I can't believe it's only been a year or so...... a brief break on hiatus because I made something it got out of hand and I don't know where to put them
Day 20
"Just enough to assist the procedure," Ryan continued, with the professionally friendly smile. The exact one.
"Not too high for discomfort, only for correction. There's an additional tag here."
Where Ryan pointed was a strip of paper, color matching the white on his chin, secured neatly around the band. The metal pressed cold against his wrist as it wrapped around and slid to fit. Leo idly noticed the CS-IV faintly writ into the metal, most likely standing for maybe Correction Shocker, fourth version.
"Okay," he replied. Ryan took another sip from his mug and spoke again. Leo thought the table was still too clinical white even with the cloth.
"You need to wear this during active hours. Taking them off without permission is-"
Ryan smiled that sympathy smile. The one that didn't really leave much room for objection.
"-marked as EB. It's waterproof, so you don't have to worry about washing hands and such."
Okay, Leo thought. Did that mean showers were restricted to personal hour? He absentmindedly scratched at the white strip of sticker on the side of his chin.
"What about sho-"
A shooting prick stabbed through his left wrist with a single beep. Leo winced, startled. He looked up, and Ryan raised the blue-gray remote in his hand to show him.
"Remember, don't touch your tag. If you're experiencing increasing or high discomfort in the skin then you should tell me."
Leo lowered his hand into his lap, feeling slightly embarrassed. That hurt more than he expected.
"Okay."
Ryan spoke again.
"Was that too hard for you? We can adjust if you want. It's currently set at standard strength."
Leo swallowed. Truth be told, he wasn’t completely sure yet about the shocker, a fact he would never say out loud. But it wasn’t like it was unbearable. It was standard strength, after all.
"No, it's fine."
Leo felt he should add something else to that reply, but the pause passed in a flash and Ryan was talking again.
"Let's keep the tag clean, right? You've been doing great with the EB record. Can't lose that."
True, Leo would avoid the black tag if it was possible. He was reminded again of the lingering unpleasantness from the past encounter with Alvin, black-tag. Leo felt Ryan knew him very well, though that wasn't anything special by now.
"Also, the device has tracker and ID embedded, so we have better reach of you. Pretty helpful, so."
Okay, Leo thought. He felt that mild dissatisfaction again, but didn't think much of it.