I lost.That was the first thing that came to my mind the moment I regained consciousness, it was a cold rock in my gut.Shadow had been right all this time and I hadn’t even considered the possibility because I’d been too focused on the here and now without considering the consequences of my actions.“Fuck.” I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spoken the word, it felt alien in my tongue even when I no longer had a neuralink watching writing down everything for later review. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” I thrashed in the hospital bed for half a second, then stopped when my whole body chose to remind me, exactly, just how much of a beating I’d received. “Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!” I added through gritted teeth as my bones screamed, leaving me panting and breathing ragged.It took a minute before one particular thought caught up with me.“Where am I?”I looked around. There wasn’t an answer waiting for me, the room was empty, my arms were plugged into a series of tubes leading to a series of colorful bags. There were several scanners hovering overhead, humming away. But the room was otherwise empty. It didn’t seem like I was a prisoner, I wasn’t tied down, and the door didn’t look all that sturdy, but then again, breathing was like drinking fire, so…So I just laid down and suffered quietly.Or tried to.AP: 144 / 200 (...)