Korryn
Balancing the tray on one hand, Korryn wiggled her fingers to trigger her aedee's call for the Laboratory doors. She wasn't quite close enough for the short-range receiver to catch the broadcast from her body, which frustrated her--the tray almost tipped as a result. With a curse and a jolt, she managed to steady the food, spilling only a little bit of the soup. "Not bad," she muttered to herself. Now closer to the door, she did the same finger-dance that dilated the door and eased her way in. Now that she'd arrived at her destination, her aedee's visual display pulled up the order's owner, switching away from the route she'd needed to take from the Cafeteria to arrive at the Laboratory. Walking through the Compound was always as much guess work as it was relying on her aedee. The place was a maze. The only person who knew how to get around, in her opinion, was… "Seton?" she said. "This is yours?" The doctor popped his head up from behind a specimen container, his expression confused and distracted. Korryn had always thought that he looked a bit too much like one of those Lost Earth animals. What was it? An…ostracize? No, that didn't make sense. No, an ostrich. That was it. Small face, pinched toward his nose, scrawny neck that stretched too far. He wasn't unattractive, but he wasn't the most handsome man on Prospero. That honor went to Captain Rall, of course, and that basically every woman and even some of the men thought so was the worst-kept secret of the colony. What Seton lacked in looks he made up by being thoughtful, smart, and content to listen. It was a nice change from most of the guys she'd hooked up with throughout her year on Prospero. Still, that didn't mean that she wanted to see him while she was working. "Oh! Korryn! I didn't think you'd be the one to bring me my food." "Well, the service drones are out of whack--the storm fried some of their systems--and I wasn't doing anything else." She eased some clutter away from the edge of the counter and set the tray down. "Well, I'm glad to see you." Seton nodded toward the specimen cage. "Here, have you seen this?" Korryn gave him a wry smile. "I just walked in." "Yeah, yeah, I know. But look at it! Oh, is that soup?" "Didn't you order it?" asked Korryn as she stepped aside so he could pass. "I asked for today's special." "Ah." She and he switched places, the doctor settling on a stool so he could spoon the lukewarm soup into his mouth, the kitchen worker staring in bafflement at what she saw before her. "Is it a…" "A Dentolura, yes." "That's…amazing," she said, looking carefully at the creature. No longer than her arm, its round body looked like glistening rock poking through the surface of a scummy pond. It was green, brown, and, at a certain angle, iridescent. "Where'd you get it?" "I picked it up when I went outside the fence," he said, his voice low. Korryn threw a look at him and arched her eyebrow. "You broke the Number One Rule?" She screwed her face into a begrudging grimace. "I'm impressed." "Really?" "I never took you for the rebellious type." He tried to stand, but knocked the tray. Catching it before it tipped, he sat back down and cleared his throat. "You…Do you like rebellious types?" "I like all types, Seton. I told you." "Yeah, but I think we were talking about ice cream," he said, straightening his shoulders with a twitch. Korryn shrugged. "I suppose you're right. But tell me about this guy. He's kinda cute." "I don't know if he is a he at all, to be honest." "Why?" Seton chewed a cracker before answering. "Never seen one before." "Oh, right." She nodded her head. "I remember. So…do you know anything about them?" "Oh, we know plenty. They're carnivorous--at least, though there's some chance they might be omnivorous." He shrugged. "They're definitely apex predators--there isn't anything we've seen on the planet that can compare in size. At least, not on the land." "How big?" Seton slurped some soup and thought about it, his dark face thoughtful. "Man-sized." "Not woman-sized?" she asked, smiling. He made a disdainful face. She laughed. "Average man-sized. Two and a half meters from the floor to the hip, I'd guess. The biggest we've seen was about three and a half, almost four meters in length." She whistled. "Yeah," said Seton, taking another bite of cracker. "They're mostly nocturnal, which is why it's hard for us to study them. They don't like light so much…" "Is that why you have this one directly shining on it? To be an ass?" "No, that's a scanner. It's reading biometric data and relaying it to my encrypted files for later study." "Sounds fancy." "Standard operating procedure, actually." Korryn smirked. She knew more than he thought, but it was better to let him think he knew it all. That, she'd found, always made men feel good about themselves. "What are you hoping to learn by studying it?" "How evolution on Prospero works. What kind of benefits we could get from, say, the enzymes they naturally create. Determine how they survive and if there's anything that we, as apex predators ourselves, can learn from them." "Pretty lofty goals," said Korryn, standing and stretching. The creature fascinated her, but not for any of the reasons that Seton had mentioned. It was cute. She could see it being a worthwhile pet, and that idea led to another--accoutrements, accessories, and other paraphernalia--and all the opportunities having a trendy new animal would entail. She'd seen people make a lot of money for less exciting inventions. Who wouldn't like to have an adorable creature to keep them company in the endless black of space? "Can I hold him?" Seton shook his head so hard that Korryn was surprised she didn't hear his neck pop. "No, no. No, no, no." "Why not?" "We don't have any protocols for that. We can't risk contamination." "You touched him," she said, folding her arms. "No, I lured it into that specimen container. It hasn't come in contact with a human yet." He paused, frowning. "Besides, why would you want to do that?" She shrugged and explained her idea. It seemed logical enough, but, to her surprise, Seton didn't see it the same way. "You want to exploit it?" Korryn blinked. "No, I want to profit off him." Laughing in a way that felt like it was more out of disgust than humor, Seton shook his head as he stood and approached the container. "No, this is a scientific discovery." "Sure, but that's why science is useful: We can make money off it." "Why are you so mercenary?" he asked, dropping down to look at the creature. "I mean, you're not starving, right?" "No one starves on Prospero," said Korryn. "So? What's the big deal?" "It could be big money, that's all," she said, shrugging. His questions irritated her. It was pretty plain: When the colony on Prospero had been announced, a lot of people had wanted in. Living on a planet was a fairy tale, so far as, well, everyone was concerned, but more than that, Prospero was planned to be the safest, best option for any permanent colony. It had grown since it was started--proof enough of its value--and Korryn had been as excited as anyone else to have a chance to live there. But it was just that: Living. She worked--everyone ate, but everyone had a job to do, too--and that was about it. Sure, there was recreation and even some extra things that people smuggled in for some credits that would have value off-planet. But it was…boring. They lived, yeah, but they didn't live. Korryn wanted something better, more glamorous or exciting or adventurous. She wasn't certain, but she knew she needed money to get there. "You never know when that could be useful. And that lura could be worth something, you know?" Senton looked over his shoulder at her, his expression thoughtful. "I have an idea: Why don't you ask Chief of Security Timpson if you can keep it as a pet?" Korryn blinked a couple of times, then laughed. "What are you talking about?" "I'm serious!" He straightened, his face so serious it was almost comical. Korryn had to bite back her laughter. "Okay…but why?" "She wants me to get rid of this guy in fifteen hours." He jerked his thumb at the specimen. "I've already spent too much time talking with you--" Korryn raised her eyebrows, her instinct to take umbrage at the thoughtless comment swallowed by her curiosity about his thinking. "--and with such little time, I'm better off not arguing. These preliminary scans are almost done, and then the work will begin." Korryn sighed. "You know, you still haven't explained why I should talk to her. You think I can persuade her to see our point of view?" "Precisely." "Does Timpson care about the profit?" He shrugged. "Ask her. If we can get her to see that there's a strong economic reason that we should be allowed to keep the lura, I think that could help everyone involved." Korryn sighed, her eyes fixated on the creature. It was strange, because she normally didn't have much affinity for animals--they were abundant enough on the larger spacestations, and she'd been to zoos on the Gateway when she was younger, but the idea of caring for another entity was foreign. Part of the reason that, despite running toward her third decade, she hadn't bothered having any children, using her aedee to keep her incapable of conceiving. If she didn't want to care for her own flesh and blood, why would she want a little blob like this? And, yet, she did. And if she did, someone else likely would. And be willing to pay money. Maybe a lot for it. Her eyes drifted to the tray. Or she could stick around, working for her living space and occasional breaks that were as pointless as the job she did. "Okay," she said. "I'll go. It can't hurt to ask, right?" |
What is this?This is a NaNoWriMo project that publishes, day by day, the chapters I'm writing for 2017. If you're confused, go to Chapter 1 Ann and start there. ArchivesCategories
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