Postsingular

Back in the bedroom, Sonic and Jayjay were still fooling around with the shoons. Happy Shoon was pacing around to mime deep thought, but the other shoons were rolling around like puppies.

"One of my beezies traced back the beetles' history for us," a

"You know-" said Nektar, regally nude, pausing to enjoy the eyes upon her. "I kept trying to think what those beetles reminded me of, and now I realize they're like nants. That blind, pushy quality. The Jeff Luty co

"Right on, Nektar," said Kittie.

"Go to the Armory," urged Nektar. "Go to the Armory and check yourselves into the Natural Mind center. Talk sense to Andrew Topping."

"Natural Mind," mused Jayjay. "A janitor told us to go there this morning. Coincidence or trap?"

"Aw, people always mention Natural Mind if you're sleeping in the street," said Sonic. "I'm down with going there. Put some heat on Topping's ass. He's a megaspammer, man. Of course, duh, thanks to the orphidnet, he'll know we're coming, assuming his beezies data-mine this conversation. Maybe the Natural Minders won't let us in."

Jayjay made a dismissive gesture. His attention had wandered to Thuy. "You done watching Nektar take her shower?" he demanded. "Leave that for Kittie. Come sit with me. I'm the one who loves you."

Thuy strode over, gave Jayjay such a hard shove with her gold-clad foot that he fell over on his side, then perched herself on him as if she were sitting on a log. He lay there, looking happy to be in physical contact. Poor men, thought Nektar, they're dogs. Jayjay was cute, too. If Thuy didn't want him, maybe Jil Zonder would. Jil deserved a fling. It might shake her out of her doldrums.

"Why didn't you and the beezies fix Nektar yourselves instead of calling in a strung-out pighead derelict like Jayjay?" Thuy asked the shoons, wagging her finger at them. "You there-the shoon that looks like me-squeak up! You can talk, can't you?"

The tiny Thuy-shaped shoon bobbled her little pigtails and spoke in a surprisingly rich alto voice: "We can talk. We can sing." Capering expressively, the shoon now performed a bit of Papageno's aria from The Magic Flute, vibrating her whole body like a loudspeaker.

The Big Pig Posse kids laughed.

And then the shoon laid her little finger against her lips to mime secretiveness. "Let's switch to quantum-encrypted instant messages," she said. With everything visible and audible via the quantum-entangled surface-mesh-monitoring orphidnet, the one way to have a private conversation was via dynamically encoded messaging.

"I'm not a derelict, I'm important," said Jayjay, rolling out from under Thuy and catching his arms around her waist. "See-the shoon-beezies want to make plans with us! I'll set up a secure cha

Nektar ignored the pla

The sheets on the bed were disgraceful. Nektar stripped them off and threw them into the hamper, with Kittie right there at her side pitching in. Nektar needed breakfast: a quart of Lapsang Souchong tea and a bowl of granola with apricots and yogurt. She called over Happy Shoon and sent him downstairs to make the tea. He was the most trustworthy of the lot, Jil's original model.

"Would you four like to come downstairs with me?" Nektar asked the Big Pig Posse. Kittie nodded, but the others didn't. They were so into their private conference that they didn't hear her.

"Time to eat!" Nektar messaged into the Posse's quantum-encrypted cha

"We had some food already," said Jayjay out loud. "Maybe we should-"

"It's been a couple of hours," said Kittie quickly. "You should be glad to eat with Chef Nektar. Are you kidding? What an honor. You guys can talk later."

As they headed down the stairs someone knocked on the front door. Looking through the orphidnet, Nektar saw Jil Zonder and Craigor Co

"Wow," said Kittie. "We're smack in the middle of the Founders show."

"Maybe I'll make a special episode with just you," Nektar purred to Kittie. "Can you be a dear and let them in? I feel like I'll go crazy if I don't get my tea this minute."

Nektar hurried into the kitchen and poured herself a mug of smoky black tea with two spoons of sugar and enough whole milk to cool it down-ahh. The caffeine molecules ran up and down the corridors of her brain turning on the lights. She fixed herself a bowl of cereal, then sat down at the kitchen table as the crowd appeared.

"Poor Nektar," said Craigor, pushing forward. "You had, like, mind parasites? I would have come earlier, but I thought, you know, she's losing weight with sudocoke."

"You would think that," said Nektar, crabbily. "Sit down; don't hover. Help yourself to some food. Scavenge. My four young friends here, the Big Pig Posse, they're used to finding their meals in garbage cans. But try my fridge first. Thanks for coming, Jil."

Jil looked good today; her bobbed dark hair lustrous, her figure sweet in jeans and a pullover. Instead of answering Nektar out loud, she sent a quantum-encrypted message. "You can have Craigor for good. It'll never be the same between us again. You've ruined our marriage." Stone-faced, she turned away and opened Nektar's fridge.

"Really he loves you," messaged back Nektar. "I'm sorry I did it. The last few times were just for the Founders ratings. And I was drunk the first time. You don't know what hell I've been through. In my head I keep begging you to be my friend again. Please, Jil."

"Fu