Chickadee cringed as the manager brought her into a blindingly bright room. Her head ached as her mind failed to process the dizzying corridors. It didn’t help that a strange, high-pitched hum pervaded every bit of air.

“And this here is our new project.”

The girl hunched her shoulders as she focused on the conversation between the two imposing adults. The red-haired woman stared at her with a mixture of both fascination and disgust.

“That? What do you want to do with that?”

The manager sighed. “It’s not a person, so it can do things that humans cannot, such as investigating the ground of hostile countries and delivering messages to our…contacts.”

The woman scrunched her forehead. “How?”

“We give it a storage space that doubles as a weapon in the guise of a prosthetic.”

“So, we cut off its arm?”

The manager nodded.

Chickadee gulped as two piercing gazes looked down at her.

The woman adjusted her glasses and smiled thinly. “So which arm? Right or left?”

The girl blinked and shook her head. The building pressure behind her eyes grew worse as she realised that the two adults demanded an answer. She hugged herself, placing her hands on top of her arms.

“Just take the right one.”

“Sure thing. Anything else?”

The manager frowned. “Nothing that I can think-wait.” He turned and stared at Chickadee once more. “Allow her into the recovery room so that she can meet our…asset.”

There was a period of silence as the woman looked into the air, seemingly tapping on something invisible. Then, a moment later, she turned to the girl.

“See that door behind me?”

Chickadee leaned to the side, nodding as she saw the impression of an entrance on the wall.

“Follow that, and you should see your…friend.”

Chickadee nodded quickly and scurried past the woman.

“If it wasn’t for this damned war, I wouldn’t have to work with these…Trash.”

Chickadee paused and hurried forward as she felt a hostile gaze burning on her back. The door slid open, and the girl gasped. For a second, her vision blurred. Then, a pop resounded in her ears as the headache suddenly subsided. Chickadee blinked, slowly watching as the room fixed into focus.

A figure lying on something soft caught her eye.

Surrounded by tubes and beeping machines was Lilac. At that sight, Chickadee swept away the earlier conversation from her mind. The idea of losing an arm made her cringe as images of skeletons, and rotting flesh flashed into her mind. Still, at this moment, the more important matter was her sister right in front of her.

For Lilac, for this moment, Chickadee would watch over her.

…

Lilac closed her eyes as her temples throbbed with sharp, lancing pain.

According to Maria, there was one principle to using the neural interface, and that was familiarity. The more familiar the user is with the sensation and the cognitive load created by the interface, the more efficiently they can use it.

It’s been nearly a week, and she doubted she could get used to the pain.

“How far along are you now?”

Lilac barely avoided flinching at Maria’s sharp tone. “I’m fine.”

There was a moment of silence.

“That was nearly acceptable. You must learn to keep your eyes open when people talk to you, no matter the pain. You might get called to report to the supervisor at the end of the day, and closing your eyes is unacceptable.”

Lilac nodded.

“What are you waiting for? Open them.”

Lilac opened her eyes and flinched at the flooding of colour and light. Her entire head throbbed with pain, and it took her all it could to not double over and empty the contents of her stomach.

Maria smiled. “Just last one more day, and you can see your…friend.”

Lilac scowled as her vision blurred. A moment later, she heard her own voice from far away.

“I’m about to pass out.”

The woman scoffed as darkness crept upon her visions before engulfing them entirely. The only good thing about the pain the lessons bring is the lack of nightmares.

…

“Rise and shine!”

Lilac groaned as she woke up in the familiar, blank room. She pushed up from the bed and gulped at the sight of various bits of metal and vials littering the floor. There was more to analyse than last time.

Her mind returned to the unpleasant sensation of nausea and pain, and the girl closed her eyes. For Chickadee. She was doing this for Chickadee.

Maria’s voice boomed through the room. “Just like last time, I want you to analyse them, classify them and give me your justification.”

The girl lowered her toes to the cold, featureless floor and crouched down. She picked up what seemed to be a fancy jar and stared at it. Immediately her neural interface got to work, force-feeding her mind a torrent of information.

In learning mode, the cognitive load was a brutal regiment of pain and burnout. However, the use and explanation of the knowledge took the greatest toll on her mind.

Lilac opened her mouth, feeling the information sloshing around in her brain. “This is a containment jar, with its class as an everyday artefact. It has minimal effects other than insulation, and hence I recommend using this artefact to hold more volatile ones.”

There was a moment of silence, and the girl counted the seconds along with her throbbing head.

“Good. Continue. You are starting to sound like any other expert out there.”

The day continued, and Lilac staggered as her vision began to warp and swim. The girl trembled as she picked up the next artefact, and the neural interface flickered briefly.

“Stop. We’ll stop here.”

Lilac breathed a sigh of relief, letting the artefact drop from her hands. She closed her eyes, riding through the waves of pain.

“When-”

“You’ll be able to see her once you close your eyes and let yourself rest. You have done well these past few hours.”

Lilac laughed bitterly. “So, it was a simulation.”

There was a moment of silence.

“You would be a fool not to notice, especially with that neural interface.”

Lilac nodded and let herself sink into the empty embrace of unconsciousness. This time, instead of falling deep into blackness, fragments of the week flashed in her mind’s eye.

The first day was when every search strained at her consciousness. Nausea wracked her entire body, and pain scratched at the back of her mind.

Li-

The second day when the girl realised that she hadn’t yet eaten but didn’t feel hungry nevertheless. She then realised that the strange moments like the flickering tube, the sunless sky and the visions of people surrounding her all had an explanation.

Lila-

The reality she experienced was fake.

Lilac

The third day was when she experienced a sudden longing. It was sharp and intense, like pain lancing through the chest. Lilac missed Chickadee so desperately, so dearly. It took the girl all she could to not to fall to pieces and keep going.

Lilac

The fourth day was when she started to feel numb. Mental exhaustion seemed to clog up her brain. It was when-

“Lilac!”

Lilac gasped as her mind whirled, flashing the past events faster than she could process them. After a second, she opened her eyes to a dirty white ceiling and flickering fluorescent lights. Her body felt unnaturally heavy and warm.

“You’re awake! Thank Founder’s sake.”

Lilac turned to the side, sucking in a deep breath as she saw the concerned face of Chickadee staring at her. Suddenly, the desperation, pain and helplessness she held deep inside her burst out. Tears ran down her eyes.

“Chicka-”

Lilac coughed and ran her tongue over her cracked lips. She blinked, searching the Chickadee’s unmistakably healthy face.

“A-are you real?”

Chickadee paused, blinking rapidly for a second. Then, a fragile laugh burbled out of her chest.

“Yes.”

Lilac watched as Chickadee flashed a smile tampered by sadness. “Welcome back, Lilac.”