*about 2 years ago*

Eileen was still adjusting to the world around her again, that jury-rigged chair of hers had been useful, but it had its limits. Most of the planets in this system had long ago assumed that everybody who could have either gone in for modified transplants, cybernetics, or at the very least had selected a hoverchair. Sure all the people who could afford that level of luxury had done exactly that. She was not one of them.

When the Sisterhood had raided the warehouse they were squatting in, most of the kids had gotten out easily enough, she wasn’t one of those who were so fortunate. As previously said this world was not wheelchair accessible.

A few weeks later she had woken up in a world completely alien to her. Sure it was the same planet, but she wasn’t her anymore. The colours were so vivid it hurt her eyes, sounds practically deafening. In the background, she could hear Sister Superior talking to the doctors, at what they thought was an acceptable distance from her.

“Project was a failure, sensory modifications would be required to make this work.”

“Permission denied, the cost would be too high, move her to the cloisters.”

“Understood Mother Superior, we will make the preparations as soon as possible.”

Eileen felt her heart sink at the mere thought, she had heard of The Cloisters before, if you went there you were Sisterhood for life, there would be no escape. The horrors perpetrated in this place were definitely an open secret, but the thing about open secrets, is that becomes so easy to forget is that they are still, in the end, SECRETS. She had to get out of here, and fast, or she would never leave. So she’d rigged up one of her trademark pranks, the one involving quick set foam, baking soda, vinegar, and coloured dye. Then, in the midst of all the confusion she had made her escape.

That had been days ago now, she’d been running around the planet, doing her level best to figure out a way back to the girls. Barely keeping herself from starving by the generous application of her recently acquired five-finger discount coupon. But she was definitely in trouble now, The Sisterhood was working to track her down, and if Mother Superior grabbed her she was totally screwed, she needed to hide. Her cybernetics in theory gave her a distinct advantage, but the light was almost blinding, the noise deafening, and there was no way to turn it off. If it was at least noise she could predict it would be halfway to tolerable. But life wasn’t anything like that. The hustle and bustle of the streets was practically unbearable. She’d swiped a thin piece of fabric to cover her eyes a little, and some earmuffs liberated from a street stall were a little bit of help. But nowhere near enough.

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Her thoughts were interrupted by an almost mechanical sound, that was unfamiliar, but not unpleasant from a nearby factory, it was hard to explain it. It was music, that much was clear, but it was reaching all her senses at once, numbing the intrusive noise from outside.

Then the vocals started, and her heart lifted.

“Dance Copellia, Dance, to rhythms that echo in your heart,

but it don’t mean a goddamn thing, if they don’t like the songs you sing, they’ll melt you down for parts.” It ranted, and she understood. Her feet lead her down an alley, towards the entrance.

This was the music Cyborgs listened to? She’d heard Jolt before, at least she THOUGH she had. But she’d heard it with human senses, and so much was missing, all she had heard was the mechanical grind of the baseline rhythm. This was what it actually sounded like? Now she understood.

As she crept closer to the venue, the bouncer eyed her suspiciously for a moment. Barely even seeming to notice her discomfort. Still, his eyes alighted on her rudimentary ear covers, and the improvised blindfold.

She heard him mutter something about “those goddamned psycho nuns,” to his companion, before turning to her with a friendly smile.

“New sib huh? How long has it been for you?”

“About a week” She replied.

“Sensory upgrades, and prosthesis, by the looks of things those bastards didn’t bother with a cortex upgrade, or even a sensory buffer, guess you need a place ta bolt huh? Go on in, but bear in mind it’s gonna be loud.”

She shuffled in, practically pressing herself to the wall, as a virtual cannon blast of sound washed over her, there wasn’t a single baseline human in the place, as the crowd moved and gyrated to the beat, and a hand was placed on her shoulder. A moment later a metal visor and a set of ear covers were pressed into her hands.

Opposite her was a friendly-looking cyborg, about 6 feet tall, and chromed from head to toe, she eyed him nervously.

“What’s this going to cost me?” She asked the stranger, people didn’t usually hand you anything for nothing, and that put her on guard.

“You’re new here aincha?” The stranger replied with a smirk. “Names Charon, The gear was a donation from somebody who upgraded, I just tweaked it a little. Rules are simple, you upgrade, you pass it on to some kid who needs it. You charge, we find out, you’re blacklisted, you copy?”

“Loud and clear.” She replied, carefully fitting the visor, after examining it to check for trackers. For all she knew this was a trap. Then the headset, sighing in relief as the crowd around her was put back to a state where her mind could manage.

Then she looked back, as the bouncer from earlier was thrown through the door from outside, as several figures in robes started to force their way in.

“Visor and headset all fitted?”

“Yeah, now I gotta run, if they grab me I’ll be for The Cloisters.”

“They won’t find you,” Charon replied with a smirk.

“You sound pretty sure about that, you got a plan?”

“Yups and I apologise in advance.” He replied before picking her up and throwing her into the middle of the massive crowd.