24 - flashback ends

The place that Hypose took Deeter Zor to was not what he expected. He expected a shop like the map shop, with various types of empty books rather than... nothing. Not even some sort of "electrical" device that you could write on. Instead there were devices, slightly bigger than the bloodstones, which apparently you could talk into. Voice recorders. The one Hypose picked out for him was so small he didn't understand how it worked. And for once his translator failed him. The words were probably translated properly, but he still had no idea what they meant.

Hypose realized this, and tried to explain in a more basic manner. "Sound travels through air but also water and solid substances. The noise in your head when you speak is different than the noise everyone else hears. This will record that noise."

"But it has to be put in my head?" Apparently he had not misunderstood that part.

"Correct. Our surgeons are far more advanced than any physician you would ever have experienced, have no fear."

"I'm not afraid. What's to be afraid of, some perfect stranger cutting into my skull to implant some strange electric device," he muttered.

"You will be drugged and feel nothing. You can even be unconscious for the whole thing if you like."

Deeter considered. Was it worse to be awake or asleep, for this apparently routine procedure? This wasn't even a physician's office; merely someone who specialized in inserting these electronic journals. "Asleep, please."

Hypose told the specialist, and the man brought over a few small pills. "Take two," he said.

Deeter did so, and was then led to a back room. It was sparkling clean, and he lay on a white padded table in the center, face down. He began to feel relaxed, and more relieved and even happy. Floaty. "Oh, don't be alarmed if my blood is clear," he remembered to say before losing consciousness.

The next thing he knew, Hypose was forcing him to drink water. Or honeyed water. It was slightly sweet at least. He felt the back of his head. A small bandage was the only evidence. "Where is he?"

"He didn't believe you. I admit I wasn't sure if I should or not either."

"Believe what?"

"Your blood being transparent."

"Oh. That." He shrugged. "It runs in the family."

"That's amazing. You must not be fully human. There must have been some other race when your planet was seeded."

"I suppose. So was he so shocked he didn't perform the procedure?"

"He performed it all right. I reminded him that we paid in advance, and it would endanger his livelihood if he didn't."

Deeter groaned. "I still feel fuzzy-headed."

"That'll be the anaesthetic. We'll get some fresh air, and supper, that should help."

It did help. He felt better by the time they got to the restaurant, but he noticed Hypose was more stand-offish. So he continued to act fuzzy-headed, and Hypose stayed more formal. He did help him stand up, after they ate, but he left him at the door to the hotel, rather than his room. A kiss on the cheek, and he was gone.

His final words: "I'd like to see you again, but it's for the best if you are gone when I come back tomorrow."