Alliance: An Intersolar Alien Romance, Book 6

Epilogue

One Week Later

Clarissa gasped. ”There”s a whole other forest and it”s gloomy?!” She clapped her hands together with teenage excitement. ”I wish I could see it!”

”It”s beautiful,” I agreed, not going into detail about exactly why I liked it. Still, my cheeks reddened at the thought of being hunted out in the open. And snuggling. I loved snuggling. Especially in a bed, where we didn”t have to deal with dew and dirt.

“Can I, um.” Safia glanced at me, then Clarissa, abandoning her sister to play with their ships on the floor alone. “Can I touch your silk?”

“Sure.”

Safia sat next to Clarissa, entranced by her long, blonde hair and freckles, and the teen put her arm around the little girl”s shoulder.Safia combed the lengths just like she did for her dad.

”So how do you like it? I know you have memories, but...” Clarissa trailed off, biting her lip.

I hugged a pillow, finding that I constantly missed Fásach”s fur when I needed comfort. He was at the hangar in the mornings, training to join the security team. Clarissa and Marcella sat across from me in our new home unit, a little spread of drinks and snacks out in front of them. I”d been planning all morning, agonizing over their visit. I”d half-expected them to be offput or sad. But when Clarissa gave me a shy wave and Marcella kissed my cheeks, something warm bloomed in my chest instead.

”You shouldn”t ask her such a thing, mia cara,” Marcella tsked, making a little plate of cheeses. I remembered that she liked cheeses, so that”s what I”d put out. She studiously ignored the cheddar slices though.

”It”s okay,” I assured the matriarch, hugging my pillow tighter. ”The memories don”t feel like mine, but I”m so grateful to have them. I understand my originator—I understand Rosy better. The nooks and crannies that were special to her are special to me too. And the people she loved.” I turned to Clarissa then. ”She was really sad to leave you. She didn”t want you involved in her plans, but she wanted to ask you to join her after she”d settled into her new life. You were like a sister to her.”

Clarissa”s lip trembled as she smiled through the grief. I considered playing the one memory I had of Rosy on the factory line, but reviewing the recording made me realize that it was better not to. I loved my originator, but what she”d done to me was disturbing. I didn”t have scars from where the markings on my skin had been removed, but the Roz-01 doll that had been masquerading as her still had three brown spots around her collarbone.

No, it was better for Clarissa to rely on how humans remembered things. A sifting lens that, over time, painted one”s past in a duller, dimmer light. On the stage of Clarissa”s memory, the good times they”d had together could take centerstage while all of Rosy”s mistakes could fade away. It was what Rosy deserved after the unrelenting life she”d led. Rest and love.

Marcella patted my knee. ”I am so excited to get to know you, Roz.”

I nodded my head. ”I would like that. Maybe we could visit after my stem therapies?”

The elderly woman”s eyebrows rose. ”What kind of therapies?”

I pushed my hair behind my ears. Dr Zarabi”s pregnant priya was also a doctor but on leave before the babies were born. She”d agreed to donate one of the umbilical cords to replenish my stem cell count so that they could grow select organs at the clinic. It wouldn”t be long before they arrived. They estimated just a couple of weeks now. It had given me time to observe my parumauxi swarm. They chose my kidneys and bladder, my pancreas, some of my touch receptors... I would start with those and see how it felt to let go of some of my mechanical parts. Then I would stop when the time felt right.

”Oh, just some medical stuff,” I said, playing it off.

Misila and Safia stole Clarissa to look over their homework and give them tips for starting school while Marcella and I discussed updates on Pahadthi 03 in quiet tones. We”d told Vin about Gilladh the day after I woke up, and he arranged for a burial with honors. Because I”d been classified as human and Fásach my spouse, we were immune from detention. It didn”t sit well with either of us, but we hoped to make Gil”s death mean something in the limited ways we could. Fásach wrote everything down, carved a stone for them, and placed it with a piece of dried fish at the bank of the river. Every few days he”d go down to visit, carrying another piece of our dinner down to share.

Before long, the morning was gone. Clarissa had her own lessons to get to, and Marcella needed to review some community requests. We said our goodbyes as Safia and Misila settled into a nap out on the balcony, soaking up the midday sun.

Something tugged at my senses. My LMem fired, a blip in the river of my mind. I stood up straight from the counter, where I was reading through the colony gossip column, looking for little nuggets I might have some Rosy insight into.

Bing.

”There is a visitor at the door,” BEO, the female AI, intoned. She rarely spoke, so when her voice rang softly above the kitchen, I jumped.

Maybe Clarissa forgot something. I glanced at the living room, expecting to find a notebook or bag. Maybe someone forgot their shoes... Did humans usually forget their shoes when they left places?

”Coming!” I called, opening the door without thought.

It slid up to reveal a pair of weathered boots and striking garnet-red skin with patches of pink champagne vitiligo.

I gasped as Imani”s mouth fell open. Her short crown of spires and gold eyes were not what I remembered, but Rosy”s memories of her were so sharp, I”d never mistake her.

”But this is Jennifer Hughes”s unit—” she protested, pulling up her holotab to check the door number.

Something inside me filled up and up, edging out the scream I tried to emit, rooting my feet in place. It happened so quickly that I had no time to react. There was something too much in my skin. A download. I recognized the feeling, and it made my skin pebble. No, no, no...

I latched my hand around Imani”s arm, right over top of her holotab, and the over-fullness siphoned out through my palm.

[Task complete. Updated code dissolving.]

”Hey!” Imani barked, pulling her hand away.

I blinked, my brow creasing. ”Oh...” I said, brushing my palm against my forehead. ”I”m so sorry.”

”What the hell was that?” she yelled, eyes so wide the whites were visible all around her golden stare.

When did she get here?

I wrung my hands together, taking a step back in the doorway. ”Sorry, I just didn”t expect to see you.” I smiled, cowed and uncertain. I stared down at my hands, one of my palms itchy from nerves. ”I think I was scared to meet you because of how Rosy felt.”

Imani sighed, putting her hands on her hips. She waved my apology away with aggravation. ”It was my fault.” She glanced down at her holotab, brushing her forearm with discomfort. ”What are the chances I’d read the unit number wrong and run into you?”

I smiled at her. ”If it makes you feel better, I don”t have that same foreboding sense of doom anymore.”

Imani”s severe expression cracked just a bit as she tapped her index finger against her hip. ”Right, well.” She looked at her holotab again, then at the unit numbers. ”Guess Jennifer Hughes lives over there.”

I thrust out my hand. ”I”m Roz,” I said breathlessly, not wanting her to leave just yet. ”It”s nice to meet you.”

Imani took my hand slowly. ”Imani,” she acquiesced with a subtle smile. When she pulled on her hand, I resisted.

”Rosy was terrified of you, but I think you”re incredible,” I blurted. ”I”m grateful that my originator wasn”t able to do more damage. And thank you. For trying to save her when she died.”

Imani”s fingers slipped through my hand as I let her go. She didn”t smile, but her expression wasn”t so guarded.

”I”ll see you around, Roz,” she said, taking a step back. Then she tacked on, ”And welcome to Renata.”

The door slid shut, blowing my curls back, and I smiled, exhilarated to start living for me.