Print

“Can you speak; can you say something to me?”

No response, just a confused look, head tilted to one side.

“Shit.  Aphasiac.  At least before the operation he spoke, albeit in limited terms.  Now there’s nothing.”  Ariel made notes on her clipboard again.  “Harry, turn around.”

Harry did as told and started to sit back on the bed.

“Harry, stay; uh, please stand there for a few more moments.”

Harry obeyed again, and while he stood there he noticed the way the sun outside the room put highlights on her hair. 

“Damn.  Everything works but speech.  Harry, do you remember me?”

Harry pointed to Ariel and nodded.

“Simple skills now slightly enhanced.”

Bill walked in with a tray of food and set it down on the table.  Harry started to bolt for it and Ariel stepped in his way.  “Wait a minute, Harry.”

“What’s up Ariel?”

“He can’t speak, though all other skills are in place and seem to be developing from where they …”

“Were before the operation?”

“Yeah.  Baffling.  Why aphasiac after all this?”

“Ariel, your guess is as good as mine.  Though with each xeno we’ve seen one new wrinkle after another.  Glad and sad at the same time that he’s the last one in the chain.” 

Ariel stepped away from the food and pointed toward the tray, a signal to eat.

Harry used slow steps to advance toward the food, and he looked from side to side to make sure neither of the white coats interfered again.  They remained alongside him as he closed the final few feet, then both backed off when Harry reached down and picked up the sandwich.  The sensual pheromones, now closer and more intense, confused him and delayed his taking the first bite.  He resented Bill’s presence.

“Using his hands in the right way.  That’s good,” Bill said.  “Less feral in his approach to food.  What do you say we give him some privacy and go check our notes about this mute thing?”

Without further comment both turned and walked out.  When the door closed and he heard the latch slip back in place, Harry gobbled down the remainder of the food and licked the plate.  A full carafe on the night stand contained plenty of water and he drank the contents in one long gulp.  He found that easier than lapping it up as he usually did.  Nothing else remained to eat or drink, so he returned to the bed and examined the new thoughts about Ariel that aroused him earlier.

Each time he recalled the pheromone from her, that warm feeling from when she entered the room intensified along with the new way he saw her.

Something seems different about her now, he thought.  She’s