Love Code (Galactic Love #2) - Ann Aguirre Page 0,1

to afford to continue my research.”

“Meat?” Helix repeated.

This was surely a curse, one he had called down with his subterfuge involving Beryl Bowman. Was there a human deity devoted solely to vengeance? He did not have access to that information, but it seemed probable, considering his current predicament.

“Not entirely. Your brain requires some augmentation via specialized hardware, as I haven’t reached the level at which I could download your neural network into a strictly organic host. Perhaps one day!” By the lilt in her tone, she seemed to think that was a desirable breakthrough.

“Deactivate me. You should have let me perish.”

Qalu paused. The Tiralan had been moving about the space, checking implements Helix could not see. “Are you in that much pain?”

Pain. That must be the word for the sensation shrieking along his…nerve endings? How did organic beings tolerate this feeling? He’d known of it in the abstract, but could not have imagined the intensity, prior to this bizarre rebirth.

“Yes.”

“Let me help.” Qalu tapped something, and then something else.

Miraculously, that awful burn receded, until he could think properly again. He didn’t entirely wish for deletion any longer, but he didn’t know if he could adapt to this new situation either. Currently, he seemed to be good for nothing.

“Better,” Helix said.

“I apologize. My first thought was to save you, and I had no way to communicate to obtain your permission, and your data was in danger. Your ship suffered a catastrophic detonation, shortly after I retrieved your code. I’m sorry if your current host is insufficient for your needs.”

Helix decided he was being cruel to one who had pure intentions. “Disregard my prior statement. You acted selflessly. There was no potential gain in saving me, yet you did so with no expectation of repayment.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Qalu said.

“Is it not?” On a sliding scale, how concerned should I be? Helix did not know much about individual Tiralan mores, despite having researched the culture to pretend to be Asvi on the matching service. He had calculated that deceiving Zylar in such a manner was for the greater good, and the Barathi had seemed happy when Helix departed to find his own path.

“Perhaps I intend to make you work for me until you’ve paid off the cost of your new biosynthetic host.”

“You said organic materials are not expensive, so once I recover, logically speaking, it should not take long to perform enough labor as compensation.”

“Your mind is working well,” Qalu said in a satisfied tone.

“Was that a test?”

“Of sorts. I was curious how well you process conversational input.”

That was the least shocking event since his unprecedented awakening. “Is it possible for me to inspect my new form?”

“Certainly.” Qalu hurried away and returned with an implement that reflected a strange countenance.

He had wide eyes, a dark, flat olfactory detector, head tendrils, and a bipedal form. Unlike Qalu, his skin was blue and the delicate scales on his upper body shimmered with a touch of aquatic iridescence.

“I look Tiralan,” he said, somewhat startled by the realization.

But on consideration, it made sense that Qalu would model her work after her own people. Am I attractive for a Tiralan? He had no way of calculating that.

“Are you pleased?” Qalu asked.

“I am… informed,” he replied.

“Do you truly feel well now? I can safely increase the dosage once more, if you don’t.”

“I am not hurting.” It was such a novelty to say that, and this new body must certainly have all sorts of requirements that he’d never experienced. The fascinating possibilities were almost enough to divert him from his missing memories. Almost. “I have some lost time and cannot recall how I came to crash on Tiralan.”

“I’m sorry. I feared there might be some corruption in the transition. I’m glad you didn’t lose all your memories, at least.”

Regret offered no solutions, but it seemed querulous to persist. Perhaps he could retrieve the memories on his own, somehow. “Indeed. Pardon the query, but in my current state, I cannot scan for information. As I recall, the Tiralan choose their gender on attaining maturity. May I ask your choice?” In fact, there were multiple options.

“I am femme,” Qalu said. “Though I’ll note there are those who opt to remain in their neutral state.”

“Understood. Will I be able to choose?” That was an intriguing prospect.

“Of course. Your body is fully Tiralan in every respect.”

Qalu thought, perhaps, she could have been more forthcoming, but Helix had more than enough information to process. The fact was, she hadn’t precisely applied for permission to