Brandy is the mother of four, stepmom of two, homemaker, and lover of the mysterious. She grew up with a single mom who was in the military and spent most of her youth enveloped in books. Writing has always been a passion, though most were critical of the dark nature of her prose and poetry. A spark has recently been reignited and she would like to welcome you down the rabbit hole of her mind.
SHELL OF A HUMAN
by
Brandy Cornett
“Today is the day!” I said greeting my friend.
Devin looked over at me as I entered the room doning my sterile hospital gown, its geometric shapes giving nods to the 90’s. He had been nervously pacing back and forth. I walked to the bed and as I sat down patted it, gesturing for him to join me. I knew he had his doubts about this procedure but I was confident in my decision to go through with it.
“You know you can back out, Isa. We can walk out those doors and you'll be no worse off than when you got here,” He said with concern in his voice.
“We’ve been over this. The peace of mind that this will give me is well worth the risk. You know my family history. Watching my parents fight cancer was awful. Seeing them succumb to it… was, was hell,” I said trying to hold back the tears.
I knew the risk; blood clots, paralysis, or even death. These were of course the most severe but unlikely outcomes. The implant would be placed at the base of my neck, on the C-2 vertebrae. It would use special A.I. software that would be able to detect even the smallest cancerous cells in the body and immediately notify my doctor. The doctor had gone over the procedure in great detail, but all I could think of was the promise of early detection.
“I understand your reasons for doing this, but you know why I'm concerned,” Devin said grabbing my hand.
“I know your conspiracy theories,” I said rolling my eyes.
Devin was convinced that because the mega-corporation Blackguard owned the company that made the device I was getting implanted today, it was not to be trusted.
“You’re my best friend. I promise you, everything will be fine. If something is off afterward, I know you are the one person I can count on to set it straight. YOU are my advocate. But really Devin, trust me to know that this is going to be the best thing for my sanity,” I assured him.
He gave me his classic cynical look and we both laughed.
“You know I'll be the first one to bring you in and get that shit yanked out the minute you tell me something feels off!” Devin gave me a hug and in walked the nurse to wheel me off to the OR.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
The sounds of beeping slowly swam into my consciousness. I could hear the quiet commotion that filled the recovery room. Nurses’ footsteps, family members’ murmured voices, affirmations of a job well done, and groans from groggy patients waiting for the exhaustion to take them back to blissful rest.
I laid there in the stillness, assessing the sensations of my body. I moved a finger, wiggled a toe. Whew! With two major risks down, and the last complication to be conquered closer to the end of my recovery, I allowed myself a small celebration.
I let out a sigh of relief and cautiously opened my eyes. It was dim, and a bit blurry at first. As my eyes focused I could see the heart rate monitor, the curtains that separated me from the other patients, and finally a familiar face.
“Hey,” I groaned, but the word was delayed.
“How you feeling, my cyborg friend?” Devin whispered.
I laughed but winced at the ache in my head and neck.
“Sorry, too soon. Get some rest. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
I drifted off wondering why my words were lagging behind my thoughts.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
When my eyes opened again, I was in a different room. There was a curtain and I could hear talking on the other side. I looked around and saw Devin reading in a chair by the window.
“Well hello, sleepy. The doctor was just in and said everything went well during surgery. They checked the monitoring system while you were in recovery and your levels are all good and ‘communication’ to the device is smooth.” Devin said encouragingly.
“I’m glad” said my voice but what I had really been thinking was “Thank you, I’m so glad you’re here.” That’s strange. Let’s try this again. “You don’t have to stay.” Said my voice, but once again, that’s not what I was wanting to say.
“I don’t mind,” Devin said yawning.
“Go home and rest, I’m fine. I’ll just be sleeping too.” My voice said convincingly.
No, don’t leave! I begged my body to obey me. Tried to thrash my arms and legs in protest. Not a flinch. What the hell was happening?
“Okay but I’ll be back first thing in the morning. You can let me know if cyborgs sleep?” He teased. Him and my voice laughed.
I cried for him to stay. I begged for him to see that something had gone wrong. He was right! Oh god, he was right. All I could do was lay here, a shell of a human, controlled by some AI company, and scream from within. The only person in the world who would believe me just walked out the door.
A single tear made its way down my cheek. It was the last sign of the battle raging against the machine.