Mind Over Ship

Cyndee went over to join her.

“Did you have some Leena business for us or something?” Cyndee said.

“Yes, in fact, I do. Before holoing here, I received a call from E-P at E-Pluribus. It wants to purchase two Leenas for its in-house Academy, and I wanted to run it by you before I agreed to anything.”

The evangelines exchanged a glance, and Mary said, “Why? Except for the three Leenas you gave us outright, you own the whole issue. Why ask us?”

Georgine added, “The E-Pluribus Academy is pretty prestigious. What’s wrong with the offer?”

“Nothing on the surface,” Clarity said. “If we received a similar offer for any of our other sims, we’d be thrilled. But the Leena line is a special case. With two Leena units, E-Pluribus would be able to reverse-engineer the character’s entire profile. In effect, I’d be handing them the Leenas’ entire slice cascade code.”

Georgine said, “So? Doesn’t that apply to any sims you sell to them as well?”

“Yes, but we use trained actors for our characters. Not to say you girls didn’t give brilliant performances. You did, but in the final analysis, we cast you being yourselves. A trained actor, on the other hand, has extraordinary control in the casting process. She can wall off, so to speak, the more private areas of her psyche and allow only the performance to be captured. You three didn’t have that kind of control. Who knows what sort of personal baggage might have transferred to the sims? I wanted you to know that before agreeing to the deal.”

The evangelines mulled over the information, and Mary said, “Our genotype has only been around for thirty years. We don’t even have that much baggage.” Georgine snickered, and Mary added, “Speaking for myself, at least. I don’t know about Georgine and Cyndee, but I don’t see the harm. It’s no greater an invasion of privacy than sitting for one of the E-Pluribus preference polling sessions, which a lot of ’leens did when we were down on our luck.”

“That’s right,” Georgine said. “Our type was on the brink of collapse before the clinic thing. I know that Mary and Cyndee don’t consider themselves heroes — that distinction goes to Alex, Renata, and Hattie — but their actions did put us in the headlines, and your gift of the Leena royalties to the Sisterhood has created financial security for our whole germline. I, for one, wouldn’t want to stand in the way of the Leenas being inducted into the Academy.”

“Neither would I,” Mary and Cyndee said.

A Fine Massage

Nicholas appeared sitting in the middle of her Lazy-Acres bed, but before he could get a word out, Zoranna said, “I don’t want to hear it.”

Nicholas ignored her. “I can understand your feelings right now, Zoe, but we’re in crisis mode, and we must discuss strategy. It would seem that Singh and Jaspersen coordinated their actions to coincide with the Capias World’s rollout in the USNA market. And the labor shakeup at Trailing Earth is spinning out of control.”

“You handle things,” Zoranna said, pulling the covers to her chin. “Leave me out of it.”

“I’d love to, but I need your help. I need you to call Starke again to find out what caused her rash decision to dump us. Starke Enterprises and Applied People have always been on good terms.”

“Then call Cabinet and ask it.”

“I already have. Cabinet says it was entirely Ellen’s decision; she didn’t even consult with it. You must call Ellen.”

“You already know she won’t take my call.”

“Try again, and remember that our employees are counting on you, Zoe. They’re mystified about what’s going on. They’re worried. They need to know that you’re still in charge, that you’re working to correct the problem. Look here.”

The Warm Puppy, Uncle Homer, appeared on the bed next to him. It walked in a tight circle on the bedspread, pausing every few steps to sit and scratch its hindquarters, which were denuded of hair. Its exposed skin was red and raw with mange and crisscrossed with bloody scratch marks. It scratched itself so vigorously it yelped in pain.

“That’s disgusting,” Zoranna said. “Why would you show that to me, Nick? Take it away.”

The dog vanished. “Actually, the situation is even worse than it looks,” Nicholas replied.

“I don’t care. Don’t ever show that to me again. Is that clear, mentar?”

“Perfectly.”

Zoranna plumped her pillows and turned her back to him. “If you want my input, give me hard data. Numbers, that’s what I want, not your Warm Puppy crap.”

“Hard data? You?” Nicholas rudely opened a dataframe in front of her face. “Here’s your hard data.”

“Not here,” Zoranna said, flinging off the covers and sitting up in bed. “I feel like a massage. Order me a belinda.”

ZORANNA’S BATHROOM WAS larger than her bedroom. Besides the spa, there was a gell stall, sauna, and a softstone slab. The floor and walls were tiled in natural, pink-and-white marble. A sheet of water ran down one wall and collected in a little koi pool. The high cathedral ceiling was topped with a glassine vault under which neon- colored chickadees built their nests. Zoranna was already lying nude on the cool slab when the door whisked open and the light tread of slippered feet crossed the floor.

“Good afternoon, myr. My name is Irene.”

Without looking up, Zoranna said, “I’m tense, Irene. Try to loosen me up.”

“Yes, myr.”

The sound of a bottle of body oil being opened, of vigorous hand wringing. “I’m just warming up my hands, myr.”

“I know that, Irene. You don’t need to give me a play-by-play.”

“No, myr. I guess not. Sorry.” The strong woman started working on Zoranna’s shoulders and cervical spine, paying special attention to the muscles surrounding each vertebra. The sharp tang of highbush cranberry filled the room. Zoranna’s skin prickled and flushed. It kills me to say this, Nick, but when our Borealis Botanicals supply runs out, you’ll need to find me a worthy substitute.

Will do, the mentar replied. Let me know when you want to talk shop.

Down each leg, using more force with the large muscles of the thigh, not neglecting the arches of her feet. Then her arms and the palms of her hands. Belindas knew their craft.

Are there any penelopes left? she asked. How long would it take us to restart the whole spacer research program?

There were never many penelopes to begin with, and they would require extensive rejuve to go back into service. As for the spacer research, I’m putting together a feasibility study.

Nicholas began to spool tables and charts behind Zoranna’s eyelids. He highlighted important details and laid out probable scenarios and possible maneuvers. As the massage progressed and Zoranna relaxed, it was, indeed, easier to think. Do you suppose Andrea Tiekel knew of Saul and Singh’s plot when she came to us with her offer?

I have little doubt that she did. She only pretended to be on our side and vote with us.

The belinda began to work on Zoranna’s neck, loosening stubborn knots of muscle. She massaged Zoranna’s scalp, which was more pleasure than a person deserved. You know, Nick, true power is being able to have a massage whenever the hell you want one.

I know it.

Are you riding me?

The belinda returned her attention to Zoranna’s upper back, this time digging deeper for lingering tension. She manipulated her arms and shoulder blades and sought the muscles several layers down. For a while, Zoranna was too loose to care about anything, and she blinked the graphics away to become a body only. Sometime later, she said, Is there anything to this so-called clone fatigue?