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Ron opened his eyes with a slight difficulty. The light blinded him a little and he had to wink many times before his sight adjusted. The first thing he saw was the white ceiling over his head. Then, he looked around and saw an unfamiliar room that looked like a hospital one. As he looked at himself and saw the robe he was wearing after lifting the blanket, he confirmed his guess.

He sighed and tried to get up. He failed the first time. The second time was better but still ended in failure. On his third try, he got himself up. He felt all of his limbs between weighted down as he moved.

As he reached and opened the corset, he cursed. The thing was empty. There weren't any clothes for him in here. Only the horrible medical robe he had on was available… He sighed and went back to lay down on the bed. He checked around and found the 'call' push. After he activated, it beeped once then glowed for a few seconds.

Moments later, a few nurses and a doctor entered his room with smiles. The doctor went up to him and began to ask him how he was feeling while doing a check-up. The nurses helped him if necessary.

Ron was fine except he was slightly limp.

The doctor reassured him. It was something usual after such procedures. Ron felt less anxious thanks to the man.

After confirming that the kid was alright, they decided to let him go the next morning if nothing changed. Ron agreed since there was nothing that he could do to go against that decision anyways.

He spent the day lazing about, between half-sleep and half-awakening. Without his wirst-com, there wasn't much to do. It was weird how it became a must to have one in his life. Back in the days, when he was a miner, he had none and didn't feel the need for it… He chuckled alone in his room at the thought.

He changed a lot since then.

He got up and decided to go for a small walk. The robe didn't provide much cover so he picked up the blanket and tied it around him as well. He looked funny but he was covered. He proceeded to walk out of his room and strode along the halls of the hospital.

After walking for minutes, he found an open door that led to a balcony. Curious, he went to look inside and found an old man in a wheelchair looking down from the balcony. The old man was bald and as he turned around, Ron saw that his blue eyes seemed hazy. He wondered if the man was blind.

He got the answer an instant later as the old man spoke: "Well, are you trying to frighten a blind man? Who are you?"

Ron hurriedly introduced himself and apologized. It hadn't been his intention to scare an old man… The old man laughed and invited him to stand next to him. Ron had nothing better to do anyways so he walked next to him.

The old man didn't speak and only seemed to look down at the city. Ron's eyes darted from one spot to another without any real reasons. He wondered why the old man remained here if he was blind.

He was quite surprised when the old man asked him: "Are you wondering why a blind man is looking at the city?"

His mouth widened in surprise and he nodded. Then, realizing that the old man couldn't see, he stated with honesty; "Yes"

The old man laughed for a few seconds before he spoke with a smile: "I can no longer see its present, but I can still see its past!"

The old man spread his arms wide and said: "Look, kid! Look how beautiful this world is while you can! Ahahah!"

Ron found the old man's words to be wise. He couldn't help looking at the city landscape differently after hearing him. They stayed here for long minutes, in silence, both appreciating the sight of the same city but from different times, one stuck in the past and the other blocked in the present.

Then, two nurses arrived. One picked the old man, admonishing him. He didn't even care as he laughed like a madman. The other nurse stayed for a moment looking at Ron and asked him: "I hope he didn't do anything weird?"

Ron asked back: "Why would he have?"

She sighed and said: "This old man lost his mind long ago. He is certainly giving us a lot of trouble"

Ron chuckled and said: "Is that so?"

She looked at him as if he was a weirdo and decided to leave after warning him not to stay too long outside.

Ron wondered. Was that old man mad? Or was it everyone else? He didn't think this old man was mad. He was just 'seeing' thing differently now. He sighed with a sad smile on his face as he closed his eyes. Memories of his past flashed past and tears streamed down his cheeks silently.

Then, he opened his eyes once more and slapped his cheeks to motivate himself. He wiped the remains of his tears and looked down on the city with a bright smile.

What he understood from the old man's words…The conclusion he reached…was that he should live in the present while he still had the opportunity to do so. He would have the time to recall the past after he was forced to give up on the present.

He went back to his bedroom after a few hours.

The next morning, he was discharged. They gave him his clothes and wrist-com back and he left the hospital. They also gave him a new modified ID card that stated: "Bio-augmented: 5" upon it.

As he walked back towards the university with a smile, his wrist-com buzzed. He received a message.