And paused.
"And what do I call you? I don't think 'Rhimodian' would be appropriate."
He paused.
And was that a smile on his face?
"Harbin. My name is Harbin."
"Pleasure to meet you, Harbin," she said and took a couple of steps toward him. "And I must say, you do have a becoming smile for a cyborg."
This made him raise his eyebrow. "Know a lot of cyborgs, do you?"
She shrugged. "Not really. Most of our propaganda depicts you as unfeeling automatons who would just as soon kill us as to make peace."
"Funny, the information regarding Terrans is about the same."
"Then we do have something in common," Bianca said. "We must both dispel the inaccurate information about our people to one another."
"Then may we start today."
She smiled at him. "Yes. Let's start today. I don't plan on shooting you."
"Nor I you."
"That's good. Progress."
"Progress is important."
4
Harbin left the Terran female--Bianca--in the apartments that had been fitted for her delegation with the Terran Princesses' luggage. She immediately started going through the cases.
Harbin took a position outside the chamber to make sure she did not need anything. His orders had been to protect her. He would not deviate from that.
He put himself into a meditative charge. It allowed him to connect with Master System to update commands and make sure his systems functioned at their peak operation mode.
This included his repressive systems that controlled desire and yearning.
The Rhimodians called it the Craving.
He had always maintained control over that part of himself--the primitive side--over the years. The last remaining vestige from who they were before the Orlicians started enhancing their species with cybernetics could overpower if Rhimodians were not careful.
If he experienced need in the presence of a female humanoid, and she was receptive, he could satisfy the desire and move on.
Many Rhimodians fulfilled the Craving when it occurred, especially with new humanoids they encountered. Other humanoid females enjoyed their Craving, especially since they did not run the risk of producing offspring. Rhimodians could not reproduce that way. No other humanoid genome could accept and carry a Rhimodian embryo.
Master System encouraged experimentation if only to help them find a compatible genome.
So far, they had been unsuccessful.
For Harbin, physical desire was not a new concept. He had his share of it in the name of furthering the Rhimodian species.
However, his response to this Terran visitor was unusually strong. It started almost from the moment he saw her. Lady Bianca seemed to waken those desires again. Though why he was not certain.
They exchanged very few words. There was no logical reason for such a response.
Yet he felt it.
