Here’s the end of the first part of their journey together. A ending with a beginning. Already typing their next short story. From what’s here, she has to continue her mission to the imperium, something about the colony on Ceres, but will have to at some point have a conversation in tribe Mendro’s construct (and will it be in the dilapidated city or the elegant restaurant of Kuban’s?) with her mom about this human. It had better be short as their construct is not very “human friendly.”

For those curious as to why all the politics was not done via emails or chat, as Page Zaplendam pointed out to me in our last interview, even with 22nd century tech, some things are best by word of mouth only; diplomacy, technology, or other matters.

From a technological standpoint, this is a new situation. Unlike Nichole 5 who was a stand-alone android, this body of Pai is more like Minerva when she was still Reina. Once independent, Minerva chose to be with Laszlo Hartmann until he died. The other case of a machine in love with a human was Henge, but she assumed a human body to be with Gary. I think the next story will delve a bit deeper into what happens when Graf encounters the totality of Pai’s mind, of which her android we’ve been reading about is only perhaps 5% of her consciousness. Love stories are fun, but pushing the bounds of what I know is funner.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Hope to have more next week. Deus vult.

Enjoy my content? Buy me a beer!

Graf set Pai down and waved.  A wave weakly returned. 

Between the walk and the wait, we’ve been gone about seven hours, so, “Is Dad due back at his regular time?” he called to Mindy.

“So far as I know,” she replied in a smaller voice, looking from the silent saucer to their guest.  “And welcome back, Miss Pai.  Didn’t think we’d see you so soon.”

“Good friends and good ancestors,” she laughed back, leaping onto the porch with a small kiss on the cheek for the girl.  “But, after a talk with your father, I may be borrowing your brother for a bit.”

“A…bit?” Her eyes shimmered with tears that didn’t fall.  “I, that is, we just lost Mom.  I can’t…my brother!”

“Less than two weeks,” Pai gripped her shoulders and looked up the short distance between their eyes.  “I swear.”

“Oh…okay,” she said, calmer.  “Would you like a snack while we wait on – eeek!  That was so stupid and rude of me!  I am so sorry!”

“It’s fine,” Pai replied.  “You’ve never met one of us before and were just being typically local nice.  Hmm.  When will your father return?”

“About thirty minutes, usually,” Mindy said, looking west at the waning sun.

“Oh, too bad for you, Boyfriend!” she laughed.  Patting me somewhere she really shouldn’t in from my sister.  “Maybe later?  In that time, is there anything I can help in the kitchen?”

“Not knowing when you were coming back,” she waved them into the house and back to where they talked last evening, “we were just going to forage.  Dad will have yesterday’s leftovers from you and I’ll come up with something.”

“Then I’ll help,” she ordered, pushing Mindy into the kitchen.  “Beloved Graf?  Go pack but very light, a change of clothes, underwear, toiletries, that sort of thing.  We’ll get you something when we get there.”

“And where is that?” he asked, but making for the stairs up.

“South.  And no,” now she was out of sight and calling to him, “I will not say.  Until we’re engaged.”

“Until what!” his sister shouted along with the noise of flatware falling onto the floor.

“Is it her?” he muttered, stuffing things into a small bag from his closet.  “Or, is it all of them?  Guess I’ll find out soon if I can get this past Dad.”

In perfect timing, Graf heard the backdoor open and close.  He grabbed the bag and loped down the stairs.  The bottom of the denim overall pants were muddy about his sock feet.  Must have been bad enough to leave his boots outside.  Guess he was working down by the creek while all I did was take a walk with a pretty girl.

“Son,” he said, stopping but pointing up and toward the front of their house, “can you explain that?”

The sounds from the kitchen fell silent.

“Yes, I can.  Pai found some way to communicate near the old library at the university,” don’t screw this up, “and summoned this ship from the south, the imperium, I guess.  I have something to ask, so we came here, first.”

Mindy and Pai appeared in the doorway, drawing a nod from their father.  “Well?”

“I would like your permission to make her,” he beckoned someone he barely knew to his side and slid his arm about her, “Mrs. Graf Winstead.”

No reply.  Seconds turned into a minute and Mindy was shaking.  With a glance out the front windows, their father spoke.  “Are you taking that thing to go get married?”

“Uh…” I’ve no idea; it never got that far.

“No, sir,” Pai said, serious for once.  “Depending on what you say, I must do the same.  Two great empires shall be affected by the next few minutes.  If you agree, I shall present your son to House Hartmann and House Romanov, as well, of course, as my parents, all of whom have a kind of claim to this former US State and its surrounds.  As I told your lovely daughter, this will take a week, no more than two.”

“I would hope, after,” she put her arm about him, too, “we will get married here.  On your family land.”

Another too-long pause.  The bear of a man stepped to just in front of them.  And put a hand onto a shoulder of each of theirs.

“In that case, yes, son, I agree.” He heaved a great sigh at some emotion Graf had not seen since their Mom… “And you have my blessing.  To look at your bag, you are leaving now?”

“Soonest gone is soonest returned,” Pai said again.  “Thank you, New Father.”

Too much, he turned for the stairs.  “I’m getting cleaned up.  See you in a week or two.”

His girl – no, my Intended – spent two minutes finishing making his kid sister’s, who was crying, dinner, and bounced out to him.

“All of this,” Graf began as they walked out the front door, “because you fell off you plane, ship, whatever, right?  Nearly onto me in the middle of a river.”

“Yes, Master.” She called me what? “This was all meant to happen.  But, I am still waiting!”

For what?  Oh, dang.

Graf knelt in the grass before Pai and took her hands.

“Marry me.  Be my wife.”

“Yes.  To both.”