07
Coming To Terms

Confidential - For Recipient Only

This certificate is intended to ratify the following terms and conditions for the recipient.

1 - The recipient shall not reveal the existence, nor discuss the nuances of the project details presented;
2 - The recipient shall follow all usage directions steadfast without any breaches or misuse;
3 - The recipient respects and therefore observes all the rules of the environment(s) thrust upon him/her, whether voluntarily or otherwise;
4 - The recipient is not to sell, lease, nor transfer the device to a third-party without prior permission;
5 - The recipient is not to allow a third-party to engage in the device’s functionality in any way, with or without knowledge by any party;
6 - The recipient accepts that changes, harm, and all intended or unintended side-effects caused by the usage of the device are permanent and irreversible;
7 - The recipient therefore accepts all side-effects inflicted to all subjects, including the recipient him/herself; and
8 - In the event that the device terminates the life of the recipient, he/she will not enable any mechanism after the incident to pursue legal action or any attempt to receive further amenities than permitted in Employee and Personnel Guideline Sheet Ch. 63, paragraph b, line 8.

I hereby agree to the terms of using the presented Prototype.

Kayla ran her finger over the plated Circle logo inscribed onto the top-left portion of the paper. She sat alone in the guest room, requested solitude from everyone in the living room, who were all busy peeling off foil and grabbing plates. They offered her one for her time inside the bedroom, but she waved her hand at it.

There was a cacophony of voices that raised periodically, usually followed by a brief chuckle or cheer. Kayla looked towards the door, then back at her document.

She remembered the plane, and how the paramedics came in record time. Once in her childhood she had to go through an ambulance when she injured her leg and bleeding so profusely she needed instant medical attention, but even then the EMT didn’t pull up nearly as quickly. They were both given pills to swallow, and patches to be worn as the machines kept them both alive. Their SUV moved as soon as they both were leveled inside the truck, and sped away.

And now her world has been wiped off the face of the Earth. Her mansion’s probably failed to sustain itself once she was away. The people she have never met. The destruction of her knowledge-base on the places around her because no one born in this current one knew what it was like back then.

Her fingers gripped the paper. She reached for her phone in the pocket, and the dialed the numbers back home, but it won’t start one. The tin sat beside her, unopened, unused.

What I wouldn’t give for that ambulance to arrive later.

Kayla placed her finger on the square that replaced the blank where one would normally place a signature. The spot her finger touched turned black. She held the tin in her hand, and flicked the lid upwards. The steel tin swung open to a membrane surrounded and padded by gray foam, with two slots that housed the left and right earpieces situated above the film. She placed the tin on the bed sheets, and took one earpiece in each hand analogous to their position, and placed both in her eyes. 

It felt like her ear canals had entered space, but somehow she could hear the rustling of the leaves outside perfectly. She found herself picking up more of the conversation outside.

“Do you make music? I heard something about a track from you.”

“Heh, I still kinda operate a launchpad.” Kayla made out what sounded like her old friend’s voice. “But of course I don’t have the time to do that anymore.”

Kayla pulled the film out from the right side, and her two fingers gripping it aligned it with her arm as the screen shifted colors, eventually stopping at a shade of blue.

Hello Kayla!
We noticed some personal data that a Circle staff member wants to preserve for you. Keep it?

She pushed her finger on the “Sure” button, and left the room. The table outside stopped mid-sentence to look at the girl treading down the stairs and coming closer to the table.

“Kayla!” The now-decommissioned butler open her flat right hand, as she did to greet many a guest back home, to the two burritos that were left wrapped on a table layered with some five oil sheets and even more scraps and paper wrappers. “We left these for you.”

The rich girl was barely able to contain all the new stimulation and flood of new information as she located a chair before Alex snatched her attention.

“Kevin. Irene.” His own interpretation of the butler hand moved from the shorter brown-haired male to the redhead girl in the mint hoodie next to him. “Two of our old friends.”

Irene held out a fist at her.

“Our little greeting.” It took the girl cracking a smile for Kayla to be comfortable enough to return her own hand to complete the bump. “We’re just watching some dumb film.”

The cube at the front of the table shot an image at the wall. A light-up board was placed next to the burritos and the half-eaten basket of nachos.

“If you had any idea of what we’re doing, let us know.” Kevin’s weak voice yielded a few laughs from the table as he moved the counter three squares ahead.

“Is it my turn?”

“You have been staring at the board and you—“

Another roar of laughter that included Luna giggling in the metaphorical background. Angel pushed the dome in the middle of the board to roll the two dice inside it.

“Ham’s performance could only be described as awful.” Alex popped a corn chip in his mouth as his attention was shared with the board and the movie.

“Background noise, background noise.” 

Kayla was in slight disbelief it was Luna that said that line.