“Gina, are you ready for your appointment?” The nurse said as she was eyeing me from across the nim.

“Umm, yes,” I said, not so convincingly.

“Right this way,” the nurse said with a smile on her face.

She led me to the seventh nim, oddly enough gave me more reassurance that this procedure was going to go well because seven was my lucky number. I was waiting for 15 milimines in the nim, all I could think about was all the worst possible outcomes: I could stay blind: I could lose one of my other senses: or I could get taken over by this tiny chip. The last possibility seemed too far fetched to even happen but still. The doctor finally walked in and stopped my thinking of all the bad things that could happen.  He talked me through the procedure, this did not calm me at all. As a matter of a fact it made me more nervous and more bad outcomes came blasting into my brain.

I got dressed in a gown and layed down on the poli. It was cold, I started to think about how cold I was instead of all the bad things that could happen. The nurses were taking me to the nim where they were going to do the operation. The whole way there I just saw all the lights on the ret; I started wondering when I came out the surgery if I could actually see them instead of seeing light figures. I was in the middle of thinking about all the things I would be able to see when a nurse started talking to me. She asked me if I was ready. I didn’t know how to respond to that. I nodded my head and smiled. My smile didn’t feel convincing though.

As the anesthesiologist was putting me under, she whispered in my ear, “Everything is going to be fine, just relax.”

I woke up back in my nim, my eyes had bandages on them. I was anxious to see if I had my sight back again. I wanted to see what I looked like, what my family looks like. I didn’t know how I would react to seeing all of these things.

It had been a couple days, I waited to see if I had my sight back. I had an appointment at 3pm so they can take off the bandages and check my eyes. Hopefully I will be able to see. Minutes suddenly turned into hours as I waited. I was getting really impatient and anxious that I almost took the bandages off myself.

The nurse calls me in, she takes me to the nim where the doctor is waiting for me. He carefully removes the bandages but I keep my eyes closed because I’m scared. What if the chip didn’t work? What if I had to get it removed by having another surgery? I was so worried. The doctor told me to open my eyes. I opened them slowly, the lights were really bright, so I closed my eyes. I saw the doctors face in that brief second that my eye was open. I didn’t know if I got my sight back or if I was imagining things. I open them again, I wasn’t imagining it, I really did see his face, really clear and not just a figure of a person.

After I left the doctors office, I went out on the street. I saw all the different colored leaves and buildings—It all seemed so unreal. I came home and I walked in to seeing all my family, I haven’t seen them since I was younger, they have all changed so much. The only person I never saw was my sister, she was born after I went blind. I saw her, she was standing next to mom. She looked at me smiling—it was the most prettiest smile I had ever seen. She was so beautiful, I wonder if we looked similar. Her and I always used to do everything together when we were younger. My favorite memory was when we used to go to my room late at night and go under a blanket and she would read me stories. We would never get through a story because she would always make jokes on every page of a book. Those were the best until we got caught by our parents and had to go to sleep.

After I greeted everyone I went to the restnim. I had my eyes closed walking in there, wanting to look at the mirror but scared at the same time. I would count “One, Two, Three” but once I got to three I wouldn’t open my eyes. More like I couldn’t. They were shut and I couldn’t open them. I tried opening them forcefully with my hands but nothing would happen. I started screaming and throwing things. I had involuntary movements. I heard a loud bang and I fell to the floor.

I woke up in the emergency nim. I had a huge headache. They told me I hit my head on the sink. I couldn’t believe it. Slowly I started remembering what had happened. The doctor walked in and I tried opening my eyes. I couldn’t, so I stopped trying. He said I was going to be fine and I could leave by the end of the day.

My mom came to pick me up. The whole car ride home I was thinking, why can’t I open my eyes. I told my mom to take me to my doctor. He could help figure out what’s wrong.

We arrived and the doctor saw us right away. I was sitting in the nim and he started talking to me.

He said, “Try opening your eyes.”

“I can’t.”

“Just try.”

“Okay.”

I tried opening my eyes. Involuntary movements kept happening and I started hitting everything, I even think I hit the doctor. I started screaming. I couldn’t decipher what I was saying.

They started tying me to the poli. I was still moving so much and screaming. I felt a pinch and next thing I knew I was asleep and didn’t feel a thing.

When I woke up I finally got to open my eyes. Nothing started happening this time. I was still in the doctor's office. My sister was beside me. She was holding my hand.

She told me, “Gina, The doctor told me some news.”

“What did they say?”

“They said-“

She got cut off by the doctor walking in. He came to tell me the news. He started walking towards me and told me not worry. He said during my episode I was saying things that caused for concern. Although they couldn’t understand everything I was saying they got out the phrases “get everyone out” and “before it’s too late.” I didn’t know what to think of this. I never thought those words would come out of my mouth.

I starting having another episode. This time I fought back and didn’t start screaming or hitting things. Instead my vision went black and then a screen popped up. It had pictures of earth and another planet.

It said, “The Mission: Save everybody. People on my planet are coming to kill. They will spare no one.”

I didn’t know if this was a messed up joke or if it was real.

The doctor asked me, “What did you just say?”

“A screen showed up and blocked my vision and that’s what it said.”

“Gina, that sounds crazy,” My sister said.

“I’ve seen this before. It’s a way for your body to get used to the chip,” The doctor said in a very calm voice. “Go home and rest, that’s what your body needs right now.”

I thought it was odd. He seemed so calm, like if this was an everyday thing for him.

I came home and I sat there. Just thinking. I made the decision that I was going to remove the chip. I was about to call the doctor but I started to have another episode. This time I did dial the phone to the doctor and I didn’t start moving uncontrollably. My eyes went to a screen again and it said the same thing but this time I didn’t repeat it, I said the complete opposite. The doctor started yelling at me. As if he was mad at me for seeing the screen. Or maybe he wasn’t mad at me.

He said, “Why did you show that screen? We have to hit these people by surprise. We have to defeat them.”

I replied back in a different language that I had no idea what it was. The doctor said okay and hung up.

I went to go sit down and the screen was still up. A voice started talking to me.

It said, “You need to help me. The people on my planet are coming to kill you all and take over your planet.”

I started to freak out. I didn’t know who or what was talking to me.

“Who are you? Where are you talking to me from?” I started to scream these questions until it calmed me down.

“I’m Bob, i’m from planet Maroon. I am inside your head, I am in the chip. There is no time to keep explaining I need your help now.”

I said, “Okay, okay, let's go save the world.”

To Be Continued.