He scoffed. Wasn't going to happen now. He should have accepted her invitation, although that would have meant certain death afterward.
"Answer me!" Chrystal snapped.
"I came because I'm perfect," he answered. "Or so I thought. But then I discovered that nobody is perfect, therefore I might as well go back to my friends, since you don't even know what friendship and love mean in this town. You're too busy admiring yourselves in the mirror!"
"The only place worthy of you is the Lower Town," Chrystal said, narrowing his eyes and clenching his fist. "We thought you were just curious, but this is arrogance, and arrogance will be punished!"
"If I'm arrogant, what are you? Perfect arrogant?" Haje replied. He wasn't scared. Suddenly it didn't matter anymore.
"Enough," Smeralda snapped. "We could forgive curiosity, but not these insults!"
Haje smiled at her. He punched Chrystal who had risen from the couch to grab him, taking him completely by surprise and sending him to slump across the room. He stole a long kiss from still startled Smeralda and ran out of the palace.
The wide streets were open ground and immediately became hostile. There was no place to hide and robotic security pursued him as he fled towards the Lower City. Breathless and limping, Haje reached the wall between towns and finally understood why the slums were called Lower City – in the New Town it was just a low wall where one could sit and watch the landscape of the labyrinth that was the Lower Town.
The robotic security had almost caught him. Haje looked down – it was a high jump. He looked at the new town, gleaming under the sun, at the robotic security followed by screaming and outraged Perfects. The wind caressed his hair and already the sounds of his town called him when the face and body of Smeralda the Beautiful flashed inside him.
Clenching his teeth from the pain that wasn't only physical, he closed his eyes and jumped. His leg gave way under him when he touched the ground and he collapsed, sore and confused until he passed out.
***
"Oh, Haje, I thought they'd killed you!"
Haje looked at his sister through the veil of fever.
"Miri, you've never been so beautiful," he whispered through parched lips.
Miri hid her face in her hands. She too had a purple patch, but instead of being somewhere that could be hidden by clothes, it covered almost half of her face, that had beautiful features like Haje's.
"You're delirious," she replied with a shaky voice. Mother Nature or genetics had been less generous with her, since the patch on her face wasn't her only imperfection.
"No," he insisted feverishly. "Your beauty is inside, I never noticed it..."
He closed his eyes again as flashes of his visit to the New Town mixed with his imperfect reality.
"Miri, can we come in?" a little voice whispered.
"Sure, come in."
Haje felt his friends surround his bed and slowly opened his eyes again. Here they were, his crooked, disfigured friends, including a gorgeous young man who stared at him wide-eyed. He didn't have any physical imperfection, it was his mind that didn't work – at twenty Lonny had the brain of a ten-year-old.
"Haje, how are you?" someone whispered, excited.
"Haje, what did they do to you those bastards?" someone else bemoaned.
"Haje, you were so beautiful, look how they hurt you!"
"You're beautiful too," he said, still dazed. "You're gorgeous, actually. You're sweet, gentle, nice and beautiful inside. In the new town everything looks marvelous, but people are so mean..."
"They sure are!" the retarded youth exclaimed. "Look what they've done, they're really mean!"
He crouched by the bed to hug his friend who was only three years older than him but was like a father to him.
"Hey, Lonny." Haje tried to smile. "How are you?"
"I'm fine, it's you who are bruised," Lonny answered with a childish pout. "I was scared you'd never come back."
"But he's back, Lonny, see?" Miri said. "I told you he'd be back."
"Yes, but when you said it you didn't believe it," Lonny replied.
Haje chuckled and hugged the man-child. Once upon a time he had wished to have Lonny's body which, added to his brains, would have made him perfect. But now he didn't envy Lonny's beauty anymore and for the first time he realized that his friend was quite sensible and maybe not everything was lost for him. After all even children learn and grow up.
"Can we go out and play?" Lonny asked, freeing himself from Haje's hug.
"When will you stop playing, Lonny?" Haje asked, holding his wrist. "We're not children anymore, you could find a girlfriend and get married and have children of your own..."
Lonny pondered. "I like children," he said. "I'd like to have some. But I'm so dumb... you think I can be a good dad?"
Haje smiled. "You will have to learn, like everybody else."
"All right, you teach me everything and then I marry Miri and become a dad," Lonny said with a satisfied nod.
"Why me?" Miri asked, embarrassed.
"Because you're the beautifulest of all!" he said hugging her.
She blushed, glancing at Haje who knew she loved him but didn't hope he'd ever consider her more than a mother or a sister.
"Fine, you can marry my sister," Haje said. "But now leave me alone, I need some rest."
"Of course, with that jump you did!" Lonny commented, exiting with the others.
Only Miri remained and she sat on the edge of the bed again.
"What happened, Haje?" she asked, worried.
"Nothing, Miri," he answered, feeling exhausted. "I'm glad I did it, now I can appreciate you all more. I won't feel like I don't belong anymore and I won't hide my patch anymore – I'll wear it proudly from now on."
***
"You're thoughtful, Smeralda, what's wrong?" Chrystal asked with a hint of malice.
Smeralda was lying on her belly on a couch with her chin on her hands, staring outside of the window towards the invisible Lower Town. She didn't answer immediately, still thinking about the young man who had stolen a kiss before vanishing into that hellhole. She couldn't forget.
"I was thinking about Haje's courage and his challenge," she said at last. "Admirable, don't you think?"
"Admirable being insulted by an inferior being like him?" Chrystal scoffed. "You surprise me, my dear. You should have long forgotten that maggot."
He sat next to her, caressing her back and staring at her with open lust.
"You're the Queen of Perfection, remember?"
"Oh, quit the perfection bullshit!" she snapped, turning to get up. "I've had enough!"
"You mean you liked that wonderful purple patch on his left shoulder?" He mocked her.
"Shut up, Chrys." She pushed him away, but he held her close.
"Do you want to leave, Smeralda?" he asked threateningly.
"Maybe," she shrugged. "Let go."
"Lose yourself in the Lower Town?" he insisted, sarcastic.
"Why not?" she challenged.
"Because you're used to the beauty and commodities of your palace where you have servants and adoring subjects," he retorted, letting her go. "You'd never be able to stand the horror beyond the wall."
"Haje and others live there," she replied, stepping back.
"But they're used to it," he reminded her. "Haje was rejected at two, remember? He's imperfect."
She snorted and rolled her eyes. "Here's the perfection thing again!"
"You can't help it if you're perfect, Smeralda," he said. "You know, it's been some time since we slept together. Let's have sex, allow me to make you forget that inferior being..."
She shoved him away and rose from the couch, walking to her dressing table.
"I could ruin my perfection," she said, picking up a metal nail file.
"Oh, honey, you only need to move to the Lower Town, no need to deface yourself." He sniggered. "Do it, Smeralda! Do it if you have the courage!"
Smeralda threw down the nail file and stormed out.
***<
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"Look, Haje, there's a goddess on the wall looking down at us," Lonny exclaimed, pointing up.
Haje followed his finger and saw Smeralda leaning on the top of the wall – as if she were watching from a balcony, for indeed it was one for her.
He made a flourishing bow to the beautiful among the beautiful. "Greetings, my lady! What are you doing up there?" he asked cheerfully. "You watch us disgusting monsters down here?"
He stepped into the sun in his tank top, followed by his friends, while Lonny kept staring up, gaping stupidly. Smeralda couldn't hide a gesture of repulsion, wrinkling her nose at the sight of the crooked inhabitants of the Lower Town.
"I want you to come back here," she said from her balcony position.
"Impossible, my lady," he replied with a dazzling smile. "I'm imperfect, remember? And gorgeous Chrystal knows it as much as you do!"
He showed off his shoulder shamelessly.
"I don't care," she said. "I'll protect you. I want you back."
"I don't want to come back," he replied. He pulled closer a young woman neither beautiful nor ugly but with knock knee legs.
"I thought you loved me!" she complained, outraged.
"I loved your beauty, Miss Perfect," he answered. "And if you really want me, you'll have to come and get me. Let's go, guys. Come, Lonny, time to go home."
He took Lonny's hand and dragged him away from the wall, but the young man kept turning around to stare at Smeralda, who seemed petrified.
***
Every day now Smeralda the Beautiful went to the low wall and stared for hours at the Lower Town and its inhabitants – too tall, too short, crooked, dumb or maybe just with an ugly colored patch somewhere.
They didn't even notice her anymore. They didn't even look up. Haje and his friends stayed mostly in the shadows of the alleys, but their laughter and Lonny's voice climbed to tease Smeralda's loneliness. Sometimes they came out to get some sun in the space between the buildings and the wall – a street that could have one-way traffic if it were open to vehicles – and then Smeralda had to run away. The sight of Haje bare-chested took her breath away.
But how dare he demand she went to look for him? She was the perfect among perfects, how could she set foot in the Lower Town? The visit into the New Town must have gone to Haje's head. Still, she missed him a little more every day.
Once she went to Chrystal, hoping to forget the strange young man beyond the wall in her sometimes-bed-partner's arms. But Chrystal was as vain as he was beautiful and instead of helping, he made things worse by mocking her because she had gone crazy for an inferior being.
Smeralda started to realize how lonely she actually was. She felt something was missing in her life for the first time in years. Maybe a true love, or a trusted friend, or maybe... Haje's warm lips and his handsome face, his hair too long to be fashionable, his brown eyes, his beauty so different from Chrystal, Vestus and many other perfects...
But Haje didn't seem to be willing to come back to the New Town, to adore her again like he had done in his special way. Actually he flirted with Low Town girls who didn't have one tenth of her beauty right under her eyes. He looked content with the Lower Town, his tank top, his raggedy clothes, his unwatchable friends and it really looked like he didn't care about her anymore...
***
The sudden appearance of Smeralda the Beautiful in the narrow streets of the Lower Town filled the locals with wonder. She was like a vision.
"Where does Haje live? How do I get to the wall?" she asked, anxious, any living being she met. Some showed the way with crippled limbs, others ran to hide, others whispered among themselves, speculating on the reasons why such a creature would descend to the hell of the slums.
She was almost there – she could see the wall towering over the buildings – when a tall, ugly man stopped her and pulled her closer.
"Looking for that dandy Haje?" he said with contempt. "Forget him, I'll show you what a real man is, not those androgynous dolls you're used to! You're in my kingdom now, handsome, and you will stay by my side!"
"Let me go!" She struggled to free herself as he tried to kiss her. "Help! Somebody help!"
"Nobody is going to fight me, honey, just be quiet!" he retorted slapping her.
She stared at him, wide-eyed, holding her stinging cheek. He smirked and was about to kiss her again when Haje's voice said, "Let her go, Altman."
The man swirled around with a growl and Smeralda gasped when she saw the blade in his hand. But then she saw that Haje was armed too, and he wasn't alone. Maybe the bulky king of that alley had found his match.
***
"It's the goddess!" Lonny said, ecstatic, staring at Smeralda who was glued to the nearest wall with eyes wide with fear as she followed the fight between Haje and Altman.
"No, Lonny, it's just a woman," Miri chided. "Goddesses don't exist."
"But... you're a woman too," he said, puzzled, comparing them.
Miri blushed and averted her eyes.
"Shut up, Lonny," a crippled boy said. "It's obvious she's a woman too. She's uglier but she's much nicer!"
"True, you're the beautifulest woman and I will marry you if you forgive me because I'm stupid," Lonny said making a puppy face.
Miri hugged him. "Of course I forgive you and you're not stupid," she told him tenderly.
"Ha!" the boy exclaimed. "That wicked Altman has finished bullying everyone!"
Miri remembered her brother and turned to look at the fight. Altman was on his back in the alley with Haje's knife protruding from his chest. The young man was still catching his breath while he stared with contempt at his rival.
Smeralda sighed in relief and moved away from the wall.
"Hello," she said walking to Haje disheveled and still upset. "I... I've been looking for you for two days. This town is a labyrinth!"
"And how will you find the exit?" a barrel-like man asked, surrounding them with the others.
"I won't even look for it," she snapped. "I took so much pain to find this guy!" She pointed at Haje with a pout.
"Why were you looking for Haje?" the crippled boy asked.
"Because that's what he said," she answered, staring at Haje who rose and cleaned his hands on his pants. "He said if I wanted him I should come and look for him because he wouldn't come to me. He is quite haughty this friend of yours, you know? I didn't have much choice!"
"That's not true, Haje is not haughty!" Lonny protested.
"She's joking, Lonny," Miri said.
"You're welcome, Perfect," the barrel man said with a toothless grin.
"Queen of the Perfects," Haje said. "But I think she'll get used to us."
"Good." A hairy giant put his arm around Smeralda's shoulder, startling her. Her frightened look turned into a relieved laugh, though.
***
Thus Smeralda the Beautiful, perfect among perfects, moved to Lower Town. The inhabitants soon got used to her – and she to them.
"I wasn't expecting you to be able to do this," Haje said one day, watching her taking care of a sick old woman.
"I must, if I want to be worthy of my only love," she answered without looking at him.
"I thought you loved the New Town, and Chrystal," he replied, puzzled.
"I didn't have a heart there, I loved only myself," she said. "But I discovered it wasn't enough. Now I prefer the Lower Town and a gorgeous and shameless young man with a funny purple patch on his left shoulder."
"Funny?" he protested. "Funny, she says! Do you have an idea how much that funny patch hurt my feelings?"
"How much?" she asked, looking him in the eyes.
"Forget it, I'm just being dumb," he grumbled. "So you came here for me."
"Who else? I didn't know anyone besides you. And you told me to come," she said pulling away a stray wisp of blond hair from her face. She wasn't as perfect as before, her hair was a mess and she didn't wear the latest fashion anymore, but she was still the most stunning woman he'd ever seen.
"Let me finish," he said, gently pushing her away from the bedridden woman. "You're tired, get some rest."
"I'm not tired," she protested.
"Yes, you are. Go home, I'll be there soon."
She obeyed with a little sigh. He followed her with his stare, feeling his heart burst with happiness. He'd gone to the New Town because he felt perfect and had come back more human. Not only that, but Smeralda had followed him.
He finished helping the old woman, then rushed back home where she was eagerly expecting him. He took her in his arms and he kissed her. It was the start of a new life filled with love.
Part 2 – Camilla
"Waldo, this is Mirabilis, the tri-parted city," the brunette announced. "And if we didn't have an official invitation from the new king, you could forget ever entering the New Town."
The young man looked around in awe. The Perfects glared at the two foreigners, but if they'd gotten in, they had permission. It was plain obvious on their faces what they thought about the new king's policies – he had definitely lowered the bar of perfection by allowing anyone into the New Town.
"How long have you known Haje?" Waldo asked looking at the young woman who was his captain.
"Five or six years," she answered. "When I first met him, he still lived in the Lower Town, but he was always in the suburbs around the spaceport, to be closer to the New Town. He was a very ambitious young man."
"Have you been with him?" he asked after a brief hesitation.
"Yes," she answered.
He didn't persist. Another one night stand for fickle Camilla. Danold had told him a few, telling him to give up hope of seducing their captain. But he'd fallen in love with her anyway, even if he hadn't managed to tell her yet.
Besides, Camilla was always so cold and standoffish with her crew... Danold exhorted him to be patient, but Danold was older than him and had known Camilla for longer. And since Waldo was the newcomer, he couldn't tell his captain how much he cared for her yet.
After that first glance, he didn't look around much. He wasn't really interested in the beautiful architecture and the perfect Humanoids walking the wide streets of the New Town – his ideal woman was already walking by his side. He snapped out of his thoughts only in front of the magnificent royal palace, while Camilla seemed much more unimpressed by what was in front of her.
Star Minds Interregnum Page 11