[ WP ] After regaining consciousness , you look around to see a bunch of astonished faces . You then realize that you do n't have a body and live in a computer with sensory input

# Severed 
 
 & nbsp; 
 
 “ Wheuu— Where am I? ” 
 
 “ Relax, Pedro, ” said a voice. “ Pedro, can you hear me? ” 
 
 An empty blackness became a half-lit warehouse. Everything seemed to be a shade of blue. The woman ’ s face before him smiled, though she looked sad. “ Emily? ” His voice sounded strange and disconnected, like he was speaking through a long tube. 
 
 She smiled. “ Hello, my dear, ” she said, a tear cascading down her cheek. She sat in a chair and stared at him. A keyboard between them. 
 
 “ Wheau— What happened? ” 
 
 She burst into tears and threw herself onto the desk covering her eyes with her arms. 
 
 “ It ’ s okay, ” he said reaching out to her, “ I ’ m fi— ” He couldn ’ t move his arms. He couldn ’ t feel *anything*. “ What the...? ” 
 
 She sobbed in her arms and then drew herself back revealing a wet face. A moan faded as she stared at him. 
 
 He tried again. “ Why can ’ t I move? ” 
 
 She looked like she was going to be sick. Pedro viewed her with incredibly clear sight. Her skin was wan and her lips had drooped into an ugly curl. 
 
 “ What ’ s happened? ” 
 
 She bit her bottom lip and quivered. Words were on her tongue and stuck. “ You— ” she closed her eyes and a wisp of lamentation sang from her throat. 
 
 “ Stop crying. ” 
 
 Emily perked up. Took a deep breath. “ You were in an accident. ” 
 
 *Accident*, he thought. Several definitions of the word ran through his mind. *Misfortune, mistake, calamity, mishap, disaster, catastrophe, crash, injury. * 
 
 “ Is everyone okay? ” 
 
 She clenched her jaw and vomited out the words. “ The storm, Pedro, don ’ t you remember the storm? ” 
 
 “... ” 
 
 “ You went outside in the storm! ” 
 
 There was a record of many storms starting with one which occurred on the day of his birth. *Surely she meant a more recent event*. He thought hard. It was very easy to think at that moment, he found. 
 
 Hurricane winds! *Yes, that ’ s the one. * A violent tempest. The air had turned to water, and the winds, they rattled the corrugated iron roof. The dog, it had been barking— 
 
 “ What happened to Lobster? ” 
 
 Emily shook her head. “ He ’ s fine, ” she said and a dog snapped a gruff little bark. 
 
 “ Lobster, ” Pedro called and tried to look around for the pup. Something prevented a turning of the head. “ Lobster... ” 
 
 “ Lobster, ” Emily called. A little curl-tailed pug trotted along and propped up his paws on to Emily ’ s lap. 
 
 “ Lobster! ” Pedro called to him. But the dog didn ’ t respond. The pug stared at Emily, his little ringlet of whiptail wagging back and forth. “ Lobster, ” he said again, and the dog looked around at the sound of his name before snapping his attention back to Emily. “ What ’ s wrong with him? ” 
 
 She sighed. “ You were in an accident, ” she said again. 
 
 *Misfortune, mistake, calamity, mishap, disaster, catastrophe, crash, injury. * 
 
 “ Did I make a mistake? ” 
 
 “ No! ” she snapped. “ You were— ” 
 
 “ Lobster! ” 
 
 “ —decapitated. ” 
 
 “ Here boy— what? ” 
 
 “ The wind... The iron blew off the roof and sliced— “ 
 
 “ Lobster! ” 
 
 “ Pedro! ” 
 
 “ What? ” Emily looked upset. *Upset*, he thought. *Unhappy, sad, bothered, agitated, distressed, annoyed, irritable, angry—* “ Are you unhappy? ” 
 
 She threw her arms in the air. Lobster took a jump back and landed on all fours, staring upwards, inquisitive. “ I can ’ t, ” she cried. “ I just can ’ t! ” She stood and leaned in beside the computer monitor. The sound of her kissing something. She pulled wires from something he couldn ’ t see. Peripheral vision was very clear but not very wide. She pulled a wire with a tug. Suddenly Pedro couldn ’ t hear anything. 
 
 “ Emily? ” he said, but he couldn ’ t hear. 
 
 She stared at him and mouthed two words, *I ’ m sorry*. 
 
 She pulled another wire— 
 
 And Pedro knew no more. 
 

