Dirty Mirror

by R S Penney

  Many centuries ago, in the days of wooden sailing ships, the Entareli Empire had extended its reach to much of the known world. Citizens of the Empire were considered enlightened, wise, while outsiders were savages.

  Though there was a great deal of variation in skin tone among the Empire's citizens, Entarel was a sub-tropical nation. Many of its citizens were superficially similar to Latinx people on Earth. The sad irony was that, six centuries ago, white people like Anna would have been called savages.

  Devin leaned over the table with his arms crossed, shaking his head. “I was under the impression that Earthers had developed an understanding of genetics,” he said. “How can they be so stupid?”

  Slouching in her chair with hands folded in her lap, Anna bit her lip as she stared at the ceiling. “Because there's nothing empirical about racism,” she said. “It's a belief that exists for one purpose.”

  “And what purpose is that.”

  “People at the top of an unfair social hierarchy always need the appearance of a meritocracy to justify their position.”

  It got her thinking about her own people's history, the many stupid and downright evil justifications that Leyrians had used for bigotry throughout their checkered past. And now, they were doing it again, looking at Earthers as savages. Even she was guilty of it to some degree.

  The very first generation of Justice Keepers had played a pivotal role in uniting humanity on her world. The Nassai would Bond anyone who would use their power for good, regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation. Any human being willing to use that power to save lives was accepted, and those who would use it selfishly were rejected. It was a very powerful statement, one that – among many other advancements – had helped usher in a new age of tolerance and acceptance.

  So, what did it say that Nassai were perfectly willing to Bond people from Earth? She wished other people would consider that question.

  Plunking his elbow down on the table, Devin leaned his cheek against the palm of his hand. He smiled at her. “Well, you must be happy to have come home after all that. I know I would be.”

  Anna shut her eyes, breathing deeply. “Yeah,” she said, nodding to him. “But it also made me see failings in our society that I never realized were there. Issues that we would prefer to sweep under the rug.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like this,” she said. “Look at the way we talk about Earth. We weren't so different, once upon a time, but we shame them because it's an easy way to hide the shame we feel about our own past.”

  “I never thought of that.”

  Grinning as her cheeks grew warm with chagrin, Anna stared into her own lap. “I had to think about it every single day,” she said. “Every time I got frustrated, every time I complained. Every time Earthers told me that Leyrians were arrogant.”

  Devin looked up at her, and his sly smile made her blush. “So,” he said, raising one eyebrow. “Is it all right if I ask a personal question.”

  She chuckled. “Go ahead.”

  He stretched out in his chair, lacing fingers over the back of his head and directing that grin up at the ceiling. “It's been a long time since I've seen someone that unhappy,” he said. “Who broke your heart?”

  Anna wrinkled her nose and shook her head in disgust. “No one broke my heart,” she answered. “Just the opposite, really; I broke a wonderful man's heart. Two wonderful men…Still want to get to know me?”

  “Sounds like there's a story there.”

  Anna sank deeper into her chair, pressing the heels of her hands to her eye-sockets. “Oh, there's a story,” she admitted. “But not one I want to revisit. The truth is I came here to forget it for a few hours.”

  Devin stood up with a grunt, nodding to her. “I get that,” he said. “And it seems to me there's only one way to forget it.”

  “What's that?”

  “Dance with me.”

  Covering a smile with the palm of one hand, Anna shut her eyes and trembled as she laughed. “Either you don't listen,” she said. “Or you're braver than most people. I've left two broken hearts in my wake, remember?”

  “I remember.”

  “Do you really want to be the third?”

  His grin widened. “I think maybe it might be worth it,” he answered. “Besides, I really don't think you'll have to worry about bruising my feelings.”

  “Oh no?”

  “I'm not looking for anything serious.”

  “That's what everyone says,” Anna countered. “Right before they fall madly in love and get hurt.”

  “Try me.”

  It was a tempting offer, she had to admit. A little intimacy without all the drama and pain? Who wouldn't be tempted by that?

  But she wasn't in a place where she could give her heart to someone, and she was terrified of hurting someone else. Life was complicated and love even more so. What she needed right then was simplicity.

  There were moments when you looked at someone, and you knew that you weren't going to spend your life with them. It was a gut reaction, not something you could easily put into words. An emotional certainty that every part of you believed without question.

  Yes, there were definitely moments when you looked at someone, and you knew with perfect clarity that you were not going to spend your life with them. Whatever you felt for each other would be a brief flash of passion. Here and then gone. You knew this…

  And you went through with it anyway.

  “Okay,” Anna said. “Let's dance.”

  The hallway outside Devin's apartment was dimly lit and just a little stuffy, but none of that mattered to Anna as he pushed her back against the door and kissed her lips. The man had a talent for this. Just the right amount of pressure.

  Seizing his face in both hands, Anna returned the kiss, gasping softly with every breath. “Nice neighbourhood,” she murmured before his lips were on her again. “Have you lived here very long?”

  He pulled back from her with eyes closed, sucking in a deep breath. “Only a few months,” he said in a rasping voice. “I moved to the capitol for a job.”

  “And what would that be?”

  Devin slammed his palm against the door scanner, allowing the biometrics to read his hand print. Then he synced his multi-tool to the building's computer systems, and the door was unlocked with a click.

  Gently, he pushed her in.

  Spatial awareness allowed her to perceive the entire apartment without having to look. The place was nice with an open living room where two couches were positioned on either side of a table that supported a vase of flowers. The kitchen was off to her left, but she barely even noticed it. Fridge, cupboards, a serving bot in standby mode. All of the usual amenities.

  Devin shut the door behind himself, then strode toward her with a great big smile on his face. “I'm part of the Artist's Coalition,” he said. “We're putting together a major show with a new statue as the centrepiece.”

  “Uh huh…And what's your preferred art form?”

  His cheeks went red, and he shut his eyes tight, shaking his head as he closed the distance. “You're gonna laugh,” he said shakily. “I'm a poet…”

  Anna jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist. Her arms went around his neck, and then she was kissing him again. “Mama always told me to date a poet. She said no one could sweep you off your feet quite like a poet.”

  “Should I talk about your eyes?”

  “Maybe later.”

  He carried her down a short hallway to a bedroom with wooden nightstands and lamps that lit up when they sensed motion. He threw Anna onto the mattress, and then he was kissing her again.

  Her neck, her collarbone…

  As she watched the early morning sunlight through Devin's bedroom window, Anna smoothed the wrinkles from her shirt and let out a soft sigh of contentment. Her one night stand was still sound asleep; she could see him in her mind's eye, clutching the blankets to his chest, breathing softly. This close, she could make out the features of his face
.

  Anna turned silently.

  Bending over, she pressed her lips to his forehead, and then pulled back. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You will never know how much last night meant to me.”

  The hastily crafted note she had typed out on her multi-tool and forwarded to the apartment's central computer would tell him much the same thing when he woke up. She had been granted a brief reprieve, a few hours of peace.

  But now it was time to go back to being Anna Lenai.

  Chapter 24

  As he walked into a kitchen filled with soft morning sunlight, Harry saw his eldest daughter sitting at the table with her elbow on its surface, massaging her eyelids with her fingertips. “Hey!” he said. “You look stressed.”

  “I'm fine.”

  Harry stood in the doorway with his hands shoved into the pockets of his robe. “I think you push yourself too hard,” he said, moving into the kitchen. “It's not good to take on so much responsibility.”

  The automated coffee maker already had a pot brewing, and there were cups on the counter. Harry took one and filled it. He went to the fridge for some almond milk – sadly, he was still getting used to that; Leyrians cloned meat, but not cow's milk – and then he joined his daughter at the table.

  Melissa sat across from him with her face buried in her hands. “It can't be helped,” she murmured. “I have to push myself this hard if I want to get good enough in time for-”

  Harry sat back with his arms folded, frowning at his daughter. “In time for what?” he asked, shaking his head. “In time to throw yourself at the next bad guy who wants to blow something up?”

  “I-”

  “Melissa,” he cut in. “I support what you choose to do with your life, but not how you choose to do it. You're a cadet. It's time you accepted your limitations.”

  When his daughter looked up at him, her face was strained with dark circles visible under her eyes. “I understand how you feel, Dad,” she said in a hoarse voice. “But I need you to trust that I know what I'm doing.”

  Licking his lips, Harry shut his eyes and took a deep breath. “If you insist,” he said, nodding to her. “On this planet, you're past the age of majority, and I really can't tell you what to do anymore, but I will never stop worrying.”

  “That's why I love you.”

  He sipped his coffee and focused on one of his other worries. Isara, the woman who looked just like his dead girlfriend. Maybe it should have bothered him that a murderous demon of a woman was walking around with Jena's face, but really it didn't. Superficial appearance didn't matter. It was who you were inside that made the difference.

  But the woman's existence raised several questions about Jena's past. Jack had sent him an update on what he and Anna had learned in their last session. Jena was a clone. Or so Isara claimed.

  He had to know the truth.

  Melissa was slumped in her chair, her eyes closed as she teetered on the edge of sleep. The poor girl really was pushing herself too hard.

  Bringing the mug to his lips, Harry slurped as he took a sip. “I think maybe you should call in today,” he said. “I think the hero who prevented a food processing plant from becoming a pile of rubble deserves a little rest.”

  “Maybe you're right,” she murmured.

  Harry watched as his daughter got out of her chair and shuffled out of the kitchen, tapping away at her multi-tool as she did. “Hello?” she said from the hallway. “Yeah…it's me, Director Andalon. I don't think I'll be able to make it…”

  Harry sighed.

  Now, what to do about his other problem.

  Through his living room window, Jack saw the sun as a red ball sinking toward the western horizon, painting the sky in bands of orange and red and violet. There were more than a few buildings that rose up like shadows before him, but for the most part, his view was of Alari Park – a large patch of green with trees that were already showing leaves.

  He stood by the window in jeans and a white tee under a black dress shirt that he left unbuttoned. It had been a long day, and Anna was on his mind. Somehow, he knew that she had moved on from him. It was something he felt in his gut. Probably just a case of paranoia, but you never know…

  Tilting his head back, Jack squinted through the window pane. “What do you think, Summer?” he asked in a rough voice. “Am I just stressing about nothing? Or is it time to move on myself?”

  His Nassai responded with grief.

  Jack shut his eyes, breathing deeply. His head sank from the weight of his sadness. “Yeah,” he said, nodding. “That's what I thought you'd say.”

  A knock at the door.

  He took in the sight of his living room, hunting for any sign that it was as messy as he feared. A gray couch was positioned smack dab in the middle of the tiled floor, facing a rectangular sheet of SmartGlass on the wall to his left. A makeshift TV.

  To his right, the kitchen with its stainless steel cupboards and a large refrigerator was home to a serving bot that stood in the corner. It was slumped over, in standby mode. He had tried to engage the thing in conversation several times, but despite his secret hopes that Leyrian machines might be sapient, this robot was nothing like Ven. Not a true AI by any measure.

  Jack strode across the room with his head down, heaving out a breath. “Come in,” he said, approaching the door. “It's open.”

  When the door swung inward, he found Cassi in the hallway, dressed in a pair of green skinny jeans and pink tank-top that displayed more than a little cleavage. Damn it! Why did she have to be so hot?

  “Thought you could use some company,” she said.

  “Sure…What's up?”

  Cassi stepped into the apartment with arms folded, smiling down at herself. “Well, you've been moping around the office for the last few days,” she said with a shrug. “It's almost like you forgot all about the gorgeous woman who has told you several times now that she's into you.”

  “Yeah…I'm sorry about that. I've just had a lot on my mind for the last little while.”

  “She's not worth it.”

  “I'm sorry?”

  Cassi looked up to stare at him, and those purple eyes were…bewitching. “The lady you're fretting about,” she said, raising a thin eyebrow. “I suspect it's Lenai, but of course, I can't be sure.”

  “You think-”

  “She's not worth it.”

  Clasping her hands together behind her back, Cassi paced through the living room like she owned the place. “Anybody worth crying over,” she began, “wouldn't make you cry in the first place.”

  Jack turned slowly on the spot.

  He stood by the door with his hands in his pockets, refusing to look up. “That's an interesting opinion,” he said, nodding. “Big with the oversimplification, but hey! Good on you for streamlining the grieving process.”

  To his surprise, Cassi didn't get mad; she just stood behind the couch with her arms folded, biting her lip as she looked him up and down. “A bit of advice,” she said. “People will let you down every time.”

  “Gee, I feel so much better.”

  She moved toward him like a leopard, cocking her head to one side and flashing a smile that left butterflies in his stomach. “Which is why,” she added, “you avail yourself of opportunities for happiness when they present themselves.”

  Chewing on his lower lip, Jack felt his eyes pop out. “Interesting,” he said, stepping forward. “And I'm guessing that one of those opportunities might be presenting itself this very moment?”

  Her finger touched his chest, trailing a line down the white fabric of his t-shirt. “A beautiful woman is standing in your living room,” Cassi said. “And she is willing to do anything you want to do.”

  Oh boy…

  “So, tell me, Jack: what do you want to do?”

  Five minutes later, Jack was sitting on his couch, listening to a powerful orchestral score while the words “Star Wars” receded into the distance on the TV screen. Jack read the opening title crawl for his guest. It
was the least you could do when you were trying to share one of Earth's cinematic masterpieces with someone who could speak English but not read it.

  Cassi was curled up by the couch arm with a bowl of popcorn on her lap, smiling and shaking her head. “This is how your people imagined space travel?” she asked. “Big triangular ships with rayguns?”

  Jack slouched with his arms spread over the back of the couch, chuckling softly. “I would like to see some of your planet's early cinema,” he said. “I'm betting there's all sorts of silliness there.”

  “You're probably right.”

  The movie went on, and despite the original scoff, it was clear that Cassi was really enjoying herself. That opening sequence had her on the edge of her seat, and she actually gasped when Vader made his first appearance.

  Somehow – and Jack was certain that he didn't remember doing it – the lights were dimmed and Cassi was sitting close enough that he could feel her body heat. It was quite distracting but in a pleasant way. “Hmm,” she murmured. “So, this is how your people imagined serving bots?”

  Grinning with a wheeze of laughter, Jack closed his eyes and shook his head. “No, it's not like that,” he said, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. “C3PO and R2D2 are both genuine AI, fully sapient.”

  “They're people?”

  “Indeed.”

  Cassi yawned and covered her open mouth with one hand. “And yet, the princess feels no compunctions about ordering them into the line of fire,” she said. “And Luke's family treats them as property.”

  “The movie doesn't really delve into the rights of droids.”

  “Apparently not.”

  It was a minor complaint, however, and she very quickly lost herself in the story. Talk of serving bots gave Jack an idea, and he asked the one in the kitchen to bring them each a glass of sparkling water. With a “please” and “Thank you,” of course. You could take the boy out of Canada, but you couldn't take Canada out of the boy.

  Cassi gave him an odd stare when he made it a point to be polite to the robot; after all, it had no feelings, but it couldn't hurt! No one had planned on Ven becoming a fully autonomous AI. Granted, Ven had started off as a program designed to manage the entire planet's natural resource base – and this minor serving bot was nowhere near that level of sophistication – but it couldn't hurt!