Enhanced

  That’s a stupid idea. He’s an alien—an alien with no emotions. You’re just projecting your own feelings onto the situation. And even if you’re not imagining things, he’s probably showing things he doesn’t feel. You need to stop mooning over him or you’re going to get all weepy when you have to leave here. Find something to do and stop moping.

  Deciding to take her own advice, Mei-Li went out into the living area with its huge screen that dominated an entire wall. This wasn’t a television or movie screen although Six had told her it could be used to view informational documentaries and reports—pretty much the only kind of program they had on Z4. Its primary use, however, was as part of the nature emulator which was, in fact, sort of a video game.

  The hulking black metal cube in the corner was another part. It was mounted on the ceiling on a rolling track so it could be easily pushed into place in front of the screen, despite the fact that it literally weighed a ton.

  Once positioned in front of the screen, the cube unfolded itself into a cross between a harness and a suit. The operator climbed inside the suit, which fit itself to his (or her) body automatically, and then chose a program from the list that popped up on the huge screen.

  Six had explained all this quickly when he was outlining things she could do during his absence but Mei-Li hadn’t really taken the idea seriously. The nature emulator, as he called it, just sounded like another video game and she had never been terribly interested in those. Probably because her college boyfriend had been completely addicted to them.

  Now, however, she decided to give the nature emulator a try. It was better than moping around the house, anyway.

  Putting her shoulder to the cube, she shoved it and watched as it glided smoothly and silently into place. It unfolded and she climbed up into it, feeling like Ripley in the second Aliens movie wearing her metal fork-lift/loader machine to fight the queen Alien. As soon as she was in, the metal suit adjusted to fit her, despite the fact that she was tiny compared to Six, its usual user. Then she stared at the screen and waited.

  Nothing happened.

  “On,” Mei-Li said. Still nothing. “Up. Power. Programs,” she tried in succession but with no results. She was about to give up in frustration when a cool, robotic voice came over the living room speaker.

  “If you wish to access the nature emulator’s programming, you will need to speak the password.”

  It was Ter, the artificial intelligence she was beginning to think of as Six’s snooty robotic butler.

  “All right—so what’s the password?” Mei-Li asked.

  “I am not authorized to tell you that.” Was there a hint of smugness in the mechanical voice? Mei-Li thought there was.

  “Yes, you are,” she argued. “Six told you to give me access to everything. Everything. And he told me I could use this machine—he must have just forgotten to give me the password. So you can tell me now.”

  “I do not think that would be advisable,” Ter said frostily.

  “I don’t care what you think.” Mei-Li was beginning to lose her temper. “The fact is, Six told you to give me access to the house and everything in it. Now either you tell me the password, or I’ll tell him once he gets home. I don’t think he’ll be very pleased with you if he finds out you were being a jerk while he was gone.”

  “I do not understand your colloquialism,” Ter said loftily. “And being without emotions, I am immune to threats.”

  “Here’s a threat for you—back on Earth when he was first claiming me, Six broke a man’s arms and legs when he attacked me. Today at the marketplace he looked ready to beat up this other guy just for kissing my fingers.” Mei-Li glared at the speaker. “How long do you think it’ll take him to reprogram you or rip out your wiring or circuitry or whatever makes you run if I tell him you’ve been annoying me?”

  “Six would never do such a thing. I have served him faithfully and well for many years.” But was there a slight hint of uncertainty in Ter’s robotic voice? Mei-Li thought so and she pressed her advantage.

  “You sure about that? Want to take a chance?”

  “Fine.” Ter sounded positively sulky now. “The password is “Kaylee”.”

  “What? That sounds like a girl’s name.” Mei-Li frowned. “I thought there weren’t any girls or females of any kind on Z4.”

  “I am authorized to give you the password, not the meaning behind it,” Ter said snippily. “I suggest that you use it if you wish to access the nature emulator and amuse yourself while Six is gone.”

  “Fine, I will,” Mei-Li snapped back. God, she knew it was silly since Ter was just a mechanical voice but the snooty artificial intelligence really got on her nerves. “Kaylee,” she said, looking directly at the screen.

  At once it lit up in a brilliant aquamarine, brighter than anything she had yet seen on Z4. A dozen or so options popped up on a list that scrolled across the vast screen, almost too fast for her to read.

  Thanks to the translation bacteria Yipper had given her, Mei-Li found she could understand the words she was seeing even though they were clearly in an alien language.

  “Let’s see,” she murmured. “Let’s try…Depths of the Argoth Sea.”

  Her choice was illuminated in gold and then the screen went blank for a moment. When it came back on again, it showed an eerie underwater scene, filled with tall black plants swaying in an unseen current and oddly shaped, brightly colored creatures with long, thin spines like sea anemones with legs climbing among their leaves. The water was pale purple and very clear. Staring straight at the screen, Mei-Li almost felt like she was really there.

  But after a few minutes of staring at the alien oceanscape, the novelty wore off. What was the point of getting strapped into a huge metal suit just to watch what was essentially a really cool screen saver? Was something else supposed to happen or was she just supposed to marvel at the alien wonders?

  She was about to say the password and switch to another program when Ter spoke up.

  “If you wish to move around in the nature emulator, you have to actually move,” he said, sounding decidedly snarky. “Are all your species lacking in intelligence or are you an anomaly among them?”

  “Hey, you’re this close to being dismantled,” Mei-Li was getting really fed up with the nasty voice. “Or maybe replaced. I could tell Six to get someone a lot nicer to assist him. Maybe a nice female artificial intelligence—this place could use a feminine touch.”

  Ter, wisely, didn’t respond and after a moment, she decided to move as he had said. She took a step and found that the scene in front of her moved forward, but not very much. Another step had a similarly disappointing effect. Then it occurred to her that since she was supposed to be in the ocean, maybe she ought to act like it. Taking a deep breath, she brought out her arms and mimed a swimming motion.

  There was a soft wooshing sound in her ears and suddenly she found herself being propelled forward at a much faster rate. She got into it further, leaning forward and using her legs to kick which was possible since the cube’s metal frame supported her free of the ground. Soon she was swimming along, exploring the underwater depths of the alien sea, and feeling truly immersed in the experience.

  This is awesome! And I bet it’s great exercise, she thought as she cruised along. Too bad they don’t have something like this at my gym! I’d go all the time if I could—

  Her thoughts were cut off by a huge shape, looming in the stygian shadows. Mei-Li watched it uneasily, wondering what in the world it could be. As it drew closer, the creature turned to one side and she saw a cluster of flashing yellow eyes on its forehead. Then it opened its mouth, revealing three rows of razor sharp teeth, all of them as long as her forearm.

  “Oh my God! End Program,” Mei-Li babbled. “Um, stop. Cease. Desist. Off!”

  None of it did any good. The huge creature with the flashing eyes and huge teeth was getting closer and closer…

  “Kaylee!” she gasped at last, remembering the password.

 
At once the screen flickered and went back to its original list of programs.

  “My, my…that was a bit too close for comfort.” Ter’s disembodied voice sounded insufferably smug this time. “Six always kills the merlock fish with a single blow and goes on from there. But I suppose it was a bit beyond your skill level?”

  “Shut up,” Mei-Li muttered. Really, there was no point in fighting with a machine. It was just a stupid waste of time. She decided to peruse the list of options and find a new game to play. “Let’s try…The Winds of Annorr,” she said aloud.

  Before she knew it, she was flying. Or rather, falling. The screen showed a pale green sky filled with purple clouds and she could hear the air rushing past her ears as a blue ground loomed up below.

  “Oh, no!” she gasped. Instinctively, she spread her arms and to her relief, her fall slowed somewhat. Getting the idea, Mei-Li began to flap her arms like wings. Soon she was soaring above the purple clouds like a bird, laughing exuberantly at her freedom.

  The program was so real, she completely lost herself in it. There was even a wind rushing out of the screen that blew back her hair and fanned her face with a delicious, alien scent she couldn’t describe. Really, it was absolutely amazing.

  But even flying got old after a while. Also tiring. She had been right about the nature emulator being great exercise—she could tell she was really going to feel everything she had done today in her muscles tomorrow. Still, it was a lot of fun and there wasn’t much else to do while Six was gone. Maybe she could find a nice slow program? One that let her walk calmly through a soothing meadow or explore a lovely forest?

  “Kaylee,” she said again and the green sky and purple clouds disappeared to be replaced by the list of programs. Mei-Li read through them rapidly.

  “Ximboth Cliffs, Mariz Heights—no, those sound like mountain climbing programs. Baroth Triple Challenge—have no idea what that is, some kind of Kindred triathlon? The Burden of Chanex? No, sounds like some kind of weight lifting.”

  It was clear to see why Six was in such amazing shape but she was beginning to wonder if he used his nature emulator for anything but intense workouts. Wasn’t there even one tiny little relaxation program on this sci-fi exercise thing? Where was the Paladin’s Pilates or Yoda’s Yoga? Downward Dog we will do… Mei-Li snickered to herself. Right.

  Then, just as she was deciding to give up and go play with the simulator in the kitchen, a final program on the list caught her eye. It was simply entitled Memory Cache.

  “Memories, huh?” Mei-Li muttered to herself. “Now that’s intriguing.” But she hesitated. Yipper had hinted that Six had a tragedy in his past. She didn’t want to pry into his business—it was rude and sneaky, not to mention downright unethical. Like reading someone’s diary but far worse.

  Still, it might help me get to know Six better if I had an idea of what happened to him in the past, she argued with herself. Think of it as research. How can I help him if I don’t know his case history?

  But Six was not one of her clients—he wasn’t a frightened child who had been traumatized or abused. He was a grown man—well, a grown Kindred. He hadn’t asked for her help and he didn’t need it. He had locked these memories away for some reason and he hadn’t appeared to want to tell that reason to her. This part of him was private—not to be tampered with or violated.

  Reluctantly, Mei-Li decided she’d better not play the Memories program.

  "Okay," she muttered to herself. "Memory Cache sounds cool but I guess I'd better move on to something else." She was about to hit the red release button to get out of the harness when the word Memory Cache flickered and turned gold.

  “Hey—hey, wait, no,” Mei-Li protested, frowning at the screen. “I didn't mean—”

  But the words died on her lips as she saw the scene begin.

  The huge screen showed what looked like the inside of a spaceship. At least, she could see a bank of controls and a viewscreen that showed the blackness of space and a sprinkling of distant stars. A man was sitting at the controls—or rather, a Kindred. Mei-Li could only see his back but he was large and muscular enough that she was sure she was right.

  The Kindred turned his head, showing a profile not unlike Six’s though his hair was several shades lighter and his eyes were green instead of gray.

  “Come up here, son. I’ll show you the docking procedure for a deep space port.” He was speaking in a language that was obviously foreign but thanks to her translation bacteria, Mei-Li understood it just fine.

  “Will you really? Mamere won’t mind?” The voice that replied in the same language was very familiar—it sounded like Six but without his bass rumble. Higher—like a boy in the first stages of adolescence.

  “You’re old enough to learn,” the Kindred father said firmly, patting the co-captain’s chair beside him. “Come on. I won’t let you crash us.”

  “Thanks, Pere.” The boy came forward eagerly—or at least, Mei-Li was pretty sure he did because the scene shifted closer to the father. It was like she was riding in the boy’s head and looking out of his eyes.

  Oh, right—because this is Six’s memory. So I’m seeing what he saw when it happened, Mei-Li realized. She also realized that she ought to stop the program right now—what she was doing was an invasion of privacy. But she couldn’t help wanting to watch just a little more, if only to possibly catch a glimpse of what Six had looked like when he was younger, before life on Z4 had hardened him. Just one more minute, she told herself. Surely that can’t hurt. Just another minute…

  “All right now, look,” the father said, once the scene had settled again with the boy presumably sitting in the co-captain’s chair. “The first thing you want to do is check your navriscope. If it’s clear, you’re safe. If it starts to get darker, you’re running into trouble and your angle of descent is too steep or too shallow. Go on—check.”

  “Yes, Pere.” Obediently, the scene shifted as the younger Six looked at the instrument his father was pointing out. Mei-Li bit back a gasp at what she saw in its shiny silver surface.

  It was Six—but Six as he must have been years before she met him. Gone was the enhancement that turned his left eye into a baleful red searchlight. Instead, he had two calm gray eyes fringed thickly with black lashes. The hard angle of his jaw was muted in his younger self but it was clearly just waiting to develop. His thick brown hair was shaggy and tousled instead of neatly combed back from his high forehead and he was much smaller than he would someday become.

  From her years of experience working with kids, Mei-Li, judged that this memory must be from the time when he was twelve or thirteen. Maybe fourteen at the most. Then he glanced away again and the brief look she’d gotten at his younger face was over.

  Okay, I really should stop watching now—I got to see his face. That was all I wanted. But though she knew she ought to turn the program off, somehow she couldn’t bear to stop watching. This glimpse into Six’s younger life was just too intriguing. Just one more minute…

  “Looks good—all clear,” she heard Six tell his father. “Now what—fire the thrusters?”

  “Smart boy.” The father sounded pleased. “Yes, if your angle of descent is right and you have a clear view to the docking berth, you can pulse them very carefully.”

  “I can do that.” The younger Six sounded confident in his abilities and Mei-Li liked the way his father was guiding him. There were a few more exchanges as they brought the ship closer to a vast metal structure that was now looming in the viewscreen—presumably the space station they were docking with. The father was calm and collected—a really good dad. And the younger Six seemed to have genuine affection and respect for him as they worked together.

  Mei-Li pursed her lips, analyzing the scene like the social worker she was. So far, this seemed like a normal, healthy, functional family and a good memory. Nobody was getting beaten or molested or verbally abused. So why had Six locked it up? What was so terrible about it that he couldn’t bear to remember it?
>
  “Why are we stopping at Ligex Station anyway?” the younger Six asked his father. “We just took on supplies a few parsecs ago on Chanem.”

  “Yes, but Chanem only has practical things—boring stuff like provisions.” His father raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Nothing that would make a very good nameday present.”

  “You’re docking just for me? To find me something for my nameday?” The younger Six sounded undeniably excited. Proof that he’d had plenty of emotions before getting that damn emotion damper he seemed so proud of, Mei-Li thought dryly.

  “Well, it’s not every solar year that a boy becomes a grown male.” His father smiled. “If we were on the world where I was raised, there would be a whole ceremony for you to participate in. But since we’re not—”

  “You mean since your mind aligned with a female from Terga who has the wanderlust in her blood,” a new voice said. “And you bonded with her to become a vagabond trader.”

  The scene shifted again as the younger Six turned to look at his mother. She was a tall woman with beautiful gray eyes, the same color as his. Long dark hair hung down past her shoulders.

  “You know there’s no place I’d rather be than wandering the universe with you, Isla.” The father was looking at her with love and affection in his eyes. Clearly it was a happy union.

  “Hi, Mamere. Pere is teaching me how to dock,” the younger Six said. There was a note of uncertainty in his voice, as though he wasn’t certain she would approve.

  “Then he must think you’re ready.” His mother came forward and put a slim hand on his shoulder. “My big, grown-up son. I remember when you were just a baby…” She sighed and there was both pride and a sweet kind of nostalgia in her eyes.