All I remember before I blacked out was seeing the pavement and a black figure in front of me. I was lying, facedown, on the ground when I woke up. The sun was so bright that I had to blink a few times. No matter how much I blinked, the sun appeared to be square-shaped. Not only was I seeing a strange-looking sun, but I could also make out a white, translucent film covering the bright orange sky, patterned like a soccer ball. I was developing a headache at that point, as I stood up on wobbly legs. In front of me was a road that led to a nearby city and before I could take a step, I felt something squeezing my windpipe. Wrapped around my throat was a heavy metal choker. It felt like wearing a dog collar. I grabbed a hold of the choker to pull it off and a sudden spark of electricity jolted me. Then I started to hear distant sounds of the city. Walking towards the city, I noticed the energy pulsating through me, growing stronger the closer I got.
The sounds of honking, chatter, and footsteps were growing quite loud. I was startled when I saw people all around me wearing chokers too, but nobody seemed as bothered by it as I was. I noticed that everyone's choker looked different, with different colours and images. Plastered on several billboards were advertisements for mental health clinics. I noticed another one that had an announcer talking about the latest technology, the Neuro Chip. I passed by a closed store that used to sell smartphones and laptops. The glass reflected a bit of my appearance. Everything appeared normal except for the enormous bump on my forehead, which was likely the source of my headache. There were mild scratches across my face and dried blood under my chin. I touched a spot where my lip had split, and blood began to appear from it. I decided to head for the nearest pharmacy to treat my face.
My headache at this point was getting alarmingly stronger. I reached the store and the moment I passed through the front doors, sirens blared. A store clerk stopped me before I could move any further.
"Excuse me, but you cannot pass through without your chip. May I check it?"
I wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she walked behind me and seemed to look at the base of my neck.
"Your chip looks a bit damaged. You should visit the Techno-clinic first to fix it."
"Chip? Techno-clinic? What are those?" I asked.
"It's called the Neuro Chip. The Techno-clinic is open now, just two blocks from here. They can help fix yours." she said, pointing down the road.
I thanked her and headed towards the clinic. I took about ten steps away when something slammed into my body, taking my breath away. My body and head crushed against the floor. The black figure from before was on top of me and I struggled.
"It's me, Kai! Now stop moving and be quiet. Why are you here and what were you thinking, Clay?" The pressure on my chest lifted and the figure stood in front of me. Kai removed his hood and dark shades to reveal vampire-like eyes.
"I couldn't find you earlier and guess what I heard? You were heading towards one of those Techno-clinics like every other sleeping beauty."
"Who are you and what have you done to me?"
Looking puzzled, he exasperatedly said "Okay, either you are playing stupid right now or I messed things up."
As I was speechless, he sighed and crouched down to my eye level. "Okay, I guess you got the second outcome. Your Neuro Chip is stronger than I thought. It'll take some time for Chainsaw to break it." He pulled out a USB stick. "Turn around for me; I think I can properly hack into it this time."
I backed away from him and held up a hand. "Wait a minute. I'm not following. You didn't answer my question. Second, did you give me this welt?" I demanded.
"Sorry about that. When I was trying to hack into your chip, you fell headfirst into the pavement and blacked out."
"Wait a minute. Eversince I came to, I had no clue where the heck I was or any idea what was going on. You are not helping me understand at all..." Blood was now flowing freely down my face from the second hit and it was hard to focus. He genuinely looked guilty and reached to touch my face. I swatted his hand and I almost felt bad at the look of hurt on his face.
"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you there last night, but I had my reasons. It also sounds like the chip affected your memory." He was speaking too rapidly for me to process what he's trying to say. He pursed his lips. "There's little time left; your freedom is critical before the reset. I know you can't remember anything, but you have to trust me." He pinched the back of my neck and jammed the USB into my neck. "I promise, Clay." I blacked out for the second time.
The sounds of whistling and the air pressure made my ears pop. My eyes flew open and I found myself curled up in Kai's arms; startled, I punched his jaw. Immediately, I started to slip from his arms but he recovered quickly and readjusted his grip before he glared at me.
"Dammit Clay, a little warning next time. Unless you actually want to plummet to your death."
It was then that I looked down and realized that we were soaring upwards like Superman. "Are we...flying?"
"Yes silly, we are flying." He gave me a toothy grin, "You can thank the upgraded code for that. How does your neck feel?"
"The choker, it's gone! What happened to it?"
"Once I hacked the Neuro Chip with Chainsaw, I was able to deactivate the choker and unlock it. Both the chip and the choker are useless now."
We flew to the top of a tower and the lights below sparkled like stars. He pointed to them. "The mass reset is only a week away and it's safer to be away from the sleeping beauties."
"What's this mass reset? Also, there are definitely people still awake down there. How the heck were you flying?"
"Okay well, believe it or not, we accidentally hacked into the system about a year ago. There we found the truth behind the Neuro Chip after it was released, but by then everyone including ourselves were using it. Since then we've been developing a software hack to disable the chip, which we called Chainsaw." He held up the USB stick proudly.
"Anyway, I partially overrode the system with a software hack so we can fly, but only for those who have Chainsaw installed."
His face darkened. "It's a good thing we did; I overheard that this mass reset is supposed to literally reset our brains - meaning tha you'll have no sovereignty over your own body and consciousness. You'll become a sleeping beauty, or a puppet for the government. These chips were initially advertised as mental health bots and to replace smartphones and other smart devices." He smirked. "Who needs them if your brain can compute these things a hundred times faster? In reality, it was easier for the government to track our personal information and location at any given time."
"Our government was the first of many to approve this mass reset. Who knows what they'd do to us when we are under their control? Anyway, it's all hushed and they don't want us to be talking about this." He touched the back of his head, where a thick, square-shaped scar was. "With Chainsaw, I can interrupt the signal that will broadcast the mass reset and prevent them from controlling everyone." Then he paused for a moment before saying, "We could save ourselves from a deadly war, Clay. Are you ready to help me?"
He held out his hand and I grabbed it. "What are we waiting for?"
The sounds of honking, chatter, and footsteps were growing quite loud. I was startled when I saw people all around me wearing chokers too, but nobody seemed as bothered by it as I was. I noticed that everyone's choker looked different, with different colours and images. Plastered on several billboards were advertisements for mental health clinics. I noticed another one that had an announcer talking about the latest technology, the Neuro Chip. I passed by a closed store that used to sell smartphones and laptops. The glass reflected a bit of my appearance. Everything appeared normal except for the enormous bump on my forehead, which was likely the source of my headache. There were mild scratches across my face and dried blood under my chin. I touched a spot where my lip had split, and blood began to appear from it. I decided to head for the nearest pharmacy to treat my face.
My headache at this point was getting alarmingly stronger. I reached the store and the moment I passed through the front doors, sirens blared. A store clerk stopped me before I could move any further.
"Excuse me, but you cannot pass through without your chip. May I check it?"
I wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she walked behind me and seemed to look at the base of my neck.
"Your chip looks a bit damaged. You should visit the Techno-clinic first to fix it."
"Chip? Techno-clinic? What are those?" I asked.
"It's called the Neuro Chip. The Techno-clinic is open now, just two blocks from here. They can help fix yours." she said, pointing down the road.
I thanked her and headed towards the clinic. I took about ten steps away when something slammed into my body, taking my breath away. My body and head crushed against the floor. The black figure from before was on top of me and I struggled.
"It's me, Kai! Now stop moving and be quiet. Why are you here and what were you thinking, Clay?" The pressure on my chest lifted and the figure stood in front of me. Kai removed his hood and dark shades to reveal vampire-like eyes.
"I couldn't find you earlier and guess what I heard? You were heading towards one of those Techno-clinics like every other sleeping beauty."
"Who are you and what have you done to me?"
Looking puzzled, he exasperatedly said "Okay, either you are playing stupid right now or I messed things up."
As I was speechless, he sighed and crouched down to my eye level. "Okay, I guess you got the second outcome. Your Neuro Chip is stronger than I thought. It'll take some time for Chainsaw to break it." He pulled out a USB stick. "Turn around for me; I think I can properly hack into it this time."
I backed away from him and held up a hand. "Wait a minute. I'm not following. You didn't answer my question. Second, did you give me this welt?" I demanded.
"Sorry about that. When I was trying to hack into your chip, you fell headfirst into the pavement and blacked out."
"Wait a minute. Eversince I came to, I had no clue where the heck I was or any idea what was going on. You are not helping me understand at all..." Blood was now flowing freely down my face from the second hit and it was hard to focus. He genuinely looked guilty and reached to touch my face. I swatted his hand and I almost felt bad at the look of hurt on his face.
"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you there last night, but I had my reasons. It also sounds like the chip affected your memory." He was speaking too rapidly for me to process what he's trying to say. He pursed his lips. "There's little time left; your freedom is critical before the reset. I know you can't remember anything, but you have to trust me." He pinched the back of my neck and jammed the USB into my neck. "I promise, Clay." I blacked out for the second time.
The sounds of whistling and the air pressure made my ears pop. My eyes flew open and I found myself curled up in Kai's arms; startled, I punched his jaw. Immediately, I started to slip from his arms but he recovered quickly and readjusted his grip before he glared at me.
"Dammit Clay, a little warning next time. Unless you actually want to plummet to your death."
It was then that I looked down and realized that we were soaring upwards like Superman. "Are we...flying?"
"Yes silly, we are flying." He gave me a toothy grin, "You can thank the upgraded code for that. How does your neck feel?"
"The choker, it's gone! What happened to it?"
"Once I hacked the Neuro Chip with Chainsaw, I was able to deactivate the choker and unlock it. Both the chip and the choker are useless now."
We flew to the top of a tower and the lights below sparkled like stars. He pointed to them. "The mass reset is only a week away and it's safer to be away from the sleeping beauties."
"What's this mass reset? Also, there are definitely people still awake down there. How the heck were you flying?"
"Okay well, believe it or not, we accidentally hacked into the system about a year ago. There we found the truth behind the Neuro Chip after it was released, but by then everyone including ourselves were using it. Since then we've been developing a software hack to disable the chip, which we called Chainsaw." He held up the USB stick proudly.
"Anyway, I partially overrode the system with a software hack so we can fly, but only for those who have Chainsaw installed."
His face darkened. "It's a good thing we did; I overheard that this mass reset is supposed to literally reset our brains - meaning tha you'll have no sovereignty over your own body and consciousness. You'll become a sleeping beauty, or a puppet for the government. These chips were initially advertised as mental health bots and to replace smartphones and other smart devices." He smirked. "Who needs them if your brain can compute these things a hundred times faster? In reality, it was easier for the government to track our personal information and location at any given time."
"Our government was the first of many to approve this mass reset. Who knows what they'd do to us when we are under their control? Anyway, it's all hushed and they don't want us to be talking about this." He touched the back of his head, where a thick, square-shaped scar was. "With Chainsaw, I can interrupt the signal that will broadcast the mass reset and prevent them from controlling everyone." Then he paused for a moment before saying, "We could save ourselves from a deadly war, Clay. Are you ready to help me?"
He held out his hand and I grabbed it. "What are we waiting for?"