A note on Albinism.

If you don't know already, Albinism is an actual condition of little or no pigmentation in the hair, eyes, and skin. While Albinos have, for the most part, been protrayed in a negative light in film and books, for various reasons I chose to give Lori the condition.

. . . All right, I wanted a character with white skin, white hair, and purple eyes. I needed a definite contrast between her and Mischa, the other lead female; this is all sorts of symbolic.

However, I realised that, since Lori's research into a cure for Madison's Syndrome (her version of Albinism) plays a big part in Vita Per Nex, I would need to know more about Albinism. Here I'm going to separate fact from fiction, in an effort to not be an ignorant moron and insult Albinos everywhere. I'm assuming that you've all read the posts pertaining to Madison's Syndrome, so you know the basic outline.

I'd like to thank Bianca Knowlton, an amazing young woman from England, for her site on Albinism (and especially your message boards). You're beautiful.

From her site, with my comments on the tweaking for Madison's in bold and small:

"While most people with albinism have very light skin and hair, not all do. Oculocutaneous (pronounced Ock-you-low-kew-Tain-ee-us) albinism (OCA2) involves the eyes, hair, and skin. Ocular albinism involves primarily the eyes, while skin and hair may appear similar or slightly lighter than that of other family members.

Over the years researchers have used various systems for classifying oculocutaneous albinism. In general, these systems contrasted types of albinism having almost no pigmentation with types having slight pigmentation. In less pigmented (OCA1) types of albinism, hair and skin are cream-coloured, and vision is often in the range of 20/200 or worse.

Lori would classify as OCA1, with the modification that Madison's produces a purple pigmentation in inverse amounts to the level of Madison's --- hence her dark purple eyes.

In types (OCA2) with slight pigmentation, hair appears more yellow or red-tinged, and vision often corrects to 20/60. Early descriptions of albinism called these main categories of albinism "complete" and "incomplete" albinism. Later researchers used a test that involved plucking a hair root, and seeing if it would make pigment in a test tube. This test separated "ty-neg" (no pigment) from "ty-pos" (some pigment). Further research showed that this test was inconsistent, and added little information to the clinical exam.

Ahmed, Lori's father, would classify as OCA2. His eyes are a less noticable shade of purple, often assumed to be a light blue or grey, and rather than the ghost-white skin of his daughter, his is more naturally pale. Tanya had to point out to her parents that her boyfriend had Madison's, if you recall.

Researchers have identified several other genes that cause forms of albinism. In one form of albinism, the Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome, there can be problems with bleeding, and with lung and bowel disease as well. Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome is a far less common form of albinism, but should be suspected if a child with albinism shows unusual bruising or bleeding.

This ties in with Lori's sensitive skin. She's susceptible to sunburns and lighting changes due to her lack of pigmentation, and this form of Albinism sneaking in gives her the delicate skin that her mother accidentally bruised. The fact that this is also not common with Madison's Syndrome means that Mischa really did her homework.

For nearly all types of albinism both parents must carry an albinism gene to have a child with albinism. Because the body has two sets of genes, a person may have normal pigmentation but carry the albinism gene. If a person has one gene for normal pigmentation and one gene for albinism, he or she will have enough genetic information to make normal pigment. The albinism gene is "recessive" it does not result in albinism unless a person has two copies of the gene for albinism and no copy of the gene that makes normal pigment.

Each parent of a child with oculocutaneous albinism must carry the gene. Both the father and the mother must carry the gene for albinism. For couples who have not had a child with albinism, there is no simple test to determine whether a person carries a gene for albinism. Researchers have analysed DNA of people with albinism and found the changes that cause albinism, but these changes are not always in exactly the same place, even for a given type of albinism. Therefore the tests for the gene may be inconclusive.

Yes, there's no record of Madison's in Tanya's family, but she does carry the gene.

People with albinism are sensitive to glare, but they do not prefer to be in the dark, and need light to see just like anyone else. Sunglasses or tinted contact lenses help outdoors. Indoors, it is important to place lights for reading or close work over a shoulder rather than in front.

The first time we meet Lori, she's sitting in a dark room, giving herself a headache. It's mentioned that, since the lights stopped adjusting their brightness, it was just a tension headache. The glasses that she wears cover her entire eyes, and modulate the amount of light she receives --- which is why, when Mischa opened the door suddenly, her glasses couldn't compensate in time; the program wasn't expecting the door to open, since Lori wasn't near it.

If they use appropriate skin protection, such as sunscreen 'Total Block' or at least lotions rated 30 or higher and opaque clothing, people with albinism can enjoy outdoor activities even in the height of summer, within reason of course.

Lori's clothing can be most likened to the concealing clothing and traditional headscarf that Muslim women wear. Due to the terra forming that Earth is going through in order to make it more stable for the Venusians, the weather conditions are harsher, even in the protective bubbles most cities are enclosed in. UV and radiation leak in in trace amounts, leading to a lot of problems. Not all people with Albinism or Madison's cover to the extent that she does; part of that is also that while she's very comfortable in places where people know who she is, amongst strangers she's quite self-conscious. This is due to the way Madison's came about, and the extremely negative social stigma it has --- it can be likened to the way Albinos in Africa are treated, except without the killing bits. Once Lori gets to Venus, she'll be able to wear less concealing clothing.

Mischa's attitude toward Madison's is best summed up, I think, by the way she included a fast-acting anaesthetic in the work crew sent along with Maybelle Tanaka. It's not an issue, it just is.

People with albinism are at risk of isolation, because the condition is often misunderstood. Social stigmatisation can occur, especially within communities of colour, where the race or paternity of a person with albinism may be questioned. . . . Contacting others with albinism or who have albinism in their families is most helpful.

We've already seen the reactions people have to Madison's Syndrome, and also that Lori attends a support group. We'll get to meet the group later. I would also like to note that despite Lori's shyness and insecurities about Madison's, she's quite the strong-willed young woman. Mischa's quite the intimidating young woman, however, and her sudden intrusion into Lori's life, and subsequent yanking of Lori into her life, has shaken the young doctor up a bit.


I think that's it, for now. All this information is from http://www.knowlton.clara.net/family/Albinism/what_is_albinism.htm, and there are also some lovely pictures of Bianca and other Albinos there, too.

A few clarifications.

As a matter of clarification, Leland isn't the raging slut that Mischa makes him out to be. It's something of a joke between them; she doesn't care for sexual contact, so they both agreed that Leland would be free to have other partners --- hence his attachment to Admiral Mikhaila.

A further note on Family genetics: Family Members mature at twice the rate that normal humans mature, then level off and have a normal lifespan. Therefore, 3-year-old Mischa's ambush of Leland would suit the motivations of a feisty six-year-old . . . who just happens to be a military genius. She won, by the way. At ten years old, Mischa and Leland were already commanding troops, and by fifteen they were granted their full current ranks. More on the Family ranking system when I work it out.

It's been mentioned that the Guests from Venus (which refers to only the ones with the psy powers) offered their version of the H Serum (random trivia for when this is published and I'm famous: my little sister, Hollyn, came up with the H Serum's name --- the H stands for Harville, our last name) to Earth ten years ago, when Mischa and Leland were nine and Lori was fifteen, when the Benders showed up, but there's another group engaging in what is essentially hit-and-run galactic geurilla warfare with Earth for much longer.

Vita Per Nex, at the Muffie Pump and random quotes

This takes place a few weeks after Lori moves in with Mischa and Leland, and explains a bit more of the way partnerings work in the Families.

----

Faizah and Asha squealed about whatever song was playing as soon as they walked in the door, and waved to Lori and her escorts as they took off. The beat was drum-heavy, pulling at Lori's chest and urging her to dance to it. It was intoxicating.

“Mischa! Leland! My goodness, what are you two doing here?” The woman was yelling over the loud music as she pushed her way through the crowd, a drink in either hand. She was tall, blonde, tan, and leggy, and Lori felt very small and pale compared to her.

“Faizah and Asha wouldn't leave us alone until we agreed, and brought Lori,” General Mischa called back as she ducked under an arm and came up with one of hers around the woman's waist, pulling her close as they backed up to Admiral Leland and Lori. “And true to form, they abandoned us as soon as we walked in.”

“Scandalous. Lori, you say? Where? Oh.” She'd finally looked down, and passed her glasses to Admiral Leland. “Quite small, isn't she?”

“And quite here, so talk to her like she is.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at the General, then offered her hand to Lori. “Admiral Victoria,” she introduced herself.

“Pleased to meet you, Admiral,” Lori called as she gently took the woman's hand. She winced when the Admiral squeezed, and the woman immediately let her go.

“So sorry; don't know my own strength. You're rather a bit weaker, though, aren't you? What? It was an honest question.” She matched glares with General Mischa. “I've been out past Pluto for the past six months, Mischa! I'm way behind on the news!”

“Yes, well, obviously you forgot your manners somewhere around Neptune!”

“Say, you're rather cute, aren't you?” Admiral Victoria was ignoring the General, and slid her hand around Lori's shoulders. “You haven't let Leland get to you, have you? I'll hurt him if he's tried!”

“I haven't touched her!” Admiral Leland cried. “Why does everyone threaten me like I'm some sort of paedophilic beast? For crying out loud, Lori's older than I am!”

Lori twisted around as she was drawn away from the Admiral and closer to General Mischa and Admiral Victoria. “I'm older than you?”

“You're twenty-five, correct?”

“Yes, but ---”

“Well, Mischa and I are nineteen.”

“What?” Lori hollered. A few Family Members looked over, but kept dancing and mingling.

“Damn it, Leland!”

Admiral Leland was laughing as he tugged at Lori's belt-loops, pulling her closer. “We're nineteen,” he murmured in her ear before General Mischa grabbed her back.

“Hands off, Leland!”

“Hey, is that that doctor woman?”

Lori turned as a tall man sidled up to Victoria's side and slid his hands around her waist. “Excuse me?”

“This is Lori, Mansur,” Victoria told him. “This is Mansur, my partner.”

“Pleased to meet you,” the man told Lori. “We're on a first – name basis now, you know. None of this Admiral – General stuff. Do you drink?”

“Oh, golly, no,” Lori exclaimed. “No tolerance whatsoever.”

“Not even a little? A small drink.”

Lori shook her head as the red – haired man offered his drink, embarrassed. “I'm so sorry, I can't.”

She was up against Admiral Leland again, and General Mischa once more pulled her away. “Go get something to drink, Lori,” she murmured in Lori's ear. “It's all right.” She watched as the young woman made her way to the bar, then turned back to her companions. “She's shy. Leave her alone.”

“Mischa's over protective,” Leland put in as he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. “But Lori's a good girl.”

“Who just happens to be how much older than you two?”

“Only six years!”

“Six years, eh?” Mansur laughed as Victoria wedged one leg between his, moving to the beat as she took alternating sips from the drinks Leland had handed back to her. “Hey, wasn't she the three – year – old who made that one thing? What was it, Victoria?”

“Mm!” She gulped, then coughed a little. “Unicorn! Charlie the Unicorn, in the Sequoia Zoo. And she was three when she proved it could be done, Mansur.” Victoria rolled her eyes at Mischa and Leland. “Manny follows genetic engineering.”

“Not really; I just recall reading that a three – year – old had proven that unicorns could be genetically engineered. So she made him for, what, her last project in school?”

Lori leaned across to the bartender after he noticed her hanging at the edge of the small crowd around the bar. He waved a few Family Members away and nodded.

“What are you having, Miss?”

“Ah . . . this is going to be silly,” Lori started. He shrugged. “I mean, really silly.”

“We have that drink.” She looked at him blankly and he smiled. “A Really Silly. It's a drink.” Lori flushed. “What do you need, sweety?”

That made her flush again and she coughed. “Ah . . . just a shot of something with pineapple, and coconut. Just a shot.”

He shrugged and started pulling out bottles, but paused at her blank look and put all but two back. “Not a big drinker?”

“I'll die if I do,” she confided. The young man raised both eyebrows as he poured the half shots.

“The fumes,” Lori clarified. “I'm all right if I breathe in the fumes. An actual drink will stop my heart.”

“Got it. Just fumes for Probationary Citizen Tencha.” He laughed at the look on her face and pushed her drink at her. “Smell it. You prefer a shorter name?”

“Ah . . . just Lori? I'm sorry, I didn't know you would recognize me.”

“It's all right. How is it?”

Lori blinked tears out of her eyes as the fumes hit her sinuses. “Strong,” she gasped.

“Try this.” He poured some pineapple juice into the small glass, then stuck a mixer in and gave it a stir.

Lori sniffed delicately. “Oh, my, thank you so much.” She reached for her purse and realised that she hadn't brought it, and her heart clenched. “Oh. Uhm. Oh, my. I'm so sorry ---”

“It's on the house,” the man said with a wave of his hand. “It's on the house. Don't worry.”

Lori thought she might cry. “I don't even have anything for a tip, though.”

The young man laughed and brushed his brown hair out of his face. “Honey, you don't tip up here. We make enough; we don't need hand – outs. It's all right. Oh, please don't cry. It's a little different in the upper levels. Don't worry! Go enjoy your drink.”

“Thank you,” Lori said with a grateful smile. He smiled and waved her off, and she clutched her glass to her chest as she made her way back to General Mischa and Admiral Leland. Or Mischa and Leland.

“You made that Charlie unicorn!” Admir--- Mansur exclaimed as she walked up. “Magnificent! I love that thing.” He tilted his head as she smelled the drink carefully, and smiled. “Didn't realise you could drink by smelling.”

Lori glanced at General Mischa, who rolled her eyes. “Go on, get, both of you. I want to dance.”

“Mischa's dancing?” Victoria asked with surprise. “I didn't know you liked it.”

The younger woman was already swaying to the heavy beat, and sighed softly. “I love to dance,” she murmured. “Leland, keep an eye on Lori.”

He was watching her, one arm around Lori's waist, and shook his head. “If you're dancing, so am I. Come on, Lori, let's dance.”

Lori hesitated, leaning back as he tried to pull her forward. “Ah, I'm not sure . . .”

Mischa turned and pulled Leland by the belt – loops, moving her hips to the beat. “Lori's never been dancing, Leland. Not like Family Members do.” She turned and Leland grasped her hips, grinning down at her. “We're here solely to relax, Lori,” Mischa called over the music. “Relax, have fun, dance, and if in the case of Leland, possibly meet someone to Negotiate with.”

“Negotiate?” The situation was fast turning sensual, and Lori was starting to feel out of her element.

“Breed with. Sleep with. The Families are one big military breeding program,” Leland offered cheerfully. “You see someone you like here, you approach them, and possible you don't go home alone. Some Members are already partnered, and in those partnerships, outside Negotiations are still possible.”

Lori was swaying, as well, mainly because the four Family Members around her were swaying. Mischa reached out and pulled her gently, wrapping Lori's arms around her waist.

“You've never danced at all?”

“No, I love to dance,” Lori stammered. “I'm just not used to it being a prelude to sex.”

Leland burst out laughing and heads turned, and stared. “That's what dancing is, Lori. It mimics the body's natural movements.”

“Oh, shut up,” Mischa snapped as she pushed away from Leland. “You're making her uncomfortable. Come on, Lori, let's go play patty – cake or something somewhere that's not here.” She grabbed Lori's hand and took off, laughing as Leland tried to keep up. “He's an idiotic slut,” she told Lori when they paused. “Don't believe him. Well, he has a point. But I'm here to dance, not breed, so let's dance.”

Lori laughed as she and Mischa settled into a rhythm with the music, then laughed again when Mischa twirled her around. The dark – skinned woman --- girl, actually --- was smiling and seemed to be enjoying herself. Lori turned slightly and saw Leland heading their way, so she took Mischa's hand and pulled her farther onto the dance floor and deeper into the crowd.

“He's just jealous,” Mischa said when they paused, lowering her lips to Lori's ear and resting one hand on her hip, the other grasping her left shoulder.

“Why is that?” Lori paused to take a small sniff of her drink, then breathed in more deeply as the pleasant aroma rolled over her senses.

“Because I'm dancing with you, not him.”

The beat changed to a more bouncy tune, and Lori had to grab Mischa's shoulders to keep herself steady in the crowd. “Are you two married?”

That made Mischa howl with laughter and she shook her head. “Family Members don't marry,” she said. Lori tilted her head quizzically and Mischa elaborated. “We're partnered --- that means that there's one person we reproduce with, but it's not exclusive. Like I told your mother, we don't need her particular genetics at the moment, so there was no need for her and Leland to be together. He's a slut. Did I mention that?”

Lori's eyes unfocused pleasantly and she nodded. Dancing this close to the other woman was nice, and not the nerve – racking experience dancing usually was for her. “More than once, General.”

“It's just 'Mischa,' now,” she was corrected. “I refuse to use titles with someone I'm living with.”

“I'm not even unpacked,” Lori protested mildly. She took a breath of her drink and turned, leaning her head back against Mischa's shoulder. She felt the taller woman laugh, and it occurred to her that perhaps having a drink hadn't been the best idea. She hadn't had one in a year or two, after all.

“You're mine, anyway,” Mischa murmured in her ear. She smelled . . . wonderful. Lori was fairly sure she wasn't sober any more, but she also didn't care, as long as Mischa kept dancing with her. “So shut up and enjoy it.”

“Yes, Mischa,” Lori whispered. The song changed once more, back to a primal rhythm, and in the thick of the crowd it was impossible to move to the music and not touch someone else. The lights pulsed in time with the music and Lori swallowed sharply, glad that Mischa and Leland had convinced her to wear short sleeves. Her pale skin glistened with sweat, and she tilted her head to brush her cheek against Mischa's fingers as the woman trailed them across her shoulder.

----

These two start with prompts from a NaNoWriMo write-in I attended.

“. . . but he was really there all along, hidden amongst the Torani syrups.”

Lori was convulsing with laughter, laying on her side on the couch as she held her hands to her mouth. “He wasn't!”

“He was!” Leland gave Rory a passing caress as the cat walked across the coffee table. “A grown man, hiding amongst the syrups. We never even noticed him. I tell you, when he brought up the Martian conversation the next week, we couldn't believe that he knew about it.”

----


“If they didn't send the distress signal, who did?”

----

Vita Per Nex, Lori meets Mischa and Leland

Lori took a deep breath and let it out slowly; she didn't want to pass out for a second time that morning. She surveyed her reflection and adjusted her lace – edged white veil. She wore her green turtle – neck, with green pants that tucked into green boots, and jumped a little when her reflection zoomed in in response to the where her eyes were focused on her hips. She blinked a couple of times before the mirror reset itself to her entire body; she still hadn't quite figured out all of their new firmware's little quirks. She took a slow drink of water and waited until her stomach had settled before turning the mirror off --- the thing turned off --- and stepping out of her room.

Hyun – Jin had been in hysterics the previous day. Liaison Tanaka had apparently gone from their home to hers, requesting that Mrs. Vu prepare her cream baklava for the next Family Assembly. Lori wasn't surprised that General Mischa loved the dessert; she'd offered her condolences and congratulations and not mentioned her own impending visit from the General.

“Mother, is everything ready?” she asked as she poked her head into the kitchen. Tanya was sitting at the counter with a mug of chai clenched in her hands, licking her lips.

“I really hope your simulations bear fruit,” she whispered. “We need all the hope we can get.”

“Mother?” Lori went up to her and touched her shoulder; Tanya was pale, and her eyes were watering slightly. “What's wrong, Mother?”

The older woman sniffed and swallowed sharply before rubbing her eyes. “We lost the Socrates and Constantinople,” she murmured. Lori's heart clenched.

“Wasn't Admiral Mikhaila on the Socrates? Why hasn't there been an announcement?”

“Well, we're waiting until your simulations provide a breakthrough before announcing anything,” General Mischa commented from the kitchen window. “It always helps to have good news to follow a tragedy.” Lori and Tanya both shrieked and jumped, and the General raised her eyebrows before she was pulled back outside.

“Stop sneaking around people's homes,” a baritone ordered her, “and use the front door.”

Lori and Tanya bolted for the front door, reaching it just as the buzzer went off. Tanya grabbed her daughter and brushed her off, straightening her turtle – neck and veil, then she brushed herself off. Lori reached for the doorknob that was no longer there, but the door registered her hand's presence and slid open to reveal General Mischa clad in a tan casual suit, her gold General badge pinned to her right breast and the blood – red brooch denoting full Family status pinned to her left breast. Her hair was pulled back into a neat French braid and she wore grey sunglasses.

She was also apparently seeing how far back she could bend Admiral Leland's hand, while he tugged on her hair with his free one.

The two Family Members paused and looked down at them, then they started to smile.

“Doctor Tencha, Citizen Tencha,” General Mischa said warmly as she let Admiral Leland go and extended her hand. “My compliments, and it's a pleasure to meet you at last.”

Lori took her hand and blushed. “Ah . . . General Mischa, please, welcome. Ah, thank you for visiting us.” Leland gave a cough that said he was covering up a snort, or a laugh, and Lori flushed again. “Admiral Leland, welcome. We weren't expecting you to accompany the General. Please, do come in.”

Lori had to nudge her mother out of the way. Tanya was a little red as she looked at Admiral Leland --- she'd had a crush on the man for about forever.

“Oh, yes, come in, welcome.” Tanya smiled broadly as the two Family Members came into their home and glanced around. “Let us take your coats.”

General Mischa was wearing a dark tan, button – down shirt under her jacket, and she undid the top two buttons as she handed the jacket to Lori. Tanya was more than willing to take Admiral Leland's coat from him, watching as his muscles moved under the white t – shirt he wore. He gave her an easy grin before tugging on General Mischa's braid once more. The General whipped around with a glare and he pointed at Tanya, but General Mischa wasn't buying it and she kicked him in the shin.

“Ow! Violent woman! Do you see what I put up with, Citizen Tencha?” he complained as he held his knee to his chest in order to rub his shin. He was enjoying making Lori's mother blush.

“I do see what you put up with, Admiral,” Tanya replied.

“Do you see how she said that?” Leland laughed. “You're good at not taking sides.”

“I had the fortune to serve directly under Admiral Isam, Admiral,” Tanya replied.

“The dubious fortune, I'm sure you mean,” General Mischa said as she smiled warmly at Lori. “Leland and I just got back from the Moon base; we're happy to report that the long – range missile systems are ready for deployment.”

“That's wonderful,” was the only thing Lori could thing to say. Her heart was pounding despite the calm that the two Officers exuded, and Mischa took her arm gently.

“Of course it is. Please, Doctor, don't exert yourself over us. Why don't we sit out on the back patio? It's a fairly lovely day. Leland, get me something to drink.”

“Liaison Tanaka provided us with chai, General,” Tanya offered quickly. “I'll be happy to prepare you both some.” She smiled up at Admiral Leland, who winked at her.

“We'll be in the kitchen, then, shall we?” Admiral Leland linked arms with Tanya and led her to the kitchen, talking quietly.

General Mischa looked after him with a raised eyebrow. “Slut,” she called. Admiral Leland's reply would have caused any other person a fine, and Lori wavered slightly from the blood that went to her face. The General turned to her quickly and pulled her toward the back patio. “My apologies, Doctor Tencha. Please, let's sit. Your father isn't in today?”

Lori pulled the patio doors open and waited until General Mischa had seated herself. “Ah, no, Father's co – worker called in sick last night.”

“Ah.” The General tugged her glasses off and waved a hand at the empty seats around her. “Sit, please, Doctor. You're not in trouble. In fact, the situation is quite the opposite.” She leaned forward and rested her arms on the table as Lori took a seat across and to the side of her. She radiated pleasantness and ease, and now that Lori was off of her feet, the unintentional calming effects that General Mischa naturally radiated were taking effect. “I'm supposed to apologise for the suddenness of my intrusion into your life, Doctor Tencha,” she said earnestly, “but if I may be honest, I don't care. The scientists at work on the H Serum have come up against a permacrete wall in their research, and we're running out of time. In truth, we needed a working formula ten years ago.”

“Don't you know that you're supposed to lead in to the main reason for your visit?” Admiral Leland said as he and Tanya brought out a tray of drinks and a tray of finger snacks. “Talk about the weather, or something.”

General Mischa leaned back and considered Tanya's red face, and the smug look on the Admiral's, and raised an eyebrow as she thought. “Horrible weather, isn't it?” she finally asked lightly.

Lori was watching her mother, feeling a slight tug of concern. Family Members got whomever they wanted, regardless of that person's relationship status, and Tanya's crush on Admiral Leland was a family joke. At least, until now. Tanya wasn't meeting her daughter's eyes.

General Mischa was watching them, and rolled her eyes. “Your mother is safe from Leland's advances, Doctor Tencha,” she commented. Tanya jerked guiltily and blushed, while Admiral Leland glowered at his partner. “Contrary to popular belief, if a Family Member expresses interest in someone who is already in a committed relationship, then acting on that interest requires the consent of all three parties involved, and is only allowed for breeding purposes. No offence to you, Citizen Tencha, but we currently have no need to mix your and Leland's genetics. Leland, quit being a slut.”

“I'm not being a slut,” he protested, “and I wasn't trying to seduce your mother, Doctor Tencha.”

“No, you just naturally try to get into everyone's pants,” General Mischa remarked as she took a sip of chai. “My, this is absolutely lovely chai. Maybelle certainly knows what I like.” She looked up at the expressions on Lori's and Tanya's faces, then started laughing. “Oh, goodness, calm down and have a seat. Leland's pheromones are legendary; he can't help it.”

“Note that,” the Admiral said sharply. “Please officially note that Mischa admitted that I am not, in fact, a slut.”

“I admitted no such thing,” General Mischa countered. “I merely stated that your pheromones aren't your fault; acting on them is.”

Admiral Leland rolled his eyes as he plucked some grapes and munched on them. “Whatever; get to wooing.”

The General turned back to Lori with a roll of her own eyes. “Doctor Tencha . . . do I need to be so formal?”

Lori flushed. “Ah, no. Please, just Lori is fine.”

“Thank goodness. Lori, the guests ran your simulations the day before yesterday.” Her golden brown eyes were sparkling with excitement, and it was audible in her voice. “They were a qualified success, Lori. They still need work --- we're a long way from a working serum yet --- but it was the first breakthrough there's been in the last seven months. For that alone, the Families are in your debt.” General Mischa had been resting her chin on her right fist as she spoke, but lifted her head enough to reach out and run Lori's veil gently through her fingers with a soft smile. Lori's heart caught in her throat and she swallowed sharply. The General was one of the most beautiful women Lori had ever seen; she had to have been of almost complete Indian ancestry. Her honey brown eyes and glossy black hair were the perfect compliment to her smooth, unblemished dusky skin, and the way her full lips curved when she smiled made Lori feel quite faint.

“Ah . . . I . . . I didn't do that much, General,” Lori stammered. She couldn't help the smile that was on her face, or the continued blush. “I just . . . I don't know. You obviously have to have gotten my notes, as well, correct?”

General Mischa's eyes crinkled in the corners as she laughed. “Of course I got them, and I don't understand anything they say, but our scientists are doing cartwheels over them.” She glanced over at Admiral Leland when he coughed, but then her attention, her wonderful attention, was back on Lori. “I always like to visit Charlie when I'm in the Humboldt area,” she commented off – handedly. Lori's eyes went wide. “Please don't talk down about your abilities, Lori. You did with the original formulas what our scientists haven't been able to do, and you know so much less that they do. Please, don't be ashamed.” The General reached out and placed her fingers lightly on the top of Lori's hand. “That only makes what you came up with even more amazing. And in light of that, I'm here to ask you for your continued assistance with the H Serum. I'm confidant that, with you on our team, a working serum will be along in no time.”

Lori swallowed sharply and took a sip of water, willing her hands to quit shaking. General Mischa watched her carefully. “General, I'm not a Citizen.”

“Of course not,” the other woman agreed. “But do you think I care about that? I don't, especially because as of twenty-three hundred last night, you are officially a Probationary Citizen.” Tanya spilled her drink and Lori's heart stopped. When she woke up, she was stretched out on the living room couch, and General Mischa was kneeling next to her, dabbing a damp towel on her forehead.

“I shall take note in the future to not overload you quite so much,” the General said softly. “I'm terribly sorry, Lori. Can you move?” Lori just looked at the woman, who nodded and kept dabbing at her forehead. She took Lori's pulse, then sighed. “Are you willing to accept Probationary Citizenship and be transferred to --- I'll take that as a yes.”

Lori had started blinking her eyes rapidly; of course she would help. It would be criminal negligence not to help. If General Mischa thought that her simulations had merit, and if they had helped already as just theories, then how could she refuse?

“Leland, we've got ourselves a Probationary Citizen!” the General called over her shoulder. There was a baritone whoop from the hallway and then her mother's laughter. General Mischa looked at Lori's suddenly puckered eyebrows and smile reassuringly. “Your mother is completely devoted to your father, Lori,” she said quietly, “and Leland isn't going to interfere with that relationship, even if your mother invited him to. Flirt until I shoot him in the foot, possibly, but not interfere. Unless he had your father's consent, which very few partners actually give, and we can't force partners to give consent. We know when they don't mean it.”

“Urgh . . .”

“So, what we need to do now is get you all moved in with Leland and I,” General Mischa continued. “There isn't a standard procedure for non – military Probationary Citizenship, but it's happened before, under unusual circumstances.” The General smiled at Lori and brushed her hair off of her cheek. “Leland and I have decided, with the Mother Elder's consent, that if you were to live with us until you obtained full Citizenship, then the politicians and other Family Members --- those who aren't so keen on giving you any status --- won't have quite so much to complain about. Is this acceptable?”

“Yssss . . .”

“Splendid.” The General hadn't quit toying with Lori's hair, and there was a distant smile on her face as she sighed.

Lori coughed as her mother came back into the room with her medication. The General and Admiral Leland helped Lori sit up, and her mother gently spooned the thick syrup into her mouth. Lori swallowed and waited while it took effect, giving her control over her muscles once more.

“I hadn't realised that enough of a shock could actually stop someone's heart,” Admiral Leland commented as another coughing fit came over Lori.

“It's happened,” Tanya replied, “but it's . . . well, it's more common with Madison's Syndrome. The entire body is frail, and Lori has a very advanced case.”

“If I may ask, Citizen Tencha, didn't you know that your husband was afflicted?”

Tanya sat in an armchair and sighed. “Yes, I knew. He told me right from the start, but I didn't care at the time. Young and in love, and whatnot. It didn't really occur to me what that meant, in terms of bearing children, and we both thought that since Ahmed didn't have it that bad, and there's no record of the Syndrome in my family at all, that our children wouldn't be bothered by it. Less than Ahmed, at any rate. We checked with various doctors, and they all agreed with us.” She fiddled with her pants and sighed. “We both thought it would be almost criminally negligent to bring a child into the world, knowing that they would have Madison's Syndrome. The doctors all assured us that the risk was almost non – existent, especially with the therapies they had for preventing Madison's at the time.”

“That's probably what did it,” Lori mumbled. Admiral Leland was on her right and General Mischa was on her left, and she was firmly squished between the two of them. It was vaguely uncomfortable, but at the same time soothing. “Preventative measures cause all my problems.”

“Well.” Tanya sighed and crossed her arms over her stomach. “My family was furious when I started seeing Ahmed. He wasn't a Citizen, and he had Madison's --- although I had to tell them that for them to actually notice. We . . . haven't talked in a few years. Every time we start to get on easier terms, something comes up, it seems.”

“Wanted me in an institution,” Lori offered bitterly. “Wanted me to go to some pansy school, but I wanted to be a doctor. Didn't want Mother to take out my education loans.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Admiral Leland slapped his knee. “Those will be taken care of, as well. It's all part of the incentive package to get you on our side.”

“She's already there,” General Mischa said dryly. “But the incentives remain.”

“Including land on Venus, an increased pay rate --- equal to the scientists we already have working for us --- and ---”

“We'll fill you in on it all later,” General Mischa interrupted. “We just wanted to get to know you today, and to ask for your help.”

“Well, you've got it.” Lori dragged her hand across her face and sighed. “I haven't had my heart stop in a long time.”

“My apologies for that,” the General started.

“Oh, no need, please, General.” Lori blushed again. “No need at all.”

“Just . . . don't do it often when you transfer, all right? I don't want to have to wake you up every five days.”

“I won't, I promise. I think. I shouldn't. Uhm.”

Admiral Leland laughed and poked her in the shoulder. “Look, we'll send a moving team by later today, is that all right? Or we can wait to move you.”

“Move you?”

“Lori will be moving in with Leland and I,” General Mischa explained to Tanya. “It will help ease any ruffled feathers, since she can't join the --- oh, wait, Leland.”

“You're a genius,” Admiral Leland said firmly. “Why don't you join the military, Lori?”

“I can't,” Lori almost yelled.

“Calm down. Of course you can. We'll just put you on a delayed entry program until you find enough of a cure for Madison's to allow you to take a fitness test.”

Lori stared at the Admiral. “Sir, that's impossible.”

“Of course it's not,” General Mischa protested. “You're going to give us psychic powers, aren't you? So find a cure for Madison's, not just a prevention.”

“You're wrong, it's not psychic powers. That's where the scientists had it wrong. What I think the Benders are using are . . . enhanced empathy skills, similar to what the Family Members have.”

Leland's face went blank. “Family Members have no genetically enhanced skills.”

“I can not believe you said that with a straight face, Leland. Ignore him, Lori, and talk to me.”

Lori turned her face toward General Mischa. “I really do think that's it. Telepathy and other 'psychic' powers have never been proven, or even reliably measured. I really think that by boosting the empathy centres of the brain, we'll make much more progress. That's what I was fiddling with.”

General Mischa nodded, her dark eyes sparkling. “That makes sense. I guess. I trust you. Do you need a test subject? Leland will volunteer.”

“I volunteer for nothing!” the Admiral exclaimed. “Nothing! Vile woman.”

“Regardless.” General Mischa placed her hand on Lori's knee and squeezed it gently.

----

Family Members aren't cookie-cutter copies of one template, as you'll see when Leland, Mischa, and Lori go to the Muffie Pump; while they present a uniform demeanor in public, and seem almost identical in professional behaviour, each FM is an individual, with their own hobbies, likes, and dislikes. If this had been an official visit, several weeks would have been set aside to prepare for it, mostly on the part of the Tenchas receiving Family-level ettiquette training and learning some of the major genealogies of both the Army and the Navy --- to put it into a bit of perspective, Mischa and Leland visiting Lori, a non-Citizen, with only enough advance warning to get their firmware upgraded, is akin to having the Queen of England call you at ten to tell you that you'll be taking afternoon tea with her in your one-room apartment.

Also, while it may seem like Mischa and Leland, who you could expect to be on the front lines, so to speak (the solar system, being in 3-dimensional space, doesn't have a front or back), aren't doing much, they're not only on Recovery as mentioned by Faizah and Asha, but actual ship-to-ship and surface engagements with the Benders are rare. There will be space action, but for the time being (especially with Lori to babysit), Mischa and Leland are stuck on the Earth side of the asteroid belt.

Vita Per Nex, simulations scene.

This takes place at least five hours after General Vijay's visit to Mischa and Leland's quarters, as Lori's simulaitons are being processed.

----

That howl certainly carried. Admirals Faizah and Asha pushed themselves out of their seats and ignored the chairs, glasses, and silverware that crashed to the ground as they burst into the hallway. The laboratory doors burst open and Mischa slid out, twisting around to grab the door frame before she hit the opposite wall. Leland's arm appeared, grabbing her wrist and yanking her back inside as another howl reverberated. This close, Mischa's laughter was audible over Leland's baritone bellows. There was a curious trilling, three-part harmony, and the two Admirals pushed into the suddenly full room right behind the Mother Elder.

“I told you!” Mischa shrieked. “I told you!”

“I must caution prudence!” The Senior Guest was waving his arms, trying to calm the growing hysteria. “This is a simulation only! Promising, yes, but yet still a simulation!”

“Then test it!” Mischa gasped after Leland finished kissing her. She held him tightly and the smile on her face was the truest smile she'd worn in over five years. “Mix it up and test it!”

The guest trilled at his companions, and they carried on a brief conversation. “It . . . does seem sound,” he admitted reluctantly. “Yet I must still caution prudence.”

“We're Family Members,” Leland told the creature. “We're naturally cautious. Please, you understand how important this breakthrough is, don't you?” He held Mischa's head against his chest and kissed her hair.

“I understand, Admiral Leland. We will have a testable serum in a few days' time. It would be of great benefit if the woman who created these were present with us.”

Mischa broke free from Faizah's and Asha's embraces. “How do you know it was a woman?” she asked.

The guest blinked at her, and his spine crests rippled. “It has a woman's essence to it, a woman's unique perspective on life.”

“The New Agers are going to have a field day,” Leland laughed. “Well, Mother? Elders?”

The Mother Elder was leaning over a screen, facing away from the group. The Senior Elders looked at each other, and Vijay cleared his throat. “We're willing to cede Doctor Tencha Probationary Citizenship for her continued work on the H Serum,” he said through stiff lips.

“You're going to give her full Citizenship ---”

“Don't push your luck, Mischa,” Vijay snapped. “You may be our golden child, but your impudence is catching up with you.” He rubbed his face. “We're not a police state, Mischa, which means that we have got to pay heed to the desires of the populace, as provided by the politicians that they elect.”

“General ---”

“She's got Madison's, hasn't she? Poor girl,” the Elder Mother murmured to herself. Hers was not the place to be taking sides in arguments. “And she's employed at the Med Centre regardless. She must have an awful time, always having to prove herself, not being able to do as much physical activity as her peers . . . She must be quite the strong – willed, talented young lady.” She jerked back from a Venus Rose as it snapped at her. “Mischa, get these blasted plants out of here, will you?”

Mischa was staring at the woman, then she smiled slowly and nodded. “As you wish, Mother.” She turned to Vijay and the other Senior Elders with a raised eyebrow as she gathered the two pots. The roses snapped at her. “Stop it,” she ordered firmly. The roses subsided.

“That's creepy,” Leland remarked. He slung his arm around her waist and squeezed. “Well, shall we go tell our little prodigy that she's a Probationary Citizen? Will the paper work be done by eleven hundred the day after tomorrow?”

“For you, Leland, we jump through flaming hoops,” Vijay commented dryly. “But only because you ask so politely. Mischa, however, just browbeats us into it. Or, more often, we end up post-approving things she's already done.”

Mischa smiled. “I'm putting these in your room, Leland.”

“Why?” he asked, edging away from the roses she held out to him.

“Because I don't know how the cats will react. I don't want them getting hurt.”

“But you willingly toss me to the rabid plants? Thank you.”

She shrugged. “I don't want them getting hurt,” was all she said. “So. Eleven hundred the day after tomorrow, and as soon as I've secured Doctor Tencha's continued cooperation, we'll hold an Assembly to announce things, at which we will also need Doctor Vu's mother's baklava.”

“I already had Liaison Tanaka contact the Vu family in regards to that,” the Mother Elder put in. “They were quite willing to accommodate you, Mischa.”

“Thank goodness,” Mischa replied. “I really do want that recipe.”

“I'm sure you'll harass the poor woman into giving it to you in time,” Leland said as he tugged her toward the door. “Let's go; we have to be at Grand Central in an hour.”

“We'll be back just in time to visit Doctor Tencha,” Mischa assured the Mother Elder.

“You'd be back in time to visit the Doctor even if it took cutting your mission short to do it,” was the retort. “Get out of my sight. Senior, what is it that the Doctor did that we've missed?”

“Come on,” Leland murmured in Mischa's ear. Faizah and Asha followed them out of the room, grinning.

“This is wonderful, just wonderful.” Asha bounced slightly as she walked, her arm linked with Faizah's. “I feel like breeding, now.” She paused with a wince, glancing at Leland's broad back. “Uhm. So. Grand Central in an hour, huh? Moon base?”

“Moon base,” Leland confirmed. If he was bothered by Asha's ill – thought – out remark he didn't show it, but the fact that Mischa was letting his arm stay around her waist was a good indicator of his current mood. “We don't anticipate it taking very long; it's just a couple of days of testing the new long – range missile systems.”

“Well, good luck,” Faizah said cheerily. She clamped a hand over her partner's mouth as the group stopped at a lift. “We'll see you at the Assembly, then?”

“At the latest,” Mischa confirmed. She pulled Leland into the lift and turned to the two Admirals. “Good day, Admirals.”

“Good day, General. Good day, Admiral.”

Leland wasn't quite meeting their eyes. “Good day.”

Then the lift doors closed and Faizah whirled on Asha with a glare. “Are you stupid, Asha? Mikhaila just died, you know.”

Her partner scowled and looked away. “My apologies, all right? I'm sorry. It slipped my mind.”

“I'm not the one you should apologise to, and how could it slip your mind? I swear, Asha, you're denser than dirt, sometimes.”

“Look, Faizah --- oh, heck. It was a stupid remark, all right? I'm sorry!”

“Yes, it was stupid.” Faizah crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her partner some more. “You could have the foresight to not rub things in, you know, and to keep your breeding urges to yourself, especially around Leland.”

“He's still got Mischa.” Asha turned and punched in a lift request with rather more force than she needed.

“You know that the person you're partnered with doesn't matter!”

“Sure it does,” Asha bit out. “If those two weren't the pinnacle of Family Breeding, do you really think that Leland would have stayed Mischa's partner? The woman's as cold as Pluto, and you know it, Faizah. Besides, he's as head – over – heels for Mischa as he was for Mikhaila, for some reason.”

“So it seems, but that's not my point. My point is that Leland just lost someone he was very close to, and regardless of his partnership, that still hurts. And you aren't helping that.” Asha wrapped her arms around her stomach and looked down, and Faizah pet her hair gently. “It's all right, Asha,” she whispered as she drew her partner into an embrace.

“No, it's not,” Asha whispered back. “We shouldn't have lost Mikhaila. We shouldn't lose any Family Member; do you know what the public will start to think?”

“That we're in a war, and people die in wars?”

“No, that we're losing.”

“Asha, we are losing.” Asha grunted as the lift door opened and they stepped in. “We haven't lost either Mischa or Leland, and I'm sure they'll make some moving speech about losing people to war, how it was inevitable, but we have to keep up our spirits, and so on and so forth. They're good at that.”

“Tencha had better produce results, and quickly, is all I'm saying,” Asha muttered.

“She will. I know she will; Mischa wouldn't choose wrong.”

“Of course she would; we just all tend to fall under the spell of her insanely uber – enhanced charisma, but we don't realise she's messing with our minds because we assume that Family Members are immune to our own effects, and forget that Mischa and Leland are darn near god – like in their enhancements. They got me to walk into the Assembly in my underwear, and nothing else, for Vijay's birthday five years ago, Faizah. You remember that, right? They're even better now than they were then, too.”

Faizah was quiet, until her giggles burst out, and then she hugged Asha tight and kissed her forehead. “All right, all right. I remember that. Then I asked you to be my partner.”

“Which, apparently, was their plan all along.”

“So we owe Mischa and Leland a debt of gratitude, if nothing else. Look, as soon as they get back and get their little Probationary Citizen all moved in, we'll take them to the Muffie Pump and celebrate, shall we? They've never been to the Muffie Pump, so it won't bring up memories for Leland, and Doctor Tencha will get to meet more Family Members in a casual setting. Who knows? Someone might remark on her Syndrome, and then we'll get to be in a fight. How's that sound?”

Asha was laughing, now, and nodding. “That sounds wonderful. And I promise, I'll think before I open my mouth around Leland from now on.”

“Good girl,” Faizah murmured. “Good girl.”

----

"Muffie Pump" was a National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) prompt.

Vita Per Nex, pgs. 20-22

“If you tap your fingers one more time ---”

Leland was already launching himself at Mischa when she looked him square in the eye and deliberately tapped her fingers on the counter, which was the only reason he caught her by the waist as she pushed herself away from it. She laughed as they tumbled to the ground, and as he cushioned the back of her neck with his arm and leaned over her, Leland rolled his eyes with a smile. Then he pushed her hair out of her face, his fingers trailing just slightly along her skin as he looked her over.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly.

She looked to the side, up, anywhere but at his face. “I'm always all right.”

“Liar.”

“Family Members never lie.”

Leland snorted. “We lie all the time. Are you all right?”

“You've already decided that a positive response to that question is false, so what am I supposed to say?” She shifted a little, but was only making herself more comfortable, bending the leg he wasn't straddling. Leland responded by sliding his free arm under her waist, and Mischa let out a small sigh.

“I want you to admit that you're not always fine. We're not supposed to lie to each other, you know. Just everyone else.” Mischa was fiddling with his shirt, unbuttoning it, then buttoning it, grasping it in fistfuls and then smoothing it out. Leland let her touch him, his head lowered to the crook of her neck as he waited patiently.

“I have no reply to that. Has Tanaka reported recently?”

“You were just staring at her last report, nitwit. It beeps when a new one comes in, remember?” His lips were brushing against her skin as he spoke, which made her sigh again.

“You're too close; I can't hear it.”

“Yes, you can. Except it hasn't beeped yet, so of course you can't hear it. You're just too impatient. You can wait until tomorrow to accost the poor woman.”

Mischa pursed her lips and shifted away from Leland's lips. “I know her simulations will work, Leland. We need Tencha.”

“We need the Elders to approve anything else you decide you want done. They don't have infinite patience, Mischa, even for you. There's only so much you can get away with.” Leland raised his head and tightened his arm around her waist as he tilted his head at her.

Mischa drew her hands up and over his broad shoulders, curling them at the back of his neck and scratching lightly. Leland sighed with pleasure and lowered his head again. “Are you all right?” she asked quietly.

“I've been better,” he mumbled. “Much better.” He groaned when she dug her fingers into tense muscles, resting more of his weight on her.

“You wanted to switch to Mikhaila.” There was no bitterness or jealousy in Mischa's voice. She was simply stating what she believed to be a fact.

“I've never wanted to switch to anybody,” Leland whispered. “Throttle you, yes, on too many occasions to count. But I've never wanted to switch.”

“But if you ever wanted to, it would have been to Mikhaila.” She was whispering in his ear.

“Yes, fine, yes. If I had ever wanted to switch, it would have been to Mikhaila.” There was pain and loss in Leland's voice, and Mischa was silent for a few minutes.

Finally, “Me, too.”

Leland started laughing, his body shaking as he squeezed her tightly. Mischa squeaked in protest and growled at him, but it held no venom and she let him cling to her. She ran her hands through his hair and kissed his temple.

“Are you done, yet?”

“No,” he mumbled against her neck. “I'm never letting go.”

“You're heavy. Get off of me.”

“You started it. I told you to stop tapping your fingers.” He took his arm out from under her and ran his hand up her side, then back down and along her raised leg, lifting it off the ground and over his waist. Mischa raised her eyebrow and made a warning sound. “You are so difficult.”

“I do my best. Back off. Comfort time is over.”

Leland heaved a sigh and let her leg go, and Mischa lowered it back to the ground. He raised himself back up and cupped her cheek. “You just like teasing me.”

“Not at all. Go get your kicks somewhere else.”

“Doctor Tencha's attractive.”

Mischa glared at him. “You touch her and I'll kill you.”

Leland smirked. “Is that a challenge?”

Mischa smirked back. “I met that Haruka girl last Friday night, while you were on the Moon.” Leland raised his eyebrows questioningly. “Did you know that she likes French toast for breakfast?”

It was said smugly and Leland glared at her with a snarl. “I hate you.”

“Jealous, much?”

“I hate you.”

Mischa laughed and pushed him off of her, then arched her back and jumped to her feet. She shook her head and ran her hands through her hair. “Doctor Tencha's simulations will work, at least a little. She's talented; good at what she does. Awarding her Probationary Citizenship will be no problem, and full Citizenship when she proves me correct and gives us a working formula.”

“You're very confident about this.” Leland unbuttoned his shirt and draped it over a chair, scratching his chest with a yawn. Mischa rolled her eyes and turned back to the computer screen, brushing her fingers lightly across the sensitive field as she selected a report to read over. “I hope you're correct.”

“Of course I am. We're headed to Io next. I hate Io. Shall we declare it Bender controlled and just nuke it? Jupiter doesn't need it.”

“No, we can not declare it Bender controlled. Nuking one's own territory is frowned on, you know.”

“Not if it's Bender controlled.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as he opened the refrigerator and leaned down, peering into it. “Don't you dare spoil your appetite. And put your shirt back on. Jocelyn just got transferred to Venus; the Underground is roughly seventy five percent complete. I think they'll hold us here until it's done and the terra forming has progressed significantly more.”

Leland straightened with a bottle of juice, unscrewing it and taking a gulp. Mischa watched his throat muscles work. He sighed when he finished. “Quit hacking into the Elders' files, would you?”

“It concerns me.”

“That doesn't mean you need to know it before anyone else.”

“That's exactly what it means. I have more time to prepare, this way.” She tugged at her ear. “Besides, the Elders know I have access to their files. Mother stopped griping at me about it a long time ago.” She scrolled down a few reports and sighed with disgust. “They haven't run Doctor Tencha's simulations yet.”

“They'll get around to it, Mischa.” Leland rubbed her back as he read over her shoulder.

“They should do it immediately. We don't have time to waste, you know. I'd run them myself, if I knew how.”

“I know you would.. Wait, go back. No, one more. One more . . . there. Donations to the Med Centre for research into a cure for Madison's Syndrome? Who came up with that?”

Mischa scrolled down a bit. “Faizah and Asha. Why would they do that? Were are they now?” She switched screens and narrowed her eyes at the Locator as it popped up with the Heart Theatre as the two Admirals' current location. “I'm going to kill them. They ran into Doctor Tencha. They met her before I did.”

“Great, she's going to think we're a bunch of babbling, uncouth idiots.”

“If she meets you, she certainly will. I thought that everyone knew I wanted to be the first to meet her. Didn't I make that clear, Leland? Didn't I?”

“You made it very clear. Which, of course, means that every Family Member wants to meet her. Someone, or something, that you're that enthusiastic about is generally cause for concern.”

Mischa turned her head just enough to glare at him. “You make it sound so bad, Leland. When I have been enthusiastic about something that was bad?”

“Let's see, when was the last time you wanted my help with something? You were grinning, I remember. That always bodes ill. Always,” Leland stressed.

Mischa shifted against him, slightly irritated. “I didn't know it was going to explode, Leland.”

Leland clenched his teeth and sighed. “I don't believe you for a moment.” He dug his fingers into her back as she slid her legs to either side, letting herself ease down until her chin rested on the counter. Leland pinched her sides gently until she inched back up.

Mischa laughed and let him lean over her, let him drag his lips across the back of her neck and bite down gently. Anything that took his mind off of Mikhaila's death was fine by her. Leland was, after all, hers --- and anything that was hers she took very, very good care of.

“The Benders have apparently taken over General Mischa,” a soft baritone commented from the kitchen doorway. Mischa and Leland looked up sharply, and General Vijay raised his eyebrows at them.

Leland cough gently and straightened, redoing Mischa's bra and pulling her shirt down from where he'd bunched it up around her shoulders. “General.”

“Admiral.” Vijay wasn't smiling, but his eyes were twinkling enough that it didn't matter.

“That's not true, General,” Mischa replied mildly as Leland moved to her side, keeping his hips out of Vijay' sight. “I was about to deny him when you walked in.”

“You are a malevolent woman.” Vijay cleared his throat once more and shifted a small package from his left hand to his right hand. “My compliments, by the way, and I brought Leland some of Mikhaila's effects.” Leland's knuckles turned white as he gripped the counter top. “Mother wanted me to bring them to you now, Leland. I'm sorry.”

“It's no problem,” Leland coughed. Mischa turned and hopped up onto the counter, pulling her partner between her legs and holding him close, running her hands through his hair. Leland buried his face in the crook of her neck as he took a few breaths, waiting until they stopped shaking, and then reached a hand out for Vijay' package.

“I do not compliment you on your timing, Vijay,” Mischa glowered at him.

“Neither do I, but it was under Mother's orders. By the way, they're going to run your non-Citizen's formulas in . . . five hours, if you want to be present.”

Mischa was chewing on Leland's hair, and nodded. “We'll be there.”

The faint purring that had been going on since Vijay' entrance got louder, and two thumps heralded the arrival of two cats on the counter. Mischa pushed Leland away from herself, but her legs stayed wrapped around his waist as she scooped up both felines and held them to her chest. The larger one, a Siamese mix with reddish – tan flame points, struggled out of her grasp, but the smaller tabby curled up in her embrace. She held him close and kissed him.

“You and those felines,” Vijay grumbled. “How do you put up with it, Leland?”

“I learned long ago that Mischa's only true love is her cats,” the man in question responded.

----

I don't have anything but snippets past this point, and there are things I want to add in, so I'll be tweaking it a bit. Posts that I've messed with will be marked, and at the beginning I'll tell you where to find the modifications. Any stray bits of story will be noted with the rough chronological order they're in.

Vita Per Nex, pgs. 16-19

“Ah . . . Mother?” Lori looked around as the taxi driver opened the nowee's door and stood by it. “I don't think Father and I are allowed here.”

Tanya stretched after she was out. “Nonsense. There's no law prohibiting non – Citizens from the upper levels.” She didn't quite look at ease, though, as she linked arms with Ahmed. “They just . . . don't usually have the . . . money to be here. I haven't been here in ages.”

“The General's compliments,” the driver murmured as he bowed. Lori started a bit. “Call me when you wish to go home.” He handed Lori, not Tanya, his card, then got back in the nowee and drove off.

“Don't they usually give the Citizens their cards?” Ahmed asked.

“Yes.” Tanya stared after the cab, then smiled at her daughter. “You have the tickets? Good. Let's go.”

Lori tried to ignore the sideways looks and, occasionally, outright stares as they walked up to the theatre. She wasn't the only person wearing completely concealing clothing, but she and her father were the only ones without the arm patches signifying Citizen status. Add to that that her skin blended almost perfectly with the white of her head covering, and it was really no wonder people stared. Still, this was why Lori tried to stay close to home. The most up – scale she went was to work at the Med Centre, but they at least knew her there, and if any new transfers made any sort of trouble, Micah was sure to stand up for her. The meetings she went to were full of others with Madison's Syndrome, even if “full” meant “five people tops.” Even when she went to the market, or to the entertainment district, Lori generally wasn't made uncomfortable by the way she looked and was forced to dress. Here, though, she was entirely out of her element. There were no familiar shops, or even brand names, and everyone was dressed so nicely.

“. . . Madison's Syndrome, isn't it?”

Lori reacted before her mother or father could. She whirled on the man who had just spoken to his companion, her eyes narrowed. “Yes, it's Madison's Syndrome.” She wrapped her arm around her father's shoulder. She hadn't thought that Citizens would be so blatantly rude. “It's the result of an attempt to cure albinism, and is characterised by lack of pigmentation in the skin and hair, causing light, sound, and heat sensitivity, and dark purple eye pigmentation. The Fourth Reich Final War broke out about then, leading to major discrimination against those afflicted with any sort of noticeable genetic defect. A discrimination that, I'm amazed and sorry to say, full Citizens appear to have yet to overcome.” The man had straightened, looking taken aback by her vehemence.

Ahmed glared around at the crowd, who found other places to look. “If you don't want to see people with Madison's,” he offered, “then I suggest you donate to research. My daughter is the leading expert on the defect; all donations may be forwarded to Doctor Lori Tencha, care of the Medical Centre.”

“. . . she'll kill us if we interfere.”

“Yes, however ---”

“Pardon me?” Tanya called, turning around and looking up at the two people speaking at the edge of the crowd. And up. Her lips thinned and she went just a little pale, but she stood her ground. “Good day, Admirals.”

The two women froze, as is that would help them, then the red haired one sighed. “Good day, Citizen Tencha, Doctor Tencha, Mr. Tencha. It certainly is a good day for the theatre, isn't it?”

“Admiral.” Tanya wasn't amused.

The brunette prodded her partner and gestured with her eyes. “I think you have a splendid point about donations, Mr. Tencha,” she said with a broad smile. The crowd noticeably didn't groan. “I expect, after a good speech like that, that Doctor Tencha will be getting an influx of money soon. Obviously people can't afford to give too much,” and the mood lightened a little, “but I think we could all do without, oh, three visits to the theatre a month, don't you, Admiral Asha?” The mood plummeted.

Admiral Asha was grinning. “A wonderful idea, Admiral Faizah.” If Lori was reading them correctly, the two Family Members were immensely enjoying the crowd's discomfort. “Please do expect Admiral Faizah's and my donations tomorrow, Doctor.”

Admiral Faizah nodded. “Well, then, good day.”

“Good day,” Admiral Asha said with a smile and a wink at Lori.

“Good day, Admirals,” Lori, Tanya, and Ahmed chorused.

The two women nodded and walked away, heads close together. “Have you seen the previews for NAVONOD?”

“No, but I've read the comic. I hope the show is at least as good. Isn't the actor for Ash a new one?”

Their voices faded and Lori looked at her mother. The whole exchange hadn't seemed quite correct to her. The two Admirals had almost seemed . . . guilty . . . at being noticed. The crowd was leaving as quickly as they could.

“Uhm. Shall we?” she asked.

Tanya nodded. “Yes, let's.”

“The Admirals seemed . . . unnerved, didn't they?” Ahmed asked as they got in line for the ticket booth.

His wife nodded. “They did. I wonder if some thing's not going the way it should.”

“We haven't won the war yet; of course it's not going as it should.”

“True. They haven't started recalling Citizens into service, though, so it can't be that bad.”

The woman in the booth looked pointedly at Lori's lack of arm patches when they got to her. Obviously she hadn't witnessed the earlier exchange. “Tickets, please.” She quite possibly thought that any that Lori produced would either be forged or stolen.

Lori was fed up at this point, and decided that she might just be able to get away with pulling a little bit of someone else's rank. She smiled her sweetest at the unamused woman as she slid the three tickets toward her. “Three, please. Compliments of General Mischa.”

That got the woman's attention, and she raised both eyebrows in a not quite disbelieving manner as she scanned the tickets. She stared at her screen, then licked her lips before looking back at Lori and her parents with a much more friendly smile. “Doctor Tencha. My apologies. Please, go in. The, ah, first door to your left. Any food or beverage you may desire is complimentary, and sign here, please.” She slid a stylus and board across, holding them both down with her right hand. Lori tugged them to the left as she took the stylus, and the woman moved the board back to the right. Lori looked at her and spun the stylus around in her left hand pointedly. The woman let the board go. “My apologies, Doctor.”

“Thank you,” Lori murmured as she signed carefully. She gave her parents an exasperated look as they went into the theatre. “They don't like non – Citizens, Madison's, or left handed people,” she muttered. “Is this the only theatre showing NAVONOD?” She smiled, though. For some reason, she hadn't thought that Family Members would read comics. That Admiral Asha and Admiral Faizah did made her a little happier.

“Unfortunately,” Tanya muttered back. “But what have we here?” A man in formal attire was walking toward them with a welcoming smile, followed by a young woman around Lori's age, who had to be his daughter. He extended his hand to Lori as he got up to them.

“Doctor Tencha.” He shook her hand gently, without any condescension. “Citizen Tencha, Mr. Tencha.” He shook her parents' hands. “My name is Bernardo Kear, and I am the proprietor of the Heart Theatre. This is my daughter, Elizabeth.”

“Pleased to meet you,” the blonde said with a smile.

“Pleased to meet you,” Lori replied automatically.

“I'm terribly sorry for my staff's rudeness,” he continued as he ushered them to the concession stand. “Please, pick anything you'd like. It's an honour to meet you, Doctor Tencha. General Mischa was most adamant that you receive the best treatment possible whenever you visit us.”

“I haven't even met her, and she's the most meddlesome woman I've ever known!” Lori exclaimed.

Citizen Kear laughed. “Admiral Leland mentioned dragging her to the Moon to give you some privacy. She does want you to be well taken care of, however. Speaking of, I will be disciplining Mary Li for her behaviour toward you. Non – Citizens are always welcome here.”

Lori looked at him, then at her parents. “Uhm.”

He laughed again, and it was as soft as his voice. “Please believe me, Doctor Tencha, that there's a reason that General Mischa didn't leave tickets for Theatre Prime. I should also like to apologise for the unpleasantness you encountered outside.”

“That's not your responsibility, Citizen Kear,” Ahmed told him.

“But it concerns patrons of mine, therefore it concerns me.” Kear himself took the food and drinks that Tanya had ordered, and his daughter helped him. “I completely agree with Admiral Faizah and Admiral Asha, by the way. Heart Theatre will definitely be donating to your research. At any rate, here you are.” Elizabeth pushed open a door and ushered them into their room. Heart Theatre was modelled after ancient opera houses, with a huge screen in the very front and tiered rows of seats just after an orchestra pit. The walls were pocketed with private and a semi – private alcoves, which were more expensive than the floor seats and provided a much better view. Lori and her parents were in semi-private booth; only about five people could fit in it. There were two more already there, but the booth next to and slightly above theirs included a red head and brunette who were doing their best to pretend they hadn't noticed the Tenchas.

“Let me guess,” Lori whispered. “Spies for General Mischa?”

“The Admirals?” Citizen Kear asked. “Most likely not, actually. They're probably just curious about you. Do them a favour and don't mention them to the General. She won't like it if she finds out she wasn't the first to meet you.” He showed them to reserved seats near the front. “If you need more food or drink during the showing, please don't hesitate to let us know.”

“The buttons on the arms,” Tanya explained when Lori opened her mouth to ask how. “They'll bring up a holographic menu. Just touch what you want, like at the Med Centre.”

“I know what a holographic menu is, Mother.”

“I was talking to your father.”

Lori flushed. “Oh.” She glanced over her shoulder at the two Admirals, who suddenly looked away. “I feel like I'm on display,” she whispered.

“Sorry about that,” Admiral Faizah called out.

Lori flushed and ducked her head. “I forgot about their hearing,” she muttered even more quietly.

“Sorry about that, too,” Asha replied.

“Gah!”

“Sorry,” the two women chorused.

“That's it, I'm telling,” Lori grumbled.

“No!” The two Admirals were suddenly hanging over the edge of their alcove, and the red haired one --- Admiral Faizah --- reached one hand out pleadingly. “Please don't tell Mischa. She'll kill us.”

“With her brain, too. I'm sure she can do that,” Admiral Asha put in, leaning further over the side. It looked like she was about to fall over.

“Why are you so afraid of General Mischa?” Lori asked.

She jumped when Admiral Asha jumped down into their booth --- it wasn't that far away, but it was still a considerable distance to jump. She crouched to Lori's left, taking some of the startled woman's popcorn. “We just wanted to make sure you got in all right. We'll ignore you, we will. Just don't tell Mischa.”

Lori was somewhat less startled when Admiral Faizah joined her comrade. “Do you like ponies? We'll get you a pony if you don't tell.” The original occupants of the alcove were staring covertly.

“Don't you have a war to fight?” Lori asked as she hunched down in her seat. It prompted the two women to hang even further over the chairs.

“We're on Recovery,” Admiral Asha replied. “Aren't we, Faizah?”

Admiral Faizah nodded vigorously. “Oh, yes. Definitely. Every time military members come back from a tour of duty, we get a Recovery period to relax, debrief, deal with any psychological stress we might have endured . . .”

“I don't get why we don't get Recovery after dealing with Mischa, though,” Admiral Asha mused. “She's a psychological trip.” She looked at Lori, tilting her head far to the side to see her. “Not that she's a bad person, or anything. She can be quite nice.”

“Cheerful, in fact,” Admiral Faizah put in. She and Admiral Asha had nearly emptied the popcorn. “When she wants to be.”

“She's been under a lot of stress, though. But don't worry; she'll be very nice to you.”

“And if she's not, tell Leland. He can control . . . well, no, but . . . she'll at least pretend to listen to Leland when he talks to her.”

“Why don't I just dig her a hole?” Lori asked sarcastically. “I hear she loves those.”

“Do it!” the Admirals chorused excitedly. “She'll love it.”

The awe she'd initially felt at meeting two Family Members had long since faded, and Lori was starting to get a headache. Didn't those two ever shut up?

“Ooh, we're upsetting her,” Admiral Asha told her partner. “Look, the poor dear's rubbing her temples.”

“What do we do? Do you need a doctor?”

“I am a doctor,” Lori grumbled.

“See? See that tone of voice? Hear it? She's mad at us, Faizah. I'm so sorry, Doctor. We'll shut up, I promise.”

Lori couldn't help it; she rolled her eyes. She'd thought that Family Members were more stately. Regal. Not prone to babbling.

“We will. It's just that we're all so eager to meet you, you know. Come on, Asha. Oh, here, have more popcorn.” Admiral Faizah reached over and started ordering more popcorn for Lori. “Terribly sorry about that.”

Lori suspected that the only reason the two returned to their seats after that was because the previews were starting. Her parents took the seats the Admirals had been obstructing, and in the middle of the first preview Elizabeth came up with the popcorn that Admiral Faizah had ordered. Lori whispered her thanks and the young woman blushed as she nodded. Lori sighed a little as she smiled at her parents and settled in to enjoy the movie.

----

NAVONOD is an actualy comic being done by my friend Mayu, from DeviantArt, and I have his permission to use it here. It's worth a read, and will probably crop up later.

http://mayuzane.deviantart.com/

Elizabeth Kear is a friend of mine, and I used her without permission. Love you, Roomy.

Vita Per Nex, pgs. 12-15

Five thirty. The door buzzer was going off, and it was five thirty in the morning. Lori groaned as she rolled over and flung both arms over the edge of the bed. She was never able to get right up in the mornings under the best of circumstances. And at five thirty in the morning, if someone wasn't already dead or dying, they were about to be.

“Lori!” Her mother was pounding on her door, now. “Lori, get up! Get dressed right now!”

Her heart contracted with fear as Lori shoved herself up. If someone really was dead, which was the only reason she could think of, since the alarms weren't going off, that her mother would wake her up so violently, then she was going to feel very, very bad. Exceedingly bad.

“I'm coming!” Lori pulled her thick pants on with shaking hands, then grabbed a long – sleeved shirt and pulled it over her head. She left her veil and visors off; she shouldn't need to put them on. Probably. Maybe. She shoved her veil into her back pocket and tucked her visors into the front of her sweater. “Oh!” Lori ducked and had to grab the door frame because Tanya wasn't looking, and therefore didn't stop knocking, and Lori didn't need a black eye. Ever. “Mother!”

“Oh! Lori! Get out here, now! Who are these people?” Tanya grabbed Lori's upper arm and yanked her down the hallway, ignoring Lori's yelp of pain.

Ahmed was talking quietly with a tall man in a dark blue uniform. His arm patches denoted some sort of Family connection, but he wasn't full military, and certainly wasn't a Member. The man was directing a group of similarly clad workers, who were taking measurements and setting up equipment. He was gesturing, then Ahmed saw Lori and Tanya.

“What did you do, Lori?”

She stumbled and almost fell into the tall man. “What did I do? I didn't do anything! What did I do?” she asked the man in front of her. Ahmed ran both of his hands through his pale hair and rubbed his temples.

The man smiled down at her. “Not quite sure, Doctor. All I know is that you're getting a firmware upgrade. That'll be the second level, Gentry,” he said to a passing woman.

“Aye, Caps.”

“Why?” Lori almost wailed. It wasn't professional or even polite of her, but she was exhausted, and she could feel the bruise forming where her mother had grabbed her.

“No clue.” Caps looked down at his hand computer and rolled his eyes before poking through the screen. It beeped irritably at him. “We just got orders to upgrade your firmware, courtesy of the Families, with the General's compliments.”

“Which General? I've never met a Family Member!”

He sighed and looked at her over the tops of his media glasses. “I. Don't. Know. Look, Doctor, my only reason to be here is to upgrade your decidedly out – of – date firmware. I wasn't told why, or by whom. I got my orders a week ago.” His eyes flicked back and forth for a moment, reading information from his lenses. “If we're lucky, we'll be done by noon. Excuse me.”

He wandered off, muttering to himself, and Ahmed turned to his daughter.

“I don't know!” Lori exclaimed before he could open his mouth. “I don't know what I did! I don't remember meeting --- oh my good high --- bloody hell!” She crumpled to the floor and held shaking hands to her face, bursting into tears. “Oh . . . oh my . . . oh, no . . .”

“What?” Tanya demanded as she, too, sank down to the floor. Ahmed joined them and put his arms around Lori. “Lori, what happened?”

“General Mischa,” the young woman sobbed. “General Mischa! That's who that woman was, Mother! That was General Mischa!”

“Tanya, what's she talking about?” Ahmed was understandably confused as he rubbed Lori's back.

His wife sounded shook up as things fell into place for her, as well. “The day before yesterday, someone came into Lori's lab without logged entry, or something,” she breathed. “Lori said that only someone very high up would be able to override the system like that. You think that was General Mischa, Lori? The Chief Engineer said he'd gotten his orders last week. She only came in the day before yesterday.”

“I know, but who else could it be?” she moaned. “She was supposed to visit the Centre that day, and the woman gave me her compliments, then last night we got that message from that messenger, and now this . . . I'm in so much trouble . . .”

“If you were in trouble, you would have been taken into custody,” Ahmed rationalised. “Tanya?”

“He's right, Lori. And a Family Member wouldn't come to dinner just to arrest you; they'd leave it to the police.” Ahmed had passed Madison's Syndrome to his daughter; Tanya was the only Citizen in their immediate family, and had the most knowledge of the laws. “What about the formulas? Did she see what you were working on?”

“I don't know,” Lori whimpered. “I didn't see her come into the lab; I don't know if she looked at my computer or not.”

“Hey, hey, hey, we're working, here!” someone snapped as she almost ran into the group on the floor. “Go out and get breakfast or something!”

Tanya pulled her family up and they were directed outside, where the early morning storms crackled around the protective sphere that covered the housing complex and tinted the sky a dark, mottled orange. The work crew milled about, not taking any heed of them until a short woman waved them over.

“Doctor Tencha, correct? So sorry about the suddenness of this all. When General Mischa wants something done, you know, it gets done, and she wants this done yesterday. So here we are! We've cooked you some breakfast; it's supposed to be your favourite. Do tell me if it's wrong, please. My name is Maybelle Tanaka, Communications Liaison. You really made someone happy, didn't you?”

Lori was staring at her, and she raised her hand to her hair.

“What? Do I have something on my face? Is my hair all right?” She was confused by the Tenchas' confusion.

“Madam Liaison,” Tanya burst out, “we didn't even get notice of the General's impending visit until last night. Nothing was said about . . . about . . . about this!” She flung her arm out, once again narrowly missing Lori, to indicate the bustle of activity in and around their duplex. The shock was wearing off and she was starting to get angry.

Tanaka stared at her for a moment, the her hands flew to her mouth and muffled giggles shook her shoulders. “I'm so sorry!” she mumbled. “I'm sorry! Oh, oh my . . . my apologies, ma'am, my apologies . . .” She continued to chortle as she waved them to a food unit. “The General certainly has a way with people.”

“And about that! Why is General Mischa coming to visit? And why does that require a firmware upgrade, which was ordered last week, when the General only saw Lori the day before yesterday?”

Tanaka rolled her eyes. “My first hunch? It will make the General's visit more comfortable for her. You'll find that a lot of what General Mischa does for others is simply to make her own life easier. But you get to keep the upgrades, and she must be very pleased with you. As for the timing of the orders, she's possibly had her eye on you for a while. Do you know what you did?”

Well, at least the Liaison was no longer assuming the Tenchas knew what was going on. Lori was shaking her head.

“Not surprising. Be glad you got more than a day's warning; if your firmware had been to the General's standards, your only notice would have been her knocking on your front door.” Tanaka was filling plates for them.

“So you've met the General?”

General Mischa and her partner, Admiral Leland, were the two most decorated Officers of the war. They had the most victories against the Benders, and had become the focus point for the beleaguered planet. No one feared for family members who served directly under the pair; ships were rarely lost when Admiral Leland commanded, and ninety five percent of the troops reporting directly to General Mischa returned. When one's enemies could kill one with a thought, the survival rates alone said everything about the pair's abilities that needed to be said. And with that said, the awe in Ahmed's voice was not surprising in the least.

Tanaka rolled her eyes. “Every time she doesn't want to go through the proper channels --- which is more often than not --- General Mischa comes to me. The Admiral says it's because I had a hole in my yard.” She set their plates on a table, then pulled out a chair and pushed Lori into it.

“A hole?”

Tanaka smiled at Ahmed. “The General has a fascination with holes, apparently. Left Admiral Leland to do the talking and climbed right in. She built a pyramid. It seemed to irritate Admiral Leland, which is partially why she did it, I suspect.” The woman shrugged. “Eat, eat! Are you feeling well, Doctor?”

Lori was rubbing her arm and Tanya winced. “I'm so sorry, Lori. I didn't ---”

“It's all right,” Lori muttered. “I, ah . . .” She tugged her sleeves over the tops of her hands and hunched her shoulders. The Liaison probably hadn't noticed her white skin or violet eyes; the hair colour could be attributed to fashion, but the other two were a dead give – away for Madison's Syndrome.

“What? Oh.” Tanaka looked closely at Lori and her eyes widened. “Are you --- do you need ---”

“I'll be fine,” Lori said shortly. She didn't look up when Tanaka grabbed a man's arm and whispered in his ear. He glanced at Lori and nodded before walking back the way he'd come. Just perfect. Now people would stare covertly, and whisper as she walked by. Look at the girl with Madison's Syndrome. Look at the modern – day albino. Look at the dark violet eyes, that white hair, the white skin tinged with pink. She's frail, haven't you heard? Bruises with a gentle touch. Genetically inferior. She's got no chance at Citizenship, no matter how good she is. Light – and sound – sensitive, you know. Easily breakable. Easily exhausted. Lori had heard it all before, had suffered through the stares and whispers and prejudices all her life. She got it worse than her father; his case wasn't nearly as severe as hers.

Tanaka had started up a cheery topic with her parents, talking about what their new firmware would be capable of, how they'd get to keep it once they'd moved to Venus after the terra forming was complete enough, how it was an honour, yadda yadda yadda. Lori was no longer listening. Her day was, effectively, ruined. She pushed her food around her plate and tried to ignore the large bruise on her upper arm.

“Madam Liaison.” The man had come back, offering Tanaka a small bottle.

“Thank you, Ricardo.” She turned to Lori and ducked her head a little, trying to see past the hair the young woman had let fall around her face. “Doctor Tencha? Put this on the bruise.”

Lori looked up at that, not having expected what was happening. Her parents, who had been almost as uneasy, tilted their heads. The Liaison smiled warmly.

“It's an anaesthetic,” she was told. “The General ordered this particular one to be included in our med kit, but she never said why.” Tanaka hesitated a bit, then continued in a softer, kind voice. “If the General had thought the Syndrome was important, Doctor, she would have mentioned it. All she did was ensure that we had an anaesthetic you could use.” She offered Lori a napkin to wipe her eyes with. “I don't know what you did, but General Mischa was reportedly mad as all get – out when Admiral Leland wouldn't let her barge into your home the day before yesterday. He's had to keep a tight watch on her to make sure she doesn't ambush you somewhere, just to talk with you. She can be quite . . . intimidating, when she's intent on something.”

She was remarkably well – informed, so Lori ventured the question that had been eating at her since Elsie's message. “Madam Liaison, about this whole thing, and the General's visit . . . I've, uhm . . . I have access to the original . . .” She looked around and lowered her voice. “I have the original formulas, from the guests, you know. I'm a geneticist, and I've been ---”

“Whatever you did,” Tanaka interrupted quickly and loudly, “is between you and the General.” She shook her head minutely, but her eyes were sparkling.

Lori could have kicked herself. Of course she shouldn't be talking about any work on the formulas, especially in public. The government and Families were certain that the Benders hadn't infiltrated Earth, but there was always that terrifying possibility. She nodded and wiped her eyes again, gently, then pushed her sleeve up and undid the bottle. The bruise was large and ugly, already a mottled purple – yellow, and she made a nasty face. The anaesthetic started working as soon as she brushed it gently onto her skin, however, and that made Lori sigh with both relief and surprise.

“Works great, doesn't it?” Tanaka asked smugly. “Top of the line. The bruise ought to start fading in a few hours, if you put the ointment on every half hour. It's yours to keep, with the General's compliments.”

“The General certainly likes to compliment people,” Ahmed remarked as they started eating again.

Tanaka shrugged and watched the work around the duplex. “It's a courtesy thing. Every Family Member does it. Sometimes it's strictly an ingrained formality. The General came to see an Officer that she was having issues with, I remember, and the first words out of her mouth when she walked into the room were 'My compliments, Sir, and you're an ---' well, I can't say it. One Family Member swearing at another doesn't get one fined, though, I can tell you that.”

Lori smiled at that. “What sort of person is the General? If I may ask?”

Tanaka sighed. “She's . . . well, she's . . . intense. She's friendly, of course. All Family Members are very personable, even when they don't have to be. I know they're enhanced for it, but you just can't help but like them, and be easy with them around. Most of the time. I suspect that the General often forgets to put people at ease before she concentrates on them. I tell you, being the sole focus of a Family Member's unwavering attention when they're not trying to put you at ease is one of the most unsettling experiences I've ever had. I hadn't expected her sense of humour. It's . . . rather quirky. Micah says they're both crazy.”

“He thinks that most people are crazy. I think it's a case of recognising in others what you dislike about yourself.”

“I don't think he dislikes it, though.”

Lori waved a dismissive hand. “It's the same principle.” She gave her parents a worried look. “Do we need to give the General a gift . . . ?”

Tanaka laughed. “Heavens, no. As the visited, you and your family are under no obligation to provide anything but refreshments for your guests. The General, by contrast, being the visitor, is required to bring you a gift befitting your status.”

“Well, being at the bottom of the food chain, I suppose her presence will be all the gift I get,” Lori quipped. She meant it in jest, but there was a little bitterness in her tone.

The Communications Liaison raised her eyebrow at Lori. “My duties are to provide communications between people who would not normally come into contact with one another, generally because of a significant status gap, Doctor Tencha.”

“Please, call me Lori. And I assume it's mostly between non-Citizens and everyone else?”

“In this case, yes. Occasionally I represent communications between the Elders and other Family Members; it depends on the situation. The Mother Elder is irritated with General Mischa, Dr. Lori. That means that the General is doing as she wishes, without regard to what the Elders wish. It happens more often than one would think, but regardless, the General is out to woo you, Doctor. She wants something from you, and she will do whatever she deems necessary to get whatever it is you may provide her. She will start out politely, with visits and presents, and slowly move on to firmer and more severe methods. An outright order to provide her with what she desires, should that be a legal possibility, will be her absolute last resort.” Tanaka smiled wryly. “A Family Member at her most persuasive rarely has to resort to a legal order, Doctor. From the admittedly little that I know about this particular situation, I should be very surprised if anything past 'I would much appreciate . . .' is required.” She dabbed at her lips with her napkin and set it next to her plate before pushing her chair back and standing with a smile. “But there's absolutely nothing to worry about. You're in no trouble whatsoever, and the General is reportedly chomping at the bit to see you. At the very least, the General's visit will be very, very educational for you, and the potential benefits far outweigh your current discomfort.” She raised her arm and waved. “If you'll excuse me, I have to get to work.” She placed a packet on the table. “Tickets to the theatre today, compliments of General Mischa. Enjoy.”

----