Bill didn’t look happy with that at all. Okay, perhaps not happy was an understatement. Of course, I was an adult, and the leader of a world, so I was happy there were no witnesses when I looked at my fiancé and wheedled.
“I’m just going to talk, or actually, soul read them while they read me. At least, that’s what I think their plan is.”
Bill frowned, “Then there should be no trouble with me coming along in the shuttle.”
I sighed, “I suppose that works, I was just being cautious. I don’t think they mean harm, and I’m sure it will be fine, but what if their brain waves are damaging somehow? I just though it prudent to lessen the risk.”
Bill crossed his arms, “Then I should go.”
I smiled lightly and kissed him, “Sorry, I’m the only soul reader here, if there is a danger it would be lessened for me because of that, it will also increase the chances of meaningful communication if I can read one of them as well. You can come on the shuttle, but I’d appreciate it if you’d stay inside of it while we’re down there.”
He nodded reluctantly, not happy but he understood it.
Kristi sighed, “You’re excited about this aren’t you, damn crazy alien. I wonder why now. The whole Bug thing was last month.”
I shrugged, “Maybe they talk everything to death before doing something. It could be they’ve just decided on a course of action from last month’s activities. I’m just glad they responded before we launched our planned probes in a few days, that would have muddied the waters even further. Come to that, their decision could have originated from a discussion sparked by us getting subspace technology in the first place, and taken months to decide.”
Bill grinned, “So like the Treants in Lord of the Rings.”
“Something like that, but it’s all just a guess.”
Kristi sighed, “Fine, I’m going back to bed, since this whole thing seems to be on hold for a day. I’ll contact you in a few hours.”
“Night,” I said, and she and Joe blinked off.
Bill asked, “Are you tired?”
I shook my head, I was too wired, and then I smiled, “Want to see the bedroom? Or maybe the hot tub?”
Bill raised an eyebrow, “Hot tub?”
I blushed, “I was missing home at the time, and decided we really didn’t need a bridge, so I turned it into a work out room slash hot tub.”
Bill nodded, “Maybe you better show me that hot tub,” he drawled slowly while he looked me up and down.
I smiled, and we headed that way…
Chapter Nine
The day went pretty slowly, but I gave Bill a full tour of the space house, and we found pleasant things to do to while away the time. We went to bed a bit early, to get a full night’s sleep before we arrived at the planet in the wee hours of the morning.
Kristi and Joe had done the same, and as I’d suspected the Drenil had landed on the planet about a mile away from the city under construction, and seemed to be waiting.
Kristi frowned, “I don’t like it, but I know you’ll go anyway, just be careful okay?”
Bill echoed her sentiment, “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I grinned, “Let’s go,” and we headed down to the garage as Kristi called it, and got in one of the sports shuttles. The mini-landing bay, as I liked to call it, depressurized and opened up, and we took the shuttle down to the surface, and landed maybe fifty feet away from the Drenil shuttle.
I took a deep breath, and then kissed Bill, “I’ll be right back.”
We both activated our pressure suits, and the material closed over our faces and sealed. Then I opened the door and walked about halfway to the shuttle, and then I waited. I couldn’t help but notice the airlock door on the shuttle was about four feet wide and twelve feet high. The Drenil wasn’t going to be tiny and cute.
The door opened and an amorphous creature stepped out, as far as I could see, it wasn’t wearing a suit. It was about ten feet tall, and then nine, and then nine point five. There was no recognizable head, or body, it was just a blob that seemingly had no shape at all. Truly alien.
What followed is extremely hard to describe, like explaining the color blue to a blind man.
When he stepped forward I read his, her, or its soul. Serenity was the best word I could use to explain their core, or at least, the core of this particular being. I also sensed a nebulous feeling of something like nervousness, but it had a slightly different flavor than what I’d sense from a nervous humanoid.
Honestly, that relaxed me more than the serenity did, the Drenil was nervous, which from my point of view was ridiculous. I also detected a massive intellect, a serene massive intellect. I’d never felt something like that before, and wondered if I was really sensing it, or if the Drenil was pushing it from itself somehow.
Or maybe I had undeveloped and latent powers of the mind, and the Drenil’s mind was just loud enough to hear with it?
There was no sign that the Drenil meant me any harm, and there was something similar to curiosity and bafflement, a temporary emotion, barely noticeable past the serenity and intellect.
Then I froze, because if I was a soul reader, then the Drenil were soul delvers. He, she, or it didn’t just read my soul, he touched it. I knew the Drenil meant no harm, but his soul abilities eclipsed mine a thousand times more than mine eclipsed a human with sharp powers of intuition.
The Drenil may have intended it as a hug, but what happened was a soul crushing hug, my mind and soul had no defense against it, no more than a human had against a playful lion meaning no harm when it playfully swatted a human. The difference in our abilities was vast in a way I couldn’t explain, and those crude metaphors would just have to do.
Then impossibly, it got worse, as he not only delved into my soul, but also my mind. The vast towering intellect I’d sensed crushed my mind and laid my thoughts bare. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t move, I didn’t fail to resist, it just wasn’t possible too. After what seemed like an eternity, the Drenil finally relented, and released me. I passed out…
I groaned and opened my eyes, “What the hell happened, where am I?”
My head was killing me, and someone close by was breathing way too loudly.
He cleared his throat, “I’m doctor Stanton. What do you remember?”
I frowned, “I was on the planet. To try and communicate in some meaningful way with the Drenil. What happened, how did I get here?”
When I heard Bill’s voice I calmed a bit.
“You were out for two days Alicia. The Drenil returned to their ship and left. As for what happened to you, Al used the artificial gravity to put you back in the shuttle and I took you straight to the doctors while Al returned the house ship to the station.”
I sighed, “What’s wrong with me? I have a huge headache.”
The doctor sighed, “Nothing. There is no physical trauma at all, not even to your brain, although your scans showed abnormal stimulation in your brain, but that settled after a few hours. You shouldn’t have a headache at all.”
I was slightly amused, the doctor almost sounded personally offended that I had a headache.
I frowned, “Probably just bruised my soul.”
The doctor coughed, “What?”
“Umm, nothing. Never mind that, so they just left and haven’t come back, or tried to communicate?”
Bill said, “No, what did you discover?”
Kristi came running in and hugged me, “Don’t ever do anything that stupid again.”
I smirked, “You just don’t want to run this place.”
She snickered but still looked upset at the same time, “Damned right I don’t.”
I shrugged when I turned back to Bill, “Nothing I can prove scientifically. They’re… really different, and so much more than we are mentally, and soul wise. They’re peaceful, but we already knew that, and they have an incredible serenity to them. Tranquil, calm, peaceful. I’ve no idea how to talk to them, or translate them, but I got the impression the Dre
nil got a lot more from me than I did from it.
“So hopefully they’ll open a dialogue.”
That was a major understatement, I was sure they’d pinned my mind and soul down and read every thought, feeling, and inclination I’d ever had, since the day I was born. I didn’t want to say that out loud though, they’d think I was crazy.
All three of them stared at me, I rest my case.
Regardless, if I was right about that, then they’d be able to speak at our level once they’d absorbed it. Perhaps they went to discuss it some more after reading me? The strange thing was I didn’t really feel violated by it, or embarrassed, they were just too alien for that. I didn’t even feel judged. I was sure a more primitive humanoid would think them gods or angels after an experience like that. Unfortunately, in a comparison between human and insect, we really came out as the bug.
“My headache is clearing. Can I go?” It really was, mostly.
The doctor snorted, “I treat bodies, not… souls,” he said the word almost distastefully, as if dismissing such a possibility, and then continued, “There is nothing wrong with your body and your brain activity returned to normal forty hours ago and hasn’t changed since. You can go if you want. Come back though, if your symptoms persist, and I’ll take another look.”
I happily escaped the med bay, only to be taken straight home and coddled by my fiancé and best friend. I managed to convince them to allow me the couch, and not the bed. A short time later I was brought food, something to drink, and as I started to eat Nadia, Joe, and Karen showed up.
“What?” I asked of the scowling faces.
Nadia sighed, “Was it worth it? You could have died.”
I shrugged helplessly, “It will be if they come back and can talk to us.”
Kristi asked, “If? I thought you said they got a lot more from you.”
I nodded, “They did, but they might decide we aren’t worth talking to.”
Joe and Bill snickered.
I grinned, “It’s true. They may have simply come to find out Kristi and my intentions and plans with the subspace technology. If they’ve learned what they’d intended to, then they’d have no reason to tell us anything. They might, it’s really hard to say.”
Kristi accused, “Your hopeless.”
I nodded, “Maybe. So what else has gone on in my absence.”
Al spoke, “I am pleased you are recovered. Not much of note has happened here on the station, however Jason has had a breakthrough back on Earth, and is convinced he’s found a solution.”
I looked at Kristi, and she nodded.
“Okay Al, go ahead and make an android. Female, late twenties, attractive but not overly so, and build a new quantum computer with a female A.I. with personality programming.”
Al said, “Working, it should be ready in twenty-four hours.”
I looked around at the surprised faces and smiled.
“I want to see it for myself, before I agree. Once it’s verified we can close the Colorado location down, since Dr. Delouse works out of Texas. I don’t want to take that action until I’m sure he has it solved though.”
Kristi shrugged, “Makes sense, I’ve just been worried about you and hadn’t thought it through, why late twenties and only somewhat attractive.”
I frowned, “Not threatening, appealing to a wide group of demographics, not so gorgeous that people think sex-bot, and finally still attractive enough to gain acceptance…”
Nadia snickered.
“Was that too blunt?” I asked innocently.
Kristi shook her head, “Nope, all good reasons. What will you do with her after you’ve verified it?”
I grinned, “Build Al a body, she’ll need a boyfriend.”
Al objected, “I have no interest in a romantic relationship, or an android body.”
I sighed in faux sadness, “Poor Jenna, not even born yet and already rejected.”
Everyone laughed, except Al. I knew he didn’t really want an android body, he already told me it wouldn’t help him anticipate my needs or serve me better so there was no point in one. I supposed it was kind of silly to tease an A.I., but more and more Al seemed like a real person to me. Still, I knew that was an illusion, he was an intelligent entity, but he wasn’t a being with his own needs, desires, or emotions.
Karen asked, “So what will you do with her?”
I blew out a breath, “Not sure yet, I’ll think of something.”
Kristi frowned, “You’re up to something.”
I winked, but didn’t tell. It was a crazy idea after all…
Chapter Ten
Jenna was adorable. She had a cute face, long brown hair, and hazel eyes. She had an athletic body that looked to be in shape, but was fairly average in proportion for a woman in shape. Al had done an excellent job in doing as I’d asked. She still wasn’t quite real for me, but it only took me a few minutes of talking to her to realize it was the soul reading thing. So we probably wouldn’t sell many of them on Knomen worlds.
She still creeped me out a little bit because I couldn’t sense her soul, and knew something was wrong. Everything else was perfect, I even had to remind myself that she wasn’t human, because she had all the right mannerisms and a programmed personality that mimicked emotions, even if she didn’t really have any. Honestly, that’s where all the controversy would come from I think.
Kristi, Bill, Joe, and Karen all swore she was humanlike. She looked like the girl next door crossed with a soccer mom.
I’d finally come clean an hour or so ago, as we sat at the restaurant, and watched everyone as we ate a slow leisurely meal.
Jenna was playing hostess and waitress tonight, and we were paying attention to the people, we even had little messages sent to each patron, asking them to provide feedback on the service. Oh, and I forbade Jenna from telling anyone she was an android unless directly asked. So far, no one had. It was a sneaky test, and it proved a couple of things to me.
First, it proved Jason had succeeded, and I started the process of closing down the business location, now the only business on Earth we were involved with was with Cindy. Although we would continue to support him in sales and fabrication on Earth where we could, we’d also make Jason a very rich man on other worlds.
Secondly, well that was a surprise. It was a crazy plan, and bound to cause controversy, but I didn’t care.
It was the next afternoon, after I’d read through over a hundred feedback cards that all praised the new woman’s service, that the idea had solidified in my mind.
Nadia, Kristi, and I were in Karen’s office.
“Karen, I assume we haven’t had a landslide of applicants?”
She sighed, “No, we haven’t.”
I nodded, “Well, here’s my crazy idea. Jenna did really well at the restaurant, what I propose is we make fifty or so androids, all unique, and give them the jobs that need the personal touch. Like bartender, waitress, massage therapist, hairdresser and all the other positions humanoids are used to humanoids holding. If humans don’t want the jobs, we’ll give them to androids. Just take down the ads. Then we can concentrate on the scientists and science, and their families.”
Kristi frowned, “They liked Jenna enough, but what will they think if they find out what she is?”
“That part I haven’t worked out yet. Do we tell them, let them figure it out themselves, or what? There are advantages to both. If they find out for themselves they’ll likely already be predisposed to keep liking them, but they’d also most likely be angry and embarrassed at being fooled like that. Is it a crazy idea?
“We can even make sure the right android is the right personality for the job. Like a discrete masseuse, a more mature look for a hairdresser, and a slightly more attractive and outgoing personality for a bartender or bar waitress. I’m less worried about the androids being accepted as I am about enabling personal laziness, but then most of the scientists’ spouses already aren’t working, so is there a difference?”
Kare
n said, “Well, we would save on shuttles.”
Kristi laughed, “That would be true, if they actually cost us anything.”
Nadia shook her head, “I think it’s a good idea. Especially if you’re having trouble hiring. Maybe once this initial group of scientists passes muster, and you’ve been around for a while you might draw more people, other than scientists I mean. Humans could take the jobs eventually, but we need the help right now.”
Kristi asked, “But what about the androids, when they’re no longer needed.”
I smiled and said humorously, “We’ll make them management.”
Karen coughed in surprise, “Really?”
I shook my head, “Probably not, it would upset people. Babysitters, personal assistants, I don’t know, I’m sure we could find something. Once the few hundred becomes thousands I’m sure Bill will need help with keeping order. If nothing else, we can always sell them.”
They all nodded slowly, and Kristi said, “I like it. It is kind of crazy, but its either that or bang our heads against the wall.”
Karen nodded, and Nadia just shrugged, which almost made it unanimous.
“Al, did you hear that, can you get production started for the needed jobs?”
Al said in his normally patient voice, “Of course Alicia, they’ll be online in thirty-six hours.”
I frowned, “That fast?”
Al replied, “Yes, we have a great number of quantum fabricators on the ship, which can all put out one processor in the next twenty-four hours, and there are a lot of fabricators, and not much wait time with only a hundred and fifty scientists. As you know, this facility was designed to support thousands. The final twelve hours is for the programming modifications you requested.”
“Thanks Al.”
Over the next few weeks a number of things happened.
First, my headaches truly did eventually completely fade and go away. I hadn’t lied about it in the medical ward, but mostly faded had left a sensitivity and after headache that took almost the full three weeks to go away. I was under the impression it was my soul that was hurt though, not my mind or body, which ironically was backed up by the doctor’s comments that nothing was wrong with my body.
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