There is a faint glow. It illuminates the space around you. There is enough light to see...
[[something in front of you]]
[[something attached to you]]
There is some kind of surface in front of you. It is smooth. There are no ridges, or blemishes, or imperfections of any kind. It is simply smooth, all over. It //looks// smooth.
It looks like it would be nice to touch.
[[reach out and touch it]]
You turn slightly, to better observe this phenomena. It appears to be a small device. There is a screen on this device. It appears to be mostly screen, with a small allowance for parts that aren't the screen.
The screen is broken and tells you nothing. It is useless.
Even though it is attached to you, you cannot feel it.
You cannot actually feel much at all.
[[Try to move yourself.]]
You attempt to move yourself. You still cannot feel anything, though you can hear ''whirring'' as you try.
Isn't there a better way of doing this? It feels like you've forgotten something important.
Maybe you should just break things down into parts. Think of it like you're waking parts of yourself up, from a long, long sleep.
You cannot feel what is connected to you, so you will have to mentally reconnect them. Maybe that will help, thinking about it.
Remembering the parts you had.
[[Wake up your arms.]]
[[Wake up your legs.]]
[[Wake up another appendage.]]
You can't.
You don't appear to be able to move anything. Actually, this is incorrect. It's more like...you can't feel yourself moving anything.
You can't seem to feel very much at all.
[[Try to move yourself.]]
Ah, yes. You remember. You have ''arms''. On the end of those arms are hands. On those hands, there are fingers, stubby and round.
Or maybe they're not?
[[You remember that.]]
[[You were different]]
You remember having legs. Strong and sleek, like something
strong and sleek. You could run long distances with them. Or perhaps, you would be theoretically able to run long distances with them.
[[That sounds right.]]
[[You were different]]
You remember that you had some kind of composition that allowed you to slither and squeeze. To slip along floors and ignore traction. Perhaps it was a tail, or perhaps it was some kind of slime.
[[That is me]]
[[You were different]]
You held things gently, and felt them softly. You were so proud of the day that you held an egg without breaking it. Your parents smiled and praised you.
You remember the energy coursing through you. The lightning in you, tamed and controlled, until you used those stubby fingers to hold a baby safely.
[[What else do I remember?]]
You were born and built to run. You raced the birds, the wind, the mounts of your flesh and blood comrades. You were their scout, their eye who ran.
You remember the far, far plains of your birth. The pink and purple sky, the dusty sand. The prickling grass that tickled the pads of your feet and sometimes left its seeds in your joints.
[[So I ran]]
There is something wrong with the way you are recalling these memories. Perhaps your fingers are not the way you remember they were. Perhaps your legs were not legs. Or maybe your tail wasn't really such a thing.
Perhaps your memories are not working the way they should.
Perhaps they are not actually your memories.
[[What is there for me?]]
You recall the memories of testing your new mode of movement for the first time. It was very exciting.
You crashed into a wall, once. There was laughter. You did not have the nuance to detect whether it was mocking or joy at your newfound abilities. It was simply laughter.
[[I remember now]]
I sweep aside all foes. I negotiate the harsh terrain. No-one will stand against me. I am the shield and the whip, the wrath of my makers.
I am the beast of burden. I am the weapon, the barrier, the instrument of intentions. My master cannot fall from me.
[[But she fell]]
You are not yet born. It is not yet your time. Your shape will come, but it has not come yet.
You are blank as only one that has not yet been born can be blank. You are the potential, the data of a soul.
It is not your time yet.
[[The memory ends.]]
I was my parents' child. And this fragile thing, this baby, was also their child.
I remember warmth, and happiness. I am a sibling, older by two years; the future of this child brings my parents great happiness.
It brings me great happiness too.
[[Did she grow up?]]
She fell. From me, the shield, the barrier, the protector. She did not rise, as she did so many times before. She did not support herself upon me or reach out her hand. She did not touch my helm, or look upon my eye, and say words that I could not understand but came with a smile.
I understood the death. I had seen it, caused it.
I did. I did. I understood. I did.
[[I did not.]]
I could not function without her.
No,
I refused to function without her. My master was not like me, the replaceable shield. She was fragile, and irreplaceable
and gone.
They left me here. They moved on and left me. I cared not. Nothing else mattered to me but her.
[[The memory ends.]]
She did.
And so did I. I grew with her, in different ways, in ways only I could grow.
But so did she.
She went through ''puberty''. Her voice cracked, in embarrassing ways, and she laughed. I laughed, too. She wore different things in different ways. She ate a lot of different things. She went to school and met a lot of different people.
I grew. I was modified. My data became more extensive. My knowledge expanded. My view of the world expanded. I needed no school, but
[[she brought me anyway]]
The weather fascinated me. Some days the winds were high and there was much dust, and I sat in a tent of my own to keep me from being jammed up, so I could still run.
My friends sat in other tents, but they came out after the dust had stopped blowing, to apologise for leaving me alone as they did. I liked their company, so I had no complaints. But it was a matter of simple logic.
Whether my friends were in tents, or close to me, they were still there. The distance matters not.
I ran. I tracked the movement of other creatures; some my friends hunted. Some they watched, and commented on their beauty.
They gave me meat. They talked to me. I did not know or need the things they did, but I liked it anyway.
[[Then I could no longer run]]
She smiled and gave me clothing to wear. A ''suit''. I was confused at first, but she clarified that there was some kind of function, at which she was to dance.
But for some reason, nobody would dance with her.
I, of course, was happy to dance with her. We danced for a long time. People laughed at first, but then they joined in.
She smiled very much that day.
After that, she never lacked dance partners.
It was wonderful. I was so happy.
[[The memory ends.]]
In time, I ran so much that I wore myself out. I was treated well, repaired well, and fussed over, but eventually I was to be replaced. They would need a new scout, someone who could run faster and further for longer.
That scout could no longer be me.
I expected them to leave me somewhere where I would no longer be able to see the sky. It was a true thing of my existence; I had seen others, legs longer or shorter than I, sleeping or sitting on perches, in houses. Under the sky but no longer a part of it.
But my friends did something different.
[[I could not run, but I could still see]]
You remember who you are, or at least...you remember who someone is.
Whether you were grieving, or dancing, or passing underneath the sky; these are but fragments of your existence. The rest is known only to you.
If you are not yet born, then perhaps you would like to go back, to pass the time until you are ready.
[[You are in the dark.]]
They built me a special new frame. I was preserved in it, and I rode on one of the mounts instead. I had a mount, just for me, and one of my friends helped to guide it.
My friends taught me many things, but I learned about their kindness in those days. When the mount could no longer be led the way my friends wanted it to be, they gave me a voice. They taught me to speak their language.
They taught me to laugh and 'smile' in the way that they did, with their voices, not their faces. They taught me sadness and songs.
They taught me how to be kind. And I am happy.
[[The memory ends.]]