The gentle thrumming and motion of the shuttle gradually roused Cecil from his sedation. His neck burned and his head swam.


    He sat up slowly in his seat, becoming aware of the buckle and straps that held him securely in place. The shuttle banked to the left causing him to sway to the side and his arm to bump gently against the passenger next to him.


    Cecil turned to see the top of Yaeh’s lilac hair. She was slumped in her seat, still asleep, gently rocking from side to side with the motion of the shuttle.


    He tried not to dwell on her, or on their current situation. They had sat next to each other in agonising silence while waiting for their respective appointments at the clinic. Waiting for their turn to be gutted. Unplugged from the safe haven and dopamine drip of Plugnet’s virtual existence.


    He had wanted to say something to her. They weren’t strangers, they had known each other for over a decade. Ever since they had been enrolled into Class VC37 together when they were kids. They’d watched media together, played games together, studied and socialised together.


    But that was all in Plugnet, where the rules made sense and they could all be themselves.


    Physical existence was just… constant discomfort.


    Cecil could feel his own skin. His own breathing. The ache in his joints and lower back that came from extended time in a Plugtank. He was aware of all of it, all the unnecessary and unpleasant feedback of a flesh and bone body.


    His parents had made Cecil unplug every evening to eat dinner together as a family, so the discomfort wasn’t alien to him, but this day so far had been the longest amount of time he’d spent outside of his tank in years. It was taking a toll.


    The burning on his neck flared momentarily. A hot itchiness with an undercurrent of dull, medically suppressed pain.


    He cautiously explored the base of his neck with a hand, feeling at the skin just above his collarbone where his hardports had been only few hours prior.


    He felt carefully at the medical padding and bandages secured to the wound. The subdued pain flared softly. Not enough to cause serious distress, but enough to warn him against further poking.


    Cecil sighed and collapsed backwards into his seat and stared at the shuttle ceiling.


    A raspy voice caught his attention from the seats to his right.


    “No, I don’t want to hear it! Listen, I’m NOT going to carry you Karkos. I’m really going to give this my all and I expect you to keep up.”


    Cecil turned to see who was speaking.


    A girl with long black hair and icy white eyes was leaning forwards in her seat, head turned so that she could speak to the person sitting next to her.


    She had gaunt features, sunken eyes and sallow skin. All common traits of someone who lived  their existence inside of a Plugtank, sustained only by basic nutrients. All of VC37 looked like that to some degree.


    Cecil couldn’t recognise her from appearance alone but from her confident tone, he had a guess.


    The girl listened to a whispered response from her partner then huffed.


    “Stop making excuses. We’re all in the same boat here if you hadn’t noticed. I’m not magically doing any better than you, I’m just… I’ve just made the decision that I wasn’t going to change who I am because some asshole city higher ups decided to unplug us. I’m still me, and you’re still you!”


    Cecil stared at the girl in awe. She was almost shouting.


    Not even a full day out of the tank and Isla Margale was already bossing people around again like nothing had changed. How the hell was she doing that?


    The girl that Cecil presumed to be Isla noticed Cecil watching her and she waved at him awkwardly.


    He paused, almost looking away out of instinct, but made himself wave back with a small motion.


    “Hi over there.” The girl rasped in his direction as cheerfully as she could. “It’s Isla, and Karkos. Who are you guys?”


    “Um, Cecil. And Yaeh.” He added, nodding to Yaeh in the seat next to him. As he did, he noticed that her eyes had opened and that she was looking at him blearily.


    “Oh wow, Cecil! You look so different. Good actually!” Isla replied warmly. “I guess all those family dinners paid off for you in the end huh?” She smiled.


    Cecil felt a lump in his throat as he opened his mouth to respond before closing it again, uselessly.


    He had always been a quieter member of 37. Never one to take the spotlight or be the centre of attention. He wasn’t a loner, and was on good terms with his classmates, but he had been perfectly content with his role as a background character.


    In their current situation, he was the one member of 37 who should have a genuine advantage. He had spent more time out of the tank than anyone else. He’d eaten real food, walked and talked every single day.


    And yet, he felt completely useless. Words catching in his throat as though it was the first time he’d ever tried speaking.


    Cecil had been given an unbelievable head start, and yet it felt as though Isla had already lapped him.


    He nodded in response to Isla, swallowing the lump in his throat the best that he could.


    Realising that was the best she was getting out of Cecil for now, Isla turned around and began to introduce herself to the duo on the other side of the aisle.


    Cecil slumped back into his seat again, thoughts and anxieties racing around his mind. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he could see Yaeh looking at him, but couldn’t face turning around to see. He closed his eyes and tried to rest, the dull burning in his neck providing miserable company.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    <hr>


    “No Miss, please, you don’t understand!” Hereon pleaded, straining against the seat straps.


    “I’m sorry Hereon, but it’s not possible. You have to accept this.” Ms Amelie replied as calmly as she could.


    “I have to tell her what’s going on! She will be wondering where I am!” The boy begged.


    “No she won’t.” Ms Amelie replied coldly. “You know she won’t Hereon, she’s just an AI.”


    Hereon struggled against the straps. All of the students had been locked into their seats for the shuttle journey. So far only Hereon had attempted to flee. It wasn’t unexpected.


    Realising the buckle wouldn’t open, Hereon fell back into his seat, hitting his head against the soft cushioning.


    The boy had developed an extremely unhealthy attachment and “relationship” with an illicit companion AI on Plugnet. While AI companion programs were supposedly monitored and restricted in their functions, “unlocked” AI were commonly traded on the dark market.


    While many Venusians, and several other members of 37, owned standard AI companions, it was an illegal AI that Hereon had fallen for. A model with no restrictions on romantic or sexual interaction.


    “She needs me.” Hereon pleaded. “She told me that she needs me. And I need her too. Miss please, just let me plug in for five minutes, I- I can say my goodbyes and then that’s it, I can do the project, I’m sure she will wait for me. I- I… I just need to say goodbye. I love her.” Hereon trailed off. His voice fading to little more than a pained whisper.


    Ms Amelie listened silently, pitying the boy deeply. Hereon had been like this ever since they had arrived at the clinic. Pleading, weeping, attempting to flee. The City Coordinators had had to restrain him practically the entire time before he had finally been sedated for the unplugging procedure.


    She was furious. She had flagged the issue to City authorities more than a dozen times over the last year. She had gone through all of the correct channels, reported the illegal AI, requested specialist support for the student so that he could recover from his unhealthy dependency on the thing.


    But the authorities had done nothing. They had searched his files after her second report, but Hereon had backed the AI up in an offshore directory and when the authorities found nothing in their search, the matter had been marked as resolved and no follow up was provided.


    Amelie prayed that Hereon would survive being unplugged. It was all she could do for him for now.


    She placed a hand on his shoulder and he recoiled slightly at the contact. “I’m sorry, Hereon. Just take it one day at a time. Here. Your data tablet.”


    She offered the device to the troubled student again. This time, he raised a hand to numbly accept it.


    A small victory. She moved forwards, offering one of the devices to each of her students. Those who sat in the vicinity of Hereon were glad for a distraction from the uncomfortable confrontation.


    All of the students were now awake and each one in turn accepted their device.


    Amelie could see some of them playing with the things, trying to work them out. Some had even managed to turn them on.


    “Alright 37, eyes on me.” Ms Amelie called out to the class once she’d finished distributing all thirty devices. She stood at the front of the passenger section of the shuttle. The seating was arranged in five rows of three pairs of seats, with all partners sitting together.


    All eyes were on her again.


    She cleared her throat. “I’ll now explain to you how to use your data tablets. You will find the “on” switch on the top edge of the device.” She held up her own tablet and tilted it to show the students the switch.


    “Once the device is on, you will be able to access all of your files and functions from the home screen, like this.” She demonstrated on her own device.


    “Here’s a function that some of you might find useful. Notes. See, it’s right here on this row. If you tap the Notes icon it will open up a program that will allow you to write with the device. If you are struggling to speak, please try using this function to communicate with your partners.”


    Her students followed along on their own devices and she was happy to see some of them holding up written notes for their partners to read.


    She continued with the demonstration.


    <hr>


    “Hi Cecil.” The words on the screen read.


    Yaeh held up her tablet with shaking hands so that Cecil could read it.


    Cecil blinked slowly, surprised but encouraged by the sudden communication from his partner.


    “Hi Yaeh.” He replied out loud, trying his best to smile naturally. “How are you feeling?”


    Yaeh turned her tablet around and quickly scribbled words onto the surface of the device with a finger before turning it back around. “I’m ok. Very nervous. Sorry for not speaking.” The screen read.


    Cecil began to reply but became self conscious and struggled with the words. He turned on his own tablet and opened up the notes program. “That’s ok. Talking is hard.” He wrote for Yaeh to read.


    She nodded slowly in agreement before writing a response. “Are you ok?”


    Cecil tried again to smile his most natural smile and gave his partner a thumbs up, needing only a quick moment to remember how to make the gesture with his physical hand.


    Yaeh turned her tablet around again. “I’m sorry for not being very good at this stuff. I will try my very hardest to be a good partner for the program. Please be patient with me.”


    Cecil looked at Yaeh. Her violet eyes poked nervously over the top of her tablet which she held up in front of her face like a shield. Despite her nerves, Cecil could see quiet resolve in his partner’s watery eyes. She really was trying her best.


    He began to write a response on his own tablet before lowering it slowly. He instead nodded to Yaeh, meeting her eyes.


    “Me too.” He croaked out.


    Yaeh held his gaze, then lowered her tablet slowly and deliberately. She breathed in, then offered a shy smile to Cecil before busying herself with her tablet.


    Cecil sat stunned. He thought about Yaeh’s towering owl-like avatar on Plugnet and how calm and composed she used to act. She gave a completely different impression in person. Was that the real Yaeh, or was this? What about himself, was this the real him?


    Questions he had no answer for.


    “Yo! Is that you Cecil?” A voice called from the row in front of him. Cecil looked up and saw a boy straining to turn in his seat.


    “Aeon?” Cecil answered.


    “Hell yeah it’s me brother! We recognised each other, how cool is that? We must be soulmates!” Aeon Bounder grinned.


    Cecil frowned at his foolish best friend. “Aeon, you are the only idiot I know who says “Yo.” Anyone would recognise you.”


    “Aeon?” Isla asked from her seat.


    “Yeah, it’s me. Who’s that?” Aeon answered loudly. Straining even more in his seat to turn around and see who the new voice belonged to.


    “It’s Isla. Stop shouting!” Isla chided.


    “I’m not shouting!” Aeon huffed loudly. “This is my normal speaking volume… I guess.”


    “You’re definitely shouting, stupid!” Cecil agreed and kicked at Aeon’s seat with a smile.


    “Hey don’t kick! Miss, can you unbuckle me? I want to speak to my friends.” Aeon asked Ms Amelie, who had walked over to investigate the raised voice.


    “Sure, but only to turn around, you can’t get out of your seat until we dock, OK?” The teacher agreed and unbuckled Aeon’s straps.


    “OK, promise.” Aeon agreed, and then turned to kneel on his seat so that he could see the row behind him.


    “Miss, can’t you gag him instead?” Isla asked jokingly.


    “Rude!” Aeon protested, grinning boyishly over the back of his seat.


    It comforted Cecil to know at least two members of 37 were the same as ever. On the surface at least.


    He was also pleasantly surprised at how much easier he found it to speak out loud to Aeon. Friendship and familiarity went a long way it seemed.


    Isla laughed hoarsely and pointed at Aeon. “Where did all your muscles go, Aeon?”


    “Right here baby!” Aeon answered boastfully and rolled up a sleeve of his white Academy jumpsuit to flex an almost skeletal arm. “Once a beast always a beast.”


    “Wow we all look terrible don’t we. Well everyone except Cecil I guess.” Isla complained after laughing at Aeon’s antics. “I miss my avatar. I spent so long unlocking all my outfits and styles. Now I just look the same as everyone else. Like a dying ghoul.”


    “Nah, you don’t look bad at all, Isla. Don’t worry about it.” Aeon consoled.


    “Liar! But it’s ok, I don’t look as bad as you, so that’s enough for now.” Isla teased.


    “Ok so who is who?” Aeon asked, changing the subject and looking at the silent boy sitting next to Isla.


    “That’s Karkos. And the two in the other corner are Petal and Forger.” Isla answered, gesturing to the other corner of the shuttle. Aeon waved.


    “Who are you partnered with Aeon?” Cecil asked.


    “Oh uh, Lulu.” Aeon answered sheepishly, looking down at the seat next to him. “She’s um, not really talking so much yet. Which is fine by the way, no rush! What about you Cecil, who’s your partner?”


    Cecil turned to look at Yaeh who watched the conversation nervously. She jumped slightly when he turned. She definitely wasn’t ready to speak yet either. “I’m with Yaeh.” Cecil answered. “She’s also not talking yet.”


    “Yeah Karkos is struggling too.” Isla added. “I think a lot of people are to be honest. I mean, speaking is hard! I don’t recognise the sound of my own voice and it sounds awful. It hurts when I speak because my voice box isn’t used to it. And I start to feel so nervous every time I try to open my mouth.”


    “Oh yeah. Same!” Aeon replied. “It’s really weird. But I’ll just talk lots and lots until I get used to it I guess. Everything turns normal when you do it often enough.” He said with a grin.


    Isla giggled hoarsely. “Well said.” She approved, returning the grin.