Dr. Veil doesn’t apologize verbally, but the look on her face is enough.But what can she do?She’s been given these instructions by the Sovereigns. I read the Celestial Spire handbook. If she doesn’t do this, she will be physically punished or worse.
“Will it hurt?”
“There will be some initial discomfort as it adapts to yourphysiology, but after that, you should barely notice it.” She pauses. “I can administer a mild analgesic if you prefer.”
“No. If I'm going to do this, I want to feel it. I want to remember what this place costs me.”
Dr. Veil's expression softens. “You're an admirable woman, Eve. Now, please remove your lower garments.”
Shame and humiliation overwhelm me, making my hands tremble as I obey. I lie back, naked from the waist down, and open my legs. When the device touches my skin, it feels alien and invasive, like cold metal becoming fluid and settling intimately within my vaginal canal, sealing itself into place.
I think about the secondTerminatormovie and how the evil robot became silver fluid, and then my mind skips to wondering how he would have had sex. And if there had been a sex scene in that movie, would he have created his penis from metallic fluid like this? My musings take the edge off the unnatural numbness spreading over my genitals, hollowing out the very core of my body.
“Venus Lock active,” the nearby computer intones softly. “Baseline desire recorded. Conditioning parameters initialized.”
As the uncomfortable feeling between my legs increases, I can’t keep my mind off what’s happening. I wipe a stray tear from my eye remembering Rae questioning me about whether I’d had sex on the starship that brought me over.Humans aren’t any more sexual than the Imperials on that ship.I wasn’t alone at that officers’ party.
I try to calm myself by being analytical. “What is the device doing?”
“The Venus Lock is configuring to your anatomy. You can get dressed now. It will monitor your hormone levels and keep you safe,” Dr. Veil explains as I dress. “But I must warn you, any attempt to remove it will come to Sovereign Rafe's immediate attention. And trust me, you do not want that.”
Something in her tone makes me look up sharply. “Are you speaking from personal experience?”
“Professional observation,” she says carefully. “The Sovereigns are complex individuals. Born Imperial but raised on Reima Two. They have taken the most powerful assets from each culture and can be utterly ruthless when crossed.”
I file that warning away as she continues her examination using handheld scanners that vibrate against my skin. When she checks my medical history, her frown deepens.
“You have a contraceptive implant. That's unacceptable here.”
“I need it for medical reasons,” I protest.
“The Imperial doctor on theIgocorrected some slight hormonal abnormalities, if that’s what you’re referring to. As for contraception, it’s for men only. Men are the ones that must be controlled.”
This is a matriarchy.How could I have forgotten?
“Will removing it cause complications?” I remember having my IUD placed, and it hurt so much. I imagine it will hurt coming out too.
“You won’t feel a thing. I will instruct the Venus Lock to dissolve it.” She prepares another instrument. “I'll also need to provide you with collection materials for your menstrual cycles. The Venus Lock will open when you bleed?—”
“Collection materials?”
“Menstrual blood is a valuable biological resource. If you were to become injured, it speeds up your healing to use your own stem cells.”
I’m shocked by this information. Then I remind myself again,This is a matriarchy. Of course, they probably didn’t look for stem cells in bone marrow first; they probably looked in the most obvious place, between a woman’s legs, the only place where life is created. On Earth, for centuries men have only seen women as “broken men” and saw our menstrual blood as a weakness or even a curse.Here, women are the default.
“There's one more implant,” Dr. Veil says, holding up a small device. “A universal translator, calibrated specifically for you, meaning that it will not only allow you to understand others but others who do not have human languages registered in their translators, to understand you. It also includes a neural stimulator for improved learning and memory. It will replace your current translation system. And I won’t lie to you, the faster I do this, the better, because this is going to hurt.”
I nod, and Dr. Veil proceeds to touch the side of my head with a long silver instrument, and I close my eyes and try to think about anything else than what’s happening right now.
I feel pressure behind my ear, then a sharp sting as something embeds itself into my skull. The headache that follows is immediate and intense, but I grit my teeth and endure it. Minutes pass in silence as my brain accepts the alien tech.
“Can you understand me now?” Dr. Veil asks.
And through the headache I hear her as if she’s speaking American English and nothing else. There’s no background noise from her native language. I instinctively put a hand to my ear. “Is this what the translator does? You sound so human.”
“Yes, you’ll hear most people as if they’re from your hometown now. However, species that use languages or methods of communication further from yours will have accents, but you will still be able to understand them.”
Dr. Veil sets aside her instruments and looks at me directly. “Eve, I just want to let you know that what you experienced today isn't typical. Most days here will be routine work, checking in guests, managing reservations, and attending diplomatic functions.”
