Immortal Body

Stan-luc got off the motosonic and snorted. He looked around at the enormous yard that resembled a meadow and the facade of the moderately-sized house. His grandmother and her partner had found a great place, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, with a quaint atmosphere and in average condition. But being summoned to the Villa, as they called the place, wasn't always good news.

The sun shone, so besides his helmet, Stan-luc took off his jacket and folded it in the motosonic's bag. His long black hair fell to his shoulders and he quickly tied it back in a ponytail, sighing. Who knew what his grandmother wanted now.

He knocked on the big front door. Since nobody answered, he put his palm on the palm-reader, and the door slid open.

"Bess-lin?" he called, stepping in. His grandmother had immediately made it clear that there was no "grandma" for her. Either he called her by her first name, or she'd never see him again. Since he was already fifteen when he had first met her, he had complied, after a brief glance at his father who had transmitted a very sharp Humor her!

The interior of the house was done in colors that reminded him of a rainbow.  The house had once been featured in a magazine showcasing unusual homes, and that was when Bess-lin had seen it and decided she wanted it.

It didn't matter that her home planet had been destroyed and she didn't own a thing to her name anymore. Bess-lin was a Sire aristocrat, and she wanted to be treated like the princess she'd been on the former Imperial planet. She refused to work and depended on her life partner, Maela, the Sylvanian cyborg who worked for a security company in town way past retiring age.

Stan-luc assumed that his grandmother was home alone, since at this time of the day Maela was probably working. He should be working too, at the Ypsilantian Labs with his prospective father-in-law, but even Wim Drake knew that if Bess-lin Meraini called, one was better off obeying immediately.

"Bess-lin, I'm here!" he called again, glancing into the living room and the kitchen. He was about to climb the central staircase to the upper floor, when he saw her slowly descending, one hand on the banister, with a long dress the color of her water-green eyes, her red curls flowing down her back.

Stan-luc had always thought that Bess-lin was a jarring sight for whoever knew her. Her brain had been transplanted inside an artificial body when her physical bag of bones started to decay around fifty years old, so she still looked young and beautiful. The artificial body had been modeled on her looks, therefore her appearance was of a twenty-something redhead straight out of old galactic chronicles.

Bess-lin was seventy-three, but she had an immortal body that stuck her back in time – to when the Emperor was still alive and her parents wanted her to marry Imperial Prince Kol-ian Vaurabi, Stan-luc's unwilling grandfather, who had perished with the Sire planet.

In the ten years Bess-lin had been living on Ypsilanti, she'd made quite a mess, being a woman and wanting to be in charge. But since she was an almighty telepathic Sire, the women of Ypsilanti had let her do more or less what she wanted. Her mind was still powerful and she could influence people by simply invading their minds.

When she had bought the Villa and retired from public life a few months earlier, the local government had probably breathed with relief, as much as Stan-luc had done.

"Ah, Bess-lin," he said, a little puzzled by her elegance at the wrong time of the day. She looked ready for a court ball, and it wasn't even lunch time.

She nodded regally and grabbed his arm, guiding him to the living room.

"Your father betrothed us," she said, batting her long lashes over her green eyes. "I hope you're still willing to marry me." She smiled flirtatiously.

What the hell? Stan-luc thought, puzzled. My father would never betroth me to anyone, the Sire aristocracy is dead!

He sat next to her, wondering how he could handle the conversation.

"I'm afraid not, Bess-lin," he replied cautiously.

"Just because you renounced your birthright, you think you're unworthy of me?" she asked, frowning. "It makes you ineligible for the Five, but still available. The Vaurabi are a strong breed and I still think you have the right DNA for a new dynasty."

He opened his mouth, then a thought occurred to him. Bess-lin wasn't talking to him, Stan-luc Angelle Meraini, but to someone else.

She's losing her marbles, he thought. She thinks I'm Grandfather Kol-ian. What am I supposed to do?

"I'm sorry, I won't get married at this time," he said, determined.

"Why, because you're still licking your wounds?" she asked suavely. "Except the mess on your back, which you did yourself and is the only thing that scars your genetically reinforced body..."

"Bess-lin," he replied. "I have no wounds nor scars and I will not marry you."

"Oh, Kol-ian, why are you so mean?" She frowned again. "Maybe I should ask a Reptilian to help me."

"You can try, but S'lyss is dead," he snapped, rising from the couch. He almost ran out of the house before she could add anything.

She was reliving things that had happened over forty-five years earlier. Stan-luc knew some things, but not all of the events that had led to the birth of his father, Kay-low Meraini. He couldn't handle his grandmother alone.

Stan-luc put on his helmet and jacket, and quickly drove back to town. He went directly to the Ypsilantian Labs and called for an urgent meeting with both his boss and the head of cybernetics who were husband and wife.

"Bess-lin is going crazy," he announced. "Today she called me Kol-ian and told me we should mate soon. She thinks she still has to give birth, she has completely forgotten my father and that I'm her grandson."

The couple exchanged a puzzled glance.

At fifty-four Wim Drake still wore his hair long, which had allowed Stan-luc to follow his fashion, although he didn't have the tattoos his mentor and boss had. He was the best hacker alive after the destruction of Marc'harid, and Stan-luc had eagerly learned everything he could from him, since his grandfather was no more.

Dadina was the younger and completely human copy of her mother Maela, since she was practically her clone. She had become head of cybernetics on Ypsilanti after the loss of the Sire Vaurabi Labs. They had three offspring, Arielle, twenty-three, Xavier, twenty-one and Jasmine, nineteen.

"We never had any problems with mind uploads," Wim said after a brief hesitation. "I mean, Izzy-lee and Alex are still perfectly fine..."

"But Bess-lin is different," Dadina said, thoughtful. "It wasn't a mind upload, but a brain transplant. Even Markandeya downloaded his mind into an artificial body, but there was nothing biological left. And maybe her brain has been hit by a neurodegenerative disorder. How can we check her health without her suspecting it?"

"Hasn't your mother told you anything?" Stan-luc asked. "I mean, if she's losing memory, maybe she doesn't recognize Maela..."

"My mother has been in palace security since Bess-lin was in her twenties, so she might still look familiar to your grandmother. But I will ask my mother if lately Bess-lin has been treating her more like a stranger than her life partner."

Stan-luc nodded, still worried. "It's creepy seeing her coming at me and calling me Kol-ian," he said, shivering at the memory.

"You don't even look like Kol-ian," Dadina said with a shrug. "Yes, you have black hair and eyes like him, but really, nobody would confuse you with your late grandfather..."

"Unless one was losing her mind, of course," Wim added, thoughtful. "Thank you for warning us, Stan-luc. We will take care of Bess-lin."

"You should go home now." Dadina smiled. "I'm sure Arielle will help you relax."

Stan-luc frowned and pursed his lips. "You don't think my grandmother is going to ruin my wedding, do you?"

"Might be a good way of reminding her you who you are." Wim grinned. "Don't worry, she can't prevent you from marrying our daughter. We'll check her mental health and then decide what to do – she probably has forgotten that the wedding is two weeks away."

Stan-luc nodded, still worried.

"Go home, Stan-luc, and relax. We'll take care of it."

Stan-luc sighed, but nodded. He left the Labs and went back to the small house he shared with Arielle Drake. It looked very old-fashioned and the interior was done in colors that reminded of a cloudy sky, except for the mural on the one big wall of the living room where Arielle had painted a landscape.

The yard was small and looked very formal, with room for a flying car and a motosonic but not much else. Not that Stan-luc or Arielle cared for gardens. They'd been living together since Arielle had come back from college with Stan-luc's sister Carissa.

Arielle and Carissa were both twenty-two and they'd finished their studies together. All of them had been born on Marc'harid, the Sire planet that was now a charred and dead rock orbiting around its sun, but Selinda had taken her two children back to Ypsilanti when Stan-luc was five and Carissa two.

They had gone back to Marc'harid for a year during childhood when Selinda had taken part in a musical at the Mega Arena, then they'd gone back to Ypsilanti and their mother had practically retired from the entertainment industry to raise her children, with frequent visits from their biological father and his life mate.

Bess-lin, along with Stan-luc's father Kay-low and his lover Jay-lee had avoided the catastrophe on Marc'harid because finally, after fifteen years of watching Maela with her grandchildren, Bess-lin had decided to meet her own. Maela, Dadina, Wim and their children had miraculously escaped the destruction of the Sire planet and had ended up settling on Ypsilanti, where Dadina had found work at the Labs immediately. It had taken Wim longer to manage a position in the Ypsilantian Labs, because Ypsilanti was a matriarchal planet, but it was quickly moving towards equality like the rest of the Star Nations.

Thus the Drakes had been living on Ypsilanti for ten years, and during those ten years Carissa and Arielle had become inseparable, and Stan-luc had fallen in love with Arielle.

"Hey, you're home early for a change!" Arielle grinned when he stepped into their love nest.

She had colored her dark hair mahogany red and had as many tattoos as her father, but Stan-luc loved her, because she was wild and cheerful and passionate and everything he would never be. She had really swept him off his feet with her personality, so different from Carissa's.

He sat on the couch next to her and pulled her close.

"What happened?" She frowned at his concerned looks. He told her of the visit to Bess-lin's and Wim and Dadina's comments. She shrugged. "My parents are right, she can't stop us from getting married. But you better stop seeing her until then."

"I think I should tell my father as well," he said, thoughtful. "He must have his say on his mother's destiny. I mean, she has an immortal, eternally young body, but if she loses her marbles, what will she do with her immortality? Shouldn't we put her to rest somehow?"

"It's not your decision, Stan-luc," Arielle said gravely. "Now let's just look forward to the ceremony. Carissa is coming as well as Jay-lee and Kay-low and..."

Stan-luc smiled despite himself. His sister was on Vilas Lok with their father and his lover, trying to break into the entertainment industry. Both he and his sister had the Vaurabi genes, but while Stan-luc had inherited Kol-ian's skills with computers, Carissa had inherited Kol-ian's love for music and acting. Their father had also preferred the entertainment industry to computers, and Stan-luc often sorely missed his grandfather who hadn't made it off Marc'harid.

Making plans for his wedding distracted him from the disturbing thought of his grandmother going crazy.

***

Maela opened the front door of the Villa unhappy with what she was supposed to do. Dadina had given her a EEG recording machine disguised as headpiece that she was supposed to put on Bess-lin's head.

Maela wasn't sure her beloved would fall for it, though. Bess-lin had changed since the destruction of Marc'harid, and it couldn't be just because her home-planet was no longer habitable. The powerful Sire mind could still control or abuse, although lately Bess-lin had lost interest in Ypsilanti. Since they'd moved to the Villa, Bess-lin had recreated the Imperial palace apartment and seemed to live in the past.

The transplant into a young, immortal body had gone well at first. Then Bess-lin had started having episodes of forgetfulness, and some confusion in situations outside the familiar. After the catastrophe and their settling on Ypsilani, Bess-lin had shown greater difficulty remembering recently learned information and often had trouble knowing where she was, which might be a consequence of the forced unexpected move, hence Maela hadn't really worried.

But now, ten years later, Bess-lin was more abusive than ever, often anxious and sometimes paranoid. And sometimes she treated Maela like a simple palace guard as if she were still on Marc'harid.

Last week she had almost thrown the house laptop against a wall. Maela had grabbed it just in time and asked what the fuss was about, to which Bess-lin had replied, "They keep changing stuff around! I can't find my files, my contacts or the Sirenet anymore!"

Maela had stared at her wide-eyed. The Sirenet was gone with the planet, being the Sire's intranet for planetary communication. Bess-lin didn't recognize the computer interface because she was looking for things that were long gone.

And now she even called her grandson "Kol-ian"! Stan-luc didn't look like his grandfather, how could Bess-lin see him as Kol-ian? Dadina had suggested an electroencephalogram, since the brain was the only biological part of Bess-lin that remained.

Maela quickly checked downstairs, then slowly climbed the main staircase. She must convince Bess-lin to try on the "headpiece" and keep it on for at least half an hour. Dadina was ready to check the output of the EEG machine that was wirelessly tied to her computer.

Bess-lin was in the posh bedroom, seated at the dressing table, combing her curls with a frown on her face. She was obviously still mulling over "Kol-ian" refusing to marry her.

"What do you want?" she snapped at the sight of Maela.

"I brought you a present." Maela offered the EEG machine wrapped in paper. "It's for tonight's ball. It will look good on your red hair."

Bess-lin grabbed the parcel and opened it by ripping the paper. The machine looked like a hairnet with pearls, all white, which would indeed look good on her red curls. Maela counted on Bess-lin's vanity, since there was no ball coming. But then, Bess-lin had been wearing a ball gown.

"Let me help." Maela opened the "hairnet" and gently put it over Bess-lin's head, flattening her curls on her scalp, but making them look even more abundant around the shoulders. Bess-lin grimaced, unhappy.

"Don't you think it makes me look weird?"

"It makes you look like an ancient princess," Maela assured her. "Would you prefer I braid your hair with pearls to match?"

"Yes, please. I'm considering cutting it anyway." Bess-lin sounded impatient.

"If you cut it, it won't grow back," Maela warned.

"Maybe Kol-ian will like me more if I have short hair. I think he prefers men."

Goddess, she's obsessed! Maela quickly braided Bess-lin's long hair.

"When did my parents hire you?" Bess-lin asked, rising from her chair. She stared suspiciously at Maela. "I don't remember ever seeing you."

"Bess-lin, this is the Villa, it's not Mansion Meraini or the Imperial Palace," Maela said patiently. "And we're on Ypsilanti, not on Marc'harid."

"You're trying to confuse me!" Bess-lin pulled off the EEG machine and threw it on the dressing table, glaring at Maela. "Get out of here!"

Maela glanced at the net of sensors and left, walking stiffly downstairs. She slumped on the couch. Her left leg hurt. The phantom leg she had lost in her twenties and that had been replaced by a prosthetic. She caressed the metal under the fabric of her pants with her prosthetic hand.

I'm a cyborg and I'm more human than Bess-lin. She sighed as her phone rang.

"Mom, what happened? I didn't have time to read anything!"

"She took it off, dear. But don't worry, she's convinced she has a biological body that still needs to sleep and eat... I will put it back on tonight."

"Oh, all right." Dadina sounded disappointed.

"Don't stay up for us, dear, I'm sure your computer can record the data and you'll find it tomorrow morning," Maela said, trying to be more soothing than she felt. "Today she's definitely on a trip to the past. She thinks she's still at her parents' house. Tonight the readings will be as good as now."

"All right, I'll wait." Dadina sighed and hung up. Maela pursed her lip. What would she do if Bess-lin's brain was diagnosed with dementia? Could the Sire even get dementia? Or had it happened because Bess-lin had survived?

***

Stan-luc left the office with Wim, but they separated in the corridor of the labs as one headed for the exit and the other for the cybernetics department. Stan-luc called Arielle on the way out, asking her what she wanted for dinner, that he'd grab it on the way back.

As he reached the lobby with its glass wall and doors, he cursed under his breath. In came Bess-lin with her hair cut short but still curling around her head and a male outfit that tried to hide her breasts. She looked around, worried, as if she didn't know where she was.

Stan-luc wanted to hide in the elevator again, but he decided to pretend he didn't know her. He sauntered to the door staring straight ahead, praying she wouldn't notice him.

"Kol-ian!" her call made many turn, puzzled, but not him. He heard her run to catch up with him and stopped at the glass door. If she was going to make a scene, better inside the Labs lobby than on the sidewalk.

"Kol-ian!" She grabbed his arm, panting. As if she needed to pant. Or to breathe. "It's me, Bess-lin... do you like my new look?"

"No, I don't like your new look," he answered bluntly. "And I'm not Kol-ian, I'm Stan-luc Angelle Meraini, your grandson. Kol-ian is dead, and Marc'harid is no more."

Her eyes had widened and she gaped at him. And then she frowned and touched his forehead.

"Are you all right?" she asked, worried. "What trip are you on?"

"You're the one on a trip down memory lane," he snapped. "Leave me alone!"

He pushed her back and opened the glass door, leaving the building and heading for his motosonic parked in a side street. When he rode in front of the building to go home, he saw she was still inside, talking with Wim and Dadina – and she looked angry.

He almost forgot to stop and buy dinner. How did Bess-lin get to the Labs if she thought she was still on Marc'harid? The Ypsilantian Labs were nothing like the Vaurabi Labs! They were in a tall building, one of the few skyscrapers of the city, while the Vaurabi Labs had been buried under the Imperial Palace with no windows to speak of!

"She took an automated cab to the Labs," Dadina said when she called that night. "The term was generic enough that the self-driving machine took her to us, but of course she didn't recognize anything except you. She was about to ask the reception, can you imagine if she requested to see Kol-ian Vaurabi and was denied?" She chuckled. "Took us some convincing, but we managed to take her home. I guess we'll have to restrain her somehow."

"Did your mother manage to put that EEG machine on her?" he asked, unhappy. He was curled up on the couch with Arielle and both stared at Dadina's face in the videophone.

"Yes, last night." Dadina sighed. "She has a neurodegenerative disease that is destroying her brain cells. There is gross atrophy in some parts and degeneration in others. Her biological brain is damaged beyond repair."

"So what will you do about it?"

"My mother will contact your father, and they will decide her fate. She certainly cannot decide for herself. She has a rare case of Sire early dementia – although she's over seventy, but we don't know much about Sire senility."

"So will Kay-low and Jay-lee come sooner than expected?" Arielle asked, brightening. "Will Carissa be with them?"

Dadina smiled. "We'll see. I'll keep you posted. We'll have to find a way to keep Bess-lin at home until then."

Wim leaned in the frame. "And I'm afraid you are the only way, Stan-luc," he said. "You'll have to play Kol-ian until Kay-low gets here."

"What?" Stan-luc protested. "I can't!"

"Yes you can." Wim smiled. "I don't think she'll notice, since she doesn't seem to remember what he looks like that well."

He superimposed a picture of a young Prince Kol-ian Vaurabi on the camera.

"Whoa, who's that hunk?" Arielle asked.

"That's my grandfather when he was my age," Stan-luc retorted. "I can't do it, Wim."

"You can and you will." Wim and Dadina stared back at him. "No lab work for you until Kay-low arrives. You'll go to the Villa every day. Maela is talking to Kay-low and putting some urgency in his coming. Hopefully in a couple of days he'll be here."

"Should I cut my hair shoulder-length?" Stan-luc asked, unhappy, looking away.

"Not unless you want to," Dadina said. "She doesn't seem to notice that your hair is longer than Kol-ian's."

"She has cut hers and dresses like a man now."

"Yes, her subconscious is probably reminding her that she has seen Kol-ian with Ker-ris, so she's trying to pass herself off as a man to seduce him back."

Stan-luc rolled his eyes. "Is there any cure for her... disease?"

"I'm afraid we haven't found it yet." Wim shook his head. "Neurodegenerative disorders are still a mystery to us."

Stan-luc sighed. "Fine. I'll go to the Villa tomorrow..."

He wished Arielle's parents good night and sulked as Arielle switched off the videophone.

"Do you want me to come with you?" she asked, diving her fingers through his long black hair. "Do you need help dealing with your grandmother?"

"Definitely." He took her in his arms. "I won't go alone. If she sees me with another woman, she might regret cutting her hair..."

"You're mean..." she smiled.

"I love you," he replied before kissing her.

***

Maela stared at the face of Kay-low Meraini on her computer screen and wondered how Bess-lin could think Stan-luc was Kol-ian. If there was someone who did look like Kol-ian Vaurabi, it was his son, especially now that he'd gone back to his natural hair color.

Except Kay-low had longer hair and those tattoos he had requested in his teens. His arms were covered with them, since he didn't have the genetically reinforced skin of his father. He was now forty-five and he stared back at Maela with a thoughtful expression.

"My mother has definitely lost her marbles," he concurred. "We will come in earlier. And I'll bring a Sire elder to help us deal with her."

"You know one of the surviving Sire elders?" Maela asked, puzzled.

Kay-low smiled Kol-ian's smile. "You know him too, Maela. Leo-will Khamisi was at the High Council when the Mega Arena hit Marc'harid."

Right! Maela remembered now. Kol-ian and Ker-ris's cousin had survived. She had no idea where he lived now.

"He's on Gweltaz," Kay-low continued, as if he'd read her mind – which he couldn't, not from another planet, but her thoughts must have been plain on her face. "He knew Bess-lin well too. I'm sure he'll come and help us decide."

"Good. Make it the sooner the better. Your son is very worried. He must pretend to be his grandfather so Bess-lin won't do anything stupid. She already escaped from the house and found her way to the Labs to talk to him..."

"Oh God!" Kay-low rolled his eyes. "I'll call the Nova Falstelo immediately. David should be able to take us to Ypsilanti in a couple of days. Tell him to stay calm and humor her."

Maela smiled despite herself. "Kay-low... do you realize that's what he keeps hearing from you since his grandmother moved here? He's twenty-five, and he's sick of humoring an old Sire lady with the body of a young woman, especially since she's now determined to seduce him and have his baby, when she doesn't even have a biological body anymore!"

Kay-low chuckled. "You're right, Maela. Well, just tell him to stay calm. Unless you manage to restrain my mother."

"I've tried it, but her body is stronger than a biological one. And I can't convince her to obey me, since she thinks I'm a total stranger serving her..." Maela sighed. "I'm afraid putting her to sleep forever is the only way."

Kay-low nodded gravely. "We'll be there as soon as we can," he promised. "Hang on, all of you. We'll soon take the burden off your shoulders."

***

"Why did you bring Ara-lee?" Bess-lin pouted. "You're obsessed with those Shermacs! What does she have that I don't have?"

Stan-luc exchanged a glance with Arielle, then turned back to his grandmother. He was seated in the middle of the couch, with his girlfriend to his left and Bess-lin to his right. He wasn't sure which was clinging to him more, but he certainly preferred feeling Arielle's warm body against him, than his grandmother's artificial frame.

"Her name is Arielle, not Ara-lee," he said. He hesitated. "Do we really look or feel like mighty Sire?" he wondered.

He was only half-blood. His telepathy had gone dormant when his mother had taken him away from Marc'harid. He had grown up on a Humanoid planet with no telepaths and had certainly not developed whatever mental powers his father had passed on to him. Couldn't Bess-lin tell they were normal non-telepaths? Or was her brain so damaged that she had lost her telepathy too?

"Of course, Kol-ian." She sniffed. "I remember the smell and touch of your smooth skin."

Arielle squeezed his arm. She had often admired his hairless Sire body. Stan-luc never really shaved because the Sire had no facial hair, but his Ypsilantian mother's blood had given him some. It would take days to grow a real beard, more than any other Ypsilantian man, and he was sort of androgynous.

But then, so was Wim Drake. Stan-luc often thought that Arielle had transferred to him her love for her handsome father. Which suited him fine, since he greatly admired Wim. He looked forward to becoming Wim's son-in-law.

Stan-luc sighed. There was no reasoning with Bess-lin.

"Will you tell me how you do it, though?" his grandmother continued, glaring at Arielle.

"Do what?" he asked, puzzled.

"I read in the Vaurabi Labs archives how Lin-sun killed Kay-low. How do you do it?"

Stan-luc opened his mouth and closed it. Twice. He had no idea of how to answer that. He assumed she was talking about her brother, Kay-low senior, not her son. He knew a lot about his grandfather's generation, but not enough to answer that question.

"I think we're too young to learn such mighty Sire secrets," Arielle said suavely. "Besides, why don't you ask an elder, instead of bothering us?"

"Shut up, Ara-lee!" Bess-lin snarled. "Are you aware that if you marry Kol-ian you'll end up as mind-controlled as your silly elder brother?"

"I am aware of the implications of my marriage to him," Arielle answered with a shrug. "And you can't do anything to stop us."

"He's mine!"

"You wish!"

"Girls! Ladies!" Stan-luc raised his hands. He didn't want to find himself in the middle of a catfight. "Please! I'm nobody's prize. I will marry whomever I want. And Bess-lin, stop being so mean. I'm not your servant or your errand boy!"

"Of course not, Kol-ian dear!" She purred and rubbed herself against him.

Jarred, he jumped to his feet and started pacing in front of the couch.

"That's enough," he said at last, stopping in front of his grandmother and glaring at her. "I am not Kol-ian. I am Stan-luc Angelle Meraini. I'm your grandson. You're seventy-three. Stop behaving as if you were still twenty-five. You've cut your hair and it won't grow back, because guess what? It's a wig! Your body is fake! And Marc'harid is destroyed! So stop behaving as if you owned the universe! You're a survivor and you live off Maela's love and affection! Start showing some gratitude – to her!"

Bess-lin sprang to her feet, furious. She was shorter than him, but on her tiptoes she was at eye height.

"You're losing your mind, Kol-ian! Or you're lying because you don't want to help me! You don't want to have my baby or tell me the Vaurabi secrets or..."

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about! I don't know any Vaurabi secrets! And you can't have babies, you have an artificial body!" Stan-luc screamed, exasperated.

Arielle rose and put a hand on his shoulder to calm him. Her eyes seemed to scold him and he quickly regained his composure.

"I'm sorry, honey," he muttered, sliding his fingers through his long black hair.

She hugged him and kissed his cheek tenderly then yelped.

"What? What is it?" he asked, alarmed, seeing her massaging her temples.

"Bitch hurt," Arielle grumbled, closing her eyes with a frown.

Stan-luc noticed Bess-lin was scowling. It occurred to him that maybe the powerful Sire mind was still active enough to hurt.

"Not hard enough," Bess-lin said through clenched teeth. "Lin-sun killed Kay-low! I barely brushed her!"

Stan-luc stood between the two women and stared determined at his grandmother.

"If you try to hurt her again, I will hit you with all my might," he warned. "Now I'm leaving. I've had enough of your tantrums."

"Please stay!" she begged, grabbing his arm. Her grip was way too strong for a biological body. Her fingers were crushing his muscles.

"Ouch!" he said. "Stop, you're hurting me!"

"Then send her away and stay," she replied.

Stan-luc rolled his eyes. Bess-lin's fingers were crushing his arm and he winced.

"Go, Arielle," he said quickly. "I'll manage."

"I don't think so," his girlfriend replied. "I'm fine, she didn't hurt me much." She moved a step forward. "Let him go, bitch!"

Bess-lin put her free hand on Arielle's face and she screamed.

"Bitch!"

"Did that hurt?" Bess-lin asked, triumphant.

"Fucking headache," Arielle said through gritted teeth, holding her head with both hands.

"It should have annihilated your mind."

Bess-lin frowned and let go of Stan-luc to observe Arielle. Stan-luc held his bruised arm and looked at his girlfriend, not daring to touch her.

"Arielle?" he asked.

"I'm fine!" she spat out, glaring at him. "Where the fuck is your damn father?"

"The Emperor is dead," Bess-lin announced proudly.

"Yeah, almost fifty years ago!" Stan-luc snapped, backing away from her. He must leave the damn Villa. He had enough of crazy Bess-lin's antics. He was beginning to think she wasn't so helpless and the artificial body wasn't her only strength.

The sounds of a flying car stopping in front of the house made both him and Arielle sigh in relief. They turned towards the main door and soon enough it opened to let in Maela, Kay-low with Jay-lee and a man in his seventies with white blond hair and blue eyes that took in everything.

Stan-luc's telepathy might be dormant, but he immediately knew the newcomer was a Sire elder. One of the very few of his grandparents' generation who had survived the destruction of Marc'harid.

Bess-lin's eyes narrowed as she focused on the four people entering the living room. She lingered mostly on Kay-low, although she probably wasn't recognizing him for who he was. She was seeing Kol-ian older that she remembered and it seemed to upset her.

"Bess-lin." The elder came forward. "I'm glad to see you remained as youthful as you were fifty years ago. Unfortunately this seems to be the case of the chassis, not the mind inside it."

"Who are you?" she demanded. She couldn't place his face anywhere in her memories. Maybe he didn't look like anyone she'd known.

"Leo-will Khamisi." He smiled. "My mother's colors on my father's face are probably upsetting you? It's been half a century, Bess-lin. You haven't aged because you transplanted your brain in an artificial body when you were fifty. But the new frame wasn't good enough to keep it healthy, obviously."

He stopped in front of her. "You're losing your mind," he said, serious now. "I shall attempt a healing."

He closed his eyes and put his hand over her face like she had done with Arielle. Stan-luc held his breath. His father's hand on his shoulder didn't help him relax. He glanced puzzled at Kay-low and his lifemate.

The Khamisi and the Shermac have a very strong empathy. Their minds heal and link and do good things, Kay-low transmitted. The Vaurabi are more heartless, icy, control freaks. Their minds were powerful enough to destroy someone.

Kay-low Meraini? Killed by Lin-sun Vaurabi?

Yes. Leo-will knows. Just wait until he uses his gift.

Stan-luc nodded, thoughtful. He watched the elder exhale and pull his hand away. Bess-lin seemed frozen. Leo-will slowly opened his eyes.

"I put her mind to sleep," he announced wearily. "It's not permanent yet, but there isn't much I can do for her. I can't remove the plaques and tangles in her brain tissue. Either you upload her mind somewhere or you just pull the plug on her."

He sat in the closest armchair as Kay-low, Jay-lee, Stan-luc, Arielle and Maela surrounded him, ignoring the pretty statue of Bess-lin.

"Will you be all right?" Kay-low asked, worried, crouching in front of Leo-will.

"Yes... I haven't done this in ten years and I'm not young anymore." The elder's smile was frail.

"Do you know something about the Vaurabi destructive powers?" Stan-luc asked.

"Yes. I know how Lin-sun destroyed Kay-low's mind."

"And she took control of Ker-ris's mind?"

"Ah, no, that was done through a device implanted by Kol-ian at sixteen. The Vaurabi were very good hackers of minds."

"Something we haven't really worked on," Kay-low said.

"She did hit me with something," Arielle complained. "I still have a bad headache!"

Leo-will signaled her to come closer. She knelt by the armchair and he touched her face for a moment.

"She tried to replicate what Lin-sun did," he said then. "She missed because she didn't calibrate the blow to the right mind."

"What does that mean?" Maela asked, frowning.

"It means that if she had intended to blow Arielle's mind out, she'd have succeeded. But she thought she was dealing with Ara-lee Shermac, so she aimed her blow at Ara-lee's mind."

"She's getting dangerous," Kay-low muttered, exchanging glances with Jay-lee. "She was never easy to deal with, but this is getting way out of hand!"

Leo-will nodded. "And it will only get worse. If she remembers who you actually are, she can hurt you badly."

Stan-luc stared worried at his father and then Maela. Arielle sought the refuge of his arms, but she looked worried too.

"How long will she sleep?" Maela asked bluntly.

"An hour or two." Leo-will shrugged. "I don't think that when she comes back to her senses, her memory will have improved. She has gone back in time with her mind, there's no way we can convince her fifty years have gone by for everyone."

"If you want to keep her, take her to Sylvania," Kay-low told Maela. "At least there she won't be able to bother any man thinking he's Kol-ian and he owes her a baby."

"So you don't care what happens to her?" she asked gloomily.

"She's my mother but she should have perished with Marc'harid. The worst survived and she made your life hell since. Yours and Stan-luc's. No, I don't care what happens to her anymore. You can keep her immortal body with an AI inside, I'm sure she'd be a better girlfriend with a nicer personality!"

Stan-luc smiled despite himself. Bess-lin's body was a great android body, why waste it? His father's taste for beauty hadn't faded with the years. But he'd rather see her still like a statue than let her mess with their life for longer.

"I think the Meraini side of the family has spoken." Leo-will rose. "As Sire elder who tried vainly to save her, I can tell you she's better off dead. So the final decision is yours, Maela. Call your daughter when you've made up your mind."

Maela nodded and watched them leave.

"Where's Carissa?" Arielle asked as soon as they were outside of the Villa, sounding excited again.

"She's taken our stuff back home while we came straight here," Kay-low answered, amused. "Why don't you two come over tonight for dinner? I'm sure Selinda would be delighted to have us all back!"

"With Leo-will instead of Bess-lin," Stan-luc said with a grin. Yes, it would be a happy reunion dinner at his mother's. And hopefully Maela would make the right decision in the meantime.

***

Maela stared at the statue Bess-lin had become. What was an immortal body worth if the mind was gone? Did others run into this problem? Not Izzy-lee or Alex Da Vinci, who had become full-fledged S.E.T.H. with humanoid bodies that weren't actually enhanced. Still they were trans-human, a human mind uploaded into an artificial frame.

But both were in their fifties, not seventies. Who else had done it? Ah, yes, Markandeya Sumirasko. His elder lover hadn't made it, or at least hadn't wished for a physical body to download his mind into. But again, it had been a mind upload, not a brain transplant.

Maela pursed her lips and frowned. Was it a decent time to call the Serenaide Labs? She checked on the laptop. Yes, Markandeya would probably be at work now. Could she summon him to Ypsilanti? He was Ypsilantian, after all!

But Leo-will Khamisi had said that Bess-lin's mind was damaged beyond repair. How about S.E.T.H. World, had they run into such a problem? Accessing their database was relatively easy, and she even managed to ask the question in the forum. Someone immediately replied that no, mind uploads weren't the cure for dementia or senility or other neurodegenerative diseases.

So even taking Bess-lin's mind out of the artificial body was useless. The cause of death for some patients, for example, was from external factors due to the body losing muscle mass and mobility deterioration, which wouldn't happen to Bess-lin.

She was trapped in a body that would never be sick, didn't need to be fed and wouldn't catch any sickness, but the biological brain was more and more damaged and couldn't sustain the mind anymore.

Maela sighed and glanced at the colorful statue again. Pulling the plug would only do everybody a favor. Bess-lin might be unaware of her dementia, but Stan-luc was obviously shaken and Kay-low tired of his mother's antics.

Dadina interrupted her search and musing by calling her.

"Mom? Are you all right?" she asked, frowning in worry.

"Yes," Maela answered. "I'm only very tired. I'm not getting any younger and dealing with Bess-lin is taking its toll on me too."

"I'm sorry, Leo-will told us about her mind. I talked to Markandeya and he also thinks we should pull the plug. If you want, he can program Bess-lin's body to be your B.O.G."

"My what?"

"Battery-Operated Girlfriend. The chassis is good, so why waste it?" Dadina smiled. "You can have your custom-made B.O.G. if you want."

Despite the sorrow and tiredness, Maela burst out laughing. She glanced at the still android body and tried to imagine her with another personality meant to take care of her.

"Or you could have her as home caregiver," Dadina continued. "You can change her name, or call her Bess-lin, but she'd be programmed to help you, not use you. You could retire and enjoy some rest. You definitely deserve it."

"And who is going to put in the AI, you or Markandeya?" Maela asked, already feeling lighter hearted.

"I can do it here," Dadina assured her. "We're not going to charge you, and I'll ask Markandeya to guide me, but I think by now I'm quite good at building AIs myself. What kind of personality would you like her to have?"

***

"Don't be so nervous," Kay-low teased, helping Stan-luc into his wedding clothes. The richly embroidered jacket fit him like a glove and Stan-luc worried if he moved too quickly it would rip.

"Don't you think it's too tight?" he asked, looking at his reflection. He tried to pull back his hair into a ponytail, then dropped it again. He preferred it loose, especially all curly after being washed. And he knew Arielle preferred him with loose hair anyway.

"It's just perfect," Kay-low assured him. "Maybe the pants are too tight."

"Oh, Goddess, they're going to rip as soon as I sit down!" Stan-luc complained.

"I'm teasing, Stan-luc! Nothing will go wrong, don't worry. It's the best day of your life, enjoy it and don't let anything or anyone spoil it!"

Stan-luc turned to look at his father and Jay-lee. They'd been together for twenty-six years, mind-linked like only the Sire could, and never had a wedding, but they hadn't needed it. Selinda had always known that even if Kay-low had humored her twice, allowing her to give birth to both Stan-luc and Carissa, she had never been part of the equation.

"Are you proud of me?" Stan-luc asked, almost whiny in his search for support.

"Of course we are," Kay-low and Jay-lee chorused.

And then his mother entered the room and smiled at the sight of him. Stan-luc thought she was still most beautiful in her forties, and she was the best dancer alive, as far as he knew. She might not do that many shows anymore, but she was still very fit and had opened a dance school on Ypsilanti, where she taught both boys and girls her trade.

"My beautiful son." She went to hug him. "Are you ready for this?"

"He's nervous," Kay-low said.

"I'm not!" he snapped.

She chuckled. "It's all right to be nervous on your wedding day. Be ready to be dazzled, Arielle is stunning."

He smiled despite himself. "Thanks, Mom."

"Let's go," Kay-low said. "Carissa is helping Arielle, so we'll see her at the temple."

Stan-luc followed them outside. He didn't like formal clothes, but at least for his wedding he wanted to look sharp. He was too elegant for the motosonic, though, so he climbed in his mother's flying car with his parents and Jay-lee.

At the temple he found Dadina with her son Xavier. Wim had gone to pick up Arielle, and Carissa and Jasmine who were the bridesmaids. Leo-will stood in a corner, smiling benevolently. His friends patted Stan-luc's back and congratulated him.

And then Maela arrived with her home android who had done the driving. It was still jarring to see his grandmother's artificial body, but the new Bess-lin was nothing like the woman that had pestered him for the past ten years.

Soon he'd forget the ordeal. He only needed to remember that now Bess-lin was just a robot, an android programmed to take care of aging Maela. He smiled at her, then he saw Wim's flying car and turned expectantly that way.

Carissa and Jasmine came out first, all giggly and wearing long gowns. Carissa had black hair, Jasmine was blonde, but they had the same hairdo with little flowers in it that matched their sky-blue dresses.

Then Wim offered his hand to his daughter and helped her out of the flying car and Stan-luc held his breath.

Arielle had pulled up her mahogany red hair and hidden it under a light purple veil. She wore a deep purple gown with lots of frills and laces that made her look like a princess. A black ribbon around her neck held a purple amethyst that matched the veil.

She saw him and smiled as she slowly sauntered forward, holding her father's arm with one hand and a bouquet of deep purple flowers with the other.

Stan-luc remembered to close his mouth and gulped. No artificial, immortal body could ever compare to the imperfect but lovely girl walking towards him with her heart in her eyes. Wim put Arielle's hand in his and all anxiety vanished.

He was doing the right thing. And yes, nobody would spoil that glorious day for him. Grinning from ear to ear, he guided her inside the temple to pronounce the vows.

Acknowledgments

Beta-readers Clyde, Shafali, Sarah, Rebecca, Jennifer, Anna, Chiara, B-Abby, Tori. Editor Tiffany Shand.

About the Author

Barbara G.Tarn had an intense life in the Middle Ages that stuck to her through the centuries. She prefers swords to guns, long gowns to mini-skirts, and even though she buried the warrior woman, she deplores the death of knights in shining chainmail. She likes to think her condo apartment is a medieval castle, unfortunately lacking a dungeon to throw noisy neighbors and naughty colleagues in. Also known as the Lady with the Unicorns, these days she prefers to add a touch of fantasy to all her stories, past and present – when she’s not wandering on her fantasy world of Silvery Earth or in her science fantasy Star Minds Universe. She dabbles into historical fantasy with her Vampires Through the Centuries series and has started post-apocalyptic/steampunk series called Future Earth Chronicles. She’s a writer, sometimes artist, mostly a world-creator and story-teller. Two of her stories received an Honorable Mention at the Writers of the Future contest and one was published in Pulphouse Magazine #5 (March 2019). She writes, draws, ignores her day job and blogs at: http://creativebarbwire.wordpress.com.

For more info on the series or other titles go to Unicorn Productions.

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