Chapter Eleven

Teething Troubles

Nellie lay in her bed and groaned in frustration.

It had been two days since she left the throne, and it was still difficult to keep herself grounded and actually in her body. Perhaps the idea to split her mind into that many different pieces had not been the best one she ever had.

The truth was, it was taking focus to keep focus and attention on her physical body after being out of it for what was—at least to her—almost three months. Stray thoughts kept spinning off into their own little ‘runtimes.’ That wasn’t the right word, but it was what she was deciding to use for now. The last time she tried to get the right one… well, that had been an hour of staring at a wall while most of Nellie’s conscious mind trawled her memory for a thesaurus.

That was the root of the problem, of course. Thanks to recent changes to her brain and mind, she was still connected to everything around her, and it had learned to reach out for anything it needed rather than staying tied inside her head.

Also, everything was moving so slowly! How did people stand it? Nellie was bored out of her mind if she wasn’t doing at least three different things.

Literally, as it turned out.

After a half-hour of searching, she found her body again, flowing back into it. Opening her eyes, she found that it had been left doing exercises.

How the hell was someone supposed to overcome this? Could she? Or was she stuck like this?

The idea terrified her, and suddenly, Nellie was fully back in her body.

“Oh, right,” Nellie chuckled a bit.

Every time she needed to stop her mind wandering, wait…

What the hell was she wasting time on this for? Nellie remembered the situation at hand and the fact her mind was now nanite-forged.

“Isn’t there a setting to stop this?” Nellie asked.

Thought processes are currently at 300% speed.

Return to normal operating speed?

“Yes,” Nellie said instantly.

A wave of vertigo flowed through her as everything inside slowed down while the world seemed to speed up. When it passed, Nellie was once more seeing and thinking at the same speed she was used to having.

Set operating speed to situation dependent?

“Of course,” Nellie snarled. “Why wouldn’t I?

Setting adjusted.

Like a person poking a sore tooth with their tongue, Nellie reached out to the nearby networks for information. Things slowed around her, and she was connected. Pulling back, things sped up again, and Nellie was safely in her own body.

Much better.

Nellie popped the top off a can of HyperDrive and smiled. She was back in control of herself at last.

===<<<>>>===

Messages received via cube from egg site: Chronological order.

Three Days Ago:

Well, it is confirmed.

I am definitely from here. They even have the historical records of the trip.

It is a whole thing, which I will explain when I get back.

Save me some HyperDrive!

Lucy

Later the same day:

They have a fantastic society here, Nellie!

I saw an amazing place, and it just made me think of you.

It was this big art installation, but people just came by and painted whatever they wanted.

Isn’t that amazing?

Publicly sourced art!

Love, Lucy

P.S. HyperDrive is not a thing here.

Two Days Ago:

I met with one of their doctors today.

They are going to try and undo whatever was done to me!

Can you imagine?

I might remember thousands more years!

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Anxious/Excited/Terrified

Lucy

One minute later:

HyperDrive.

Four hours later:

I don’t even know what to say…

Babe, it can’t be fixed. Whatever I was, they said there was no way to get it back.

The damage is just too old.

What they described… it’s not right! They cut away part of me forever!

Fuck them!

Fuck them all!!

When I get back, we are going to fucking hunt them to the ends of the universe!

Hyper Fucking Drive.

Yesterday, Sunrise:

They have a new plan. Wow, things move really fast here.

It’s kind of nice to be around people who think as fast as I do, no offense!

Okay, so they can’t undo the damage, but they can give me a new body.

A full silicate body!

Isn’t that amazing?

I must have had one before, but now I get a new one.

Don’t worry, they are really similar to us, and it will match my current look, so you won’t have to get used to a new face or anything.

Okay, so, bad news here:

It will take me at least two weeks your time to adjust and bond completely.

Until I do, I can’t pass the gateway.

HyperDrive rocks!

Love, Lucy.

Early morning:

I love my new body! I am still learning how to do stuff, but I finally know what it is like to BE in a body, you know?

I will be back as soon as I can, promise!

P.S. A little confession to make:

I haven’t actually told them anything about my life on the other side yet; there are no organics here, and I am worried they will judge me.

It’s a shitty thing to do.

Sorry.

All my Love, Lucy.

P.S. HyperDrive.

Late afternoon:

I told them…

Nellie, they…

There is this place they took me. It is like a shrine. Organics evolved alongside the silicates, and they helped the silicates along.

It is a big thing here.

They venerate organic life, so their gateways grow things around the base. They want to help organic life get a boost, just like they did.

Paying back the favor, I guess.

Anyway, it made me realize how fucked up hiding you from them was.

I am so sorry, Nellie.

I know you must be pissed, but I promise to spend the rest of my life making it up to you!

Love you,

Lucy.

P.S. Dropping the Hyperdrive thing in the future.

Two messages were received at the same time: This morning, sunrise.

First Message: Sender: Administrator Ilf-Five.

Warmest Greetings!

We have just learned of the situation regarding your group from the individual, Lucy.

As a citizen of our society, she is expected to behave better than this, which we have made clear to her. She confessed to having left you in the middle of an escalating armed conflict. That is… unfortunate.

The sheer number of things she reports being responsible for suggests you may be in dire need. As the chosen mate of one of our citizens, you and your family are entitled to the full protection of our laws, and we will offer any support you need.

If you are indeed struggling, please send a reply at any time with the code: Starburst.

We will send a maintenance unit to take over her functions until she is well enough to return.

I hope this incident will not sour relations between our peoples,

Best wishes,

Ilf-Five.

Second Message: Sender: Lucy.

FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!

What the fuck have I done?

Nellie, I am so fucking sorry!

I just don’t know what to say. When they said it all back to me… I can’t believe I did that.

Now, I can’t even come back for weeks!

Please, please, please let me know if you are okay.

Please?

I promise never to be selfish again!

I just wanted to know where I came from, and I assumed I would come back in a few minutes, but then it was all happening, and I got caught up…

I didn’t think.

I’m so sorry!

They say you haven’t responded to any messages, so please let me know if you are okay!

Message sent back on command of Queen Nellie:

Lucy, we are managing okay.

Luckily, Salem had a device that allowed me to operate at the levels you usually do.

It left me very weak and mentally exhausted after a week of use, but I managed to get everything up and running without any further input needed.

Thank the administrator for their kind offer, but we are managing okay for now.

This next bit is personal, so if you are reading this in public, stop until you are alone.

Lucy, they put a kill switch on the orb to prevent copying. I almost died from brain damage and had to convert my entire brain. Then I was practically driven mad trying to adjust to the input and take over from you.

Worse than that?

Paren and her friends DID NOT HAVE A PILOT when you abandoned us.

I am trying to understand what you were going through at the time and the discoveries you had made, but we both know you had plenty of time to consider things and think them through.

I am BEYOND PISSED.

Take all the time you fucking want over there. Only come back if you intend to actually earn my trust back.

I still love you, but you need to know and understand what you did.

It will not be easy to overcome this, but we can if we both want it.

Think about it, and if you decide to return, and the Imperial Line hasn’t killed us all before you do, I am willing to start again.

I really am.

Nellie.

P.S. We really can manage on our own now. So, if you come back, only do it because you love me.

You’re free now—no more limits. You don’t need me anymore.

Really think about it and be sure, because I can’t promise a warm welcome.

Love, Nellie

(Still pissed!)