It was six months later…six long months of team lunches, dinners with Leah, Einstein, and Ellie, or sometimes dinners just between Kaelen and Leah, before the small group working in the SPL hit their first true milestone. They’d reached the testing phase for two separate cures, one nanobot solution and one serum designed by the scientists in Lab 12. The serum team discovered a way to artificially create stem cells and used those to make the treatment. Regulatory T-cells had long ago been proven to promote repair and regeneration of various organ systems.
Kaelen had been on the project for nine months at that point and cursed the lack of modern tools at their disposal. Einstein pointed out that what was modern for her, was nothing more than science fiction for the people of Earth.
The SPL trio, as Ellie had taken to calling Leah, Kaelen, and Einstein, were down in the lab going over the results from their live test of the specialized nerve regeneration nanobots. They ran the baseline tests the week prior and were simply running the next set to see if there had been any change in the rats’ condition. Truthfully, because they were running two trials simultaneously, they had to examine both the SPL nanobot test subjects, and the Lab 12 serum ones.
The first trial started with eight lab rats with precisely cut spinal cords that they’d received from a local school. The rats were slated to be destroyed but Ellie found out and had them relocated to L-I from the university lab. Why waste perfectly good rats when their group could make use of them? Four were injected with a stem cell serum created by her other lab, and the other four were injected with the nanobots and a nano power generator. Leah wanted to see which treatment had the fastest results and the greatest improvement.
“I’m positive the nanobots will be more effective and faster than the serum. My calculations are dope, as was Einstein’s programming.” Leah snickered and Kaelen grew concerned that she’d used the incorrect slang. “Was that the wrong word in this context?”
“Not at all, it was just funny to hear you say. I think you’re getting the hang of it.”
Einstein nodded. “I concur with your assessment of the nanobot efficacy. In fact, I am so certain of our results that I made a bet with Jonah in lab twelve. It is too bad they’re all at the convention in New York. I’m sure they would love to see the one-week results in person.”
Leah pointed at the camera in the corner of the lab. “They’ll see it, don’t worry. Now, let’s remove subject R1 and run the tests.”
Kaelen opened the cage and gently cradled the whitest of the four rats in her hands. “I called him Krigh. Because he is whiter than the others.”
“It is unwise to develop an attachment to test subjects, Kaelen Ra-Evon. As a scientist you should know this.”
Einstein’s words of caution met their mark and Kaelen nodded. “I know. It’s just…we didn’t have many personal pets left on Argon. They were considered a waste of precious resources, which had been severely depleted during the war.” She stroked the fur along the back of the rat then carefully placed him in a special clear container inside the computed tomography scanner.
Once they had a full image set of the region where the spinal cord had been cut, she removed the rat and put it on the table for Einstein to hook up two sets of electrodes. He sent a series of electric pulses, not enough to hurt the rat, but enough for them to monitor a reaction. The equipment would pick up any test subject nerve activity. Once all the stats were recorded, Kaelen returned the rat and retrieved the next one from its cage.
Displaying her usual abundance of curiosity, Leah asked, “Do you have a name for that one?”
Kaelen smiled shyly and placed him in the CT box. “I call him Sleepy.”
“That’s adorable.”
They repeated the process for all four of the nanobot test subjects, as well as the others in the serum trial, recording the data from each. Then Leah brought them up side by side on the screen. She frowned. “I thought we’d see more of a change. The circulatory function for both projects was marginally improved at best.”
“It’s only been a week, Leah. Not nearly long enough for the bots or the serum to work. I predict we will begin to see more significant results in a month when both have had a chance to replicate within the test subjects’ systems,” Einstein said.
Kaelen nodded. “I would say that time frame seems most plausible.”
Leah smiled and leaned back in her chair. “Good. It’s Friday and the last one of the month. Will I see you and Nalla later, Einstein?”
“Indubitably. Nalla says she will for sure kick your ass in Settlers of Catan.” Leah lifted a dark eyebrow at his statement. He inclined his head. “Of course, those were her words, boss, not mine.”
Leah smirked. “Of course.” She turned to Kaelen who watched the interaction curiously. “What about you? I know I’ve asked many times before, but would you like to come over for game night?”
Kaelen hesitated. “I—”
“It’s an informal gathering of my closest family and friends.”
Leah had invited her many times, but Kaelen never felt comfortable socializing outside her small work group. “I don’t think I’ll do well with a lot of strangers. I also don’t understand what a game night is.”
“Kaelen Ra-Evon, Earth games can take a variety of forms that may include cards, boards, intricately carved pieces, or sometimes a combination of all three. Argon had similar forms of entertainment.”
Wex’s explanation made sense but it still didn’t tell her about the ones they had on Earth. “Do you all play one particular game, this Settlers of Catan? I’m afraid I don’t know how to play any, at least none here on Earth.” She paused. “I also don’t want to intrude on your family time.”
“Kaelen,” Leah waited for her to make eye contact to continue. “You’re included in that group of family and friends. I would love to have you over.”
“If you’re sure…”
Leah smiled. “I’m sure. Don’t worry about food, we’ll have plenty of pizza and snacks.” Leah must have seen something in Kaelen’s expression, perhaps that confounded wrinkle she’s always talking about. “What is it?”
“Will I like this pizza? I haven’t tried that yet.”
“Kaelen Ra-Evon, you have not had pizza? Nalla would say your Earth education is sorely lacking.”
“Kaelen,” Kaelen looked from Einstein to Leah again. “You’ll love it. Trust me.”
“Okay.”
Leah grabbed a nearby notebook from the lab bench, tore a page out and wrote on it. She handed it to Kaelen. “This is where I live. You can recite it to any taxi driver and they’ll deliver you safely.” Einstein snorted and Leah amended, “Safe enough. Otherwise, I would guess that Wex could instruct you on the proper buses to take. I’d normally recommend something like Uber or Lyft but without a phone…” Leah shrugged.
Kaelen frowned. “I can simply walk there. I don’t wish to hire a vehicle that contributes to Los Angeles’s pollution levels.”
Einstein proposed an alternative. “Have you considered purchasing a bicycle, or an electric scooter to increase your mobility? Los Angeles climate is moderate, and you would be able to ride it year-round, as long as it wasn’t raining. I would estimate if you are walking to work, you don’t live so far away that a bicycle would fail to be practical.”
“Kaelen Ra-Evon, the Donbothian has an intelligent solution. Both are two-wheeled modes of transportation and require balance and dexterity to operate. Your superior stamina and reflexes would guarantee that self-powered mobility would be no hardship. But while both a bicycle and electric scooter would be excellent tools of conveyance, the wiring in your sub-standard domicile would not be sufficient to handle charging for any large appliance without risking fire. I’m afraid the scooter would be implausible.”
Wex informed her daily that the quality of the apartment she rented wasn’t fit for even a human and beneath her status as the last scion to Dolem-Ra. She smiled at Einstein. “That is an excellent idea. Where would I purchase a bicycle, and will they teach me to ride it? Wex says that I have no safe place to charge a scooter.”
Leah looked at her smart watch then offered, “How about this? It’s close enough to five to log out for the day.” Einstein lifted a finger to refute her statement and Leah narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t argue with me, Trog. I’m the boss, remember?”
Her statement rang slightly false based on something she’d previously said to Kaelen. “But didn’t you say that technically, Ellie was our boss?”
Leah raised an eyebrow and gave Kaelen an imperious look. “Who holds stock majority at Lockheed International.”
“I researched that the same night Wex explained the financial system. You do.”
“And who is the current CEO of Lockheed?”
Kaelen swallowed, fascinated by the look on Leah’s face. It was intelligent, powerful, and a little arrogant. Leah looked like a proper Argonian and Kaelen’s stomach clenched with something that wasn’t fear. She whispered, “You.”
Leah smiled. “Do you need anything from your apartment?”
Kaelen looked back and forth between Einstein and Leah. “Do I need to bring something for your game night?”
Einstein said, “You do not,” at the same time Leah shook her head.
“Okay. I don’t need to go back to my apartment.”
“Good. You can ride with me to my place, and one of us can take you home after. Maybe Maddy and Tasha since they live on your side of town.” When Kaelen hesitated, Leah added, “It’s more efficient and less wasteful of resources.” That garnered a nod from Kaelen. “Good! Now let’s shut this place down and start the weekend. The work will still be here on Monday.”
Einstein packed his laptop away in the messenger bag he carried daily and waved as he made his way out of the lab. “Nalla and I shall see you in a few hours, Leah. And you as well, Kaelen.”
Kaelen hadn’t gone many places on Earth since landing the year before. A rented room in Vancouver, her apartment in Los Angeles, Lockheed, a local grocery store, and a handful of restaurants. None of the locations had the look or feel of her home on Argon. While Leah’s residence still didn’t have the same aesthetic, the place had a majesty all on its own. Kaelen was impressed that her friend appeared to own the entire top of her building, a conclusion she came to after the elevator deposited them right into an entryway off Leah’s main living space.
She turned in a circle, looking up at the high ceiling. It was bright white with light gray accents. It could have been considered sterile, but the decorations within were colorful and soft. “This entire domicile is your home?”
“It is.”
Despite the large size, the room with couches appeared comfortable and warm. Kaelen’s eyes moved throughout the open floor plan of the main section. Besides the sitting area, there was a spacious kitchen, not that Kaelen had mastered the art of preparing Earth food, a dining area, stairs that led to an upper level, a short hallway with a door off one side and a set of double doors at the end, and large glass panels on tracks which Kaelen quickly realized were doors that led outside.
She frowned. Leah’s home was disastrously high for an external exit to be practical. She pointed toward the egress. “Isn’t that dangerous for humans? It doesn’t seem safe to leave your home from this altitude.”
Leah laughed and gestured toward the doors. “I have a balcony. Come see.” She led Kaelen over to the door and pushed a button on her hoverchair. One side slid open and Leah smoothly floated through into a large, walled-in space.
Outside Kaelen could see more furniture, a heat source, and lamps. What caught her attention most was the view from so high above the streets. Kaelen looked out over Los Angeles, remembering another prospering metropolis that spread out much the same way. Leah’s balcony reminded her of the landing pad at her family home. Not only that, but the way the late afternoon sun shone through the odd cloud cover cast a reddish glow across everything. She missed the rose light of Argon. Kaelen whispered softly into the breeze. “Glorious Vos, thank you for gracing this day with knowledge and prosperity.”
When she turned away from the railing, Leah looked at her with concern. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Your view reminded me of the one I had from my family home.”
“You miss it a lot, don’t you?”
Kaelen took a steadying breath. “Longing is a wasteful emotion. Should I help you set up for this game night?” She made to take a step away but paused when Leah spoke.
“Kaelen, stop. Look at me, please?”
With a slow turn, Kaelen stood facing her. “Do you need something?”
Leah raised her chair and moved it over next to Kaelen. Then she held out her arms. “You look like you could use a hug.”
Something in Kaelen broke and reformed at Leah’s kind tone and selfless gesture. As promised, Leah had been hugging Kaelen more since that night outside her apartment. And over the past week and a half, they’d even worked up to Kaelen hugging her back. Tears welled and ran down her cheeks, and part of her felt ashamed to be so emotionally dependent. It wasn’t rational or productive.
Leah broke Kaelen from her thoughts by reaching out and tugging at her sleeve. “You’re overthinking again. Give me a hug.”
Kaelen sank into the embrace, returning the smallest amount of pressure. “I’m sorry if I am being a burden.”
Leah pulled back enough so she could meet Kaelen’s gaze. “Hey, hey, look at me. You are not a burden. You will never be a burden. I want you to feel comfortable and safe here, okay?” Then she pulled Kaelen close again.
Kaelen sighed and shut her eyes to the sights of the city. “Okay.”
They stayed like that for a few minutes until Kaelen felt grounded again. She stepped back and smiled. “Thank you. You continue to amaze me, reminding me of how much I like having you in my life.”
“Ditto.” An odd word that confused Kaelen. Leah pointed between her eyes with a smirk. “Wrinkle. What are you thinking about?”
Kaelen rubbed the offending spot. “I don’t know what ditto means in this context and I put my communicators in my satchel when we left the lab.” At Leah’s curious look she added, “Some things I need to understand on my own.”
“I get it. And ditto means ‘copy that’ or ‘same.’ Though I suppose I can make things even easier for you and say that I appreciate having you in my life as well.” Leah grabbed Kaelen’s hand with her free one and led her inside. “Now, we have some time before the others arrive. I’ll call in the pizza order then I can show you how to play a few of the group’s more popular games.”
Warmth started in Kaelen’s stomach and radiated throughout her body. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was about to learn something new, or if it was from the feel of Leah’s soft fingers clasped with her own. “I would like that very much. Can you tell me who else will be here?”
“I’ll describe everyone you haven’t met yet when I teach you to play Uno.”
* * * *
Hours later, Kaelen stood at a whiteboard easel with a black marker in hand. There was an even amount of people at the game night and Leah volunteered to be Kaelen’s partner for all the team games since Kaelen had never heard of most of them. Despite her inexperience, everyone groaned as Leah easily guessed Kaelen’s drawings during Pictionary.
“I’m sorry. I’m obligated to let you know that I possess perfect recall and superior spatial reasoning, both of which allow me to replicate whatever image I picture in my head.”
Everyone groaned and one person threw a piece of popcorn at her head. “Boo! New game!” That prompted the group to move on to other games where Kaelen wasn’t so skilled.
She’d been introduced to everyone as they arrived, and she recited each name in her head multiple times to make sure she had the new people memorized. It was odd that she had perfect recall for facts and figures, but names and faces sometimes eluded her. Maddy, Leah, and Einstein, were all familiar because she’d met them many times at work. While she’d heard about Ana, Nalla, Tasha, and Tasha’s brother Devon, it was her first time meeting them.
“What is the purpose of this Monopoly? Does it teach humans how to effectively do business?”
Nalla laughed at her, then quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, Kaelen. To answer your question, this isn’t at all like real business. It’s a long, boring game where we all end up watching Maddy and Leah fight over first place.
Ana chimed in, “At least until one of them flips the board.”
Kaelen looked back and forth between the sisters in question with wide eyes.
“Look who’s talking, Pérez!” Maddy countered. “You’ve done your share of flipping too!”
Tasha snickered. “Babe, she’s right though. It usually is you.”
Maddy shot her a betrayed look, but Kaelen saw her features soften right before she kissed Tasha. Kaelen watched the kiss longer than she probably should have. Something about it made her think of Leah and wonder what it would feel like to kiss someone she loved. Kaelen glanced at the woman at the forefront of her mind. “Is your found family always so chaotic?”
Leah gave her a fond smile and took another sip of wine. “Don’t forget, it’s your found family too. I think it’s pretty safe to say we’ve all claimed you by now, Kaelen.” Kaelen felt her cheeks warm at the idea of Leah “claiming” her but listened intently as she kept talking. “And a great scientist once said that chaos, when left alone, tends to multiply.”
“Kaelen, you would have appreciated Stephen Hawking, the man behind the quote.”
She tilted her head at Einstein. “Was he on par with Leah?”
“Mr. Hawking was a theoretical physicist whose theory of exploding black holes drew upon both relativity theory and quantum mechanics. He also worked with space-time singularities.” Einstein paused in thought before continuing. “Though I understand him to be a genius by Earth standards, he wasn’t the same as you or I, or even Leah.”
“Hello, I’m sitting right here.”
“Yes, you are.” Kaelen gave her a confused look. “We are in your home, where else would you be? Maybe I should amend my determination on your intelligence after you made such a basic statement.”
Nalla crowed, “Oh my gawd, she did not!” She pointed at Leah. “She called you basic.” The rest of the group started laughing, including Leah. Maddy shook her head and took a swig of her beer, while Tasha looked at Leah with concern.
Glancing around the group, Kaelen feared that she’d missed some social queue. “Sorry if I spoke out of line, Leah. Did I say something wrong?”
Leah shook her head and reached out to take Kaelen’s hand. “Not at all, darling. I am often self-deprecating and accept light teasing from my friends and family. Nothing you said was incorrect. Not only that, but you don’t even realize why what you said was funny.”
Maddy interrupted before she could explain further, clearly curious about one of Kaelen’s previous statements. “What did you mean when you and Einstein were referring to Earth standard genius? Are there more types?”
Kaelen looked at Einstein, hoping the Donbothian would explain. He merely nodded for her to answer. “Since you’re all friends with Einstein, you probably know he was engineered to be a twelfth caliber intellect.”
Maddy muttered, “A fact he never lets us forget.”
“What most of you don’t know is that I’m also a twelfth caliber intellect.” A few people gave her a startled look.
“It is true. Kaelen Ra-Evon comes from a long line of thinkers, and we are well met in both thought and deed while working within the SPL.”
Kaelen continued. “The numbers I use are actually based on the Donbothian intelligence scale. I think Einstein could explain them better in terms of how they relate to human intelligence.”
“That I can do. Let’s see, Donbothian’s have recorded individuals all the way up to thirteenth caliber. The Collector themself insisted of a twenty rating but I never saw evidence of such a thing.” He gave a sniff of disdain before continuing. “The lowest is the non-sentient intelligence. After that is first caliber, which is below human average, second caliber average, third caliber above average, fourth is gifted by human standards, fifth is exceptionally bright, sixth is genius— ” He paused. “For context, the CEO of Varden Industries, Brian Strong, and fabled Detective Sherlock Holmes are both sixth level. To continue, seventh caliber would be considered super-intelligent, like Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking—”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…” Maddy broke in. “You mean more classifications exist after super-intelligent? Holy shit!”
Einstein and Kaelen nodded before he continued. “Eighth caliber intellect is what the average Donbothian rated.”
“And my father, Evon Ra.”
He smiled at her. “Yes, as I said before, I’d heard of your house. An above average Donbothian would rate as a ninth caliber intellect, a gifted Donbothian would be tenth, and an exceptionally bright Donbothian would rate as an eleventh caliber intellect.”
Tasha held up a hand. “Didn’t you say you were a twelfth caliber, Einstein?”
“Well, yes. And apparently so is Kaelen Ra-Evon, last of Dolem-Ra.”
His words triggered the realization that, with the passing of all before her, effectually, Kaelen herself had become the Ra. It was a title held by the most senior of her Argonian house, which was previously her father’s father. Many of her new friends appeared confused at the unfamiliar words so Kaelen translated for them. “Dolem-Ra means ‘house of Ra.’ I am the last of my house, and possibly of the Argonian people as a whole.”
Nalla finished her drink and placed the glass down on the side table. “So, Kaelen, does that make you a princess or something?”
“No, Argon didn’t have royalty.”
Nalla tilted her head. “Well then, what does that make you if you’re the last of Dolem-Ra?”
Kaelen swallowed and looked down, the words evoking a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Lonely.”
Leah reached over to squeeze Kaelen’s hand and her next comment had everyone laughing again. “Are we all going to ignore how the average Donbothian is still calibers higher than the smartest Earth genius? How is that even fair?”
That got Kaelen to look up again. “There are exceptions to every rule, Leah. I was one such exception in the way that I surpassed all those before me on Argon. You are another exception.”
Leah sucked in a breath and her lips parted. “Me?”
Einstein was already nodding. “Yes, I’ve long surmised that myself.” He gazed at Kaelen. “I suspect eighth or ninth caliber. What say you?”
Kaelen looked at Leah, taking in her flushed cheeks and comfortable looking sweater. She answered Einstein with only half a mind on the question. “Yes, at least an eight but we would need testing equipment that I don’t think exists here on Earth to be certain.”
“It does not.”
Maddy snorted. “Well, I feel like chopped liver now. How about the rest of you?”
Laughter echoed around the game room and Nalla scooped up the dice. “Time to get the world’s longest game back on track.” She groaned when she saw the number that came up. “Nooo!” Then she moved her piece to Leah’s most lucrative property.
Leah grinned in a predatory manner and held out her hand. “Boardwalk with a hotel…that will be two thousand dollars, please.”
Nalla sighed and gathered up the rest of her cash then thrust it across the board toward Leah. “You are a shark! It’s not even fair playing this game with any of you. I’m always the first one out.”
“Not true,” Kaelen pointed out. “I lost all my money first.”
Nalla rolled her eyes. “You’ve never played before and appear to enjoy watching the others. Not me. I’m going to refill my drink and grab another slice of pizza.”
Kaelen’s head jerked up. “There’s more pizza? It’s delicious and I can’t believe I’ve never tried it until tonight.”
Maddy laughed. “I’ve heard the stories, from these two,” she pointed back and forth between Einstein and Leah, “and from Mom. Is there anything you haven’t enjoyed since you arrived on Earth?”
“Kale!” Leah and Einstein called it out at the same time and Kaelen made a face.
“It’s true. Kale is bitter and unpleasant. Why is it so angry? It’s like…if coffee were a vegetable!”
Leah snickered. “She also doesn’t like coffee unless it has enough sugar and cream in it to fall into a dessert classification.”
Kaelen shrugged. “While I don’t receive any benefits from the caffeine content, the caramel macchiato from The Bean Bag is delicious.”
Nalla nodded. “She’s totally right on that, best drink there.”
Maddy rolled her eyes. “You’re both children who clearly never hit a wall twenty hours into a busy thirty-hour shift.”
Nalla pointed at her and winked. “And that’s why I’m a reporter and not a doctor.” She gestured to Kaelen. “Come on, Evon. Let’s go raid the pizza boxes.”