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Chapter 2

I have always found our obsession with the prime lines to be unwise. Avatars focus so intently on those little lines on the back of the hand, that, when the book mark changes with a bond, our very attitudes change upon seeing the altered mark. Does it matter if an avatar has bonded to another? What business is it of ours if that was their only means of living? Yet, I must abide by society's standards.

Sparks.

Fssssssssssss. Warmth. Pain.

Touch. Sparks. Warmth. Pain.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Tap, tap, tap.

"See, Sim, it doesn't give any mention of it in her chart."

"Really? Let me see."

"How can she not have a mark?"

"Might be part of a new velo."

"A book mark would still be there. That patch of blank skin staring up at me sends a shiver down my spine every time."

"I wonder if it's because she doesn't show any mental activity. Could that wipe her clean?"

"Can't be; we've had patients with similar readings before. The marks are always there."

"Well, I added a note to the chart. Not sure what else we can do. Do you know much about animators?"

"Not really. They scare me, too."

"I have been reading about themmmmmmmmm..."

Light.

Crash.

"Did you see that?" Rapid breathing.

"What?"

"She just opened her eyes, only for a second, though."

"That's impossible. She has almost no brain activity. This avatar is essentially dead. The only one who doesn't know it is her book; wherever it is."

"I know what I saw!"

"Daydri–"

"Sim!"

"Okay, she opened her eyes. It was probably just a muscle spasm. This whole 'no mark' thing really has you riled."

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

"Can you hear me? Sim is the floor cynic, but I think not having a mark makes you special..."

Pain. Sharp. Lasting. Deep.

Blurry shapes moved overhead as the light poured in again. Something beep, beep, beeped nearby. One of the moving shapes above stopped, then grew larger. Some features solidified, and they seemed familiar. It jerked away.

"Sim, look!"

"Shreds!"

"Sim!"

"Sorry, it just caught me off guard. How can her eyes be open?"

"Could her book be regenerating?"

"Maybe."

The shape moved in again, growing larger.

"Disanya, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?"

Pause.

"Well, that was anticlimactic."

"Wait, Sim, she's tracking me with her eyes."

Another, much brighter, light flashed, and all went black again.

"Sim, get the Binder."

Silence.

The light flashed again, back and forth. Her vision shifted from a blur of colors to a face she didn't recognize, though she thought she should. It was a... man, an ancient one. The black veins just below his skin layer appear in stark contrast to the fading his body took on as he aged. He was completely bald, and his yellow eyes regarded her with a measure of both surprise and wariness.