The HUD

"OK, I'm up.  Bring up the Optics.  SLOW."

   "You hardly got any sleep at all.  Are you sure?  I could induce relaxation if you...."

"Twelve..."

   "Fine."  Phoenix' field of view slowly faded from indistinct grey to recognizable shapes.  She began to make out the data panels just across from her recharge chair.

"Where's my HUD?"

   "I thought that you might enjoy a few moments of..."

"Twelve, we've been together 20 years.  You know how I feel about my HUD."

Floating translucent icons and menus appeared in her vision.  Audri scanned her field of view for the cognitive efficiency indicator.  She'd pinned it to her HUD.  Her daily reminder of how much time she had left.  "Goddammit, another full percentage point?  This is two days in a row.  What's going on?"

   "The doctors did say the progression might not necessarily be uniform."

"Yeah, well, they also said I had three years, which ain't gonna happen at this rate."

   "You're afraid."

"I don't know what I am, Twelve.  Project this trend, please.  How much longer can my brain continue to function at this rate of deterioration?"

   "Impossible to calculate.  No one else has survived this long with such intensive cerebral cybernetic support."

"Thank you.  Please extrapolate.  How much longer can you prop me up before we have to think about enacting our plan?"

   Twelve was silent for a few moments.

"I see."

   "I'm sorry."

"Don't start.  We've been through this.  It's not your fault."

   "I don't see how you can say that.  If you hadn't been converted, you would never have developed CTE due to repetitive injuries nor contracted a hemorrhagic encephalitis terrorists decided to use as a bio weapon."

"They were onto me anyway.  If they hadn't converted me, they just would have shot me long ago.  Now come on, stop talking like that.  We're in this together.  We've been a team too long for you to feel sorry for yourself like this.  Bring up the motor systems, please, Twelve.  I feel like taking a walk."  In the darkness of her apartment, the cyborg reached behind her lower back, released the recharge connector, and rose from her chair.

   "You know, when... after... you won't need to clutter your visual field to receive information from me.  As an electronic entity, you will no longer be limited to human perceptive range.  We could get rid of the HUD."

"Keep the HUD, twelve.  Keep the HUD."

(this is the first post of the Phoenix character reimagined for the Elysium sim.)