“This service is not available,” Cassie said with a sick twist of her stomach. Even if she could have answered, why in the stars would anyone have a favorite color?
“Cassie is voicelocked.” Aglao hummed. A slick, squishy sensation landed on the side of Cassie’s neck as they touched the exact spot where her chip was implanted. “It is likely beyond our skills to disable and remove it here. But perhaps elsewhere?”
Cassie stared. They’d told her it was impossible. A voice lock was for life. But these well-meaning people didn’t know. They couldn’t know. Why else would they offer such a glimpse at false hope?
“Voicelocked?” Eleri asked.
“It’s a cruel practice.” Aglao withdrew from Cassie. “A device is implanted that prevents the vocal cords from moving beyond a few preprogrammed phrases. It is highly illegal in almost every sector. It’s the first time I’ve seen one in person.”
“You can’t be serious.” The healer’s eyes widened. “Stars and stones, and here I’ve been asking you questions like an idiot. I’m sorry.”
The apology just made Cassie feel even smaller. She knew her voicelock was going to cause tension, but the pity twisted darkly in her chest.
“Can I help you with something else?”
“Do you mind if we do a few more scans?” Eleri asked.
“The scans are all non-invasive,” Aglao added with an expectant glance back at Cassie, who nodded. This she could do at least. Simple questions, yes or no. Anything that didn’t require spoken words.
Eleri turned on the interface, pressing a sequence of buttons to make the full body scanner come to life. This was familiar. Predictable. All the residents at the Aviary had been scanned weekly to assess their health. It was essential, given the behavior of their clients.
The hum of the medscanner slowed Cassie’s sputtering heartbeat. She waited for the familiar words.Perfect as always Cassie. Your resiliency is next level. You can head to the healing gel pool whenever you’re ready.The artificial spark of pride that she’d survived another night with only minimal damage. But instead, it was just a poorly disguised sharp inhale from healer Eleri.
“Can you interpret the readout?” The senior healer asked. Cassie closed her eyes, not wanting to see the illuminated scan of her body on the holoscreen. Better to let the voices talk around her and pretend she wasn’t there. It had never failed her before.She wasn’t here. She was back in the nursery with the fledglings. They were singing and learning how to dance to a song so old no one could remember the origin anymore. They still had their voices then. Cassie had never been a confident singer, but she missed laughing. She missed shrieking with joy at the top of her lungs. That’s where she went when she didn’t want to be here anymore.
“Cassie?” The sound of her name from Eleri brought her back to the sterility of the medical clinic. She blinked slowly as she returned to her body, feeling the ever-present weight of her bones. Rather than use one of her stock phrases, she tilted her head to indicate she was listening. “Can you write, Cassie?” The senior healer asked.
Cassie shook her head. “This service is not available.”
“Would you like to learn?” Eleri asked. “I’m sure we can find someone to teach you.”
Cassie gave her a blank stare. On the list of things she was worried about, learning how to read and write was low. Instead, she held her hands out for Eleri’s datapad. It took a moment, but Eleri handed it over without complaint. Cassie opened a blank page and used the stylus to make a sketch of a bed before handing it back to Eleri with an expectant glance. Right now, the only thing she wanted to know was where she was supposed to stay. The IA had promised her a private room, somewhere to be alone, away from prying eyes.
“Are you asking about where you’re going to live?” Eleri asked. Cassie nodded confirmation.
“The room above the clinic is empty. Unless you want us to find a family you can stay with until the flooding season is over.”
Cassie shook her head and pointed up toward where she assumed the clinic room would be. “It would be my pleasure!” Her voice beamed in contrast with her exhausted eyes. Eleri seemed to grasp the unspoken subtext. She placed a hand onCassie’s shoulder and led her toward a staircase at the back of the clinic.
“I’m sure this is a lot. I remember how overwhelmed I was when I first came here. Take as much time as you need to settle in. I’m here every day if you want any company, but if you want to be alone, that’s fine too.” Eleri led her up the staircase.
“We can get you set up. It’s not much, but the cot is comfortable enough.”
“Thank you!” The unearned kindness was unfamiliar, and Cassie knew everything had a price. After stripping off her damp clothes, she settled onto the lumpy bed in the small room and fell into uneasy sleep.
CHAPTER 2
Örim
Örim didn’t know how to swim. His silicate body had no buoyancy, so instead of leaving his home during the rains and taking a chance in the provided skiff, he hunkered down inside for weeks. Perhaps the Empire was laughing at him. A teösian willingly choosing to leave Teös? To come to a backwater IA colony of all places? It was unheard of. But unheard of was exactly what he had been after.
Even the IA hadn’t known what to do with him. He was the first teösian to register as a colonist. Their machines had struggled to give him a chip implant, so eventually, he’d chiseled out a section of his own wrist so the machine could gain access to his softer underlayer. But he intended to see it through at least until he had something to show for himself.
Now the downpour had ended, he was supposed to go meet the administrative and security heads of Laurus for a new resident orientation. Mostly, he suspected the others wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to be a detriment to their quaint little community.
Two standard weeks alone waiting out the rain had given him ample time to ruminate about the circumstances around his exodus from Teös. If there was any justice in the universe, Sini and Brem would have also been ousted from their positions. But he was the primary investigator. It was his name on all the funding. His responsibility. His tarnished reputation when Brem had gone running with claims of misconduct over a few questionable simulations that harmed no one. No one real anyway.
Örim disembarked from his skiff in front of the raised building that served both as the town’s administrative office and the jail. Cold floodwater didn’t bother him, but he’d rather not get his clothing wet.
