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The time she had wasted, trying to be a human being, trying to get along with human beings. Madness. Madness born of memory, the terror of the playground and her determination to avoid it at any cost. But she could not. The community of humans was the playground. That was all it could ever be, not because of human nature, but because of her own.
Helix looked down at the street fronting Orielle’s loft. Someone was approaching. It was Be
“I believe we have a visitor,” said a silken voice behind her. Helix turned to see Orielle making an entrance from her gauze shrouded bed chamber at the back of the loft. “The security holo tells me your esteemed colleague, Benjamin, has chosen to grace us with his presence. I believe he’ll be ringing the bell right about-” She was interrupted by a soft chime. “Now.” She smiled. One of Orielle’s body guards emerged from the bed chamber and went downstairs to answer the door. Be
“What happened to you?” Chango asked.
He waved off her concern, shaking his head. “Pauly didn’t take kindly to my heading him off. After that, it turned into a police brawl.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t get arrested,” said Vonda, sitting stiffly on the couch. Her eyes kept flickering over to Helix, making sure she kept her distance.
Be
“However did you guess that your friends were here?” asked Orielle.
“I knew once they broke free of the mob they’d get out of Vattown. You like Helix, and you have the power to defend her.”
“Yes,” Orielle inclined her chin, and spread her arms. “But she ca
“I was just trying to tell her she should go back to GeneSys, but she jumped all over my case,” said Vonda. “Orielle’s right, sooner or later the divers will figure out that she’s here.”
“Nonsense,” said Orielle, “As long as she stays out of the picture, they’ll quickly forget about her. That’s not what I meant. That girl needs to be surrounded by a large quantity of growth medium. She needs a vat.”
Chango stared at her. “We can bring it here,” she said. We can make a tank for her.”
“What do you think this is, Sea World? No. Escorting her to safety at the bar was one thing, taking her in today was another, but installing her as a permanent member of my household, that’s one too many.”
Be
“In the biopoly department. They had a research center there.”
“Yeah. The project was underwritten by GeneSys, and when the college folded, they kept it ru
“Until they could hire everyone they wanted into their own research department,” said Chango. “They closed it a few years ago.”
“True. But the vats will still be there.”
oOo
Hector strode through the glass doors of A
Sir!” she cried in his wake, “Do you have an appointment?”
He glanced over his shoulder as he opened the door to A
A
Still staring at him, A
“Yes, that would be wonderful. Thank you.” Hector sank onto the couch and relished the moment, as the CEO of GeneSys fetched him a glass of water. He should have done this a long time ago, he thought. A
He nodded, and she smiled, a sweet smile so perfectly reassuring, so i
“I was in Nathan Graham’s office. We were having an argument about the tetra project. He seems bound and determined to interfere with my work on it, and lately his distractions have ruined my concentration. I was trying to explain to him that I needed space for my work, mental space, when suddenly he started screaming at me and pushed me to the floor. I think it’s only fair to inform you that I thoroughly intend to press charges on the matter. The kind of support or resistance I receive from the company in the course of this legal proceeding will determine whether or not I remain an employee of GeneSys.”
A
That was what he was afraid of. Hector nodded mutely.
“I don’t have to tell you that you are a deeply valued member of my company. I very much appreciate your coming to me with this problem. Unfortunately my various responsibilities prevent me from keeping abreast with all the exciting developments in the research department. What is this tetra project that Graham’s been giving you so much trouble with?”
Hector licked his lips. “Its goal is to replace the paid labor force in vat maintenance and decanting with an engineered organism capable of performing those duties. It’s a difficult problem and Graham has been increasingly impatient with my progress. A month ago he called a meeting with me to ask when I would be ready with a prototype. In all honesty I couldn’t give him a definite answer, and that’s when he started questioning everything; demanding explanations for expenditures, dropping by the lab at all hours, and recruiting my assistants as spies.”
“I see. And what precipitated the confrontation between the two of you today?”
He didn’t dare mention anything of Helix’s plight, or the situation with the other tetras. It was probably only a matter of time before A
A
Hector stood up, toppling the empty water glass at his feet. “You have to stop him,” he blurted. A
Hector’s jaw worked. “From interfering in my project,” he managed to say.
“Oh I will. I will.”
Moments later Graham arrived, escorted by two GeneSys security feet in yellow and green uniforms. He eyed Hector with cold hostility, his face pale.