Page 61 of CHOICE Lover
“Don’t Electra me. You get to keep Chryl, and I disagree with that. That means I get to have my advice column.” Her argument feels a little shaky given that she’s living in his apartment and eating his food. He’s intent on her spending his money though, so for the time being, she supposes she’ll drop the Chryl issue for now.
His lips press together, and he eyes her like he’s debating something. “I think you’re underestimating the danger. Bexly and his team just finished the physical inventory, and your remaining DNA samples were in the cache the robbers stole.”
“Oh my God. Are you only telling me so I won’t do my column?” she asks. Would he do that? At least his twitchiness makes sense now. He’s worried about her.
He inhales deeply, as though this conversation pains him. “Of course not. I’ve told you repeatedly, your safety is my primary concern.”
The conviction in his voice is almost desperate. Her heart squeezes. “Okay. I believe you. So, you had more of my DNA?” Why hasn’t she thought to ask if there was more of it? “Wait, can other MSP citizens order manupartners that look just like me?”
He shakes his head. “I should have pulled it. Destroyed it. This is my fault.”
She isn’t really interested in placing blame. The more concerning issue is what her DNA floating out there in the world means for her. “Was it just mine?”
“No, yours was one of hundreds of samples, but all from the same fifty-year span. Bexly told the inspectors they were specifically looking for that period. It’s possible it was just happenstance that they got yours.”
“Have they figured out what they’re trying to do with it?” she asks.
“Unfortunately, no. Inspector Wanda assures me they’re working to get to the bottom of it. We’ve given them the biological signature of each of the stolen samples in case they catch a manupartner with matching DNA.”
She leans forward and buries her head in her hands.Think Electra. What is the worst thing that can happen if someone has your DNA? Could they know about her and somehow use it to hunt her down? That one robber sure gave her the impression he knew she was real, but that was probably her paranoia. How could he know? No—this is her scarcity mindset creating threats where there are none.
Oh shit, if they bring another her back, she might bump into herself. That’s freaky, but not technically dangerous. Unless the other Electra comes up with a better way to fit into the future than her Dear Electra column—STOP IT, Electra! You’respiraling.
Thanks, Janet. Okay, be logical. “Wait—you said people from my time are mutts and the DNA storage techniques back then were questionable. What if that’s causing the glitches? Tommy said there are rumors about more people like me—what if we’re all from the same fifty-year window and somehow the robbers know that?” She gasps as her story comes together. “Could they be trying to bring back more people from the past?”
“I want to say it’s far-fetched, but the more I think about it, the more I think it’s a legitimate concern,” he says.
“Won’t that be bad for the future of manupartners? From what I’ve learned, the government shuts down anything they view as threatening their perfectly ordered society—” His face has become ashen. “Oh. Res6, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
There’s that fake smile again. He almost looks like he believes his own reassurances as he says, “Don’t worry, Electra. Everything is going to be just fine.”
An hour ago, Res6 went into his room, the Likely Labyrinth of Lasciviousness, with a couple of bottles of water—probably to work out or something, considering the muscles and that he never seems to go to the gym. Unless somehow future people can maintain their physiques without working out. It’s probably in the medical technology and innovations video she’d been avoiding, which she can now watch since her predisposition for disease has been eliminated.
She glances at thelockeddoor. It’s only fair that she has a secret of her own. She lifts the phone and takes a few quick selfies before uploading them to an avatar maker. With a few clicks, she uploads the best one to her profile along with a bio vague enough to make Res6happy. Finally, she copy/pastes the text for her call for submissions post into the first blog entry.
The thing is, Res6 is right. It is a little eerie that they don’t know what the robbers want with the stolen DNA. But it’s not like it was only her DNA they were after. And what if it takes the inspectors months to figure it out? She’ll go mad if she can’t start working toward a tangible goal. So, the benefits outweigh the risks. She needs to do this before she loses her nerve.
With that decision made, there’s only one thing left to do.Besides not telling Res6.
She hits Post.
As soon as she sees the post live on her feed, joy fills her insides. Posting it was the right decision because this is exactly what society needs—what she needs. Her Dear Electra column is going to be big. She sits there for several minutes, staring at the entry. It’s not like she’s going to get flooded with responses yet. Give it some time.
Surely her For You Page on the FrogBlog app has something interesting. She needs a good topic to get going. She could always fabricate the first handful of questions, but since she’s going for authenticity, that feels wrong.
As she scrolls, an image catches her eye. It’s her and Chryl standing on either side of Res6, who’s staring directly at the camera wearing one of those squinty-eyed cool guy expressions. Did he know they were being photographed? Plan it, even?
She clicks on the post. The blogger is none other than the annoying woman from the private SAT garage. Her username is Res6Reverie, and the profile pic is a selfie of her and Res6 dated 2386. His hair is shorter and even more tightly cropped on the sides than it is now, making him look like a Ken doll. The woman has her arm around his waist and is staring adoringly at him.
Did they have a fling? The woman casually offered him sex—in front of her, no less. Who says that was the first time, and he hasn’t taken her up on the offer before? Internally, she cringes. Ugh, she’s being so embarrassing, ruminating about his sex life.
She goes back to the brief entry that speculates whether two manupartners is the new trend, along with a quote from the woman.“My close friend Res6 told me he finds the new manupartner prototype’s freckles add to her authenticity. Did you hear that, Res6Revelers? Run to your aestheticians, because spots and speckles may up your chances for a heart-pounding night with MSP’s favorite bachelor. My prediction is that getting freckles is going to be the next big cosmetic treatment after the world sees this!”
No. Way. She scrolls down to the—holy shit—thousands of comments. Most of them are about how hot Res6 is. Some of them are people saying they never thought of getting a second manupartner or about how unaffordable that would be. A few dozen commenters render their opinion on Electra’s freckles, not surprisingly calling her everything from defective to exotic and everything in between. What astonishes her is the number of users who claim they’re going to ask their aesthetician for “speckles” on their next visit.
For some reason the entire thing irritates her. That is the only explanation for why she shoots up off the couch and marches over to Res6’s Room of Possibly Demented Things. She bangs on the door, and he pokes his head out. Through the crack, she can see Chryl lazily sprawled across half the bed, fully clothed, thank God, playing with a corded belt like a cat might. The sight only fuels her irritation.
“Might I have a word with you?” she barks.
