Casey

Monday, 25th of January, 198 A.C, 17:45

“Lower latency. Heightened precision. Accessible prices. We’ve heard you. It’s time for the next generation of cybernetics. Introducing our newest product line: the Chip-Shell series. In a historic crossover, these prosthetics connect directly to the user’s Chipper implant, taking advantage of Chipper’s onboard computing and neural interfacing systems to provide the most seamless experience possible. Scheduled for a Q1 199 A.C release, the cybernetic revolution is just around the corner.” - Announcement by Shell Cybernetics

I handed a Bit stick over to the half-asleep part timer manning the register. She completed the transaction in silence, not even sparing the energy to comment on my Veil, then handed back the stick and waved me off.

~Finally caved in

I slid my bat into the tube-ish bag I had just bought for it, then slung the bag over my shoulder.

“Oh, sweet liberation of my hands. I don’t know why I didn’t get one of these sooner.”

This wasn’t my last purchase of the night. With the small fortune that Veiled had in his pockets, I had decided that tonight was a night of indulgence. It was… pizza night.

I called up the order as I strolled home. A meat lover’s and a ham and pineapple, both large. Delivery, not take out; the joint was on the way.

Two steaming boxes in my hands, I leapt up the stairs to my apartment.

~*My* apartment

Our apartment. It was in a weird spot in the city, just about at the inflection point where the majority of buildings flipped from post-Calamity constructions to renovated pre-Calamity ruins. If you squinted, you could see the roads turn to glass a few blocks North.

The building itself was pre-Calamity, but as far as renovations went it wasn’t bad. The landlord had kept the frame of the building the same, but replaced all the drywall and such with more of-the-time materials and designs. So naturally, rent was hell.

~Buuuut, we deserve a swanky place, right?

Right. Speaking of…

The elevator doors opened. I sauntered over to room 508, flipped the key, and entered my pad.

Most of the floor plan was taken up by a big, open-plan room. Kitchen to the right, living room to the left. I hung my bat bag on the coat rack set the pizza down on the counter, nodding at the broken coffee machine sitting nearby.

~Hey, I was just keeping a promise

Oh yeah? And what if I *promised* to pawn off your piece next time I was out?

~You wouldn’t

I picked my way over to the corner of the room, where a compact submachine gun sat lovingly encased in a glass cabinet. I took it out and began to fiddle with it carelessly.

~Casey, please

“I wonder how much this would go for,” I asked nobody in particular. “Ten thousand Bits? Eleven thousand?”

~I’m sorry, ok?

You didn’t sound sorry when you busted the coffee machine. Or the waffle iron. I liked that waffle iron.

~Weren’t you the one who just told Axel you’d be more responsible about this sort of thing

Well that’s half up to you, isn’t it?

~I had a life before all this

Yeah, and I didn’t. Not particularly keen on returning to that.

~I had friends, a family I could regularly see

Oh, like you didn’t put an end to that yourself.

~I had a job, of sorts

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

Now that one is bogus. We’re still doing similar work now.

:Would you two please pipe down for, like, one solitary second?

That… wasn’t you, was it Diz?

~Nope

Hm. The plot thickens.

~The headspace thickens as well

:Oh, now *that’s* the humor I like to see from you two.

~Would you mind introducing yourself

Yes actually, I would like to know who you are too

:sure sure

:just oooone second, gotta figure out how to… Oop

My stomach lurched. I fell to my knees, my psyche wrestling for control. The will of this new individual was too strong. My mind slipped away, drifting back and bumping into Diz.

~Fancy meeting you here

/Shut up

Whoever was in control now lifted my arm and swiftly flipped our Veil upside down. Then my body became theirs. It was a heavier body, slightly shorter as well. The hair wasn’t as long as mine, but was still much longer than Diz’s. The face was round, with a small nose and smoother skin than me or Diz. The emerald eyes were the same though.

They spoke with a light, bubbly voice. “Ahhhh, there we go! I’ve been hanging out for a while, you know. It’s nice to finally get a chance to stretch my legs!”

/Your name

“Oh, right! Silly me! I’ve given it some thought, and I like the sound of Trace. Gonna try out this whole ‘woman’ thing for now, see if it fits.

~Alright Trace, mind telling us what you’re doing here?

Trace set Diz’s gun back in the cabinet. “Why are any of us here? If you mean ‘why did you just pop up front in the body,’ that’s simple: you two were giving me a headache with all that shouting! So I figured the easiest way to get you to stop is taking the reins for a bit until you promise to share.”

/Or we could just

/Take

/It

/Back

I pushed, but Trace was *strong.* I couldn’t manage to get any real purchase. Not alone, anyway.

/Mind giving me a hand, Diz?

“Ohhhh, now *there’s* an idea!” Trace wore a smug grin as she walked over to the counter and took out a slice of pizza. “Oh *man,* that’s some good stuff! Not that I have a frame of reference, but as far as first eating experiences go, I’m not disappointed.”

~Playing into her hands a bit, isn’t it

/We don’t have much of a choice

~Hmmmm

/…

/I’ll give you the body

~Now why didn’t you start with that

/I hate to admit it, but Trace is right

Trace cupped her ear, as if craning to listen. “Oh ho!”

/Shut up

/I’m just saying there are times that I’m not doing anything particular

/I don’t see why you couldn’t have the body then

~And no breaking each other’s stuff?

/No breaking each other’s stuff

~Good enough for me

I felt Diz add his strength to my own. Working together, Trace’s hold began to slip.

“That’s what I was waiting for, loves!” Trace let go, settling back as Diz and I hovered near the surface. I briefly considered snatching control. Diz’s psyche was still weak from being out for so long. It would be a simple matter to push him back.

/Your chariot awaits, m’lord

~Don’t mind if I do

I allowed myself to slip away, back to where Trace was waiting. Diz was fully up front now, taking off the Veil to let his body out. Once that was done, he headed for the bedroom to change.

The nice thing about our usual Veiled getup was that it fit both of us, but the same could not be said for other outfits. We kept our clothes in separate wardrobes for convenience, but every couple of months we inevitably had to sort out the articles that had made their way into the wrong person’s stuff.

After tossing over some shorts that belonged to me, Diz threw on a black shirt, fresh (non-women’s) underwear, and jeans. He then walked to the door to grab his coat.

/Going somewhere?

“Yeah,” he said, tying his sneakers, “I think we deserve a drink after today.”

/Couldn’t agree more

:Oh I love that idea

:Think you could grab some for me while you’re out?

I could feel Trace laughing next to me.

“We’ve got some stuff here, actually,” said Diz. “If I’m not too plastered when I get back, why don’t you do some experimenting? You can get first dibs on the rest of the pizza too.”

:See, you’re doing so much better with sharing already

:Trace wins again

:...

:Pizza’s still good cold, right?

/Yes

“No.”

:Oops