>>5940365“It wasn't a nightmare, bro.” You reply wearily, disentangling yourself from your blanket to get up. “I think they've been testing me in my sleep.”
You push Kiro’s inquisitive snout out of the way and stumble over to the console just in time to catch it finishing a reboot. You eye it suspiciously but the single green cursor simply blinks at you innocently. Shivering slightly as the cool, recycled air of your cabin dries your bare skin, you use the meagre light to search your desk for the immunosuppressant painkillers supposedly meant to treat your “implant sickness”. <span class="mu-i">There they are.</span> You touch the auto-injector to your neck and wait for the nano-meds to at least clear the headache clouding your mind. At this point you don't trust them to do much else. As the nanites do their work, you finally manage to catch your breath and your heart rate begins to slow. Your jumbled memories keep throwing themselves to the forefront of your mind. Certain distinct flashbacks of your time in the simulation flickering past in a blur, over and over. You rub your eyes, and try to will the unwanted visions away.
“Mmm don’ like tests. Why’d Father- Haaa- EEEP!”
Kiro’s yawn is cut off abruptly by a squawk of alarm and you hear the frantic thump-click of claws hitting the deck. A rustling thud follows and you turn to find the Marrok crouched on the floor, draped in his bedding.
“Mmmeant to do that, perfect three point landin’.” He slurs, still somehow half-asleep. You snort and shake your head at your brother’s absurd antics.
<span class="mu-i">At least some things never seem to change.</span> You find the thought grounding.
“Eh, I’ll give you an eight outta ten. Recovery could use some work.” You reply as you watch him slowly retrieve his pillow and hug the blanket around himself like a cloak.
“Mmmean.” He blinks up at you blearily from beneath his improvised cowl and pokes out an indignant tongue tip. “S’pose I'll take it, though. Mmmworks better rested.” The little lizard looks longingly up at his bed, seeming to weigh up the effort of making the climb against simply falling asleep where he stands. Flashing red reflects off his minute scales and the console built into the space beside your stacked bunks chimes softly. “Haaa, who’s mmmessagin’ is at this time a mmmornin’? Kiro yawns.
It must be getting late into beta watch, your early morning, a few hours before you would normally begin your daily routine. As you idly wonder what the exact time is, moving to access the message on your console, your vision doubles and you stagger slightly. A mirror of the console screen hovers before your eyes in a semi-transparent blue, a small clock indicating ship’s time ticking over in the top right of your field of view. It's as if you’re looking at your visor’s heads up display, despite having yet to get dressed in your adaptive uniform this morning.
>7/9 