Everything Is Connected

[Nivek Erieth]

It took a second, but the chill of his goosebumps shoved him out of his half-awake funk, and he sat up, while Alia shifts to a more comfortable position beside him.

So far, Nivek only remembers putting on the new auggies just before his head blew up, and then, waking up here.

(This is weird. Cool, but weird.)

Everything is starting to feel normal, and everything around is as it should be...except for the normally non-corporeal female resting beside him, who allofthesudden feels corporeal as hell.

(Yeah. Like I said, cool, but weird. If it were you, don't even pretend you wouldn't be at least a little weirded out too.)

He can feel her weight leaning on him. Can feel her head her head on his shoulder, and he can hear her voice as it really is; not distilled through the ships low-fidelity speakers.

"It's basically a virtual overlay." She told him, correctly anticipating his first question.

"As long as you wear your auggies, you should be able to interact with My and Shamus' virtual environment in tandem with the real environment without much of a noticeable difference."

She paused for a moment, then went on: "The chip in your brain is linked to the network I run on now, and the ships system runs a virtual shell around you...The infusion of the crystal structure into your pineal gland helps amplify the frequency of the connection, so that interaction with my virtual environment creates feedback in your overlay that translates in your mind as indistinguishable from any other real experience.

("Jesus! That was a f*ck-ton of tedious exposition, don'tch'athink?")

Nivek surprised himself. That's not something he would usually blurt out like that.

"What?" Alia asked, raising her head; sounding offended.

"Nevermind." he told her.

'Why would I say that?' He wonders. 'It didn't even sound like me.'

(Oh, sh*t! he noticed me!)

Everyone has an internal monologue that runs in their head as they go about living their lives, and these monologues are singularly unique to each person.

It's hard to describe, but Nivek feels like his brain has just been barged in on by something independently unique.

(That's just uncool! Technically, I've been around the whole time! just not here-here. Y'know?)

'What the f*ck!.' Nivek thinks to himself.

(Wait. You heard that?)

"Yeah! I heard that!" He yelled out, bolting off the couch to his feet, not the least bit clear on what's happening to him right now.

(Hey! relax, Amigo. I'm not gonna hurt ch'a.)

The new thing that claims to have been around this whole time, waits a moment before it continues, trying to choose the right words before speaking again.

(Allow me to introduce myself: I'll be your new side effect from now on. Kay?)

"You heard what?" Alia asked from the couch, confused by the sudden change in Nivek's demeanor.

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