The Human Pet: A Sci-Fi Romance

Part 32

Kayla

Rigel tells us about a translator chip, placing it on his desk for us to examine. So, while Tarak goes to read about it on the wall, I pick up the tiny translator, holding it in the palm of my hand.

Just the idea of implanting this into my brain brings up a memory of a human anatomy lecture. That professor had projected the magnified image of a human brain for the class and with the bright red dot of a laser pointer, pointed out Broca's area.

My professor presented us with a scenario. "Imagine a patient has a lesion to Broca's area of the brain. What would that patient say...?"

Nervous laughter had rippled through the class. We knew what a lesion to Broca's area, a part of the brain responsible for spoken language, would mean. That person would most likely lose the ability to speak and be unable to participate in conversation forever.

I had laughed out of fear. Learning about these types of scenarios always had me imagining it happening to me or a loved one and that's what scared me most of all.

Seeing this translator chip reinvigorates my fear. I could lose the ability to speak or one small slip into Wernicke's area and I might never understand speech. How well do scourges understand human anatomy and physiology? They might not know where to put the chip in my brain and paralyze me. Then there is sedation; too much would slow my respiration and I might never wake up.

There are so many ways this could go wrong.

As I look at the tiny translator in my cupped palm, a thought pops into my mind. Scourges like to put numbers on products. Would they do that for a translator chip? I go to the wall with words in my language. I tell the wall computer to enlarge an image of this medical device. The wall computer complies.

"Larger," I say, repeating the command several times until I see what I imagined might be possible. The enlarged picture shows that this translator chip also has a number, meaning its movement can also be tracked, just like the berries, sutures, and bandages.

So, if I get this chip implanted and put the product number into my program, it will mean I could be tracked. That offers so many options, like if I discover where the illegal lobotomies are happening, then I could lead others to the location. What a perfect solution, all contained in this tiny chip.

Tarak is bellowing. He stands in front of my wall, waving at me and hollering about how I am not to have this procedure done, listing the risks.

I swallow. Tarak only sees one side of this, which is what I might lose. There is so much to gain, though.

Save the humans. No one else will fight for us. I've been filing so many anonymous reports on Ava's behalf, yet nothing changes on her status update. This offers a solution.

So, while Tarak shouts, I do the only option available to me.

I hold the chip in my cupped hand close to my chest and ring the bell on my collar.