–No, the girl.
Tweedledee seemed amazed.
Then Balot planted a kiss on the outside of the water tank. Softly, carefully. Then she came away from the tank and walked back toward the Doctor.
–He says he’s going to sleep for a while.
Balot raised her eyebrows, scowling.
–Will he be okay?
She knew that if she stopped scowling she’d start crying.
“It’s my job to make sure he will be.” The Doctor spoke with a serious face, pushing his glasses up again, when Tweedledee tapped his arm.
–Hey, can I take her down to the pool? She’s scheduled to go there soon, isn’t she?
The Doctor’s face hardened somewhat. “She’s not using that until I’ve gone over a few things with her. She’s owed an explanation. She’s going to be leaving the facility soon. Along with us.”
–I get it. You don’t want Eve to accidentally taste the forbidden fruit, right? I get it. As long as she doesn’t have temptation placed right before her eyes, she’ll be able to resist.
03
–I don’t have to breathe, ever.
Tweedledee spoke as a school student might boast about what a fine home he came from.
–According to the doctors, I’m a Complete Individual. That’s my thing.
–A Complete Individual?
–Means I’m not dependent on my environment. That my core is even tougher than my shell—I’m completely hard-boiled.
Clopping along in her slippers, Balot considered the meaning of these words.
Everywhere in the building seemed to be divided by glass panes. It was like being in a giant box—all the slopes were covered in iron and concrete and glass.
Grinning, Tweedledee told Balot all about the facility and himself. Balot felt a bit like a transfer student. As if she were supposed to be here, and indeed, were destined to stay here from now on.
–I don’t have to breathe. And I barely eat. Even when I do eat, all I have is a bit of light. And I don’t even really need that.
–You don’t eat?
Balot seemed surprised again, much to Tweedledee’s obvious delight.
–My body needs to change its fluids every once in a while. The challenge is to make that exchange as simple as possible, apparently.
–Can you taste things?
–Sure, I can taste. I can even feel hungry if I want to. By snarcing my insides, of course. But most of the time I don’t feel anything. Back then, I thought I might taste coffee again, as it’s been a while, and I tried to remember what it was like to feel thirsty, but then you said you didn’t want any.
–Sorry.
She didn’t actually feel particularly apologetic—she just didn’t know what else to say.
–No worries. It’s not as if I actually needed to drink anything. I have thousands of little hard drives embedded inside my head, so I can bring up lots of senses or tastes anytime I want.
–So it’s like you have a library inside your head?
Tweedledee made a funny face.
Then, he seemed to understand. Balot realized in that instant that Tweedledee had looked something up in the dictionary inside his mind. What a library was.
