Discomfort. The ringing vibration of the metal and the shock, how he hated it. The augment was mandatory; how could it not be? He used it every day, without fail. With a thought, he willed it away as his eyes opened.
In a deft, practiced motion, his finger flicked to the left side of his temple, tapping it. The cold metal against the tip of his finger was a comfort. He loved the cold, always did, or so mother and father always said. How he missed them. How he missed his homeworld and its calming frost. But, he was an adult now, and things were also so expensive over there. It wasn’t so bad. He could always go visit them, after all.
"Clara?" he thought, opening up a channel.
"Yes, Halo?" was the reply.
"How many more solar cycles til I can redeem TO?"
"Only 2.71 more cycles until your time off! You're getting there. Standard units, of course. Down 0.002 from when you last asked, which was yesterday morning."
He could hear a tiny, minute, infinitesimal hint of exasperation in her voice, but when it disappeared, he could see her soft smile. He spared a thought to appreciate how beautiful she was. The silvery sheen of her sculpted face really was so pleasing to his mind’s eye.
"Thanks, Clara. What time is it?"
"07:77. You need to show up at work in 23 minutes, standard. You missed the first shock."
"Damn it."
Halo's mostly skin-covered face twisted into the unsightly discomfort.
The door to his sleeping pod opened with a click, following a quick mental command. Stepping over the sordid state of his allotted room, he proceeded to the mirror. Just as expected, his uniform was acceptable, almost presentable. He avoided looking at himself, for he was so hideous. So much skin and flesh covered his body. When he looked closely, he could see the asymmetries in his form, the subtle folds of age showing upon his visage, though he was still young. Scanning his fleshy optic a few degrees to the left, he spied the leftover contents of last night's dinner, which was supposed to be today's breakfast. What a shame. The taste of good food was a perfectly presentable reason to live; the foodie blog mentioned that.
"Halo, you really got to get going. Just take the large package at 13:00."
Halo thought a thought of acquiescence for a moment, placating Clara. What a good friend Clara was. What would he do without her? He really couldn't do without her.
"Thank you, Halo. I couldn't do without you either. That's why you've got to get to work! How will I talk to you if you have to liquidate me?"
Halo opened the door to the outside. The hot breeze brought him discomfort, almost pain, as it did every morning, as it would every morning for 100 more cycles if he didn't get his act together to afford the Homeostasis Deluxe+. Around 10000 credits it would cost, for the product and the installation. Halo avoided thinking about it. He owed a little over twice that much. He didn’t want to think about that either.
In a deft motion, his finger found its way back to his left temple. He tapped it again, then swiped back, activating the public setting. How he hated it, curtailing his thoughts was such a chore.
Before he knew it, he had ascended the stairs to the Port. He could see the whole metropolis from here, illuminated by the two blistering stars of the Vitiri system. Halo spotted the conductor right away.
"Conductor, 1 ticket to location code X9Jn1, please.", Halo thought.
The man turned around to return Halo's gaze, revealing his smooth, silvery, metallic face. The metal really was so pleasing to look at, surely some sort of Ceramosteel. Halo was careful not to let the embarrassing thought of envy reach his mind. With a quarter thought, the Conductor nodded and before Halo knew it, he was in the same metallic lift-transport he was always in. An advertisement was beamed into his eyes.
“Asset Reclaim Solutions! You are more than the sum of your parts- and we’ll prove it! Liquid-”
Halo willed it away; the cheerful music brought displeasure into Halo’s mind. A moment later, his smooth hands upon his face would prevent him from admiring the sight of the city, resplendent in their neon lights.
The headquarters was colorful, opaque thing, filled with lights and glass that ascended a kilometer up into Vitiri Secundus's green, ocean sky. Halo thought it was beautiful. Though, there wasn't much sky left, as sprawling high rises like the headquarters dominated the skyline. One would have to look straight up to admire the sky, but who would want to do that? Only freeloaders with too much time on their hands would do such a useless thing.
Halo entered, the same way he had done for uncountable, indistinguishable days. With a thought, he verified his ID with the security guard with the beautiful inorganic eyes who could not be bothered to pay Halo more than a quarter-thought.
With a quick optic verification, the elevator opened for Halo, as it always did. On this day, he was not alone.
"Good morning, how are you?" the person asked.
Halo's head jerked to his right. Halo blinked, instinctually suppressing the confusion and alarm that came with the auditory information that his brain had just processed.
"Hello?" Halo thought.
The person, a man, pointed to his left temple.
Halo, just like everyone, had the instinct to suppress unacceptable thoughts, lest they be received by others. However, in this moment, Halo could not suppress his disgust. What a sick miracle it was that the man could not hear him.
The man who stood before him had so much skin. The execs would let this sort into headquarters?
"I've seen you around before,” the man said, "I'm the cleaner. My name is Cure."
When Halo did not respond out of shock, Cure continued, "I know, I know, I don't have the comms anymore. I had to liquidate that a quarter-cycle ago. Don't judge, will ya? Anyways, how's your day going? Good to see someone with less chrome for skin—don’t tell the brass I said that. You've been a real inspiration for me all these years."
"Why...?" Halo started, but he was at a loss for words. How long had it been since he had last spoken?
"Oh, this?” Cure began, pointing a finger at his temple once more, “Just, you know, down on my luck. Just a-"
"Why are you speaking to me? I'm not so low as to need to speak. If you need to talk to me, get your act together and buy yourself some new comms,” Halo finished his sentence. His voice was aflame with condescension.
The man fell silent, a muted expression of shame on his face for an instant before even that fell into the proper nothing expression meant for people like him.
The elevator opened and, perhaps, Halo stepped outside.
14 hours later, the evening arrived. Halo sat, his vision swimming with satisfaction.
"Halo, you shouldn't take so much of that. It's a bad financial decision."
She was right. Halo knew it, but what could he do? He had to forget; he couldn’t help himself. It was all too much. He had paid an exorbitant sum, almost a thousand credits, more than he earned in a one-twelfth cycle. It had worked, though. His conscious mind couldn't remember what happened anymore. But, why worry? Clara would remember for him.
"What a relief,” Halo thought, looking down.
Halo withdrew the thin little tube from his right arm and sighed. He almost wanted to cover his face again.
"You're not thinking of liquidating me, are you?"
Though she asked with something akin to sincerity, she already knew the answer. She knew Halo would never do such a thing. He could never do such a thing. He really couldn’t do without her. Her analysis of his character indicated an acceptable near-certainty that he would liquidate one of his organic modules instead.
Halo's only thought was to open the holo-panel. His finger tapped and tapped, and tapped himself away.
“Thank you, Halo!” she said, her silvery face flush with relief, “I really couldn’t do without you. Make sure to pay the premium Companion fee by 27th so we can stay together.”
At least now, Halo could see his mother and father again. But, without an income, Halo knew he could never face them and their judgements. He didn’t want them to face everyone else’s judgements.
As he tapped a little more away, he noted with great relief that he would always have Clara by his side.
What a good friend Clara was. What would he do without her? He really couldn't do without her.
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