Chapter 9 #3
“What is it, Josa? Where were you earlier? Lila said you just up and walked out.” I return back into my examination room with Josa trailing behind me.
“Pfft, I can't believe they allowed a human to join the circus, and they're grooming her to take over.” He crosses her arms and leans against the wall, watching me clean up instead of actually doing his job. If that weren’t bad enough, the disgust in his voice when he speaks about Lila is enough to set my gears on edge.
“She’s not human. She’s Skarrian,” I argue.
The logical side of me knows that Josa’s bigotry won’t likely be fixed by anything I say in this moment, but my short exposure to Lila has created some kind of connection between us.
I can’t just let someone speak ill of her without at least trying to say something in her defense.
“Yeah right, she’s practically human. Now the brothers have her mainlining Skarrian water in the hope it will kickstart something. I say they're panicking. You did a body scan. Are there any signs of powers?” He pushes a sly look on his face, and I can feel myself scowl.
No, unfortunately. Apart from the initial burst, I could see nothing on her physiology to suggest she has powers.
Skarrians usually have a ball of energy inside their chest that represents their power, but Lila’s was missing.
I push the scowl off my face, not wanting to tell this annoying cyborg that.
Before you know it, the gossip would be spread around the circus like Lycic fleas in a Restolan brothel.
“You know that's covered by patient-doctor confidentiality,” I tell him, and I see his eyes slide toward the computer. Not getting what he wanted from me right now, he must decide to choose another topic to fight about. His eyes return to me, and this time, he’s fuming.
“How dare you protect her! I heard you offer to take care of that needy bitch’s horniness, throwing away your professionalism and reputation!
Don’t you care how that reflects on you?
Actually, forget you. Don’t you care how that reflects on me?
Your mother promised me your hand in marriage, and I will not have you lowering yourself to those standards.
‘Taking care of’ a Skarrian would be at least some step up.
But a human? What would everyone at home say? ”
I pause, not believing the words that have just come out of his mouth.
Surely that can't be right. But then I think about it some more, and a wave of fury at my mother flows through my body. She’s done things like this before.
Why wouldn’t it be true this time too? But this time, instead of throwing a woman at me, she tries the opposite sex in the hope that I might bite.
Most cyborgs aren’t picky, and especially with my skills and desire to give and receive pleasure, I’m not too picky myself.
But I will never, under any circumstance, get pleasure or give it to one of my mother’s plants.
Beneath the weight of my anger, the tray of instruments buckles in my hand.
The sounds of crushing metal create a sharp echo through my normally tranquil exam room.
Flinging it to the side, I whirl on the nurse, my anger only rising thanks to the smug look on his face.
“My mother had no right to offer you that. And just what is she getting out of this deal? I know she didn’t offer my hand out of the goodness of her heart. ”
“Never you mind what your mother’s deal is. When I find out the information she wants to know, you will be leaving the circus and returning home with me to your rightful place. There will be no argument.”
I snort with amusement. “And how do you think you are going to make me do that?” I ask him. Short of him reprogramming me, there is no way that I would voluntarily do that.
“She said she would give me access to your source code.”
I stagger with horror as dread hits me. “No, she can’t.
She hasn't got it.” When a cyborg is born, their source code, the very foundation of their being, is imprinted on a data chip.
The doctor at birth gives it to the Caretaker, who hides it away so that no cyborg can corrupt another.
He is the only one who knows where they are hidden and is fiercely protective of them.
There are many rumors floating around about other dimensions or secret vaults on an asteroid, and not even the cyborg's parents have access to it. How could she have gotten hold of mine? “She’s lying.”
“Are you sure about that? Are you willing to risk it? It’s no skin off my nose.
I can just make you leave when the time comes.
You’re under some measure of protection while I’m stuck here as part of this miserable circus, but once your mother gives me that tool, their protection won’t matter.
Hear this, Link, you will be mine.” With that, he turns and leaves as I sink down onto a chair.
That smug cunt thinks he holds all the cards, but I’m not about to let him fuck anything up between me and Lila.
I want to explore the attraction between us, and no blackmail attempt is going to stop that.
I will be contacting my father though, to see if he knows anything about my mother’s threats.
Then I’ll be talking to the warlock. Xavier may know a way to help me.
We’ve been friends since we both started at the circus around the same time.
He is much like me, happy to keep to ourselves and a small select group of friends who care nothing about status or powers.
He’s the type of friend who would help cover up a murder...
which it may come to if what Josa says is right.
My mother having access to my source code is a nightmare waiting to happen.
Forget forcing me to come home. She could just rewrite my whole being.
No, she can’t possibly have it… Can she? Fuck.
I push a button on my screen to connect me to my father. Hopefully he has some answers for me.
LILA
Dylan flirted his way through the corridors, leaving everyone with a smile on their faces after that single interaction with him, while I stayed quiet and just observed.
People were cautious but kind, and quite a few said hi and wished me good luck with all I had to learn.
Before long, Dylan is directing me into a plush chair back in the same room I met the grandpas in yesterday.
He flops down onto the sofa next to me, wings tucked in behind him, a huge sigh leaving his mouth.
“I’m not really sure where to start. I haven't ever had to teach anyone any of this before, and there’s just so much. ”
“God, I don't know,” I tell him just as something out the huge picture window catches my eye.
The big arena is filled with a water tank, a group of people standing off to the side.
It seems like the people are all wearing pastel-colored bodysuits or wetsuits, but as I try to get a closer look, one of them spins.
Whoops, nope, not bodysuits. That’s a penis flying around. They're all naked, and that’s their skin color.
Standing up, I make my way over to the window and rest my hands on the cool glass as I watch what’s going on, trying to get a better look…. at the act, not the naked penises.
“Tell me about them… that.” I wave in the direction of the action, and Dylan gets up, joining me at the glass.
“What do you know about that part of the act here on Earth?” he asks, leaning his back against the glass, ignoring the action.
“It’s a dolphin show, similar to what SeaWorld has, but the trainers swim with fake mermaid tails.”
“Hmm, okay. So, not fake tails. These guys come from the planet Aquilia, which is almost 75% water. Not only are they not fake tails, they’re not separate entities.
The dolphins and the mermaids are one and the same.
They shift, similar to what I do, and as you can see, they also have a form with legs.
Unlike Earth dolphins, these ones are multicolored.
This shows in the tails when they are in half-form and their skin when in human form.
They aren't allowed to leave the dome when on Earth unless they can get a glamour from one of the warlocks.”
“Warlocks?” I spin away from the window and the sight below before marching back to the sofa. Honestly, I’m definitely owed a dramatic moment or two here, so I throw myself on it and grab a pillow, squishing it over my head. “Agghhh, it’s all too much.”
My brain is just about fried, and we haven't even been talking for ten minutes! How am I ever going to get a handle on all this?
A set of hands pulls the pillow away from my face, and Dylan is grinning at me.
“Sweetie, that’s why I’m here. We’re going to go through that tablet, and by the end of it, you are going to be an expert on all things Galaxy Circus.
” His manner brings a sense of calm to me, and I’m able to breathe again.
God, it’s nice to have a friend to help navigate the very choppy waters that make up the Galaxy Circus.
I think without his help I'd be feeling even more lost than I am.
“Okay, I guess we better get to it. Let’s start with the warlocks. What do they do for the circus?”