"It was complicated," Shimmer says, as she puts the braces up against Rita's temple and gets to work starting up the machine. "But, the gist of it was that when the Summer Court blew up A2, I took the place of one of the dead Gammas."
She says it very casually as she works. The mechanical arms start to move and start pulling apart Rita's implant. It feels like pressure, like the beginning of a tension headache that starts in the neck, but it isn't outright pain.
"The hull was breached in a few places, so Gild and I entered the premises, hoping to extricate her brother while we had the chance. Unfortunately, the Mother reacted too quickly. We had to retreat, and instead of going for him, I got Gild to burn my neck and back and pretended that I'd been caught in the blast. They found me and brought me in for repairs. With the onboard memory destroyed, they had to take my word for it. I already looked the part, anyway."
Meanwhile, Rita's implant has been fully opened up. Shimmer reaches in with the tweezers and pulls out the chip, carefully replacing it with the one she took out of the Beta.
no subject
She says it very casually as she works. The mechanical arms start to move and start pulling apart Rita's implant. It feels like pressure, like the beginning of a tension headache that starts in the neck, but it isn't outright pain.
"The hull was breached in a few places, so Gild and I entered the premises, hoping to extricate her brother while we had the chance. Unfortunately, the Mother reacted too quickly. We had to retreat, and instead of going for him, I got Gild to burn my neck and back and pretended that I'd been caught in the blast. They found me and brought me in for repairs. With the onboard memory destroyed, they had to take my word for it. I already looked the part, anyway."
Meanwhile, Rita's implant has been fully opened up. Shimmer reaches in with the tweezers and pulls out the chip, carefully replacing it with the one she took out of the Beta.
"We all look practically the same, you know."