Carola Dibbell - The Only Ones

Meanwhile, Rauden is working on sales. You do not need a steady hand for that. He lost his old contacts so he got to advertise. We check out other hardy or Life product sites. People was not afraid to go public now — you could even offer viables as such if you watch your language. They sometimes will post the Donor’s picture, and I notice some Donors that bill themself hardy are missing teeth. So I’m not the only hardy who had sold teeth. I think I am the only one pitching hardy viables this pure, because what are the chances anyone but us cloned the Original? Even so, we aren’t going to risk going public with that. A quiet One on One with a client or broker, we could go into more detail.

Some of them post a picture of a kid the Donor had, supposedly — an Example, how the kid could turn out.

I am really not putting Ani up there.

Henry puts up a picture of me. The main thing is to make the contact with the client, then feel out the situation. There could be a problem with a picture of Ani anyhow, because she is starting to look so much like me, that could raise questions we rather avoid until we are sure who we are dealing with. Unlicensed Life sales are not such an issue these days because everyone’s doing it, ethical or not, especially overseas. But clones are always going to bother someone. I mean Ani doesn’t look exactly like me. She is narrow like me but not as narrow so, ok, the eyes? Because the face is not so narrow as mine it stretches the eyes so they are not so close and beady like mine, also she is smooth generally. I am not smooth. The hands are, you know, familiar but smooth. The hair, I don’t know how my own hair looked when I was fifteen years old. Hers sticks out. Mine is more flat, even when I fluff it. And the knees? I know she is skinnier than me, but where does she get those knees? And, come on, the teeth. That is a difference right there.

I’m not posting her up there though.

Even with the new lesser flus locally, the big sales in hardy product go on at auctions overseas, like Berlin or Istanbul, and that is out of the question because of the fare, but there are some new alternatives. Like they are working out a shipping route to Reykjavik and setting up an auction there. It turns out that auction is serviced by floating markets, they call them Lifeboats. It is like a convention of brokers on boats. It would not be hard for me to go on one of these Lifeboats with our product. To tell the truth, I am the only one of us who could, twelve years old and livesi Endangered green light because Rauden is shaky, Janet Delize is, you know, she’s Janet Delize so that is not going to work, and, what are we, going to hire our own broker?

To prepare me for the floating market, they have to fix me up with lipstick and an outfit like when I first met Rini Jaffur, but don’t worry about the teeth, that is practically a Proof, itself. I was a little nervous getting to the Lifeboat, because it doesn’t dock in Queens. I have to get all the way to Red Hook with the cryoPaks in a carrier, then ride some little paddleboat out to sea — by now it’s November, man, the wind is off the charts — and then the way the crew is looking at the Paks, I have to look right back at them like, you try to take this Life away, I will goddamn take yours with it. Once I’m on the Lifeboat though, it all went great. It was full of brokers. I show my old Proofs and Ani’s Proofs from the Mumbai years. The Proofs have details about Ani’s age when she was in quarantine, and that makes it all seem more bona fide. Some brokers carry the portaLens, that could check the viables, be sure they are alive. They are alive. Some are asking for a picture of how the kid could look, but no way, Jose. One of these guys, I think I could tell him the truth. I mean, they are all shady but you never know if one of them is going to turn you in. But this guy seems like, I don’t know, like he has something in common with Rini Jaffur? You know, the open mind.

I throw in the cryoPak carrier as a Bonus and cut a deal with this guy. They drop me off near some beach but I got no time to look around. I just make my way around a bunch of burnt-out blocks till I find a shaw and take it to the nearest pod connection — I’m not messing around with any sailbus, especially what a mess it is out here. It took a while before I got Signal to tell Rauden I am still alive. And you can be sure Rauden is like, thank God, thank God. This guy! He worries all the time.

But this was a great trip, and this broker is going to give us more business. Next time I could just meet him at the pier at Boston where the Lifeboat docks before it heads to Reykjavik, and if this lot gets a good price in Reykjavik, there will be a Bonus. So I am going to Boston next! See what’s left of Boston!

We have to put the first payment back into Project expenses but the next time we will clear a profit. Next time, I will also bring fresh-scraped endometrial product to sweeten the deal. For now I still need some other paying work to cover my regular expenses. Then I have new expenses because I have to keep upgrading the new Reader so Armory could reach me in more locations in case of emergency — these days who knows where I’m going to be. So I have to take extra cleaning to cover that. That cuts into my worktime upstate. I also do the oldies’ chores plus a little local deCon and I will tell you by the time Ani gets off the Armory van Fridays, I was pretty tired. I still tried to be upbeat.

“Ani, my new income is almost coming through. Just wait a little more. I promise we will get you out of Armory. I will put you in a really good school — better than East Side Girls.”

She said, “If you put me in one more really good school, I promise I will hate it too.” She just went into her room and stayed there pretty much till Monday morning, when I took her by shaw to the van, put her on it, and waited till I saw it go off to the bridge to the Bronx. Then I went over the same bridge, made my way to the Yonkers MagLev, crossed by bridge at Beacon, and if Rauden can’t pick me up in Newburgh, I must wait for the hybro, though I could sometimes get a lift part of the way to the Farm. I hardly even say hi when I get there. I just suit up and go straight to work.

I think">She sent a message saying she has changed her mind.

The first time, with the Madhur group, when I didn’t know anything, it was interesting because I didn’t know anything. But this time around, it was more interesting, because I did.

Like I am sitting in the room waiting for Rauden to say NOW from the closet. And I start to think I forgot everything, this will not work. It’s like I never did it before. Then he says NOW. And I remember — right! It’s always like I never did it before. To tell the truth, I didn’t. Not exactly. It’s different every time.

Sometimes when Rauden talks me through it from the closet, that thing he does, when he gets so still, before he goes NOW! I sometimes got still too. Totally still. I even shut my eyes. Then boom! I am poking the stick exactly when he says NOW! I don’t know how I knew.

Once he had to go answer the Alert just when we are about to start? I did it all myself. I didn’t even need him coaching me. I got good numbers too. I liked it more when he’s there, though. It was more interesting.

I never told Ani that. That I found it interesting. Well, I hardly really told her anything. It’s true I needed the income and even true I liked doing a good deed for the Parents who were going to get children who would stay alive — well, it was good for the kids too, because they will be alive. I liked that it was a Project. I liked that with Ani too. I never told her that. I tell you that.

What I’m saying is, I loved Ani. That doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the work. I loved Ani, I enjoyed the work. Sometimes I think I even loved the work. Rauden did too.