Murdoc Niccals was quite content to say that he was not at all normal, thank you very much. His two-tone eyes, green skin, and abnormally long tongue made a point of outwardly showing that to the world. It was true, he got many stares as he walked down the streets, before he packed up and moved here. (But possibly, that was because he was a rock star, as he liked to say.)

But right now, the differences in his appearance weren't what he was focused on. It was the differences nobody could see that worried him: the differences inside his head.

He did, of course, know he had some... issues. These stemmed from so many events in his life that he couldn't count them all, and keep track of what went with which event. But maybe that was because his mind was just a jumble anyway. Sometimes, he tried to piece it all together. He knew he had some of the symptoms of PTSD, but from what, specifically? And he knew something happened once with a lady at a dinner, but that memory was blurry at best from his brain trying to force it out. Every time he'd do this, he'd have a panic attack. Which he had quite a few of in recent days.

But for all the blurry and scrambled memories, he did remember one lesson he'd learned in his childhood: never let anyone know you were hurt. Don't let people know what gets under your skin, what makes you cry or panic. As far as Murdoc was concerned, they were all out to hurt you until proven otherwise.

He did know he had one ally, though: Cyborg Noodle. After Noodle's supposed death (really, just her disappearance into the Maldives), he'd built Cyborg as a substitute. Which meant, he had programmed her himself. She served two main functions: to take care of him and their little guest, and to stay out of his way. He'd made her sentient, sure, but that was good, he supposed. When he was lonely, he had someone to talk to, and when he was angry...

Which brought him to their "little guest". The kidnapped singer, Stuart "2D" Pot. He didn't know exactly why he'd kidnapped the man... was it only boredom? Was it because of the band, truly? Or did something run deeper? Either way, he'd say he took care of the man nicely. If by "took care", he meant giving him cold food on metal trays, having his worst fear outside to guard him, and allowing him access to those damn painkillers, which both Murdoc and 2D knew quite well was destroying him. If that was the case, then yes, he was taking care of the man quite nicely.

In the month or so they'd all been here, everything had fallen apart. 2D's use of painkillers, Murdoc's drinking, and Cyborg Noodle's eerie silence had increased dramatically. And mental health was taking a toll all around. Sometimes, Cyborg's head would just burst into flames without explanation, and Murdoc had to put it out. And Murdoc could hear the wails (and whales) from the room below, where 2D was kept, and simply pressed his face into the pillows on his bed and pretended not to hear them. And physical health was becoming worse as well. 2D was nearly skin and bones, simply from refusing to eat.

And now, Murdoc was floating on a life raft, out in the middle of the deep ocean. He didn't know how far he was from the shores of Plastic Beach and, frankly, didn't care. He didn't want to go back there at all. He only wanted to get away from things. From pain, from knowledge, even.

He just wished he could join the stars he saw up above him.