From the outside, Christopher’s quadplex apartment building looked modest and downright dull. Nestled across campus from most student housing buildings and even further from the college fraternities and sororities, the building blended in with nearby Victorian houses with their towers and dormers. Emerging from a yellow taxi, Christopher helped Anyu collect her belongings from the cab before paying the driver. Unlocking the leftmost door, he led Anyu into his home.
Inside the apartment Anyu found the two bedroom apartment spacious and comfortable with each piece of furniture and appliance expertly arranged to maximize light and functional use of each item. Inside both bedrooms Christopher maintained soft, full size beds with plush pillows. Red, so difficult to produce on Beinan under the filtering effects of the thick Beinarian atmosphere, garishly appeared everywhere: the carpet, wall textiles, even the bedding seemed splashed with red, if only in accent. A telecommunications receiver stood on a black entertainment center, complete with some sort of strange technology Anyu never saw before. On a shelf below the communications receiver she noticed two sets of three characters labelling one device “V-H-S V-C-R.” Christopher smiled as Anyu studied the local technology, “Primitive, I know. But for this time and place, that video recording and playing device is at the upper edge of their technical capabilities.”
“Is there some significance to you owning one then?”
“Yes – it makes any glimpses of our technology by natives visiting my home seem like the simple tinkerings of a computer hobbyist.”
“Do you know how to use their technology?”
“Some. You would think their most advanced machines would be easy for us – but they are not; too different. For example, I am still trying to learn how to operate one of their land craft; for one used to computerized navigation and alert systems, their craft’s total dependence on the pilot is unnerving.”
“What – is this device?”
“They call that a tape deck. It is for playing music which is recorded magnetically onto a narrow spool. I would be happy to explain all this technology in a couple hundred xiao-shirs if you like – after you’ve had a chance to explore my home and get settled here. You will be staying here for a while.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I am your best chance at survival. Think logically: you do not know even the basics of their languages, even with your translator. It takes time and exposure to their speech before the programmed algorithms can extrapolate and redact probable translations. In that time you can easily perish from one of the many dangers of this world – or at very least draw the wrong kind of attention to yourself.”
“What dangers?”
Christopher half laughed sarcastically, “You mean besides the ignorance and arrogance of the natives, your lack of existence to their different levels of government, and oh yes, the biological differences? I arrived here one yen-ar twenty-nine beinors ago; I’ve had time to adjust to all of these things as you have not.”
“So I must trust you with my life?” retorted Anyu skeptically.
“For now, yes, I am asking you to trust me out of blind faith.”
“I am a scientist and an engineer, not a priestess; do you know what you are asking?”
Christopher took a step towards her, “Actually, I do. But perhaps a demonstration of good faith on my part is in order. Go to the room I prepared for you. There’s a nirlar electrolysis box on top of your dresser already filled with natrium-nirlar. Turn it on and you will breathe easier.”
Curious, Anyu headed for the slightly smaller of the two bedrooms Christopher prepared for her as her room. As promised, a blue-white cube sat on top of a tall dresser next to a classic-styled lamp with a strange kind of round light bulb. Though she brought one of her own, this cube was a full cun 寸 larger than hers, obviously designed to project nirlar across a larger distance and hold more natrium-nirlar compound. Picking up the box, she pressed a standardized code into hidden buttons. A rim of blue-green indicator light hummed on in response. From tiny slits into the box, a steady stream of nirlar flowed colorlessly out of the box. Anyu inhaled deeply, restfully, her lungs gleefully absorbing the pure nirlar.
Putting the box down, Anyu unpacked, hanging up her few bliaut and kirtles into the modest closet and organizing her other clothing. At length with most of her possessions unpacked, she slipped off her sandals and laid down onto the comfortable bed, still in the gothic blouse and skirt given to her by the mysterious Mary Sheldon and her husband.
Christopher watched her from hidden cameras connected to one of several discretely placed Beinarian computers. Satisfied she was more or less settled in, he knocked on Anyu’s bedroom door, “May I come in?”
“Of course.”
“So how do you find your room?”
“Modest, but better than I expected when I landed. Better than on a star craft. It’s been a while since I slept on a bed that did not convert into something else.”
“Ah yes, Xing-lian sensibilities: function before form.”
“Beinarian at our best,” puffed Anyu, proud of her Xing-lian training.
“I prefer Cashmarian design. A few aesthetic flourishes and comforts never hurt anyone and hardly cost more than the Xing-lian functionality,” remarked Christopher.
“Hence the pillows and the soft matrass?”
Christopher sat beside her on the bed, letting his hands caress the softness of the matrass and bed linens under him, “Perhaps. Perhaps I just like to be comfortable. This bed is nearly identical to mine, after all.”
“So, what’s next?”
Christopher pulled out a small Beinarian tablet computer, tapping on it to open a specific computer program, “Next, as soon as you are ready, you start studying the native language. On this tablet are several programs I wrote designed to help you learn how to speak, understand, read, and write the local English language, including some of the colloquialisms you heard me using with Daryl at the diner. These programs will help you learn the language much faster than I learned it, speeding your assimilation and masking your presence better than I could when I first arrived. Start with this one which will teach you the local English dialect to start with; as need compels migration across this world, you will discover just how varied the language can be. If you doubt me, we will watch together an entertainment called a motion picture all about these language differences and the social status differences many of the language differences convey.”
“These primitives judge one another purely on dialect?”
“Many do, yes, depending where on the planet one happens to be. But then, so do we – at least where houses Croften, Skeinera, and Plover are concerned.” Christopher rose, tired of talking for the day. “I know it is a lot to absorb for one shir-or. Take your time. When the sun begins to set I will ready the evening meal. Come into the kitchen when you are ready or knock on my bedroom door; for privacy reasons, I keep my home office in my bedroom where natives are less likely to explore and pry.” With a nod from Anyu, Christopher left.
Three hours later, Anyu found herself already exhausted by the lessons in the primitive language which used radically different characters relative to Beinarian. A phonetic language, this English seemed to rely on irregular spellings not always related to the sounds heard, making the rules challenging for her. Just to make things worse, the verbs changed depending on how many subjects and direct objects there were and when the action happened, making Anyu wonder how anyone could ever master such a monstrous language. Feeling dizzy, she powered down the tablet and set it in a charging base she found on top of her dresser before heading to the dining space adjacent to the kitchen. There Christopher silently served up a simple but nourishing meal of home-made stew, bread, and butter along with a murky purplish looking juice he splashed with something called “rum” to form a basic cocktail.
As they ate quietly, both too tired of talking to speak, Christopher assumed a meditative stance, letting his m
ind drift to the edges of Anyu’s mind just as Anlei’s Lord Knight Corann used to. How much did Anyu remember of that past life? Did she only remember flashes from time to time, enough to recognize souls she knew before – or was she more conscious of her vast abilities? Did she sense him, remember him? Did he dare tell her his real name or why the agents of Lord Yelu already scoured this distant world? Exhausted by the day and fully adjusted to local time, he decided to let it be for now as he collected the used cutlery and dishes to wash them quietly. The dishes done, he arranged them to dry, and then headed to bed, turning on his electrolysis box and removing one of his two ciphers for sleep.