                                            >When pyro started skipping around merrily whilst an übered heavy rampaged through his nest?

                                            >Engie noticed.

                                            >He wasn't surprised that he was the only one that noticed, when no one else could differentiate between "normal" and quirky pyro.

                                            >And he could tell something wasn't right.

                                            >Being a practical man, Engie went for the easiest, most straightforward solution.

                                            "What in tarnation's been eatin' at ya lately?”.

                                            >He waited until both of them were alone, away from prying ears, and simply asked Pyro directly.

                                            >He knew Pyro was smarter than the others gave him credit for, not that Pyro was a genius by any means.

                                            >Pyro let go of the box he was holding gently into the ground.

                                            >They were both in one of the most vital territories they were hired to defend, codename: Badwater.

                                            >Why? What was its importance? Why named it “Badwater” if there was no water?

                                            >He didn’t ask, he just got paid and did his job, like the rest of his team.

                                            >They were meant to prepare the area and make it a defensive position, as such, they were currently unloading supplies on the final point while the rest of the team… Did whatever they do to prepare from an attack before BLU arrived.

                                            >Pyro tilted his head, in confusion now fully staring at Engie.

                                            "I ain't gonna beat around the bush, you've been lettin' me down lately. You're the one I can always count on, and I need ya at your best, partner”.

                                            >At least pyro had the decency to look ashamed, if only by body language, rubbing the back of the head was a common enough giveaway.

                                            >After thinking about it for a second, Pyro started repeatedly tapping the goggles on the mask.

                                            >Pyroland.

                                            >Pyro knew the others couldn't see things as he did.

                                            >Engie didn't know to what extent however.

                                            >Maybe Pyro thought the kitty cats in Pyroland were dogs for the rest of the team?

                                            >He didn't know, he didn't risk asking.

                                            >Engie’s attention returned to Pyro as he heard some mumbled explanation.

                                            >It was still hard to understand that mumbled speech sometimes.

                                            >"Lonely" was the only word he managed to fully understand, the rest was guesswork.

                                            >But he got the gist of it.

                                            >There was something new in Pyroland.

                                            >Something that was "lonely", whatever that meant, he didn't really understand what Pyro meant.

                                            >What he understood is that he'd just found his problem.

                                            >Telling Pyro to wait for him, Engie ran to the upper spawn room where he kept his personal belongings.

                                            >In a metal box labeled “Engineer”, his pyrovision goggles waited for him.

                                            >As they've been waiting since the first and last time he put them on.

                                            >Turns out, Pyro's made up world wasn't as made up as he and the rest of his team thought.

                                            >With much less work than anticipated, he managed to make a window into Pyro's little reality.

                                            >Putting them on and expecting to see the pastel color and dream-like tint on everything around him, he was surprised to find it all a dull, repeating pink and black square pattern.

                                            >It wasn't everywhere, but it was prevalent.

                                            >Like a trail, the pink and black squares dominated the floor, but some of it also tainted the walls and some was even on top of most of the cabinets.

                                            >He reached out to touch it, everything felt normal, even if it looked off.

                                            >Exiting the spawn room, Engie saw the outside was similarly affected with random trails on the ground going to seemingly in random directions.

                                            >Though one such trail led to a curious sight.

                                            >Below him, in an area that seemed to be almost completely pink and black squares there was a prancing tiny horse, jumping around excitedly talking a mile a minute in between bouts of laughter.

                                            >If Engie would have to describe joy itself with an image, it would be whatever this was.

                                            >The pony was excitedly jumping around a giant sideways "ERROR" in glowing letters.

                                            >Pulling the goggles above his head without taking his eyes off of the horse and letters, the image of a prancing pony was replaced by a giggling pyro, spinning around while clapping at a rhythm, dancing alongside the invisible creature.

                                            “Well… Shoot”.

                                            >With a sigh, he fully removed the pyrovision goggles and started making his way towards his euphoric teammate.

                                            >This wasn't something he could solve overnight, but he would, he always did.

                                            >One way or another, this would stop being a problem.