Mari had been waiting for orders when she heard Kaede struggling to move behind her and remembered that she couldn’t because she was still plugged in. Now, Mari snorted in annoyance, stomping over to her. She reached around the chair and unceremoniously yanked out the lowest plug.
It completely shocked her when Kaede let out a high-pitched whimper and flinched as the plug slid free from the port. Mari had seen sources disconnecting from their machines hundreds of times, and not once had they reacted like that. She paused and frowned, plug still in hand. She thoughtfully rubbed at it with her thumb, trying to puzzle it out.
With slowly-dawning horror, she realized the metal beneath her fingers was slick and sticky. The plug was coated in blood, and the other two were much the same. Kaede’
