part 8

After drying off, he went out to the terminals, and started doing some other searches in the programs. He sat on the chair, leaving the stool to Tanya, and typed in ‘pheromone.’ Of the thousands of commands, he found several dozen relating. Most of them in the maintenance programs, rather than the transformational one. He scanned and tried to digest this, while keeping it to himself.

Tanya brought a cup of water over to him, and started her own research. “The thing I can’t figure is the reason why. Why do these changes to us? What’s the motive?”

“I haven’t thought much about that yet. I have been trying to figure out the what’s and how’s.”

“Form follows function is an old design maxim. If I knew what they intended our function to be, then I could better understand our form.”

They spent part of the day working at the monitors, mostly just sitting and reading, and sharing things. They discovered that their skeletons had been changed for greater durability, and strength, while lightening them some. Also their muscles as well. Their senses had been worked over. Their eyes especially, but all of them.

Each of them had preexisting medical conditions taken care of. His benign cancer had been removed. Her near-sightedness corrected. The maintenance program seemed to say that any biological planned obsolesce had been eradicated, thought her fertility would go the course of any female. As a result they seemed practically immortal. Then he checked on the capacities of the repair/healing and correction/immunity systems. He decided he would have to try it to see.

About lunchtime, they both got up.

To test something, he went over to the build-out wall, and climbed it, digging in with his talons and claws. Then taking a deep breath, he let go and threw himself backward off. He later remembered hearing Tanya shriek at this. The bonk on his head knocked him out for a bit.

Jim came too with some warm, wet towels covering him, and two under his head. He had a splitting headache. He wiggled his toes and fingers and then put his hands to his head. His hair was wet, as was the towel under it. He probed and found a tender spot, and felt the flesh give some.

“Oh, good, you’re awake. How many fingers do you see?” Tanya came into view over top of him, and held up three fingers.

“Three.” He licked his dry mouth. And put his hands down. “How long?”

“Just long enough to get the towels, and cover you, and a little longer. Do you feel nausea, or vertigo?”

Jim considered. “No.” He started to sit up, and felt his back complain a bit as the soft tissue stretched and the hard tissue bulged against the bruising beginning to form. Then his stomach signaled a willingness to start nausea. Jim braced himself on his arms, without sitting full up.

“Was there much blood? Or should I look?”

Tanya knelt beside him. “Actually, no, there wasn’t. I bet they closed the wound up in record time. I got back with the towels, and while the bleeding had not stopped, the opening was visibly closing. I think you have a concussion. You did fall most of two stories, to land flat. Now lay still. I think they gave us some fruit juice. If so I will make some and be right back.”

Jim watched her scurry away, walking, and then turned his head to look up and spread his wings as he lay there. They did not ache appreciably, but the right joint did some, and Jim figured he landed on that side first. Tanya stepped around his wing, and knelt, with water. There was no juice.

“No know you are walking, without any support?”

Tanya helped him carefully sit up, his stomach warned, but did nothing. He sipped the water.

“Yes. It’s similar to walking in high heels. But the wings and tail still are hard to consciously think about, so I try not to. From all the blood you let out, you are going to need a lot of water, and a good meal. Lets get you up and over to the table.”

He curled his feet around under his body, and Tanya got his right arm across her shoulder, and grabbed his left wing at its root.

“Let me know if this hurts.” Tanya pulled his weight onto her shoulder and he got a grasp of how strong and balanced she was. But they still toppled into the wall, and he braced against it before hitting it. She put him in the chair at the table, and brought the other one over. He drained his cup dry and another as she made them sandwiches.

Tanya had always had fresh food with her, and she and Leslie had competed informally over diet, with Leslie being nearly vegetarian eating only fish meat, while Tanya rotated through just about every kind available. Now Tanya showed her culinary skills in making them both large sandwiches quickly.