by Robin Roseau
Melissa leaned closer, looking at Jasmine’s tentacle, although she didn't touch it. Finally, Winona released it, and Jasmine withdrew to herself. “I have what is for us good news, but the news isn’t necessarily good for people who wish to become mating candidates,” Jasmine said. “Opening ourselves to the public resulted in exactly what some of us predicted. It has given our detractors additional reason to hate us, the conspiracy theorists fuel, and an unending supply of volunteers, more than we could possibly take. It’s made my job infinitely easier for reasons I don’t care to go into.”
“And it means you don’t want me.”
“I didn’t say that,” Jasmine said. “Five years ago, I would have loved, absolutely loved volunteers. And we used to get them, even before people knew what we told you when we opened Beginnings.”
“But you can have your choice of anyone you want. Yvette D’altrea married her co-star. Why would you want me?”
“Because you’re a good woman, Winona. You are loyal and giving. You are also half the reason Nellie is doing as well as she is.” Jasmine adjusted her attention. “You, young lady, could have a bright, bright future. Make the right choices.”
“I’ll try.”
“Good.”
I was watching. Tears appeared in Melissa’s eyes. She looked away. “We’d be fine now,” she whispered. “It’s time for Winona to have her own life. We’d be fine now.”
Jasmine glanced at me, I’m not sure why. She’d told me to stay out of it. I raised an eyebrow. But then she said, “I find I have a need.”
“What need is that?” I asked.
“We do this one a lot,” she said. “Well, not a lot. Often. We have visitors here. They would like to go on a photo safari. They all speak English, but the guides speak English with heavy accents. We prefer to partner people with native English speakers who can help enhance the experience. Would the three of you like to help act as guides, hmm, the day after tomorrow?”
“For a photo safari?”
“It takes the entire day,” Jasmine said. “You’ll leave early and get back late.”
“You’re inviting all three of us?” Nellie asked.
“Yes, but you would have official responsibilities,” Jasmine said. “You would be assigned to separate groups. You might travel together, but you might be with a pair of Hobbles, and your mother might be assigned to a Niecor. Do you see?”
“I’d be a great guide!” Nellie said. “Will my phone work so I can look things up?”
“No, but we can do better than a phone,” Jasmine said.
“Are you making this up for us?” Melissa asked.
“No. You’re replacing Taisha, Amanda, and probably Felicia, but that will be her choice. It’s too strenuous for Taisha, and I bet Amanda won’t want to go.”
“I think I’m going to mother hen over Taisha,” Amanda said.
“You would need to behave like an adult the entire day, Nellie,” Jasmine said. “I’d be counting on you. Can you do that?”
“She’s very mature, when she puts her mind to it,” Melissa said. “Do we have to leave our phones home?”
“They won’t have reception.”
“I meant for photos.”
“Oh. Take all the photos you want, but it’s polite if you ask the guests if they mind.”
Melissa nodded. “Winona?”
Winona was on the verge of tears, like her sister had been a few minutes ago. She nodded quickly. “I’d like that. At least we could meet a few, right?”
“Right,” Melissa said. “We’d love to go, Jasmine. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. It’s almost time to take Taisha home, and I want to talk to Nellie alone for a minute.”
“Of course.” The sisters rose, thanked Jasmine again, and then hurried from the restaurant. A minute later, we saw them walking along the path together.
“Nellie,” Jasmine said. “Your aunt is like a mother to you, isn’t she?”
“Yeah.”
“During the safari, I want you to let her treat you like a loving daughter, if she chooses to do so.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Some human children your age think they’re too big to accept affection or guidance from their parents.”
“Oh,” Nellie said. “Why?”
“Why do they think that?”
“Why don’t you want me to?”
“I bet you can guess.”
Nellie stared at Jasmine for a minute. No one else spoke, and then Nellie said, almost a whisper, “You want everyone to see she’s been a good mother to me.”
“Yes, but I don’t want you to be false. Don’t make opportunity happen or anything like that. That will be obvious.”
“And don’t tell her.”
“And don’t tell her,” Jasmine confirmed. “Just don’t be a brat if she hugs you or something. But don’t talk her up or play the matchmaker or anything like that. Adults think it’s cute when a teenage girl does that, but at the same time, they probably will do the opposite, just so it doesn’t look like they’re letting a kid make their choices.”
Nellie laughed. “I think I understand.”
“Good.”
“Perfect. There’s one more sandwich if you want it.”
“No, thank you,” Nellie said. “Thank you, Jasmine.”
“You’re welcome. I hope the elephants are out for you. They aren’t always, but you’ll get to see some cool animals, regardless.”
“Maybe the mongooses that attacked Taisha.”
“Maybe so,” Jasmine agreed.
Nellie got up and was ready to walk out, but then she turned and stepped closer to Jasmine. “Would it be rude to hug you?”
“No, but thank you for asking.” Jasmine wrapped around her, and the girl nearly disappeared, but I heard her giggle.
Jasmine gave her a long, long hug before sending her on her way. We all watched, and then Jasmine turned to me. “Stay out of it now.”
“What?” I said. “I’m an utter nerd. I don’t do matchmaking. I don’t know what you’re accustomed to, but I do machines, not people.”
“It’s time to roll you home. I’ll let you sit up for a while if you want, but then I want you to take another nap.”
“I’d like a proper dinner,” I said.
“That’s a good plan. Yes or no. Do you want someone to hold you while you nap?”
“You’re a busy woman.”
She made a rough sound. “You really can’t just answer me? Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because someone is waiting.”
* * * *
It wasn’t Aventurine; it was Forever Twilight. We sat up for about twenty minutes, but when Jasmine suggested I nap, I didn’t argue.
Pathway
I spent the afternoon nap with Forever Twilight. Makiko stayed with me overnight, which was nice. And so, by morning, I felt much better.
“I’d like to go to work this morning,” I announced over breakfast. “And has anyone talked to Muriel?”
“I haven’t seen her,” Felicia said. “Not in a few days.”
“I’d like to see her.”
“Jasmine said you can work for a while this morning, and a little this afternoon, if you want, but she has a queue of people who are ready to make you nap.”
“I don’t need continued babysitting.”
“But you’re going to do what you’re told, anyway.”
“Yes, Mom.”
“Good,” she said.
Twenty minutes later, Jasmine herself met us at the jumper to take us to the center. I walked straight to her and accepted a hug, and I’d worn a dress for the occasion instead of the typical shorts and a blouse. She held me for a long time before getting me moved to a seat. Then she sat down beside me.
“Did you still want to come to dinner tonight?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“I want to talk to Muriel.”
“She�
�s…”
“Upset?”
“You nearly died while trying to help her.”
“That’s why I want to talk to her. I don’t want to just ignore it, but I think Felicia, Bay, Muriel, and I should talk about this.”
“Let’s go see Muriel first, in person. Do you think you can hold her?”
“Yes, of course.”
* * * *
We landed. Felicia and Amanda headed to the robotics lab. Jasmine led me to her quarters. I sat down in her living room, and then she went to retrieve Muriel.
When she returned, the Catseye was carrying the delicate woman, wrapped in arms and tentacles. She didn’t see me right away, but then Jasmine sat down. I moved closer, and that was when Muriel opened her eyes. She gave a gasp.
“Do you mind if I help hold you?”
She began quietly crying. Jasmine adjusted things, basically setting Muriel in my lap, but then wrapping tentacles everywhere to help support her. I kissed her forehead.
“You. Almost. Died,” she said.
“I didn’t,” I said. “I’m told you found me.”
“Almost died. For. Me.”
“No, Muriel. I almost died in what I consider an industrial accident. But I didn’t die, and the reason I didn’t was because you figured out where I was.”
“Jasmine. Destroy. It. Not. Worth. Risk.”
“No,” I said. “We’re fixing it. I didn’t do that to walk away. Figuring out how to reproduce it is the hard part, and you know it.”
“Can’t. Argue.”
“She’ll argue plenty once I put her back,” Jasmine said. “And so, we’ll talk about that during the meeting. This isn’t about that. This is about three friends, sitting together.
I wasn’t wearing a visor. I hadn’t asked yet, but I would. But that meant I could look at Muriel through my own eyes. I offered a smile. “I bet you get tired of people making decisions for you.”
“You. Earned.”
“Yes, well, I don’t think I earned the right to kiss you.”
“Always. Kiss.”
I did, a slow, sweet kiss. Then I pulled away and caressed her cheek. She offered a weak smile. Jasmine brushed the tears away. “Are you okay, Darling?” Jasmine asked her.
“Yes,” Muriel replied.
“Thank you for finding me.”
“Thank help,” she replied. “Hold now. Talk more later.”
And so we did.
* * * *
Jasmine put Muriel back and then retrieved me. We walked to the robotics lab together. By the time we arrived, Bay was there, and Muriel in her old avatar. Bay hurried to me.
“Please, Bay. Did I damage it?”
“No, but I hope it doesn’t take more sand. It took hours to clean.”
“I’m sorry. I needed to overwhelm it.”
“Is she going to be okay, Jasmine?”
“Yes, Bay,” Jasmine replied. “But we’re not letting her overdo it for a few more days. So, it’s time to put her in a chair.”
“Mother hen.”
“Don’t fuss, or you’ll be napping instead.”
I didn’t fuss. It was Muriel who provided a chair for me, and I was happy for it. “Explain exactly what you did,” Bay ordered.
I explained everything.
“How did you figure it out?”
“I didn’t. We’ve been trying four hundred things. This was four hundred and one. In each of Muriel’s reports, she said she had been slightly off balance after some sort of surprise. One was noise. I thought about it, and I kind of overdid it. Maybe she didn’t notice everything before, or maybe it’s really random.”
“It doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“Yes, well. We’ve been trying to get it to fail. I got it to fail. It might be repeatable.”
“I would rather we exhaust other avenues of research before anyone drives it again,” Jasmine said.
“Destroy it,” Muriel said.
“Muriel!” Bay said.
“I don’t mean melt it down,” she continued. “Replace all the sensors with the old ones. It’s beautiful. It doesn’t matter. Bay, she nearly died.”
“I know she nearly died,” Bay said. “But she didn’t.”
“Don’t you care?”
“You don’t think I care that my creation nearly killed someone?”
That shut everyone up. I waited to let them think about that then said, “I want to fix it. It’s an amazing creation, truly amazing. Muriel, I’ve driven both, and you and I both know what a difference they are.”
“It’s not worth someone dying.”
“Then we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. I’m a little confused. If we’re talking honestly, I’m in better physical condition than you are. Why did it nearly kill me, but Muriel experienced that three times and is here to argue with me?”
“Because no one shut off the alert when she did it,” Jasmine said. “They shut off the system. You were subjected to it as its power cycled repeatedly until reaching the limited cycles in a period of time.”
“I bet we can figure some way of realizing when it’s happening and institute an emergency shutdown,” I said.
“Bay,” Jasmine said. “You will disable remote access to the avatar until further word from me.”
“You’re afraid I’ll sneak in and do it again?”
“Not that, exactly, but yes.”
I stared at her. “I wouldn’t.”
“Bay,” she said.
“I’ll see to it, Jasmine.”
“Make sure Taisha doesn’t have access to enough parts to undo whatever you do.”
“So much for trust,” I muttered.
“When we finally do test drive it again,” Jasmine said, “It will be with every safety protocol in place. I can’t believe how cavalier I was about this.” She gestured around. “No one argues with anyone who wants to implement a safety protocol, and everyone argues with anyone who wishes to remove one.”
We talked for another twenty minutes. Felicia finally said, “Bay, the stability system was overloaded. I don’t know how. But I also don’t believe it was the only system that was overloaded. The problem is, I don’t know what too many of those systems do, and I bet you can’t let me know.”
“He can’t,” Jasmine agreed.
“I’m not going to figure this out alone,” Felicia said.
“What am I?” I asked.
She turned to me. “You’re right. But we’re not going to figure it out.”
“I don’t necessarily understand all the systems, either,” Bay said. “The interface system is Tutor technology, and I treat it like a black box.”
“Felicia, are you able to take the lead, but bring in Bay as necessary?”
“We can try that,” Felicia said.
“Jasmine,” Muriel said. “It isn’t worth the risk.”
“I didn’t come here to give up,” I said. “Felicia, I don’t want to give up. Do you?”
“We’ll have another conference before anyone drives the avatar again,” Jasmine said. “Muriel, if we tell them they should stop working, that means we have to let them go home, and I don’t think they want to go home yet.”
Amanda snorted a laugh. I said nothing. No one did, actually.
“All right. No risks. Bay, see to it.”
“I will.”
“Taisha, you’re done. You may come back this afternoon if you behave.”
“Did I destroy my visor?”
“No. Dr. Depths wants you to wait a few more days before using it again.”
“All right.”
“Very good.”
“I can take her home,” Amanda said.
“Excellent.”
Cinder and May were waiting for us in the jumper bay when we got there, and so they flew us back to Beginnings, and then three of us cuddled for my nap.
* * * *
I woke from my afternoon nap. I was a little crabby, probably because I’d been alone for this, and slept too long besides. But w
hen I made it out to the living room, Amanda was there. She looked up and smiled. I sat down in a chair facing her. “You have amazing taste in clothes,” I told her.
She looked down at what she was wearing and put on a puzzled expression.
“I wasn’t making a comment about your current attire. That was a prelude to asking if you would help me pick a few more dresses.”
“I’d love to.”
“I feel lost without the visor,” I said. I looked outside. “Late afternoon.”
“Five-fifteen,” she said. “Spoiled already?”
“Yes. Do we have time to find something I can wear to dinner?”
“Yes. Ready?”
“Yes.”
* * * *
Jasmine looked at me then opened her arms and tentacles. I walked into the hug. She wrapped me, covering me quite thoroughly. “You look lovely,” she said.
“I love your hugs,” I told her. “I’ve been looking forward to one all afternoon.”
We held each other for a while, then she turned us, and with me partially draped in tentacles, we headed inside. “What is the plan tonight?”
“We’re going to have our conversation over dinner,” she said. “Then I’ll collect Muriel, and we’re going to watch a movie together. I got the impression you didn’t want too many people for our talk.”
“I want to talk about…”
“The attention you’re receiving.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“You seem to be recovering.”
“I’ve needed my naps.”
“Healing takes a lot of energy,” she said. “You’re going to continue to nap as needed.”
I didn’t argue with her. “You were really going to send us on a photo safari?”
“Your names were on the list,” she said. She looked over at me. “There will be another chance.”
“I’d like that,” I said. “Jasmine, I want to fix this. Have you driven it?”
“No.”
“Don’t decide not to let us finish it until you’ve driven both of them. Spend two hours in her current one and fifteen minutes in the new one. Will it even work for a Catseye?”
“Yes. A different calibration, and it will be disconcerting not having all my limbs, but yes. And I think you’re right. But in the end, this is my decision. Well, you can decide you’re done at any time, but you know what I mean.”
“We can beat this, now that we can reproduce it.”