Em hugs her tablet and starts talking about the process of how this formula’s made. It reminds me so much of how my father would talk about his own formulas back in the day.
But her words go over my head. To my side, I stare at how Stan’s nodding, listening eagerly. Probably ready to make a quip.
“This week is for observations,” Em keeps going. “Structural behavior under controlled environments, along with neurological scans.”
“So we get the science lecture before the fun.” Stan huffs. “Em, you’re edging us.”
“No.”
“Feels like edging.”
“It is not.”
Stan looks at me again. “Em edges.”
I let out a long sigh that might sound like I’m fighting a laugh. He smiles even wider.
Em taps her tablet. “If you don’t have any relevant questions, we will begin with some readings before you both take your pill.”
Stan shoots his hand into the air again. “I have several irrelevant questions.”
“I won’t be answering them.”
He leans back, smirking. “Will you answer to Mommy?”
Em lifts her eyes at Stan’s question. “No.”
Stan clutches his chest. “Heartbreaking. A denial delivered with surgical coldness. You wound me, Em.”
“Stan,” she says, “place the capsule back in its tray.”
He complies but mutters, “Fine. Returning the jumbo vitamin D to its docking station.”
I shake my head, biting my lip to shut down any laugh out of me.
Em sets her tablet down. “If you’re finished, we’ll proceed with pre-administration readings.”
“Strap on and give it to me, doc.” Stan grins. “Take me places.”
“There are no straps involved,” Em says.
“An honest-to-god tragedy. A missed opportunity to deepen our connection, doc.”
Em places and adjusts a headgear on him. She starts attaching sensors too.
Stan whispers to me out of the corner of his mouth. “If this thing reads horny thoughts, I’m fucked.”
“It doesn’t read minds,” Em says. “Hold still, Stan.”
The scanner whirrs for a while. Numbers run up her tablet’s screen.
Em studies it while Stan smirks at me. “If I flatline, Ocean Eyes, make my gravestone sexy.Here lies Stan Song-Smith.Ten inches long.”
I shake my head again, completely in disbelief, letting out a sigh.
“What?” Stan smirks. “You want proof?”
Em cuts in. “The scan’s complete.” She removes the sensors with careful fingers. “All brain activity proves to be stable.”
