@terribleFate — #refresher
There is a problem with my blood. I noticed it after using the ablution trap. The seam around my cranial plate had become damp again. I assumed the stitches were leaking old blood from the operation, so I pressed a cloth against them. The cloth came away lime. Not rust. Lime. I rinsed it beneath the faucet. It remained lime. I checked my reflection in the refresher. Perhaps the lighting was wrong. Perhaps the cloth had been stained beforehand. I pricked my fingertip with a sewing needle. Rust. That made sense. Then something warm crawled out of my audio ducts. ...Read more
Found the seam beneath my hairline. The stitches were not decorative. A fingernail beneath the edge, a careful pull, and my cranial plate came free with a damp little sound. Like opening a lunchbox that had been sealed for far too long. No agony. Only pressure. I stood before the refresher mirror and looked into my own pan. The smell was copper and antiseptic. There are grooves where there should be wrinkles. Someone had cored channels through the folds with impossible care. Black sutures disappear into the remaining tissue. Tiny ivory pegs anchor things that have no business being...Read more