Rashad was once a specialized marine, controlling drones and an AI firing system to protect his squad from Indian insurgents. Now, he's a lab rat in a Berkeley neurological research facility, where scientists Alejandra and Dr. S test the brain implant they're using to repair the damage a bullet through his skull has caused. Rashad can't feel emotions, make decisions, or process complex conscious thought - but as his doctors train his implant, these brain processes slowly become accessible once more. Rashad experiences PTSD through his implant. He relearns grief and guilt. Insurgents fired upon and killed two of his squad members. Rashad, reacting instinctually, sent his AI firing system after the snipers and chose to kill half a dozen civilians in the process. Horrified by his own actions, he tried to put a bullet through his head and end his own life - but his plan didn't quite proceed as expected. As Alejandra and Dr. S program the implant to provide Rashad access to more of his emotions, he begins to contemplate suicide once more, especially when he realizes they both intend to leave for a different lab in a matter of days and abandon him to his broken mind. Frustrated with their experiments and refusing therapy for his PTSD, Rashad spirals, concerning everyone around him. Finally, Alejandra confesses to a secret element of their experimentation. Throughout the process, they've asked Rashad to pick from colored cards. Alejandra tells him they programmed an aversion for yellow X's into the implant, and despite months of treatment, he's never selected a yellow X from the cards. She tells Rashad she'll do anything to help him. Dismissing the experiment, he storms out of the lab and returns to his brother's house. Rashad finds his pistol and picks it up, prepared to end his own life. But even the thought of holding it makes him sick. He realizes Alejandra has programmed a second aversion into the implant, one that will change his life forever - and perhaps save it, too.