Enhanced: Brides of the Kindred 12 (The Brides of the Kindred) (41 page)

“Mei-mei?” she looked at Mei-Li with wide
eyes. “What happened to you? Where are your glasses? Are you all right?”

“I had new lenses which correct and
improve my vision implanted over my corneas at the Z4 medical barge,” Mei-Li
said robotically. “And I am physically well, thank you for asking.”

Claudia frowned and then looked at Sylvan.
“What’s going on? Why is she talking like that?”

Rapidly, Sylvan explained what had
happened to Mei-Li and what they were trying to do. “So we need you to try and
provoke an emotional response from her,” he ended. “Please do the best you
can.”

Claudia took a deep breath. “All right, here
goes. Mei-mei, do you remember Sylvan Jenkins? That little girl who came to the
emergency room because…”

She spoke at length about happenings at
work, other coworkers, and the children who were under Mei-Li’s care.

Six watched eagerly as she talked, trying
to see even the faintest flicker of emotion from Mei-Li. But though she clearly
understood everything her friend said, none of it made any kind of emotional
impression. No matter what Claudia talked about or how heartbreaking or happy
her news was, Mei-Li clearly felt nothing.

At last, after talking for a solid three
quarters of an hour, Claudia stopped in the middle of a sentence.

“This isn’t helping, is it?” she asked
flatly. “I can see it in her eyes—she’s not feeling anything.”

Six sighed. “I am afraid not.”

“I am sorry, Claudia,” Mei-Li said in her
new, emotionless voice. “I remember you and all of the encounters we shared at
work. I just…cannot feel anything about you or work or my clients or anything.
I am…numb inside.”

“Does it hurt?” Claudia’s lovely brown
eyes brimmed with tears. “Are you hurting, Mei-mei?”

Mei-Li shook her head. “No, I feel
nothing. Please don’t concern yourself or let yourself get emotional about me—I
am physically well.”

“But you’re not yourself anymore.” The
tears slipped down Claudia’s cheeks now though she tried to blink them away.
“You’re not
you.”

Mei-Li shrugged her slim shoulders,
apparently unmoved by her best friend’s tears. “I am fine. I have no concerns
or complaints.”

“Well,
I
do.” Claudia looked at Six
fiercely. “How could you let this happen to her? What’s
wrong
with you?
You don’t have feeling so you didn’t want her to have any either?”

“Six is trying to cure Mei-Li of her
emotionless state,” Sylvan said, stepping in.

“No, she is right.” Six ran a hand through
his hair. “I take full responsibility for Mei-Li’s condition. It is all my
fault but I…” He shook his head. “I cannot think of any way to fix it. To fix
her.
”

Mei-Li looked up at him. “Why should you
wish to fix me? I am perfectly fine as I am. I have no complaints.”

Her responses were so like his own, before
he’d started feeling, that Six had to look away from her.

I was like that for
so many years—I felt nothing. Lived a colorless existence until she came into
my life and taught me to care. And now I wish I could stop caring but I can’t…I
can’t
and it’s too late. Too late…

The haze of guilt and sorrow was so thick
around him that Six could barely think. Dimly he was aware that Sylvan was
thanking Claudia and promising to keep her informed of Mei-Li’s condition.

“We thank you for trying to help us,” he
heard the other male say and then the viewscreen went dark.

Six risked a glance at Mei-Li and saw that
the blank look was still on her face. He felt like he couldn’t look at her
anymore, couldn’t stare at that cold, emotionless expression one more minute or
his heart would explode.

“Yipper,” he said thickly. “I…cannot bear
this. I want you to make another batch of the emotion blocker serum—for me.”

“No, no, Six!” protested the little
Tolleg. “Losing your own emotions again is not the answer.”

“But I cannot stand this—seeing her this
way and knowing I am to blame.” Six ran a hand through his hair distractedly.
“I would much rather join her in the emotionless state than continue to feel
this pain and know there is nothing I can do to stop it.”

“There may yet be something.” Yipper
frowned and began rummaging in the huge pouch he had brought with him. “I have
a device that might be modified…yes it might, yes it might… Commander Sylvan,
if I may have a spot to work in?”

“Will this do?” Sylvan cleared several
pieces of equipment off a rolling tray table and pushed it toward Yipper.

“Yes it will, yes it will. Thank you very
much!” The little Tolleg set to work at once, his long hairy fingers moving
nimbly. He appeared to be connecting two long, flexible metal tubes together
with sensors and wires.

Sylvan watched with interest. “What are
you making?”

“Originally these were consciousness
sensors. Yes they were, yes they were.” Yipper spoke as he worked. “We used
them to test the new tube-grown organic warriors before implanting their
emotion dampers. Sometimes there is an error in the growth process which
results in an incomplete cognitive development. Such errors must be caught and
remedied. Yes they must, yes they must.”

“But how can a cognitive tester help
Mei-Li?” Six demanded.

“I am modifying this one to show emotions
as well as cognition. But not just to show—to share. Yes I am, yes I am.”
Yipper’s long fingers flew faster and faster. “See these lights?” He pointed to
two dark disks at either end of the flexible metal contraption. “When both are
lit, it will indicate that two conscious states are joined as one. What one
knows and feels, the other will know and feel.”

“So…you’re making a device that will
enable two people to share thoughts and emotions?” Sylvan asked.

Yipper nodded, his long ears flopping.
“Yes I am, yes I am. Though Mei-Li cannot feel her own emotions, if Six can
share his with her, the block in her brain may be broken.”

“Do you really think it might work?” Six
began to feel a small spark of hope.

“I hope it may, I hope it may,” Yipper
said earnestly. “There…” He stepped back. “I am finished, yes I am, yes I am.
But I am afraid there is no time to test it.”

“That is all right. Let’s just try it.”
Six sat on the edge of Mei-Li’s bed. “How does it work?”

“Lie down beside her and get close, that
should help,” Yipper directed.

Six did as he was told, lying down beside
Mei-Li and curving an arm around her slim shoulders. She lay passively in his
grip, as though it made no difference to her if he touched her or not.

Goddess,
Six thought.
Please let this work. Please…
He
didn’t know if he was actually praying or simply hoping but the words felt
right in his troubled mind.

“All right, all right…” With Sylvan’s help,
Yipper lifted the long, flexible tubing with its wires and lights and sensors
and brought it carefully to the bed. When he had it about a foot from them, the
two light disks illuminated and began to glow a soft blue.

“What’s happening?” Sylvan asked. “It
hasn’t even touched them yet.”

“Well, when I bring it close enough, the
lights show that there are two conscious beings in close proximity to each
other. Yes they do, yes they do,” Yipper explained. “When they are joined, the
lights will turn green, indicating shared thoughts and emotions.”

“What if there was only one person near
it?” Sylvan asked.

“Then only one sensor light would
illuminate. Do you see, do you see?” Yipper held the device up to Sylvan’s
waist which was as far as he could reach on the tall Kindred. When he did, only
one of the blue sensor disks lit up.

“I see. You’re quite an inventor, Master
Tolleg.” Sylvan nodded respectfully.

“Thank you, thank you.” Yipper nodded
modestly. “Now let us see if this will help.”

He hopped nimbly up on the other side of
Mei-Li’s bed and brought the device close to her and Six. Immediately both
disks lit up with a soft blue glow.

“How does it fit? Do you need to implant
some wires?” Six asked. He didn’t care about the pain himself but he didn’t
want Mei-Li to be hurt. He drew her closer to his side, protectively.

“Don’t worry, Six. The device is
non-invasive. Yes it is, yes it is. I simply need to curl one end of it around
the back of your neck…like this…” The Tolleg curved one end of the flexible
metal tube loosely around Six’s neck and shoulders as he spoke. “And the other
around Mei-Li’s. Sit up, Mei-Li if you please, if you please.”

Mei-Li sat up passively and then relaxed
back against Six’s arm when the device was in place. As soon as she did, the
sensor disks changed color from blue to green.

“Now…” Yipper rubbed his hands together.
“Your two minds should be connected. Yes they should, yes they should.”

“And…what do I do?” Six looked at the
device wrapped around both himself and Mei-Li uncertainly.

“Just feel, Six! Let the emotions you have
suppressed for so long come forward—let Mei-Li feel everything you do. The more
intense the emotions, the more likely they are to have an effect on her.” The
little Tolleg made a quick motion with both hands. “Go on, go on…”

“Very well.” Six took a deep breath.
Closing his eyes, he tried to open himself completely to the feelings he had
avoided for so many years.

Mei-Li,
he thought, hoping she could hear him.
Mei-Li, I feel
for you…I feel for you
so much.

Six?
The mental voice was so soft that at first he wasn’t sure
he was hearing it. Then it came again, a little louder.
Six? Is that you?

Mei-Li?
Mentally he reached for her.
Can you hear me? Can you
feel me?

I can hear you,
came the reply.
But I feel nothing.

Not even this?
Squeezing his eyes even more tightly closed, he tried to
project everything he was feeling—all his hope that this would work, the sorrow
and anger he felt over what had happened to her, his intense desire to fix what
had been harmed, but most of all the caring and desire he felt for her.

He pushed these emotions at her as hard as
he could, straining with the effort. It was like physical work—he could feel
the tension in his neck and shoulder muscles as he struggled to get even the
slightest feeling past the barrier that separated them and into Mei-Li’s
consciousness. Because there
was
a barrier—a wall he couldn’t find a
single chink in, as though it was made from a solid sheet of steel.

At last he relaxed, panting. He wasn’t
sure if he had managed to do any good or not but he had to take a break or he
was going to burst a vessel.

Mei-Li?
he sent hopefully, when he had gotten his mental breath
back.
Did you feel
any
of that?

I felt…something.
Her mental voice was hesitant.
I am not sure what. A faint…something.
I cannot even think what to call it. A sensation, maybe?

I’ll try again.

Six redoubled his efforts. Over and over
he pushed the feelings at her until he felt like his brain or his heart or both
were going to explode. But no matter how hard or fast he sent his emotions at
her, Mei-Li never seemed to feel more than a hint of them. Six felt like he was
yelling as loudly as he could, shouting until he was hoarse, and she could only
hear the faintest whisper.

Finally, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He
opened his eyes to see Yipper looking at him anxiously.

“Six, you must stop. Yes you must, yes you
must,” the little Tolleg said earnestly.

Six shook his head. “I cannot. Have to
keep trying. She can feel a little of what I’m sending, Yipper. Only a tiny bit
but still—”

“Look at your sensor light.” Yipper
indicated the little disk curled around Six’s neck. It had changed from green
to a glowing, ominous red. As he watched, the red faded slightly until it was
orange and then it switched to a dark yellow.

Sylvan stepped forward. “What do the
colors indicate?”

“Mental effort and distress,” Yipper said.
“A moment ago Six’s light was bright red. Yes it was, yes it was. He could
injure himself permanently if he’s not careful. Yes he could, yes he could.”

“I don’t care if I hurt myself—we don’t
have much time left,” Six exploded. “Don’t you understand? I can
feel
the
barrier between us. If I can just force my emotions through it so that she can
experience them…”

But Yipper was shaking his head.

“I’m sorry, Six, but either the barrier is
too set in place already or your emotions are not strong enough. No they
aren’t, no they aren’t.”

“How can they not be strong enough? I feel
for her as I have never felt for anyone. Anyone except—” Six stopped abruptly
but a little voice in his head finished for him.
For anyone except Mere and
Pere and Kaylee.