Page 18 of CHOICE Lover
Not exactly, but Tommy’s suggestion of saying she’s a prototype seems like a rational middle ground. Maybe he’s giving her too much credit. “I assume you have enough common sense not to mention that.”
She nods, which is reassuring. “So, when someone is curious about me, we just tell them I’m a new prototype. Easy enough, I guess.”
“Exactly. If Tommy is right, everyone is going to be curious about you, which will create interest in what is next from CHOICElover. I would expect to see a bump in sales next quarter.” He motions toward the door. “Shall we?” Her mouth has fallen open, and he’s unsure if he’s said something wrong. “Electra?”
Abruptly she gets up, abandoning her drinks, and for a moment he thinks she’s agreeing to venture out. But then she angles around his desk, heading not to the door which would lead out of his unit, but back to the bedroom. He’s on his feet and marching toward her before he can consider his actions. “Electra, wait! What have I done now?”
She spins. “I stupidly thought maybe we were getting somewhere. But your big plan is to use me as advertising for your horrendous company?! I’ve never in my life—” She slams the door in his face.
He groans. Not this again. Her emotional outbursts are so like his brother’s, it’s uncanny.
Jerme.His blood runs cold. What if she harms herself? He hadn’t been paying close enough attention, and he failed his brother. He can’t let that happen to Electra. He needs her. Well, the data from her scans. Plus, she’s his responsibility, so in a way, his conscience needs her alive. Considering she and Jerme seem to be similar, maybe having her around will be good for Jerme too—when Res6 gets him back. Connecting them isn’t a terrible idea. Between her shower and Tommy’s several excellent suggestions, this is really turning out to be a productive day!
“Electra,” he calls through the door. “Please come out. I didn’t mean to upset you. Doesn’t shopping sound fun?”
The door flies open, and her head pokes out. “I loathe shopping. I don’t want anything to do with you or your unicoin!”
“But how are you going to acclimatize? What are you going to wear? Tommy said—”
“I don’t care what Tommy said! You know what, I think I’m going to go watch those history videos now so I can see what is wrong with you people. Then I’m going to figure out what I can do about it.”
The door slams closed.
Well, that doesn’t sound like she wants to harm herself. And why wouldn’t she care what Tommy says? The man has been his and Lextr’s voice of reason since he hired him ten years ago. If it were up to Lextr, she’d be decommissioned. So what now?
You need to do some research. Figure out who she was.Ah, yes. Research. It’s annoying how often Tommy’s right. He should write down his suggestions while they’re still fresh in his mind.
Another Storm Brew is exactly what will make this task more pleasant. He shoots his closed bedroom door a final annoyed glance before going to the refrigerator. Beer in hand, he sits down at his computer and opens the Scrawl app. At the top of the list, there are a dozen new Brain Dump files, obviously from her. What could she possibly fill so many entries with? Maybe he’ll read them later. No, terrible idea. Nothing of interest, to be sure, and certainly not worth his time.
He begins his own Brain Dump, saving it as “Res6’s Top Secret Task List.”
Acclimate Electra Lynch to the Future in Three Easy Steps.
1 – Research to figure out who she was before she died.
Previously considered a bad idea because of proximity-related dangers—i.e., look at what happened to Jerme—but reconsidered per Tommy’s soundshe’s not your pet orangutanadvice. Task seems relatively straightforward. Determining who she was might lead to discovering what entertains her. Then she’ll feel happy. Then, she’ll agree to go to the lab for a few scans. Ideally before the week is over so we can find out if there were any markers left in her mitochondria which might give us insight into what specifically happened that caused her retained memories, thus her identity at the time of her death, to be expressed so fully.
2 – Acquire her proper clothing since trial shopping outing invitation failed.
Get dimensions from her product data sheet. Bonus points: try to determine her personal style from historical data such as archived images, social media posts, etc. She doesn’t want anything to do with me or my unicoin. Too bad.
Seems relatively simple so far. The next one will be the challenge.
3 – Ask Electra questions so she can . . .
What did Tommy say? He runs his hands through his hair, unable to remember what the point was. Well, it doesn’t matter. Asking her questions is the important part. Perhaps he can utilize DumBot to compile a list of options.
Reviewing his plan, he congratulates himself on his excellent work. Might as well get started. He thinks the spelling of her name and the year of her death, watching as the characters populate in the search bar, then pauses. He’s not sure why he hesitates. What could he possibly discover that he wouldn’t want to know? The little flutter in his gut isn’t anticipation. It’s not like she would have been a licensedtherapist too, like the stepmother she mentioned, therefore lending some credence to her scathing assessment of him. Right? What are the odds? Comfortably negligible. Bracing his hands on the armrests of his chair, he thinks the command to search. Instantly, results populate.
A posed headshot fills the top of the screen, along with her name in bold letters and the description “American Writer.” She’s wearing a broad grin. Well, that was easier than he expected. An image of a book cover is pictured beside it. A red-skinned man wearing a crown between two sets of horns holds a distressed yet beautiful woman. Across it are the wordsTempting the Alien King. Beneath it, her name.
Pursued by the Alien Princeis another title. He’s starting to rethink this Electra Lynch and what her Brain Dumps contain.She didn’t putTop Secretin the file names . . .
No, he’s nearly 100 percent certain they are still of no interest to him. Her books, on the other hand . . . He’s been known to go to an occasional holoplay. He has the audiobook versions, which are surely similarly entertaining, downloaded before he even clicks on the descriptions. Typically, he prefers nonfiction, namely business and science titles, to keep up with the latest advancements, but this is relevant research to give him insight into her personality. Maybe even help him discover what she likes so he can provide it, thus fulfilling his obligation.
He skims her bio:
Electra Lynch was an American author known for writing theOut of this Worldseries. Her books were a blend of sci-fi and romance, featuring sensual alien-human love stories. The stories revolved around sensitive and swoon-worthy heroes, who easily outshone human men, and fierce female leads, finding love in unexpected places. In agreement with Lynch’s family, her publisher released all her titles posthumously after a tragic accident that took Lynch’s life right as her career was poised to launch.The family bequeathed all proceeds from her book sales to the nonprofits Making San Francisco’s Streets Safe Again, First Nations’ Food Bank, and Romance Books for Overworked Mommas.
