Page 44 of Tyton: The Spider and the Dragonfly
“Huh?”Siku shook his head as if clearing cobwebs.“Oh, the second reason is that they don’t really work on men.At least not more than regular strength training.”
“Doesn’t that take hours a day, though?”Callie frowned.
“Sure.But that’s why everyone looks like they have noodles for arms.”
Callie had to admit, in pictures of people in the past, they had lumpy arms.She hadn’t really given it that much thought.Everyone looked a littleoffin pictures of the past.
Talia though, her arms weren’tthatmuscular.She was quite thin, actually.“What about Talia?Does she not exercise then?”
“Talia used to have one.Removing it seems to cause a sort of lipodystrophy.”
Callie stared blankly.
“A condition that causes your body not to store fat.Or to overstore it.We’re not sure if it’s permanent yet, but I guess we’ll see.”
“Why did she remove it then?”
“Talia assumed it wouldn’t be long until someone else figured out the exploit.”Siku snorted, remembering.“Her exact words werein a species that uses tools, strength is the worst stat to dump your points into.I think Talia wanted to be a ghost, like those of us who never had implants.”
“Because of her childhood?”
“You know about that?”
Callie nodded.“Sparx told me.”
“Sparx has a big mouth.”
“That’s what Talia said,” Callie grinned.“I can’t imagine Talia not wanting attention though.”
Siku bobbed his head back and forth, weighing how much to say.“We can’t erase her biosig, but we did alter it so the Natalists can’t find her that way.And even if most video capture has been replaced by biosig scanners, she’s still worried, one of them will recognise her.But,” he continued, “Talia really hates DocPods and she refuses to change her face.And she’s tall.I think she’s aware that she’ll always stand out without a DocPod and so she’s going to stand out on her own terms.”
Callie rubbed her bicep where her own patch was.She’d had it since she was nine, like almost every other child she knew.The next day at the creche was chaos.The supervisor had spent all morning trying to get children back in their learning pods and stop them from throwing furniture and arm wrestling.
“How were you and Sesi taught?I didn’t even know anyone lived outside of the cities until recently.There couldn’t have been a creche.”
“The same way you were.We had an AI tutor and every now and then Qimmiq would argue with it.”Siku smiled and pursed his lips.“I remember once, Qimmiq got really upset because the tutor didn’t know the difference between us and the Sami.I mean,” Siku shrugged, “there isn’t really anymore since most of us who always lived above the Arctic Circle followed the jobs.The rest started following what animals were left again and we kind of intermingled, but that wasn’t the point.”
Siku stopped and tipped his head.“I wonder if that was why Sesi was so worried that Qimmiq would be upset if she moved to the city?”
“You were all really close, weren’t you?”
Siku nodded.“Can’t help it when most of your time is spent with just the three of you.You learn to get along.”
“What was she like as a kid?”Callie asked, but Siku just shook his head.
“Those are her stories to tell.”
Callie flexed her fingers.“I doubt she’d have a reason to tell me.”
Siku smirked and shook his head.“I wouldn’t worry about that.She likes you.”
“That’s what Sparx said, but I don’t see it.”Callie almost blurted it out.
“Forget I said anything.Come on, we’re almost there.”Siku hobbled ahead.
Knight of Cups
January 62268
