Days had passed since Tre found the woman. It was little surprise to anyone that she was unresponsive considering the state she was in. In addition to her limbs having been removed completely, her breasts, glutes, and most other muscles in her torso had been carved away. There were heavy signs of sexual abuse as well.
Despite all they did to keep it under wraps, word of the woman had gotten out to the rest of the crew of the Beacon of Solace, but there wasn't much talk, as nobody wanted to speculate on what exactly the woman had been through. Beyond regular status checks, nobody would spend much time in her vicinity except for Estrella.
Tre didn't talk to the woman, much. She simply sat at her bedside in a digital coma, consuming content at an incredible rate in order to keep reality at bay. She would even sleep in the chair instead of in her own room just a few doors down. Somewhere between sleep and digital detachment, Tre was brought back to reality with a glass of apple juice pressed into her face. She looked at Takahashi with confusion.
"Aren't you supposed to be the one that gives her that stuff?" Tre asked with a groggy voice.
"Yes," Takahashi responded, "but this isn't for her." The medic pushed the cup into Tre's chest, forcing her to grab it before it spilled. As soon as the beverage was firmly in her grasp, Takahashi moved to the other side of the woman's bed. "I wouldn't mind the help, though," she said.
"Ugh... My head..." Tre gripped her forehead.
"Yeah, you're dehydrated. Funny how that happens."
"I fucking hate apple juice."
"Do you hate it more than having a headache?" Takahashi asked. Tre didn't answer. "There's water over there. Drink or not, I don't really care." Medic Takahashi didn't mind being short when she was working.
Tre rolled her eyes and downed the drink with an exaggerated grimace. Setting the empty glass on the bedside table garnered the side eye from Takahashi, who grabbed it with attitude and placed it in the sink only a few feet away. Tre leaned back into her chair and watched the woman in the bed.
"Has she responded to anything?" Tre asked.
"You would know better than I would. You've been sitting there for nearly three days."
"Yeah but... you know..." Tre pointed to her eyes.
"It would do you well to stretch your legs. Go shoreside, get laid or something," Takahashi said, but received no response. The Medic didn't care to continue the conversation. She completed her inspection of the woman and left the room, leaving them alone again. Despite the large number of distractions that Tre had pulled up across her vision, she still found herself staring at the woman beside her. Tre felt drawn to the woman.
She couldn't help but wonder whether providing aid to her was actually in her best interest, or if she would prefer death considering the state of her body. Tre had trouble trying to comprehend what had happened to her, and how she must be feeling. Was she even aware of anything that was happening?
"It's a little hard to tell past the bandages and tubes, but she's quite a pretty, portable piece of meat, isn't she?"
Shivers ran down Tre's spine as she heard the familiar voice. For a moment, she wasn't sure if the voice was in her head, but when she looked toward the source, she saw her buxom blonde ghost step out of a dark corner, her eyes glowing like a predator from the shadows. Tre let out a heavy sigh as she bowed her head in disappointment. The gorgeous ghost continued.
"I thought you said you preferred real girls so you have something to grab..." Eden approached the bed and leaned forward, observing the woman's limbless, carved body. "This one has no tits or ass to speak of, and very little of anything else."
There was nothing that Tre could do to stop Eden from speaking. Even disabling her BSI completely wouldn't do it as Eden had clearly shown her that it's not possible to completely disable a BSI without having it surgically removed. Whenever Eden appeared, Tre could only wait for her to disappear on her own.
"I remember you not being able to get enough," Eden said. "We'd spend days in bed attached at the lips. I remember you saying you wished you had more hands to feel me with, and a longer tongue to get to more hard-to-reach places. What ever happened to that?"
It wasn't a mystery to Tre, and she knew Eden was aware of exactly what it was that drove them apart. Tre was quite vocal about it, but Eden refused to accept it. Tre rolled her eyes and shook her head, but said nothing. The ghost smirked and stepped closer to her.
"You still look amazing," Eden said. Tre knew it wasn't exactly a compliment, and was able to assume what was coming next. "Of course, you wouldn't have to worry about aging if you joined me."
As she stood too close to Tre's arm, it wasn't actual heat that was radiating from Eden's thighs. It was a highly accurate simulation, the output being directly fed into her spinal column from her BSI. When Eden grabbed her hand and pressed it to the bare skin of her leg, Tre couldn't help but relish the feeling despite it being a massive violation of her bodily autonomy. Though subtle, Eden was hijacking Tre's vision, hearing, her sense of touch, and even influencing her muscles and motor reflexes.
"It's more real than you think." Eden held Tre's hand against her outer thigh. It was the softest thing she had felt in memory. "More real than reality itself." Eden's physical simulation was getting better every time she appeared.
When Tre pulled her hand away, it was only because Eden let her. She pushed herself up from the chair and through Eden as she came to her feet. On her way to the door, Tre avoided looking at Eden only to suddenly find her standing beside the doorway.
"Where's the rush?" She said. "We can start making some new memories. I know you've got time."
Tre continued to ignore her as she walked past.
