update from sparkleup
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Madison Scott-Clary
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<p>“I think that I will see many more the longer I work here.” The agent stamped his passport with an expert twist of the wrist, adding a smear to the ink which added a layer of authenticity. It would be all but impossible to mimic that smear. She handed his passport back with a sly smile and a tap to her temple, “I do not think I will go. I am terrified enough of my own head.”</p>
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<p>Yared could only smile back and move on through the line.</p>
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<p>He was met at baggage claim by a slight man who took him by the hand and led him out into the heat of the afternoon. He was shunted into the air-conditioned back of a black car — so many memories of weeks and months ago beneath that blanket of numbness — which took him to an unassuming office complex.</p>
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<p>Unassuming from the outside, at least. Inside, ey was met with white tile and calm, efficient staff who swished on the floor with white, paper booties.</p>
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<p>Unassuming from the outside, at least. Inside, he was met with white tile and calm, efficient staff who swished on the floor with white, paper booties.</p>
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<p>He was directed to a waiting room where he was instructed to disrobe and push his arms through the sleeves of a paper gown. He was even provided with his own booties.</p>
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<p>“You have fasted?”</p>
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<p>“Yes?”</p>
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<p>Her English had the same clipped, stilted accent of the man who had driven him to the medical center, of the customs agent, of all of the flight agents. He wondered briefly if it was some S-R Bloc accent, or if the overwhelming numbness had distorted all he heard.</p>
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<p>“Please, Mr. Zerezghi. If you would lay down here. I will place an IV, and we will get you to the surgery immediately. You understand, yes? We are on a schedule, yes?”</p>
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<p>He nodded and did as he was told. The numbness, he realized, had extended to the physical as well, as he didn’t notice the needle in the back of his hand until the nurse clipped a line to it.</p>
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<p>The surgery was…well, Yared was something not quite awake, not quite asleep for most of it, but what he did remember was that it was in all ways unpleasant. The noises that drifted in and out of his awareness, the last remaining scent, the last remaining taste, both of some nickle-plated sourness that he could not place. The last remaining sight of just light, just light.</p>
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<p>The surgery was…well, Yared was something not quite awake, not quite asleep for most of it, but what he did remember was that it was in all ways unpleasant. The noises that drifted in and out of his awareness, the last remaining scent, the last remaining taste, both of some nickel-plated sourness that he could not place. The last remaining sight of just light, just light.</p>
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<p>And then a stretching. A stretching up of his arms while his feet remained anchored, there on that bed. He stretched up tall, kilometers up, light years. So tall that he began to thin out, tapering in the middle until he thought that he would snap…</p>
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<p>Whether there was any discontinuity or not, he did not know. He was simply…there. Simply standing in a cube of grey walls, grey ceiling, grey floor. It was lit by lights that seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, and the lack of a shadow was disturbing in a way that he could not place.</p>
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<p>A soft, familiar voice spoke to him, then. Or did not come to him. He did not hear it through his ears, but it was there, nonetheless, through something more and less than hearing. “Yared. Can you speak?”</p>
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<p>A soft chuckle, and then, “Yes, it is me. Or a portion of me, at least. You are still in the upload clinic’s system, which cannot easily fit two.”</p>
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<p>“So, not in the System yet.”</p>
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<p>“No, but the transfer is nearly complete. You will not remember this encounter, I am afraid, but you will have new ones.” The voice sounded as though it was smiling. “So very many new ones. I am just happy to see you move and hear you speak, as it means that the same will be true sys-side.”</p>
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<p>Yared frowned. “I will..not remember?”</p>
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<p>Yared frowned. “I will…not remember?”</p>
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<p>“This instance is in a temporary location for the purpose of testing, so eventually, you will either quit or be halted, yes.”</p>
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<p>“But then I’ll be in the System?”</p>
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<p>There was a pause, and then a laugh. “You already are. The upload has complete, and I — the real True Name — am speaking with you.”</p>
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<p>“Yared. Can you speak?”</p>
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<p>He blinked open his eyes, confronted with a shape of black and white, then shouted and fell backwards.</p>
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<p>The shape that stood before him, laughed and leaned down to offer a hand. “I will take that as a yes. I am True Name. Do you remember me?”</p>
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<p>He stared up at the shape, something half human and half animal, a tapering snout and white-stripped black fur. Feminine form. Soft tail. Friendly eyes.</p>
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<p>He stared up at the shape, something half human and half animal, a tapering snout and white-striped black fur. Feminine form. Soft tail. Friendly eyes.</p>
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<p>“True…Name? The Only…The Only Time…”</p>
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<p>“The Only Time I Know My True Name Is When I Dream, yes.” It– she was smiling, though Yared was not sure how he knew that. She wiggled the fingers of her offered hand — paw? Paw — and said, “Come on, let us get you up.”</p>
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<p>Yared still did not accept the offer, looking around himself instead. He sat atop a small hill in a grass field, dotted liberally with dandelions. The sky was cloudless and blue above him. The sun stood on high.</p>
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@ -152,7 +152,7 @@
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<p>He laughed. “You know, I think you may be right.”</p>
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</article>
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<footer>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-10-17</p>
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<p>Page generated on 2021-11-17</p>
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</footer>
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</main>
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<script type="text/javascript">
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