Anya wanted nothing to do with the reclamated hospital, with its hyped-up promises and puffed-up "physicians". But she'd made a promise, to her sister and to her mother, and there was a food stipend. Try a new vitamin. That was it. Food for her family, herself, and good results led to even greater rewards. Too good to be true.
"Stupid promises," she muttered as she trotted dutifully into place in the line, herded along like the sheep her mother mentioned once in a fairy tale. No one glanced at her, her vocal patterns purposefully tuned on frequencies only other war-spawn could hear.
What the "physicians" didn't tell her, or anyone who entered, was that the "vitamin"? Tech.
And as much as Anya hated charlatans, she was terrified of tech. Tech had decimated her homeworld. Hijacked, modified military drones had enslaved her planet, the year inevitable when they'd eventually turned those cruel turrets on each other. When they'd left humanity and its war-spawn--genetic freaks like Anya, tech slaves like her sister--free, to bathe in rubble and ash.
Re-embracing tech, despite her sister's former integration, was like asking to be a slave again. So despite her volunteer status, when the band came out, so did a needle; Anya went under strapped to a table and refusing to beg for her life. She wasn't the only one who'd balked at the experiment, but she WAS the first one to have a secondary phase attempted so they wouldn't have to worry about her ripping the band from her wrist upon waking. Surgery. Because she was special. Selected. Because life was cruel, and the Vitalife cadre's scientists knew they could provide a better one--and barring that, a better purpose--for this hardy, red-and-gold-haired specimen of post-humanity.
There was a light. The end of the tunnel smelled like green, at least, that's what Anya assumed it had to be, for she'd never seen colors so vivid and seemingly multiplying. Her world smelled of grays and browns, a dusty entreat to oblivion. What had they done? Perhaps the drug they'd given her was still acting on her psyche.
"Where am I?" Anya asked aloud. Subvocal was useless if she wanted the "physicians" to hear and answer.
"XR9," a feminine voice crooned, and Anya scrambled to her feet, her back to a tree and her fists at the ready before realizing it had come from her own forearm. "Tropical."
"Mother of mercy," she said, hauling her sleeve up and staring at the band that had fused to skin. "They've made me a monster."
"Air: Breathable by Subject. Arrival State: Caution."
Anya's slightly pointed ears swiveled, listening to pinpoint the danger. "Caution?"
"Hostile environment," the black circlet that fitted into her flesh seemed to reply, but additional questions yielded no such further answers, and it fell silent.
"Hostile environment," Anya muttered in that subvocal tone. Well, at least some things never changed.
"Stupid promises," she muttered as she trotted dutifully into place in the line, herded along like the sheep her mother mentioned once in a fairy tale. No one glanced at her, her vocal patterns purposefully tuned on frequencies only other war-spawn could hear.
What the "physicians" didn't tell her, or anyone who entered, was that the "vitamin"? Tech.
And as much as Anya hated charlatans, she was terrified of tech. Tech had decimated her homeworld. Hijacked, modified military drones had enslaved her planet, the year inevitable when they'd eventually turned those cruel turrets on each other. When they'd left humanity and its war-spawn--genetic freaks like Anya, tech slaves like her sister--free, to bathe in rubble and ash.
Re-embracing tech, despite her sister's former integration, was like asking to be a slave again. So despite her volunteer status, when the band came out, so did a needle; Anya went under strapped to a table and refusing to beg for her life. She wasn't the only one who'd balked at the experiment, but she WAS the first one to have a secondary phase attempted so they wouldn't have to worry about her ripping the band from her wrist upon waking. Surgery. Because she was special. Selected. Because life was cruel, and the Vitalife cadre's scientists knew they could provide a better one--and barring that, a better purpose--for this hardy, red-and-gold-haired specimen of post-humanity.
There was a light. The end of the tunnel smelled like green, at least, that's what Anya assumed it had to be, for she'd never seen colors so vivid and seemingly multiplying. Her world smelled of grays and browns, a dusty entreat to oblivion. What had they done? Perhaps the drug they'd given her was still acting on her psyche.
"Where am I?" Anya asked aloud. Subvocal was useless if she wanted the "physicians" to hear and answer.
"XR9," a feminine voice crooned, and Anya scrambled to her feet, her back to a tree and her fists at the ready before realizing it had come from her own forearm. "Tropical."
"Mother of mercy," she said, hauling her sleeve up and staring at the band that had fused to skin. "They've made me a monster."
"Air: Breathable by Subject. Arrival State: Caution."
Anya's slightly pointed ears swiveled, listening to pinpoint the danger. "Caution?"
"Hostile environment," the black circlet that fitted into her flesh seemed to reply, but additional questions yielded no such further answers, and it fell silent.
"Hostile environment," Anya muttered in that subvocal tone. Well, at least some things never changed.
Dreams come in a size too big so we can grow into them.
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