Triptych

Chapter 15

This chapter took too long to write. And rewrite. It's still shit and I might tweak the ending later but take it away from me now, its making me cry.

Also, you've heard of panicked gay, now meet panicked flirt aka Mac

Candor

Lana doesn't remember the last time she slept this peacefully. Her body feels lighter than air, like she'll simply be blown away in the breeze if she lifts a limb away from where she lays. It's comforting yet terrifying, because she definitely lays somewhere, her mind stuck between sleep and awareness. She wonders how she got here, casts her mind around and comes up empty. She panics at that, her body growing tense before she hears a voice exclaim from a distance. "She's waking up."

The feeling comes back slowly in her limbs and Lana opens her eyes to the familiar whites of FOCUS labs. She turns her head to the side, the wall lined with monitors that should show her brain activity and surveillance feeds mercifully empty. She sits up slowly to face her father and Dr Yates who stand together, frowning at her. Dr Stein is nowhere to be found.

"How did I get here?" She asks slowly. "Last thing I remember is- I was exploring the city with some friends and I blacked out."

"Yes, that was our doing." Dr Yates admits calmly. "You father informed us your behavior has been irregular recently."

"Irregular?' She cocks her head skeptically. "That makes me sound like a malfunctioning software." She stares at her father in disbelief. "I knew you weren't open to talking to me or even discussing things but you actually reported me?"

"Its for your own good." He raises his hands in surrender. "I didn't know where you were half the time after what happened at your evaluation. And then you started asking weird questions-"

"So your solution was what- to have me repaired or something?"

"he suggested I take another look at your mental condition" Dr Yates chimes in. "Ofcourse the fact that I can't get a read on you anymore is not reassuring."

"I told you I'll adapt to the upgrade. I did" She replies coolly.

"hmm" Dr Yates holds her eye for a long minute, before looking away with a troubled frown and turning away. He seems to say something into his comms before the ordering to tune into the local broadcasts. There is gray static for a while before Dr Stein's face appears in front of them, making Lana jump.

"- this augmentation, the so called upgrade is being used to control us further in lieu of making our life easier. Something good that was meant for the less fortunate members of our society, to provide freedom of expression where nature limited it. How ironic it is that the system turned into another cage the humanity was lured into in the name of progress. All in the name of money" Dr Stein is saying into the camera and her head is reeling with the whiplash.

"Who else is seeing this?" Yates is yelling. Apparently Dr Stein is broadcasting live throughout the city from an untraceable location. There is a vein popping in Dr Yates's forehead, his face getting redder with anger. "I don't know how you do it but make this stop" he roars at the techs before bodily dragging Lana from the bed.

"And now Dr Yates has decided to weaponize the general public. An army of innocent young adults he can control through the neural web installed in our brains when we've just started talking properly." Lana pause in my tracks, pushing back on her feet to resists the doctor's group.

"Is this true?" Lana ask coldly. Her father watches between them in alarm before moving to my side. "Answer the question Dr Yates. Are Dr Stein's allegations true?"