All We See or Seem by Leah Sanders Read Free Book Online

instincts. Never second-guess your intuition. He needed to get back to that, because someone was obviously lying to him. But why?
    For now, Aaron took to the task-at-hand — beating the pants off his baby brother at hoops… right-handed.
    Bobby didn’t stand a chance.

 
    Chapter Eight
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    Clinic-M was located on the far side of the community, opposite the dormitories. Gem had not been there before, but she had known several others who had. They never talked about their visits there, but Gem got the impression it wasn’t anything to fear.
    She stood now on the front steps of a small, blue brick building. There was a large chrome letter M on the wall to the right of the door. The front yard was immaculately landscaped, as were all the buildings in the community. There were shrubs and flowers growing in colorful elliptical patterns along the front walk of the clinic.
    When she opened the door and walked in, the desk attendant looked up vacantly. Gem saw her glance at the wall clock, then her emotionless gaze returned to Gem.
    â€œGemini-Stem 6418C.” It wasn’t a question. The attendant was speaking into her monitor. Without addressing Gem, she simply pointed to the door on her right and turned back to her screen.
    Hesitation on Gem’s part would cause the attendant frustration and only get Gem into trouble, so she stepped through the door that had opened automatically for her, as if she felt no fear. But her heart was beating in her ears when she entered the pastel blue hallway. A fresh hint of lavender mixed with the familiar sterile odor of the repository clinic greeted her. There was a faint murmur of low voices coming from behind the door opposite where Gem entered.
    Other than the voices, no one seemed to be aware of her presence there. She waited uneasily for a moment. The attendant had announced her; maybe the clinician was waiting for her in a room. She began hesitantly walking down the hall toward the voices until the murmurs were almost audible. Male voices. Then she stopped suddenly as the voices became clear.
    â€œ...because 6418C has exhibited symptoms of depression.”
    â€œInteresting. What does the plant report indicate?”
    â€œAn emotional loss — apparently one of our recent replacements.”
    â€œDo we know which one? Perhaps another copy would do the trick. Do we have any ready?”
    â€œNo. It is in production. There is a sibling stem which is almost physically identical, but she has avoided interaction.”
    â€œWell, for the sake of the fetus, we must keep her healthy and happy until at least the second trimester, when we’re out of danger of miscarriage.”
    â€œThe medication has had some effect.”
    â€œGood. I’ll take over, then. She should be here for the initial exam. I’ll keep you posted on the progress.”
    â€œExcellent. It would be a shame to…”
    â€œTo have to start over? It would be expensive, yes, but they are replaceable.”
    Rustling within the room indicated movement toward the door. Gem realized she shouldn’t be found lurking. Quickly and silently she backed down the hall to where she had entered, then stood at attention as if she had been there, out of earshot, all along. But her mind was in turmoil. They had been discussing her — of that there was no doubt. So many words that lacked meaning for her. What had they been talking about? Fetus? Second trimester? Emotional loss? Obviously, in the context of the conversation, the words had been charged with significance. But that significance was beyond Gem’s knowledge.
    â€œHello. Gemini, I presume?” A pale man with silver hair approached her, breaking into Gem’s frantic, but silent, confusion.
    â€œYes, sir.” Gem studied him. He was shorter than Gem and seemed soft-bodied. It was not unusual for EROMI staff clinicians to look that way, although most members of the Endfield community were trim and