Cynetic Wolf
A FRIENDLY ENCOUNTER

A VTOL whisked us off before I had the chance to talk to Zedda.

I was going to be a dad. Wow! Talk about mixed emotions…

Maybe it was the cybernetics. How else could we have a child together? A chimpish and a wolfish… Yet somehow, miraculously, we’d gotten pregnant. If we could, maybe others could as well. Happy goosebumps everywhere.

Focus, Raek. What was Priya saying?

“We’ve always structured government with the best and brightest to optimize outcomes for all. And cynetics have the upper hand. Our SmartCores, subprocesses, and constant connectivity lead to better, more informed decisions. Doesn’t it make sense we’d want the most talented among us to lead?”

“If you are implying,” Paer said, “we or our enhancer and emulate friends are less intelligent or qualified, you’ll be hard pressed to make a convincing case. How do you explain a bunch of uneducated brutes bringing your well-equipped military to its knees with so little resources? Seems like flawed reasoning...” Her eyes flashed, daring Priya to object.

“While there are certain areas of intelligence—” Priya began.

“Cut the bullshit!” Paer exclaimed. “Animotes have the worst schools, least funding, and intentional systemic bias. If there’s an achievement gap, it’s primarily—if not solely—due to circumstance. Take a kid with nothing, parents unable to put food on the table, and decades old material, and you get what we have today: a factory to produce factory workers. If that isn’t rigged, I don’t know what is!”

We went round and round for hours, never reaching consensus, but had broached the topic of voting when it came time to break. We were getting hangry. Food might help.

As we went separate ways, I got a message from Calter. How had he found my anonymous username? Creepy.

Stay behind for five minutes. - CF

“I’ll meet you guys in five.” Paer and Obowe left, and I strode to the legacy shelves—eighteenth century American lit—and grabbed a book. Calter sidled up two minutes later, standing uncomfortably close.

“What?” I asked. This wasn’t at all what I’d expected.

“I got Thorn back!” he said. “What happened to his hands?”

“He tried to shoot me. I only disabled him. You’re welcome.”

“You’ll pay for that!” he barked. “I’ll make you suffer, you pathetic excuse for a human. Stay out of my way.”

He put his hand on my shoulder, and I spun, dropping him to the floor. “Don’t you ever lay hands on me again,” I breathed, blaster pointed at his face.

He snarled, sizing me up.

“Don’t!” I said. “I’m not your enemy but I won’t be pushed around either. You pull a stunt like that again, you’ll regret it. Did you want anything else?” I added. “Or are we done here?”

“We’re done. You’ll regret this, kid.”

I walked out of the Library without bothering to look back or help him to his feet. Prick.

On the way to lunch, I was rattled more than I cared to admit. It’d been the two of us. If it was a trap, I’d have been screwed. What was I thinking?

I had to tell the others. Wait, did I? If I told them, they’d worry. The last thing I needed was the Council restricting my movements. Things were claustrophobic enough as it was. I’d play this one close to the vest.

Lunch with the enhancers went well, but there was an undercurrent of tension throughout. They were enthusiastic yet hesitant, and wanted to avoid being left out of the political hierarchy. With such a large animote population, they worried they’d be relegated over time. And it made sense.

Zill was pushy on the subject, several heated discussions about the need for protections. We never reached a formal consensus but all felt it was a success, and agreed to meet tomorrow to continue the dialogue.

On the way out, Iyanna pulled me aside. “Raek,” she said in a hushed voice. “There are things you should know. You shouldn’t—”

“What?” I asked, a little loud.

Zill turned, and gave her a look that froze her. His glare told me more than words ever could. Something was off.

“I was asking Raek about the fighting,” she murmured in response to Zill’s chilling look. “Must have been terrifying. I couldn’t have done it.”

“It was all instincts, to be honest,” I added, continuing our would-be conversation. “I got lucky.”

Zill shook his head in disgust. “Come on, Iyanna. We need to talk.”

She walked away, giving me a faint nod. Zill didn’t notice. What was that?

As we separated and walked back, I told the others.

“You’re overthinking things,” Obowe said. “We’re all a little paranoid right now.”

Despite their reassurances, I couldn’t shake the feeling.

Something was off, very off.