December 21st, 2:30 in the afternoon

  Well, apparently it's the 21st? Looks like I lost a couple days in there. I worked out what the numbers I was seeing were-date at time at least. Good enough for me, but shit. I'm trying really, really hard not to freak out. I just about jumped outa my boots when I saw myself in the mirror. I look like I haven't slept in about a week, my hair's a fucking mess, and, oh yeah

  MY EYES ARE FUCKING BLACK AND BRIGHT FUCKING YELLOW.

  I'll get to how I got here in a sec, but right now I'm trying not to scream.

  Alright.

  All.

  right.............

  I'm in the car. I had the keys, so that feels like a good sign. Can't worry about the eyes. They have a -seam- running down the middle. And I'm not wearing gsses, I can't feel contact lens, but I check just in case and poke myself right in the freaky new eyeball. Beyond smooth. I got the numbers in my vision to go away -somehow- and that's at least helping my head.

  The whites of my eyes are bck. Or does that make them... huh

  'Course, this freaks me the fuck out. Lucky for my ego, the dy was still out cold.

  I have no idea what to do about my eyes, so next thing, obviously. Warm up and check her. She's still breathing. I turned on the car and cranked the heat. And it's nice to finally get a good look at this chick I've been lugging around all this time.

  First things first- check her out. See what I'm dealing with. She's small. Tiny. I can see that there's space between her bulky winter coat and her body- she must be absolutely freezing. I pull off my glove and put my hand to her mouth- still breathing. Good.

  She's pretty, in an artificial sort of way. Full soft lips and eyeshes thick and long enough they can't be natural. Her cheekbones are sharp and she looks skinny. She's got gsses smooshed onto her face, which I take off and set on the dash- thank fuck I didn't drop those. She looks cold. Flushed. I run a hand over her forehead, checking to see if she feels hot or cold and brushing back hair from her face. It's silky soft. She feels normal- cool to the touch from being outside but not cold enough to worry about.

  She has a bite mark over her left eye. I'll worry about that ter.

  When I get her jacket unzipped, though, I see she's got some freaky shit going on too. The skin on her neck is see through. Like clear see through, and I can see all kinds of crazy mechanical shit underneath. And when I turn her head I can see the bones in her spine, fitted in with all kinds of wires and a pink that's way too organic underneath. I thought I was gonna be sick. I tried not to freak out about it too much, and check for a pulse.

  She's warm to the touch. Normal human pulse. Her mechanical parts remind me, and I check my own eyes again. Still freaky. Well, at least I know it's not just me.

  But I don't really know what to do with that. So. I guess I'll just see what happens when she wakes up.

  ~

  She woke up. And yeah I just about pissed myself. I was poking through the back of the car, and suddenly she jerks up. Like jumps straight up in her seat. Her eyes went wide when she saw me and she pulls back against the door of the car. She looks terrified. I don't know why, but that scares me, too.

  I said her name without thinking about it, so I guess some part of me -does- know her. Dr.Jue.

  She asks me questions right away. "Where are my gsses?" I half except her voice to come out sounding buzzy and mechanical, but it's normal. Dry and scratchy, maybe, but human. I'm no help with her question, but she gropes around the dash until she finds the specs. They suit her. Little round ones. Her eyes were normal-big, green, confused. "You remember me?"

  We establish we don't think we know each other, and she seems just as out of it as I am. Only...

  "Just your name. But I think I do know you." Okay, so that might have been a lie. Like, I'm genuinely not sure. I do remember her name. And I feel like I'm drawn to her. But that might just be because she's something else to look at, once you get past the freaky robot neck. I tell her the name she just told me she knew, like a complete idiot. Her nose scrunches up and she shows too much teeth and it's silly- and charming as hell. My head really fucking hurts. I scooch small metal containers around in the trunk of a car, sitting so I don't fall. She gives me this soft little look.

  "It's alright Niko. And you can call me Minna. I think we're a bit beyond formalities. ." It feels good hearing her say that. Her eyes are steady and serious, even as it's hard to look at her, and I start to think I'm at least in good company. But then she grins at me and it makes my stomach flip in a way the almost feels like fear. I know that's crazy, but... "Now, as nice as it is sitting around waiting for the car battery to die, we're going to need to make some choices."

  Minna's smart. She looks around, eyes lighting on things like she's figuring 'em all out at the same time. Then her gaze nds on me, and she must be reading my face too because she starts expining before I say anything. She goes over our food and water supplies, and her pn for rationing them. She seems so put together and that's sure a relief, fuck knows I'm not. She tells me she doesn't remember any more than I do.

  "Should we try to retrace our steps? I mean that's how I found the car." Okay so maybe I just turned around 180 and went. Close enough. Minna shakes her head though.

  "Okay, sure. You woke up before me, can you tell me what was going on then?"

  I tell her about how I was in the middle of nowhere, and how I just turned right around and went back. She asks me a millon little questions about what was going on when I came to, but I can't answer most of them. She figuring everything out, though. That's good, cuz I feel... weird. Dizzy. Like I've had my brain scooped out. She starts sorting out what's in the car. It's actually really helpful, seeing it all id out.

  She -Minna- tells me about the car. It's crazy. The batteries st almost a month. And we have a spare. We've got all kinds of survival gear. It looks like we're fitted out to rough it for a while. She's clearly not thrilled when she realizes we have lots of ammo but no guns, and I consider coming clean about the one I snagged. No, it's too soon. I'm feeling a whole lot better by the end of our little inventory, but Minna's not happy.

  "This is good! We're set for a while. So we can figure out what's going on and get back home-" She cuts me off with this horrified look.

  "That's not an option Niko." Okay that scares me. She notices, and her face goes all sad and apologetic. She walks over, looking all soft. I know she means well as she puts a hand on my arm, but when she moves her arm her neck starts working under the surface I can't help feeling a little sick. "This isn't good. I haven't left Astor is almost seven years." She puts her hand down, her eyes all big- pleading.

  "Well, aside from work, I don't think I've ever left." Minna sighs at me and it really rubs me the wrong way. I didn't mean to do whatever's making her look at me like that.

  "So why did someone pack like we weren't coming back?"