Varken Rise Read Free Page A

squeezing her hand gently. His pace toward the bedroom quickened.
    * * * * *
    Catherine declared the next day a vacation, even though Nicia followed the time-honored working “week” structure, where sixty percent of the days in that week were devoted to work, regardless of how long those days lasted. Some worlds with extra-long days divided them up into two working shifts, with sleep in between, for humans had not evolved beyond the need to sleep once every standard twenty-four hours.
    Nicia had a twenty-eight hour day and followed the classic structure. Today was the third day in the working week. However, as they had just arrived back from Van Andel and needed rest, Lilly put the complex in isolation mode, except for private-classed communications.
    While Brant meditated next to the luna pool at the bottom of the complex, Lilly and Catherine lazed around on the grass at the top level, in the open sun.
    Bedivere would have been happy to lose himself in a mindless tank story, except that Connell sent him a message shortly after breakfast, asking if he could visit and bring a friend.
    So Bedivere took himself off to the big office that he and Catherine shared and settled in the chair to wait. “Whenever you’re ready,” he called out.
    Connell appeared, standing in the middle of the floor. He looked around, spotted the other chair and smiled. “Watch this.” He walked over to the chair, then appeared to settle himself in it.
    Bedivere smiled. “Well done. You’ve been practicing.”
    Connell looked up into the air, his gaze flickering around. “Here she comes,”
    Bedivere waited, expecting that a full sized human figure would appear. Nothing happened.
    “It’s okay,” Connell said. “This is Bedivere. You can show yourself.”
    The top of her head appeared, at the level where a woman’s head would normally be. A single eye showed. The rest of the face was hidden, as if an invisible wall was hiding her from him. The very blue eye stared at him.
    “It’s all right,” he told her. “Didn’t Connell tell you that it’s safe here?”
    She nodded.
    “Then why don’t you come in and talk?” He kept his voice calm.
    She blinked. After a moment of contemplation, she appeared to step around the invisible corner. Finally, he could see all of her.
    Bedivere didn’t know how the Varkan chose the human avatars they used. Did they pick what was pleasing to them? Or did they pick what suited their personalities? Or were they guided by their personalities to choose something that matched? Connell, who was one of the more advanced Varkan simply because he had been around longer, still wasn’t certain. He experimented with his appearance all the time and seemed to have fun with it.
    Bedivere suspected that this computer had been driven to choose an avatar purely by her personality. The fragile woman who stood before him almost glowed with an unreal beauty. The Varkan did not stint themselves when it came to aesthetics. They unerringly chose the most attractive avatars they could find. The woman staring around the room with wild, big eyes was not just beautiful. As Connell said, she was sad. It seemed to drip from her like water after rain. Her small shoulders were hunched in, as if she was permanently flinching. Bedivere wasn’t sure if her mouth had ever smiled.
    “Connell?” he said softly. “Please introduce us.”
    “Of course, yes.” Connell got to his feet, as was proper. He delighted in human customs and habits, learning about them and following them. He raised a hand toward the woman. “Jo, this is Bedivere, the one I told you about. Bedivere, this is Jovanka Runa.”
    Jovanka did not move. She did not smile either.
    Bedivere got to his feet and gave a short nod of his head, as he could not take her hand. It completed the little ceremony.
    Unexpectedly, she nodded back. It was a response and he felt encouraged. He sat back down and leaned forward. “Jovanka, do you want to tell me about