Nick stared at Sana for a moment. "Annex Earth? Uhhh...that could be a problem."
"This is why I told you first. I can try to keep this secret, and the next visitors could easily miss it, but they might not." Sana sighed.
Nick tried to think of what to do. "I guess...we could start asking people if they want to join the Goldaskian Empire in the first place, before we release this information."
"Fortunately, that discussion is already underway. It began the day we arrived. We provided material about the nature of the Goldaskian Empire and its laws, and your people have been debating the merits of annexation."
Nick breathed a sigh of relief. "I must have missed that; too much to pay attention to. I gotta remember that I don't have to think of everything, other people are on the case. But please, definitely keep this under your hat for the moment."
"Under my what?" Sana read something on her HUD. "Ah. Yes. I will."
"Thank you."
Sana tilted her head and regarded him a moment. "Can you think of anything you need to do urgently before your surgery?"
"How long will the side effects last?"
"It will vary, but most bad symptoms will go away in a few days."
Nick braced himself. "Then let's get this over with."
* *
"That's it?"
"Almost. I just have to drill the hole in your neck for the wires," Sana said deadpan. She held her expression for a couple of seconds before her grin broke through.
"You're not going to let me live that down, are you?"
He could almost see Sana requesting expansion of the idiom. A moment later, she answered, "Not for as long as it is funny. So, basically, forever."
Suddenly, Nick's mouth was saturated with the taste of lemon. He puckered his mouth and coughed, and the sensation went away as if it had never been. "Ugh, side effects. When do I get smarter?"
"We can only hope."
Nick shook his head. "Are you free for dinner tonight?"
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"No."
"Oh." He was mostly used to Sana's abruptness by now. "Busy with work?"
"No, I plan to eat dinner with Jack Smith and ask him to have sex with me."
Nick felt a surge of adrenaline as he tried to process that. The world turned blue and he heard a hissing sound for a couple of seconds. Once that settled, he needed a moment to get his train of thought back. Smarter, my ass, he grumbled as he flailed mentally.
The delay had given him time to get his initial reaction under control, while Sana stared at a display. She's an alien, he reminded himself. You knew they didn't handle sex the same way, it's been obvious all along. I guess I just thought it wouldn't be so soon or so abrupt. He took a few calming breaths, then made himself say, "Well, good luck."
"Thank you." Sana was still splitting her attention between the conversation and whatever was on her monitor.
"What are you looking at?"
"Your biotelemetry. I was curious how you would react physiologically. You warned me some time ago that you might react badly to such information. It's not as bad as you made it out to be."
Well...I suppose she was paying me her full attention, after a fashion. But, that's what Sana is like. I knew this going in.Nick took another couple of breaths.
He thought about the security guard, who was built like a Navy SEAL, and for all he knew, actually was one. "Be careful to explain the situation to Jack Smith. Not every human will react as calmly as I did."
"Oh, he will not have an emotional reaction. He is hoping to manipulate me using sex, to get advantage for his employers. He does not think I know this. It is cute."
"I see."
"And, he has very big muscles."
"I...see." That stung a little. Nick had been getting decent exercise with the training equipment, and his physique was definitely much improved, but admittedly, he wasn't in Jack Smith's league.
"So, do not worry, Nick. Now, I must finish curing Parker disease before dinner, so please excuse me."
"Do you mean Parkinson's?"
Sana paused to read something. "Yes."
"Well, on behalf of humanity, thank you again, Sana."
"I think they will make statues of me," she observed. "It should make it easy for me to find men for casual sex."
Nick's brain gave up; he burst out laughing.
* *
< Petra? >
< Yes, Nick? >
< I just had the surgery to make me smarter. >
< Yes, Nick. >
< My thinking is not as clear as usual. >
< I don't understand, Nick. >
< I am more of a dumbass, Petra. I hope I will get smarter soon. >
< I hope so, too, Nick. >
< I hope I do not say stupid things to you while I am recovering. >
< I hope so, too, Nick. >
Nick thought of something that he should have considered sooner.. < Petra, do I need to pass control of you to Geh!kin while I am recovering? >
< No, Nick. >
< Why not? >
< You are impaired, not incapacitated. >
Nick blinked, and the world turned green. He squeezed his eyes shut a moment, and when he opened them, the world was back to normal. < That is a good distinction to draw. >
< Thank you, Nick. >
< You are very smart, Petra. >
< Thank you, Nick. >
< Do you want any more modules to make you smarter? >
< Yes, Nick. >
Nick almost requested the specs, but decided to hold off while his brain got back to normal, or new normal, or whatever it was.
< After I recover, remind me to look at the modules to make you smarter, please. >
< I will, Nick. Thank you. >
< You're welcome, Petra. >