[ WP ] Humans now have mental interfaces that act as personal assistants but yours went silent a week ago .

The office looks empty without the constant bombardment of alerts flashing before my eyes. It's so easy to actually work without the massive influx of information that used to buzz past my eyelids. 
 
 A knock sounds on my door. The noise is incredibly loud without anything to distract me from it. I ca n't help but startle guiltily. It's been a week, and I'm still paranoid someone will find out. `` Come in,'' I say when my heart has calmed down a little. 
 
 `` Hey Lexi,'' Ted says, poking his head through the door. `` I asked if you wanted to come out for drinks after work, but you are n't responding to the notification on the Gear.'' 
 
 I give him my best attempt at a smile. `` Yeah, I'm just... Trying a new interface. It's taking me time to get used to it.'' 
 
 He nods, looking a little less worried now. `` Good. So, you up?'' 
 
 `` Do n't think so,'' I say, adding, `` I'm feeling a little sick, actually.'' 
 
 It's a barefaced lie but he accepts it without question, just as the I of a week ago would have. God, I ca n't believe how blind I was. I find myself actually looking at peoples' faces, reading their emotional cues from their expressions rather than what the Gear predicts. 
 
 After work I head down to the small creek I used to play in with my younger brother when we were kids. I did n't move far away from my parents, so it's only a few minutes of extra drive. It's beautiful. Sunlight arcs through the leaves of the tall, tall trees surrounding the pond, casting ethereal, moving shapes that ebb and flow in the rhythm of the waves. It feels like I'm seeing it for the first time. 
 
 I sit myself down at the water's edge, exactly where I was a week ago, when I decided I was going to walk into the glimmering pool and never come back out. 
 
 `` Hey, Phil,'' I say. It's still so odd not to get a response. He'd been sharing space in my head ever since I hit puberty and got my implant. `` I've been good. Um. I really do n't know what to say. It's not the same with you gone, but it- it feels more real, in a way. Real in the way life used to be before I met you. I miss you, I wo n't lie, but at the same time, I- I'm glad. It's horrible, is n't it? But I ca n't help it.'' 
 
 My eyes are burning, so I wipe them. 
 
 `` I do n't know what happened to you, but I... I hope you're in a better place. I know I am.'' 
 
 I leave a small, sunbleached pebble near the shore when I leave. 
 
 I still do n't know whether I want him to come back.
