"The Patient is still unconscious. Is this a little bit longer than usual? Didn't you say full latching takes about 6 days?"
"Well we are in uncharted water. Never have we had the parasite be given all its tendrils but told not to kill the host. They are working to rewire Lark's brain. All my previous estimates should be thrown out the window at this point."
"So when will they wake up?"
"Soon."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Have you forgotten I am a Lancer? My kind casually look into minds as often as you 'casually' look at women's breasts. It's why we don't like most people."
"That's more than a bit of an invasion of privacy, Jan."
"Calm down Mika, that same invasion of privacy is why we are friends. You are a good person. It is also how I am able to determine that our patient will wake up soon. I can see his brain starting to rise from the depths of quiet. Already it feels stronger, and that is not counting the powerhouse we shoved up his nose."
"Sophia actually went through his ocular cavity."
"..."
"Right. I will get the tailored uniform ready for him."
***
[We will wake up soon Lark. How about you walk me through what happened from when you met Gina to just before you came to sit in that really comfy chair.]
The Voice flicked my memory back and forth. Again there were the front memories. Those that I had focused on at the time I was living it. Then she focused on the conversations I had previously not paid attention to because they were too complex. But in this space, with the voice guiding me I could relive it
"He suffers from PPD. As you can see from our examinations, there is a large potion of his prefrontal cortex that is severely disconnected causing a severe decrease in cognitive function. During his inprocessing, it was determined that with PPD, they could possibly help him be a better fit in society, since PPD causes a large percentage drop in mental stats. Also his intelligence, charisma, and wisdom have been permanently capped at 4, even if his actual stats are around 10. PPD is also listed as a trait. The rumor was that he was pushed through the gate with the Skygge crowd when they came through. Only known relative is his mother, who did not make it through the gate. Prior to inprocessing, he was most likely an invalid or beggar."
The front memories of me playing with Gina were pulled out of focus as the Voice listened in on this conversation. Without the voice, I would have simply remembered the games. But the Voice was able to pull memories, even if i did not understand them.
[You will understand in time Lark. But for that to happen, I need to listen and understand.]
The memory moved forward. Again the games I played with Gina were unfocused as the Voice was now in control of my flashbacks. I was a passenger to her now.
"To be honest there has to be some ethical ramifications here. …"
[I have seen these memories before, or heard similar conversations as you slept.]
I didn't have anything more to show the voice. She had seen everything I had seen, heard everything I had heard. She understood me better than I understood myself, because as long as I had her gentle touch within my dreams, there was a clarity to my thoughts I could not have even understood before I went to sleep.
My only hope is that when I wake, even if I do not keep this clarity, I wish to remember the feeling that The Voice gave me. The warmth in my chest of knowing that someone, even a voice in my head, cares for me.
[Lark, I will be there even when you are awake, but you need a bit of time to adjust. For now, remember me in your dreams.]
***
I definitely strained too much. As my body's morphology adapted to his I was able to overcome some of his more volatile emotional spikes while Lark dreamed.
I also had mutated my glands. I had no need to produce acidic bile. I was not going anywhere. Latching to Lark was a one-way trip. I would be with him until the day one of us expired. Judging from the extensive mutation I have undergone with my feelers to embed myself into his brain, I don't think I could take over his motor cortex without risk of seizure. His brain was just too damaged for a normal latch.
But the process is complete. He and I are one. Should he die, I would follow suit. Should I die, I am not sure the massive neural rewiring I have done would survive the shutdown of my bridged connections.
Whatever future awaited us, we were in it together. I just hope that we can make the best of it.
***