“Project Lethologica,” Acrylic breathed.

“My parents owed MegaCorp a debt that couldn’t be repaid on the corporation’s time,” Fetus continued. Her continued monotone was downright spine-chilling. “MegaCorp decided to cash in a ‘fair’ exchange—their minds.”

“Lethologica was a veritably massive and diverse effort, whose daughter programs are still extant and viable at MegaCorp,” Acrylic continued. “The partition to which I, unwillingly, was party dealt with the examination of synthetic components and neuroïntegration into computing. Such experimentation, however, was only the peak of the proverbial iceberg.” He leaned back and sipped from the mug again, taking a deep gulp of its contents. “There existed another component to Lethologica that was…far more sinister in its purview: An organic system, the construction and expansion on which required…harvested materials.”

Fetus broke in with a line that was so absurd, I would’ve laughed were we in any other circumstance.

“They stole my parents’ brains,” she said.