Time becomes meaningless in the moments following Kevin’s death. Hours can pass in an instant while seconds drag on. Jason sits on his bed looking at Jessica’s name on his contact list. She deserves to know what happened otherwise she will be waiting at the interchange for him. He first opens his bank account transferring funds from his savings so he can afford the HTN cost. A call to Mars or deep space requires a the HTN system in order to work.

As he waits for his call to connect he looks over to the other end of his bed. Kiran is asleep sitting up but leaning her back against the wall. She decided to stay with him after they moved all of the boxes and decided to stay with him to make sure he is alright. In that instant he finally realizes that she really did make herself up. In fact she is beautiful, her raven black hair while messier now is still styled up with a clip. She is in a blue strapless dress the first time he had ever seen her in one. She has tattoos up her right arm and wraps around her neck. Jason is snapped out of his reverie when the call finally connects.

“Jessica, I have… well actually I… don’t know how to tell you this.” Jason starts each word getting softer and less confident.

“Hello Jason this is Derrick Falthe I am an Incident Account Settlement agent with the Petterson Family Trust.” A mans voice says on the other end.

Jason sits up straight at the news that someone else answered his call to Jessica. He then remembered that Jessica is a natural meaning someone without any augmentations meaning she still carried a phone or her Sensory Map for calls. They were less secure but at least they weren’t implanted in your body. He then thought as to why an account settlement agent would be answering her phone.

“I am sorry may I speak to Jessica. I have something urgent to speak with her about.” Jason continues.

“Regretfully I must inform you that Jessica Petterson passed yesterday afternoon.” Derrek states solemnly. “You are on her friends list and judging by her call record, someone she considered quite close.”

Jason is speechless, his mouth drops and he just sits letting the news permeate his form. Jason has only ever met Jessica in person once when he traveled to Mar with Kevin for the beta of their favorite game Deicide. However, they talked often over the net over calls and through Kevin. She became a big sister to himself and Wynn. Jason merely screamed it was all he could do he wraps his arms around himself and screams. Kiran shoots awake confused but instantly wraps herself around Jason.

Derrik continues after the sobbing settles down on Jason’s end. “I understand you are the brother of someone named Kevin Smith who I have been trying to reach. The two seemed to be in a relationship. I just have a couple of questions for…”

“What happened to her?” Jason cuts him off.

“Unfortunately, I am not permitted to answer any medical questions about any of the Pettersons living or… well. If at all possible I would like to speak with Kevin; he was the last person that spoke with her.”

“He passed away yesterday also.” Jason admits.

Derrick was shocked. “How did he pass away, at what time?”

“Sorry I can not answer any medical questions about any member of the Smith household.” Jason says through gritted teeth. “And fuck you, ruam. Jessica was my sister and you won’t tell me what happened.”

“I understand, look we are looking into what happened let me call you back after I get the right clearance. You will hear from me soon. I am sorry for your loss.” Derrick says calmly. “Don’t worry about the cost of this or any future HTN calls. I will have your account escalated to VIP.”

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

As soon as the call ended Jason explained what happened to Kiran. She is mortified even though she never met Jessica. The night ends and she has to leave for work. Jason decides not to tell Wynn about Jessica until she returns home. As Jason readies himself for work he gets a message from management he is relieved from all shifts until repairs to the dock are complete. He angrily throws his engineer's suit across the room the heavy thing collapse in a heap to the ground. He needs the money he emptied his account on medical bills, HTN calls, and rent is around the corner, he needs to buy new tools and it just doesn’t end.

“The world of Gods is not a kind one.” A sweet voice whispers.

Jason turns around only seeing his chest close since he no longer needs the exoskeleton. He then turns back around facing his bed and sees a woman standing there in front of him. He jumps back falling on his but. She is the same woman he saw floating in space. Her skin black as the void of space with golden tattoos of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics all over her body. A crown of light around her head which slowly fades to a soft glow. She looks just like she did in that dream but how is she here?

“Finally, I can manifest.” The woman says as she stretches her arm to the ceiling then down touching her toes. “My sedjem, your soul is not the place to be right now.”

“Who are you, why are you in my apartment?” Jason yells looking for something to defend himself with. “How did you get in here.”

“Hmm. Your iaret?” The woman looks around. “Wow, this is how God lives? I expected… well, I am not sure what I expected.” She starts to float in the air just above the trash on the ground. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Seshat. I am the great Neter and Architect of the Celestial Library.” She pauses in her explanation and rolls her eyes. “Or at least I was until that bitch Xak-Heru Netjeru and her army of psychopaths took it from me.”

“You aren’t real.” Jason says. “You are just in my head. What are you, a virus AI or something.”

The woman feigned being hurt by his words and even covered her mouth. “Well that is hurtful and technically I am not in your head.” A vicious smile stretches across her face only for a second before being replaced by a much kinder one. “I am in your soul. It is usually a much better connection when it is a soul-bind and not a mind meld.”

Jason scoots back to the wall using it as support to stand up. “Run augmentation diagnostic.”

Jason is surprised that nothing happens.

“Oh no, none of that.” Seshat says with a wave of her hand. “That technology you have in your body is… well I have seen rocks more kheker… how you say, uh, complex. That is not to mention the recent events with your kin. Lucky for you I have spent the past few hours analyzing that useless shetiu and as much information as I could from your, uh, sun-father what was it called again? Ah right, the net, what an odd name. I suggest you clear a spot on the floor before what happens next.”

Jason tries over and over to activate any function of his sensory augmentation. “What do you mean…” He suddenly feels an intense pain which drops him to his hands and knees. “What are you doing to me?”

“En ekh men, we are tied together for the time being. I can’t have the person I have attached my ba, my soul to have a kill switch in his body.” Seshat says and Jason swears that for a split second like a glitch in a single fame she has a smile impossibly wide for her face. Then just as suddenly she is back to normal leaving Jason to question if it was even real. “You know that tech has a back door so someone out there can just shut you down whenever they want. Heart, brain, kidneys your whole damn nervous system can be shut down just like that. I didn’t survive this long just to die here. So, let's fix that shall we?”

Jason suddenly started throwing up blood, bile and most concerningly metal. Entire components of the Sensory augmentation forced itself up from his throat. It shouldn’t be impossible for this to happen. Those wires, components, and sensors were connected to his spine, brian and even eyes with no direct connection to his digestional tract. The pain burned his nerves like sending hot coals through his entire body. Regardless of the impossibility he throws up more and more of this sensory augmentation yards of wires and components that should only be able to be removed through surgery.

Seshat continues speaking, her voice cuts through the pain. “Don’t worry it is almost over. When it is done you will be all the better for it trust me. You should also thank me for this. I have spent a lot of my power to do this for you, so, you are welcome.”