Chapter 12

The first thing Chris noticed the next day was the number of members of the alien race. Plenty of them arrived when he was just preparing for his surgery, but now it became more noticeable, and everyone nodded to him as he passed from one audience to another. Everyone worked on the same thing in the same building and knew each other very well by name, position, and responsibility. For some reason Chris couldn't understand why his brain didn't register their solid presence before. Zirks were part of the society in which he lived and worked, and today his gaze lingered on every face that had a greenish tint and he tried to analyze his feelings. The more he watched, the more he was surprised at what he was seeing; but mostly that he had not noticed this before. Looking closely, he noticed such details that previously passed by his perception. Green-faced men and women, old and young zirka communicated with each other and with the representatives of the human race. They have long become a part of human society, and nothing was surprising in that. The human race accepted them on Earth without hesitation, without any prejudices. Zirkaazte were humans' friends, and humans were also friends to them; they did not look down on humans but talked on equal terms. And yet Chris could not even imagine how equal they were to each other. This involved not only working together through communication. They acted all friendly, patting each other on the shoulders, smiling, and flirting. There was no separation or embarrassment between them. Sitting in the dining room, he looked around the area, paying attention to tables with large groups of students, as well as the small round tables, which could hardly accommodate two to three people, and these, as usual, were occupied by couples. But only today did the young man realize what kind of couples they were.

At one table, right in front of him, sat two students: a representative of the human race and next to him, most likely a graduate student, a girl of the extraterrestrial race. They were sitting, holding hands, and talking about something – leaning towards each other over the table. Slightly further to the right from Chris sat another couple of different skin color, both young males. They did not hold hands across the table but sat, placing their chairs very close to each other and hugging each other tightly, reading something from one tablet. Chris shook his head. Madame is right; he really missed a massive stretch of reality. How could this happen?

"How do you like him? Cutie, isn't he?" Josh materialized imperceptibly beside him, but Chris didn't even flinch.

"Who are you talking about?" He asked indifferently, stirring the tea in a cup that had cooled down a long time ago and casting short glances at the reading couple.

"Well, you are looking directly at them!" His friend snorted impatiently and jerked his head exactly in the direction Chris was looking at. "Jeffrey from the third year and this... kri, I do not remember the kri's name. He's fair for their breed. Yeah, I get that you have slightly different tastes and needs: taller, broader, whose names end with... well, never mind. I got carried away." At the end of his sentence, his voice faded, and he fell silent.

"How long have they been together?" Chris asked.

"Well. Probably a year."

"Wow," Chris drawled.

"Yes, but hey, forget it."

"No, listen; do I really have problems with attention to details or to my surroundings? Even she... I mean, I... Josh, this is not a surprise for you and nothing new. But I never noticed that... that they," Chris made a sweeping movement of his head, implying not only a couple but addressing the entire dining room, "don't just work with us."

"You are very attentive to details, dude. You would not have received your position and, in general, you would not have received the chance that you fought – literally knocking out of the Grinch..."

"Yeah, and you weren't present, so you don't even know how fierce it was," Chris grimaced accusingly.

"Someone leaked the video onto the network. Damn, don't freak out." Josh slapped him hard on the back. "It's just that everyone has their own strengths, that's all. Oh, here comes your favorite type."

Chris turned his gaze to the entrance to see Erzketau and Sintri, a zirka female who helped with rehabilitation after surgery, walking to the cooking machines and chatting. They both stopped to get their drinks. While kaia was choosing, the professor looked around the room, finding Chris at his table with Josh, and nodded slightly. Chris could barely move his head and turned his gaze back to his plate.

"Oh, no, god, no, no, where are you going, turn around," Josh hissed in fear, covered in sweat as the two zirks sauntered between the tables, purposefully moving in their direction. "Chris, what should we do?" He whispered urgently. "Greetings kri, kaia!" Josh greeted in a trembling and much pitched voice.

The zirks sat down opposite the pair of them.

"Don't strain your spine, Tumblin-kri," Erzketau said quietly, "I have not been your teacher for a long time and am not going to preach you for your homework."

Josh let out a sigh of relief and adds with a nervous laugh, "Sorry kri, it's just a habit."

"You don't have to apologize. I understand, but it's a part of my image, so to speak. Students need an authority to obey to function normally." Erzketau's whole appearance spoke of how relaxed, calm, and pleased with himself he was.

The zirka girl sat quietly, shooting glances and smiling, sipping at her drink that was an invigorating purple color. The Grinch also took a sip from his opaque glass and turned to Chris, looking directly at him, "Is everything okay, Chris?"

Chris looked up and dived headlong into the black abysses opposite him. He knows. Chris realized this at the same moment they met eyes; from his gaze, the expression on his face, the slight tilt of his head, to the position of his body and hands. He knows about their conversation with Madame and asks if everything's okay.

Is Chris okay after hearing that?

Will the top management be okay with him knowing the truth?

Will he be silent and behave?

So many unspoken words were put into the meaning of just one phrase. Chris eased up and sighed. He tried to relax his posture as much as possible under the piercing black gaze of the lizard, nodded, and replied, "Yes. Yes, everything is okay. Slept badly, that's all, but apart from that, everything is fine."

Yes, what he heard surprised him.

Yes, the information was not comfortable, shocking even.

Nevertheless, everything is okay now; he can handle it.

The zirka nodded, and so did Chris.

"Well, it was nice to chat, but we'll probably go," said the green one. The youth didn't point out that it was mostly him who chatted, while kaia kept a polite silence, sipping her drink.

The guys said their goodbyes and got to their feet.

"Well, Chris, how is your patient Xian?" Dr. Marie looked through the reports, tapping the stylus on the table while Chris sat in the chair opposite and absentmindedly swapped through the material for the last lecture on virology he had missed.

"It's going great. We are keeping two embryos for now. Although he says that he's not sure, I think that it is almost a resolved issue and additional intervention will not be required," Chris replied, closing the app. He can read that in the evening.

"That's great," Madame finally finished checking the documents and raised her head. "Listen, I will contact you later today with a young lady. I want you to start handing over materials about Xian Po to her. She will replace you while you are on vacation."

"Um, excuse me?" Chris asked, confused. "But I'm not going on vacation."

"Oh, but I was sure that I sent you the leave papers," Madame, slightly surprised, reached back to her laptop. "Sorry, this is so awkward. But it can't hurt to rest, right? When was the last time you...?"

"Are you suspending me?" Chris asked more sharply than he meant to.

"No, Chris, of course not! Why? No, no one is suspending you. Rather, you are... how do I put it more delicately, to be removed from the island," the doctor explained, slightly squinting.

Of course. They couldn't just let it go that someone put the informational security to danger, and the top management is going to investigate.

"Right. Witness protection program," Chris nodded with understanding. "The intelligence services are interested in me."

"Yes, of course, the special services are interested in you. You have to understand that it's unavoidable when getting so much attention. But I would not call it a protection program. It's not that serious. We just want to try this trick in case the intruder that left the memory stick wants to contact you again. If their target is you, and not just a random human, then we need to try to move you for a while. We think it will make it easier to track the intruder if they contact you outside Biosphere II."

"So I'm going on vacation? Is there any guarantee that the one you are looking for will not know that I have left the island? Are you going to catch all the tourists? And will I go alone? Or will they still provide me with some kind of surveillance squad? You never know, I might be attacked, abducted..." Chris tried to joke, although Madame was in no hurry to smile. "But I genuinely believe that I could have found out all this by mistake and that the information was not intended for me."

"Chris, I'm so glad you're taking this all with the proper amount of humor," Dr. Marie chuckled with a little restraint. "No, do not worry, it is unlikely that they will attack you; this is completely out of the realm of absurdity. However, you will not go alone. A companion will join you." She hesitated for a second but immediately answered before Chris had time to ask who it was, "Erzketau will escort you."

"Why am I not surprised?" Chris grimaced with displeasure.

"It's because he is the green-in-chief here, understand?"

"Uh-huh, and we'll go on vacation together..."

"Well," the doctor tapped the stylus again; a slightly guilty expression appeared on her face. "In general, he will go on vacation, and you'll still have some work duties to do, so you can consider this as a business trip."

"Alright," Chris chuckled and slapped his knees, "a business trip together with a mentor." He sat there and sighed a couple of times, not finding the strength to comment on the news that fell right on his head. "Marie, please say something because I have no words."

"Well," Dr. François smiled encouragingly, leaned back in her chair and, slowly swaying from side to side, spoke. "As you know, we carefully monitor the Great Barrier Reef and, every year in winter, we hold the most detailed expedition to investigate the progress of its revival. And, in general, Tau is a specialist not only in transplantation but also in the reefs including the Great Barrier. In short, he has a thing for the dead and living corals, did you know?"

"So it's a winter vacation?"

"Oh, well, yes. I forgot to send you the papers; I'll do that now so that you know everything," she sat down with a straight back and tapped her fingers on the keyboard panel. "Of course, no one will kick you out tomorrow, don't fret."

"Okay, a voluntary-compulsory winter leave. I have never been in such a situation, honestly. You surprised me again."

"Chris, listen, we're really sorry. We are not very happy that something like this happened."

"Marie, relax, I'm joking! Everything is fine. I understand."

"Yes, you've got a lot of humor indeed," the doctor visibly relaxed. Chris was glad that the situation embarrassed her, and, perhaps, maybe she was even a little ashamed.

"Then I'm waiting for the papers and preparing the case transfer for the young lady?" Chris got to his feet and went to the exit.

"Yes. And go visit him. Erzketau"

"Like now?" What he really didn't want was to see the nasty Grinch right after an unexpected appointment. He didn't know which was worse: having the supervisor gloat or gaze appraisingly.

"Well, I don't know if he's in right now. Write him and make an appointment. You will need to discuss the details together. The near-sea theory and practice is not my strongest point so he will introduce you to the case better. That's all. You're free to go."

Chris believed that he was anything but free. However, even if he'd take into account all the intricacy of the situation in which the entire M-generation grew up, it was wrong to say that Chris was a hostage of the experiment. He was free when he left the house of his father's parents. He was free when he decided to come here to study. He was free when he made decisions affecting his advancement in his studies and career choosing his path to the Seventh Building. But this surprise in the mailbox... it crossed out everything Chris used to think of as freedom of choice. The one who tossed him this damned bite of information ruined his quiet life. This was not how freedom was to him, like many other things. But, as far as other facts were concerned, he doubted whether it was really so bad that this all happened. Maybe he needed this push, which led him to awareness and understanding. Doubt is something that settled in his head from the very day he spoke frankly with Madame François.

He came to his senses in front of his home laptop monitor, which displayed a selection of search results for the keywords "interracial relations", "xenophilia", and "zirka boyfriend". Chris's eyes popped out at the abundance of images, quotes, links to videos, and accounts on social networks, which, in one way or another, revealed the depth of the requested terms. At first, he was simply taken aback by the number of results that matched his search – all of them, one way, or another, affected the personalities of both races in the same context. Then he began to look closely and, although he thought that nothing else could possibly surprise him, he realized that he was mistaken.

Every second photo depicted a mix-colored couple with a clear romantic overtone. Embracing, kissing, getting married and... His eyes, figuratively speaking, stumbled over the headline, "If you only knew what my UFO can do with his tongue..." Ashamed, though not quite understanding the reason, he took his eyes away from the monitor, as if looking for reassurance, fumbling his gaze over the walls in his room. Taking a breath, he returned to the headline, and, after hesitating a little more, not sure if he wanted what his innate curiosity was pushing him to do, he raised his finger over the enter-key.

***

"H-h-mh..."

"I swear to god, you make another sigh like that, and I'm kicking you hard," Sandro lost his nerves, listening to Chris's painful howls from the next chair. "Need a painkiller? Get an injection, or stop whining."

"It's nothing. I'm okay." Chris commented briefly and sighed again, drawing an angry gaze from the blue eyes of a neighbor in today's lab work. "Sorry," he added quickly.

He tried to guide his thoughts in a more positive and relaxed direction, away from the shores of Australia which seemed closer and closer every day, as well as the upcoming winter, that will mark the end of the 856th year and the beginning of the 857th. He will meet the month of December very far from Biosphere-II. Chris received all the instructions from his supervisor last week, completed the introduction of the new assistant to the Xian Po case, and almost packed his travel bag.

"Listen," he turned to the blondie guy, after recording in detail the results of the chemical reaction, "do you know if they, well, supers, are monitoring our history? I mean the browser, search history, and the like...?"

"Um... nope. Why would they need to? They are interested in our health and the state of our bodies," Sandro suggested abstractly, "even taking into account our status, it's kind of too inappropriate to look into what we do online, don't you think so?"

"It seems so, yes, but recently I wondered if they do."

"Why? Searched for fancy porny-horny?" The neighbor purred slyly.

"What? No! How did you find out?" Chris admitted, confused. He decided that at his age, it would be weirder to be ashamed of porn than not.

"Because you are an ascetic..."

"I'm asexual..."

"No, dear," Leone firmly objected, "asexual people do not need physical intimacy for natural reasons and characterological features; however, you restrict yourself and prevent an adult healthy body from getting the pleasure it deserves!"

"Nonsense..." Chris chuckled nervously.

"Only the likes of you become embarrassed if they suddenly begin to behave atypically to asexuals, and even more so when there is a risk of being exposed," insisted a friend.

"I'm not... an ascetic," Chris whispered, just as stubbornly, but barely audibly.

"Whatever," his curly-haired friend shrugged, falling silent again.

Their classmate approached the rostrum to clarify something with Erzketau, who was conducting this class. The zirka listened attentively to the question, nodding his head slightly, and then leaned over to the student's tablet. Nodding again, the zirka quickly licked his lips before answering.

The tongues of the friendly race are mostly a dull gray color, sometimes with a faint shade of blue or lilac, with a pointed tip, and is about three centimeters longer than that of the humans. For a fraction of a second, Chris felt hot in his cheeks and a tickling jolt in his abdomen. The phrase, "If you only knew what my UFO can do with his tongue..." suddenly appeared in his memory and vanished immediately. He swallowed nervously and took his eyes away from the podium. He shook his head, thinking, "What the hell?"

As if answering his silent question, the band on his arm lit up with a reminder that a wave is due in about a week. Nodding to his gadget, he relaxed, shushing away any uninvited thoughts and other distracting information, and returned his attention to the lesson notes.