Lyssa's Rise - Sentience Wars Books 1-3 Omnibus by M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron

Author:M. D. Cooper & James S. Aaron [Cooper, M. D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Wooden Pen Press
Published: 2018-04-18T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

STELLAR DATE: 09.19.2981 (Adjusted Years)

LOCATION: Visitor Terminal, Insi Ring

REGION: Ceres, Anderson Collective, InnerSol

Brit turned to leave the hamster shop with Fugia just as Rina entered the store. The moment Rina spotted Fugia Wong, her movements grew stiff before she visibly calmed herself and framed a pleasant expression on her face.

“Rina,” Brit said. “You’re just in time. We found a local who wants to take us to a nearby restaurant.”

“A local restaurant?” Rina said with a raised eyebrow. “That sounds interesting.”

Chafri frowned, not understanding the change in tone. “Why are you talking so weird?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Rina said. “Who’s our new friend, Brit?”

“I’m Fugia Wong,” the short woman said, stepping forward to extend a hand.

Rina nodded.

Brit watched them closely. It was obvious to her that Rina knew Fugia; meeting this woman was obviously why Rina had wanted to come to Ceres. The situation stripped Rina Smith of her usual disdain. She was deeply anxious. Seeing her this way made Brit like her a bit more, as various questions she’d harbored about Rina’s behavior fell into place. She had been hiding something from the start. Now the question was what she was hiding.

Brit also considered that Rina had asked her to come along, knowing Brit would meet her contact. Curious.

“You really should get one of these,” Wong said, holding up one of the robot hamsters in front of Chafri. You wear it on your shoulder as a signal. You’re here for a good time.”

The blonde man pulled his head back. “What kind of good time?”

“Whatever young men are looking for these days, I suppose. When I was your age it was gambling and drugs. What do young people like these days?” Her grin was feral and Chafri fell for it with naive aplomb.

“I like normal things,” he said.

Fugia walked to the counter and nodded to the clerk, who perked up as she arrived. She handed the woman a coin and carried the hamster she’d selected to Chafri, setting it on his shoulder like pinning on a flower. The hamster gripped Chafri’s shipsuit and automatically nuzzled his neck. Chafri laughed.

“Follow me, please,” Wong said. She led them out of the shop and back into the main terminal concourse. Glancing around, Brit spotted even fewer foreigners than when they had arrived. A single soldier yawned near a column, his rifle hung loosely across his back.

They walked away from the maglevs into a section of open food courts full of empty tables. Concierges waited with folded towels over their hands, showing the same vacant expressions as the shop-clerks.

“Why does everyone look so…blank?” Brit asked.

“It’s a state program called ‘Constant Joy’,” Wong explained. “It’s a kind of meditation. You stand with the smile on your face and move through a series of mental exercises taking you back to your most pleasant memory and then forward to the present moment. Then you think of all the sad people in the rest of Sol and count your many blessings to be a member of the Collective.” She chuckled.

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