Chapter 7
If she were a manupartner, he wouldn’t be running late for his meeting with Lextr because he was hovering outside her door, reluctant to leave her alone.
Knock first, she instructed, so he taps on the door before pushing it open and popping his head inside. The lights are dim, having already begun their morning sequence. He can just make out a vaguely humanoid shape within the pile of blankets. “Electra,” he whisper-shouts.
The bedding rustles, and she rolls over to face him, but she’s still asleep.
He steps closer, intending to nudge her awake, when she tugs the covers down and throws a bare leg over a bunched-up blanket.
Only then does he notice she’s wearing one of his T-shirts, which, though oversized on her, has risen so she’s barely decent.
If he touched her, would his fingers leave a brand on her skin the way hers did when she touched his forearm?
It takes him too long to tear his gaze away from her smooth thigh and refocus it on her face.
But the view isn’t any better. Her dark eyes, still lazy with sleep, blink up at him, and a wave of irrational desire barrels through him.
His voice is raspy as he says, “You’re wearing my shirt again.” All at once, his blood rushes south. Unacceptable, he chastises his body, which only somewhat listens. Thankfully, it’s still relatively dark in the room.
She yawns as if she’s completely unaware of the way she’s affecting him. “You didn’t get me any pajamas.”
He shakes off the thoughts crowding his mind, noting with his m-volt, Order Electra Pajamas. “I’m leaving for work. Are you okay?” he asks, like he does every morning before he leaves, though he normally doesn’t get quite the visual.
“Mmmhmm,” she murmurs, stretching, and nestles more deeply into the blankets.
Good enough. He spins on his heel and retreats.
A few minutes later, he’s entering a SAT in the private garage for the penthouse units of his tower.
As the vehicle seals, the exterior door unlocks.
Strips of green lights that encircle the room flash red.
The SAT vibrates faintly as the magnets engage.
Then he’s rushing through the dense air into the depths of the city.
He takes out his device intending to catch up on messages, but the image of her in his bed, with the suggestion of her curves beneath the thin fabric of his T-shirt, gets lodged in his mind.
Was she trying to seduce him? He felt seduced.
She wrote books about people falling in love.
According to DumBot, people during her time had deeply committed relationships called marriages.
The laughable concept of True Love was a prevalent yet misguided societal expectation as well back then.
He almost feels sorry for people who held such archaic, impossible beliefs, but even Jerme was swayed into the trappings of love, and those two were similar enough.
With Electra’s likely outlook, is that what she wanted?
Was she misinterpreting his effort to help her adjust to this world as romantic interest?
Surely not. Still, a buffer would be useful.
Neither Lextr nor Tommy is willing to do it, and getting a manupartner is still a no-go.
He already has too much on his plate, and Electra’s distaste for them could undermine her acclimation.
There’s the body double to consider, but what if it accidentally slips up trying to help her and lets something from one of their conversations slip?
He could give it careful instructions, but she would probably hate it even more than a regular manupartner since it looks like him.
Better that she not know of its existence.
The SAT pulls into the garage, and he waits long minutes for the airlock interchange process.
He continues contemplating the issue as he walks to his office.
Who else would be a good buffer—wait. Why didn’t he think of it before?
He already considered connecting them. But now, when Jerme is back, he can be the buffer.
He already suspects they’ll like each other.
And if they both want a romantic partnership, a human-human one, they’ll have each other!
Initially, he planned to give Jerme a manupartner, but Electra needs someone too.
Despite his efforts to build the company in his brother’s honor, he suspects Jerme wouldn’t like having a manupartner.
Should his theory prove true, he can insert Electra as the easy solution.
He and Electra appear to be mutually attracted to each other.
Therefore, he can deduce that she’ll find his twin equally attractive, and Electra is stunning—not that he noticed.
Well, outside of that first day, and maybe a few other moments here and there—and that disconcerting image of her in his bed this morning.
The point is, Jerme will find her attractive, because who wouldn’t?
Her complaints about his emotional unavailability are another problem easily solved by Jerme.
Upon further consideration, they will be perfect for each other.
It’s really shaping up to be an excellent plan.
He attends his weekly meeting with Lextr, and a few others with various department heads.
By lunchtime, he’s had plenty of time to contemplate the next step in his plan.
He needs to figure out what to do with her in the meantime.
Tommy was right; the questions appeared to help.
She enjoys talking, and they even shared a moment of levity.
Perhaps keeping her stable until his brother is back is within his capacity after all.
He settles in at his desk and logs into his system.
First, he orders Electra the salad with sautéed tofu that she enjoyed a few days ago, setting the delivery time for 13:00, then he orders his own lunch to be delivered to his office.
An unfortunate flash of Electra in his T-shirt reminds him to shoot a quick message over to the personal shopper for more appropriate bedtime attire.
Then it’s time to brainstorm a few outings to take her on.
Maybe even consult DumBot for good measure, since the questions seemed to go over well.
He opens the application.
DumBot, I need to do more research for my novel.
He watches the words populate. DumBot:
I’m here and excited to help make your characters jump off the page! Should I ask you more questions about the female main character, who is not a real person?
He winces, thinking:
I need your help in learning more about her culture. Based on what you know so far, what are some ideas for outings that she might enjoy that would also help acclimatize her to the future? That is, I’m considering making the novel a time travel adventure, he adds quickly. Please update your memory.
DumBot:
What an interesting twist! This novel is already shaping up to be a bestseller! I can help you come up with outing ideas that she might enjoy and also find educational. Here are several options along with clips from source material should you wish to study the subjects’ interactions more closely.
The application spits out a list of options along with citations and links to clips ranging from three to five minutes. Perfect. He clicks on the first one from a documentary called 50 First Outings.
A frumpy-looking man in an egregiously striped shirt approaches a brightly dressed woman sitting at a table in some type of outdoor restaurant.
A plate of pastries sits in front of her.
She appears to be using them to create some sort of building.
The man takes a tiny stick and presses it into the stack, an excellent idea, offering much-needed structure to the pastry building.
His contribution seems to make the woman happy.
Res6 closes the video, confident he understands the gist of the clip. Build things with food. Sounds easy enough. He clicks on the next clip.
By the time he’s finished lunch, he’s armed with a handful of excellent outing ideas, along with a few which might be more challenging to execute. But perhaps with a custom simulation chamber—
Lextr pops his head inside his office door. “Did you see the alert?”
He glances up from the clip. “No, I . . .” Was he distracted planning outings for a woman he barely knows, instead of focusing on securing a second chance for his brother? “I got distracted,” he finally admits.
“No problem, sir. That is what I’m here for. The DNA vector sample stabilized. It’s ready to be synthesized with the bio-coagulase. If we start now, we should have a sample ready to adhere to an activation pad within the hour.”
Within the hour . . . That means he could get to see his brother again after almost a century in less than a week.
“Do you want to run the activation here in the lab, or,” Lextr leans forward conspiratorially, “from the privacy of your own home? If the experiment succeeds—you recall how startling waking up in the lab was for your current unit. Not to mention the issue of relocating a specimen that bears an identical resemblance to, with respect, you.”
Res6 nods. He hadn’t considered it much beyond the prospect of getting to see Jerme again, but Lextr raises a good point. “I’ll do it at home.”
“Of course, sir. Based on the notes you sent yesterday, I think we should program the updated electrical variances you detected in your review of the data from the initial trial into the activation pad prior to beginning stage one.”
“Excellent. Proceed. The initial trial’s name is Electra, by the way.” He thinks the command to shut down his system, getting up to follow Lextr to the lab.
“What are you doing, sir?”
“I want to prepare the sample myself,” he says.
Lextr pauses in the sleek corridor outside his door. The dip of his shoulders suggests Res6 is missing something.
“Is that a problem?”
“I . . . uhh. No, I suppose not,” Lextr says.