He despises the tubes.
Their linear necessity
he has often questioned
during the rest capacity mode
when the pain is the greatest.

He is suspect.

Trust is programmed out
during the early schedules
yet the brain storage spacer
is never filled.
The feeling compares
to a denial tech pic scraping
the enamel mouth cavity spikes.

He rips the tubes from the neck insert.
There is a rush for air
which his lungs can barely accept.
For a few moments
he lurches and grasps;
then steadies.

Already the computer confirms
its earlier suspicions
and has dispatched
a repairman.
It also orders the addition
of a brain splice monitor
complete with 4th rate reclassification.

– R. Gerry Fabian