Today was Alf’s first day at the UC Berkeley NASB Program, and he already felt like a lab rat.

Six tons of state-of-the-art brain scan equipment enveloped him, pressing the air from his lungs. High current coils clicked and clacked all around him as he tried to solve linear algebra problems in his head. He’d never considered himself particularly claustrophobic, but this was ridiculous. He was just a student volunteer, not a prisoner. Weren’t there rules about strapping patients down?

He closed his eyes and forced a calming breath. He could do this. He didn’t have a choice. Berkeley had given him a full-ride scholarship. Not only did he get to go to college a year early, but he’d be able to participate in a program with other neurally augmented “super brains.” He’d been a freak all his life. He couldn’t wait to finally fit in with his peers. To actually have peers…

Last night after moving into his dorm room, he’d seen the most beautiful girl walking into the Psych Building. Burnished bronze skin, radiant smile… She was tall and slender and her body was… Crap. He couldn’t go there or his amygdala would light up like the Fourth of July. He had to pull himself together or the research scientists were going to think he had a math fetish.