Kevlar lungs. Heart laced with titanium alloy. Graphite bones for lubricity. It all sounded good. Who knew how much of it was true; how much, hyperbole.

There were ways of knowing.

What he knew was, he felt pretty good. Lucid. Light. Good to go. Ready to roll.

*

The high, slashing noises of electric guitars, the wail of electronic audio feedback, the rumble of electric bass notes pulsing within a low, steady drumbeat...what appealed to his cyborg sensibilities most about all of it was its forward imperative, its architectural integrity, but first and foremost its quality of occurring in the moment