Free Post-Human Series Books 1-4 by David Simpson Page B

“Craig Emilson,” he began, “ wake up. ”
    As soon as the words were spoken, a heads-up display appeared in Craig’s vision, startling him. His name appeared in the left-hand corner, as well as the time of the day and even the weather report from outside of the facility. He rubbed his eyes to see if he were wearing LED contacts. When he reopened them, the HUD remained.
    “It’s called your mind’s eye, ” the man related. “All post-human’s have one. From there, you can access the Internet, your communications, your magnetic field generation, and your flight system.”
    Craig was momentarily dumbfounded. He stepped back onto one heel before blinking hard. “ My flight systems? ”
    “Yes. You can fly now,” the man replied frankly and emotionlessly. “You can also generate magnetic fields that can both cocoon you and propel you. All of these systems are controlled mentally.”
    “But...how? I mean...how is it possible that I can—”
    “You’ll have to go through the start-up process and tune your nans.”
    “ Nans ?”
    “Yes. I know you are familiar with nanobots, Craig. Like the respirocytes, only much more complex. You now have over 200 different types of nans in your system, and 4.6 million inside you in total, all of which are performing different tasks. Some of them are designed to transgress the blood-brain barrier and form connections to neurons in your brain. Some connect to the visual and aural centers so you can access your mind’s eye, while others connect to the motor control centers so you can control your powers.”
    Craig’s knees began to shake, and he slowly lowered himself onto the cold concrete floor of the room, covering his eyes with his hands. “How do I turn this thing off?” he asked, outwardly calm but quelling a quickly bubbling claustrophobia.
    “Are you not well?”
    “I’m fine. I just want this mind’s eye thing to shut off.” He felt as though he were drowning in technology that he didn’t want.
    “I’m sorry, Craig, but once the start-up has been initiated, you’re going to have to go through the set-up process. Only you will be able to shut it off once you’ve gained control over your mind’s eye.”
    “How long is that going to take?” Craig asked impatiently, suddenly pulling his hands from his eyes and looking up at the man. The man immediately turned away, but in the moment before he did so, Craig had caught him staring down at him in a way that was so unsettling that it caused Craig to forget his annoyance with the mind’s eye and get to his feet. Something wasn’t right about the man.
    “Who are you?” Craig asked.
    “No one you know,” the man replied, continuing his custom of avoiding eye contact.
    “Who are you?” Craig demanded. “What’s your name?”
    The man smiled. “Would you believe I don’t have one?”
    Craig could feel the hair on his arms and the back of his neck standing. If anyone else had answered the question the way the man had, Craig would’ve thought they were being coy or straight-up smart-mouthed. But there was something so unsettling and wrong about the figure before him that he knew his answer had been the truth. The man had no name .
    “I used to have one—or at least I thought I did. However, it turned out that I didn’t.” The man smiled again, still not looking at Craig, instead looking away in the direction of the wall.
    Craig was sure the man was retrieving some sort of memory—something that haunted him.
    “You intrigue me, Craig,” the man said, turning to Craig as he did so and finally allowing their eyes to meet. There was still something wrong—something off-center, almost as though the man had two lazy eyes. “Like you,” he continued, “I have recently arrived here in this reality. Like you, I thought I had an altogether different life. And like you, I had to accept that it is gone.”
    “You...” Craig began, a horrifying realization suddenly upon him. “You aren’t human, are