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"Paranoia" by likelife96
Note: This is a follow-up to the series Duplicity published from issues 710-721. You do not need to have read it to understand the story, but it does help to make more sense as to what's going on. Danner leaned on his desk and rubbed his temples, hoping to coax his blasting headache away. A tiny trail of steam from a piping hot cup of tea wafted slowly toward his head, imparting a most metallic and bitter scent. He did not particularly enjoy tea, let alone this mauled abomination that the castle's potion-master had brewed for him, but it did work for its intended purpose, presumably. And without it, he could not quite focus on a single thing, not even his pain, which, of course, was little more than a sensation. Sensations existed purely inside of his head, and well, you could never trust your own perceptions. They were little more than a flawed imitation of reality, pieces of an otherwise-crumbling mosaic, a tiny sliver of light shining through a cave. Everybody knew this to be technically true. They moved on with their lives as usual, brushing off this miniscule doubt, accepting that an imperfect model was still an adequate representation of the world. Not Danner. He couldn't stop thinking about this point at all.

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