A Synonym for Chill [COMPLETE]

8. The Squip Enters

I noticed Christine standing with Jade by Sbarro's. "Christine!" I called her name, hoping to catch her attention, and was surprised when she looked over at me. I saw the ghost of a smile flit across her face as I scampered over.

"Falner! I didn't see you there!" She chirped. Jade looked at me for a second, looking both angered and confused.

"Yeah, shortie, you're kinda hard to notice," He said sharply. "Anyways, Christine, the best part is they let you pick whatever you want—!" I felt my mouth working faster than my brain and suddenly spoke, almost blurring my words together.

"Wait! Th-There's something I need to tell you!" My face flushed red as Christine tilted her head in confusion. Jade rolled his eyes.

"Now?" He asked. I felt my legs starting to shake in their usual nervousness as I tried to make some coherent words.

"I...I-I..." I suddenly seized up, felt a searing pain in my head, and did the only thing I could do: I screamed. "OWWW!" Before I could even process what was going on, I heard a computerized voice speak inside my mind.

"Target female: inaccessible." Christine looked concerned.

"Falner?" She asked gently.

"What the hell?!" I yelped, ignoring Christine for a second and focusing more on the voice in my head.

"Calibration in process. Please excuse some mild discomfort." The same voice from before spoke again as another stab of pain shot through me.

"YOU CALL THIS MILD?!" I screamed, clutching my head. Christine looked extremely worried now despite Jade's attempts to pull her away from me.

"Falner, what's wrong?" She asked, clearly concerned. It hurt my heart to see her worried about me like this. Jade let go of Christine's arm and backed up.

"Dude, the freak's freaking out!" He shouted, alerting the entire mall to my predicament. My face flushed red in both pain and embarrassment as the voice from before spoke yet again.

"Calibration complete. Access procedure initiated." The pain suddenly faded away, and I straightened up.

"Wait, wait, wait...I-I'm fine," I said, trying to alleviate the situation. "I just-!" I was cut off by the voice again.

"Discomfort level may increase." I felt my entire body seize up again and I let out another scream, clutching my head in my hands and bolting out of the food court as quickly as possible. I collapsed near a few benches, my entire body twitching and spasming in pain as more and more screams were torn from my throat, the same voice from before speaking over them.

"Accessing: neural memory. Accessing: muscle memory. Access procedure: complete. Falner Greyson..." Suddenly, the pain stopped. My screams were abruptly cut off, almost as if my vocal cords were blocked. After a brief moment, I took in a breath then began to cough, surprised when my voice echoed off the walls. I could speak again. The voice from before sounded much more natural, not to mention closer. I looked up, surprised to find a man looking down at me. When he spoke, he sounded exactly like the disembodied voice from before.

"Welcome to your Super Quantum Unit Intel Processor... Your SQUIP."