Reyes rolled a wheeled tray closer, its surface crowded with sterile instruments, injector rigs, and a compact diagnostic slate that projected faint blue light onto the ceiling.
"Before we begin," he said, "we perform what the corporations like to call a 'pre-installation wellness dialogue'."
Void squinted. "You mean... A medical interview?"
"I mean I ask you uncomfortable questions and you answer them honestly."
He tapped the slate.
"You have never had cyberware installed," he said. "Not even a neural port."
"All stock hardware," she replied. "Factory issue."
"Excellent," he exclaimed. "Then your body has no pre-existing cybernetic core. Which means this procedure is going to be... Comprehensive."
He gestured towards a sealed container on the bench behind him.
Inside, barely visible through the glass, was a compact assembly of silverish-gold latticework and fiber threads, suspended in a biogel like a mechanical jellyfish.
"The entire system itself is a Militech prototype," he said. "Designed originally for command-unit operatives who needed simultaneous control of multiple drones, weapons platforms, and battlefield data streams."
Void's eyes narrowed. "So it's a war implant."
"It is a coordination accelerator," he corrected. "Militech simply had more money for stress-testing."
He rotated the container slightly.
"It interfaces directly with your thalamus and prefrontal cortex," he continued, "introducing an artificial signal-routing layer. Think of it as a traffic controller for thought."
"That sounds like something that goes wrong."
"Often," he agreed calmly. "Which is why the rest of you must be taught how to live with it."
He pointed to the diagnostic projection now showing a ghostly outline of a human nervous system.
"In addition to what you came here for, you will also receive foundational augmentation," he said. "Neural stabilizers, endocrine regulators, a spinal relay node, synthetic blood, an autonomic CNS governor, and both your eyeballs will have to be swapped out for augmented optics to handle the information throughput. They come with a customizable iris display."
Void stared. "You're rebuilding me from the inside out."
"Quite," he said. "Permanently."
She exhaled slowly. "What does it do to me?"
"Your reaction time will drastically improve," he said. "Your multitasking capacity will expand. You will experience heightened pattern recognition and reduced cognitive latency."
"And now the bad part, doc."
"You will require more rest, at least initially," he explained. "You may experience phantom inputs for several weeks as your brain adapts. Dreams will become... Technical."
She snorted. "Already are."
He allowed a small smile, then continued.
"Naturally, your body might not survive the procedure, resulting in a fatal system collapse," he continued. "This, however, happens virtually only to patients whose bodies are already weakened, or too young."
"Already died a few times. One more won't really make a difference," Void responded, deadbeat.
He raised his eyebrow, "And it's the patients who say my sense of humor is cruel at times."
"Yeah well. People who lose everything at some point in their lives tend to find a common language."
Reyes remained silent for a moment, then carried on:
"The software stack will display Militech branding by default, of course," he said. "However, the tracking layers have been nullified."
Void stiffened. "Nullified how."
"Why, by removing them," he said simply. "And rewriting the handshake protocol so it lies about what it is."
"They won't see it come online?"
"They will see absolutely nothing, Miss Void," he assured. "And if - by some miracle - they did, they would see a dead unit. Worthless to them."
She studied him. "And the interface."
"Unlocked," he said. "Engineering mode will remain accessible. A netrunner of your caliber will find it... Refreshingly editable."
"So I can rip their logo out of my brain."
"With prejudice," he said.
He checked another entry on the slate.
"Now," he said, "medical history."
"Prior major illnesses."
Void hesitated. "Breast cancer."
He looked up, attentive but unalarmed.
"Resolved?"
"Years ago."
"Irrelevant to this procedure," he said. "The system does not interface with lymphatic or mammary tissue."
"Good to know my brain doesn't care about my tits."
"Medically speaking," he said, "your brain cares about nothing but oxygen."
He tapped again.
"Allergies."
"None I know of."
"Previous reactions to anesthetics."
"Never been under."
His brow lifted slightly.
"Then today will be educational."
He stepped closer, fitting a thin cannula to an injector line.
"Mental health history," he continued evenly. "Treated or untreated disorders."
Void's jaw tightened. "No."
"Trauma."
"Everyone."
He studied her for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well."
He took her arm gently, swabbing a vein with antiseptic.
"This will be general anesthesia," he said. "You will feel nothing. You will remember nothing."
The cannula slid in with a small sting.
"Installation time is approximately twelve hours," he continued. "Because you lack a cybernetic core, like I already mentioned, your body must be taught to host one."
"So I'm getting... Infrastructure."
"Yes," he said. "A city before the network."
He adjusted the chair's restraints lightly around her wrists and shoulders.
"Externally," he added, "there will be only one visible mark."
He tapped the right side of her scalp.
"A surgical scar along this line."
Void tilted her head. "You planned that."
"It will suit your hairstyle," he said. "I do not ruin good composition."
She snorted softly despite herself.
The machine beside her shifted tone, deepening into a slow, steady whirr.
Reyes met her eyes.
"Are you ready, Miss Void?"
Void took one breath.
"Won't be any readier than this."
His mouth curved into a small, precise smile.
"Then rest well," he said, adjusting the drip. "When you wake, the world will feel... Louder."
The light above her blurred.
The last thing she saw was his telescopic lenses refocusing, sharp and intent, as the anesthesia pulled her under.
Void woke to white.
Not the soft kind. Anything but. The hostile kind. Fluorescent. Flat. No shadows to hide in.
One room. One door. No windows. No seams. No screens. Just a light panel in the ceiling and walls so clean they felt theoretical.
She sat up quickly and immediately reached for her head.
Nothing.
No bandage. No stitches. No scar. Smooth skin where twelve hours of surgery should've left a signature.
"...That's not comforting."
She slid off the bed. Bare feet on cold floor. The door didn't have a handle. Just a featureless slab with a faint outline where it might open if it felt like it.
"Hello?"
Her voice came back wrong, like the room didn't believe in echoes.
She turned.
In the far corner, curled tight against the wall like she was trying to disappear into it, was a girl with pink hair.
Thin hoodie. Knees pulled to her chest. Face buried in her arms.
Crying. Not loud or dramatic. Just constant. Like a leak that never sealed.
Void froze.
"Okay. Either I'm dead, or this is the worst waiting room ever."
She stepped towards the door and pounded on it.
"Reyes! Freya! Sandy! Keira! Someone with an explanation and preferably a gun!"
Nothing.
She searched the walls for ports, or panels. Anything that resembled a system.
"No cameras. No interfaces. No blinking lights, great. Minimalist kidnapping."
She tried the door again. Shoulder this time.
It just... Ignored her.
Her pulse climbed.
"Alright, new theory. Corpo extraction. I go under, wake up in a clean box, next stop is a lab with my name on a file."
She turned back towards the girl.
The crying hadn't stopped.
Void squinted. Took a few careful steps closer.
Pink hair. Familiar posture. The way her shoulders shook.
Her stomach dropped.
"No... Fucking... Way..."
The memory hit like a delayed detonation.
A bridge, cold water under. Letting go.
And something else stepping forward.
"You've gotta be fucking kidding me. Aura?"
The one who used to be in the driver's seat. The one who vanished when Void took over.
"So this is where you've been," she muttered. "Hiding in a padded brain cell."
She reached out on instinct.
The moment her fingers crossed the invisible line between them-
A scream tore through the room.
Not from Aura's mouth.
From everywhere.
A shriek of feedback, distortion and pain, like the room itself was being murdered.
Void recoiled, hands clapped over her ears.
"Fuck-!"
She stumbled back.
The scream cut off instantly.
Aura kept crying.
Void leaned against the opposite wall, breathing hard.
"Okay... So touching you is illegal. Noted."
She slid down to sit on the floor.
"This is either a hallucination, or... A simulation... Reyes, what the fuck are you doing in there?"
She glanced at Aura again.
Still curled up. Still shaking.
"Figures. I get a shiny new brain and you're the fine print."
"FUCK! WHERE AM I?!" She yelled at the door again. Kicked it once for good measure.
Nothing.
Minutes passed. Or seconds. Time felt fake in here.
Eventually, something clicked.
A stupid idea. A desperate one.
Void stood and, softly at first, started humming.
🎵 "A thing of beauty, I know..." 🎵
Her voice was rough. Off-key. But she kept going.
She walked slowly towards Aura, careful not to cross the invisible line again.
🎵 "Will never fade away..." 🎵
Aura's crying hitched.
Her shoulders stiffened.
🎵 "What you did to me, I know..." 🎵
Aura lifted her head.
Red eyes. Tear-streaked face. Same nose. Same mouth. Younger. Softer. Like a version that never hardened.
She looked straight at Void.
"I've seen everything."
Void stopped.
"What you did, where you went. What you turned into."
Void swallowed.
"What have you done, Void?"
The question landed heavy.
Void's jaw set.
"You fucking kidding me? What was I supposed to do?" she snapped. "Lay on my back and wait for you to grace me with your fucking presence again?"
Aura flinched.
"You let go," Void went on, voice shaking now. "You jumped. You quit. You tried to fucking kill us. Someone had to keep the lights on."
"I was scared," Aura whispered.
Void felt the dread she knew wasn't hers.
"So was I," Void shot back. "Difference is, I stayed."
Aura's gaze met Void's.
"You think I left because I was bored? You think I just... Logged out?"
Void crossed her arms, defensive on instinct.
"You jumped off a fucking bridge while I was forced to watch it all unfold," she shot back. "That's a pretty strong exit statement."
Aura's mouth twisted.
"I jumped because I was tired of hurting people by staying," she paused. "And tired of hurting myself."
She stood, still keeping distance from the boundary.
"I fucked up every relationship I touched," she said. "I loved people wrong. Always too much or not enough. I trusted the wrong ones. I kept trying to be useful instead of being... Alive."
Void said nothing.
"First it was Chloe," Aura went on, voice cracking. "Then others. Friends. People I thought I could save. They died anyway," she said. "And then there was the girl who said she loved me and only wanted to be rescued from her life. Turns out I was just a raft. Not a person."
Void swallowed.
"I didn't want to be loud. I didn't want to survive by force." Her gaze sharpened, she pointed back at Void, "You tried to die too."
Void froze.
"After I disappeared," Aura said. "You didn't want the body either. You stood where I stood."
Void laughed hollowly.
"Yeah," she admitted, remembering the sting of a razor sliding across her wrist. "Turns out depression doesn't care about who's in control of the shell."
"Speaking of survival by force. I don't like her," she admitted. "Keira crashes through life without thinking. She makes choices before feelings," she gestured at the empty room. "And now you're a criminal in half the world and I wake up to... This."
Void chuckled at that. "You think I planned that? I woke up with an empty cockpit and no compass. So I built one out of bad decisions. On my own."
She pressed her palm to her chest. "I waited for you," she said. "I thought you'd come back. Then I stopped believing in ghosts."
Aura hesitated.
"You... Kept going."
"I had to," Void said, looking down on the floor. "There was rent. Food. Threats. People who needed shelter."
Aura's voice softened.
"Amy."
Void looked back up.
"You let her stay so she wouldn't go back to her torture bubble," Aura said quietly. "You pretended it was temporary, but instead you you gave her hope for a better future."
Void clenched her fists.
"And you kept the tech," Aura added. "You made it bigger than fear. Ultimately, you turned me into something that works. Thank you, Void."
Silence settled between them for what felt like eternity.
"We could've done better," Void said finally.
"We could've asked for help," Aura replied.
Void snorted weakly.
"I'd hug you now," she muttered, "but the room doesn't like that."
Aura stepped forward anyway.
"I don't care about the room."
She wrapped her arms around Void.
No scream came.
Void stiffened, then slowly returned the hug.
"I missed you..." she said softly.
"I regret letting go," Aura said.
"The fuck..?"
The white walls began to tremble. A thunderous pounding shook the door. The room fractured into drifting triangular shards, peeling away until only a small square of floor remained beneath them.
Aura slipped.
The nothingness below swallowed light.
Void lunged and caught her wrist.
"I got you!" she yelled. "I was made to protect after all."
Aura looked up at her, both terrified and... Grinning.
Then the door exploded inward.
"Aura-!"
Void woke up screaming.
Real ceiling, real light. Real... Life?
Reyes stood beside the bed, clipboard in hand. Sandy silently hovered behind him, arms crossed too tightly.
"Hallucinations?" Reyes asked calmly.
"A conversation," Void muttered, "Take a look at the biomon logs."
His glasses clicked as they focused.
"Interesting," he said. "Such visions usually occur in patients with dissociative identity disorder." Reyes, seeing the terrified look in her eyes rushed to comfort Void, "But this should be transitional dreaming only. No visual projections."
He turned to log something.
Behind him, a flickering figure formed - pink hair, bare feet. Glitching at the edges like bad compression.
Aura waved. "Woah, a real ripperdoc!"
"Well," she said brightly, "it's so funny!" She jumped and ran around in a circle for a while. "Feels like I have a body but also not!" Her projection dematerialized and then reappeared up close in an instant. Aura kneeled and looked deeply into Void's new eyes. "And waaaaow, what is all that fancy data running through your head?"
Her smile was too wide. Her eyes way too bright.
Void stared through at her, slightly terrified, as the visual interface of her new cyberware ran its calibration routine.
"Fuck. Me. Sideways."