Bridgebuilder

Accidental Overdose

"There are a few rules that are taught to Tsla'o children to ensure that a link is comfortable and as easy as possible for both parties. The first is to keep your eyes closed. Another will be borrowing the audio and visual centers of your brain, so it is important to avoid conflicting inputs." Carbon was running Alex through the basics of how to do a neural link while conscious while they switched the mess from dining room to lounge. "The effects are unpleasant: vertigo, headache, vomiting. Best to avoid them."

Alex finished feeding their empty beverage tubes into the recycler and folded the table and benches up into the wall, clearing room for the couch on the other side of the room. "Oh yeah. It's not the same but I think I know exactly what you mean. When I was a kid, me and some friends cobbled together a couple of broken dive-style VR rigs. Having several games running over each other doesn't work." In his experience, it would give him vertigo, a headache, and make him vomit all at the same time, almost instantly.

"If that means what I think it does, the effect would be very similar. Which brings me to the second item. Do not think about what you are seeing. It is not like a game. It is not your memory, you cannot change what was being looked at, what was being listened to. Relax and let it be shown to you." She folded the couch down, one armrest partially cut off to make room for the Tsla'o food dispenser that had been welded into the corner. "If you are familiar with the practice of meditation, I believe it would be of use in this situation."

"That was actually something we did a lot of in the CPP training. You can't argue with the machine when it's using your brain, and that goes a long way to keeping things peaceful in there while it's happening." Alex double checked the latch on 'his' side of the couch and settled in, threading an arm over the back to keep from floating off.

"That is... good." She visibly shuddered at the thought of a machine accessing her mind, slipping a boot into one of the handhold loops and sitting on her knees, basically eye-to-eye with Alex for once. "The third thing is to breathe through your nose."

"That seems deceptively simple." It also wasn't how he'd practiced breathing during meditation, but he'd cross that bridge when he needed to. If he needed to.

"Some things just are simple." She said, with what looked like a smirk on her muzzle as she pulled the AI interface off her shoulders, setting it aside before she shook her antenna out. "One cannot always count on having good breath."

He laughed at that. "Fair. Anything else I should know?"

Carbon tilted her head forward, antenna flipping over to the front, dangling there in the air in front of her face. The shafts were finger-thick at the base and tapered rapidly, sheathed in keratin the same blue-black color as her fur. The tips were, for lack of a better term, little fluffy balls in a light shade of blue that matched the stripes on her back. "Normally, there are formalities and etiquette that would be considered. Perhaps if you find the experience worth returning to, we will speak of them. Until then, all you must do is follow my instructions."

"Easy enough."

She leaned in and clasped the sides of his head with her antenna, and closed her eyes.

Alex was somewhere between amused at how comical it looked, her face framed by fluffy deely bobbers, and trying not to have to stifle a laugh just before engaging in a deeply personal and socially important experience. The stirring of someone else's presence in his brain was enough to instantly cast both of those thoughts out.

"Eyes, please."

He did as she asked, closing his eyes and clearing his mind as he slowly exhaled through his nose. The prodding resolved into an inquisitive feeling, maybe about his preparedness.