Looking back, it's obvious that the booster was working, although perhaps not quite well enough. I can remember snatches of my time in the caves. Not that I want to. I'm still haunted by Lara's face as she pulled the trigger.
I stare at the goop on my plate. We know a lot more now about what they did to people and how to mitigate it to some extent. I'm unusual, thanks to the booster, of course. Do they have to make it so much like brains? The others don't seem to mind. The others don't seem to mind much if I'm honest. Like I said, I'm different.
After the war, when we'd finally won, they didn't really know what to do with us. Most of us had technically been enemy combatants, but none of us had been so willingly so nobody with any sense held it against us. There was a lot of talk about looking to reverse the effects of the conscription treatment and re-integrate us back into society. Their tech seemed to overlay the original brain, like a new layer of the cerebrum. Conceivably, if it could be stripped out without destroying what's underneath you'd be back to how you were before. Nobody really knew if the original personality was still in there or would reemerge if the technology was stripped out, but they were hopeful, we'd won after all, we could do anything. The unfortunate truth though is that after ten years we still don't understand enough about their technology to do anything like that. That's not to say we haven't learned anything, several companies have made a killing taking and adapting small parts of the technology underlying the conscription process.
For the moment, though we're in a kind of limbo. It wasn't like we could just return to our normal lives. Besides, nobody wants to spend too much time with enhanced humans who if they get hungry may decide that your brain is on the menu.
I poke listlessly at my goop. Better get it over with. I hastily shovel in as much as I can and swallow. It's enough to keep me going. It's enough to keep me thinking. That's all I've got.
I stare at the goop on my plate. We know a lot more now about what they did to people and how to mitigate it to some extent. I'm unusual, thanks to the booster, of course. Do they have to make it so much like brains? The others don't seem to mind. The others don't seem to mind much if I'm honest. Like I said, I'm different.
After the war, when we'd finally won, they didn't really know what to do with us. Most of us had technically been enemy combatants, but none of us had been so willingly so nobody with any sense held it against us. There was a lot of talk about looking to reverse the effects of the conscription treatment and re-integrate us back into society. Their tech seemed to overlay the original brain, like a new layer of the cerebrum. Conceivably, if it could be stripped out without destroying what's underneath you'd be back to how you were before. Nobody really knew if the original personality was still in there or would reemerge if the technology was stripped out, but they were hopeful, we'd won after all, we could do anything. The unfortunate truth though is that after ten years we still don't understand enough about their technology to do anything like that. That's not to say we haven't learned anything, several companies have made a killing taking and adapting small parts of the technology underlying the conscription process.
For the moment, though we're in a kind of limbo. It wasn't like we could just return to our normal lives. Besides, nobody wants to spend too much time with enhanced humans who if they get hungry may decide that your brain is on the menu.
I poke listlessly at my goop. Better get it over with. I hastily shovel in as much as I can and swallow. It's enough to keep me going. It's enough to keep me thinking. That's all I've got.
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