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A pixelated image of digitized dolphins, swimming in an iridescent pool. [ Bootloading... Writing backlogged engrams... ... ..... ....... Good Morning! ] Jazz opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the pink skull from Natalie’s hoodie, emblazoned across a sleeveless t-shirt Lorna had taken to wearing under her labcoat. A show of solidarity with her daughter, no doubt. Jazz raised her hands in front of her, staring at them. They were mechanical, but elegantly so, responding to her intuitive movements. Jasmine felt a rush of sensations surge toward her all at once. The warmth of the room she was in; the prickle of air passing over her skin; the smell of industrial lubricants and cheap microwave food; the brightness of the warm lights; the buzzing sound of electric appliances drawing power. Not the ghostly after images of a faint idea, not a memory in Jie Xian’s dreams- it was all real and it was hers. The sheer overwhelming ability to take in all of these things at once again was like being dropped in the deep end. She gasped to draw breaths she didn’t need. She shivered at the draft let in, and warmed up as if because of it. She felt bleary, lazy tears pool in the corners of her eyes and fall down her cheeks; when she touched the holographic illusions, incredibly, she could feel their warmth and wetness. It was really as if she’d woken up after near death. Near... but nonetheless, well and truly, alive. Jasmine took her first few steps into the snow outside and felt a chill run up her legs. The shivering was half from the cold, half the excitement of feeling the nip of the air and the freezing surface of the powdery stuff blanketing the ground. The obscured sun gave the blanket of snow a bright halo, counteracting the indirect light; the effect took away all shadow, a perfect barometer for the cheerful mood the winter imagery gave off. It was strange. Nothing had happened- this was the same snow she’d wandered through on the way here- but somehow it was completely different now. |
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