Sons of the Crystal Mind (Diamond Roads Book 1) by Andrew Wallace Page B

Centria,” Harlan says.
    “Figures,” Dodge says. “I’m not like that. I just sell a couple of these a year to people I like.”
    “Huh,” Harlan says.
    “To people I like most of the time,” Dodge says and glares at Harlan. “Let’s see how it’s getting on. Stand behind that.”
    He points at the opaque screen in the corner and I walk behind it. The screen begins to glow.
    “Looks like the circuits are growing up your arm nicely- Jesus Christ!” says Dodge.
    There is silence from the other side of the screen. I don’t move.
    “What-?” Harlan says.
    His voice is soft, awed, not like I’ve heard it before.
    “Jesus Christ!” Dodge says again. “Who… what the fuck is she Harlan?”
    “I don’t know,” Harlan says.
    “I’m right here; I can hear you,” I say, trying to mask panic with indignation.
    There is silence again.
    “Charity, you’d better come round here,” Harlan says.
    I walk around the edge of the screen and stop when I see how Dodge and Harlan stare at me.
    “Do you really not know?” Harlan says.
    I can’t think what he means so I just shrug.
    “Show her,” Harlan tells Dodge.
    Dodge looks at the screen and a man’s silhouette appears on it. The shadowy figure has wires woven through his flesh, as we all do. There isn’t much, just the bright silver point of the seed between his eyes and a loose nest of silver fibres leading back into the brain. A further set of filigree wires lead to the n-gun at the tip of his left index finger.
    “That’s me,” Dodge says.
    Another, bigger shadow appears on the screen.
    “That’s Harlan.”
    More shadows appear one after the other.
    “Other people,” Dodge says as he flicks through them.
    Everyone has got a different shape but they all have the same silvery wires, until…
    “You.”
    On my shadow the seed and the wires are gold.
    My legs lose their strength and I slowly sit on the floor. Dodge and Harlan watch me. My head seems to shake itself.
    “I don’t understand,” I whisper.
    “Would your parents know?” Harlan says.
    “I don’t know who they are,” I say. “I mean I’ve got a mum and dad but I don’t know where I came from originally.” I nod at the screen. “I certainly don’t know what that means.”
    “You must be a princess,” Dodge says as if it’s the only logical explanation.
    “No, that’s my sister,” I say.
    The automatic response usually gives me a sense of certainty but it doesn’t anymore. Instead the feeling of not fitting in, which is as much a part of me as the heat in my blood, intensifies until it’s almost painful.
    I have always felt like an outsider, even in a city you cannot leave. The irony of that condition used to be grimly amusing but now it just seems cruel. I stare at the golden threads, which imply a value I do not recognise.
    “It’s okay,” Harlan says.
    He kneels beside me, runs the palm of his hand across the top of my head and holds my braid tightly as he kisses my hair. Dodge shuffles nearby and then leans over and pats my shoulder. I have only known him a very short while but I sense that such consideration is rare.
    “Whoever you are you’re still you,” he says.
    How strange that this peculiar, difficult man should summarise it so perfectly. I’ve simply learned something that was there all along. There’s no reason to be scared of myself is there?
    I breathe deeply and feel… all right.
    “Yes,” I say and find that I’m smiling.
    Harlan straightens and lifts me with him. I look up into his face and remember the extraordinary sex that still tingles through me like soft electricity. I made that feeling with this man who can get any woman but who chose me. I realise I’ve still got the sense of balance I felt earlier. Perhaps it’s here to stay.
    Suddenly a little crosshair target sight in a circle superimposes itself on my view of the room. I jerk my head back involuntarily.
    “Got it?” Dodge says.
    “Yes,” I say.
    Above the target sight are