Both Tina and Gianna reached for their ears. Tina felt the little disk there. "Does it come off?"
"It can be removed, but you need a specialized tool, or it can hurt."
"So can I read Standard now as well?" Tina asked.
"You will be, but it takes a little longer for your brain to process the information. At first, you may have focusing issues on text, but it should clear up in a few days."
Tina remembered her cell phone. "So, I should be able to read this now," she said, pulling it out of her pocket--how it survived all of this, she didn't know. She pulled up the images of the ring. But the text was still unreadable to her.
Re-lee looked at the images Tina had taken, and she furrowed her brow. "I see. You are right. This is not standard. This is an old, dead language. No one writes in this anymore." She glanced at the doctor. "One more thing to add to the list."
"Wait, there's a list?"
Re-lee blinked. "Have you ever worked for an office? There is always a list of things to look into, especially when it is a new branch."
"You're new?" Tina asked.
She shook her head. "No, I am not new. I am, however, helping get this new branch of the Intergalactic Dating Agency up and running properly. Any little glitch in the system I have on my list to get it corrected as soon as possible."
"So, are we glitches?"
"You? Never," she said with a smile. "You both scanned in perfectly for your mates."
Again, that bizarre dream feeling came over Tina. She again wondered if the only way out of this slowly developing nightmare was to walk through it.
"This is crazy. I mean, what if I don't like him? Take one look at him and think he's absolutely the most horrible--"
In walked two men.
Tall.
Like seven feet tall.
The size of refrigerators.
With white eyes.
No irises to speak of just white eyes.
One had a stiff grimace on his face, framed by facial stubble that was immaculately groomed. The other had a bit of a smile on his face, his hair combed back. Both were dressed in white shirts and what looked like trousers that you'd see on a sci-fi tv show. They're pants, but just a little different than what humans wore.
No denim for these boys.
But she bet they'd fill out a pair of jeans very, very well. Holy moly.
Like everything else here, they were mostly normal. But not quite. Especially since their shirts were cuffed at the silver gauntlets like knights used to wear in medieval times on their forearms. It was a kind of odd look, but it still worked.
And gorgeous. Both were the most attractive men she'd ever laid eyes on.
"Gentlemen, you're early," Re-lee said. "Your ladies are not quite ready for you."
The one with the stubble turned, and his gaze landed on Tina. "Is that her?"
Re-lee glanced at Tina, then back at him. "As a matter of fact, Kolvin, that is your mate. Meet Tina."
Her eyes went wide. This was her mate? Their system matched her to that. He's humongous. From what she can tell under his clothing, he's pretty damn cut, too.
What in the world would a plus-sized astronomer who's only had mediocre lovers in her life do with something like that? Surely, he's going to reject her right away.
