I blinked. My neck ached. I was back in the old world. The real world or was it a prime world?
"Benzhi, you there?" A young man spoke.
"Call me Ben here. Give me a sec." I ordered my robot to get me out of the pod. This was done through my cybernetic implant in my neck. I could move my arms, but barely. They were like spaghetti arms.
"Gan, and my sister is Jia."
"I knew that. Remember I was here for a few days with nothing to do. Is she here yet?"
"No, hope she's okay."
"If she wasn't okay, she'd be here."
"Good point. Unless they're torturing her and keeping her alive." Gan laughed.
A familiar hydraulic swoosh sound accompanied the lid lifting on my pod and before I was seated in my robot wheelchair Sakaala aka Jia joined us.
"Can't believe you left me behind. All on my own," she said.
"Hey," I said.
"Hello to you too," Gan said.
"Barrin is with you," I said. "And Alejo."