Chapter 2: Earpiece – Part 2

"I'm here to help you. I hope this gesture shows you that my help is a geuine offer," Doctor Flint said.

A quiet mumble came out of Rebecca's mouth, "Thank you, I feel like you're the first real person I've talked to in weeks."

Flint gave a wry smile. "I hope you feel a little bit better."

"Do you- hate earpieces? Like me?" Rebecca asked with a hint of hope.

"Well, before we get to that, do you feel like I'm here to help you?" the doctor asked.

Rebecca nodded.

"And could you consider my words for a bit? What I say might sound wrong to you, but I'd appreciate if you'd sit with the thoughts for a bit," the doctor said.

"Of course," Rebecca said.

Flint hunkered down as if to set down a weight. "Let me talk a little about myself. I don't often use an earpiece," the doctor put up a finger to stop Rebecca from speaking. "But I'm not against using them. I can understand that you feel that a person wearing an earpiece is being controlled by the earpiece. I feel that a human is different from a human with an earpiece. However, I'm happy to interact with human with earpieces. They seem- let's say human-like enough to me."

Rebecca considered for a bit. "I don't know. Humans are humans."

"Let me try to explain from a different direction. I believe for most people, life's about balance. A little bit of hanging out with friends, a little bit of thinking about your health, a little bit of falling in love, a little bit of standing up for what's right. In this case, you're standing up for what's right. Genuine discussions are a valuable thing. Taking action to protect genuine discussions, that's valuable. But, there are other things that are valuable. Like not feeling miserable all the time."

Rebecca nodded.

"For some people, there are things they value more than themselves, more than anything else. Something that's worth feeling miserable. Something that's worth abandon everything," Flints eyes drifted off into the distance, but refocused back on Rebecca. "I didn't mean to scare you. That's how some people feel."

Sadly, Rebecca said, "I don't know. I don't care. I just want my parents and friends back. They're there, but I feel like they're gone."

"It's not ideal, but you know? The easiest way to get that back is probably for you to change. You know how I said I view humans as different than humans with earpieces? Perhaps they feel the same. They don't feel like themselves without the earpiece in. It'll be hard to convince all of them. Or," Flint said, shifting in their seat. "Perhaps travel and find a new family. New people that accept you."

"Travel? A new family? What are you talking about?" Rebecca said, incredulous. Rebecca's eyes were red, but she chuckled. "I get it already, you don't need to bring up crazy ideas. If I want my family and friends back, I need to change."

"That's not the only option, Rebecca," Flint cautioned. "You have more options."

"No, I think you're right. I need to change. While I feel like this, before I chicken out, I need to- do this," and Rebecca put her earpiece back in.

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Flint sat quietly, thinking to themselves, as they played with the earpiece in their fingers.

"I supposed that went the way you wanted," they said to the empty room.

There was no response.

Flint put the earpiece in their ear and repeated their statement, "I suppose that went the way you wanted."

Affirmative.

"Well, it didn't feel great for me."

Neutral response.

"I've held up my end of the bargin, what are the coordinates?"

-14.71075, -118.95972, 2.93384

"Thanks."

Flint tooke off the doctor's outfit and instead put on a silver, cropped jacket. They raised a hand to their ear and paused for a second.

"This is speculation, feel free to ignore me, but with such a powerful interface, nobody should reject mental interference. Especially not at such a late age. Perhaps the central controller decided there was a need for someone that's experienced not wearing an interface? Particularly someone that chose to wear a mental interface even though they didn't want to?"

Question rejected.

"Well, that was just a thought."

And Flint pulled out their earpiece.

And walked off.

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