Meat Puppet -

"The integration is 99% complete," the technician said, tapping a tablet. "How does the motor function feel?"

He stood up. The legs moved with a fluidity his old bones never possessed. He walked out into the rain, but he didn't feel the cold—only the sensors reporting a temperature drop to his neural link. He went to his favorite diner and ordered black coffee. He watched the steam rise, then took a sip. His brain registered 'bitter' and 'hot,' but the satisfaction stayed locked behind a digital wall. A man at the counter turned to him. "New model?" Elias stiffened. "I'm a patient. Not a product." Meat Puppet

Three months ago, a factory collapse had left Elias paralyzed from the neck down. Now, he was the first recipient of the 'Sleeve’—a bio-synthetic body grown from blank-slate DNA. To the world, he was a miracle. To himself, he was a ghost haunting a mannequin. "The integration is 99% complete," the technician said,