Unplugged.

I woke up to a deafening silence. There was nothing from Sera, Arjus, Kabren, their voices were gone, my data bases, Interlink... It was like clawing at the air in a dark room. Nothing...just nothing. I was completely alone with my own thoughts. It was only when I groped to check my visor that I realised it was gone, I could still feel it like a phantom limb. The world around me was nothing more than a blur of vague shapes.
I heard voices then... one female,
“It was too much Cal, you’re going to kill her.” Then a deeper male voice.
“She’ll be fine just give her a moment.”
“Cal! She going into shock I’m bringing Sero.” There was a rush of black before I fainted and slipped back into the nothingness...

“Thegan? Thegan can you hear me? I could but I kept my eyes firmly shut this time. My eyes, this was all so wrong.“Thegan its Sero.. please ..” Sero... that name was familiar, my chief biotec-synthesist.
“Sero?” The sound of my own voice frightened me, it was raspy with disuse. I knew how to speak of course, It was just the most archaic form of exchanging information.
“What’s happening? I can’t see anything.”
“I’m sorry Thegan, they made me disengage your synthetics. Hold still for a moment this will help.” I felt a pinch at my wrist and the world came spinning sharply into view.
The man apparently named Cal was crouched directly before me. I was shocked at how he was dressed; a medieval looking woollen jumper about three times too large came over his knees with similarly basic trousers, bare feet and there was dirt under his fingernails. A mane of chestnut hair fell over eyes, dark honey, which regarded me with such intensity I dropped my gaze immediately.
“Steady Thegan.” Sero was by my shoulder. “Give yourself a moment to adjust.”
“Adjust!” My emotion regulator must be offline, a growing rush of panic and anger threatened to swallow me whole.
“What have...you done to me?”
“Made you human again.” It was Cal who answered. He paused, and I felt his meaning hit me like a fist.
“Miss Thegan Metao, My name is Calic Bale. After the death of Michael Kavor your company acquired eight hundred Jurians of land, which you then began to systematically destroy for resources. You will remain here until such time as an agreement is reached where the lives of my people are protected and unchanged.” With that he stood to up to leave the room. I threw a terrified glance at Sero.
“Luddite extremists..” He whispered to me before Calic barked his name, ordering him to follow. The haloic door hummed into activation behind him as he slunk out, expression full of apologies, there was nothing he could do, he was a captive here as I was.

After about stumbling like new born fawn I taught myself to walk again and paced my small room, feeling trapped in my own body. My limbs responding listlessly to my cloud enclosed mind. I pined for my lab, my inventions. I might be a prodigy in human robotics, but out here, I glared out at the endless expanse of green, I was about as useful as a haloic carbit in the middle of an ocean. Despite only having the use of my unaided mind a thousand new designs passed though it, my fingers itched to make prototypes.
When dark fell Calic returned, a woman by his side in the same archaic style of clothing whom he introduced as Yana. He brought food which I refused along with any attempts he made at conversation. The man was determined I had to give him that much. We sat and stared at each other for an hour after he grew tired of talking at me. Eventually he left, it seemed he wasn’t going to resort to violence yet.

The hum of the haloic door cut off abruptly, stirring me from a half sleep state. I was slammed into the wall before I knew was happening. A blade was pointed at my face and I froze, unable to process the shouting. Some base instinct made me scream out as the blade was pulled across my face. The world spun. Suddenly there were more voices raised in alarm, my attacker was pulled away from me.
In the chaos Calic caught my eye and for a moment I thought I saw concern in his, before his attention was pulled back into the mess of humans. I cupped my hands over my bleeding cheek , as though it would somehow hold back the pain. A glance towards the door told me they had forgotten to reset it. I was already on my knees so I started to crawl toward it, my hand leaving a bloody track along the floor. I expected someone to stop me at any moment but no one did. As soon as I was near enough I bolted through it. The daylight was blinding without the light regulator on my visor, I hesitated for a moment before beginning to run forward. My eyes adjusted quickly enough and I could soon make out shapes in the glare, the rough track underfoot, hulking shapes of what I knew to be trees.
I was moving on pure adrenaline, following the slightest impulses. I ran for some time before an immense wall of trees finally stopped me dead in my tracks. I realised then my feet where bare, the earth felt strange beneath them. My heart thundered in my ears and I dragged in each breath as though it were my first. A sharp thread of fire burned across my face.
I couldn’t bring myself to move into that looming shadow. The sounds of the forest around me seemed to intensify. The leaves seemed to whisper, conspiring amongst themselves. The shriek of a bird made me jump and the howl of some animal split through the air.
“Thegan.”
I swerved around. It was Calic. He must have been following me the whole time.
“You can’t run Thegan, there’s nowhere to go, you would die before you could reach a city.”
I turned my back to him. My eyes stung, and moisture pooled at their edges before spilling over. Until that moment I didn’t know I could cry.
I hated him for everything he had done to me. He had taken away everything that made me who I was, reduced me to my most basic elements, to a pathetic frighten child. I sunk to the ground. Calic tried to sooth me putting his arms around me. I screamed at him and lashed out. I was appalled at my own violence but it didn’t even seem to faze him. He just held me and I cried.
I cried until I didn’t even know what I was crying about anymore, until I forgot everything. When my sobbing subsided Calic took out a white cloth and carefully cleaned the blood away from my face. He produced a small tub from a pouch at his waist.
“This might sting a little but it will stop the bleeding.” He was right, the salve stung but only for a moment and the pain started to ease.
It began to rain softly, and I shivered involuntarily. “I’m going to take you back to the camp now, alright?” I didn’t answer but he scooped me up into his arms and started to carry me back. I just surrendered, burying my face in the thick woollen jumper.
“I don’t understand.” He tilted his head but he knew what I meant, the way he was acting, it didn’t make sense. I looked up at him, he gave a sad smile, shrugging.
“Neither do I.”
My mind wondered, focusing on insignificant details of the world around me. The steady sway of calic’s stride, the soft patter of rain, and the smell, I think, of pine needles. There was something about the air to, it was different somehow.
“I feel strange.” I spoke softly.
“Strange how?” he asked me. I searched for the right word.
“...Euphoric?”
“You’ve never cried before have you?”
The rest of the way back elapsed in thoughtful silence. I saw a fliackering in the distance, a campfire. Yana came running up as we approached.
“It’s alright I found her.” He sat me down by the fire and someone threw a blanket over my shoulders, it was lined with animal fur. I thought about the creature that had worn this as its skin. A cup of water was pressed into my hand. I was so thirsty and the water was so cold and pure like nothing I’d ever tasted. The heat of the fire slowly soaked through me. The others started talking quietly amongst themselves.
After a little while Yana came and sat before me.
“Thegan.. what Eli did to you..” I touched my face without thinking.“I’m sorry it never should have happened. It’s just were all so frightened of losing what we have here.” It seemed like she was going to say more but she just turned, gazing into the flames of the camp fire. Calic sat down on my right and handed me a slice of meat and bread. I took it and stared at it for a moment, before devouring it, Calic laughed.
“A lot better than synthesised nutrients huh?”
“Calic, can I ask you something?” He nodded. “Why did you have Sero disconnect all of my synthetics? Why not just the interlink. I wouldn’t have been able to contact anyone then.” Calic sighed, his expression suddenly pained.
“Because Thegan, I wanted you to see.” He couldn’t meet my eye. “What I did to you, you’re doing the same to my people by destroying our home. I wanted you to see what it is we have established here, and not through a visor telling you what’s important, processing the world for you, but to really see with your own eyes. We want to remain human Thegan, we don’t want to integrate our bodies with mechanics... it’s just wrong. We wouldn’t have a choice out there in your world, what use does society have for anyone who’s unmodified? I know that we’re flawed, obsolete even, but..we are human.”
A part of me understood. There was something in his logic. It had never been a question in my mind before, as to whether I was human or not, but now... It was unsettling, but the experience of being unplugged my synthetics had been like waking from a dream, I felt alive. It was as If I had lived more in the last few hours than the last few years of my life. These people deserved at least to have a choice. I turned to Calic.
“Do you have a Heligen?” He frowned.
“Only the one we took form you.”
“Bring it to me please, and I’ll get you your land back.”
A range of emotions flicked across Calic’s face, perhaps I could have processed them all if I’d had my visor.
He disappeared only to return a moment later with the Heligen, and Sero in tow. He placed the small object into my palm.
“Calic is this wise can we trust her?” Yana’s voice was panicked.
“I don’t know. But what choice do we have?”
I felt a strange yearning and a rush of familiarity as I plugged the Heligen into the port at my wrist. I saw Calic shudder from the corner of my eye. I unfolded it and let it expand to about two feet.
“Sero if you would.” I pushed the blanket off my shoulder and Sero began reconnecting pathways in the main sert beneath my shoulder blade. The device suddenly lit up, the soft blue screen flickering into life. My finger traced familiar patterns across it and within a few moments Arjus’s face came into sight. He turned pale, I realised how I must have appeared to him.
“Miss Metao, where have you been? Is Sero..”
“Relax Arjus, Sero is with me and were both fine.”
“But Miss, your face.”
“Nothing a scanner can’t fix. Now Arjus listen to me carefully, I want you to bring up the contract files on the Kavor land purchase, and send me the deeds. Also any work being carried out in the area is to cease effective immediately.”
“Yes Miss, right away.” Arjus was skilled at his job and the files appeared on my screen a minute later.
“Miss Metao?”
“Yes Arjus.”
“That land is worth over two billion Creds in resources alone, without even touching on potential revenue from developing the area.”
“I’m aware of that thank you.”
“If you are under duress to sign away the..” I cut him off before Calic panicked.
“No Arjus, I simply have new plans concerning the property. There will be plenty of time to explain later, give Kabren my sincere apologies for my absence and inform him Sero and I will be returning promptly.”
“Yes Miss Metao.”
“Oh and Arjus I’ll be sending the file back to your account for processing. That should be everything, thank you.” He nodded and I cut off the connection. Sliding a touch pen from its compartment in the Heligen, I brought up the details of the contract and signed my part, and passed it to Calic. He looked slightly shell shocked but after reading through it he signed and handed it back to me. On completing the contract I materialised a hard copy, unplugged and handed the device back to Calic along with the contract.
“I trust there is a way for me and Sero to return?” Calic managed to find his voice.
“Yes, there is an underground serris line. We’re not completely opposed to technology you know, just its integration with the human body.” He paused. “It can’t be that easy...” He stared at the contract. ”What is going to prevent you from reversing this process once we let you go, that is assuming any of that was real.”
“It’s not complete yet Calic, but it is real, I promise you.” There was so much fear in his eyes. I stepped closer to Calic and took a knife from his belt. I drew it across my palm, in what I hoped was a barbaric enough gesture.
“I swear to you Calic by my blood.”
The Silence was deafening. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, Calic took the knife. I didn’t look away under the intensity of his gaze this time, eyes such a dark honey. “Then I’m indebted to you Miss Metao, and I swear to do everything in my power to somehow repay you.” He pulled the knife across his own palm and griped my hand in his.
“By my blood.”