Faced with an absolutely dire lack of context, you skim over whatever news you can access.
[
-1] You're not entirely sure how to do that, though. You think that the newslink keeps an inbox sort of thing, and when you read a certain item of news it is immediately wiped from the newslink to make more room and prevent eventual memory overflow. You do not quite recall what the maximum limit was, but you suppose it wasn't too low. Your therapist said that you should regularly check the news, otherwise the newslink's activity might put a damper on your short and intermediate-term memory.
Speaking of memory, it's pretty awful that you don't have any of the few hours presently. You wonder if you can somehow recover them. Thinking about it, you would probably have to say no. Judging by the way your head hurts and the lack of any other symptoms of brain damage normally exhibited, like perception impairment and such, you bet it was probably the netlink acting up. They did tell you to be careful with that thing, since it is directly and permanently hooked up to your delicate brain.
Okay, so... maybe there's a hotline for such a thing? A specialist you could call and talk to, get help for your memory issue and where to go now. You do believe there should be - your therapist even gave you instructions on how to contact it, you remember. Specifically for a situation like this, you believe. Now... what did you have to do to reach it? You recall having to close your eyes, relaxing completely, then thinking a certain combination of words. It was easy to remember: "I am confused, alone and I need help. Somebody help me, please."
"You are not alone, Jasmine," a voice you recognize as your own comes into hearing.
"I can help you. You can help yourself," your voice says calmly.
"What is the problem, dear?""Well," you start to explain to your voice,
"I don't remember what happened to me, I just woke up in a chemical suit, and I'm hurt, and I don't know where I am or how to get back to where I work at." As you speak, your situation seems to hit you fully at last, and you begin to sob.
"I'm confused, I think something's gone wrong with the implant, and I think I may have skipped work on accident, and it was a really important day, you see," you continue, getting into a full-blown weeping session at the end.
"I was going to talk to Ms. Bartolucci, keep her company, make sure she had a pleasant time, and I think I've failed! Why else would I be here?"The voice in your head, sensing your emotional state easily, tries to calm you.
"Shh, don't worry, Jasmine. I'm sure it will be alright. Your newslink has malfunctioned, but don't worry. Only a bit of your memory is gone. You are still the same person you were, and you are still capable of everything you could previously do, and I am sure your employer will care about you no matter what. You just need to know where you are and where you should be. You are currently at the Exemplar Chemical Corporation plant, and you work at... Bartolucci Data Processing, yes?""Yes...""There should be a train tunnel above you. Follow that, the biggest one, along the walkways, and when you see a tall building in the area with the letters FNC on it, you will know that you are close. Bartolucci Data Processing is right next to it. Do you understand?"You suppose you do. Not like the directions are complicated.
"I do understand.""I know you do, Jasmine. You are quite clever and capable, and always have been. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Now stay safe. You know how to reach me if there's trouble."You smile a little as the voice cuts out, leaving you alone with your thoughts. You feel better, you think. It helps to know that there's at least one more you out there, watching out so you don't get lost in the darkness.
You may focus on one item of news per unit of time, obtaining additional information on this subject.
Presently there are no interesting news!
Name: Jasmine Thyme Model 376
Gender: Female
Attributes: heightened senses of taste and smell, increased manual dexterity, improved intellect, unobtrusively good looks, improved interpersonal ability, slight owner fixation, cranial netlink implant.
Skills: skilled chef, proficient at maintenance and repair, proficient at making smalltalk.
State of Mind: agitated due to odd discontinuity between where you were this morning, where you are supposed to be and where you are now, with nothing to really fill in the blanks.
Inventory: bloodied cafeteria lady's uniform (worn), chemical suit (worn).
Notable Physical Abnormalities: branded.
Author
Topic: (SG) Less Than Perfection - now dropped (Read 25873 times)