PeterWatts_Blindsight

Peter Watts 138 Blindsight
BONDFAST FORMULA IV
μ-OPIOID RECEPTOR PROMOTERS / MATERNAL RESPONSE STIMULANT
"STRENGTHENING TIES BETWEEN MOTHER AND CHILD SINCE 2042"
"Yeah? And how are you going to stop me, you little geek?
You can't even make the time to find out what's going on in your
own family; you think you can control me all the way from
fucking orbit? You think—"
Suddenly, nothing came from the living room but soft choking
sounds. I peeked around the corner.
My father had Helen by the throat.
"I think," he growled, "that I can stop you from doing anything to
Siri ever again, if I have to. And I think you know that."
And then she saw me. And then he did. And my father took his
hand from around my mother's neck, and his face was utterly
unreadable.
But there was no mistaking the triumph on hers.
I was up off the couch, the skullcap clenched in one hand.
Chelsea stood wide-eyed before me, the butterfly still as death on
her cheekbone.
She took my hand. "Oh, God. I'm so sorry."
"You—you saw that?"
"No, of course not. It can't read minds. But that obviously—
wasn't a happy memory."
"It wasn't all that bad."
I felt sharp, disembodied pain from somewhere nearby, like an
ink spot on a white tablecloth. After a moment I fixed it: teeth in
my lip.
She ran her hand up my arm. "It really stressed you out. Your
vitals were—are you okay?"
"Yeah, of course. No big deal." Tasting salt. "I am curious
about something, though."
"Ask me."
"Why would you do this to me?"
*