! written by u/Shooty_McFace on 2013-02-26

Sometimes I miss whatever I had when Pandora was booming. I don't know if it's in the air or the water that is making my mind go. I remain somewhat more articulate than...I guess they're my brothers. What do you call a group of bandits that are lead by a vault hunter? We're not heroes by any mean, we right no wrongs, we solve no problems. All we seem to do is fight with the other bandits at Sawtooth Cauldron. We raise a flag, they take it down, they raise a flag, we take it down. I can't understand why we fight these turf wars rather than just becoming allies. Then again, it beats listening to the Buzzard pilots drone on and on about their flights and how they can take a dump in mid-air. It was funny the first time...all those years ago.

I see the madness taking hold in them, one by one. Men who I knew to be good and sensible are now just obsessed with killing. It has come to such a point that it feels all they know are a few phrases about stripping the flesh off of anyone who comes near. Sure, we all do our best to make our mask filter out whatever it is that makes our minds go, but it always seeps in. Maybe it isn't in the air at all, maybe it's the thought of that vault, that's what floats around on the air. Not a pathogen of Pandora, but an idea, the idea of the vault holding the answer to all of life's problems.

I had a friend not too long ago, the madness got him too. He made himself one of those masks that the psychopaths wear, and stopped wearing his shirt. I stayed around him, protecting what was left of my friend, hoping one day his mind would come back. I never got the chance to find out. One day when we were looking for, well, anyhting we could get our hands on, he was torn in half by a bullymong. It threw both halves at me right before I managed to kill it. I kept his mask, mainly because it helps me feel less alone. The worst part is, I can't even remember his name, all I can think is how finding the vault might have helped him, helped fix our lives.

Maybe that's why more vault hunters came to Pandora. Jack kills most of them, but I hear of four that survived. How long before they are taken by the madness as well. The first four vault hunters are still here. Our leader is, or was, one of them. They found a vault and all it had was some monster. Why do they stay now though? Do they have the same madness that is gripping all of us? Can they not leave the planet? They did great things but can't seem to leave, all their power and might worth nothing. They're still slaves to the vault like the rest of us. If their might and power can't over come the madness, how can I? I can already feel it in my head. How long until I am no more than a screaming violent psychopath? I can't let this happen. There's only one way out of this, and I can't say I like it. But how? I don't think I can take being ripped apart by the animals of Pandora. Then again, we are on a huge cliffside, but I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do it.

I hear gunshots.

The new vault hunters have arrived. This may be how I go. I don't want to attack them though, I don't think I could take being shot to death either, or stabbed, or whatever that hovering ball thing is. No, I want one clean shot in the head. Is this the madness talking? Do I want to live if this is what my mind may become? No, I want this. Maybe, I'll get back what I used to have before Pandora. I'll wear my friend's mask so I don't have to be so alone, so they won't see the terror and regret in my eyes. My best course of action is to probably just act as insane as possible and demand to be shot in the face. I don't want to go out begging, no, I don't want their pity, just one bullet to the face. I should get to a good spot.

They're drawing closer. There's a lot of death around me, I soon hope for it to wash over me, wash me away from Pandora.

SHOOT ME IN THE FACE!