Next to Elise's desk, her human, Jeff, was dosing. She'd gotten him when she was in middle school, and now she was about to head off to college. She was going to miss him, but the dorms didn't allow pets, so he'd be staying at home.
She clicked approve, thinking of all the things she'd have to do before she left next week. The room began to shimmer. Jeff suddenly looked up, no longer dosing. His mistress was sitting in the chair above him. "I'm going to miss you, boy," she said, looking down at him.
=Miss him?= Jeff thought, =where was she going?= Suddenly, something started to stir in his mind...long dormant thoughts. User awareness on the Chronovac had been on...but he'd lost his ability to understand what was going on as the rest of the world had, even if he'd kept his memories.
Meanwhile, Elise looked down at him, blankly...her mind starting to wander.
Suddenly, it hit him like a ton of bricks. "You...turned off the Chronovac," he said...speaking for the first time in half a decade.
Elise looked at him. "What?" She said, having trouble concentrating. "You're talking..." Part of her mind was asking why that was surprising.
"The Chronovac....you...Quick....stop it before it finishes..." he said.
Elise turned back toward the computer, trying to obey, but her fingers were locking up, and she couldn't move them. She looked down. "My clothes are gone..."
Jeff pushed past her, his hind legs starting to grow strong enough to stand. Elise fell out of the chair. He looked at the screen, starting to remember how to read what was on it. But there was no abort option.