by Robin Roseau
“I do not!”
“Admit it.”
“Don’t you have something better to do? If you find Taisha, tell her to take the day off. I’m going to run a new set of diagnostics. I have a few ideas.”
* * * *
Amanda looked up. “Aventurine.”
“May I join you?”
“Of course.”
She gestured. Aventurine took the open seat. The two looked out over the bay for a minute. Finally, Aventurine said, “Taisha is cautious about her job.”
“She thinks she has to keep proving herself,” Amanda said. “It’s an attitude Finley doesn’t discourage.”
“That is your husband? He owns the company.”
“Yes.”
“And what is your role?”
“I have no official role, but when I tell Finley to do something, he does it. The moment I saw Muriel, this became my project.” She paused. “My grandmother died to ALS about five years ago.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Finley didn’t even try to argue with me.”
“No good mate would,” Aventurine replied.
“Unofficially, I am like a mother for the company. Not really, but a little. That’s probably a silly way to think about it.”
“For now, you are the gatekeeper, however.”
“Aventurine,” Amanda replied. “I will not promise Taisha’s time to you without asking her, but as she went home with you, I imagine she’s quite happy to spend more time with you.”
Aventurine’s ears twitched. “English is not my first language, but I am fairly proficient.”
“I would say you speak impeccably.”
“Taisha did not go home with me. We had dinner, took a walk, and then I took her to her bungalow. Is that what you mean?”
“Aventurine, she doesn’t need to hide. If she went home with you, there’s nothing wrong with that.”
“By that you mean you believe we returned to the center, and spent the night.”
“Yes, of course.”
“I left her in her bungalow. We shared a little more than three hours together. Why do you believe she went home with me?”
“Fuck,” Amanda said. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”
“Amanda, I know this word. What is wrong.”
“She’s missing. If the Catseye took her for someone else, they should have told Felicia and me.”
“Wait,” Aventurine said, holding up a hand. She cocked her head, and a moment later began speaking rapidly in an alien language. Then she switched back to English. “Violet Beamer does not have her. She says she is at work.”
“My visor is in my bungalow,” Amanda said. “I wanted a rest from it. Call her.”
Aventurine spent a moment. “Her visor is deactivated.”
Amanda leaned over the railing and looked inland. “Is one of those jumpers yours?”
“Jumpers?”
“Those things,” Amanda said, pointing. “The flying things.”
“Oh. Yes.”
“Go preflight or whatever you do. I need a ride to the center. Immediately.”
“Of course.”
They both ran, Amanda to her bungalow first.
* * * *
“Felicia,” Amanda said. “Where is Taisha?”
“I think she’s still with… the Kitsune. You’re the Kitsune. You’re not a different Kitsune.”
“Taisha and I were last together yesterday evening,” Aventurine said. “I left her in your bungalow.”
“She wasn’t there when I got back, but it was late,” Felicia said. “I assumed she was still with you.”
“No. We gave each other much to think about. She wouldn’t have gotten scared and left, would she?”
“How would she do that?” Amanda asked. “It’s not like she can hop in a car and drive away. Aventurine, as the only representative of the United Federation, I am requesting you find our employee. If she’s become a mating candidate, then I believe we have a right to know, don’t you?”
“I do not believe Violet Beamer would lie to me about such a thing.”
Amanda accessed her visor and made a call. “Muriel. Can you come to the robotics bay? Please hurry.” Then she tried to reach Taisha’s visor, but it was still deactivated. She pulled out her phone, but there was no signal, so she made a call via the visor, but that went to Taisha’s voicemail.
“Aventurine,” Amanda said. “If you have her, just tell us.”
“I do not have her, Amanda. Maybe she went for a swim.”
“You were the one who came to me and said she shows concern for her job,” Amanda replied. “Do you think she’s lying on the beach drinking?”
Muriel strode in. “We’re setting up for an event,” she said. “What can I do for you?”
Amanda turned to her. She stepped to the robot and set her hands on her shoulders. “Muriel. I know your first loyalty is to Jasmine Brighteyes, but Felicia and Taisha are here trying to help you.”
“Amanda, I can’t help you if I don’t know what you need.”
“Taisha is missing. Violet said she’s here. Clearly, she’s not. Her visor is deactivated. Her phone goes to voicemail. She was with Aventurine yesterday evening, but the Kitsune reports leaving her in her bungalow last night. If she has been taken as a mating candidate, then Hunt Robotics deserves proper notification, and I’d like it right now.”
“I’m sure she hasn’t,” Muriel said. “Give me a minute.” She grew still. Amanda bit her lip. Felicia shifted in her seat. Then Muriel moved. “If she’s been made a mating candidate, it wasn’t done officially. The records show she requested a ride from Beginnings to here last night.” She turned to the Kitsune. “I presume shortly after you left her.”
“She came here after our date?”
“That is what the records show. Jasmine Brighteyes plays games, though.”
“Get her here,” Amanda said. “Now!” She screamed the last word.
“Amanda, we can figure this out. Jasmine responds poorly to demands.”
“Do the records show her leaving?”
“No. She was tracked here and hasn’t left,” Muriel said.
“Would you know if she’d gone to the bathroom?” Felicia asked.
“She is in this room,” Muriel said. “Or the records have been altered.”
“She’s not here,” Amanda said. “Get Jasmine Brighteyes here. NOW!”
Muriel said nothing for a minute, but she turned away, then she walked to the bed. The display was off, the top was closed tightly. The others followed her, then Felicia said, “Her clothes are here, but I don’t see her visor.”
“Muriel, the aliens have her, and you know it.”
“Why is this gurney not open?” Muriel asked calmly.
“It’s off,” Felicia said. “It was like that when I got here.”
“Have you been closing it before turning it off?”
“I haven’t really paid attention.”
Muriel paused, and then the display came to life. She paused a moment longer, then she was screaming. “Jasmine! Emergency medical team. Meet me in the medical center.”
Then she grabbed the bed and swung it towards the door, coming unplugged, but the battery system kept it alive. She grabbed the end, and then she was running, leaving the others behind.
Bay built good robots, after all, strong and fast.
Before her, doors opened before Muriel reached them, sometimes barely, but she could only issue so many commands at once.
She made it to the medical center ahead of everyone else, but there was a partial team waiting, and more arrived as she locked the chair in place. “It’s Taisha!” she said. “The bed was off. The bed was off!”
The team went to work.
Ohhh
Pain. Pain like I’d never known. I screamed. I don’t know how long I screamed.
Everything shut down. Everything. I couldn’t see. I could feel, but only pain, nothing but pain.
I don’t know how long that lasted. F
ar, far too long, and then I knew nothing for a long time.
* * * *
I opened my eyes then shut them again. “Bright,” I croaked.
“Sorry,” someone said.
“Am I alive?” I asked.
“Yes,” said the voice. “How do you feel?”
“Drugged.” I opened my eyes. I saw several faces. I recognized most of them. “Am I drugged?”
“Yes,” Jasmine said.
I closed my eyes again. “How long?” I whispered.
“We found you four days ago.”
“Found me?”
“What do you remember?” she asked.
I opened my eyes again. Amanda was there, and Felicia. I decided the other one was a doctor or something. And Muriel was there. “I’d like to know what you did to my avatar.”
“That can wait,” Jasmine said.
“I think it might be important,” Muriel said. “Do you remember who I am?”
“Muriel,” I whispered. “Is Bay going to kill me?”
“I don’t know. It took him hours to clean all the sand out. No one knows where it came from.”
“That should have been obvious,” I said. “The fans.”
“She’s drugged,” Felicia said. She held up her hand. “How many fingers am I holding up?”
I ignored her but shifted my gaze. “You’re a doctor.”
“Yes.”
“I rate a Niecor doctor?”
“You do.”
“What do you mean, you found me four days ago.”
“We thought you were with the Kitsune,” Felicia said.
“We had a nice date, then I went to work. When did you find me?”
“Late morning the next day.”
I shifted my attention. “Jasmine, your systems suck. I should have set off some sort of alarms or something.”
“You did,” she said. “And the person who decided it was a glitch drank herself into a stupor over it.”
“Not really.”
“No, not really. She offered her resignation.”
“You didn’t accept, did you?”
“If you had died, I would have.”
“Am I dying?”
“No.”
“Permanently damaged?”
“No,” said the Niecor. “You seem to remember events. Do you remember your name?”
“Taisha Saint-heart,” I replied. “I presume I’m still at the center, or did you fly me somewhere.”
“We kept you here, at the center. We’d like to keep you for one more day. We’ll give you some nice dreams, if you think you’d like that?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Before we close you up again,” Muriel said, “Where did the sand come from?”
“I told you. The fans.”
“She’s still drugged,” Felicia declared.
“Bite me,” I told her. “I got it to fail, didn’t I?”
“You sure did. Don’t do it again.”
“We’ll let Amanda have the fun next time,” I said. “God, that hurt. Jasmine, don’t let Muriel use that avatar until we fix this.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jasmine said. “But you aren’t making sense.”
“If you found the avatar, then you must have seen all the fans.”
“The avatar was in the robotics bay where it belongs,” Muriel explained. “But it looked like it had been swimming in a sea of sand.”
“Then either someone put it away, or it reset without me and put itself away,” I replied. “I had it in the arena. I pelted it with everything I could throw at it. Noise. Sand flying in my face and against my skin. And then I twisted to put it off-balance.”
“Fuck me,” Felicia said. “You gave it a complete system overload.”
“It seems to have done the trick,” I said. “I think next time we should have better supervision.”
“I think I agree. Shut her up now,” Jasmine ordered.
“Wait.” They paused, and then I asked, “Will you send everyone else away then hold my hand? Only a minute.”
“Only a minute.”
I felt the bed withdraw partially, and then it was a human hand in mine. “Get better,” Amanda said. Her voice broke. She squeezed and released. I felt a brush against my cheek, and then a hand in mine, and a tentacle around my arm.
“They’re gone,” Jasmine said.
“How bad was it?”
“Bad. We weren’t sure if you would wake up.” I opened my eyes again, looking up at her. “You’re going to be all right, Taisha.”
“Promise?”
“I think I can make that promise,” she replied. “Is that what you wanted?”
“Do you have particular plans for me?”
“You’re not talking about your medical treatment, are you?”
“I think you know what I mean.”
“You’ve taken some interest.”
“Was that intentional on your part?”
“Yes and no. I wasn’t necessarily dangling your lovely legs in front of anyone.”
“You were dangling all of us and waiting to see whose legs appeared most attractive?”
“I suppose I was.”
“Why?”
“Why?”
“Yes,” I said. “Why? I got the impression the people I’ve met had never considered a human mate.”
“It’s not necessarily about finding a mate,” she said.
“I’m pretty sure you’ve heard that Aventurine and I had a successful date.”
“It’s about possibilities, Taisha. It’s about… Look, we can categorize humans into two categories, if we want to keep it simple. Love us or hate us. You’re in the love us category. And all of you in that category want to meet as many of us as you can, and most of you never get that chance.”
“You’re right.”
“For years, I was forced to do this in a fashion I found deeply distasteful. Well, finally we’re doing it exactly the way we should have been from the beginning. I have more mating candidates than I know what to do with, and that’s after the shocking ways we take you.”
“Is that why you do it?”
“I typically have multiple reasons for everything I do. That’s one of them. Here’s another. That’s how we separate people like you from some of the others.”
“That’s not fair. I had warning.”
“Everyone who comes here knows we might do something like that to them,” she said. “They’re idiots if they think otherwise. But you’re far from the first person we’ve treated in a surprising fashion who has said simply, ‘I’m here to have a good time.’”
“I’m here for more than that.”
“Well, you know what I mean.”
“I suppose I do.”
“This conversation is not pressing, Taisha. Please let us close you up now.”
“Invite me for an intimate meal when I’m out of here.”
“I’m mated.”
“That’s not what I meant. I want a conversation, and I don’t want…”
“You would like if Andie and I have you over, and maybe a few others would be okay?”
“Not Amanda and Felicia, or anyone who might want to invite me on a date.”
“We’ll keep it small,” she said. “The day after tomorrow for dinner.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Don’t do this again.”
“Your decision, Jasmine. Either we fix Muriel’s avatar, or you scrap the project. Someone is going to have to do it again if we’re going to fix it. Figure it out. You’ve got a couple of days.” I paused. “Jasmine, don’t let anyone else run it without me.”
“I won’t.”
“Thank you.”
“Go to sleep, Taisha.” The bed began to close over me, but she held my hand and was still holding it when I slept.
I had nice dreams.
Conversations
Everyone treated me like I was damaged. It was Jasmine herself who picked me up from the bed and set me i
nto a wheelchair. I thought it was ridiculous, but she warned me I was probably a little dizzy. They bundled me into the chair and then took me to the cafeteria. I ate a little, everyone watching me, including the Niecor doctor.
Finally, I turned to him. “Do you suspect brain damage?”
“No. We ran tests all night. Jasmine ordered us to fix anything we found. I took her literally.”
“What does that mean?”
“Your dentist won’t recognize your teeth.”
“I don’t understand.”
“They fixed everything,” Felicia translated. “If you had filled cavities, for instance.”
“Oh shit, seriously? Did you find anything worse than that?”
“Other than your trauma, you were in fine health,” he replied.
“Then why is everyone acting like I have two heads.”
“Because you nearly died, you silly sod,” Felicia said. Then she leaned over and socked me in the arm.
“Ow!”
“Don’t do that again!”
I turned back to the doctor. “I’m fine.”
“You’re probably still a little weak and should take it easy for a day or two. Let everyone pamper you. Jasmine, in a day or two, I want her to start taking easy exercise. I would prefer she be supervised.”
“She’ll be fine,” I said, putting on a tone. “Except she’s not fine.”
“She has had significant trauma,” said the doctor. “You gave us as much excitement as any human has in years, Ms. Saint-heart.”
“It wasn’t my fault,” I said. “It wasn’t our hardware that fried my brain to a crisp.”
“No one said it was your fault. Ms. Saint-heart, you don’t really intend to jump from that chair and run a marathon, do you?”
“No.”
“Let your friends pamper you,” he said. “It will feel good to you and make them feel better. Everyone wins.”
I didn’t say anything, but I nodded.
“Good. Jasmine, she’ll be fine. Pamper her today and tomorrow. Friday, light exercise. By Saturday, she may do what is comfortable for her, but she is not to return to her recent working hours any sooner than Monday.”
“I can work a few hours, can’t I?”
“That depends. Will you admit when you have grown fatigued and need a nap?”
We held a staring battle until I said, “All right.”
“You’re going to be dizzy. Let people help you until you’re sure you’re fine. Please don’t risk a fall. I don’t want you back in the clinic over stupid pride.”