Episode Three

[Velociryx]

Episode III - Freedom
Town Square, Garden Cafe

They sat at the corner table, barely touching their food.

“I miss you.” Kevin Aldridge told her plainly. “The Pilot they’ve stuck me with now doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing half the time, and he’s not nearly as much fun.”

Gayle smiled at him, reached over and tousled his hair. “I know....but I’ll be back soon.”

“I still can’t believe they pulled you off the Science Division to work in the Daycare.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “You know why....with the manpower shortage we’ve got, we all have to wear several different hats, and it’s not Daycare per se, but we really have had to start from scratch with him.”

“I know....” His voice trailed off and he looked sullenly at his food.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”

He sighed. “Yeah well, maybe I am....just a little.”

She laughed. “Well you shouldn’t be....actually I think he sees me more a mother-figure than anything.”

Kevin smiled, heartened at that news. He nodded. “So how’s he doing, anyway?”

“Well, he can force himself to stay awake indefinitely, we think. When his human brain needs to sleep, the cybernetic portion takes over....he’s got enough control over it now that he can trust it while he’s napping, so that’s greatly speeding the learning process.”

“You still reading to him?”

She blushed slightly and laughed. “Actually yes....he is reading at about High School level right now, so he certainly doesn’t need it, but he seems to enjoy it, so....”

Something about the look on her face concerned him. “What?” He asked. “What is it?”

“I don’t know....he’s just so....dark. Brooding.....I worry about him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you know what his first word was?”

Kevin shook his head.

“I was reading from Beauty and the Beast to him, and he looked up at me, touched my cheek and said ‘Pretty.....Beauty.’ Then he touched his chest and said ‘Beast.’....it made me want to cry for him.”

They were both quiet for a long moment, their food still untouched.

“You need to get back to him, don’t you?”

“Yes.” She said with a nod. “I should probably go.”

“Stop by my place when you finish for the day, will you?”

She smiled at him as she stood. “Sure thing.”
***
Gaian Central Research Lab, Sublevel 2

“How is he today?” Gayle asked the technician at the monitoring station, watching The Stranger one level below.

“Very well, and he has a visitor today.”

Gayle wandered over to the monitor to see. There he was, sitting at his table, staring intently and talking with the Lady Deidre. A stab of jealousy ran through her, and she sat on the edge of the technician’s desk with a heavy sigh. “Guess I’ll just have to wait my turn then.”
***

Any time they talked, Lady Deidre and The Stranger, they seemed to completely consume each other, shutting the rest of the world out. Eyes locked together in intense and unbroken contact. Voices low. Leaning towards each other almost conspiratorially.

“I understand you asked for me specifically?”

He nodded. “Yes. My speech was not so good at that time, but I’ve been making myself stay awake to learn more quickly. I called you the Sky Lady.”

She smiled that wonderfully serene smile at him. “Well, it was clear enough that the others knew what you meant, and it brought me here. Now tell me, have you chosen a name for yourself yet?”

He nodded.

She waited patiently.

“I have been reading datalink entries on Ancient Earth history....I like dinosaurs....especially Velociraptors.”

“Hunters.”

He nodded. “Strong and cunning....I admire them.”

“And your name is drawn from that?”

“Yes....and the word velocity....I just like the sound of it.”

She touched his arm. “So....what shall we call you then?”

“Velociryx. The name I have chosen for myself is Velociryx.”

Lady Deidre nodded. “An unusual name, and very creative. Velociryx you shall be.”

They were quiet for a long moment, staring at each other.

“You know you cannot stay here much longer.”

“Yes. I....I am in the way here.”

“We must devote this space to scientific research, but you are a special case....I shall declare you a ward of the colony and arrange other housing for you.”

He was silent and she studied him a moment. “There is something else though, isn’t there?”

“Yes....I....the music.”

“You enjoy it?”

“I do, but I....I wish to....make my own music.”

She smiled. “Not an easy request, but I will see what I can arrange.”

He smiled back then. It was a fragile, tentative smile, but as it spread across his features, his whole face changed. For the first time since she had known him, he looked at peace. Content. And even handsome, in a rugged, craggy sort of way.

“There is much we can learn from each other, I believe.”

“You want me to teach you and your people to walk the Fungus.” He spoke it as a statement, not a question, and she nodded.

“Yes, but as the Fungus and Planet are so intricately bound, perhaps a better term would be ‘Walk the Planet.’” She looked thoughtful for a long moment. “Yes....Walk the Planet....I like that....a good phrase.”

She refocused her attention back on Velociryx. “Much we can learn from each other.”

That tentative smile returned to his face. “Then I will teach you.”
***

Six weeks later:

Velociryx wandered through his new apartment, reaching out to touch his various possessions. An A/V unit (with surround-sound speakers that Kevin had picked out from the Morgan Electronics Catalog), sturdy hardwood furniture, made from hand cut Chrionian Oaks and padded with synthetic down, and a smattering of pottery donated from the Children’s Creech. Gayle and Kevin watched him from the front door, beaming like proud parents.

When he looked over at them, there were tears shining in his eyes. “My....my neighbors are not afraid of me?”

“No....they welcome you into their community.”

His smiles were becoming more and more commonplace, and Gayle decided that, when one of them lit up his face, it was just about the best thing on Chrion. “And these are....my things? Mine?”

“All yours big guy.” Kevin told him. “You’re on your way now.”

“Oh, and I almost forgot the best part!” Gayle said, practically jumping up and down. “A present from our Lady Deidre.” She pointed down the hall, and he went. Cautiously. Tentatively.

When he made his way into the tiny kitchen where they had hidden the Morgan Music Master 3000 (a massive tri-level keyboard with every musical instrument in the Datalinks system programmed into it, and a customization routine to create utterly unique sounds, besides), he literally broke down sobbing. “She....she did it....I can....create the music now....”

Gayle and Kevin joined him in the tiny kitchen as he powered the machine up and gently touched the controls.

When his hands finally made their ways to the keys, the room was filled with strange, unbelievably beautiful sounds.

Gayle’s mouth opened in astonishment. “Kevin do you recognize that?”

He looked deeply into her eyes. “Yes.”

It was Planetsong. The strange music that some people had claimed to hear when communing with Chrion. No one had ever been able to record or reproduce it. Until now.

It was the most fragile, heartwrenching, wonderful sounds they had ever heard.