"Probably a smart move." 

December looks at Z with renewed interest. 

"So, yeah. I have a piece of important information for you."

"...yeah?"

He leans in a little.

"Collar's not for show, and while I may be a sub, I'm also a sadist."

"–ooh. So you'd be into keeping the anesthetic off sometime?"

He touches the side of his neck.

"Whose collar?"

"- you haven't guessed? You're the Staunen, tell me when you figure it out." 

She runs a hand through her hair, and smiles. 

"But getting back to the point - I wouldn't mind keeping the anesthetic off, no." 

He glances at the door that Avalon just left through and grins.

"Sounds like it'd be fun, sometime. Maybe not for this, though. I don't think I've got the kinda self-control it takes to be still enough for brain surgery."

"Surprisingly, the brain's actually often operated on without general anesthetic. The brain itself doesn't contain any pain nerves - why would it have to? It's got layers and layers of skull and flesh atop it. And then the brain itself is delicate enough that if you have to operate on it, the first sign of something going wrong is likely to be impaired cognitive function - which is best tested by being able to talk to the person whose brain you're fucking with." 

She halfsmiles. "Of course, in the land of the sane that still means you get local for all the layers of bone and flesh between the brain and the outside world."

"This sounds amazing but can I still tap out if it turns out I can't deal? Like, I've broken my arm before and that was fine, but obviously I haven't ever..."

He waves his free hand around his head.

"Mm. Might not be the best to start with, then - anesthesia is a delicate business, and not something to do in a rush in the middle of a procedure..."

She taps her chin. "... though I do know of cases where surgeons have had their patients only awake for the delicate middle bit. I suppose I could adapt that, though... Mmh. I'm not sure I'd really appreciate having to cut through your skull while you're still conscious. That strikes me as possibly outside my own tolerances, and I need to be conservative there. It's fine for you, you can just get knocked out, but if I have to tap out I'm stuck having to reverse everything I've done so far. That or let you die, which is generally frowned upon in doctory circles." 

She sighs. " - It'll probably come down to the install details. Where do you need it implanted, and where should the access jack go?"

"Yeah. I've got time to work up to...skull-cutting. That's pretty intense. And if it's not fun for you that just sucks."

He considers implantation for a minute, then taps a spot just under and behind his ear.

"Jack goes here...the thing itself can basically wire into the brain stem."

"Splice looks simple enough..." 

She looks from the device to Kai-Zi and back. 

"... Honestly, do you want a whole operation, or would you like me to cheat so you can get to food faster?" 

"...what does 'cheating' look like, here?"

"Purpose-built surgical teleporter. Still risky and disorienting, but faster. Takes some skill to use, but..." 

She gestures to herself. "Medical Genius."

“—that’s amazing.”

"- Don't go trying to build one of these yourself, now. You've got to be at least two-thirds as awesome as me before this kind of thing'll work for you instead of giving you new and exciting ways to fuck yourself up." 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m not. Got enough of those already, and they leave marks. This is like...”

 “...kinda like it didn’t even happen—”

That’s a weird thing to be concerned about! Why doesn’t he think about something else!

“What does it feel like?”

"I honestly have no idea. I've never installed a mod quite like this before."

"I'm kinda weighing up not having to do surgery and having the scar. But I'm pretty sure a sane person would go with the first one."

December grins.

“Good thing you’re not in the land of the sane any longer, hey? I can give you a mark to remember it by if you like.”

"–that option! I pick that!"

“Something specific, or should I surprise you?”

"I like surprises. Long as it's aesthetic."

“Did you really think I’d give you an unaesthetic scar? Come on now, be reasonable.”