Everything was a blur after the crash. All I can remember is the pain. I had a dream where I was carried by a skeleton into his van, and then he injected me with something and I blacked out.
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I awoke to the feeling of something soft rubbing against my skin. When I opened my eyes, total darkness surrounded me. I blinked, and my vision immediately adjusted to my surroundings. My eyes darted around the room, as I searched for what was touching me. A charcoal-colored cat sat on top of my bare chest. It wasn't a normal cat, it was... a cyborg cat? I've never seen an animal cyborg before. It let out a friendly mew, demanding to be pet. "Hey, creepy little cyborg cat." The cat purred in response. Fine. I'll pet you. I attempted to raise my arm to stroke the feline's ears. A sharp pain tore through the entire left side of my body. I wanted to scream. I'd never felt pain like that before. I collapsed back down on the table where I had been laying. The cat seemed to sense my distress and curled up on my right side to comfort me. "Thanks, ugly robo cat."
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"Hey, Sleeping Beauty has finally awoken from his slumber." A cyborg with messy brown hair and an eye patch waltzed into the room. "I was getting worried about you, kid."
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I sit up, causing another wave of pain to course through my left side. "Who are you?" I ask, trying to sound tough while simultaneously wincing from the pain.
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"Well, the folks over at Bionic Corp called me Cyborg 16541815, but everyone around here calls me Patch."
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"Do they call you that because of your eye patch?"
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"No, they call me that because I'm great at quilting," he rolled his eye. "Yes, they call me that because of the eye patch!"
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I run my right hand through my hair. "What happened?"
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Patch leaned against the door frame. "According to the news, your car exploded."
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"My car exploded?"
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"That's what I just said. Anyway, somebody was kind enough to drop your nearly dead body on my doorstep." He sighed. "If I had a nickel for every time I found a half deceased boy outside my workshop, I'd have two nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."
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"Did you see who brought me here?"
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He shook his head. "They ran off before I could get a good look at him."
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"Was it a skeleton?"
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His eyebrows shot up. "What?"
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"I had a dream I was being carried away from the crash site by a skeleton."
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Patch shot me a look of concern. "I can confirm it was definitely not a skeleton that dropped you off here."
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"Where is here, exactly?"
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"You're in my workshop on Ikigai II."
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"As is in the metal island Ikigai II?"
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He nodded.
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"What? No! I can't be on Ikigai II! I'm supposed to be in New Sacramento today!" Not to mention, I'm terrified of floating islands.
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Patch shrugged. "Well, we'll be docking in Australia in a couple of days, so you can try to get a flight home when we dock."
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"Wait, how is that possible? We were in California yesterday!"
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"You've been unconscious for five weeks."
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"This day keeps getting worse and worse!" I wailed.
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Patch chuckled. "You haven't even heard the worst news yet."
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"What's the worst news?"
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He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't like to sugarcoat things," he ripped a tarp off a mirror at the edge of the room. "You should see the damage for yourself."
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I stood up and inched my way to the mirror, waves of pain flooded my body with every step.
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Patch flipped on the lights, so I could have a better view of my reflection. My entire body trembled as I gazed at my reflection. My left arm and leg had been amputated and replaced with cybernetic parts, massive burn scars marred my left cheek. Upon closer inspection, I noticed my left eye was also cybernetic.
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"I'm sorry, kid, the explosion did some serious damage."
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I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to give myself some semblance of comfort. I'm a model, it's my job to fit the mold of what everyone wished they looked like. I'm going to get fired. No one will hire me if I look like this. I gently traced my finger over my reflection.
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Patch stood uncomfortably in the doorway. "I'm going to give you some time to yourself. I'll send my nephew, Atlas to check on you in a few minutes." He departed without another word, leaving me alone in the dark workshop.
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An ancient-looking Holopad rested on the workbench in the corner of the room. Patch wouldn't mind if I borrowed it, right? I desperately needed someone to talk to. I switched on the Holopad, and it immediately took me to Patch's home screen. This guy doesn't use a password? He was practically begging me to hijack it. His home screen wallpaper was a picture of Patch with a boy and a girl who looked roughly the same age as me. Does Patch have kids? I examined the photo closer. The girl had wavy magenta hair that fell past her shoulders and a warm smile. The boy had a nicely sculpted jawline and hair the color of snow that pleasantly complimented his light-brown skin. He had a look in his eyes that made him seem perpetually sad. I don't know what he has to be sad about, he's almost as handsome as I was in my prime. Almost. He could've been a model in another life.
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I was so transfixed by the picture, I almost forgot why I borrowed the Holopad in the first place. I opened up the call app and entered Mason's number. The call rang twice before he answered.
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"Who is this?"
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"It's me, Chase!"
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"Chase! You're alive!" He let out a relieved laugh. "Turn on your camera, so I can see you."
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"No!" I blurted out.
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"Why not?"
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I glanced at my cybernetic arm. "I have a huge zit." I lied. "It's super embarrassing."
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"You're such a drama queen, Chase."
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"Yeah, I know," I said half-heartedly.
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"So, where are you now?"
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"I'm on Ikigai II."
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"Why are you there? I thought you were afraid of floating islands."
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"I am! I hate it here so much! You can feel the ground moving beneath you!"
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"Why don't you come home?"
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I gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I don't think I can go home looking like this. The tabloids are going to go crazy.
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"Are you still there?" Mason asked.
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"Yeah," My voice cracked. "I just wanted to say I'm sorry for making fun of your cyborg girlfriend."
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"Umm, thanks." A loud crash sounded in the background of the call. "Son of a– sorry, Chase the dog just knocked something over. I'll call you back later."
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"No! Please don't hang up, I don't want to be alone."He was already gone. I didn't know what else to do, so I collapsed onto the floor and cried.
ns 18.68.41.146da2
