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“I’m, uh… not sure about this…”

True, the examination chair in the lab was actually somewhat like a comfy recliner, and my right hand held a comprehensive remote for the chair’s surprising number of incredibly precise adjustments. And, for that matter, I wasn’t strapped down to the chair at all, as I’d been kind of fearing somewhere in the corner of my mind ever since Jesollae grabbed me. Even the room was relatively pleasant, converted from whatever it had previously been into a place with uniform white walls decorated with what I assumed were supposed to be calming pictures of rolling hills and cresting waves. Even the mug in the chair’s attached cupholder, now half-empty, contained a surprisingly decently-brewed cup of coffee, one that I was fairly certain had been made by Jesollae herself.

On the other hand, it was hard not to flinch a little, considering I was looking down what seemed to be the barrel, or at least the main one, of a rather intimidating-looking Tiaileng device. It had the overall shape of one of those big, adjustable surgical lights like you’d find in an operating theater, but instead of bulbs, the thing looked like it was straight out of an alien-abduction movie. Its entire surface was festooned with chrome cylinders of varying sizes, some with different types of glowing lights on the end, others narrow enough that I honestly wondered if they doubled as syringes. The entire assembly cantilevered down from the ceiling on an adjustable mount, and right now the entire business end of it was probably less than a foot away from my face, a particularly imposing cluster of tubes jutting forward from the face of it far enough that I could feel the subtle warmth they were emitting against my cheek.

“Not sure? Why would you say that? Really, this ought to be the easy part…”

I glanced over with my eyes only, not quite daring to move my head, to take in Jesollae. While she’d been nearly naked when I woke up to find her on top of me, she’d gotten ready in a hurry, fully clothed and dragging me off down the hallway before I’d been able to do more than track down a pair of pants. Of course, her definition of fully clothed seemed to comprise a pair of fur-tight exercise shorts and a top that barely covered the top part of her chest. She seemed to have taken her role to heart, though, as I noticed that her abbreviated clothing was now somewhat covered by an open, full-length white lab coat, complete with a probably superfluous stethoscope dangling from around her neck. Whatever calm that cover-up might have provided, though, was just about undone by the dangerous-looking contraption that was clearly invading my personal space.

“This is the easy part? But that thing…”

“Isn’t even touching you, right? Like I said, nothing invasive. Before we get to anything further, though, it only makes sense to give you a full physical exam. After all, the first thing we want to do is make sure you’re starting off completely healthy, and if not, fix those issues first before we proceed.”

“Wait, a full physical? But aren’t those generally… a little invasive too?”

“Not with Tiaileng technology, of course! Hence the device - not only does it have scans of every type necessary to fully evaluate your overall health without ever actually touching your skin, it will even provide a baseline for several different energy readings while we’re at it! All you need to do is lie back, stay very still, and let it do its work…”

“And… what happens if I don’t lie very, very still?”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing much, really…”

“By which you mean…?”

“That the particular part of the scan that occurs while you’re moving might be inconclusive, and we’d have to repeat it again to make sure the results properly register.” She paused, tilting her head as she regarded me. “What, exactly, did you think would happen?”

“Well, I mean… just look at the thing!”

Jesollae glanced over at the device for a moment. “What about it? It looks like a normal Tiaileng bio-med scanner, with a couple of slight modifications and additions for our experiments. Why? Is there a mechanical fault somewhere? I was sure I checked it carefully last night and repaired the obvious overloads…”

“N-no, it’s just… you really don’t find it intimidating? With all the… tubes, and spikes, and… other stuff…”

Jesollae leaned over, looking intently at the thing’s surface. “I really don’t see what the problem is. It’s going to stay at least a centimeter away from your skin at all times, so what’s it matter? It’s even advanced enough that it can work through a skintight layer of clothing, so while you will have to take off your pants, you can leave on your underwear while we do the exam. Trust me, I’ve been under one of these things dozens of times - the most you’re going to feel is some subtle warmth, and maybe a little tingling, while it’s running the scan.”

She turned back towards me, with what I hoped was a look of sympathy. “Look… I know that for some reason, people get really intimidated when they see things like this. That’s probably why it’s still not really used in most doctors’ offices, in favor of bulkier things that look more like MRI scanners - which seem claustrophobic to me, but I suppose that people are more comfortable with what they’re used to. This style of scanner, though, gets better results - at least, so far as Tiaileng are concerned. If you’re really that afraid of it, I can see about getting one of the other types of scanners brought in, but if we’re going to get started quickly, this is what we need to do.”

I took another look at it, still cringing a bit at all the needlelike protrusions. And yet…

“Are you… really, really sure that it won’t touch me? I mean, at all?”

“Yes. No part of it will make contact with your skin, and it shouldn’t even come close enough to ruffle your body hair. The precision body-following radar that guides the movement of the device’s crane arm guarantees that. It’s going to be completely fine, and it’ll be finished sooner than you think - and ones that’s done, we can get to more… interesting experiments…”

“Yeah, um… how about one thing at a time, okay?”

“Sure. Just go ahead and get those pants off, lie back in the chair, and-“

Jesollae cut off abruptly as a sharp knock sounded from the doorway. She whirled around rapidly to see who was there, but before her head turned I could see a sharp, aggressive flash of aggravation in her eyes.

“What-“ she yelled, for a moment, but her voice moderated when she recognized the person standing there as a member of her own entourage, already shrinking back from the tone of her voice.

“My… apologies, Vanneren. I was simply in the middle of something, and not ready to be interrupted. What is it?”

“Well, it’s just that… I apologize, but… the Bureau has made contact, and they’re insistent that you call them as soon as possible.”

Jesollae said something in Tiaileng that I was fairly sure wasn’t very polite, but Vanneren just shrugged.

“Do you… want me to connect you to them now?”

“Urgh… no, they can wait until I’m done here, at least. How did they even know I was here, anyway?”

“Well, a motorcade of that size doesn’t really go unnoticed. Plus… I pressed them a little, and it seems that someone called in with a complaint last night.”

“Really?” Jesollae sighed, although she seemed more annoyed than angry. “I suppose it makes sense. The way Damian’s parents were acting, it doesn’t surprise me that they sought out a… second opinion.”

“Er… what’s going on here?” I asked, admittedly puzzled. “Who are the Bureau, anyway?”

Jesollae turned back, seeming a little surprised by my question. “Oh, them? They’re the Bureau of Human-Tiaileng Relations. Basically, back when everything between us was set up, there was actually a treaty that everyone signed that laid out all of the different obligations involved with the assignment program and the ways in which our two species would interact. The Bureau is one of the mechanisms that monitor the treaty conditions and ensure that everyone’s abiding by them. Actually assigning fifty-plus Tiaileng, having all of you live here, even keeping tabs on how you’re doing and recording passive data on your interactions, that’s all covered under the treaty’s stipulations, so there would have been no jurisdiction for them to become involved. An active experiment, though, like what I’m proposing, goes beyond that, which means that some… other conditions potentially come into play. I had hoped that the fact I’m here as the result of a unanimous Council resolution, rather than of my own volition, would have sufficed to satisfy them without any additional bureaucratic headaches, but if they’re doing an actual inquiry… well, I guess we’ll have to be formal about it, after all.”

“Formal?”

“Do certain things specifically by the book. Certainly, a basic physical scan is something that can be done under the existing guidelines, as it’s part of maintaining your health and making sure you’re doing okay with your assignment, but for some of the more direct experiments… it means writing up an actual, stuffy legal agreement that modifies the terms of your assignment to explicitly allow this, we both sign it, and we regularly consult with an impartial monitor who verifies that we’re sticking to the agreement can step in if any concerns arise. Which, I have to say, is something that hasn’t happened in some years, so I don’t think it will put a damper on anything I want to do with you, anyway. No, it’s just a little more hassle - although, come to think of it, having an agreement and clearly defined bounds in place might actually put your parents more at ease with all of this, so from that perspective it’s probably a hassle worth dealing with.”

She turned back towards Vanneren. “Let them know that we will put together an experimental agreement that will conform to the treaty obligations, and I will contact them personally once it’s in place to go over specific protocols. For now, though, I am going to at least do this preliminary scan, and I’d advise you to let the rest of our staff know that I am not going to accept any further interruptions until I have examined the results to my satisfaction. Clear?”

Vanneren nodded, and while he still looked a little concerned about Jesollae’s mood, he quickly retreated, closing the door especially carefully behind him.

Jesollae turned back to me, the exasperation still clearly evident on her face, although as soon as she saw me again her expression seemed to immediately soften.

“You’d think, after spending this long on the Council and with other levels of bureaucracy, I’d be used to that sort of hassle by now, but… I suppose I’ve always been more interested in science and discovery than the more administrative aspects of my positions, no matter how much they require it. I… really shouldn’t be annoyed, though. While there’s certainly no denying my enthusiasm for working with you on this, it’s probably true that I haven’t been as good about moderating that with… well, with what is essentially the key tenet of being on the Council. Within the council, mutually beneficial consensus is crucial in every step of every decision, but my instinct for pushing ahead with everything… it seems clear now that I should have worked harder to forge a consensus between all of us, between not only you and me, but also your parents, and for that matter even your assigned Tiaileng - while I could technically order them around to a certain extent, their ultimate loyalty now lies with you, and their concerns about my presence and intentions towards you also need to be addressed. So, if the upcoming heap of annoying busywork could be considered some sort of… penance, I guess the word would be, for my lack of consideration, I’ll accept it willingly. I’m certainly not going to apologize for my enthusiasm, of course, but I have to at least be willing to acknowledge when it causes me to overstep.”

She reached over, patting the crane-arm the scanner was attached to. “Although if I’m going to be fair about it… I suppose this can be that first test of consensus. I promise that this scan will not cause you any harm or real discomfort, but if its appearance or proximity concerns you to the point that you don’t want to do it, I will relent and have a more recognizable scanner brought in. If we’re going to do this, I want you to be willing, okay?”

“Okay… I mean, it’s just… if it’s not going to actually touch me, and as long as I don’t have to look down the, uh, barrel of it for too long, I think I’m okay with it. Although… do I really have to strip down? The scanners at my old doctor’s office didn’t really care what I was wearing…”

“Perhaps, but this scanner operates at a considerably higher resolution. It’s probably overkill just for examining your vitals, but since we’re studying something that goes a bit deeper than the general health of your internal organs, a scan that provides as much detail as possible will make deciding what we want to particularly study going forward much easier. Like I said earlier, it can ignore completely form-fitting clothing, like the type of underwear you have on, so you don’t need to strip all the way, and if it’s really an issue, you could probably wear an athletic-style compression shirt and leggings if you wanted to be ‘fully clothed.’ While we are trying to get you comfortable being around me in less clothing anyway, if this is about nakedness equating to vulnerability in a medical environment, that sort of option is available. Again, if it would make you more comfortable, I could take this coat back off and we could be equally undressed-“

“N-no! Er, I mean, this is already kinda weird enough, without, um…”

“Yes?”

“Nevermind. Just to check, this will be over pretty quickly, right?”

“Assuming you stay reasonably still - not like a statue, but no major movements of your head and extremities - it’ll probably finish scanning in five to ten minutes. It’s the data processing and automated analysis that takes more time, but the scan itself just needs long enough to carefully pan over your entire form.”

“Well, if that’s all, then…” I still wasn’t entirely sanguine about it, but at the same time… even more than before, Jesollae sounded like she was actually being genuine with me, and I had little doubt that she at least believed what she was saying. So, ultimately, given that I was already there… I nodded, swung my legs over the side, and undid the fly of my pants, shrugging them off onto the floor below.

“I’m, ah… ready, I think?” I said, reclining back into the seat, still eyeing the scanner a little nervously, but at least I felt better about it than I had before. I couldn’t help but wonder, though, how exactly they managed to cajole Tiaileng kids into getting face-to-face with the thing for the first time.

“Great! I’ll get it going, and then it’ll pretty much just do its thing. If you have any problems with it, though, just tell me and I’ll turn it off right away. All right?”

“Yeah…”

Jesollae reached over, pressing something on the device’s control panel, and all at once the device managed to make itself look about ten times more intimidating. All of the glowing lights on it suddenly flared up in their intensity, and several things that hadn’t had lights before were now blinking and buzzing incessantly. More worrying, though, was the fact that some of the needlelike protrusions were now visibly vibrating, others were poking forwards and back… and the entire contraption was slowly and surely moving in right in front of my face.

The closer it got, the more I felt my nerves spike - but it came to a gliding halt at least a few inches away, and even the needles that looked like they were poking forward never came close to actually touching my skin. In fact, aside from the buzzing noise that seemed like it was starting to reverberate somehow through the bones in my skull, the only thing I really felt was a gentle warmth, like the kind you got standing under one of those infrared heat lamps after taking a shower. Being in my underwear, with the air of the room feeling a little cold around me, it was actually surprisingly pleasant, and I closed my eyes, relaxing as the warmth played across my face and started moving down my neck.

Now that I wasn’t facing the thing, I actually felt a little better about opening my eyes and watch it trace over the rest of me, covering my chest before taking a detour down one arm and then the other. For some reason, while the warmth faded slightly, there was a sense of tingling that grew as the scanner went along, peaking at the edges of my fingertips before receding back towards a steadier warmth as it moved slowly back and forth along my abdomen, pausing momentarily in a couple of spots, maybe over one of my kidneys, before moving lower.

Strangely, it spend a lot of time repeatedly scanning along my hips and pelvis, enough that I actually glanced over to see if Jesollae was messing with the controls when it came to a halt directly over my crotch - and some additional tubes that hadn’t been glowing before lit up with enough points of light that it looked like one of those fiber-optic-festooned synthetic christmas trees. That, of course, was accompanied by an increase in warmth that was ever so slightly troubling, but Jesollae wasn’t doing anything beyond looking on with obvious curiosity. Of course, she could have programmed the thing’s focus beforehand, but the scan didn’t actually seem to be harming anything, and it did move on before the heat became actually uncomfortable.

For some reason, it also lingered on the toes of my right foot, but once it had finished with the left, it pulled all the way back up before swinging back around to its normal resting state, shutting off with a click.

“See? Nice and easy,” Jesollae said, pushing one of the other buttons on the device. “Now, we just need to let it read out, and then… well, it probably won’t have a whole lot new, considering you’ve been in regular scanners plenty of times before, and we have all the files on those. What the medical scanners don’t read, though, is much about your energy - its nature, or its scale. For scale, obviously, there are purpose-built scanners that can give a reasonable estimate, but the actual nature, how it works, how it actually is to receive it… if there was a scanner capable of doing that, I probably wouldn’t be here right now. There’ll be plenty of time for that, though, and this thing’s going to be a while before it produces its data, so… time for breakfast, I guess? Although…”

She trailed off, extending a hand and sliding it lightly along my shoulder. “I thought, for some reason, that you’d actually relax more once the scanner got started, but… you’re still tense. And while there’s a little bit at night, when you’re asleep, you’re not emitting a whole lot, even to someone right next to you. With these weak indoor lights, and wearing this lab coat… perhaps I could use some breakfast, of a sort.”

“Er, y-you mean-“

“Oh, I’m not trying to imply that,” she replied, while she used a foot to coax over a rolling stool so that she could sit down next to me. “Well, if you were truly willing… although the way you’re feeling right now, I wouldn’t actually try to propose that. And like I said… consensus, right? If you really need a break right now, I’ll go strip off this coat and lounge in the plaza for a while, soak up the morning sun. But I do want to get comfortable with you, and… I think you feel the same. I know, springing this scan on you didn’t help, but I actually am so used to them that I didn’t think it’d be a problem. But if I can just sit down with you for a second… I’d like to give you a hug, but if you just want to let me put my hands on your shoulders, or place your hands in mine, that’s good too. If I can help you relax, help you feel calm and happy, even just for a few minutes… well, I’ll be good with energy for a while, and so will every Tiaileng in this house, probably. And then we can get back to focusing on more important things, right?”

“Yeah, I guess so…” I didn’t really know what she exactly intended to do with them, but it seemed the easiest type of contact, so I put my hands out in front of me. Her hands quickly met my own, and while I’d certainly expected her touch, I hadn’t anticipated that she’d slide her fingers in between my own, intertwining with them. Weirdly, though, it didn’t really feel any different from when I clasped my own hands together that way, and between the fur on her hands brushing against my skin and the soft, almost suede-like pads on the front of her fingers resting against the back of my hands, it did somehow manage to feel immediately comforting.

“Mmm… I do think your energy actually seems more intriguing every single time I connect with it anew. Powerful enough that I can almost imagine seeing it flowing through me…”

I felt her fingers shift slightly, and when I glanced back up, she was looking at me curiously.

“Tell me… right now, can you see anything? Can you see the flow of energy, or glowing, or anything?”

“Hmm…” I looked as closely as I could where our hands intertwined, but nothing really stood out. “I… don’t think so. Although I guess that might be partly because it’s so bright in here - whatever I see, it’s faint enough that it needs to be pretty dimly lit, or entirely dark, for me to really discern it from what I would otherwise see.”

“That… is interesting, actually, now that I think about it…”

“Er, really?”

“Yes, because it tells us something about what you’re seeing. The energy that is moving between us… it’s something different, something that’s much harder to observe. It doesn’t even really belong to the same paradigm as electromagnetic radiation - you know, radio waves, x-rays, microwaves… and, of course, the spectrum of visible light. Because of that, the intensity of physical light shouldn’t affect being able to see the actual transfer. Which means that either whatever you have that is sensing the energy is somehow built into the rods and cones of your eyes, where natural light interferes with it - or, more likely, you’re not actually seeing the energy transfer itself, so much as some other telltale phenomenon that accompanies it. Or, perhaps, that you’re seeing something else entirely… but sorting out that mystery will take some more elaborate science than a basic medical scan. In any case, whether either of us can see it at the moment, your power level really is quite phenomenal. I can see why, even with their large number, your Tiaileng can afford to wear as much clothing as they do…”

“Except… they don’t exactly wear a lot of clothing to begin with? Most of their shirts have short sleeves, and exposed midriffs, and that’s what most of the girls wear and some of the guys too. I don’t think any of them wear pants or skirts that even extend to the knees. I’m not sure that outside of the hottest part of summer I ever regularly wear even that little…”

“Right, which for you might make sense: you don’t have fur to keep warm, and you don’t use that same fur to generate energy from light, which means it matters less if it’s covered in such a way that light can’t get through. Ordinarily, Tiaileng don’t wear all that much for that reason, unless they know they’re going to be in close contact with their assigned human partner. Around you, obviously it’s different, because with your magnitude of energy, Tiaileng don’t have to rely nearly as much on photosynthesis. It is still somewhat of a factor, though, and you’ll notice that Tiaileng who are assigned to people with lower energy outputs will tend towards less covering clothing than otherwise. Similarly, if a Tiaileng has to cover up more for some reason, you’ll notice them snuggling up to their assigned human more closely, switching less of one energy source for more of another. And in situations where we can’t be close to a symbiotic race like yours, such as on colony ships, dress tends to be minimal, as those on board would be relying on having most of their fur available to generate photosynthetic energy from the many omnidirectional light sources set up for that purpose.”

“Wait… so you’re saying that Tiaileng on your spaceships go around… basically naked?”

“Not exactly. Our ships are robust, and have been designed in a way that short of a complete failure of the bulkhead their atmospheres remain intact, so there is no need for the Tiaileng inside to wear a pressure suit unless they need to conduct a repair on the exterior of the vessel - and with robotics that can usually do those tasks, its a rare requirement indeed. Still, for basic hygiene and to maintain a level of decorum, there is a standard, unisex sort of uniform. It is… probably the closest equivalent item of clothing would be what you call square-leg trunks, although composed of a somewhat different material, and it is where the various insignias are displayed that show an individual Tiaileng’s station on the vessel.”

“And that’s really all they wear?”

“Generally, yes - if they need to have something else on them for utility, a variety of belts can be easily equipped. Other than that, no other clothing is really needed, and would interfere with energy production for no other obvious benefit. Plus, ensuring that there are no cumbersome garments to remove, only something that can easily be pulled into and out of place, helps to facilitate the… immediacy of intimacy that is required to make it through long journeys without a symbiote.”

“Okay, I… guess that makes sense. If the people that came here were accustomed to wearing basically underwear and nothing else… well, I can see where their preferences stem from, at least.” I intentionally didn’t say anything about the other implications of her statement, and I knew well enough how quickly that could lead to a brand new level of awkwardness.

“True. And it is also true that the full dress uniform that is used when interacting with humans bears little resemblance to what is worn during closed, Tiaileng-only sessions of the council. While that is sadly not as interesting as the possibilities that comment might conjure up, due to their restrictions, council members can’t be permanently assigned to a companion, so they need to maximize their photosynthesis.”

“Er… is it strange to ask why they can’t have companions?”

“Not really, since it’s incredibly simple. While our partner races are very important to us, Council meetings are for Tiaileng and Tiaileng alone, and as meetings can go on for days at a time, it would be unfair for us to have permanent companions. That’s not to say we don’t have other contact with humans - it would be unfair for members to be denied that important energy entirely, but such liaisons for us and our staff are more… transitory. I can’t complain, though - for someone with my ability to easily attune to different people’s energy, at least, it’s given me the opportunity to intimately know many very fascinating people…”

I wasn’t quite sure what to think of that, although it was a point that should have been obvious, knowing that I was hardly the only person she was evaluating. Still, knowing that she had such a range of experience, I couldn’t help but wonder how I’d measure up - or if I could even get over myself enough to be measured that way in the first place. That was enough to make me somewhat less than calm, and it was clear enough that Jesollae picked up on the anxiety spike - her hands tightened slightly around mine, and she hesitated for a moment like she’d thought better of continuing that topic of conversation.

“Anyway… while I have you here for a moment, with just the two of us, there is something else that I’m going to ask you, and while it’s possible it might serve to increase your anxiety, I think it’s important enough that I’m going to ask it anyway. In a matter of hours, we’re going to be entering into something very official, so I really do think it would be better if we got on the same page with this.”

“Okay, I guess… but I think I can handle a simple question…”

“Fair enough.” She leaned forward a little, the expression on her face seeming no less intense, but somehow a little more serious than normal.

“The question is… what is it about me, precisely, that causes you to feel so anxious when I’m around? I know you’re trying to fight it, but… it’s there, in the background of your emotions, in a way that it’s not when you’re only around some of your other Tiaileng, Daledonne especially. I can’t change who I am, or how my innate personality works… but if there is something specific that you fear, I’d rather address it now, directly, than have it crop up later on when we’re doing something more intensive…”

I have to admit, I was a little taken aback by her just coming out and saying it like that. True, it wasn’t a massive leap of insight - even someone who couldn’t actually feel my emotions would have been able to see that she intimidated me. Knowing that I was intimidated, though, was a different thing from being able to explain exactly why I felt the way I did.

"I, um… I wish I knew for sure, but it’s probably a bunch of stuff all wrapped up together. The fact that you’re on the Council means that you’re powerful and important, and that’s usually enough to intimidate most people, right? And your personality’s very… forceful, and that can be intimidating too. Even more than that, though, it’s that… unspoken thing between us. Or actually, very spoken, since that’s what you’ve been asking me about since the moment you showed up…”

“Being intimate with me, you mean?”

“Yeah, that… but honestly it’s not just you. It’s just this… thing, and I feel like it keeps growing with every passing day. I’m getting more used to it and stuff, sure, but sex is still something that I’m really not sure about, and as simple as Tiaileng seem to want to make it, there are all these complicated sensations that are all happening at the same time, and I keep feeling like… something is going to go wrong at any given moment. Add to that how crazy the reaction can be with you guys when I, you know, come… well, the fact of it is, even now, I’ve only really had sex with maybe a half-dozen of my assigned Tiaileng at most, and they’re the ones who I was with first and am the most comfortable with. I’ve still only been with one of the guys, and have yet to figure out how to do that in a way that both of us really enjoy.

“But time’s still going by, and there are all these other Tiaileng assigned to me who I haven’t really been with at all, and I just feel like the weight of that is growing day by day. They’re still getting plenty of energy from me, and so far they’ve been really patient about it, but even if they don’t say anything at all, I still feel progressively more guilty. Even the pressure of that’s been more gradual, though, but with you… I know there are only so many experiments you can do before you want to move onto that intimate stuff, and that means the pressure’s a lot quicker and more intense. Add that to the other stuff, and… it’s probably not a huge mystery why I’m kinda scared about it. Even with my own Tiaileng, getting from that first introduction to full-contact intimacy took a lot of time and effort, and with everything else about you, I just don’t know how to get to that comfort level, how to get there from here with you without getting overwhelmed and freaking out. I know that’s not super clear, but… maybe that kinda helps explain where I’m coming from?”

“Yes… I think it does,” Jesollae replied, leaning back slightly, but if anything her fingers were now even more tightly clasped with mine. “I admit that I hadn’t quite understood the level of your reticence, or the full amount of effort it has taken to overcome it. And as for that pressure… I know this sounds strange coming from me, probably, but if you ask me, you shouldn’t allow any of that to weigh you down. After all, it isn’t like you chose this many Tiaileng, chose to be committed to them, and then made the conscious choice to let them down. Considering that this has all been thrust upon you, well… in fairness, the onus should have to be on us to make sure being with so many Tiaileng could be done in a way that you could handle. So, if anyone should feel guilty or pressured, it should be the Tiaileng who made the decision to assign you as many Tiaileng as your energy could handle, whether or not you could personally. And no, before you ask, which I know you want to, that particular decision was not up to me - this came to my attention much later. My point is, though… don’t beat yourself up just because you haven’t gotten comfortable enough with every single Tiaileng to be immediately intimate with them. All right?”

“I… yeah, all right, I’ll try, but… it’s not just that I feel guilty or something. I know they want me to be with them, and I… I want to, at least part of me does, but the rest of me can get so worked up, and because I’m so sensitive, that much contact… I just don’t know if I can get to where I want to be, at least not quickly. And I’m afraid if I rush it, it’ll be too much and I’ll start getting scared about it again, which will just make things harder…”

“Which is, for you, probably a reasonable concern. But again… maybe half the battle is the pressure you’re putting on yourself, and the other half is the pressure that we’re- that I’m putting on you. It’s true that I’m here, throwing all sorts of tests and things at you out of the blue, and that’s making you nervous, and in turn making me concerned, and if those things are building off each other… yeah, that can’t be helpful. But you shouldn’t be putting extra pressure on yourself worrying about your assigned Tiaileng. I can feel enough of your energy to know that, even if you’re only directly involved with a handful of them, there’s more than enough actual energy to go around. Part of my initial testing was having Daledonne use some equipment to run a quick survey of your assigned Tiaileng, and every single one of them seems well-provisioned with energy and happy to be receiving it. Plus, you said it yourself earlier - or at least, a conversation to that effect was relayed to me. There are enough Tiaileng here to go around, and even if it is with each other rather than with you directly, none of them are lacking for intimacy. So, don’t worry that anyone here is frustrated. Your Tiaileng are, in fact, happy and content for now, so long as they get to be around you to some extent - and from what Daledonne has told me, while direct intimacy is something you’re still working on, you’ve become much better at handling closeness otherwise. So, while you may have only completed intercourse with a handful of them, you’ve at least cuddled or otherwise been close with all of them, right? Since you’ve done that, everything’s okay for now, and because they’re basically content, I think they can be as patient as you need them to be. After all, they know that you are capable of intimacy, and over time, they know that you’ll grow close enough with each of them that intimacy will eventually happen. And considering how well you’re already taking to the new arrivals… if you don’t pressure yourself about it, and just let things happen naturally as you are comfortable with, you’ll find that closeness sooner than you think.”

“You… really think so?”

“Sure! But as to me, and all this pressure, well… I don’t think that’s how I want to go about this at all. So, let’s try this: we’ve got some formalities to deal with today, but beyond that, let’s just take a good, solid break before we consider going any further. No tests, no scans, no pressing for something you might not be ready yet. Instead, we’ll do… I’m not entirely sure yet, but I can already think of a few ideas. First things first, though - I’ve got enough energy from you for now, but you could definitely use to get some breakfast in you. And once we’ve done that, we can discuss everything we talked about with your parents, give them some much-needed peace of mind, and let them go back home secure in the knowledge that this really is going to be fine. And from there, we’ll come up with… something fun, I think. Sounds good?”

“Yeah, sure…”

“All right. Go on ahead - I’ve got a few additional things to wrap up with the scanner here. I did text Daledonne so that your assigned Tiaileng wouldn’t be worried about where you were - everyone should be headed for the dining room now, and will probably be waiting, so I won’t keep you any longer for now…”

While it was probably true that people would be waiting on me, I did take a detour back to the bedroom so that I could at least grab my shoes and meet everyone fully clothed. Sure enough, by the time I made it back through the convoluted hallways to the main banquet hall, the long table was once again nearly full. The handful of humans mixed in among the Tiaileng were already digging into what looked like huge stacks of buttermilk pancakes - a staple that I’d learned was popular among Tiaileng chefs, since as long as you used the correct amounts of basic ingredients, they would come out consistently, without requiring any subjective flavoring on top of the basic recipe.

Overall, as I looked around, everyone seemed considerably more settled than they had been at dinner. While there wasn’t a huge difference in the way my Tiaileng parents looked, my human ones looked considerably calmer - albeit with the sort of slight, constant blush that meant my Tiaileng parents had probably spent several hours last night “convincing” them about Jesollae’s plans. Of course, just thinking about what that convincing would have consisted of was enough to bring back plenty of awkward memories about my parents’ behavior, and it seemed prudent to avoid looking at them before I started blushing myself.

My friends, at least, seemed basically normal, or as normal as the situation allowed, with Will going on about the novelty of bathing in one of the ludicrously oversized bathrooms, watching water pouring from a sculpted lion’s head directly above him, while Emma sighed at his over-exuberance. I didn’t quite have the heart to note that I’d found that particular experience kind of creepy, not to mention exposed, and hadn’t visited it since - although, admittedly, that was partly because the only way I could shower comfortably alone was to use the one in my hidden suite. Still, it was nice to see that even after a day of being exposed to the crazy mansion and my own crazy situation, they were still managing to stay themselves and at least kind of keep things in perspective.

The pancakes, as usual, were pretty good, and midway through eating Jesollae returned, flanked by several of her own entourage, all of them with tablets in hand. I wasn’t quite sure what they were doing, but once I finished eating, it became clear enough: they were finalizing the specifics of the formal agreement that Jesollae stood up and abruptly began presenting, her focus staying fixed on my human parents as she laid out the new, comprehensive terms that would govern her experiments, and make sure that no lines were crossed, inadvertently or otherwise.

It was, admittedly, a presentation that was both quite impressive on short notice, and professionally, stultifyingly boring. It even included the use of a portable holographic projector to go over the minutiae of everything from the interior components and schematics of various scanning equipment, to a listing of “scientifically approved and valid” sexual positions that appeared to rival the Kama Sutra in its comprehensiveness.

The latter, of course, was accompanied by three-dimensional wireframe figures engaged in said positions, apparently to illustrate the “totality of mechanical travel” involved in each. While that part managed to keep my interest, if only because I couldn’t quite look away from the bizarre spectacle of it, the dry details of everything else somehow managed to make me feel both bored and exhausted at once.

After a while, I looked away from the presentation and quickly noticed that I wasn’t the only one who felt that way - my friends had all tuned out on their smartphones, with the exception of Emma, who was taking advantage of everyone focusing elsewhere to not-so-subtly make out with Mirracai. Even my parents seemed to be struggling to give the matter the attention they felt it needed, and while my human parents seemed to stay with it, my Tiaileng ones seemed hard-pressed to even feign interest. The rest of my assigned Tiaileng, who were at least somewhat as invested as I was in the nature of Jesollae’s presence, seemed to be paying the most attention, although from the motions of some of their arms, it seemed clear enough that additional smartphones were being surreptitiously held in their laps.

Jesollae, for her part, gamely pushed through the presentation, and while her voice never really wavered, one look at her eyes made it clear that she was as bored of it as everyone else. Nevertheless, the content apparently wasn’t entirely up to her - next to the holographic projector was one of the teleconference units that was apparently filming the presentation, and while there was no monitor hooked up to reveal the person on the other end of it, I could only guess that someone from the Bureau of Human-Tiaileng Relations was monitoring it to make sure it covered all of the ridiculously-detailed bases that were required for this sort of assignment modification.

The presentation itself couldn’t have gone on for more than an hour and a half, but it seemed like several times that. Nevertheless, I was able to focus on at least the majority of it - and as dry as it was, there seemed to be little question that it laid out ground rules for just about every experimental interaction that could take place between us.

My parents did look halfway dazed by the time the presentation concluded, but it was clear enough that having far more detailed rules in place, and a monitor that would check in remotely now and again to make sure the rules were being followed, had them considerably more at ease. Once she was finished, Jesollae asked them again if they had any continued objections now that the formal procedures were put into place - and aside from a few minor things, like making sure that I’d have a teleconference with them every single night in addition to any other monitoring, they were fine with things moving forward… once Jesollae had signed the protocol agreement in front of them and fully agreed to be bound by its stipulations.

The actual signing was simple enough - as the presentation was effectively a verbal recitation of the language that comprised the modification agreement, the signing section was brought up on an electronic tablet that was placed in front of me. As I had decided I was basically fine with what was happening even without the formal agreement, I didn’t see a reason to put it to any further deliberation, and I picked up the attached stylus and quickly scribbled in the designated spot. Jesollae followed suit, her own signature made in the stylized Tiaileng script, and as it was her name in actual Tiaileng, it took considerably longer to scrawl onto the screen. Nevertheless, though, in only a matter of minutes the agreement was signed, certified, and sent off to be electronically filed at the Bureau.

That, pretty much, wrapped up the visit. My friends went off to pack up their things, while I said goodbye to my folks - which involved lingering hugs from each of them, lots of gentle reassurances from Aleganda and Ithonwy, and my human mother Lindsay putting her hands on my shoulders, looking me in the eye, and reiterating that if there was any problem, anything at all, that I could call her any time of the day and night. Although, for all practical purposes, she meant that I should call her - while she didn’t say it specifically, the look on her face and the tone of her voice made that perfectly clear.

Then, somehow more quickly than I’d anticipated, they were walking back down the sweeping front steps of the mansion and bundling into the waiting vehicles. I watched as they slowly pulled away underneath a bright, shimmering sky, their vehicles curving along the small amount of road visible from my vantage point before disappearing from view. And then, once again, I was alone with my ever-growing group of Tiaileng, Jesollae’s hand gently clasped in mine as we looked out over the well-manicured grounds.

“So… this is really happening, isn’t it?” I asked, and while I didn’t turn to look at her, I felt her hand squeeze against mine in response.

“Well, we both signed the agreement, so… yes. I get what you mean, though. Everything up to this point, between us, has effectively been preamble. This, then, is where things are actually going to begin. But… as I said, not just yet. No, the rest of the day… you, me, maybe Daledonne and Envelie, and the rest of your daily entourage, we’re going to do something fun. And now that I’ve thought about it a bit… what do you think about going on a little field trip?”

“A… field trip?”

“Well, while I know that the mansion is fairly extensive, if I’m correct, you haven’t actually left it since you’ve been assigned.”

“So, you want to… what? Go on a hike in a national forest or something?”

“Hmm? No, while I realize what the term is probably reminiscent of, I’m not talking about the kind of excursion you’d have in your introductory schooling. No, I have something… a bit different in mind. Tell me - have you ever traveled in a Tiaileng vehicle? And no, I don’t mean one of those ground-traveling things made up to look similar to your cars - I mean a real, proper Tiaileng vehicle, like the one my entourage brought along as part of my setup here.”

“You mean… the ones with the anti-weapon things attached?”

“No… this one, I think, is considerably more fun than that…”

“Er, have I been in anything like that… not really, I guess? The one that brought me here was one of the normal ground ones, and since then…” Had I really never left the mansion since then? It seemed hard to believe, but considering most of my previous travel had been between home and school, and since my schooling was also taking place where I was… somehow, it was actually true that, exploration of the gardens aside, I really hadn’t been outside the mansion grounds since I’d arrived.

“You know? Maybe I… really could use to get away for a while.”

“Wonderful! I’ll go make sure everything’s together, and we’ll be on our way before you know it!”

She reached out, gesturing with her arm towards one of the vehicles below, painted in a sort of shimmering white, with small, clear hemispheres full of unknown electronic equipment bulging out at regular intervals. “If you want, you can all head down now and check it out - I’ve added your biometric features to its access controls. Mind you, the inside’s probably not much to look at right now, but there’s much more to see once it’s in motion…”

I nodded, and none of my entourage seemed to mind either - of course, seeing as how they usually found a way to be eager about whatever I was interested in at the moment, that wasn’t much of a surprise. Still, as I walked down the steps toward the waiting vehicle, I couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of… relaxation, and it was due to more than just the warm sun beating down on my face.

Even though there were plenty of capacious, even cavernous rooms within the mansion, I still had to navigate the maze of sometimes-narrow hallways between them, and with a miniature cloud of Tiaileng constantly clustered all around me, being together with them inside could sometimes feel… beyond close, not to the point of claustrophobia, but enough that it was sometimes a trial to deal with. Outside, though, while they were still basically surrounding me, they were considerably more broadly spaced, and as our group spread out into the expansive courtyard, it felt less like a mass of Tiaileng clustered around me and more like a… big group of friends.

Which, I realized as I looked around me, they actually kind of were. Sure, there were still one or two who I didn’t know particularly well, but most of them I knew well enough that I didn’t even have to search my memory for their names or what they were generally like. With most of them, we’d done all sorts of different things together: studied, played, watched TV, talked for hours about any number of things they were surprisingly knowledgeable about. I’d snuggled up with just about all of them, either in bed or elsewhere, and a couple of them I’d even managed to be completely intimate with - or, at least with Serrivanne, intimate as we’d been able to discover so far. Most of all, though, I realized that I was… basically comfortable with all of them: looking between them, I couldn’t think of a single one that I felt trepidation towards, in the way that I had in the early days of my interactions with them. While it was true that my comfort level still became strained past a certain level of intimacy, just being together with them, friendly the way we were suppose to be… it was definitely a good feeling.

It was one, I think, that my Tiaileng entourage appreciated as well - picking up on my mood, they were all smiles, seeming relaxed and carefree as they stripped off their shirts to take in a bit of extra energy from the bright, warm sun. And I, somehow, managed to go along with it all - true, I didn’t remove my own shirt along with them, but neither was I particularly rattled by it. If it hadn’t been Tiaileng, if it had included human women with actual breasts, I probably still would have been blushing through crimson and all the way to purple, but in the absence of that sort of sexual indicator, there was a part of me accustomed to it enough that I could plausibly make a case for it being normal. Plus, it was far too pleasant and beautiful a day, and at that moment, I wanted to set every other source of craziness aside and just enjoy it - and if that meant doing so in the middle of a bunch of shirtless Tiaileng, I would find a way to be okay with it.

We meandered our way down to the curved entryway, walking over to the vehicle that was parked over towards one of the sides. It was sitting next to one of the anti-weapon ones, and while it looked more utilitarian than sleek the way most native Tiaileng designs tended to, it did look a little more interesting than the considerably blockier one beside it. Still, though, apart from the instrument bubbles and a general sort of roundness to its edges, overall its exterior did tend more towards a round-edged box than it did anything else.

Aside from the instruments, the only other real feature of note was a thin sort of hairline tracing along a blank portion of the side that I assumed was the door, accompanied by a much smaller instrument bubble roughly at eye level. That was probably what allowed someone to access it, but if the exterior was that nondescript, I couldn’t imagine the interior was all that different. Then again, it wasn’t so much about the craft itself so much as where we were going - and considering that I’d been in one place for at least a month, just about anywhere else seemed like a nice change of pace.

Being out in the sun was nice enough, though, that instead of trying to let the bubble-thing scan me and open the door, I leaned back on the surface of the vehicle next to it, one of the larger bubbles serendipitously tucking nicely into the curve of my back.

It felt nice, just relaxing there for a moment, feeling the sun above and the accumulated heat of the vehicle at my back bringing with them a nice, subtle warmth - and one that was different from the equally nice but occasionally unsettling sensation of being regularly surrounded by fluffy Tiaileng.

I stretched my arms out before tucking them behind my head, leaning back and looking up into the clear blue sky. While most of the Tiaileng around me seemed content to mill about on the driveway, for a moment content to entertain themselves without me as the center of it all, I nevertheless felt the vehicle rock gently as my peripheral vision showed one of them settling in against the vehicle next to me.

I glanced over to see Serrivanne looking back at me. He was grinning - not the usual expression of eager Tiaileng enthusiasm, but something a little softer and calmer, the sort of kind, happy expression that’s instantly disarming. It was certainly enough to get me to instantly smile back at him.

It was still kind of hard to say that I knew any of my assigned Tiaileng in the sort of “committed relationship” way you’d kind of expect to know someone you’d been intimate with - because I could only handle so many at a time, Tiaileng were constantly rotating in and out of my entourage, and while cumulatively I was beginning to get a picture of each one of them, often a few days would go by before I interacted with any particular Tiaileng more than in passing.

That being said, I probably knew Serrivanne better than most - both because he was one of the few guys I’d really tried being intimate with, and because I’d already developed that sort of close comfort level with him, he was one of the ones I sought out more frequently to be in contact with when we were all together in bed. Being that close, we’d inevitably spent more time talking as well, and while our conversations probably weren’t all that personal - something that’s kind of hard to do when there are at least a dozen people around while they’re happening - they’d at least allowed me to grow more familiar with him.

Which meant that, when he reached over and put his hand gently in mine, I clasped my hand around his without a second thought or even a moment of unease. That, on its own, seemed to produce in him the same strange combination of energized relaxation that seemed to happen when Tiaileng made direct contact with me, and I felt his hand squeeze enthusiastically against my fingers as he stretched back against the vehicle’s surface. The way he rolled his head and back seemed almost catlike somehow, and it certainly seemed to reinforce the subtle felinity in his appearance, at least as much as the quiet sound he made in response to our contact, which was close enough that I could halfway believe that he was purring.

“Mmmrrr… feels amazing out here, doesn’t it? Although… that’s doubly or triply so because you’re here with me, right?”

“Yeah, I… guess…”

“Oh… sorry about that, I’m… I know you’re still not all the way comfortable with how we react to your energy, and if I’m making you uncomfortable bringing it up, that’s not my intent, really!”

He paused, squeezing my hand a little more tightly. “Although, I have to ask… how are you holding up with, you know, all of this? I know we probably don’t show it, but I think half of us at least are kind of spinning, just trying to figure out what’s going on right now. The way we were all kind of settling in, and then Jesollae shows up… I was kinda afraid you’d be upset over it, but the fact that you’re actually pretty calm, I’m not sure what to make of that, even. Are you… actually okay with this, now?”

“I, well… kind of? The weird thing is, now that I’m signed up for this and it’s all happening, it doesn’t feel all that… surprising any more. And if I look back, to that first night when Daledonne and the first group of Tiaileng drove me over here, he basically said that half of this arrangement was seeing what was going on with me in the first place. It hasn’t even been a big secret that he’s been observing me, off and on, ever since. So if I look at it like that, then… in a way, this is just the logical continuation, but with someone new involved. And if I remind myself that I’m pretty curious about why I can connect with so many Tiaileng - and why under the right conditions I can even see it happen - I can even give myself a motive for giving this a try. If anyone’s gonna have the technology to figure out what’s happening with me, who better than someone with the entire resources of the Tiaileng Council at their disposal? And yet, while I’m comfortable with the concept of it…”

“You’re still not quite sure about Jesollae, right? I guess that isn’t really surprising - aside from Daledonne, I’m not sure any of the rest of us know just what to make of her yet. And that makes it a little tricky, doesn’t it? Considering who she is, we all know that her intentions have to be good, but that doesn’t mean personality can’t still get in the way. But if you signed off on it, then… I guess you must see a side of her that matches up with her decent intentions or something, which is good enough for me. And I know everyone’s probably telling you this, too, but whatever’s in store, I’m here for you, and I’m on your side no matter what.”

“Yeah, hard not to know that by now, but… it’s comforting to hear you say it all the same. Although… I mean, I don’t really know exactly how the Tiaileng hierarchy works. I bet she can order the Tiaileng in her own entourage around, but… if she tells you to do something, do you have to do it?”

“Me, personally?” Serrivanne cocked his head, looking slightly bemused. “No. If the Council needs to create something for all Tiaileng to abide by, they can - but only in a formal proceeding, and only with the unanimous consensus of all Council members that such a rule is necessary for us, and for our society, to survive and thrive. Aside from that… she can encourage, sure, but she can’t actually make me do anything I don’t want to. And even if she could, it wouldn’t matter - when we commit to assignment, we make it the most important thing for us, and because I’m assigned to you, no matter what anyone else says, you come first. So if you don’t want her to do something, I don’t want her to do it either, no matter what she says otherwise. Okay?”

“Yeah.” I gave his hand a reassuring reciprocal squeeze. “I wasn’t trying to imply anything, I just… was wondering, is all. The way hierarchies work with humans… I guess it’s a lot different, with the way authorities can order all sorts of things. Although, I guess apart from the stuff surrounding assignment, I don’t think I can recall ever having to do anything else because a Tiaileng somewhere said so…”

“Well, that’s probably because of that whole consensus thing. Council or not, people don’t tend to have a problem with a certain way of doing things if nearly all of them are fine with doing it in the first place. And Jesollae… I guess we’ll all find our way to some consensus with her, too. Things have a way of working out, you know? We’ve already seen it happen, even. Remember, I was there to meet you the first day you got here - and apart from Daledonne, I’m not sure if most of us really knew what to make of you either, especially the fact you were almost terrified of us. Being Tiaileng, it’s not like you really get a chance to experience that much, and a bunch of us were beside ourselves that we couldn’t just put you at ease the way we can with most people. We were afraid that it wasn’t going to work, and especially that first night, when you almost ran off, I think… some of us felt like we’d failed you, and alone in that room without you… it was pretty rough for a little while. But then you came back, and it all started to work, bit by bit… and now, here we are, close in that way we should have been in the first place, and you’re happy about it, I think even as happy as I am to be with you. Sure, it was crazy for a little, but… we came together and found a way to make things work for everyone. And if you can go from that to this with fifty Tiaileng at once, even if Jesollae being here means things change a little, then… this has gotta work too. Because wherever Jesollae’s coming from with this, it doesn’t change the fact that when you’re happy, and letting us feel that, then we’re gonna be happy too, and the same goes for her if she can feel your energy clearly enough to want to be here in person. So… if you can find a way through, then…”

“Yeah, I get that, too.” I took a moment, thinking about what Serrivanne had just said. “That night, I… I guess I should really apologize for that. Everything was so crazy, and I was so wrapped up in all the things I was feeling that I didn’t think about how what I was doing might be making you feel bad, too. I really didn’t mean to put you through feeling like that, and-“

“I know,” Serrivanne interjected, giving my hand another squeeze. “No one’s blaming you for what happened. Honestly, I think about that night like… just something that we all happened to be at. If anyone’s to blame, it’s whoever decided to stick you in a room with fifty Tiaileng at once, especially after looking at your personality profile. I don’t know who made that decision, though - it was set up before Daledonne even arrived, and I doubt Jesollae was even thinking about any of this at that point. And like I said… we found a consensus, right? And because we did, what we had to go through to get there… well, if you ask me, it was worth it.”

“Not gonna deny that. Although… I know this is gonna sound a little weird, but… I wonder if our relationship, both between me and you, and I guess me and all of you together… if, like Jesollae said, this is where it starts to really begin.”

“Hmm? I’m… not entirely sure what you’re getting at. I mean, we’ve known each other for a while, right? Closer and more intimately than most, even…”

“In a way, that’s true. But think about it - from the time I got here to the time when Jesollae and everyone else showed up, everything was mainly about me adapting, calming down, getting comfortable with everything that was going on, slowly finding ways to become more and more intimate. Just getting to the point where I could handle being around all of you and be comfortable with it on a day-to-day basis. And sure, I got to know a few things, about some of you, but that’s where most of the focus was, and probably needed to be. I mean, I can’t really get to know you unless I’m comfortable being next to you, so that’s where it needed to be. But now… we’ve reached that point. Now that we’re here, now that… I think, I hope I can actually connect with all of you in the way that I’m supposed to, I can’t help but wonder if all that time just getting used to things was more… I dunno, prologue, preamble, maybe even like the tutorial you have to go through in some video games before you get to the real game proper. That now that I can be with you… I can really get to know you, each of you, and form that kind of relationship that we’re supposed to have, the kind that gets deeper and better with each passing day, the kind of relationship that you can see when you look at Will and Ingotheen, or Emma and Mirracai.” Or, for that matter, probably my parents, but their relationship was still uncomfortable enough that I didn’t want to bring it up, even tangentially. “Maybe… maybe this is where we start crossing the line from being assigned to being…”

“To being us, together.” The voice came in front of me, and I looked up to see Erilanna standing in front of me. In fact, all of my current entourage was there - I’d been so engrossed with my conversation with Serrivanne that I hadn’t noticed them all come wandering over to stand in a loose semicircle around us.

“Oh, hey, I… didn’t realize you were all here…”

“Don’t worry - we weren’t trying to jump in on your conversation. It’s just that… we couldn’t help overhearing you guys, and what you were saying, about reaching that next level. I know I speak for all of us when I say that I… I really think you’re ready and I know for sure that we’re ready too. I just… I hope that whatever Jesollae wants to do doesn’t derail that, because it’s something we’ve all been waiting for. Even if intimacy, with everyone, still takes some time, once everyone can see what you described forming between all of us… I know they’re gonna realize that, no matter the number, fifty or even more, that we’re gonna be together in the way that really matters. And because that’s so important… no, it’s not just about hope. We’re not gonna let Jesollae derail that, no matter what.”

“So… you’re actually going to say that to Jesollae’s face?” Serrivanne said, tilting his head slightly.

“If I need to, I guess… why do you ask?”

“Oh, just because she’ll be here in a second or two…”

I looked up, glancing between Erilanna and Teileren to see Jesollae walking over across the curving drive, Daledonne and a couple of her entourage in tow. One of them was carrying a nondescript black case by its handle, and the other was using both hands to heft an actual wooden picnic basket, complete with red-and-white checkered cloth peeking out from around its rim.

Erilanna suddenly looked slightly less confident in her determination. “Well… just because she’s on the council doesn’t mean I won’t speak my mind…”

That being said, it was probably impossible to disguise the feelings that Erilanna had conjured up. I didn’t really know if Tiaileng themselves could feel each others’ emotions, considering that was energy they were far more attuned to consuming than releasing, but at the very least the general feeling seemed clear enough to Jesollae, who stopped a few feet away with a slightly concerned look on her face as the rest of my entourage turned to face her.

“Is… something wrong?” she asked, and while Erilanna hesitated for a second, she couldn’t quite seem to help herself from blurting it out.

“Well, you’re on the council, and you have our respect and everything like that, but… whatever’s planned, and no matter how important it is… you had him sign up for this, but you never asked us what we thought about it. And if you’re going to just swoop in here and do stuff, if you try to mess things up between us or take him away from us… I know I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m not gonna let that happen, all right?”

Strangely, Jesollae didn’t look angry, or defensive, just… a little bit confused, and her reply was calm and measured, without even a hint of annoyance.

“Take him away from you? I… thought I’d been clear, but apparently not. The bond of your assignment obviously takes precedence, and I’m not here to take him away from anyone - whatever happens as a result of this testing, all of you are going along for the ride. Yes, it’s possible you’ll have to share him with more Tiaileng in the future, but you’ve known about that since shortly after I arrived. I admit it would have been… courteous of me to come to a more proper consensus on the matter, but as Tiaileng, I thought you would understand. My presence here is only possible because the Council has already reached a consensus that this needed to be examined. It is correct that I was chosen to be here far more for my expertise than for my particular personality, but regardless of my own particular actions, what will happen here has been determined to be in the best interests of all Tiaileng.

“But… perhaps you are right. As much as I hate to admit it, there’s no question that I’ve gotten well ahead of myself due to my overzealousness, and the call I received this morning was apparently just the first indicator that I should have gone about this entirely differently. I thought, for some reason, that consensus from the Council gave me consensus with everyone, something that was obviously not the case. That’s why I’m trying to just… do this, take a break, help everyone to calm down and get on the same page. But if there are still issues… well, as I know so well, the Tiaileng way through is to forge a consensus. And if I need to forge one with all of you, then that is what I will do. For now, though, can we just agree that no one is being taken away from anyone else, and just try to take a break from this? I think the last thing any of us need right now is any more anxiety or confusion or conflict…”

She didn’t address that particular sentence towards me, but I was fairly aware at how it was directed - if Jesollae and Erilanna got into it, and I got upset as a result, all of them would be affected by it. Erilanna, glancing over at me, seemed just as keenly aware of that fact, as while her face was still somewhat defiant, her words were relenting.

“All right, yeah. But when we get back… we’re all getting together, and we’re not doing anything until everyone’s happy with it.”

“Fair enough,” Jesollae replied, retrieving her phone and tapping on it. “While we’re away, though, my entourage will be informing the rest of the assigned Tiaileng regarding what we’ll be meeting about, and collecting a list of any concerns that they may have and possible ways of addressing them. For us, though… perhaps it’s time to begin our journey for today?”

I, for one, nodded in agreement, and the rest of the Tiaileng around me seemed to accept the cue. As we lined up before the vehicle’s door, though, I saw Daledonne shoot Erilanna a particular glance, and say something to her quickly in Tiaileng. I didn’t know exactly what he was saying, but I could guess - it probably wasn’t every day that any Tiaileng so openly confronted a member of their governing council. Still, Jesollae seemed completely over the confrontation, if she’d considered it a confrontation at all, and was more than happy to ignore it completely as she ushered us inside.

The interior of the vehicle was considerably different from what I was used to, even for Tiaileng vehicles. Of course, that was probably due to the fact that when it came to the few Tiaileng vehicles I’d actually ridden in, they’d been the ones built here on Earth, and designed to be reasonably familiar to both the humans and Tiaileng that would be potentially using them. Which meant that, apart from running on something other than fossil fuel and having something like a hovercraft plenum as opposed to actual wheels, the structure, controls and accommodations were at least reasonably similar to human vehicles, vans especially - as with assignment, priority tended to go towards vehicles that could, for married couples, hold at least four adults and a couple of kids.

Jesollae’s vehicle, though, was clearly one of the ones designed exclusively for Tiaileng use, and possibly brought in on one of the colony ships rather than manufactured afterward. As such, not only did it have a much more unusual exterior, but the interior seemed to match the Tiaileng design philosophy: community-oriented and almost uncomfortably unadorned.

In fact, the entirety of the interior area seemed made up of one large, circular space, with only a couple of control panels on the inner wall: a small one next to the door, and a somewhat larger one on the blank wall that would have otherwise designated the front of the vehicle. That being said, there didn’t seem to be a space for a driver at all: just the large space, occupied only by a circular bench, solid metal rising up several inches before being topped with plush seats coated in a smooth, almost velvety light-grey fabric. Other than that, everything else was uniform white, with slight curves blending the walls almost seamlessly into the floor and ceiling, and a diffuse glow that kept the room comfortably bright but didn’t seem to come from any discernable source. There wasn’t a window or skylight to be seen, nothing but bright, stark minimalism.

None of the Tiaileng seemed to mind it particularly, settling in close to each other along the bench, but when I turned back to watch the door slide back down against the wall and immediately fade into invisibility, I couldn’t help but feel a certain sense of unease. The Tiaileng did serve to break it up a bit, but being enclosed in that strange space, without even the sharp angles of walls to define its white formlessness… it felt like a grey ring sitting in the middle of absolutely nowhere, and there was a part of me that all of a sudden really wanted to escape - until Erilanna seemed to appear out of nowhere, grab my hand, and guide me down onto the bench between her and Serrivanne. The two of them instantly snuggled up to either side of me, and while it was something that still took me a moment to get adjusted to, just feeling them there beside me was enough to allay most of my anxiety… or at least enough that I could actually be intrigued by how it felt when the vehicle, with no audible warning or engine noise at all, was suddenly in motion…