Zana Sherman was fortunate that this weekend wasn’t as academically busy as it would become closer to the end of term. It seemed that her social calendar was compensating, by sending her invitations to meet with people she loved or enjoyed. Aside from Alon Cohen on Friday night, though, she was holding things to only an hour or so, and joining up with them on the way to other venues, such as the laundry or the Psych House … the graduate students’ name for the departmental offices. Even for a college student … at least one as diligent as Zana … socializing wasn’t everything ….
But she stretched the limits at Saturday lunch, because the meal was with Dara Furtano-Fa. The relationship with “Big Sis” ran back to when Dara had saved the lives of both Zana and her mother on the construction stage of The Land of Fantasy, her mother’s famous theatre. Not only had Zana met Dara that day, but the accident had set events in motion that led to Dara’s getting the cyborg conversion she had desired … and all that had arisen in the ‘borg community since.
Both women had a fondness for a restaurant in Vidran’s Arosen sector that offered what the owner called “Mongolian grill,” but served up al fresco. They were deep in discussion at a shady table outside the restaurant, situated on a food court in one corner of the district’s park. “And so the term’s going well so far?” Dara asked as their tea arrived. The sun of Videra’s primary glinted off her sunglasses, worn mostly for fashion’s sake, as ‘borgs’ eyes were quite capable of handling bright sunshine. (The sun also gleamed off the integuments of both women, golden on Zana and silver on Dara; they had chosen the shady table to spare the eyes of other diners and passersby as much as possible from the reflection.)
Zana stepped back into her apartment the next morning, thoroughly relaxed by the night’s activities … all of the night’s activities. It had been a stressful term so far, even for a cyborg; of course, graduate studies were always stressful, but psychology was tougher than most. And add into that my personal psychotherapy starts in two weeks, she thought as she moved into her bedroom to change out of her finery, into a casual unitard. God knows what little gremlins will turn up then! She had always considered herself well adjusted and mentally healthy. Who but God could guess what a qualified psychotherapist would find …? Then her lips quirked back in a mercurial change of mood. Although her career would be made, perhaps, as the author of the first case study on a ‘borg in the literature!
The small jest improved Zana’s mood; but she still felt the need for some encouragement, or at least a shoulder to cry on for a few picoseconds. Glancing again at the holographs on the mantel, she regretted not returning home to her parents’ house. Still, there were other ways of getting together with family … not as satisfyingly tactile, but they would do in a pinch …. She said to the room, “Computer, please call Ariel Sherman, home code, full holo.” She sat on her couch as the computer beeped.
Shortly, a full-body image of her mother, wearing a green casual outfit and a purple silk duster, appeared in the holoprojection field created by the comm program. “Hi, sweet one! What makes you call on this fine Saturday morning?”
Zana Sherman checked herself over a final time in the mirrored closet door of her bedroom in her university apartment. Everything was nicely in place, everything was covered that needed to be, and the tips and tricks she had picked up from her mother’s makeup artists at The Land of Fantasy Theatre had allowed her to “put on her face” in under 10 minutes. Well, that and a ‘borg’s speed and accuracy, she added with a smile. Never let it be said there aren’t any advantages to being a member of this species.
She tapped at the panel, switching its surface back to a door instead of a mirror, grabbed her ident fold and slid it into a carry-pocket on the inside of a feathered sleeve, dabbed a few drops of cologne on her throat, and swung out of the bedroom. Thankfully, the 48th Century C. E. didn’t require university students to live in hovels; everyone had a personal set of living and sleeping rooms, with a mini-foodsynth for eating. It still wasn’t luxurious … especially compared to what Zana was used to at home … but it put a decently comfortable roof over one’s head, and good enough food, if not up to the same standard as, say, La Paloma Azul in downtown Vidran. Each living room in the complex even had an electric fireplace.
In the 48th Century, most organic lifeforms tended to carry several preconceptions about the way that Videran cyborgs lived their lives. The all-too-common impression was that all a ‘borg needed to do was glance at a filmpage or a screen, read the contents, and they knew everything there. However, as Zana Sherman could testify all too well, taking in data was not the same as actually learning. A ‘borg’s computer brain still needed to train on how to use the data, to analyze and discuss, in order to act on the information it received, just like an organic’s. And you needed to prove that acquired knowledge to the Powers That Be, in order to get the accreditation the law frequently required. Such as Ph.D.s in psychology.
Which was why Zana was now where she was, observing a shift of the operations crew on one of the private starbases orbiting Videra, gathering information for a paper due one of her professors. Psychology of xenospecies was her focus of study, and this shift was strongly populated by non-humanoid lifeforms. Indeed, by a fluke of scheduling, two sisters from the planet Tibeon were holding down the main operations chairs during this shift. Staying as unobtrusive as possible, asking the minimum of questions on what they did and why, Zana still found herself tapping reams of notes into her tablet.
Sitting in the bar of the restaurant, waiting for her friend to show up for their dinner date, Zana Sherman sipped at a Saurian brandy, and smiled to herself a little. She had been reading a book published some 2,000-plus years ago, assigned by her current literature professor, and one section applied quite nicely to sitting in a bar —
The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy also mentions alcohol. It says that the best drink in existence is the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, the effect of which is like having your brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick.
She smiled more, and wondered if a “Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster” would have more effect on a cyborg’s brain than normal alcoholic beverages.
In the end, though, she was content with her brandy, and the companionship of a good friend … a hard thing for her to find, as the fame of her mother, Ariel Sherman, tended to encourage the approach of chancers. True friends were valued by all the cyborgs, but especially by the Sandhara-Sherman clan, with its standing in terms of wealth, fame and Republic society.
Note: WordPress is starting to feed out new software for their blog. Harper’s been playing with it, and has gotten mostly used to it, but I’m just beginning to learn the thing. However, I like some of the gimmicks it apparently has, and Harper’s given me a tip sheet on what to do, as well as the new “style book” for laying out an article, so here goes ….
Graduate school was always a busy time for students; it had been since the medieval days of old Europa on ancient Earth, and it hadn’t changed just because it was now the 48th Century C. E. But wise students always found some kind of time to come up for air from their studies if they wished to preserve both their grades and their sanity. Zana Sherman was no different from other students in that sense. True, as a cyborg, she had a few not-to-sneeze-at advantages over her organic friends, like a brain and body that did not tire in the same way as an organic body did. But the personality and thought processes that resided in that computer body still functioned in ways similar to a flesh-and-blood person; and that part of her still fatigued in ways similar to a flesh-and-blood body. Even in this, some things never seemed to change, no matter how many centuries went by.
Ariel Sherman, relaxing one night on the front terrace of her mansion in Vidran City, saw the flitter descend from traffic level outside the estate, aiming for the parking area in front of the garage. The golden cyborg smiled as she recognized the color and markings on the air vehicle. Laying aside her bookpadd on a side table, she stood and headed down the stairs to the ceramacrete pathway between house and garage.
Harper hasn’t written much about Zana Sherman as a grown adult yet in her Ariel Sherman stories; she’s mainly looking at Zana’s early years when she puts the girl in one of her Ariel stories. But she does have one story, where she has Zana in her twenties appearing between the main sections of her as a child, getting ready to watch a documentary of her life as the first naturally-born cyborg. (It’s a long story; she’s outlined it for me, so ask Harper for the details.) When she wants a photo of Zana as an adult, Harper comes to me.
A very quick note today to mention a few of the Black Friday sales. When I went into Glitter, I found these two dresses at a fantastic price, and for once I persuaded Harper to pose with me instead of me with her. In addition, Vanity Hair is also half off through Monday, so go and check Tabitha’s stuff out!
(Why are we in gold skin? Harper was dressed as her cyborg singer, Ariel Sherman, while she’s cleaning out some inventory and old outfits, so I changed to Ariel’s daughter, Zana, to go along with her and make things easier for her. Harper will need to tell you one day the full story behind Ariel, her husband Adam, her daughter Zana, and their family friend, Dara Furtano-Fa, all of them cyborgs.)
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Both of us wear:
Head: Akeruka Bento (me in Vanessa, Harper in Elen)
Body: Maitreya Lara 4.1
Hands: Vista ProHands
Skin: Fallen Gods Pure (Gold)
Eyes: NeurolaB Cyber Eyes EX-5
I (as Zana) wear:
Hair: Vanity Hair Glittering Highs
Gown: Glitter Infatuation (Ruby; skirt includes applier)
Boots: KC Couture Xandra
Jewelry: Mandala Haramita suite (choker, bangles and earrings)
Second Life® with Harper, Conan, Jem, Diana and Morgan
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