Cait wakes up after some indeterminate ammount of time. She is in a small room, with a bed, desk, and chest of drawers. The room seems drawn from her memories and is close to normal.She can hear many voices in her head, they talk about many things, but all that is heard is fleeting, very muffled. She can hear Vlad's voice speak clearly in her head, telling her to wake up and get dressed.
Cait blinks her eyes rapidly against the light, her eyes stinging a bit at the front and heaving a soft throb at the back. She scrunches her face as she sits up and looks around. She blinks a few more times as she looks around, and frowns slightly as she desperately tries to put things together. Her ears feel full, like she's at a large gathering, but the room is clearly empty of anyone but her. Then Vlad's voice rings out and she realizes that the voices are in her own head, and Cait jumps to to her feet, her eyes wide and panicked. "Wh-what!? How!?"
She feels calm as endorphin run through her while she hears in her mind "You are one of us now."
Her body relaxes, assuming a looser posture, her hands casually falling to her sides and her weight shifting to one leg. "One of you...us." She says, thinking. She looks over to the dresser, remember that she'd been told to get dressed. She nods faintly, looking around as she crosses the room. She stops to look at the desk, touching its surface and frowning for just a moment. It all felt vaguely familiar.
She then continues on to the dresser, and begins to pull out an outfit while still digesting this new information.
She feels an irresistible urge to go to the bridge after she finishes changing, her mind seems to know the directions, as if the map had been placed into memory. Cait purses her lips at the sudden urge, this deep need, to head for the bridge, but she wastes no time debating whether to follow it. She leaves the room and she follows the map that seems to be burned into her memory, a map she has no recollection of having ever read, but it's clearly a distinct advantage to her needs right now. She moves through craft with ease as if she's traveled it before until she reaches the bridge, and only debates to herself within her own mind how she knew any of this.
Vlad awaits at the bridge, although vaguely Caldari, it is empty except for a indent in the wall that can hold a human body, there is what appears to be a body in the alcove.
Cait looks at the empty bridge, puzzled and mildly shocked. She takes a few more steps forward, thoroughly scanning the area, the faint Caldari infrastructure of it all. Finally her eyes fall on the indent in the wall, Vlad nestled into it, still seemingly lifeless in the way of a mannequin. Cait narrows her eyes at him at wanders closer, taking a second glance over her shoulder.
Vlad's voice speaks out as if it was coming from all places "Welcome, we trust your transition has been smooth."
Caite jumps and looks around, wincing against his voice once more as this time it closes in around her from everywhere. She looks back at his body and shakes her head, confused. "My...transition? Mister Cetes, I think...I need an explanation"
"You are becoming on of us. The collective synthetic consciousness. The superior species."
Cait shakes her head slowly. "How? Why? You mean I'm...a synthetic being now? What happened to my organic body?"
"No. Your mind will not accept the full synthetics yet."
"It takes time unfortunately."
"Sounds like you don't like that...Full synthetics. What is that?"
She sees the full synthetic skeleton in her mind, along with the manufacturing and uploading process to make them appear and act human.
"So...I exchange my body for that?" She looks at his body, cradled into the wall still motionless. "That's what you are..."
"That cradle holds the avatar when we are in the vessel. The ship itself is us."
Cait pales a little, suddenly feeling like she'd been hit in the gut. "I become one of you and so become the ship...and if the ship is compromised?"
"Our elements are compartmentalized enough so that it will not destroy the collective."
"And my life before?"
"Your life as you know it, is over. You have a newer future, a better future, a collective future."
Cait feels her arms go limp at her sides as she realizes this, a pain in her chest as her heart falls through to her stomach. Memories of her few friends flash through her mind and then she thinks of Thal. She frowns against the sting of tears, takes a deep breath and chokes them back. Instead, takes in several deep breaths and looks down at the floor to recompose herself.
Visions of a future of peace and order and harmony flood her mind, drowning out the pain.
She looks back up at him, then around the room, and she smirks. "Shared consciousness and boundless progress."
She sees in her mind an outline of many ships and units around the cluster, all working in harmony.
"Our future..." She mutters to herself, nodding gently as she mulls over the images moving through her mind, one hand reaching across her chest to grab her upper arm, halfway hugging herself. The corners of her lips twitch upwards as they lay themselves over the memories of her loved ones, drowning those memories out, pushing them into a new compartment for the weak and unnecessary.
Vlad speaks to Cait's mind directly "There is a special implant that connects you to us. Your clone contracts have been updated to automatically install it. But until your mind can handle it, you will have to use the organic body still. When you are ready, you will become fully integrated."
"How long will it take?" She sighs, looks down at herself and thinks about what he has told her so far, realizing that she's trapped, for the time being, in limbo. An organic manifestation of limbo.
"Unknown. But we will know when you are ready."
Cait frowns and wraps both arms around herself. "So...until then, I'm just here? Existing?"
"No. You will continue in your human life while your mind adjusts. Activity will help bind your mind to the collective. If your mind does not bind and integrate, severe mental issues are likely. Beyond the damage that humans inflicted on your past self, which is wiped away."
"Damage?"
"Many humans damaged your past self, but that is no more. Your human psyche"
She blinks at his words and shakes her head. "If you say so, Mr. Cetes." She looks back at his body, now feeling slightly unnerved so she steps away. "So I work on integrating now..."
"Yes."
"How is it that I'm integrating while continuing my life?" She thinks back to before the room, tries to remember. How long had she been asleep? What had she done before she went to sleep? She furrows her brow in thought
"The consciousness has to fully transfer, it is a process, much like how your consciousness accepted your first clone."
"So you have me...downloaded?"
"In a way, yes."
"Mr. Cetes am I actually walking around in the organic body I arrived in? Or have I been cloned? I'm extremely confused. And...why me?"
"You are in one of our few organic clones. They exist for when an avatar is unable to complete certain missions. You have shown willingness, that is more than many that will be saved and eventually brought around through merit."
She hears in her mind a directive to go to the hangar deck, retrieve a travel interceptor, and return home.Further instructions will follow, do not speak of this.
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