“Ah, a male guest! A male guest! See, my permatint paid off! Kariza for the win! Just wait until I tell your parents! They will be so proud of me! And you! But also me!”

The synthetic in Caia’s living room is racing in circles, mighty pleased with herself. Her clear eyes are filled with unbridled joy.

“Kariza, you will do no such thing!” Caia says forcefully. “He is not my suitor — I am helping him! Strictly Station Patrol business!”

“Is that true?” She says, dejected. Her eyes scan us both. “Then why am I picking up enhanced levels of pheromones? You are in heat, Caia!”

The human female picks up a book and flings it across the room.

“Stop scanning me!” She chides. “My pheromones are none of your business!”

“It can’t he helped,” Kariza says as she dodges the book with reflexes that would make a Zoran proud. “It is my programming. Let me scan the male next.”

This conversation is most amusing. If Caia’s well rounded body is in heat, it means she burns with desire for me.

I too feel the urge to claim her body, to take her as my own, to mate with her. The spirit animal inside of me wants nothing more, in fact. At first, I dismissed the feeling. I thought the lion inside of me was merely acting out... but it is much more than that.

I feel it in my very bones. When I am close to her, so close that I can smell her, the aggressive beast inside of me is soothed. There is a connection, on a deep, spiritual level.

“Oh my, that can’t be right,” Kariza muses to herself, her clear eyes scanning my frame. It seems they are paying special attention to my nether regions. “What an absolute unit.”

“Kariza!” Caia chides. “STOP SCANNING MY GUEST!”

“Just doing you a favor, honey.”

“You can do me a favor by getting the hell out of my house,” Caia says, now all red in the face. She grabs the synth and drags her towards the door. “Go make yourself useful and go get us something to eat, instead of embarrassing me in front of the first guy I might actually like!”

“Ah, so you like him? I thought it was strictly work-related?”

“Kariza GET OUT BEFORE I MELT YOU DOWN TO BITS AND BOLTS!”

“Two Dithra Burgers, coming up,” Kariza laughs. And then the door closes, and silence descends upon the apartment once more.

“Sorry about that,” Caia says, resting her back against the door. “Kariza is a ‘gift’ from my parents, and like them, she is rather nosy.”

“I have not seen her model or make before.”

“She’s not the type of synth that you’d run into, I suppose — she’s a matchmaker. The model’s name is Cupid’s Arrow, if you can believe that. Supposed to have an uncanny success-rate in finding people suitable partners.”

“So you are looking for a potential mate, then?”

Her eyes grow as big as saucers. “I most surely am not!”

“Oh.”

“That is not to say... what am I even talking about,” she says, flustered. “Can I get you something to drink?”

“Cuhla?” I ask.

She winces. “Uhm, let me check. Let’s see, I have... water... and hypershot coffee... and... it seems that is all I drink. Hm.”

“You must not have a lot of visitors.”

She closes the fridge door and glares at me. “Must you vocalize every thought?”

“No,” I say, taking one step towards her. I stalk towards her like a predator cornering its prey, my broad frame blocking the door. “If I was vocalizing every thought I’m having right now, you wouldn’t be standing here, glaring at me.”

“No?” She puffs, her hands resting upon her hips. “What would I be doing?”

“That depends,” I say. “I haven’t quite figured you out. It would be one of two options, though.”

“And what are those?”

Her cheeks are flushed, but the look in her eyes is resilient.

“Option number one is that you’d try to backhand me across the face for uttering such filthy words.”

“And number two?”

I lean in closer, so that my face is mere inches away from hers.

“Number two ends up with us both in your bedroom, with you on your back, legs in the air, toes curled as I—“

SLAP!

“I choose number one!” She says as she strikes me across the face. Her palm is hot and leaves a red imprint on my cheek. It’s like getting kissed by the sun.

I lean back and rub the sore spot on my face. “How?” I ask. “How does your touch burn so?”

She quickly hides her hands in her sleeves once more. “No reason.”

“You are hiding something from me, Caia,” I say.

“Am I not allowed to have my secrets? I don’t owe you a thing!”

“That is true,” I say. “But I sense you want to tell me. I feel that it is gnawing at you, yearning to break free. So let it go. Let me in.”

“I don’t know if I can trust you.”

I grab her hand and gently place it upon my chest.

“If you do not want to talk, then I will go first,” I say.

I feel so connected to this female, so in-tune, that I decide to trust her with my deepest secret.

“I have an animal inside of me.”

“Yeah, I noticed,” she chuckles.

“No,” I say. “You do not understand. Here, let me show you.”

I sit down at her dinner table, close my eyes and concentrate. My thoughts turn to the human female in front of me. The way her chestnut hair bounces when she walks. The cute way her brow wrinkles when she frowns.

I let all this energy flow through me, making my skin prickle, my blood rush, my heart open up wide.

The animal inside of me is is unleashed with a wild roar.

“HOLY COW WHAT IS THAT,” Caia screams, nearly jumping on top of her own fridge. I open my eyes to see a golden, shimmering lion standing in her kitchen. It sniffs the ground and looks up quizzically at the human female with its warm, turquoise eyes.

“That,” I say, “is the animal inside of me.”

She tentatively reaches out to touch him.

“But… how? Why? What? I have so many questions.”

“As do I.”

She pets the lion’s furry mane, and he purrs approvingly.

“I can touch him… but he seems almost translucent… and he has your eyes…”

“Yes,” I say. “I have named him Luan. And he can do wonderful things. Watch this. Luan, go to the living room.”

The spirit animal turns and looks at me, before walking towards the living room — by going straight through the wall.

“What? How?!”

Caia’s beautiful brown eyes are filled with shock.

“I wish I knew,” I say. “These powers came to me a few months ago, when the Rift first appeared. I’ve been trying to make sense of it ever since.”

That strange vortex, hopping in and out of existence all over the galaxy is creating all sorts of problems everywhere. There have been rumblings about it on New Exon as well. The Sacred Order claims it’s all part of some grand prophecy. They say that the ‘Chosen’ will lead us to the ‘Mating Star’.

I never paid much attention to their ramblings myself, but these changes… they’ve made me re-evaluate everything.

Caia sits down next to me, her face still filled with wonder.

“Can you control him? Is the lion… you?”

I shrug. “Yes and no. I’ve named him Luan, and he follows my commands to a certain degree... but he’s also got a will of his own.”

The shimmering animal wanders back into the kitchen, and he starts sniffing Caia’s legs once more. She stretches out her hand, and he enthusiastically starts licking it.

“That means he likes you,” I chuckle.

The palm of her hand glows brightly, I turn my gaze to Caia.

“Your hand,” I say, gesturing at the Zorashi symbols. “Now it is your turn to reveal your secret.”

She looks back down at her own palms.

“Like you, I… don’t really have any answers. Since a few weeks, I’ve started burning things… by accident. At first it was a few ruined shirts. Strange burn marks I couldn’t place. But it’s gotten worse. This power, whatever it is, is growing stronger, and my hands have grown hotter. I burned a man the other day. On accident. I was trying to arrest him when I suddenly felt... something. And the next moment, he was wailing in pain, his arm covered in severe burns.”

She glances down at the lion, pawing at her feet.

“I’m afraid to even pet him because I don’t want to hurt him.”

“He can take it,” I say, gently grabbing her palms and placing them on the lion’s thick, furry mane.

“Are you sure?”

“Luan is calm. When I’m near you, he is soothed. When you are not around, he is not like this. No, he is furious, filled with rage and anger. It’s that rage that brought me here. My friend Rinor disappeared. We reached out to Corlis, but no one could give us a straight answer. And I completely lost my temper. Thrashed the office of the Corlis’ rep on the Ports. Nearly got myself locked up. I thought I was losing my mind, my sanity… And that’s when I met you.”

“Do you really mean that?” She asks.

“I meant every single word.”

The anger inside of me has been building and building, but when I’m in her presence, I’m calm.

As calm as I can be around the most gorgeous woman I’ve ever met…

“But I’m just… some girl…”

“You are so much more. I can sense your power, your strength. You may have noticed I was rather… aggressive… when we first met.”

“You? Aggressive? No, I had no idea,” she laughs. “Though, now that you mention it…”

“Yeah yeah, go ahead and tease me,” I chuckle. “I deserve it. I meant every word through. Being around you calms me.”

My thumb brushes the back of her hand.”

“I hope I have the same effect on you.”

She looks up at me, her brown eyes making me feel all sorts of ways.

“If I’m honest I… do feel a connection. Like I know you better than I know myself… which can’t be. We barely met. None of this makes any sense.”

“Sometimes the world doesn’t make sense. Sometimes you’ve just got to roll with the punches.”

“DINNER IS HERE!”

Kariza slams the front door shut as loud as she can. This startles my spirit animal, and he dissipates in a puff of smoke, returning to me.

Caia rolls her eyes. “Talk about rolling with the punches,” she mutters.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything!” Kariza continues. “I’m coming in now! Here I am — oh you’re still clothed. Hm.”

She looks at us with disappointment in her clear, synth eyes.

“Why are you in the kitchen? It’s the least romantic place in the house! You two ought to be on the couch, or in the bathtub, or in the bed, or…”

The enthusiastic synth keeps on listing places suitable for making love, and I listen to her ramble with a smirk on my face.

Yeah, that does sound like a good idea, if I’m being honest.

“Could you please just shut up?” Caia grits through her teeth. “You’re embarrassing our guest.”

“I’m the embarrassing one?! You’re the one still wearing that awful uniform. How can he appreciate your female form if you hide it like this?!”

Kariza reaches for the zipper on Caia’s jacket and tugs it down, exposing Caia’s smooth, pale skin to me. Caia shrieks, but Kariza synth-reflexes are too quick for her. Milliseconds later Kariza yanks down Caia’s pants, and I get an eyeful of her curvy thighs and the roundest ass I’ve ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on.

“There! Much better!” Kariza says. “You’re welcome.”

Caia is furious. She slaps her synth-friend across the face, leaving a red mark, and she storms out of the room.

I can’t help but watch her go, my eyes glued to every bounce and jiggle.

Fuck.

I’m as hard as a fucking rock, and if that synth wasn’t here, I’d pin Caia against the wall and have my way with her.

Kariza triumphantly places the bag of alien burgers she’s clutching on the table and gives me a polite bow.

“You may have crossed the line there,” I say as I unwrap the burger and take a bite. I leave out the part where I thoroughly enjoyed the sight of Caia’s well-shaped body. It wasn’t her choice, after all… but I can’t deny that I liked what I saw.

“Nonsense,” she shrugs. “Caia needs a bit of help, that’s all. These humans with their hangups… I don’t understand them.”

“Isn’t that your job?”

She shakes her head. “No, it’s my job to bring organics together. Doesn’t mean I have to understand them.”

“Seems to me like it wouldn’t hurt though. For example, I think forcibly stripping might not be the best ice-breaker.”

The synth raises an eyebrow.

“It did make your blood pressure shoot through the roof, so I do consider it a great success.”

Kariza sees right through me. I remind myself never to lie to her.

Caia returns, wearing jeans and a shirt. A simple look, but she still takes my breath away.

Kariza does not approve. “Why are you not wearing any of the dresses I bought you?”

“Because they’re all two sizes too small,” Caia says with narrowed eyes.

“No, they are supposed to show so much skin — how else will human males know that you are available? Or Zoran males, I’m not drawing any lines.”

“I’ve HAD it with you,” Caia says, storming towards the synth. “If you EVER try anything like that again, you’re going to be decommissioned, you got that? Never touch me again!”

“Understood,” Kariza says, but from the glint in her eyes I can tell she’s not telling the whole truth. “Let me get you two something to drink to cool you down.”

The synth pulls out a bottle of wine from a hidden compartment on her left arm and pours us both a glass.

Caia is as surprised as I am.

“Are you always carrying that?!”

“Of course,” Kariza says. “You never know when the mood will strike.”

As she walks towards me to hand me my glass Kariza trips, dousing me with red wine.

“Oh, I’m so sorry!” She stammers, her hands already flying towards the clasps on my armor to strip me naked. My reflexes are a bit sharper than Caia’s, and I grab the synth’s wrist.

“That won’t be necessary,” I say.

Caia rests her face in her palms. “You’re incorrigible, Kariza,” she sighs.

I excuse myself and head to Caia’s bathroom to clean myself up. I could use a moment alone to blow off some steam…