~~~~~~
Pacing and fidgeting, he waited for a robo-cab. He gave the cab’s driver his destination and his debit number, and he grumbled at the price. The cab dropped to the level-way through Deep Nodlon. Minutes later the cab slid off the level-way, and onto Spenard Boulevard. Nodlon’s blue light flooded the tunnel as the sun rose with the dawn. Where other districts were choked with commuters, Spenard slept. The cab sailed smoothly past little shops and cafes, and into the bowels of the Blues District. Intermingled with the shops were brownstones, townhomes, and dilapidated hotels. Boarded windows defended abandoned properties, and graffiti marked boundaries. It was not a place he would let a child play. In Under Nodlon, the children crowded the bus stops, played hooky in the park, and rode their skateboards. Here, no children were in sight.
The cab drove down Spenard before it turned, and slowed to a halt. On the corner, a derelict sat on the sidewalk reading a book. A sagging bowler at his feet begged for an offering. Next to him, a sandwich board read, “Sacrifice children to Moloch and perish.” The old man lowered his book and caught Evan’s eye. A cold chill ran down his back.
Uncomfortable, he lowered himself in the cab. From the lip of the cab’s windows, he watched as the blocks flashed by. They passed the Salome Club. The marquee displayed a scantily clad elf. Embarrassed, he looked away.
The cab crossed the edge of the district into a block of trade shops. They passed an open convenience store. A woman in a black cloak stepped into the street oblivious to the oncoming cab. The robot braked to avoid hitting her. More seconds ticked by as she crossed the street.
Quietly, the cab resumed its progress. Shortly, it slid into a quiet residential neighborhood of small professional shops with narrow fronts. The cab stopped in front of a shop with a neat, modern façade. A tall sign proclaimed, “New Gem.” Underneath the sign, a streaming banner read, “Don’t be blue! Dreams come true!”
Evan got out of the cab and walked to the sleek door. The glass opened as he approached, and he stepped into an attractive waiting room.
A red dwarf waited alone, gripping a copy of Nod and Home. The cover article featured faux window treatments for subsurface apartments. Like all dwarf maidens, she was cute. Evan tried not to stare. Why she would go for gene therapy, he wondered?
He turned his back, and the red dwarf snuck a peek at him over her magazine.
What would happen if he just asked her to leave with him? Whatever scene she was into, he would join. All Nodlon’s dwarves shared more in common than differences. Why not accept the offer? It had to be cheaper than gene therapy, and they could both be themselves rather than paying to become something else.
Fearing rejection, he quickly dismissed the thought. Dwarf girls want a mate with more money and power than a dwarf boy offers.
Seeing him standing there, the receptionist greeted him, “Welcome to New Gem, New genes, New Gem!”
“Hi, I’m Evan,” he said, staring at the goblin. “I have an appointment.” An urge to flee welled up within him.
“Evan Labe, you’ve come to the right place. The doctor will be right with you.” He wanted to ask so many questions, but he was afraid to interrupt her. He turned away from the bar separating them and looked for a chair.
Papers rustled behind the receptionist and a young dwarf said, “Sally.”
“All done today? Can I use the same card?”
“Sure, that works.” The patient entrance door swung open, and a white dwarf appeared. Spying Evan, he grinned and thrust out his hand. “Hi, brother from another mother! Trust me! This is the best deal you’ve ever made. Everything they said on the vid is true, and you won’t regret it for a moment.”
The receptionist peered through her window and leaned on the bar. “Hey Chuck, can you spare a minute?”
“Anything for you Sally,” the dwarf sauntered to the bar and leered at the receptionist. Evan stumbled back a step shocked by Chuck’s wanton flirting. The dwarf winked at Sally and flashed a grin at the receptionist.
Passing a thin folder to Chuck, the goblin asked, “Will you show our new guest your before-and-after pictures?”
“Soft sell, hey?” Chuck surveyed Evan up and down.
Evan shifted uncomfortably under Chuck’s stare. He exuded a confidence that eluded Evan. Both wore the universal coveralls of dwarf technicians, but Chuck’s coveralls were crisp. He sported pleats Evan had never seen before, and his hair was perfect. Evan knew he looked as though he had slept in his uniform because he had. Evan ran a hand through his hair, pressing his cowlicks.
Chuck had a manic look in his eye. “Slept in your coveralls, didn’t you?” he taunted. “Tossed and turned all night, I bet. Am I right? Had to go to the community room and watch vid all night, didn’t you? Am I right?”
Evan’s eyes dropped, and he crossed his arms. “I’ve got my own place.”
The dwarf circled him. Stopping shoulder to shoulder with Evan, he hugged him. “My boy, I was just like you until I came here. Heck, worse! When I crawled in here, I couldn’t look myself in the eye! I was such a mess. I was as thin as a scarecrow. Now, look at me!” He pulled up his sleeve. A nymph on his arm held a banner declaring his love for “Brandy.” The nymph danced as his muscles rippled.
He opened the folder, and sorted a few sheets. He flipped the file over. “Before and after pictures, they take to verify the results.” On the left stood Chuck in a barren room before a white wall. He wore shorts and nothing else. His shorts clung desperately to his waist. A small gut mocked his lanky frame, but his bones poked through everywhere else. He smiled lamely with an expression of a boy trying not to cry. After the treatment, Chuck struck a body builder’s pose wearing the same shorts. The new buff version of Chuck showed off six-pack abs. Muscles Evan had never seen before bulged from every angle. Tanned flesh beamed health from every fiber.
“Yeah, am I right?” The effervescent dwarf put a hand on Evan’s shoulder, and whispered, “When I came here, I’d never dated anyone. See that red behind you? When you’re done here, reds like her will eat out of your hand.”
Evan gulped.
“That’s another sale for Chuck, hey!” He slapped the folder on Sally’s desk. “When will I get my commission?”
The receptionist snatched the folder off her bar. “Thanks Chuck, but the doctor is a tightwad.”
“Call me babe. If he won’t give us a commission, I will.” He rubbed his fingers together.
Chuck palmed a card. “After your last session, we’ll do it. We’ll go see Cretaceous Clay and see the magician and his dancers. Hey, hey!” Clapping Evan’s hand, he forced his card into the dwarf’s palm, and curled Evan’s fingers over it. He pointed his thumb at himself and his index finger at Evan and mouthed, “Call me!”
“Bye, all,” Chuck said with a friendly wave, and he be bopped out the door.
Sally tapped the bar, “Evan, let me explain a few things. Treatments are painless, and each takes about three hours. Today we won’t be doing any treatments, just taking samples to determine suitability. During the next visit the Doctor will go over the results and determine a course of treatment you can afford. Usually, the therapy takes three treatments, but there may be up to a dozen. I’ve never seen the Doctor use more than five on a guy though. Today, I will need a deposit. If you decide to go ahead, today’s visit and the lab testing are included in our fee. We offer payment plans at no interest.”
She paused letting him think for a second. “Would you like to talk to the doctor?”
“How much will it cost? I mean all of it, the whole thing.”
“That depends on what you and the doctor decide.” She smiled again. “I’m not supposed to tell you, but the basic treatment is all you need. That’s what Chuck took, and you saw the results.”
“If it worked for him, I guess it’ll work for me.”
“You’re with the Ministry of Manna aren’t you? What do you do there?”
“Yeah, I’m a data gee
k. I run the macro banks, security, and intersystem communications between Nodlon’s utilities. The Ministry is good. They have a buy-out program. I contribute, and they match my contributions. I’m putting in the max, so I can buy out of my contract in maybe ten years.”
“Impressive.”
“Thanks.” Had he said too much?
“When the doctor is through with you, I bet you can sue for emancipation. Want to give me your card, and we can get this show on the road?”
Opening the patient’s entrance, she ushered him through a corridor decorated with testimonial photos. She sported a tight velvet dress, which ended an impossible distance from the floor. She was tall for a goblin and her high heels forced him to avert his eyes to avoid staring. Nonetheless she affected a pleasant, professional demeanor.
“You’ll be seeing Dr. Jerry Balaam. He’s trained on Elysium and finished his residencies here in Nodlon.” She directed him to sit on an examining table. “Dr. Balaam is a goblin from the Blue Ridge. Don’t be surprised.”
Alone in the stark room, Evan looked around. Every wall was bare save a poster of Earth. Elysium girdled the planet gleaming in the sun. Bold letters read, “A New World Just for You! New Genes, New Gem!” An urge to leave came over him.
The door opened and startled Evan.
“Hi, Evan, what can we do for you today?” Balaam’s height set him apart from any elf. He was the tallest goblin Evan had ever seen.
“I saw an infomercial.”
“The corporate office makes those.”
“Do you know who the girl is? I mean, is she real, or a sprite?”
“She’s a nyad. I don’t recall her name, but she’s a supermodel on Mars.”
“Oh, I wondered.”
“Sally said you’d probably like the basic package. I could give you the works, but there’s not much reason for it.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Aside from cost? Unless you want to become a girl, or have your bones lengthened until you’re as tall as an elf, there isn’t any difference. Almost all the boys take the basic package. Girls often take an option or two beyond the basics.” He sat on his stool and tapped on his workstation. The doctor chuckled, “If a boy wants more than the basic package, I make him see a shrink first.”
“Guess I’ll take the basic package then.”
Balaam knew what he was doing and went through the examination perfunctorily. “The phlebotomist will take a sample of blood, and show you to the restroom. She may give you a pill to prevent you from fainting. Taking blood may cause vertigo. Be sure and make your next appointment on your way out.”
“Thank you, doctor.”
Something felt wrong, but when he tried to think of why, he was at a loss. “Think about it, what’s the difference? If a girl likes a hunk, will she like me?” He shook off the warning. He had no one. Even lonely dwarf girls shunned him. They knew their worth and they were not going to waste their time on a nerd. Doubt forced him to scrupulously analyze himself. “You can’t dance, sing, or catch a ball. You read technical books, and watch monster movies. You tell nerd jokes. You’re a nerd, Evan!”
Gripping the table with both hands, he tried to decide whether to leave or stay. A chorus shouted in his head. “Get up, loser! Leave now!” He could not afford the treatments. “Stop worrying.” He would pay for this for years. He rubbed his temples. “After this you will still be a nerd.”
“Evan Labe?” the nurse startled him. She was a goblin with pentagrams dangling from her ears, “Come on, handsome.”
“Handsome?”
“First step from nerd to lover-boy is confidence.” She beamed him a sly grin, and batted her eyelashes.
Evan forgot his concerns.
“I’m Uma by the way. Just follow directions, and it’ll all be over faster than you can say, ‘Change your life.’” After scanning, she took a blood sample.
Uma led Evan back to the examination room. She sat at the workstation and entered her findings on the screen.
“Do you understand how gene therapy works?” Uma asked.
“Superficially, I figure if you’re a biot, you ought to know something about how they made you.”
She muttered agreement, and tapped a key on her workstation. “Please wait here.” Her heels clicked as she walked away. He heard mumbled conversation, and the clicking returned.
“Good news, the doctor gave you a clean bill of health. He said you’re a diamond.”
She filled a cup with water, and took a packet of pills from the cabinet.
“These will prevent dizziness and fainting spells.” She gave him a wry smile, and said, “Don’t worry about the taste. They’re apple flavored.”
Dutifully, Evan swallowed the pills. “Dwarves are sharp, but we’re compulsive, and obsessive.” A wave of weariness swamped him, and he braced himself on the table. “I’m no better than any other dwarf.” His voice echoed down a deep canyon. His vision narrowed, and the room began to dim. “Uma, I feel dizzy. I need to lie down.”
Uma grabbed his arm, and pushed him down onto the examination table. She lifted his legs, and laid him out prone. The ceiling spun and he gripped the table.
“Take a nap, Evan, a long nap.”
He closed his eyes, and the spinning stopped.