“The Interview”, Book 1, Part 1 of “The Scientist”.

I’ve survived.
Some may even say
I’ve passed.
But I’ve survived.

First came
the endless tests,
the haunting interviews,
the psychological exams.
I survived.

Then came
the everlong days
of study and lecture,
of lecture and study,
of the rare pleasure,
the rare reward,
of experimentation.
I survived.

Then came
the invasive physical exams,
the invasive surgical procedures,
the invasive biological upgrades.
I survived.
Barely.

Then came the waiting,
the waiting, the waiting,
hoping my body would accept it all,
hoping I could accept it all.
I survived.

Then came
the temporary implant,
the temporary link to their tech,
it wasn’t mine yet then,
just on loan with a piece of
silicon and gold.
I survived.

Even better,
then I trained,
I learned and I grew,
I began to understand the songs
of silicon and souls,
of steel and spirits.
Most of me survived.

But then, oh then!
Then came
The Interview.

I cannot describe it to you,
being connected to all those,
those… geniuses,
those madmen,
those scientists!

I can only sing it to you
and hope you understand,
in some small way,
why I did not survive
and yet I speak with you,
why none of me survived,
and yet I am more I,
my me is more me,
and I sing this ode
to my callings
to break the boundaries of knowledge
and seed new Edens.

This is the song of The Interview.
This is the song of a scientist.
This is the song of my awakening.