Chapter 36 #2
If absence were a trauma, it would feel like this—a temporal scar left by the wound that sliced his life in two. When he lost his brother, it split into before Jerme and after Jerme. Now there’s before Electra. Is she gone for good? Is this truly the after? He can hardly wrap his mind around it.
There is one gaping truth he can fully grasp, however. He’s never been more alone.
December 26, 2390.
As time crawls by, Res6 can’t shake the sensation of trudging through the dense, toxic atmosphere.
It’s as if every moment that passes deserves an air quality level five warning—except it’s not air, it’s his life.
He’s mostly come to terms with recycling the manupartner.
It served a useful purpose over the last few months.
But now that it’s gone, his guilt for treating it like his brother is eating away at him.
He’s never felt more isolated. Still, he decides to hold off on using the two remaining Jerme samples until he can complete some additional testing.
Bringing Jerme back may make him a monster, but at least he wouldn’t have to be alone for the rest of his life.
His device chimes. There’s a message from Sable. When can you meet?
He glances at the time. 14:43.
Inspector Wanda cautioned him not to seem too eager when approaching Sable.
He is supposed to ease into her life and see what he can find out.
Wanda’s plan: approach Sable under the guise of intending to poach her as an executive-level candidate for CHOICElover.
Have a few meetings and try to bait her.
If the inspection comes up, claim he saw a lot of people that day and doesn’t remember her.
The problem is, Wanda doesn’t know Sable already approached him. He’s in quite the quandary since Sable is aware of Electra, and there is simply no way for him to explain to Wanda why Sable might want to speak with him without creating further suspicion—namely, on Electra.
Electra, who is now out there somewhere, surviving on her own.
Without him. Electra, who has awakened primal instincts he never thought he had—instincts that scream for him to hunt her down and drag her back home.
It’s what Vorack would do. But is that what Electra wants?
No. She condemned him for playing Zorg and trying to take away Jerme’s agency.
He’s at a stalemate with no good options.
He shakes off the thought, considering Sable’s message. Best to stay busy.
Since the day at GROW, he’s been waiting for Sable to contact him. He’s surprised it’s taken her so long.
He responds, Can you meet now?
Thirty minutes later, they’re seated across from each other at a booth in the Old Thyme Diner, a server on roller skates having dropped off their drinks and a big bowl of YourNutz.
Sable picks an oval synthetic nut out of the bowl, sniffs it, then sets it aside.
Then she places her phone between them and presses start.
The screen displays an app called Scrambled Eggs.
“It’s a countersurveillance app. Prevents recording and video within a three-foot radius.
I learned my lesson after the boxing club incident. ”
He nods. “I wasn’t recording.”
She eyes a camera in the corner. “Someone always is. Now that our faces are being watched, courtesy of you and that moron Viper.” She studies him for a moment. “Who pissed in your milk?”
He leans back, affronted. “Excuse me?”
“Loneliness got you down?” She repeats GROW’s slogan, smirking. Is she teasing him? When he only frowns in response, she says, “What happened?”
Allowing his tone to become as gruff as he feels, he says, “It’s none of your business.”
“So, something did happen,” she guesses.
“What do you want?” he asks.
She sighs as if disappointed. “First, are you spying for that inspector?”
His eyes widen. Damn her.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Her fingers drum on the table.
“Here’s the deal. I imagine she suspects that we’re the ones responsible for the reincarnates or that we’ll lead you to them, which is why she let us go.
I assure you, we aren’t and I don’t see how we could.
I haven’t seen anything that suggests they’re not just anomalies caused by an accidental yet precise mix of factors. ”
Because she’s being so forthcoming, he presses, “You really don’t know who’s behind them?”
“Like I said, I don’t think there is an individual per se to blame.
They’re just scientific accidents. We’re trying to help those who already exist. That’s what we need your help with.
We’re willing to offer our help in the form of an identity for your secret reincarnate lover in exchange.
And our continued silence.” She winks, sending a chill down his spine.
Her candor leads him to believe she’s telling the truth. Besides, an ID for Electra might be enough to bring her home, assuming their method of providing one proves safe. “Why aren’t you mad I turned you in?”
She huffs. “Viper is the one who couldn’t mind his business. You only did what a prudent business owner would do. I don’t fault you for that. My partner, on the other hand, may appreciate an apology. The extra time your inspection cost us caused quite a stir in his personal life.”
“Your partner, James.” When her eyes widen, he says, “Viper got his manupartner identification number from the medical database at the boxing club. So, say I help you. What am I supposed to tell Inspector Wanda?”
“Make something up. Not my problem. But remember, if they find out what we’re doing, I’ll personally make sure they pick up your little plaything.” The grin that lights up Sable’s face is borderline villainous.
Yet there’s something about knowing exactly where you stand with her that’s comforting. There’s no guessing or playing games. “She’s not my plaything.”
“Then what is she?” she challenges.
The way Sable eyes him across the table makes him shift in his seat. “Nothing anymore. And good luck finding her. I have no idea where she is.”
Sable taps her lip, considering. “Interesting. Did you try using facial recognition software to find her? We ran a search based on my partner’s memory of his encounter with you both and identified a few candidates that match her description.
Freckles are still quite distinct, plus you’re all over the gossip sites sporting two manupartners.
Isolating her down to one result that led to a woman running a stupendously successful blog giving out terrible advice was easy.
Dear Electra, I believe. But since you don’t care—”
“Her advice isn’t terrible, and she’s off limits,” he barks. Zorg, this is a mess. But what other choice does he have? “I’ll help you. What do I need to do?”
Sable smiles, leaning back in her seat, all too pleased with herself. “We give you DNA samples and you provide blanks for us. It’s that simple.”
“You’re not entering the blanks”—he makes air quotes around the word—“into the fighting ring, I presume?”
She chuffs. “No. It’s really none of your concern. And I’ll need them before GROW’s recall period ends on the 31st, so we need to accelerate their grow period.”
“If I’m going to provide blanks from the organic materials listed in my inventory, then I want to know what my exposure is.
” Does this make him a double agent? The last book he read was a romantic suspense, and he can’t remember how it turned out for the spy.
It was a romance, though, so he must have survived.
“Since you haven’t figured this out, let me clarify it for you. This is a transactional relationship. You give me something. I give you something. Get it?”
“Yeah, I get it. What do you want now?”
“I want to know what happened with the reincarnate you’ve lost track of.”
Res6 blinks, momentarily stunned. That isn’t at all what he thought she was going to say. “Why?”
Sable shrugs. “Consider this your divine punishment for bringing one of them back, then falling in love with it.” She clears her throat. “Her, I mean. Besides, I’m curious.”
He takes a long inhale and releases it slowly, determined to get through this without his brain melting out his ears.
“Why is this happening?” he mutters, and offers a brief explanation.
Her column, the half-formed, brother-shaped manupartner she discovered, their communication breakdown—just enough to satisfy her curiosity.
“Okay, but I don’t understand why she would think you’re a monster for creating a manupartner of your dead brother. That seems perfectly reasonable to me. There must be more to it.” Her eyes narrow and go distant for a moment.
He groans. “Please, Sable, can we move on with this negotiation now? You still owe me an answer about what you’re doing with the blanks.”
She frowns. “Our company is called IdenTECH. We’re turning them in for recycling in place of their corresponding reincarnate to get them out of GROW’s system, then providing the reincarnate a new ID.
” She clears her throat. “Selling, technically. I thought that was obvious. That is why we need you to make something up to tell Inspector Wanda. I don’t want my new friends concerned, much less aware of her interest in us, until I can figure out how to deal with her. ”
His eyes narrow.
She scoffs. “Stop judging. It isn’t respectful or considerate. Besides, I’m sparing the feelings of another—number seven of acceptable reasons to lie.”
The sudden urge to slam his head against the table overtakes him. He grits his teeth instead. It really isn’t his business if Sable hides things from her business partners. He knows from experience that it’s a bad plan. Losing Electra because he hid his Jerme experiment made that apparent. “Fine.”
“There’s still something that doesn’t fit about your reincarnate problem—oh Zephyr, she wasn’t mad because you created a manupartner with your brother’s DNA. You’re trying to bring him back, like the reincarnates!” she cries, bolting upright.
“Good Zorg, keep your voice down,” he chides, picking up a handful of nuts.
Casually, he pops them into his mouth, the chalky taste choking him with instant regret.
Around them, a few other patrons glance their way, but no one seems bothered by her outburst. “I thought we were done talking about that.”
She leans forward, whispering, “That’s it, isn’t it? But you’ve been unsuccessful, and she found out. I could look at your data if you wanted.”
“I’m not trying to resurrect my brother, and if I were, I don’t need your help.”
She crosses her arms. “You’re a terrible liar. Why don’t you want my help?”
He leans back, utterly defeated by this fiery woman. Maybe he should hire her. He would certainly rather have her on his team than on someone else’s. “You’re a physician, not a researcher.”
A smug grin erupts as she says, “Sounds like you need to take a different approach.”
“Perhaps,” he reluctantly agrees, sensing his hole getting deeper and wider.
“Next time, I pick the location.” She picks up the bowl of nuts and hands it to the server as she skates by. “You know, after you help us, you could message her to show her what a changed man you are. Assuming you want her back.”
“She blocked my number. And I don’t want her back.
It’s complicated. How would that show I changed?
” If he could get her back, would he want to?
Obviously. So, could it be as easy as Sable is suggesting?
She seems to have a sharp sense of things—even if she’s currently under surveillance by NHOS inspectors.
How did she guess that about his brother?
“Set up a new account and message her on FrogBlog. You said she hates the idea of manupartners. Send her a message showing her you care about real people,” she says. When he stares at her blankly, she shakes her head like he’s an idiot.
His mind clearly isn’t firing at optimal capacity, because he can’t make the connection. “You’re going to have to spell it out for me.” He gestures for her to get on with it.
She sighs, as if conversing with him requires a ton of effort. “Real people like her.”
Her point clicks into place. She’s right. He is an idiot.