Harry Turtledove - A Different Flesh

We did the best we could," Melody said. "He's out now. they can't do any more experimenting on him. He's free, for as long as we can keep him that way."

Matt had heard almost identical talk every day since he left the towers. It was about him, he knew, but it did not fil to connect to him.

Then Isaac said something new: "I don't think we can keep him free. We can keep him away from the doctors, sure, but only he can make himself free."

Dixon scowled; Melody rose abruptly from the table. I'II be taking off soon, I think." Even Matt, who did not use speech himself, could hear the anger in her voice.

He ate another sausage. Free was one of the many words they used that gave him trouble. Ideas like bread or cat or green or jump or sideways were easy enough to deal with. He could even count, though sometimes he had trouble remembering which number went with how many things or whether he had attached a number to each of the things in the group he happened to be counting.

But he could not eat free or see it or do it. The closest he could come to it in his own mind was do whatever I want. Right now he was ful and felt well. He wouldn't have minded coupling, but Ken and Melody had taken him away to from his females and he found human women ugly. Still, he was reasonably content. Did that make him free?

He didn't know.

"Come on, Matt," Melody said. "We have to get moving. We've imposed on these good people quite enough, thats obvious." She walked out of the kitchen.

"Don't take it that way, Melody," Emily said. "Isaac just, "

"Never mind," Ken said, before anyone else could talk. "You put us up for the night, and we're grateful. We all share wanting to make things better for sims, and that's enough, isn't it?"

Nobody said anything. Matt wondered what the answer to the question was. In the towers, people had wanted answers to questions all the time, and were upset when they didn't get them. But Ken and Melody and Isaac and Emily were just leaving this one lying around.

Matt shook his head at the vagaries of people.

Melody came back wearing rubber gloves and Carrying razor and a syringe.

"Give me your arm, Matt," she said Not need, he protested. Feel good.

He had said the same thing back in the towers, and the same success with it: none. "Give me your arm,' Melody repeated. "You want to keep feeling good, don't you?"

He nodded resignedly and held out his right arm. The hair on its underside had been shaved a few days before he left the tower, but it was growing in again. The razor scraped it away, leaving a long, narrow stretch of pinkish skin exposed. Now Melody could see exactly where to put the needle.

Matt's lips skinned back from his teeth in a grimace of pain. The people in the towers were much better at using syringe. They hardly hurt him at all. Finally, the ordeal ras done. Melody left the syringe on the table. "Boil it or put it in a glass ful of bleach before you throw it away," she said to Emily and Isaac. "Make sure you get rid of that virus."

Not sick, nothing wrong, Matt signed, adding a moment latter, But arm hurts.

"We're glad you feel all right," Melody said, smiling in a way.that made her seem more appealing to Matt than she had before, "but the virus is still in your blood. We don't want to take any risk of its spreading."

Matt sighed. The people in the tower had talked that way to, but it made no sense to him. Blood is blood, he signed.

"Never mind," Ken said again. "Let's get going."

Matt accompanied him and Melody out to the horseless out front of Emily's and Isaac's house. Isaac stayed behind.

Emily waved from the porch. The morning sun glinted off a gold front tooth.

Ken started the horseless. He and Melody shared the front seat; Matt had the back to himself. "Springfield?" Ken asked as he pulled out into traffic.

"Springfield," Melody agreed. "I've got the town map here.

We won't need that for a few hours," he said. "All I need worry about now is finding my way to via LXVI eastbound."

Matt listened to the two people with half an ear at best. he watched houses, trees, open spaces go by. That wasn't very interesting, either.

He'd done too much of it already, the last few days. After a while, one house, one tree, one open space looked like another. If anything could be more boring for him than traveling in a horseless, he had no idea ,.. what it was.

His eyes tried to glaze, but even that was denied him; it was too early in the day for him to fall asleep. He played With his fingers for a bit. That soon palled. He started to stroke himself, then stopped. For some reason, he knew people did not like anyone doing that out in the open.

He started to sing instead. His song had no words; tongue and lips could not shape them. But the hoots a grunts he let out in their place had rhythm of a sort, rhythm he made plainer by pounding on his thighs withe palm of his hands. His head bobbed happily. As far he was concerned it was a fine song.

He was the only one who thought so. Before very long Ken burst out,

"Wil you please stop that infernal racket Matt subsided; he was used to obeying people. But he was not pleased about it this time. He held up his hands so they could see them in the mirror. Like my song, he signed grumpily.

"Is that what you call it?" Ken said. "I don't."

Matt held up his hands again. Not free to sing? he asked Not freed Ken almost drove off the road. "Watch where you going," Melody exclaimed. "What's the matter with you! Ken told her what the matter was; she laughed and laughed She turned round in her seat so she could sign with Matt as well as speak to him. "sing all you like."

He opened his mouth to begin again, then paused. Why laugh he asked.

"Because, because, " Melody stopped, finally, "Because we do want to help sims be free, but it surprised us to have a sim, you, use the word to us."

Matt made an uncertain noise deep in his throat. It didn't seem very funny to him. He gave up and started sing again. Ken made a noise remarkably similar to his, but he didn't say anything.

They got to Springfield before noon; Ken drove around while, trying to find the next safe house. "Fancier part town than I expected," he observed. The house was biger than the ones where they had stayed before and the yard had a fence around it, but Matt, who was used to the immence size of the towers, remained ummpressed. If a day in a horseless was the way to freedom, he was beginning to doubt that he wanted any part of it.

His boredom fell away as he walked through the front. A female sim of about his own age was on her hands knees in front of the house, weeding in a flower bed. wa!" he said enthusiastically.

She female looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. , "Hoo!" she said back. Her backside twitched a little.

Uh-oh," Ken and Melody said at the same time. Matt paid little attention to them. Something else was on his mind.

A plump, middle-aged man came out on the front porch he house.

"Hello, my friends," he said. "I'm glad to see you. I'm Saul. Rhoda is on the phone, but she'll be out in a moment, I'm sure."

Glad to see you, Saul." Ken nodded toward the female . "And who is this?"

"Lucy?" Saul frowned. Then he looked from her to Matt.

Matt saw that Saul was not looking at his face. He looked down at himself.

His enthusiasm was quite visible. "Oh," Saul said.

"I see"

Yes," Ken said. He did not sound happy.

Wel ," Saul said, and let that hang for a while before ming as if with happy inspiration, "let's go inside and uncle After that we can see what comes up." He looked last again, and broke into a laugh that sounded any thing but cheerful.

The prospect of food was almost enough to divert Matt I Lucy.

He went with Ken and Melody to join Saul with only a brief sideways glance at the female sim.