“Yes, Six told me about ‘Feel-crime,’” Mei-Li said. “It’s bizarre that they can arrest you just for having emotions.”
“They will do more than arrest you, yes they will, yes they will,” Yipper said darkly. “Just be certain you are back here when you ought to be. I would not wish you to be harmed. No I wouldn’t, no I wouldn’t.”
Mei-Li was touched by his concern. “That’s very sweet of you, Yipper. I’ll be sure that Six brings me back in time.”
“I will make certain of that myself,” said Six, striding back into the Enhancement Area. He was wearing his exoskeleton again which made him look huge. As big as the white room was, he still seemed to fill it and his heavy boots clanged loudly against the white plates of the metal floor. He looked at Mei-Li. “I see that you have had your counter fitted. Are you ready to go?”
“If Yipper says I can.”
“A moment only. I must check one last time, yes I must, yes I must.” The little Tollege stared intently into her eyes and told her to blink and look in different directions. Then, apparently satisfied, he helped her sit up.
“Thank you,” Mei-Li said, smiling at him.
“You are most welcome. Yes you are, yes you are.” He smiled at her—an odd but endearing expression on his doggy face.
Impulsively, Mei-Li hugged him. “Thank you,” she whispered into his long floppy ear. “You’ve been a wonderful doctor. I just wish procedures at home were so painless.”
“Well, we do our best. Yes we do, yes we do.” Yipper looked pleased when she drew away. Pleased and perhaps a bit embarrassed if she was reading his expression correctly. Probably not many of his other patients thanked him since they were emotionless cyborgs. “May Fortune favor you, my lady. If you have need of me, you can always call me here on the med barge. Yes you can, yes you can.”
“Thank you, Yipper. I’ll remember that,” she said gravely.
“I will see you in one lunar month. Yes I will, yes I will.”
Mei-Li smiled and got off the table. “Yes you will.”
She was sure of it.
Chapter Sixteen
“So this is the female you have claimed.” One looked Mei-Li up and down, a slight frown on his pudgy face.
For her part, Mei-Li returned his gaze, her chin lifted in a challenging way.
“You have a lovely home,” she said to One. “It’s very…utilitarian.” It was clear to Six that she felt she was being put on trial, though it certainly was not the case. One was probably simply interested in her because of the rarity of females on Zeaga Four. Indeed, they were almost nonexistent since the Collective had seen no reason to grow any in the incubation tubes once the original organic females had died out. Mei-Li was indeed a rare and beautiful creature here on his dark gray planet. Her pale cheeks and flashing dark eyes filled with emotion stood out in a world filled with machinery and monotony. She was—
“Six, will you not introduce us?” One asked, breaking his meditation on the small, fierce female before him who was still staring daggers at his mentor.
“Of course. This is Mei-Li,” Six said, trying to bring his wandering thoughts back to order. “She has had ocular enhancements and also her counter has been installed.” He nodded at her and Mei-Li pulled up her tight fitting white sleeve and showed the older organic her dispensation counter where the numerals 00:00:00 still glowed green.
“I see that it has not begun its count yet, however.” One raised a nearly hairless eyebrow, the overhead glow light glinting off his clear skull cap.
“We have not yet been to my domicile. We came straight to yours as Ter told me you instructed.”
“I simply wanted to be certain things were moving along on schedule,” One said. “The sooner your Claiming Period is over, the sooner I will have your undivided attention for…other matters.”
Six frowned. “What other matters?”
“My dear, perhaps you would care to inspect my Nature Simulator,” One said, addressing Mei-Li instead of answering Six’s question. “Only those of the upper echelon, close to the Collective have one. It’s quite fascinating, I assure you. Located just through that doorway in my living area.”
Mei-Li raised an eyebrow at him. “If you’d like privacy to speak to Six, I’m perfectly happy to give it to you. You don’t need to show me a shiny new toy to distract me just because I’m a ‘Feeler.’ Having emotions doesn’t equate with mental incompetence, whatever your people happen to think.”
One blinked at her with an expression that was almost surprise on his round face.
“Very well,” he said. “I would like to speak to Six in privacy if you please. You are welcome to explore my domicile while we converse and I promise not to keep him long. I know you must be…eager to start your Claiming Period.”
“That’s not exactly the word I would use,” Mei-Li said dryly. “Excuse me. I’ll be in the other room.”
She turned and exited One’s work space, letting the door whoosh shut behind her. Six found himself watching the sway of her slim hips as she left the room and had to force himself to stop. When he turned back to One, the older organic was staring at him with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“She is…quite sure of herself, is she not?” he asked, nodding his head in the direction Mei-Li had gone.
“She is,” Six acknowledged. “From the dreams we shared, I feared she would be timid and frightened of everything, especially me. But she has shown herself to have a warrior’s spirit, even when faced with grave danger.”
One frowned. “You sound almost as if you…like this female. Tell me, Six, is this assignment too much for your emotion damper to handle?”
“Of course not.” Six lifted his chin. “I will, of course, protect Mei-Li with my life—that is my duty as a Kindred. But I feel nothing for her. My damper is working perfectly.”
“Good.” One nodded. “I would hate to lose a warrior so close to the Collective—one I consider my protégé—over something so inconsequential as a female.”
Six frowned. “Mei-Li is not inconsequential.”
One frowned back. “So you do feel something for her.”
“Nothing but admiration for her indomitable spirit and intelligence,” Six said firmly but he wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince—himself or his mentor.
“Very well.” One nodded, apparently satisfied. “Then if that is truly all you feel, you will not mind if we consider your Claiming Period to have already started.”
“What?” Six frowned. “But the Claiming Contract states—”
“That the moment you bring the female to your domicile, the Claiming Period starts,” One finished for him. “But for our purposes, we are considering the ship you took her on as your domicile.”
“I don’t understand.” Six shook his head. “Our Claiming Period is already going to be much shorter because the length of our weeks is considerably shorter than those of her own planet or the Kindred Mothership. What is the rush?”
“We have plans involving a coming conquest. I cannot discuss them right now but things are escalating quickly there. It is the will of the Collective that your Claiming Period be as short as possible, while still staying within the boundaries of the Claiming Contract. Do not be concerned…” One raised a hand in a calming gesture. “I have already spoken to High Chancellor Terex aboard the Kindred Mothership and he assures me this will be perfectly legal as long as you strictly follow all other rules.”
“Actually, I wish to speak to you about Chancellor Terex,” Six said, frowning. “I communicated with him as well before I went to claim Mei-Li. He appears to have some very strange and wrong ideas about how females should be treated.”
“Yes, yes—because he is a Feeler. All Feelers are strange and irrational.” One waved his hand dismissively. “Nevertheless, I believe he is to be trusted in the bargain we have struck, no matter how illogical his views.”
“But some of the things he suggested that I do to Mei-Li—”
“W
e need him—at least for now,” One interrupted. “So, if we say that your Claiming Period started when you first took the female aboard your ship, this is technically the last night of your first week. But then, if you count the time you lost crossing the rift—”
“Folding space allows for almost instantaneous travel from one part of the universe to another,” Six objected.
“Yes, but for our purposes, it can count as another day. In which case, your second week begins tonight.” One nodded to himself. “I will send the command to the Collective to reprogram Mei-Li’s counter to reflect the new timeline.” Before Six could object, he closed his eyes in concentration. Through the clear skull-dome he wore, Six could see the wires and electrodes permanently implanted in his brain lighting up in patterns. At last he opened his eyes. “It is done.”
There was a knocking on the door that led into the living area and Mei-Li’s voice said, “Excuse me.”
“Enter,” One called.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said politely, coming in. “But my counter suddenly just flashed and started counting down.” She held out her left forearm which had formerly read 00:00:00 in glowing green. Now the numerals were yellow and read 9:21:58. “I’m a little concerned since I know I’m considered a criminal once this runs out,” she said, motioning to the glowing yellow numerals. “What exactly does it mean?”
“It is the number of days, hours, and minutes left in your dispensation,” One explained.
“What, only nine days?” Mei-Li asked, raising an eyebrow. “But I thought we had an entire month for this.”
“Our weeks are only three days long,” Six explained. “And our days are only twenty-two hours long.”
“But that still doesn’t make sense,” she objected. “In that case this number—” She pointed to the glowing yellow 9, “Ought to be 12.”
“I am afraid your schedule has been adjusted,” One said blandly. “The Collective is choosing to count your time aboard Six’s ship and the medical barge as your first week together. Therefore today, or tonight rather, is the beginning of your second week.”
“The…the bathing week?” Mei-Li’s voice came out in a strangled squeak and her cheeks went suddenly pale.
“Indeed.” One nodded, apparently not noticing her signs of distress. Six did though—his scanner informed him that her heart was beating much too fast and her pulse was racing.
He wondered what was causing her disquiet—surely she didn’t want to spend more time with him on Z4 than she had to. She ought to be glad that their time together had been reduced. But the physical signs of her emotional state—which he was learning to read with greater and greater accuracy—did not show this to be true at all.
“We can speak more about it later,” he said quickly, taking her by the arm. “One is a busy person with much to attend to.”
“So I have.” One nodded genially enough. “It was pleasant to meet you, Mei-Li. Please enjoy your time on our planet.”
“Enjoy?” Mei-Li gave a forced sounding laugh. “I…I guess I’ll try.”
“Very good. Now if you will excuse me.” One closed his eyes and the wires and electrodes in his brain began pulsing and glowing, clearly showing that he was communing with the Collective.
“Come.” Six urged her gently away. Whatever was bothering her, they could speak of it later. He found himself strangely unwilling to discuss her emotions and their causes in front of One. As much as he esteemed the older organic, there was no way he would be able to comprehend Mei-Li’s feelings. Not in the way Six thought he was beginning to, anyway.
* * * * *
The minute they got outside the weird metal door, Mei-Li shook his hand off.
“I’m fine. I can manage on my own,” she said curtly, not looking at him. Instead, she tried to focus on the strange and busy city street in front of her.
The pavement was silvery gray with no plants or trees or bushes at all to break it up. Incredibly tall buildings laid out in neat rows soared up around them, so high they blocked the sunlight, casting the entire street in shadows.
All sorts of people and machines and combinations of the two were walking past. Some looked like they might be robots, others seemed to have minimal enhancements like her own. Still others were cyborg-like with obvious machinery added on to their faces and bodies. But they all had two things in common—they were all male, at least as far as Mei-Li could see—and they all moved in absolute silence. Oh, there was creaking and jingling and clanking of the machinery and in some cases, wheels going by. But none of them was communicating in any way that she could see.
No one was talking on their cell-phones—or whatever the Z4 equivalent of that was. And even when two or more were walking together, none of them were making conversation. They simply marched along in the shadows of the impossibly tall skyscrapers, with dull, uncaring looks on their faces. Those of them that had faces she could read, anyway. Even by using her new enhancement lenses to bring distant faces into focus, she couldn't make out more than blank, impassive expressions.
But why should they talk or laugh or joke when none of them had emotions? They were all living dull gray lives on this dull gray world. Even the air smelled gray—like dust and old motor oil. Mei-Li reflected that she was the only one on this whole planet who cared about anything—who had any feelings. And right now she was wishing she didn’t.
“Are you well?” Six asked, breaking her concentration on the grim cityscape.
“Just fine,” Mei-Li lied. Inside her stomach was churning and her mind was a seething mess but she wasn’t about to show it—not if she could help it.
“My scanner tells me this is an untruth. Is there a problem?” Six asked, just as if he really cared. Which he didn’t—not even a little. Mei-Li had heard him telling his boss so before she moved away from the door and went to look aimlessly around the weird house. Not that it could be much weirder than One—who in the world wore a clear plastic cap over their exposed brain? Ugh!
Of course she told herself Six’s words hadn’t hurt her a bit. After all, he’d been telling her all along that he had no emotions. Why should he care anything at all for her, even after the way they’d kissed and touched each other back on the medical barge? Apparently that had been no big deal to him. Well, fine—it had been no big deal to her too.
But that wasn’t what was bothering her most right now. No, what was freaking her out was—
“Clearly you are upset. Will you please enlighten me as to the cause of your distress?” Six said, his deep voice rumbling in her ear.
“Fine!” Mei-Li rounded on him right there in the middle of the street. “You want to know what’s bothering me? I thought we had more time.” She held out her arm where the counter was meticulously and mercilessly subtracting minutes from her time as a non-criminal. Or a law-abiding citizen. Or whatever you wanted to call it.
“More time for what?” Six frowned. “Surely you are not disappointed to have to spend less time rather than more on my planet?”
“It’s not the amount of time,” Mei-Li said. “It’s the fact that we’re suddenly up to week two. The…the bathing week.”
He frowned. “Do you not enjoy bathing? I was under the impression that you found it a relaxing and refreshing activity as I do myself.”
“Of course I like bathing,” Mei-Li hissed, irritated by his obtuseness. “What I don’t like is having someone else bathing me!”
“You do not desire my hands on your skin?” Six persisted, still apparently confused. “But back on the med barge, you appeared to enjoy it greatly when I touched you. When I—”
“Right, just like you appeared to enjoy it,” she snapped, remembering the words of the man with the metal teeth. “But I guess that was just an act you were putting on. Were you just trying to be polite, pretending you gave a damn about me and how I felt when I kissed you? Was that it?”
Six’s frown deepened. “Certainly not. In fact…” he cleared his throat. “The reason I went to Yi
pper was to have him check my emotion damper because my…reaction to you was so…extreme.”
“Then why did you just now tell your boss that you felt absolutely nothing for me?”
Mei-Li knew she was being unreasonable. They hadn’t known each other that long—certainly not long enough to make any kind of commitment. And even if he had had feelings for her—which he clearly didn’t—it wasn’t like he would be able to admit it to his superior. If he did, he would probably be taken in for reconditioning or whatever it was they did here on good old Z4 to people who committed “Feel-crime.” Still, the words she’d heard before she stopped eavesdropping had hurt. And she had no desire to have any further sexual encounters with a man who absolutely didn’t care about her—even if he did have the body of a Greek god.
“I told him the truth—that I have great admiration for your indomitable will and warrior’s spirit but no…” He cleared his throat. “No emotional attachment.”
“No emotional attachment. That’s great. But you expect me to get naked with you tonight and do…do whatever it is that damn contract says we’re supposed to do.” She could feel her cheeks getting red as she tried not to remember exactly what was entailed in the “bathing week” of the Claiming Period.
Six shook his head. “I don’t see why you are so upset. We will simply be doing as the contract says—”
“Oh yeah? Well, you can do it by yourself, you big jerk.” Mei-Li spun on her heel and marched off into the crowd of strange half-robot/half-people pedestrians.
There were tears in her eyes which made it hard to see, despite her snazzy new lenses and she went blindly, pushing her way through much larger beings who towered over her in all directions like the rows of sun-blocking skyscrapers. She tried to tell herself she was being foolish—Six was right, they were only going to be following a contract. It wasn’t like either of them liked the other or cared how they felt.
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