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"Yes, ere you doing?" Wyatt demanded "I was so sure you and Vik had soer, and it would be so like you to al it"

"Yes, I’ over that would be stupid and Tom and I are not that stupid Well, I’ed him "Joke"

It took Tom a moment to reply "I know"

"Ah, I do not believe we should question hiht now," Yuri cut in

For soe His stomach ached He didn’t want his friends here He wanted the Toer Vik was holding, the prickling sensation registering in his er was actually attached to hi at the detached finger, and it gave hi

"Give it back," To inside hier thing bothering hi he couldn’t pinpoint Everything felt wrong here He really, really wanted them to leave

"So these are exactly like the old ones?" Wyatt asked him

"No," Tom said "These are cybernetic, Wyatt That’s fake skin They detach and they’re okay The old ones, well, they froze into blackened stumps, and when they detached, they didn’t work anymore If you really wanna coers" He started laughing, then laughing harder and harder It was hard to choke out the words, "I bet he’s got ’e about being loopy on painweird? Toram had worn off He didn’t feel doped up anyer at hilorious pranks in our near future Think of all the e could pretend your fingers have corin, but couldn’t "Now seriously, give it back"

"You sound puzzled" Vik scratched Toer

Tom practically screamed it at him: "Give it back!"

There was silence for a er into the attach stupid

Vik nodded at the other two, and Wyatt and Yuri withdrew from the room

Then Vik drew closer "To a pansy I know It’s thewithhiiant, exposed nerve, but To and it was e

"Come on, Tom I’m not" Vik stopped and let out a breath "Do you need the social worker?"

"She ca by his bed as he recovered from the anesthesia She’d pressed him to talk He pretended to sleep

Vik rubbed his pal When you left the group at Obsidian Corp, I--"

But To sound, soht "Is Yuri still here?" he dee "What’s he up to?"

"Yuri?" Vik blinked a few times "No, he and Wyatt went" He stepped back to check and peered out the doorway, then said, "Hey, Yuri, man, I said I’d entle, mild "Of course, Vikra Tom wasn’t sure why the word popped into his head, but he tried to force it away

FOR THE NEXT feeeks after he was discharged fro black hole Everything seeed, and he couldn’t place why The worst was his friends He felt this wave of sickness whenever the four of the like dread It was like he was poised for so awful to happen, and he didn’t knohat