23. Hyx

"Hey, Elyzin. Do you want to stop in at the Dead Reaper after work today?" I call down the long corridor, knowing Elyzin won't be able to resist a quick drink at our local bar on the way home.

"Have I ever let you down?" he calls back. "I hope that new bar attendant is working tonight. She's damn hot."

I laugh. She's a young human girl. She only started there a week or so ago, and she's taken a real shine to Elyzin. She keeps calling him Golden Boy because his golden skin is darker than everyone else's here on Kilgar. I have to admit, he does look a lot like one of the depictions of the gods from the old days. I wonder if he polishes those massive pecs of his every day when he gets up.

It's been a boring week here at Fenwilde Lab. Normally we get out with a shipment or two, but nothing has been shifting for a while. So it's been a lot of standing around which is the downside to being a security guard. I'm itching to get off work and blow off some steam.

"Sorry I'm late," says my relief shift worker an hour later as she walks over. "The kids were acting up again."

It's the usual excuse. Marta is an Odex, and despite her regular tardiness I can't help liking her. Her blue fur is always a little disheveled, and her uniform is rarely pressed. But her eyes are kind, and she never says a bad word about anyone.

"No worries, Marta," I say. "I'm sure Elyzin is already keeping the bar attendant amused without me."

"He'll get himself in trouble one day if he's not careful." She laughs. "He'll find himself hitched with a couple of little ones clutching each ankle. That would slow him down a bit."

"The way he plays the field, that could easily be with two different women. That would sort him right out."

As predicted, Elyzin has already made it to the bar without me. There is always a large group at The Dead Reaper Inn at this time of day. They serve traditional Kilgari food for the workers at the lab when they knock off.

I order a glimworm stew from the automaton. I love glimworm season. The long, fat, glimworms feed on the ocean floor at depths that make them impractical to harvest most of the year. Then in the spring, they all come to the surface to mate. The Dead Reaper's specialty at this time of year is fresh glimworms, cooked to perfection in a spicy sauce.

With my precious glimworm stew in one hand and a Kilgari brew in the other, I go to join my friends. It's a good life, but I can't help but feel there's something missing.

"Hey," calls Elyzin as the new attendant walks past. "I'll have to make a complaint to the management if they're going to hire people as beautiful as you. I'll never be able to leave!"

She rolls her eyes and keeps walking.

"That was terrible." I groan. "You know you're going to die alone with lines like that?" I may be cringing inside, but I'm pretty sure she will be in his bed within the week.

Elyzin is my oldest friend, but he really should come with a warning tattooed on his forehead. He seems to believe he is entitled to whatever, or whoever, he wants. Rarely is he proven wrong, which is sometimes to my amusement and sometimes to my annoyance.

I finish my stew and leave. I don't need to see him in action tonight.

My apartment isn't huge. I could afford something much better on the wages Fenwilde Lab pays, but I like to put my money away. One day, when I meet the woman of my dreams, I want to be financially secure so I can treat her right.

I have a small VR Holo-deck in the spare room, so I set up a fight sequence to keep me fit and in shape. I set the difficulty level at hard, still feeling like I have excess energy to burn after my dull day at work.

I step into the Holo-circle and immediately I'm surrounded by a thick jungle. I have a laser sword in each hand. I drop into a fighter's crouch. There is a path ahead of me. Cautiously I follow it, my senses alert for attack.

A twig breaks off to my left. It's a small sound amidst the screech of jungle animals and the chitter of insects. But every fiber of my being tenses to listen, ready for the attack.

I hear a thud as my assailant drops out of the tree behind me. I know better than to launch into a headlong attack. I've played this game before. Set to hard, there will be at least three highly skilled warriors wanting my blood. I have to be cautious.

I grab a vine and pull myself up onto a nearby branch. I'll take this fight into the treetops. It's a more difficult field, but they can only attack me one at a time up there.

By the time I have defeated all three of my enemies, I'm exhausted. I can do no more than grab a shower and collapse into my bed.

Her blond hair has escaped from the band that holds it back from her face. She tucks it behind her ear and smiles at me. "I'm going to see you again soon," she assures me. "I've missed you."

"I'd like that," I tell her.

She's doing something with her hands, but I can't make out what it is.

"I'm not going to let anything come between us this time." Her words are distant, as if they come from another place or time.

"What are you making?"

"I'm just fixing things," she says.

I step forward and peer over her shoulder. In her hands are two dolls. She has taken a red ribbon and wound it around them.

"There," she says. "We'll be safe now."

I look at her and smile. I hope with all my heart that she's right.

"Now wake up, I want to see you!" she says.

My foggy mind breaches the surface of the waking world. My alarm is pinging. It's been going off for some time. Shit, I'm late!

I throw myself out of bed and get ready for work in a fluster. I never oversleep. I wonder what the fuck happened to me to have slept that deeply.

I only just make it to work on time. I meet Elyzin in the crowded lobby. He's looking very pleased with himself.

"Are you going to ask me how it went with Tansy?" he asks with a smirk.

"I wasn't," I say, holding out my thumb at the security check. "But I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway."

"We're in love," he declares dramatically. "I have finally met my match."

"Until next week," I say.

"No, this one's cute, I might keep her around a bit longer," he says as he steps into the decontamination unit.

Fenwilde Lab deals in highly sensitive DNA fabrication, so the Decontamination Particulizer is an everyday occurrence for me, but I still hate it every time. It makes my bones itch, but once I'm done, you won't even find a loose hair on my shirt.

I watch through the screen as Elyzin is decontaminated, and then takes his place in the cubicle. The process only takes moments, but I feel like I've been violated.

"I hate that machine," I say vehemently when I get out the other side.

"Why?" he asks, pouring himself some water from the dispenser.

"It feels like it's taking me apart and then putting me back together again."

"Really?" he says. "It kind of tickles a bit, but it doesn't bother me at all."

"Ugh, that was horrible," says a woman's voice from behind us.

We both turn, and I'm struck dumb by the sight of the diminutive human who has just stepped out of the decontaminator. I know her in my very soul.

The way she's looking at me, I'm pretty sure she feels the same. She reminds me somehow of the woman from my dream last night.

"Oh, you soon get used to it," says Elyzin from beside me. "Unlike this idiot, who's still being a baby about it."

I want to punch him.

Her eyes flick to Elyzin, and something guarded flashes across them. Good, the lady has sense at least.

"It's my first day," she says to me. "I'm heading in the right direction for the Sornel Wing, aren't I?"

"Yes," I reply. "That's where I'm stationed. Come on, I'll show you."

"Thank you," she says, her perfect bow-shaped lips smiling at me.

"You want to be careful with this one, Miss, he'll lead you into a broom closet," Elyzin says with a fake laugh.

She looks him up and down. "I'm sure he'll never lead me the wrong way," she replies cooly.

I don't know what the hell has gotten into Elyzin, but I'm going to have words with him later. Right now, I'm more interested in focusing on the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen.

"Hi, I'm Libby," she says, extending her hand to me.