Dadr'Ba (14 page)

P’Ko sat on the cushion near the small table towards the back of Mi’Ka’s shop that she sometimes uses for private readings, a larger table used for group readings lay propped up against the wall not far away.

He’s nearing graduation, and he along with the rest of his class are making decisions and preparations. Excitement and curiosity are running high as everyone tries to find out as much as they can about everything involved.

P’Ko still hasn’t picked a mentor, who for P’Ko is particularly challenging; he has trouble picking and even more trouble approaching and asking a date to accompany him to a sports or social event at school. There’s no way he’d speak to Mi’Ka about such a personal subject. He was certain that she wouldn’t be able to help on this account, and if he did, he was afraid to imagine what sort of recommendation she would come up with.

P’Ko’s mission on this visit was to ply her for information, not so much about the Graduation Ceremony, but about the mysterious ToG Ceremony that follows graduation.

Mi’Ka answers the Graduation Ceremony questions as best she could, but everything about the Graduation ceremony is public knowledge, so she had little to add, adding that she rarely attends the Graduation ceremony in person. She prefers to watch online and avoid the stares and psychic comments that her looks bring from the residents of Nu’Tn.

P’Ko, deftly as he can, questions Mi’Ka about the ToG Ceremony, she steadfastly refuses to answer. He pressed her, and she got a little angry and flustered, anxious to change the subject Mi’Ka asks P’Ko about his bio-mods.

P’Ko is caught off guard and not realizing what exactly she meant, responds with what had been foremost on his mind and that of many of his classmates. Saying that he wants to be male, but hadn’t decided on what mods he needed or who to pick for his mentor or mentors.

P’Ko sees Mi’Ka’s surprised look and sensed her bewilderment, and assumes she wants more information. So he blurts out a list of names, some suggested by his parents, some he heard about from friends. Most he had never met, and a few were known to be regulars, willing to mentor anyone, strangers, and referrals alike. Then partially joking, P’Ko mentions La’Na and Fa’Na the two prostitutes that had offered him a good time.

Mi’Ka realizing P’Ko’s predicament and reprimanding herself for not sensing it earlier, reading P’Ko’s psychic signals, responds, acknowledges his poor joke with a short forced laugh, that sounded more like a cough.

Responding like she took P’Ko seriously, which in part he was, says “Fa’Na and La’Na are fine companions for recreation and would surely be able to recommend bio-mods and teach you how to use the equipment, but mentors must be chosen carefully and not left to chance.” Mi’Ka paused, then continued “A mentor and your choice of a mentor can impact you positively or negatively for the rest of your life, they can even ruin it.”

P’Ko knew this to be true, at least from what his parents had tried to explain to him, and hidden behind some of the remarks by his friends, some of them, he knew even more seriously than he, were considering La’Na and Fa’Na as mentors.

Embarrassed by his attempt to make light something so serious and relieved that Mi’Ka didn’t laugh at him outright or severely scold him, all he could muster in reply was “yes, I know… it’s just that I don’t know who or how to ask.”

Mi’Ka seeing P’Ko’s sincerity and feeling the edge of desperation behind it thought for a moment and replied “I think I know someone, she rarely mentors, but she’s excellent. I can approach her, but you’ll have to trust me on this, she’s very selective. You’ll be interviewed, at the end of that interview you’ll know if she accepts you as a Lr’Lng.

If she accepts you and you agree, you’re committed you can’t back down. You are making one of the most important adult decisions of your life, one that could have consequences that could touch you virtually every day of your life.” Then after a long pause, “Shall I ask her?” after another pause, P’Ko, trusting Mi’Ka and feeling relieved, “Yes, thank you.”

The conversation moved to what Mi’Ka had intended earlier. She asked, even though she remembered his job choice comment a while back, she wanted to make sure he was still committed and cognizant of all the implications associated with the decision “Are you still certain about your chosen profession?” He said he was.

She said, “You need to consider how the bio-mods will mark you in Dadr’Ba society.” This didn’t faze P’Ko; he grew up ‘strange’. As a child, he was kidded, teased and bullied, but when he got older and eventually overcame his persecutors, he grew privately proud of his uniqueness and independence, it inspired. Then, seeing more and more post graduates and adults embracing, and even striving for uniqueness in this world of clones, he took an even greater pride in his individuality and nonconformity, seeing it as a kind of strength and courage.

As an undergrad, P’Ko didn’t go overboard with outlandish clothes, makeup, and temporary tattoos, but he knew plenty of people that did, and there are lots of people walking around Nu’Tn (Ol’Tn even more so) that look stranger than any Mi’Nr or combination Mi’Nr/U’Te he could ever imagine. P’Ko admired these people.

P’Ko replied, “I’m looking forward to it, if the CA doesn’t ruin it by denying my job choice, I think that I’ll be the only U’Te turned Mi’Nr ever, I’ll be the first.” P’Ko said with pride. “I’ve been teased, made fun of, harassed as a kid; I’m finally going to gain a little respect now and know with absolute certainty that I’m going to be a good Mi’Nr, one of the best!”

Mi’Ka thought for a moment, then “You’re right to be worried that the CA might deny your job choice, we’re going to have to take care not in any way to give the CA any cause for concern.”

Mi’Ka “Have you spoke to anyone about your job choice?” P’Ko, “No, I’m sure my classmates would tease and ridicule me, and my parents would try to talk me out of it. It’s not that I’m ashamed of the choice, it that they might take offense thinking I’m making a statement about their job choices, or that I’m turning my back on my race or that I’m better than them.”

“I don’t want to have to explain or justify it; it’s just something I know I have to do. I don’t have a simple answer, and I can’t put it into words, it’s just that deep down in my soul I’ve got this calling. I want to, I need to become a Mi’Nr, it’s very personal I can’t put words to it, and I don’t want to have to by telling people too soon.”

Mi’Ka used all her powers of perception to track, comprehend and validate what P’Ko was saying. “After my mods and I begin working they might see me as ‘different’ but inside I’ll be the same. I’ll be less different than lots of people out there with extreme body mods” and P’Ko couldn’t help the thought crossing his mind that he’d look less ‘different’ than Mi’Ka. Who was truly unique. “I want to announce my job choice when I can walk away and get to work, limiting the exposure by limiting the time cynics and conformists have to challenge or influence my decision.”

“I’m going to have the chance to be different and like so many others show it, step out of the norm, refuse to comply, refuse to be just another cog in the machine.”   

Mi’Ka cautioned, “The CA doesn’t like non-conformists, they manage a population of clones, and they prefer them to behave that way, like machines. But they’re faced with the fact that everyone strives for some level of individuality, of self-worth. The CA allows those that choose to, to have outlandish body mods knowing that it helps to pacify the masses desire for self-esteem.”

“It’s wise to delay the announcement of your job choice, aside from reducing your personal exposure to teasing and ridicule, it will limit the time the CA has to digest the situation; some could view this as politically sensitive. Remember from your history lessons there were protests and a threatened strike a few hundred years ago over this very subject. Your teachers say that it didn’t come to a strike, that the CA tactfully and judiciously avoided it. I was there, I remember it, there was a strike and the CA finally did give in to the demands for freedom of job choice regardless of race. The guidelines they published for job choice made it practically impossible for cross race career choices, job movement or swapping.”

“The concessions from the CA did make it easier for job moves within races which made it a relative success but hardly ever is anyone allowed to change vocations and never across the glass race barrier. To assure approval, the CA will need to see this as non-threatening; they need to see it as an example of extreme body mod and at the same time make themselves look good.”

P’Ko received a short call from Mi’Ka, Mi’Ka didn’t like to talk on open lines, preferring psychic messaging instead, but because P’Ko’s psychic messaging abilities are not fully developed, and she wasn’t able to message P’Ko. Mi’Ka knows he has the ability, but P’Ko doesn’t have enough confidence and trust, which in turn impacts his psychic sensitivity, precision, and accuracy.

P’Ko experienced an episode of Mi’Ka intruding on his thoughts, he wasn’t able to get her off his mind and logically dismissed it as anxiousness about the whole mentoring situation, and he had begun contemplating how he might be able to back out of the deal he had made with Mi’Ka. His mind raced with images of what he thought Mi’Ka’s idea of a mentor might be, and none of them appealed to him.

Mi’Ka’s call tuned him to focus on her, and it didn’t take much psychic energy to know she had tried to contact him psychically and to understand her frustration knowing that the CA was listening.

It’s commonly known that the CA listens and uses automated keyword, pattern analysis, and call metrics to flag suspicious calls. Suspicious calls are scrutinized even further and may lead to the use of “other” surveillance methods and technologies.

Most people have grown numb to the monitoring; the CA has been doing it for as long as anyone can remember and for the majority of individuals it has zero impact. P’Ko had always been careful with his calls, but the feeling he got from Mi’Ka on this call stepped things up to a whole new level, a level that that P’Ko sensed could not be stepped down from.

She said that she had found the curio he had asked about, and she would set it aside for him on his next visit to her curio shop, then ended the call. She didn’t give him enough time to speak, though he was juggling with the decision and some way of saying that he didn’t want the curio after all.

P’Ko knew that Mi’Ka had arranged the appointment for the mentoring interview.

P’Ko’s mind went into high gear worrying about who this person was that Mi’Ka knew or was friends with that would be a good mentor. His imagination ran a gamut of possibilities; he was aware that Mi’Ka knew a great many people.

Mi’Ka being a ToG survivor and influential in the Mi’Nr community he guessed that this person was probably a Mi’Nr, which was fine, he’d seen many Mi’Nr females that he found attractive, and he didn’t share the negative prejudices that some Ute’s have toward Mi’Nr’s. He knew that they were people just like everyone else, with much the same hopes and dreams as he and his family, but due to their vocation they led a life of extremes that made them tougher and P’Ko thought stronger willed as a result. P’Ko didn’t know what else to do but waited to be contacted.

The next day he was messaged an appointment reminder from a blocked id, the message provided instructions to go to a place and wait. To his utter amazement once he saved the appointment to his personal calendar the time and location changed, along with the security settings on his calendar and messaging system. Checking deeper he discovered that it created a hidden encrypted folder P’Ko could access but not decrypt. He avoided tampering with it, he guessed by the way it behaved that it was semi-autonomous and that it would detect any attempt at probing. He didn’t know what it would do then; it could self-destruct, kinetically even and reached up and gently touched his TaC-B.

At the appointed day and time, P’Ko’s heart raced as he made his way to the designated place, then suddenly stopped. He turned a blind corner of a four-way intersection and found a white midsized car silently idling in his path, floating quietly on its maglev suspension, waiting for him. A car was the last thing he imagned.

A door opened from the car’s glass smooth, seamless, featureless body, the door’s edges forming as if melting from ice and a pleasant sounding female voice with a slight D’En accent said. “P’Ko, please get in.”

Never in a million years would P’Ko have thought that he would be riding to this “interview” in a car. Out of the five thousand or so crewmembers of sector three, P’Ko heard of only a hand full of VIP’s that had cars and didn’t even know anyone that knew someone that owned one.

P’Ko stumbled almost falling on the deck of the car as he got in, and then catching himself and turning, sank back into a plush white cushioned divan bench seat. He had never ridden in a car before. The door automatically closed and instead of being plunged into darkness or enclosed in a wall panel lit tomb, P’Ko looked out through optically transparent windows that couldn’t be detected from the outside.He looked closer and realized that they were flat panels only displaying the outside scene, th
e
3
D capabilities of the system were superb.

The car’s voice intoned in the same pleasant manner as when P’Ko first approached said as the car began to move, “We will arrive momentarily.”

P’Ko marveled at the sophistication of this equipment, the son of a mechanic having apprenticed with his father and soon to graduate and begin training as a certified mechanic; P’Ko absorbed the environment around him.

In front of him, instead of any visible driving or steering mechanism, there was a small beverage compartment. Behind transparent sliding panels were a selection of sealed containers of liqueurs, cold drinks and hot and cold tea. All the drinks were smaller than those in the vending machines at school and in Nu’Tn. P’Ko figured that the small size would be appropriate for what would at most be a leasurely ten or fifteen-minute trip going from one side of sector three to the far opposite side.

P’Ko wondered if it were possible to go to another sector by car sector crossings were air locked and monitored by an automated system, it would be easy to restrict passage. Crossings and the transport systems are designed to allow movement of people and materials yet maintain the atmospheric isolation necessary for the efficient sector by sector heat dissipation from the core.

On the few occasions when P’Ko had been to one of Dadr’Ba’s observation platforms on vacation with his family, a school field trip or a sporting event in another sector, the trip was applied for and scheduled in advance. The justification was provided, and the passage was approved, and they traveled in a group using one of the transport tube modules.

P’Ko had never heard of people being denied travel authority, but the mere fact that the travel had to be requested and approved in advance made a few feel ill at ease. The explanation from the CA is that it’s necessary to control and conserve valuable resources, but that explanation didn’t quite make sense. One thing Dadr’Ba seems to have plenty of is energy. The Magneto Hydro Dynamic generated electrical power harvested off of the fusion engine was abundant.

The car slowed and turned sharply into a garage at the base of an apartment where only a moment before was a bare wall, the garage door opened and closed so quickly that it seemed to P’Ko the car should have hit it. The garage contained several other vehicles, but P’Ko saw no one. The car he was riding in pulled up adjacent to an open elevator door and stopped, the car opened its door and announced his arrival. After P’Ko had exited the car it thanked him, remarking that it would look forward to his return trip, the car door closed and noiselessly moved away parking itself.

P’Ko entered the elevator, which welcomed him in the same sweet voice as the car. P’Ko amazed at the level of sophistication of what he’s seeing, or rather the hidden technology behind what he’s not seeing. The car didn’t a mark on it; the street had no name the building had no number, nothing at the ground level to distinguish it. There were no controls or indicators in the car and nothing inside the elevator.

Nothing indicated who he’s visiting, or who the other inhabitants of this apartment building are. The elevator seemed to recognize him and know where he needed to go just like the car.

For a moment, P’Ko thought that since his chosen occupation is a mechanic how interesting it might be to work on systems like this. But as fast as he considered it, he dismissed it; he was certain he wanted to be a mining mechanic. Working on these systems would undoubtedly require a high-security clearance along with the extra scrutiny of the CASS. His father had been offered opportunities to work on special systems and so far, turned down every offer.

The back panel away from the door showed a virtual view looking out over Nu’Tn; the view changed as the elevator ascended, soon it was as high as the highest portions of the stadium and slowed to a stop, announcing that they had arrived. The elevator door opened not into a hallway as he expected, but opened directly into an apartment, or rather a suite.

There across the threshold stood a woman, small, petite and demure, the height of a Mi’Nr but slim, without the thicker skin, insulation and energy reserves, not the strong, stocky look of the Mi’Nr’s, yet perfectly proportioned, as if she were born that way.

She could have been a perfectly scaled down version of a D’En her hair, delicate and dark, her skin, baby white, minimal makeup, and he could see no tattoos. But this woman was like no D’En P’Ko had ever seen. Of the D’En’s P’Ko has seen or met most have been tall, height mods seeming to be a favorite bio-mod choice, none has ever been short. Height reduction bio-mods are rare, even among U’Te’s, from this distance P’Ko guessed that she would only come up to his shoulder.

She was in a white ankle-length robe that covered her entire body with a broad dark red sash around her abdomen revealing gentle curves showing the proportions of her body. She wore house slippers and stood on a smooth polished floor; the walls glowed a pale gold.

P’Ko gazed at the floor, then slowly realized that the floor showed a beautiful intricate pattern of tiny red, gold, lavender, and green stones. P’Ko realized that it must have come from the asteroids that had been incorporated into Dadr’Ba’s mass when Dadr’Ba first set out from Or’Gn. He had seen jewelry made from small pieces of these rocks, here was a whole floor made from them.

P’Ko’s mind began to race, how could all this add up? This beautiful woman? A friend of rough and gruff Mi’Ka? All this wealth compared to Mi’Ka’s grotto? The car? The garage behind the invisible door? An elevator with no controls? That opens directly into a luxury suite? How could this be real?

Could he be dreaming? How could this beautiful, unbelievably wealthy D’En even consider being a mentor for someone like “me?” A U’Te striving to become a Mi’Nr. Something these people must think of as going from low to lower? 

The woman spoke, she introduced herself as “Z’Shi,” it was the same voice from the car and the elevator, soft sweet with a slight D’En accent. All automated voices had a D’En accent so P’Ko didn’t think that Z’Shi’s car and the elevator would be anything other than the standard automated voice heard all over Dadr’Ba.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, come in and please, take off your street sandals and respect my home by using house slippers. My home is one of my companions; I’m sure you agree it’s important to respect our companions?” P’Ko nodded agreement, not yet finding his voice and having more than once considered turning around and backing out of this venture. Z’Shi’s words were soft, kind and pleasant, yet authoritative.

Just inside the apartment was a landing and off to the side was a pair of house slippers, obviously for him beside a small pair of sandals. P’Ko stared at the delicate demure sandals, amazed at the proportionality of Z’Shi’s feet to her little frame.

P’Ko felt troubled, almost ashamed as he slipped off his dusty, rough-hewn mechanic’s street sandals and placed them next to Z’Shi’s pristine pair. He was a little relieved to note that the landing appeared to have a sort of air shower built in, feeling a breeze against his feet that slowly subsided. After putting on the house slippers, P’Ko nudged his street sandals a little further away from Z’Shi’s.

Z’Shi had waited patiently and gave no indication that she paid any attention to P’Ko’s actions. She invited P’Ko to follow her into the drawing room.

The gem quality floor felt smooth as P’Ko’s house slippers glided across the floor, looking and feeling like walking on wet ice, but when weight was applied had the solid feel of walking on very dry ice.

Z’Shi flowed across the floor as if air carried her, and as she turned P’Ko saw that her dark hair had a reddish tint to it, and it draped all the way to the small of her back. Z’Shi motioned for P’Ko to sit on some cushions near a low table upon which sat a white teapot with two matching cups on a tray, the tea set decorated with an intricate design that resembled a snowflake made up of a combination of characters that P’Ko could make no sense of.

Arranged around them, sitting on stands, strange, intricate devices or instruments sat, some large some small. P’Ko couldn’t recognize any of them, but he guessed that they were musical instruments. He studied them, some were horn-shaped showing some simple, some complex waveguides ending in flares, others had strings over a box that should serve to resonate and amplify. Yes, they are musical instruments, but nothing like any he had ever seen before.

Z’Shi sat down across from him, even sitting; she was shorter than P’Ko. Her bio-mods, what else could it be, had to be extensive, and he wondered why anyone would want to be shorter, smaller or petite.

Before P’Ko could muster the courage to speak Z’Shi began, “I am Z’Shi, Mi’Ka, and I have been friends since the beginning. I am an artist, a historian, and entertainer. Mi’Ka told me very little about you only that she considers you to be a very special person and is in need of mentoring.”

“As for the rest, she prefers that I make my observations and come to my own conclusions. That said, the very fact that she referred you to me speaks volumes” – she continued talking as she began serving the tea, maintaining her gaze in P’Ko’s direction with only occasional, friendly eye contact. She poured the tea perfectly, without spilling a drop.

“No one knows you’re here; there was no need to use your tracking disabled TaC-B. Ever since you got into my car, the monitoring system would have you on a secluded walk.” P’Ko sat dumbfounded, not knowing what to do or say. “You’d still have been able to send and receive messages, but our location is masked.” Then she added, “My work requires the utmost of discretion.”

“I can see by your movements, that you are martial arts practitioner, you need to speak to your sensei about how to mask your movements, you’ve been lucky. There are some among the CA security forces trained to spot the martial artist, and they would not hesitate to put you under arrest for suspicion of martial arts activities.”

A flash of P’Ko’s final altercation with Dan’Zu and rescue of Tn’ raced through P’Ko’s mind, followed immediately with imaginings of a CASS raid in the middle of the night. Thoughts of being stunned, apprehended and interrogated about his martial arts activities. Demands for information about who taught him and who knew about it.

P’Ko’s throat froze, and he gagged spilling his tea. Z’Shi produced a napkin that had sat unnoticed upon the serving platter. P’Ko apologized profusely and offered to leave. Z’Shi, who had moved next to him placed her hand on his arm and gently refused his offer to leave.

Z’Shi returned to her original seat as P’Ko slowly regained his composure. P’Ko starting to think through things, reminding himself that the Dan’Zu Tn’ incident was years ago and slowly put his CASS fears aside.

.

P’Ko apologized again “I’m so sorry, all this is overwhelming, I didn’t know, you don’t look like…” then “Do you know martial arts?” After a deliberate pause that said “I’m going to tell you something in trust and that trust must never be broken,” regaining eye contact, Z’Shi replied, “It is one of my many skills.”

The contrast in P’Ko’s mind couldn’t have been greater; it was almost as if they were opposite magnetic poles or ends of the universe. On one end, this petite, frail looking woman living in a luxury apartment and on the other end, his burly, gruff, tattooed sensei that lives in a converted cargo container in an Ol’Tn junk yard. Yet, both know, or seem to know martial arts.

Z’Shi appears to be extremely knowledgeable and possesses the observation skills needed to recognize the body language of a martial artist, despite her words maybe that’s the limit of her skills. P’Ko couldn’t believe it and made a conscious attempt to mask his disbelief.

P’Ko began to slowly realize that Z’Shi was carefully watching him, not obviously or directly, but like a martial artist watches their opponent. Not just focusing on this part or that, but watching in whole, assiduously, every move, and what’s more, she wanted him to know it. Her eyes were attuned to his every movement, as sure as Mi’Ka could perceive psychically what most people were thinking, P’Ko realized that Z’Shi could see from visual clues, eye movements, trembles, muscle tensions, what someone is preparing to do, what they’re feeling and maybe even thinking.