Assimilation (Concordia Series Book 1) by Lydia Chelsea

car keys, so I grabbed his arm.  I was just about to tell him I’d call him a taxi when he launched.  I was still holding his elbow, so…”  She throws up her hands and shrugs.
    “But what about your family?” I ask, wondering how she could be so matter-of-fact about the whole thing.
    She lifts a shoulder.  “Don’t have one,” she answers. “I’ve been on my own since I was fifteen.”  Plucking a piece of lint off another of the shirts in my try-on pile, she mutters, “Could have used the abuse standard right about then.”
    I look through the stack of clothes.  She watches me flip through them before glancing at me.
    “You probably shouldn’t buy too much today,” she says.  “I came here wearing a six.  I’m in a four now.” She twists and turns, showing off her slender body.
    I roll my eyes.  “You have a point,” I reply, thinking of the dictator-ish ScanX.  But my mind is still stuck on her arrival on Concordia. “So, you took his elbow and you automatically transported with him?”
    “Yep.  If so much as a strand of your hair is touching a slivver when they transport—” She makes a popping sound with her mouth. “Automatic hitchhiker.”
    “And what about the Tribunal?” I asked. “Didn’t he violate the theft standard?”
    “Yeah.  The guardians reamed him out and dropped him two levels for getting silted. Drunk. They said it ruined his judgment, but he’s a guardian, so he’s sort of got a certain amount of immunity.  It all comes down to intent.  If he’d intended to bring me here, you know, like if we were completely in love and he’d proposed and I’d said yes, that would be a big no-no.  But breath chemistry doesn’t lie.  He was bombed out of his tree and didn’t realize I had his elbow.”
    I can’t help firing questions at her, hoping I’ll find some loophole in her answers. “You weren’t freaked out at all, ending up here and being told you couldn’t go home?” 
    She shrugs again. “This place takes a little getting used to, sure, but since I had nothing keeping me on Attero, I didn’t really mind.  And once I was here, we did fall in love, so it all worked out for the best.”
    “But just the fact that Concordia exists didn’t freak you out?”
    She laughs. “Of course it did! I was on moodleveler for about a week, but I guess since I’ve always been crazy about science fiction, it wasn’t too much of a leap. I’ve always believed there was more life in the universe besides ours.  I just didn’t necessarily think it was human. Or that there was more than one version of our universe.”
    In the end, all her talk serves only to remind me that the outlook isn’t favorable.  I guess it shows on my face because hers falls. She puts her hand on my arm, no longer smiling.
    “If you need help assimilating, let me know.  It’s…a strange process,” she admits.  “Some of it was sort of hard for me.”  Glancing up at me, her face freezes. “But everybody’s different,” she adds quickly.
    I nod. “Thanks,” I say hollowly.
    Silence stretches between us until it becomes sharp and awkward, like pins left in the clothes I am about to try on.
    “Well,” she backs toward the door, “I’ll let you try these.”
    I feel bad. She looks sort of disappointed, and I wonder if, despite all her talk, she’s glad to run into someone from the world she left behind. 
    “Thank you,” I say, this time with more feeling. “I’m Davinney.”
    Her mouth turns up again.  “Mina,” she replies. “Call me if you need other sizes.”
    Ritter is staring out the front window when I finish in the dressing room. Taking Mina’s words to heart, I’ve only chosen three pairs of pants, four shirts, and a pair of pajamas.  And even then I’ve only chosen ones that were just a little snug so I’ll still be able to wear them for a while even if I lose weight. And, thinking of Ritter, all of the shirts I’ve chosen have long sleeves that cling.
    He