7. Control (02:00)

Julia: I’m just—

Nadiye: Yeah, but it’s—

Julia: Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to—

Nadiye: Oh god now we’re talking over each other. Hang on. Let’s start again.

Julia: ok! I was going to say, despite the time slips, I reckon I’m starting to control it. How about you?

Nadiye: Yeah! Or I can a bit. Some days it’s just lined up with whatever’s going on inside my gut, to be honest. If I’m really sick it kinda reacts to me, keeps me in a bit of a bubble. It helps. But days when I’ve got energy, I’ve been playing with it. What’s your control like? Can you activate it at will?

Julia: A couple of times!

Nadiye: I haven’t hacked it yet.

Julia: It’s a bit trial and error; I still need to pin down exactly what I did when it worked. It’s incredible when it does. I’ve been using it to discharge the pressure when it builds up too much.

Nadiye: You mean like, quieten the noise?

Julia: Yeah. Spotting when the rift forms is key. It’s strong enough for me to see clearly now. An elongated raindrop, with two clusters of light in the stretched out top and eight suspended at the bottom.

Nadiye: Mine is a little different, more nebulous.

Julia: Did you try gently pressing on your implant? It helps trigger it.

Nadiye: Really? You can feel it under your skin?

Julia: If I press down with my fingertips midway between my belly button and my pubes. There’s this firmness. A resistance where it should be soft. Can you feel it? Or a tightness? Do you feel anything?