I slip my hand beneath his arm and around his body, the body I made for him, the hard muscles I programmed him for.
Adam pulls back, gasping for air. His eyes are clouded. “I don’t know what to do.”
Of course, I know exactly what he should do. Biology, folks. Evolution. We’re all just animals, right? Right?
Right?
I touch his chin. It’s perfect. Chiseled, with a slight cleft. Sculpted-by-Michelangelo perfect.
Just the way I ordered it.
“Kissing’s easy,” I say, and I’m suddenly glad Aislin is asleep s
o she can’t hear me. “Whatever you do, it’ll be perfect.”
We kiss.
It’s just the way I ordered it.
When we come up for air, I turn to see if Aislin’s still asleep.
My face burns when I realize she’s wide awake and watching us.
I wait for the applause or the sarcastic, leering remark. But all she does is nod. Her smile is almost wistful.
Adam turns. He blushes, too. I must have programmed him with that gentle self-consciousness. “Hello, Aislin,” he says.
“Hello,” she says back.
“Lovely weather we are having,” Adam says, and before you can say “what the hell is going on here?” they are having an awkward, first-date kind of chat.
I suddenly feel like a fifth wheel, so I retreat to a seat near the front. When Adam starts to follow me, I tell him to stay and talk with Aislin.
I don’t know why. It just seems right.
There was something about that kiss. It was like a beautifully executed guitar riff, played without any feeling.
It was … not perfect.
– 41 –
SOLO
“Terra!” Tommy says.
“You think…” Dr. Chen says with a gasp. “You think she knows?”
“Who else would decant Adam?” Tommy rages.
“But why would she do such a thing?” Dr. Gold asks. “She doesn’t even know he exists.”
“Clearly she knows he exists, Doctor,” Martinez says with a slight sneer on the word “doctor.” “How else could she decant him?”
Dr. Anapura sees the anger in Tommy’s face—mostly beneath the tattoo that says “Pixies”—and says defensively, “I checked! She hasn’t been down here since the Plisskens died! And there are no cameras except the one we used to show the supposed simulation!”
“Wait a minute,” I say. No one pays attention.
“Oh my God, she knows,” Dr. Chen cries. He’s dancing from foot to foot like a child scared of visiting the dentist.