Human After All

by Connie Bailey

  “It was a long time ago.”

  “Are you saying you’ve forgotten?” Jaymes raised an eyebrow.

  “I just didn’t think anyone would be interested, but if you must know, I was with Stane Smythe. The Scenario that evening called for me to portray a fanatical admirer who would stop at nothing to have him.”

  “Are you buffing me?” Parry asked. “Stane Smythe, the singer-thesp? The self-proclaimed God of Perp-Rock? Not to mention Ursalion Nine’s ex-partner?”

  “That’s right. In fact, Stane and Ursa had parted ways shortly before the event.”

  “So this was right after they broke it off.” Valens whistled, drawing his lips into an enticing bow. “That must have been… interesting.”

  “You hoitys have a real talent for understatement. I made my grand entrance by throwing a security guard through the front door, and then I pushed my way through the crowd to fight three more bodyguards to get to Stane. He had positioned himself as closely as he could to Ursa, and to say the Scenario ruined her big moment would be a very, very, very large understatement. I wasn’t wired in to all the nuances of Stane’s bizarre vengeance on his ex-partner, but he seemed pleased with the outcome.”

  “Sounds like a childish prank that spoiled everyone’s evening,” Jaymes said.

  “Yeah,” Drue said. “But to see Ursalion’s famous rack heaving and the way her eyes flashed while she screamed the nastiest curses I’ve ever heard almost made it worth it. Anyway, I was just playing out a Scenario, not making moral judgments about it.”

  “That’s right,” Valens said. “Slack it, Jaymes. The Fox was just fulfilling his contract.”

  “As we’re doing now,” Jaymes said, wishing he could say a lot more. Several times during the conversation, he’d tried to tell his colleagues that his contract had been breached, but the words would not make the transition from thought to speech. Jaymes did what he could to control the systolic rhythms that triggered the inhibitor, but the mechemical was far too finely calibrated to be fooled. “Are you with Speaker Londean tonight, Vale?”

  “Of course he is,” Parry answered for his friend. “Do you think Londean would miss a chance to keep company with Vale?”

  “The Speaker is such a proponent of Bioware rights,” Jaymes said. “So why is he so shy about being affectionate with a Companion in public?”

  “He’s a very private man,” Valens said softly.

  “Of course.” Jaymes dropped the subject with a slight bow in Valens’s direction. He had no wish to hurt his friend’s feelings, no matter how impractical he thought they were. It was not up to him to tell Vale whom he could fall in love with… and Jaymes did not doubt that Vale had fallen. He only hoped it wouldn’t end too messily. There was no more prominent or blue-blooded a politician than Speaker Scion Cade Londean of House Bretan, and it was hardly likely that one destined to move in the highest circles of power would allow himself to speak of love to a Companion unless it was part of a Scenario.

  “Look at all the Hoties.” Drue broke in on Jaymes’s thoughts.

  Jaymes gave his friends a droll look behind the Zot’s back as they joined him in gazing down at the dance floor, where the political and social leaders of their world mingled on an equal footing with Bioware. “For one night each year, they get to put aside the burden of leadership and the need to live circumspectly, and the slate is wiped clean in the morning.”

  “Convenient,” Drue commented. “There used to be a religion kind of like that. It was acceptable to sin if you told a priest afterward and had him absolve you.”

  “That’s absurd,” Parry said. “And even if it were true, I still don’t see your point.”

  “Zots rarely have a point,” Jaymes said. “Their function is to look striking and strokable.”

  Drue had a smoking retort ready, but noticed Alvera trying to get his attention. He read the hand sign in the flickering of her gilded nails and was careful not to look at her again. “Let’s go somewhere more private,” he suggested. “We can have some nice drinks, and I can tell you more about Foxtown. Did you know it was named after me?”

  Valens chuckled. “Absoposi! Right this way. Cade bespoke a small salon we can use.”

  Taking Jaymes’s arm, the Exotic exerted pressure to the inside of the T-bred’s elbow to get him moving. Jaymes saw by the droop of Drue’s eyelids that the Exotic already knew about the private salon… just as Lady Alvera must have known that Jaymes and Valens were friends. It was all taking on a patina of inevitability; each passing second was another boulder poised on a cliff, another imminent avalanche. Jaymes saw the hulking outlines of a brace of Combat-Ulteem bodyguards at the end of the short corridor, and the sense of impending doom became stifling. He was relieved when the lacquered door beside him opened, and Drue herded him inside.

  III.

  “CADE!” Vale called out in delighted surprise.

  Drue’s gaze went to the man who stood up to greet Valens. Speaker Cade Londean’s image was well known to most inhabitants of the Inner and Outer Cities, as well as The Cloister. They were used to seeing his aristocratic features in broadcasts spreading the message of Bioware rights. Drue supposed the T-breds conversed with Hote royalty every day, but it was the first time he’d stood in the presence of such an important man, a man he’d pledged to protect.

  Londean’s face was as chiseled as it appeared in the holos, but he also had a myriad of tiny wrinkles, and the Exotic assumed the Speaker’s image was automatically tweaked for broadcast to smooth out the weathering. There was a web of fine lines around the man’s bright blue eyes, and the crowning thatch of blond hair owed much of its pale gloss to threads of silver among the gold. So Londean was older than Drue had guessed, but he appeared no less potent for the extra years. Broad-shouldered, trim, and narrow-hipped, the Speaker cut an impressive figure in his conservative, exquisitely tailored suit. However, as much as Drue appreciated the presentation, it was something intangible that set this man apart from other Citizens with their inborn assumption of entitlement. Cade Londean had all the easy self-confidence of a predator that has no rival, but he also had something best described as charisma, an invisible glow, a beacon that called to others to follow him, that made them want to be in his company, to win his approval. Drue felt it and automatically resisted its pull. Even though he supported Londean’s politics, he had an aversion to being led.

  “Sweet,” the Exotic remarked, watching the way Valen’s patron doted on the Companion.

  “I suppose it disgusts you,” Jaymes said.

  “I wasn’t being sarcastic. They really are sweet together. If I didn’t know Vale was under contract, I’d believe they were in love.”

  “Vale won’t say it out loud, but of course they’re in love. Just look at them.”

  “Then it’s bitter as well as sweet.”

  “Are you two having a drink?” Parry called out, holding his glass aloft.

  “Would you make a batch of Glaznosties for everyone while I say hello to the Prince and his friend?” Cade asked. “Good evening, Jaymes. A genuine pleasure to see you again.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Jaymes said. “With me is Drue….”

  “Cotes,” Drue supplied. “Drue Cotes, better known as the Fox.”

  “I’m pleased to meet you, Drue,” Cade said as though they were cousins. “I hope you’ll have a drink, but I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you all to leave before very long. Unfortunately, I have a brief meeting before I can relax in pleasant company.”

  “A meeting at the Covillion?” Parry exclaimed in patent shock, as he handed glasses around.

  “A very brief meeting,” Cade said. “I’m sorry, Vale, but I really need the room. Would you and your friends mind coming back a bit later?”

  “Too late,” Parry said, setting his tray down and going to answer the door.

  “Wait,” Cade said quickly. “Let me check first.” Speaker Londean touched his lapel pin and spoke a few words. “All right, Parry, you can open the door now.
”

  “Who is it?” Vale asked as one of the Combat-Ulteem bodyguards from down the hall entered the room.

  His question was answered when a tall, gaunt man strode in behind his guards. The hawkish profile and the wings of iron-colored hair that fell straight to sloping shoulders identified the Deputy President of The Cities as surely as the badge of rank he held up.

  “There’s no need for that, Brandel,” Londean said. “We have spoken face to face many times.”

  “Men with your sort of compassion are easily deceived,” Brandel Ampery said in a deep, rich voice at odds with his mantis-thin frame. “What a charming council you have.”

  “I know I said I’d be alone.” Cade smiled equably at the D.P.’s veiled insult. “But who can tell the breeze when it may come and go?”

  Brandel’s lips moved in something that could charitably be mistaken for a smile. “Your Companion is exquisite, of course,” he said. “But they’re such flighty creatures.”

  “Then we’ll talk about something more down to earth.” Cade beckoned to Brandel to join him by the bar. Valens started to accompany Cade, but the Speaker bade him wait. “What I need to say to the Deputy President is for his ears alone. I won’t be long.”

  Jaymes handed Valens a drink. “He’s only a few feet away,” Jaymes said. “You’ll be able to see him the whole time. I wonder what he’s discussing with the D.P.”

  “I don’t trust Citizen Ampery,” Valens said.

  “Why would you?” Drue joined the conversation. “The Deep’s a politician.”

  “So is Speaker Londean,” Jaymes reminded the Zot.

  “But he doesn’t act like one,” Drue said. “More like a duke or something.”

  “He doesn’t use his title, but he actually is a duke,” Parry said. “When his father is gone, he’ll be a Sire.”

  “That would explain it, then.” Drue took another sip of his drink. “Looks like they’re through with their meeting already. That didn’t take long.”

  Valens’s eyes had never left Cade during the conversation, constantly monitoring for the subtle cues of minute changes in posture or expression. “It didn’t go well,” he said.

  “Don’t worry. You’ll find a way to make him feel better.” Parry smirked.

  Jaymes heard Valens answer Parry’s innuendo, but the words were just background noise. He had caught the Deputy President’s gaze as the man walked toward him, and everything else faded like recorded music when the volume is turned down. Brandel Ampery’s eyes were like chips of black glass, but Jaymes could discern the complex arrangement of dots and flecks in the man’s irises that made him unique. As soon as he recognized the pattern, there was another change in his perception of outside stimuli. The world was saturated with color, each line sharply drawn by a master draftsman, every detail etched on his retinas. As a slow, grainy wave surged in the T-bred’s brain, he felt an inexorable shift of priorities and knew that the next stage of the compulsion program had been activated. Whatever Jaymes’s pre-ordained task was, it involved the man who oversaw the daily management of the Cities.

  Despite the fear that ran along his veins like frost forming on a windowpane, Jaymes’s lips drew up in his most fetching smile. Deploying every ounce of his charm, he let his gaze brush Brandel’s again, letting the Deputy President know he found him interesting. By subtle degrees of changing demeanor, the Companion insinuated that he was attracted by the kind of power the D.P. wielded. Jaymes could no more stop this process than he could tell the moon not to rise. For purposes unknown, Citizeness Alvera wanted Jaymes to seduce Brandel Ampery, a man famous for never contracting Bioware. And Jaymes was compelled to try.

  Drue entered Jaymes’s line of sight, breaking the trance. With good-natured brashness, the Exotic flirted openly with the Deputy President. The Citizen barely looked at the Fox, dismissing him with less regard than an importunate lackey. Brandel looked past the Exotic’s shoulder, fathomless eyes narrowing slightly as though he were trying to remember Jaymes’s name.

  When Parry offered the politician a drink, he saw the direction of the D.P.’s stare and hurried over to Valens. “Check it,” he said. “The Deep has a pash on.”

  “Don’t be sillier than usual,” Valens said. “He’s not even looking at the Zot.”

  “Naturally.” Parry put his hands over Valens’s ears and physically turned his head. “But our Prince has caught his eye.”

  The Deputy President flicked a glance at Jaymes, and Valens gasped. “Prong me! You’re right! He’s letched on to Jaymes properish. I can’t believe it and yet I’m seeing it.”

  “We have to make this happen. We’ll be legendary if we pipe the Deep.”

  “Actually, Jaymes will be the one to pipe him.”

  “But we’ll be the ones who fassilled it. Come on. It’s too scrump to pass up.”

  “It really is.”

  Valens tugged gently on Cade’s arm, drawing the Speaker closer so he could whisper in his ear. Cade’s eyes searched Brandel’s face as he listened to the Companion, and a smile formed slowly on his lips. When Valens finished speaking, Cade nodded, running his hand surreptitiously down Valens’s back as he walked away from him and approached Jaymes.

  “I wonder if I might presume on your friendship with Valens and ask a favor of you.”

  “Of course, sir,” Jaymes said immediately. “How may I serve you?”

  “Are you under contract this evening or free-booting?”

  “I’m free,” Jaymes lied as if he deceived people all the time. There wasn’t even a twinge from his veracity assurance inhibitors; it was as though all the benign safeguards that Gentren had implanted, even the oldest and most basic, had been wiped away like fingerprints from a mirror.

  “I don’t like the crassness of this situation,” Cade said. “However, if you could see your way clear to giving the Deputy President the gift of your time, I would see that you were very well rewarded in the form of Citizenship Capital, or anything else within my means and the bounds of the law. You see, I think if Citizen Ampery were more… relaxed, my words might find more favor with him. Do you think it’s worth a try?”

  In that moment, Jaymes saw why Vale was willing to be such a fool for this man. Any other Citizen of Londean’s stature would have simply called Gentren’s booking offices and dealt with another Citizen, but that was not the Speaker’s way. Instead, he came to Jaymes and made his proposal, apologizing for any air of tawdriness. Unless Cade Londean was a very skilled actor, he genuinely respected Jaymes as a person. Even if the T-bred hadn’t been under the compulsion of the mechemical, he would have wanted to do as Vale’s patron requested.

  “I have my doubts about the Deputy President’s ability to relax, but I’m willing to try and divert him, sir.”

  “He may not even take the bait,” Cade said. “But this is the first time I’ve seen him show the slightest interest in… diversion.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Jaymes said. “You’ll make the introduction?”

  “A pleasure. My thanks, Jaymes.”

  “And mine to you for the way you take care of Vale.”

  “I love him,” Londean said. “And I can only say it aloud to someone like you…. Sorry, that sounded terribly condescending.”

  “I’m not offended.”

  “Perhaps you should be, but that’s a discussion for another time. Shall we?”

  “I CANNOT believe the Deep is with our Prince right now,” Valens said as he obligingly raised his arms.

  Cade Londean pulled the synsilq singlet over Valens’s head, leaving the Companion completely bare. Caught, as always, by the T-bred’s sheer physical beauty, the Speaker let his eyes rove where they would. No matter how many times Cade saw Valens naked, the sight never failed to awe him. If the young man had nothing more than his astonishing good looks, he would have snared Cade’s fancy, but Valens had so much more to offer than his smooth, sculpted body. It was the Companion’s innate sweetness, his willingness to give the benefit of the do
ubt, to believe the best of all around him until proven wrong that had won Cade’s heart. More than anything, he wished he could make a marriage merger with Valens, but even if he bought the T-bred’s contract and Valens were granted Citizenship, there were still many legal battles to be fought before the union would be approved. And, of course, Cade would be fighting his family every step of the way. It was better for now that Valens Waukeen remain a Companion, under the protection of Gentren, while Cade worked on changing the laws that kept them from having a legal bond. It was better this way; they had both agreed, but it did not ease the guilt that shaded Cade’s pleasure in Valens’s company.

  “I’m sorry,” Cade said. “Did you ask me a question?”

  Valens rolled his eyes. “Let some of the blood flow back up to your brain,” he suggested.

  Cade grinned. “I love you.”

  “I love you too.” Valens put his arms around Cade. “And you know I adore your romantic streak, but we haven’t much time. Do you think we could just fuck without the trappings?” The Companion paused as Cade’s expression changed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. It’s just that I want you so much. I truly don’t think of our love as trappings.”

  “I believe you,” Cade said. “But my heart stopped for a second. I know how… vivid a Scenario can be to a Companion.”

  “This is real,” Valens said, pressing his mouth to Cade’s in a kiss as fierce as it was tender.

  Cade’s arms tightened around Valens with equal passion, fingertips sinking into the hard muscles of the young man’s back as their tongues slid together. “I was thinking about our future,” he said when their lips parted.

  “Cade,” Valens groaned. “For once, leave your conscience at the bedside.”

  “When I say the future, I mean fifteen minutes from now, when I expect to be licking the sweat from your collarbones while basking in the afterglow of a truly epic orgasm.”

  “Fifteen minutes? You call that epic?”

  “You said we haven’t much time.” Cade unfastened his trousers and pushed them down.