by Rena Marks
“So she doesn’t have to leave Xenia?”
“If it doesn’t work, she will,” Robyn warned. “The safety of our Xeno Sapiens comes first.”
“But it’s a start. And it buys us some time to figure out where she’ll go if she does have to leave.”
“Not much time,” Everly said, not wanting his hopes up. “He could go out of control immediately, just from us being here right now.”
“He could,” Robyn agreed. “Though we’ll give it a few days to see if the lockdown helps. At that point, if he’s roaring out of control, we’ll have to discuss it further.”
“We’ll take it. We’ll take anything,” Everly said.
“Good. I’ve called someone to take you to the new place. Thane, we’ll have you stay with her since we can’t keep decontaminating you fully. We’ll have to move your things there.”
He nodded. The three stood and made their way to the front of her office where three male Xeno Sapiens lined the hall, dressed in robes, hoods, and toy scythes.
Grim Reapers.
Everly stared, baffled.
“Really?” Thane barked at the men, glaring at Robyn.
Robyn shrugged. “You want her to know what life is like on Xenia? Be glad she’s got you at her side and doesn’t have to face these three on her own.”
She shoved him outside her office and closed the door behind them, leaving them at the mercy of the Grim Reapers.
“Everly, it’s just Blaze, Covet, and Reson playing dress-up,” Thane said.
“Eeeveeerleee,” one of the figures said. “Please follow us to eternity and beyooond.”
“To your doooom,” another added.
“Walk this way down the hallways of deeeath,” the third said.
Each one dragged a leg down the hallway, leaving them to follow.
She tilted her head at Thane. “Are they supposed to be zombies?”
Thane rolled his eyes. “I’m really not sure. I wish mental evaluations were mandatory, though.”
They walked through hallways that led to other housing facilities and finally reached an apartment that looked like every other apartment down the corridor.
Two of the robed figures stood on either side of the door and thumped their scythes on the ground. The third one waved his arm toward the front door, which slid open.
“Once you enter, you can never leave unless you lace the door with the blood of a virgin,” he hissed at her.
“Blaze, I’m gonna tell your mate you said virgin,” Thane said, entering the door after Everly.
“I am not the one they call Blaaaze,” the hooded figure said. “And I will tell my mate that I simply wished for Everly to know she could remain a virgin and free herself at the end of her lockup with you by refusing your clumsy advances…”
Everly giggled. “Too late, Blaze.”
Blaze whipped off his hood. “Aww, congratulations, brother. I’m so glad she took your manhood and showed you the way…”
The two men behind him began humming and snapping their fingers in synchronicity. “…show you the way…brother…”
Thane slammed the door in their faces, shutting out the tunes.
Everly giggled harder and then laughed at his frowns until tears streamed down her face. “I’m sorry. They’re just ridiculous.”
Thane sighed. “Like Robyn said, best you get broken in now than face those idiots alone. Come on, gorgeous. Shall we tour the place?”
The area they were in was like a small waiting room with just one small glowing light from the corner of the ceiling. Another door was directly in front of them.
“This is the cleansing chamber,” Thane said. He pushed a button on the wall, and a sweep of air rushed through the room. Everly could feel a type of vibration that rose from the floor and filled the room.
“Sonic cleansing,” Thane said. “It removes all outside contaminants before we enter the apartment, where the air filters are kept separate from the rest of the buildings.”
It took several minutes before the air flow slowed and the rattling in the floor stopped. Thane opened the next door that led into the apartment.
It was the largest space she’d ever seen. When she heard the term apartment, she’d assumed it was a small living space. This was anything but small. The entire length of the living area was lit with sunlight from massive windows. A sunroom filled with plants connected to the living room without a visible door.
“How does it open?” she asked.
Thane grinned and took her hand. He walked her toward the sunroom. As they reached the glass wall, it slid open.
“The living room is protected with a UV filtering glass so it doesn’t get too warm. When your eyes adjust, you’ll be able to see the slight differences. But the sunroom? All natural sunlight.”
“I’ll be able to keep my tan going in here,” she said, looking up at the clear glass ceiling.
“Robyn knew what she was doing. If we have to be locked up in a space, she wanted to bring the outside in so you don’t feel deprived.”
They came back into the living room.
“Through here is the dining area and then the kitchen.”
The kitchen was modern, all sleek metal and crisp, dark floors.
“Bedrooms and study,” Thane called out.
She turned down the hall to follow his voice. The study matched the kitchen with built-in metal wall shelving, the glossy, high-tech room warmed with a simple wooden desk. The floor was the same dark material as the kitchen.
“Watch.” Thane flipped a switch on the wall, and the floor came alive, swirls of darkness rushing around her feet. It warmed to a different temperature, raising and lowering as he adjusted the switch higher or lower.
“Water inside,” he said. “Warms the inside of the floorboards. We think it’s a pretty cool invention for cold winter nights, compliments of Steele and Pax. But Robyn and Amanda were ecstatic. They said self-cleaning floors.”
“Self-cleaning?”
“Yep. You can’t tell because they weren’t dirty to begin with.”
“I can’t wait ‘til they get dirty now,” she laughed.
He gave her his arm. She linked hers with his as they followed the hallway to the end. Double doors swung open automatically, and they entered the master bedroom.
“Wow,” she breathed. The ceiling was higher than anything she had ever seen and rounded. The lights came from the edges of the wall where the ceiling connected. The effect was three-dimensional.
“If it was multi-colored lights, it would look like the sky streaked with the colors of the rainbow,” she murmured.
“I’m sure we could do that,” he said.
“Or we could just go to the greenhouse when we want to see the real sky and leave our bedroom alone with white light.”
Thane was silent, staring at her as she twirled around the center of the room. She landed on the bed, sinking into the fluffy white bedding.
She opened her arms as he crawled over her, loosely clasping them around his neck. He had an intense look on his face.
“What?”
“You said our bedroom.”
She smiled. “I know. You didn’t think I was going to separate us, did you?”
“I would have let you make that choice. There is another bedroom, you know.”
“I don’t want that choice,” she said, only cutting off as his lips came down onto hers. When he came up for air, she whispered throatily, “I love you, Thane.”
Chapter Ten
Three weeks later:
The doorbell rang as they sat watching live feeds for any news on the outside world. “I’ll get it,” Thane said, kissing the top of Everly’s head as he headed toward the outer door.
“Who is it?” he asked out loud.
The house-computer announced the visitors. “DNA scans show it is Steele, Robyn, and Pax.”
He flipped the switch to enter and waited a few minutes while the guests were cleansed in the sonic chamber. Everly rose to join hi
m, clasping his hand while they waited. Finally, the door opened.
“Happy three-week anniversary,” Robyn announced.
“Thank you,” Everly grinned, dropping his hand so she could hug Robyn. The two women headed to the sofa while he greeted Steele and Pax.
They each carried a bag slung over their shoulders.
“Our latest,” Pax grinned. “Bubble-suits.”
“You’ll catch a lot of stares, but at least you’ll be able to get to the mess hall for a meal once in a while.”
They entered the living area where Robyn and Everly sat. After setting his bag down on the coffee table, Steele sat on the end with Robyn. Thane took the side of the sofa next to Everly, and they all looked at Pax, who stood next to the coffee table.
“Hmmph,” he grunted. “I guess I’ll do this then.” He unzipped a bag and suddenly…he had four arms.
“Ungh,” he grunted. The arms separated from his body and a new person stepped out.
Then another.
And another.
“Sorry,” Pax gasped at Everly as apologetically as if he’d burped. “I can’t control them.”
“Welcome, Sneezy, Happy, and Grumpy,” Thane said.
“Whatever.” One of the multiples rolled his eyes.
“Can I take this one?” The one on the left asked Pax and, while grinning, pushed him onto the chair. “Just rest. You look wore out.”
“Well, of course I’m wore out,” Pax snapped. “It’s like I just gave birth. I told you guys not to be bursting out like that.”
The one Thane had called Happy grinned even wider. “Eventually you’ll grow used to it. Do sit and relax, Pax.”
Surprisingly, Pax did.
It was almost like the multiples were twins, triplets, quintuplets—whatever number he let out, the highest so far being six. But they seemed closer than brothers.
“This is so cool,” Happy said. “Everly—may I call you Everly?”
Next to him, Everly nodded, slightly bemused.
“You may call me Happy, like Green Dick does.”
Thane narrowed his eyes while the other two multiples chuckled like loons.
“Dicks,” Everly said.
“Pardon?” Happy asked.
“Green dicks,” she announced, pleased as punch.
Happy had a stunned look. Next to her, Robyn softly giggled.
“My man,” Steele said, holding his four-fingered hand up for a high five—or high four, whichever the case may be. Thane slapped his palm against Steele’s.
“All righty, then,” Happy said. “As I was saying, Everly, you may call me Happy. You may call me Pax 2. You may call me whatever you wish. I can very well see I’m not going to be able to compete with Green Dicks,” he said, making the other two multiples chortle.
He opened the small door on the box of bubble suits, pulling one out like a plastic shopping bag.
He shook it out. “Voilà! Our latest invention. Come, my dear. Stand up.” He reached for her hand to help her up, holding the plastic film in his left hand. She stood next to him, the other multiples stepping back to make room.
“Now, you can wear a single bubble to go out with or you and Thane can wear one together. Watch this,” Happy said. He took the plastic film and placed it on his belly, stretching it out to reach Everly. “You just want to be careful you don’t break it as you apply. It stretches, but it needs coaxed.” When the piece was long enough to reach Everly, he carefully rubbed it over her abdomen, the long thin piece connecting them. “Eventually, we’d like to get to the point where it will grow automatically. But, for now, you have to spread it yourself.”
The filmy plastic seemed to grow on its own, stretching and becoming looser between the two.
“Now, Thane, at this point—probably because of your other abilities—you’ll start to feel a slight connection between the two of you. As if you are the only two in the world. It’s normal though Everly might panic a bit when she feels it for the first time. From what I understand, humans aren’t even used to telepathic ability, so the sensation may be odd.” As he spoke, he continually fanned out the film. Up over Everly’s shoulders, up the back of her skull. With his left hand, he did his own.
“The second time Everly goes through it with someone, she’ll be able to manipulate the film herself. The most important thing is: don’t break it. If you do, it ‘dies’ I guess you could say. You’ll have to start over again with a new bubble, and as you can see, it takes quite a bit of time. If you’re already late heading out, you could make yourself quite antsy trying to get another to adhere.”
He stepped in closer to Everly now that the bubble was stretching, and the extra film popped from their bodies, expanding and hovering about four or five inches over their skin.
“It becomes quite strong,” Pax said. “Once it’s fully connected and sealed. You’ll be able to feel when it’s done.”
Everly gasped. “I feel it…”
“The connection?” Happy grinned. “Took you long enough, human.”
Everly smiled at him. “Happy is a good name for you, isn’t it? You are all bubbly inside.”
He shrugged and tossed a look over his shoulder. “Which is why Grumpy didn’t show you the inner bubble.”
“I’m not Grumpy,” Grumpy said, scowling.
“I’m not Twin Dicks,” Thane said, a grin stretching ear to ear.
The real Pax groaned. “You just had to show off and bring that up again, didn’t you? And it wasn’t Twin Dicks. It was Green Dicks.”
“Big Green Dicks.”
“You all are making Everly blush,” Happy called out from inside the bubble. It had grown down to their calves. “Now, Everly. Lift your outer leg first, at the same time I do.” As the bubble slowly formed around the bottom of their upraised feet, he softly lowered his, showing Everly. “Now raise the inner foot before it crawls too far up your leg.”
Together, they raised their inner foot, her left and his right. Happy moved his foot near hers, and the bubble sealed around them with a pop.
“Now we wait a few minutes,” Pax said, taking over for Happy. “Once inside, they can’t hear us very well. Not until the bubble strengthens and is completely done.”
Inside the bubble, Everly looked alarmed at not being able to hear, but Happy calmed her with something he said and she grinned. After another ten minutes, the conversation Everly and Happy were having inside the bubble became clear.
“I can hear the outside now,” she said.
“I told you,” Happy said. “Pax, can you grab us something to eat?”
“How are they going to eat?” Thane leaned forward.
“This was the trickiest part. You can thank all the multiples for figuring this one out. Pax and I put the subject of eating on the back burner, just focusing on getting the bubble functional. The rest of them played around with this part of it,” Steele said.
Pax brought a banana out from the kitchen and sat in the chair, tossing it to Happy. He reached out and caught it easily. The banana almost floated on top of the bubble a moment, and then sunk through the film to touch his hand.
“The difference is organic and inorganic material,” Pax said. “Organic—a living, breathing object, such as a plant or meat, can filter through. Inorganic compounds—metal, glass, plastic—can’t.”
“But it wasn’t fun to have to eat inside the bubble,” Happy said. “What’s the point of going out to eat with friends if you have to bring your food inside? So watch this.”
Pax handed him a bowl and fork with sliced bananas inside.
“With some tweaks, we combine the two. The inorganic bowl and fork won’t penetrate the bubble, but the food does.” He brought the fork to his lips. It was a bit odd to watch the bubble where the food penetrated, closing abruptly on the tines of the fork.
Everly giggled. “People are gonna stare.”
“Only the first few bites,” Steele said. “Then, like anything else, it’ll grow old.”
“How l
ong does the bubble last?” Thane asked.
“Until you remove it,” Pax said. “A combination of heat and moisture from the inside…”
Happy blew out gently, heating the area of the bubble around his mouth. At the same time, he began to scratch the area until a hole appeared, growing larger. The bubble began to stiffen into a thin, more inflexible, cellophane-like material which he gathered in his hands. By the time he was done, he had a round, basketball size of it gathered, which he took to the recycling center.
“If you recycle it back in your apartment, we have the system programmed to return the bits to the lab,” Pax said.
Happy returned and stood next to the other clones, one of whom swung an arm around his shoulders.
“Robyn,” the computer voice in their apartment said. “Stats are up by five. DNA is up by one.”
“Damn,” Robyn swore. “Up by five. We have Everly and three extra multiples. That should be four. DNA should be right, since Everly accounts for the extra DNA also. Thane, can I use your office to pull up my stats map? Maybe I’ll see something unusual this time.”
“Of course.”
Robyn wandered off to the office. Steele looked after her, his eyes narrowed. “It’s driving her nuts. She can’t figure the glitch out. She’s worried because the last time we ‘glitched,’ Lily was kidnapped.”
“Maybe she’ll find something this time,” Thane murmured, watching Everly as she interacted with the multiples. Her face was lit as she teased Grumpy. And despite his frown, he seemed to be enjoying the exchange.
She’d missed social interaction. It wasn’t so much of a chore to be confined to an apartment as it was knowing you were confined. Hopefully the new bubble suits would alleviate some of that issue. He’d hate for her to come to resent him.
“Aww, come on guys. Not now,” Pax groaned as the clones grew quieter.
“You really should learn control,” Happy chided Pax.
