[Fire and Ashes]

[Fire and Ashes]

   3:36 PM       Laura

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DRAFT 1:

I was half carried, half led, out into the lights.  Millions of flashes went off in my face, causing me to blink and squint to see where I was going.

I coughed.  More blood.  Someone handed over a tissue.  I don't know who.  I tried to force my concentration. I always wondered what it felt like when you were dying.  I guess this is it.  My thoughts were blending together, I couldn't discern from one to the next.  Brains.  Even as a computer is being shut off, there is power and organization, as backups are created, and things are stored in silence.

I guess, even now, as I look back at my short life, I found more peace in what was done to me.  Machine.  I am human, and yet, can do things no other human can.  I understand things on an electronic level.  Things aren't processed through a brain, they go through my processors.  Understanding and comprehension is deeper, and leaving more time for other things.

I suddenly felt naked. There were several gasps from the crowd, and then more photography.   Oh. My hologram.   I checked my power centers, and sure enough, defenses were down, and my software was being invaded.  I held up my hand, to see the thick black cables snaking my arm, and ending in the electronic interfaces in my fingers.  I could just imagine what a shock it would be to see the tubes going through my neck, the metallic glint of my face, and was surprised that no one had passed out.   One of the black suits took a step back and started talking in his ear piece; a cautious, yet understanding look on his face.  

"What do you know about being a freak to your own people? And dying? You won't know what that's like till you're doing it yourself"

I appreciated the kind gesture, but it annoyed me for some reason.   Plus, the sound in the background.  It was loud.  I concentrated a bit more and realized it was the loud speaker.  Oh yeah, I was here to talk to these people.  A "last hope" type gesture.  It was stupid, yet, it was my idea.  Did that make me stupid as well? I shut off power to the part of my brain interpreting the loudness, and instead, hacked into the surrounding network and picked up the words there.

[......Here on the eve of the fight for our world..............................

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