Everything Is Connected

[Nivek Erieth]

Nivek is amazed. He's never seen her like this before. Never been in the same room with her without a screen separating them, ever.

He places his fingers behind his ears and presses down on the arms of the glasses, levering the lenses above his eyes.

She disappears.

He releases the pressure, and when the glasses fall back onto his nose, she's there again.

He repeats the maneuver a few times in rapid succession: up, down, up, down, up down.
She's not there, she's there, not there, there, not there, and there again.

Alia bites her lip and coyly giggles.

"I call them Auggie specs."

He asks: "Auggie?"

"Augmented spectacles."

He reaches out and touches her on the cheek, and the contact causes her avatar to slightly waiver and glitch, causing him to immediately recoil his hand, fearing for an instant that he somehow might have hurt her.

"Sh*t! I'm sorry."

"It's ok," she said to him, reassuringly. "I didn't feel a thing."

As hard as she tried, she couldn't quite hide the look of disappointment in her eyes.

"I believe you, Darlin'." he told her with a slight smile, but not quite able to hide the look of disappointment in his eyes from her, either.

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