Laura woke the next morning to find a snoring Bill beside her in the bed. She turned to watch him, his chest, partially uncovered, rising and falling as he slept. A trace of a smile was on his lips.
She smiled too as she rested her head on her hand and hovered her other one over the small curls of hair that covered his chest. But her bravery from last night had disappeared and she touched his face instead. Parts of her skin burned from where his stubble had rubbed against her delicate skin. The rest of her face blushed as she remembered what they had done.
‘Oh my God...’
Her smile turned into a grin and she felt like a naughty child. She’d wanted him for so long, but she hadn’t been sure he felt the same way about her. Last night, her urges drove her actions and it excited her to know Bill had felt the same way. But in the weak light of morning, would he feel the same?
Bill stirred beside her. She felt herself withdraw. He stretched and opened his eyes. When he saw her he smiled. ‘Hey, what the hell did we do last night?’
Laura’s shyness returned. ‘I don’t know what got into me.’ She lay down and pulled the covers up to her chin.
Bill laughed gently and tugged the covers back down to her waist. He stroked his fingers over her naked stomach.
‘It’s a bit late for modesty, don’t you think? Do you regret it?’
Laura relaxed into the pillow and answered honestly. ‘I—no. Do you?’
‘No. I wondered why it took us so long.’ Bill’s eyes shone under the artificial light of her bedside lamp. His smile slipped away. ‘Does this mean our friendship is ruined?’
Laura rolled her eyes. ‘We weren’t that close anyway.’
Bill laughed. ‘Glad to see you back to your old self this morning.’
‘Yeah, I feel a little different than I did last night.’
Bill watched her.
‘What?’ said Laura, trying not to smile under his hot, serious gaze.
‘Want to try again? We really should check if this was a one-off.’ He kept his mouth straight as he continued to stroke her stomach. ‘I mean, we owe it to ourselves to check for the sake of our friendship.’
‘Last night could hardly count as a one-off.’
‘You know what I mean. All the times we did it last night count as one try in my book.’
‘Well, why don’t you come over here and find out?’ She hooked a finger at him.
He groaned and covered her mouth with his.
Their lovemaking was more powerful and sensual than the frenzied sex of the night before. Bill held Laura in his arms afterwards, and they talked about anything that came to mind.
A little later Bill got out of bed. ‘Coffee?’ he said.
Laura watched him as he searched the floor for his underwear.
She propped herself up on one elbow. ‘You know I hate coffee. How about a cup of tea? I’m parched.’
Bill turned and smiled at her, but it vanished when his eyes darted from her face to the pillow. He scrambled back into bed and reached a hand out behind her. He drew large clumps of blonde hair out in his hand.
‘When did you start losing your hair?’ His eyes grew large as he stared at the hair in his hand.
Laura rolled out of bed and rushed over to the mirror. She tugged at her locks and breathed a sigh of relief.
‘Jesus, you frightened me for a second. It’s not that bad. I’ve been losing my hair since we lost access to the sun on this planet.’
Bill came up behind her and tugged gently on her hair, but his efforts yielded little more than a few wispy strands.
Laura felt too much like an experiment subject as Bill poked and prodded her. She tried to laugh it off as she walked away from him and pulled on her underwear. ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing to be concerned about.’ But he didn’t look convinced.
‘Well, what about your eyes, then?’ he said. ‘They looked so different last night. This morning and in the light of this room, their colour still seems exaggerated.’
Laura returned to the mirror and examined them. ‘They’ve always looked like this. I see nothing unusual about them. You’re worrying yourself over nothing.’ Her stomach rumbled and she could think of nothing else but food. I need to eat.’
She left Bill and went to the kitchen where she opened cupboards and pulled whatever she could find out onto the counter. In her haste, an open box of cereal fell to the floor. She ignored the sound of her bare feet crunching the cereal into the floor as she replicated more food. Armed with enough food to feed an army, she returned to the living room with her spoils.
Bill had dressed and sat hunched over his DPad at the table. Deep in concentration he hadn’t noticed her return. She put the food down and picked up an apple. Her loud crunching attracted Bill’s attention but then he looked back at the file he read. Laura moved closer and saw one name she’d hoped never to see again: Harvey Buchanan.
‘Why are you looking him up?’ she said.
‘I’m taking you to see him.’
Laura backed away. ‘No, Bill. Don’t you remember what happened last time?... And he betrayed us to the World Government... And what about those replica identity chips you gave him, the ones that wouldn’t work? I’m sure he’s figured out you kept something from him.’
‘Laura, there’s something wrong with you and I can’t think of anyone else who can help. Harvey has experience with nanoid technology. If he’s working for the World Government, then he’s most likely working on genetics.’
‘We can’t be sure that he can—or will—help. Besides, I feel fine.’
‘You’re far from fine, Laura.’ Bill’s voice was stern. ‘We have to do something—and he has access to medical equipment. Don’t argue with me.’
Laura turned away as Bill continued to read the file. She touched her skin that felt ice cold. She turned back again to see Bill had abandoned his file in favour of a 3D map he’d pulled out from his DPad. A tiny red light flashed. ‘Is that his chip?’
‘I’m using ITF software to track his movements. He’s leaving Warsaw and is on the move.’
‘So, where’s he going?’ She glanced down at her hand which no longer held an apple, but a carton of tomato soup.
‘Judging by how fast this dot is moving, I’d say he’s on a Maglev train. There’s only one place that train is heading at that hour.’
‘Where?’ She drank some soup straight from the carton. It dripped down her mouth.
‘London.’
Laura blinked and the carton of soup was gone. Instead, she stood next to Bill while he opened the front door.
‘I don’t have time for this today—I have a shift.’
‘I’ve already called in sick for you.’
She didn’t remember him calling. ‘When?’
‘Twenty minutes ago.’
Laura shook her head. It couldn’t have taken her longer than five minutes to get the food from the kitchen.
‘I can’t Bill. I’m not even dressed.’
‘You are dressed, Laura.’
She looked down at her clothes: black trousers, a cotton shirt and a pair of black flats. Her hair was tied up. How could she not remember getting dressed?
‘You’ve been zoning in and out like this since you got out of bed. This isn’t normal, Laura.’ Bill ushered her out the door.
But her stomach rumbled again and she darted past him to grab a sandwich from the almost depleted pile of food.