Page 80 of Silent Lucidity

He remained tense, his inner conflict plain in his furrowed brow and lingering scowl.

“Contrary to earlier appearances, Idohave other things to do,” Alk called.

Abella brushed her thumbs over Tenthil’s cheeks and searched his eyes. “We can get through this.”

When Tenthil finally nodded, a wave of relief swept through Abella. She dropped her hands to her sides, walked to the platform, and mounted the steps, stopping when she stood before the scanner.

“So, I just…take my clothes off and step on?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Yes.” Alk offered her a smile. “Butyoucan feel free to take your time.”

Abella rolled her eyes and shook her head. She had to give the alien credit. He was charming, attractive, and persistent, but he wasn’t Tenthil.

She inhaled deeply and reached for the hem of her shirt, but apprehension halted her hands. How many times had she been forced to strip by Cullion before being punished? How many times had she been bathed and dressed by the servants attending her? She’d never had a choice on any of those occasions, and it felt like she didn’t have one now. This was a completely different situation, a totally new set of circumstances, but part of her felt the same way she had with Cullion—small, powerless, subhuman.

Abella turned her head and sought Tenthil. He’d mounted the platform as well, though he hadn’t followed her to the scanner. His posture expressed his continuing agitation, but at least his scowl had softened to a displeased frown. He held her gaze for a moment before walking to Alkorin. Tenthil stopped immediately in front of the forger, who looked up from his screen and recoiled slightly.

With surprising calm, Tenthil shifted his body to block Alkorin from Abella’s view—meaning he was blocking her from Alk’s view, as well.

Her heart nearly burst with affection and appreciation.

“I need to see when she’s on—” Alkorin began.

“She’ll tell you when,” Tenthil said.

Abella smiled and stripped quickly, piling her belt and clothing atop her boots beside the scanner. She shivered as she dropped her attention to the scanner’s white glow and stepped onto it.

“I’m ready,” she called, keeping her arms at her sides despite the urge to cross them over her breasts. She felt too vulnerable like this.

“All right,” Alk said.

The platform beneath Abella hummed gently. White light rose from the scanner’s base, encasing her in its glow and obscuring the rest of the room from her view. Despite the intensity of the illumination, it oddly didn’t hurt her eyes—but the strangest part of the experience was that she didn’tfeelanything even though she was cocooned in white.

“I’ll see her on the screen once the scan is complete, you realize,” Alkorin said.

“Fine. But you will never look upon her directly, or you’ll have to find three new cybernetic optics,” Tenthil replied.

“Why do you need nude scans of my whole body, anyway?” Abella asked.

“It’s Consortium procedure,” said Alkorin. “They are quite detailed in their documentation of everyone who receives an ID chip. I have to make sure the profile I build for you contains all the pertinent information so as not to rouse suspicions when you attempt to use it.”

Despite being shielded by the light, Abella still fought the desire to cover herself. “Guess they don’t care much about privacy here, do they?”

Alkorin scoffed. “This is a city of billions. Hundreds of thousands die here every day, and not always peacefully. These scans are used for identification both before and after death, and the Consortium mandates fresh scans every ten cycles. Doesn’t do them much good if all they know about your body is that you were wearing black leather on your last scan—especially if all that’s left of you is a forearm or an ankle. Just to keep everything running smoothly for the Eternal Guard, they need to keep their identification database updated. That means right down to your bones, organs, blood…your genetic makeup.”

The white light intensified, growing so bright she was forced to squeeze her eyes shut against it. For the first time since beginning, shefeltthe light, felt it on her skin, felt itinsideher.

Just as quickly as it had come, the sensation vanished.

Abella opened her eyes, blinking away the dark spots drifting across her vision. Tenthil remained in place, blocking her from Alkorin.

“Done,” Alk said. “And let me say—”

“Nothing,” growled Tenthil. “Get dressed, Abella.”

Cheeks flaming, Abella stepped down from the platform, turned away from Tenthil and Alkorin, and hurriedly dressed.

“Done,” she said as she pulled her hair out from beneath the collar of her shirt.

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