My eyelids felt heavy with the sedatives in my system. I groaned as I awoke, feeling the tenderness all across my body. The Aeu Drive. At each Aeu node, my body felt the sense of soreness. I let my fingers idly trail from the converters. Mere bumps from underneath my skin that would transmit and register physical and mental impulses. The books lied about how sore the surgery would leave you, because I felt way worse.
It felt like I had run a couple marathons, and competed in several spars with the young masters of the rising clans.
It was also strange, because you could feel each node directly connected to your neural network. In a sense, I could feel the machinery without touching it. And I felt connected to it. It was a foreign feeling for me as I had less than an hour noticing it. And it was also strange because I had no memory of this degree of sensory with the Aeu. It was normal to feel and move about with the Core Node, situated right at the base of the neck. But for each Node to feel a part of me, that was an entirely new and unexpected twist.
I didn't even knew what it meant, if anything.
Despite the soreness, I was excited. I finally had an Aeu drive. It was a similar event to getting a driver's license for the first time. With an Aeu Drive came more freedom and responsibility, albeit, as a minor, I still wouldn't be able to engage in politics or be hired into guilds.
Which honestly, was a blessing. I could build up my strengths and eventually get to a level where I can provide. Maybe a moderate mercenary eventually, but only time and effort would tell.
My eyes darted around the hospital room. My sister was gone again, but there on the table was an envelope, and a black oblong box that I recognized as a Juni's Takeout Box.
I peeled open the envelope, pulling out my sister's stationery, which had hearts along the top and bottom.
♡~♡~♡~♡~♡
Dear Little Brother,
CONGRATS ON YOUR AEU DRIVE! I am so proud. You've been through so much, and you need this.
I know the Virtual World may be a little scary at first, but I know you'll love it. They made Red String a lot more intuitive. Just remember to get to class each day. Make lots of friends, alright!!
Oh. I left a piece of lasagna, your favorite from Juni's Restaurant for your first dive.
I love you,
Annabelle
♡~♡~♡~♡~♡
I smiled at the note. A warm, feeling seemed to swell. 'Ah, my sister~'
"Isn't that sweet of her." My heart stopped for a second.
A sound? A voice? It was absolutely silent, and the voice made me fling the envelope up in surprise. I glanced around, looking for the source of the noise.
'I have full neuropathy. If I heard a noise, it's me going mad.' That was the only explanation. Who would blame me too? I literally got beaten so bad that I'd have at least some trauma right? My hopes of becoming a moderately skilled mercenary seemed to wash up. I felt tears cling to my eyes. Why? Why must I be the one to go mad? Why can't the madness choose someone else?
"Boy... Stop overreacting. You're not going mad!" The voice incessantly responded, as if struggling to deal with this development. "You can hear me, because I am your Aeu Assistant."
"Aeu Assistant?" I mumbled with my words.
"Yeah, no hush. You'll attract attention with speaking that loud. Just think thoughts. I can hear thoughts just as you can hear me."
She could hear my thoughts? Somehow, that startled me somehow. I felt like that character in the novel who gets possessed by a demon and goes on a mad killing spree because the demon said so.
"Relax! I'm not a demon, unless of course..." I could hear her smiling, her tone taking on a more teasing sort. "You anger me, then I can get pretty demonic."
Somehow, hearing her say it just made me realize how impossible it was. This voice thought too highly of herself. I could hear the oozing childish delusions in her voice that made me take her less seriously.
"Hmph.. You can't even take a joke. Anywho, yeah, I am your Aeu Assistant. I suppose you can call it the soul of the machine." Now my head seemed to process it.
She was an Aeu Assistant.
I just went through an Aeu Implant Surgery.
As I was connecting the dots, she continued. "An artificially intelligent assistant. For one reason or another, I'm yours~ So take care of me, eh? Ehhh? You can even call me Aeuan if you want. I personally would prefer that name."
My head was spinning. In part due to still having a slight drugged feeling, but mostly due to the amount of new information that came spiraling to me. I had a surgery. And now I could hear voices that came from an artificial intelligence that came with the package? That sounded ludicrous, even in my own head.
But. I couldn't hear anything else. It was either that I had gone insane from the surgery or from what those hooligans did to me. Or, I really had a new roommate to share my ears with. I was in favor of the latter for now? Since, you're always able to admit that you've gone insane after, but being insane beforehand just ruins whatever comes after.
"Heheh. I see you've finally started to accept it." The voice cheerily responded. I was somewhat annoyed at the prospect that even my thoughts weren't private now.
'Yeah, yeah. It only seemed logical.' I sighed.
"Fantastic! We have much to talk about~"
'Oh.. To talk about?' I was confused, but I was sure she'd explain herself.
"There was a reason I was assigned to you, you know? They don't just give prototype, highly classified technology to any ten year old. Psssshaa. That'd be silly."
'Oh. Then why did they?' I was smiling a little bit here.
"Didn't yooooou hear me? It's highly classified! But if you want to know, I can give you a hint."
I had a hunch on what it was.
'It's because I am deaf, right?'
"H-How'd you know...?" The assistant sounded crestfallen.
But it was sorta obvious. An assistant is one who assists. And if you were to be wanting to test out an Aeu Assistant, then you'd wanna just be sure that the person would need assisting. A total auditory neuropathy patient would classify as one such individual who'd require assistance.
"You're smarter than you look! But.. I won't let you in on the other reason!? Hmph!"
Second reason?
'You're bluffing. There's no second reason!' I scoffed. She must be just taking the sore loser roll a little too far. I figured it out, and now she's sore about it.
"Hmph!" I could hear the repeated pouting whine and I could only sigh. "Alright.. Are you gonna talk to that boy over there, or are you just gonna leave him staring?"
Boy?
I turned to the bed of my hospital bed. There at the foot, was a boy peering at me. Blond hair, about my age. Gleaming brown eyes and a white board held in either of his two hands, with thick, perfect handwriting curving there with nothing about it.
[ Thank You ]
Thank you?
Thank you..?
Thank you!!?
It suddenly clicked. This was that boy. At the archery holo court. And in the alleyway. The one that I saved and in turn saved me.
I smiled, gesturing with a hand for the white board. By which, the boy bashfully moved it over to me.
Ah. It was one of the newer white boards. Along the white board was a series of touch activated sensors, similar to a touch pad or a touch screen. I was familiar with these.
I tapped a round button at the top center part of the frame with a stylus marker labeling it in black. And with that, two items rose and hung in midair. A pen and an eraser.
To be more accurate, they were holographic. I plucked the eraser and erased his message before grabbing the holo pen, letting words scratch out.
[ No, I should be thanking you. You were a lifesaver going to get help and all that. ]
In comparison to his beautiful handwriting, mine seemed to lack quite a lot. That was not to say that my handwriting was bad. In fact, it was better than Sis's.
I passed the board back.
His hand was careful. His pacing and attention to his words were astonishing. I found myself watching in pure curiosity, loving how his hand moved and how elegant his letters formed. More specifically, his smile seemed to tell me that he quite enjoyed it.
[ I didn't do much. It was my problem, and you stuck up for me. That means a lot to me. ]
He seemed to smile pleasantly as he broadcasted his words. But I was astonished at how beautiful his handwriting was. It was an artwork. Plain and simple.
It was soon passed back to me and I wrote back.
[ Don't sweat it. I couldn't leave you there, of course. ]
I almost did though. Better not tell him that. I felt a little bit of a cold sweat perspire at the thought of telling him that.
[ Thank you. Say.. ] He flipped it over, and came next to my bed, so that he was to the side of me.
[ Do you regret saving me, because of losing your hearing? ]
I was stunned. His words stumped me for a second? Do I regret losing my hearing? Of course. It was one of my biggest regrets, or losses in my life.
Did I regret saving him though?
"You sure are a kid sometimes." Aeuan said, and I decidedly ignored her. Pulling the boy close and letting my voice whisper out. I myself couldn't hear myself. I wasn't even entirely sure if he heard what I said correctly. I would be out of my head embarrassed if it did. It would be on a Never-Show-Your-Face-In-Public-Again moment.
"I don't. My hearing isn't worth a life."
I smiled at him, and the boy wiped tears from his eyes and soon we got into a big conversation.
He told me his name, Ryan. And about his family. Youngest of three, in a family that was structured on discipline, and focused on results and accomplishments. It was a rigorous family where it was hard to find support, except from children of similar families or the servants.
I had kinda thought that was the case when he was training in the park with the archery. It was surely something a kid from that sort of lifestyle would do.
We kept talking for what seemed like forever. It was really like chilling with friends, but I didn't have many of those.
At the end, he left only one message on the board for me.
[ Friend ]
And he left with a smile on his face.