Farneo felt the thin blade enter sparingly into his right ventricle then pull out like a whisper. Garryth laughed and swept his blade to and fro with a centrifugal flourish before capturing the tip in his handkerchief. "You must bleed, of course." Farneo wavered, attempting to register his friend's meaning.
"You should look at your face." Garryth smiled at him, then he set the point of his blade to his scabbard and slid the metal in.
"My face, I daresay, is still attached to my body," Farneo replied with satisfaction.
Garryth studied his friend and then sighed. He stepped forward, raised a hand, and said, "Give it here."
"What?"
"Open up. I want to see what you're operating at." He snapped his fingers a few times.
Farneo wondered at his odd circumstance but then understood perfectly what was meant. The third snap had done it, just like they'd agreed.
His instrument-body phased into awareness, or he phased it in (control was a variable notion at times like these). It stood perfectly aligned with his own body in a glow of blue and was packed with a riot of readouts and control surfaces. He barely had to drive his attention to his left shoulder to trigger the buddy-panel. A blue spark ignited in the air before Garryth and expanded into a circle.
"Damn, the tolerances you play at are going to get you banned one day."
"What tolerances? I'm barely there." His voice seemed to emit from everywhere.
"You're acting like a Betweener. It's not healthy."
"I'm not ready for the dive yet. Maybe on my own time."
Garryth studied Farneo's body. Farneo knew the facts as well as he did. You play in the deep end of the pool or you play in the shallow end. You don't mix the two.
"Do me a favor. When you're ready, we'll jump in together. Until then, stay with me."
"Got it, boss."
Shit, Farneo thought. How many times have I been breathing the Blue without others knowing it. This IS my vacation. I don't need to be someone else! I just need to get away from myself for a little while.
"Come on." Garryth said and slapped him on the back. "Good times, anyway."
Farneo tried to nod but was restricted. He tapped his shoulder to kill the buddy-panel. Damn, if I hadn't been so loose I wouldn't have triggered it so easily. Nosy bastard.
Garryth was heading up the hill by now. It was almost an invitation to follow or not to follow.
If I'm going to play this game, Farneo thought, I'd better play it alone.
He let his mind drift, then he selected his right ear-lobe, lighting it up twice. In moments, he could hear the voice: "Please relax and clear your mind, Colonel. You are now disconnecting from SUODI Matrix."
It wasn't the usual AI, of course. It would take awhile for the hand-off. But Farneo could already "feel" the vault-like lack of sensation, becoming more and more hollow, that was the prelude to the opening of mechanical eyes.
Author
Topic: [Story] Suspension of Disbelief (Read 836 times)